330D - Low-mileage E46 vs High-mileage E90

[Mazdarese]

Good Morning

I know, you should always buy on condition and not mileage, but there's generally a correlation between the two. A car with over 100k on it is usually going to be a little bit more 'worn' than one with 35k on, for example.

I'm spending a lot of money on fuel at the moment in the Mazda, and every now and then I find myself browsing classifieds like I'm sure we all do. If I had to move to the dark side (diesel) I'd really like a Merc CLS but they're still a bit expensive and I think maybe a bit wafty for me. I've always liked the E46 and I quite like the E90 with a good spec.

So, for the same money, would you go for a nice low-mileage 2004 (for example) E46 or a 2007 model E90 with stellar mileage?

I will probably be adding about 20k miles a year to it myself, and my long-term goal to keep me happy would be to get a Caterfield of sorts for the summer at some point too.

Oh, and is the engine the same in both cars? I know the earlier E46 330d's had less power than the newer ones.

Cheers all

[hornetrider]

If you're going to hammer it with 20k a year for the forseeable, I see no point in you buying a low mileage car as you'll suffer the majority of the depreciation.

[willisit]

Other than high-mileage issues (wear), the later car will be more efficient and a better drive over those miles. I ended up with the e46 320cd just because I couldn't stretch - but the e90 was (and is) my aim with higher mileage as I do ~30k a year.

[Mazdarese]

Cheers Chaps

So two votes for the E90 (Why didn't I do a poll?!).

I must admit I was surprised to see that you can get a decent spec E90 for around £9k, obviously with high mileage.

Time to do one of my famous total cost of ownership spreadsheets I think

[soda]

The E46 will be 204bhp, E90 is a bit more but not sure on exact figures.

That E46 is overpriced IMO, you could pick a decent example up for half that money.

[DannyVTS]

Why not look at the 325D as an option? 60 in 7ish seconds and maybe a bit more economical/cheaper? One of them showed my Saxo up!

[hornetrider]

DannyVTS said:

Why not look at the 325D as an option? 60 in 7ish seconds and maybe a bit more economical/cheaper? One of them showed my Saxo up!

I could show your Saxo up on my pushbike

[Mazdarese]

soda said:

The E46 will be 204bhp, E90 is a bit more but not sure on exact figures.

That E46 is overpriced IMO, you could pick a decent example up for half that money.

I think the earlier E46's are 204bhp but the newer ones are 231bhp?

I wouldn't actually consider that particular E46, it was just the first one I saw.

hornetrider said:

DannyVTS said:

Why not look at the 325D as an option? 60 in 7ish seconds and maybe a bit more economical/cheaper? One of them showed my Saxo up!

I could show your Saxo up on my pushbike

Yep, I'm open to suggestions on which diesel engine to go for. I didn't want too much of a come-down in terms of power though, so would probably (dare I say it) get the diesel remapped.

[Chrisw666]

The E90 325d should be a little cheaper but AFAIK is the same as the 330d with milder mapping.

If it is cheaper to buy and insure then it could be a good option if the E90 is the one you choose.

[Mazdarese]

Chrisw666 said:

The E90 325d should be a little cheaper but AFAIK is the same as the 330d with milder mapping.

If it is cheaper to buy and insure then it could be a good option if the E90 is the one you choose.

That's a good call. There doesn't seem to be many of them around though.

[Caulkhead]

Mazdarese said:

I must admit I was surprised to see that you can get a decent spec E90 for around £9k, obviously with high mileage.

Why are you surprised? The owners want to off-load them before the turbo, the injectors, the DMF and the DPF need replacing. . . . . .

[FamilyDub]

Mazdarese said:

A car with over 100k on it is usually going to be a little bit more 'worn' than one with 35k on, for example.

^^ Not true. They could have been driven/maintained in very different ways.

A derv repmobile on 110k that has lived doing low rpm, high gear motorway pounding will (probably) just be run-in, for example. SWMBO's 110k A3 TDI looked/felt like a 20k car when she had to hand it back after three years

I'd rather a high-miler with a collection of stamps, than a super-low use car that might have other issues, personally.

[Mazdarese]

Caulkhead said:

Mazdarese said:

I must admit I was surprised to see that you can get a decent spec E90 for around £9k, obviously with high mileage.

Why are you surprised? The owners want to off-load them before the turbo, the injectors, the DMF and the DPF need replacing. . . . . .

This is what I'm concerned about! Saying that though, I think a lot of these cars are ex-lease so should have a decent maintenance history with them.

[soda]

Mazdarese said:

I think the earlier E46's are 204bhp but the newer ones are 231bhp?

I wouldn't actually consider that particular E46, it was just the first one I saw.

Early E46 with 2926cc is 184bhp, 2993cc E46 is 204bhp. 231bhp must be the E90.

I'd go E46 personally, nice cabin to spend time in and very handy on the B roads in SE spec

E90 is a bit more refined, better choice for motorway work although I haven't driven the 330d variant to comment on that aspect.

If you are considering a remap avoid the 25d, no point spending money to get it to 330d performance when you can get the 330d and enjoy even more grunt

FWIW I cover around 20k in my E46, consistently mid 40's mpg although it drops to around 40 in very cold weather. I do like to make progress as well.

[Caulkhead]

Mazdarese said:

Caulkhead said:

Mazdarese said:

I must admit I was surprised to see that you can get a decent spec E90 for around £9k, obviously with high mileage.

Why are you surprised? The owners want to off-load them before the turbo, the injectors, the DMF and the DPF need replacing. . . . . .

This is what I'm concerned about! Saying that though, I think a lot of these cars are ex-lease so should have a decent maintenance history with them.

Buy one, but stick £3k in a slush fund to fix it when it goes. Or keep your 6 and spend the £3k and cost to change on a Remus exhaust, a Sanspeed remap and many tankfulls of V-Power. . . . .

[Vladimir]

The usual diesel issues have been almost all with the four pot versions, not the six pots. Sixes are proving to be pretty good mile munchers and reliable too in E90 form.

Budget for ditching the hateful run flat tyres in an E90 but other than that, brilliant cars and the 30d unit even sounds fairly good when pushed.

[Mazdarese]

soda said:

Early E46 with 2926cc is 184bhp, 2993cc E46 is 204bhp. 231bhp must be the E90.

I'd go E46 personally, nice cabin to spend time in and very handy on the B roads in SE spec

E90 is a bit more refined, better choice for motorway work although I haven't driven the 330d variant to comment on that aspect.

If you are considering a remap avoid the 25d, no point spending money to get it to 330d performance when you can get the 330d and enjoy even more grunt

FWIW I cover around 20k in my E46, consistently mid 40's mpg although it drops to around 40 in very cold weather. I do like to make progress as well.

Cheers for that. I suppose I could get an E46 for around £5k with average miles? This looks nice.

Caulkhead said:

Buy one, but stick £3k in a slush fund to fix it when it goes. Or keep your 6 and spend the £3k and cost to change on a Remus exhaust, a Sanspeed remap and many tankfulls of V-Power. . . . .

You're not helping! I was that close to ordering an induction kit and Hypertech module at the weekend. 300bhp in the click of a button.

[Schnellmann]

Vladimir said:

The usual diesel issues have been almost all with the four pot versions, not the six pots. Sixes are proving to be pretty good mile munchers and reliable too in E90 form.

Budget for ditching the hateful run flat tyres in an E90 but other than that, brilliant cars and the 30d unit even sounds fairly good when pushed.

I have an E90 330xD with runflats. Car is brilliant for daily commute and long-distance runs (just back in Switzerland after week in the UK). Prior to the 330 I had a 530xD, 520D and before that the previous 530D. These were company cars and I gave them all back with around 60k miles on the clock. Maybe I have been lucky but I never had a single problem with any of them. Most of my mileage is on the motorway to and from work. But all of them were maxed at some point on the Autobahn to Munich!

Don't understand the comment on the runflats. My 330 is perfectly comfortable on them and handles well. And I didn't notice any difference last week when driving in the UK.

If you are going to do mega-miles I would definitely go for the newer car with higher miles. And I'd also go for the six-cylinder if you can. The 520D was good but suffered from horrid turbo-lag and felt like you had to strain the engine to get reasonable performance.

[Vladimir]

Shnell - I hated my RFTs. Bought my 335d at 16k miles then ditched the RFTs 2k miles later (well before the front were worn). Tramlined, crashy, etc.

The car was spot on afterwards - I use Conti Sport Contact 3s (XL - high load).

To the OP - 300bhp with a remap and induction kit? Possibly a wee bit optimistic!

[soda]

Mazdarese said:

Cheers for that. I suppose I could get an E46 for around £5k with average miles? This looks nice.

That looks pretty decent for the money

Just be aware that it won't be perfect at that mileage, suspension could possibly need refreshed and it's wise to change the fluids in gearbox/diff as this falls outside BMW servicing requirements. But it's a small outlay compared to spending 10k to start with.