Discussion
When I move to Cornwall later this year, I am thinking of changing my car. My 1.4 Puma is not very efficient on the motorways and certainly not worth the petrol money for what it is.
I'm thinking of getting an e46 320d for around £3.5k and using that as my motorway hack (I'll be 300 miles away from the boyfriend so I'll be doing this journey quite often).
Will they still be quite reliable at that age or am I better off buying a cheap 306 diesel (strange quandary to be in!). Also, what is the motorway fuel economy like on the 320d?
I'm thinking of getting an e46 320d for around £3.5k and using that as my motorway hack (I'll be 300 miles away from the boyfriend so I'll be doing this journey quite often).
Will they still be quite reliable at that age or am I better off buying a cheap 306 diesel (strange quandary to be in!). Also, what is the motorway fuel economy like on the 320d?
Compacts can be a bit cheaper, and less miles, for example http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2010...
A diesel E46 for that money is likely to be pretty leggy and tired. Might be able to get a nicer 320i for a touch less and save a bit for higher fuel bills?
No really an accurate comparison but for what it's worth our E90 320d easily does 45-50mpg on a run - my old E46 330d did around 40-45 as I recall.
E46 is a great car but perhaps £3.5k is a bit tight for a really nice one?
No really an accurate comparison but for what it's worth our E90 320d easily does 45-50mpg on a run - my old E46 330d did around 40-45 as I recall.
E46 is a great car but perhaps £3.5k is a bit tight for a really nice one?
I'm sure if you can do it the extra money would be worth spending.
Don't envy you having to factor in insurance cost - as a 17 year old in the mid 90s I paid over £1k to insure a 1.0l Metro 3rd party fire and theft!! I will admit to having to declare a claim(s?) and 5 points on my licence for a CD10 - drove like a prat in my first year behind the wheel. I pay less to cover the 997 now!!
Best of luck with it.
Don't envy you having to factor in insurance cost - as a 17 year old in the mid 90s I paid over £1k to insure a 1.0l Metro 3rd party fire and theft!! I will admit to having to declare a claim(s?) and 5 points on my licence for a CD10 - drove like a prat in my first year behind the wheel. I pay less to cover the 997 now!!
Best of luck with it.
Ollie - Swirl flaps - a quick google search reveals this may be a common fault - could you expand a bit for me please?
Paoloh - Thanks for the offer but I'm looking to buy one later this year, not quite now!
Richterswil - As for insurance - it's looking to be cheaper than my 1.4 Puma is now, I assume due to diesel + I'm now 21 + later this year I'll have had my licence over 3 years. Not too bothered about insurance really, being a girl has its advantages
Paoloh - Thanks for the offer but I'm looking to buy one later this year, not quite now!
Richterswil - As for insurance - it's looking to be cheaper than my 1.4 Puma is now, I assume due to diesel + I'm now 21 + later this year I'll have had my licence over 3 years. Not too bothered about insurance really, being a girl has its advantages
Edited by Lucie W on Wednesday 17th February 18:08
From what i can remember reading on the swirl flaps saga is that there is a brittle plastic butterfly type valve that gets swallowed up by the engine if it snaps in the intake thus equalling a smashed up engine!! a bit scary when it could happen any time!!
Was quite a hoo haa about it with many owners joining a petition to get BMW to change the design and recall etc.
I stopped looking into this when i got a 330 petrol instead so that is as far as my knowledge goes with them.
It turns out there is a similar design fault on the petrol engines with the DISA valve snapping and destroying the engine.
Best bet is to get this bit replaced if its not too costly, its about £130 for the petrol DISA valve i have no idea about diesel swirl flaps.
btw im 23 with 2yr ncb and a 330 is 580 a year so you shouldnt find much problem!
Was quite a hoo haa about it with many owners joining a petition to get BMW to change the design and recall etc.
I stopped looking into this when i got a 330 petrol instead so that is as far as my knowledge goes with them.
It turns out there is a similar design fault on the petrol engines with the DISA valve snapping and destroying the engine.
Best bet is to get this bit replaced if its not too costly, its about £130 for the petrol DISA valve i have no idea about diesel swirl flaps.
btw im 23 with 2yr ncb and a 330 is 580 a year so you shouldnt find much problem!
Lucie W said:
Ollie - Swirl flaps - a quick google search reveals this may be a common fault - could you expand a bit for me please?
Paoloh - Thanks for the offer but I'm looking to buy one later this year, not quite now!
Richterswil - As for insurance - it's looking to be cheaper than my 1.4 Puma is now, I assume due to diesel + I'm now 21 + later this year I'll have had my licence over 3 years. Not too bothered about insurance really, being a girl has its advantages
My (limited) understanding is that if you are concerned the swirl flaps can be removed and a blanking kit fitted for not too much money. Arm yourself with a large cuppa, search the forum and sit back for an hour or so reading through the horror stories/issue. Obviously people only tend to post if they have had a bad experience so remember to keep it all in perspective.Paoloh - Thanks for the offer but I'm looking to buy one later this year, not quite now!
Richterswil - As for insurance - it's looking to be cheaper than my 1.4 Puma is now, I assume due to diesel + I'm now 21 + later this year I'll have had my licence over 3 years. Not too bothered about insurance really, being a girl has its advantages
Edited by Lucie W on Wednesday 17th February 18:08
Here's an article on swirl flaps: http://www.pmwltd.co.uk/swirl_flaps.pdf
Some engines have them, some (like mine) don't.
HTH
Dave
Some engines have them, some (like mine) don't.
HTH
Dave
Edited by DJFish on Thursday 18th February 11:51
I would have thought an early pre-facelift model could be found for that money.
The early models did not have the swirl flap problems, this was more a snag with tbe 151bhp models '02>'04.
I sold a Y reg 320d at 150k miles, about a year ago that gave me five years of trouble free motoring. It was a saloon, and I only sold because I needed the touring version.
The early models did not have the swirl flap problems, this was more a snag with tbe 151bhp models '02>'04.
I sold a Y reg 320d at 150k miles, about a year ago that gave me five years of trouble free motoring. It was a saloon, and I only sold because I needed the touring version.
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