BMW 330d Touring (E46) | Shed of the Week

[Court_S]

apm142001 said:

GTEYE said:

Court_S said:

apm142001 said:

I’ve had bad experience with E46 build quality so it’s interesting to see/hear of others that seem to do the mileage without causing trouble. Perhaps the Germans do Friday afternoon cars too.

I thought the standard stereo was good though. Shame about the car attached to it, but the stereo was good.

For £1k this does look tempting, bet it will have sold by lunchtime.

Happy Christmas shed, hope you manage to come across something unlikely during the festivities...

Edited by apm142001 on Friday 20th December 05:42

Mine was a bit of a turd and that was 10 years ago that I got shot...

I do like an E46 though. They look great and and aged well aesthetically I just found them to have too many common issues. Do the diesel cars suffer from the chocolate cooling systems that afflict the petrol cars?

Saying that for a grand.

Like all cars, they respond to how they have been looked after and maintained. Lets not forget these have been out of production for 15 years, and the earliest ones would be 22 years old. As such the difference between a good one and a bad one can be massive, and that applied when they were new. I've seen 3 year old cars that are completely hammered through neglect, and that applies to all brands,

Which is why if mine had been a cheap shed I wouldn’t have complained, but it was a low mileage (but not too low), full BMW service history example so I guess I expected better.

Same here - bought from the original supplying dealer who had maintained it for it's entire life etc.

I really loved my 325 but it was a total pain in the arse; snapped springs, appetites for bushes, expansion tank, water pump, thermostat, warped radiator, more springs etc. The E90 that followed it seemed to be a much better built car (bought at a similar age, mileage etc).

I loved my E46 but it seemed to spend an awful lot of time being fixed.

[Court_S]

cerb4.5lee said:

I'm the same having had both a E90 330i and 330d. I thought the 330d was the better all round car(plus all the rear wheels wanted to do was spin up at the touch of the throttle!). You needed about 7000rpm to get the 330i's going!!

Great shed and I remember driving a E46 like this year's ago but in 325i form.

But at least it sounds nice when you do wring it out!

[molineux1980]

I was seriously considering one of these to replace my knackered Fiesta Zetec S. I've a BMW itch yet to be scratched, and figured a Toruing would suit for my MTB.

The swirl flaps issue put me off so went for another PH favourite, a Swift Sport.

And a bike rack :-)

(love the Swift tbf)

[cerb4.5lee]

Court_S said:

But at least it sounds nice when you do wring it out!

That is a very good point in fairness!

[Triumph Man]

spreadsheet monkey said:

J4CKO said:

Dont think that looks "council" 75% of whether a car looks down at heel is the surroundings, the rest whether its been badly modified or is disgustingly scruffy, an E46 will fit in anywhere still, touring models especially so.

Yes, agreed. No fake M3 alloys or heavy window tints on this car.

Easy to shout "council" at anything in SOTW price range, but an unmolested E46 Touring is fine by me.

You still see old posh people driving them from time to time. Definitely not council!

[John.Taylor]

I got rid of my E46 LA04VZN on 120k 10 years ago as I thought it would soon to become a money pit, but its still going strong at over 200k according to January's MOT!

[Tri_Doc]

I loved my ratty old dog of a car - 330d touring SE. Electric memory seats were the best thing. loved that car.

died after I drove it into a river by accident. sad times.

[helix402]

dougflump said:

Driven a couple of these ...and when new a nice car with the typical diesel narrow rev range, they get clocked a lot, my pals on had had 100k haircutted off of it !! baggy as hell when older. Also the turbo is proper expensive and hugely time consuming to replace, obviously if you like driving buy the petrol !

I changed my turbo on my drive in a morning.

[MrBrown1980]

I had an E46 320D touring - honestly the best car I've ever owned. Bought at 104k and we took it up to 196k (via France and London many many times) only really needing a clutch and injectors. An injector every year or two was getting starting to get boring and expensive to replace each year which is the only reason we traded it in. Rusty arches is the only real thing putting me off buying an E46 330i Touring.

[bodhi]

I ran a saloon version of one of these for 3 years and 50k miles - it was a great car, but one I always respected rather than loved if that makes sense. The engine was great for day to day stuff, but a bit boring when you got to an open road (even though it revved well for a diesel) and was a bit bargey compared to my previous E36 328i. Only big maintenance jobs I remember were a couple of propshaft bits and a new bumper after a pothole smashed the first one, otherwise it was solid. Apart from the time an Aux belt failed and left me stranded, but that was a £120 fix.

[harleywilma]

Was in the motor trade for 35years and back in the day came accross these many a time trying to find the ultimate cheap mtorway cruiser, unfortunatly I never came accross a good one, no matter what mileage condition or history, so opted for a w210 elegance 320cdi estate,by far best car to date I have ever owned...

[Water Fairy]

Good shed

I have the M47 engine in my m sport manual coupe 2004 commuter barge
Full leather, heated seats, harmon kardon. Ceramic coated and heaps of history came with it. Currently on 167k and going strong. I've chosen to spend money on it to keep it nice but I have only HAD to replace a couple of brake lines and the radiator which I did myself for £40.

Continues to give me an average 45 plus with mixed driving. No flaps on mine btw.

[Ursicles]

Had 2004 330d estate, and it was prob the best all round car ive ever owned.

I bought it with a DMS remap on it and it was just insanely good. Ask the M3 driver who pulled up behind me, flashed me to go past, so then I moved over, and he tried to speed past - as this 5 door beast just matched him stride for stride uphill

It did lunch a gearbox though - a known fault on the ZF auto, but luckily warranty direct covered the cost of the repair - £2400.

[blade7]

s m said:

Round the rear subframe mountings?

Beat me to it . BMW spent £thousands fixing this under goodwill up to 10 years old.

[tomic]

I remember being given some advise that if an old BMW is in Beds, Bucks or Brum you shouldn't go near it.

This one is advertised as being in Buckinghamshire but is actually in Bedfordshire . Might give it a miss.

[jonpeck]

Owned a E46 330cd manual and was a very good car. Fitting a after market Aux cable is also very easy for those long journeys if it's a high enough spec.

The swirl flap issue is more common then you might think and not just with BMW diesels of that generation. It will Never happen to me mindset is a risky business. They are made of chocolate. Later engines are even plastic! A specialist near me blanked them off for £250(at the time) Labour intensive, probably DIY able.

Not sure if this has a EGR but maybe replacing/blanking isworth doing at the same time. My 335ds EGR flap took a trip through to the inlet manifold and luckily didnt get any further.

[J4CKO]

Triumph Man said:

spreadsheet monkey said:

J4CKO said:

Dont think that looks "council" 75% of whether a car looks down at heel is the surroundings, the rest whether its been badly modified or is disgustingly scruffy, an E46 will fit in anywhere still, touring models especially so.

Yes, agreed. No fake M3 alloys or heavy window tints on this car.

Easy to shout "council" at anything in SOTW price range, but an unmolested E46 Touring is fine by me.

You still see old posh people driving them from time to time. Definitely not council!

Sometimes a well kept older car can look more upmarket than a new one.

Not that it matters, but there are plenty of people who are not short of money who don't feel the need to have the latest and greatest, they just like what they have, it does the job.

And its not like a new car nowadays means you are landed gentry.

[FurtiveFreddy]

greenarrow said:

I'd prefer a 330i too, but good luck finding a touring for a grand!

I put mine in the PH classifieds a few weeks ago for £1250 and no takers (I would have taken £1000 at a pinch).
It was over 200k miles but nice spec. and condition.

Has now gone to a very good home via ebay for just over £1k

[alorotom]

SidewaysSi said:

alorotom said:

Fine in its day, sadly the store of the council estate now.

This one looks in decent fettle so will be a shame to see it end up drifting around abandoned sofas and trampolines, full of weeks old McDonald's wrappers and squads of filthy and obnoxious kids

Yet another dhead comment from you. Bravo.

How's your Kia Picanto these days?

Intelligent. I feel schooled and suitably berated.

Alright big man, u ok hun and all the other associated bks.

If you like it good for you - I couldn't care less, I have my opinion based upon what I have seen and experienced.

[g3org3y]

SidewaysSi said:

True! But petrol drivers no doubt have leather driving gloves and BMW baseball caps..;)

The 330D does like to just oversteer at will. Worn tyres, wet road and it's properly sideways at any speed

Put crap tyres on the rear (<cough>Arrowspeed<cough>) and an intermittently working DSC and the 330i can catch you out even at low speed.

(Don't ask how I know! )

J4CKO said:

Dont think that looks "council" 75% of whether a car looks down at heel is the surroundings, the rest whether its been badly modified or is disgustingly scruffy, an E46 will fit in anywhere still, touring models especially so.

Agreed.

JD2329 said:

Considering the 3.0 petrol is very good on fuel and an infinitely nicer engine, I’d be looking at one of those instead. But £1k is good value for a 330d, specially a Touring.

The M54 3.0 is a nice engine. I think I prefer the power/torque delivery of the earlier M52 (2.8) on my E36 328 but the 3.0 does seem very linear in its delivery.

greenarrow said:

I'd prefer a 330i too, but good luck finding a touring for a grand!

Tourings always more valuable.

Coupe for £900? Yes please.