BMW E46 320d, yay or nay ?

[Slipperywang]

As my last car is going to be written off I need a new car. Budget is 2.5k and I do 44 miles a day. Been looking at e46 320ds good mpg, look nice, comfy and rear wheel drive. Are they really as unreliable as the interwebs say ? Most 320ds i'm looking at are 100k+ miles and there are loads of examples closer to 200k can they be that bad ? A short list of common issues I have found:

- swirl flaps
- turbo fails
- injectors fail
- inlet manifold cracks
- oil pump fails
- EGR issues
- ball joints and wishbones wear

Most of the beemers im looking at are 2003 onwards. Will they actually have all these problems or is their a sweet spot of 320d that will be more reliable ? Or are they all just a huge money pit ? Or is just a case of preemptive maintenance ?

[Shiv_P]

If you're after a reliable car for £2.5k an ancient diesel BMW is not the place to look. If you want an E46 then of course but there are much better buys for the money. Focus, mondeo, seat Leon, various Honda etc

[stevekoz]

I think that with any car of age and budget, you are going to have maintenance to keep up with.

As for the specifics of these cars, my main lookout would be around the swirl flaps. I wouldn't necessarily say that the turbos are weak - just miles eventually tire them out so they need changing.

Other things to look for are springs - prone to cracking. ARB's wear out and need doing. Its pretty much of a muchness with any high mile older DD. Just be prepared to know what to look for. Check things in the history and buy on condition and care not miles as my usual rule of thumb.

As for running the thing. Its not the most economical of diesels, an e46 320d tends to run in the mid 30's mpg - so maybe a question as to whether you do the miles to justify the derv or not.

You can of course pick up an e46 330d in the same kind of budget. That is my preferred e46 diesel. 6pot. As good if not better on mpg as it just doesn't work as hard as the 320d in my experience. Same kind of issue warning list but of the two models that would be a preference of mine.

There are alternatives out there though if you are looking at a Diesel DD for the 2.5k mark.

Audi a4 2.0tdi - gone with the 140 over the 170bhp model as it has fewer issues. But still wear the miles well and enjoy being driven longer distances rather than around town. Watch out for clutch and flywheel noise.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

My personal choice as i've owned the above and enjoyed the most is this -

Ford Mondeo ST TDCI

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Few electrical niggles on mine (sensors / egr) but really simple fixes and was just really nice to drive.

Alfa Romeo 159 -

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

IF you can stretch to the 2.4 TI model i would - they trully are a beautiful car and the engine is very well suited. Not the most economical but its certainly the best looking thing to drive at that price range. Not wholly unreliable either.

Just a few options for you. Im sure there will be others pop up with additional options.

[strath44]

The E46 are getting pretty old IMO to be classified as a reliable daily especially when you are into E90 territory easily for that money and them are much nicer and more modern cars capable of 200k miles easily. Yes there are know faults but most should either be fixed by now or ready to grenade then engine at any moment!

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

[stevekoz]

strath44 said:

The E46 are getting pretty old IMO to be classified as a reliable daily especially when you are into E90 territory easily for that money and them are much nicer and more modern cars capable of 200k miles easily. Yes there are know faults but most should either be fixed by now or ready to grenade then engine at any moment!

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

E46 prices are as strong as the E90 models in a lot of respects and i think there is a reason for that. For my e46 ownership there were only age related items that needed replacing. Nothing serious.

Personally, i think the e46 is more reliable for its age than the e90 series. The N47 engine timing chain issues, turbo issues, and like you say they are a newer car. So IMHO i wouldn't say they are the more reliable choice. The tech is a bit newer on the later models but other than that. I'd take the e46 over the e90. Plus IMHO, the e46 still looks fresher. The stock e90 is just meh.

Just an opinion i guess. Not saying the E90 is a bad car. I think any car in this price/age/mileage bracket could be possibly problematic.

[Slipperywang]

Are the e90's better ? Most of the ones i have seen are around 2006 age.

[Mr Tidy]

Back in January 2005 I bought an 04 plate E46 320td (the Compact) and had it for 3 years and 43K miles. It averaged over 47 mpg, possibly helped by it being a facelift model so it had a 6 speed gearbox (facelift was mid 2003).

I never had any issues with it, but then it was only 4 years old when I parted with it.

E46 and E9* have very different character (I've got a petrol E91 now). The E9* models are much more refined and less keen to be driven "spiritedly"! They may not look as good, but they don't suffer from the crusty wheel arches you see on most E46s now.

And I'm pretty sure the early E90s use the same M47 engine that the E46 had. I'd definitely avoid the N47 engine with it's cam-chain woes (that's why I ended up selling my 123d) even if it does cost a bit less in road tax!

I'd probably look for an early E90, unless I could find a rust-free E46.

Good luck anyway.

[dhutch]

I drive and x-reg 330i as my daily, ita a nice place to be, returns 28mpg, and has been reasonably reliable.

That said, it's a 17yo 160k car and does eat through a reasonable amount of garage spend on dampers, calipers, radiator and cooling hoses, new front wings for rusty arches and has spent a week in the garage recently reducing a bad oil leak to no quite perfect.

I love the car and it's a lot less than a lease deal on a new one, but it's not it's a boring cheap to run bangernomics staple.

Daniel

[Slipperywang]

Thanks for all the info, will probably end up getting a e46 320d estate. First thing will be swirl flaps, egr delete, vortex blower and then a remap. I know with an ecomical remap the mpg can be really good when crunching motorway miles.

[iSore]

Once you've found one where the essential bits work like central locking and windows that power up and down without the creaking of a shagged regulator, that isn't infested with rust, where the flywheel isn't rattling its tits off, hasn't got an MOT advisory list written by Tolstoy, then of course there are things to do. Swirl flaps, breather, vacuum hoses (what fun!) and if you're lucky, the turbo won't cark itself, a boost pipe won't rupture or the front crank fully won't decide to delaminate and make a bid for freedom taking the radiator with it. If you're really fortunate, you'll never have to replace a snapped tailgate hinge.


They're hateful rubbish in old age. Nay.

[iSore]

That didn't take long:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Beats some E46 relic.

[dhutch]

iSore said:

That didn't take long:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Beats some E46 relic.

But its a grey mondeo.

I would rather push my E46 than have something that reliable and cheap to run, plus its red!


Daniel

[andye30m3]

I use a 2001 330i as my daily driver, whilst I quite like it, things are starting to go wrong a little too often, not stuff that stops me driving but some are quite annoying.

So far in 6 months I've had

- Front wishbone bushes go from fine to knackard - which I must fix asap
- The rubber boot between the MAF and Inlet manifold split
- The cd changers stopped working
- The de-mister has starter causing an interference with the radio
- the outside temp sensor has failed, so I get a bing noise as it jumps around from + figures to -40 which is really annoying.

Nothing there that's expensive to fix just a bit time consuming which I don't really have time for at the moment. As a cheap car it's pretty good for tip runs for the next couple of months whilst i'm working on the house, then it might go an be replaced with a hot hatch of some sort.

At the end of the day its quite old, quite high millage, quite high spec car that was quite cheap so issues are going to crop up.

[ZX10R NIN]

I'd say if you want a reliable oil burner you have a couple of option any post 2003 Mercedes C320/270/220:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

C320cdi Avantgarde SE this will involve a bit of haggling but it does mean you get the sweeter V6 diesel

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

C220cdi Avantgarde SE

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

[iSore]

dhutch said:

I would rather push my E46

That's just as well.....

[dhutch]

iSore said:

That's just as well.....

Only had the AA out once in what's now about five years 3series ownership over two cars. That was the aux belt on E46, had my eye on it a while but didn't get there fast enough.

[keith2.2]

I had a 320d bought approved used from main dealer - an 03 plate ES (bought in 2005 I think) with 35k on the clock.- 9995

Before collection it had;
Replacement rear springs
Replacement taillights and number plate
some other misc I forget

6 months after I bought it the turbo failed as I joined the M6. The new (then) E90 320d was a different league.

I sold it after 2 years for 6500 and bought an S2K.

3 months after I sold it, the vacuum pump died, the guy continued to drive it and lunched the engine. It cost him 6k to fix.

I really enjoyed it while I had it though, and I'd have thought leggier ones will have problems sorted?

For 44 miles a day I'd get a 330i and enjoy life.

[Justinas]

320D < 330D. For £2.5K you can get a 330D and it would be my choice. A bit more thirsty, but much more powerful and quicker. You could remap it and get about 250bhp with loads of torque.

[vsonix]

I've recently acquired an E46 320td 6 speed and so far it seems to be giving me an honest 55 mpg on a motorway cruise at reasonable speeds...