330d buying advice
Discussion
Hi
This thread has probably been repeated somewhere, so I apologise, but the search facility is down.
Anyway, looking for an E46 330d touring. Any advice? (MY 00-02 ish)
I have read about the 320d inlet manifold flap giving up - is that a 330d problem too?
Any high mileage probs?
cheers
Stringbag
This thread has probably been repeated somewhere, so I apologise, but the search facility is down.
Anyway, looking for an E46 330d touring. Any advice? (MY 00-02 ish)
I have read about the 320d inlet manifold flap giving up - is that a 330d problem too?
Any high mileage probs?
cheers
Stringbag
stringbag said:
Hi
This thread has probably been repeated somewhere, so I apologise, but the search facility is down.
Anyway, looking for an E46 330d touring. Any advice? (MY 00-02 ish)
I have read about the 320d inlet manifold flap giving up - is that a 330d problem too?
Any high mileage probs?
cheers
Stringbag
Evening Stringbag,This thread has probably been repeated somewhere, so I apologise, but the search facility is down.
Anyway, looking for an E46 330d touring. Any advice? (MY 00-02 ish)
I have read about the 320d inlet manifold flap giving up - is that a 330d problem too?
Any high mileage probs?
cheers
Stringbag
Yep, there are loads of previous threads about the E46 330d, nearly all thoroughly recommend the car. I've had mine about 15 months (bought privately at 26,000 miles)and done 13,000 miles since. I have the 2003/53 204hp 5 speed auto sport touring, I have really enjoyed owning this car, and wonder what to replace it with.
I've had no problems with the car, it has a 5 year service package and I've kept the warranty going each year for piece of mind.
There are a couple of E46 330d experts on here who I'm sure will answer all your questions....
Go for it, it's a great car...
Dominic
stringbag said:
Hi
I have read about the 320d inlet manifold flap giving up - is that a 330d problem too?
yes, mine went twice in 6000 miles, along with the turbo on a seprate occasion, in total had £11000 of warranty work on my two year old car from new having covered only 23000 miles, sold it bought a 3,0i Z4 and never had a problem since, this is not to say they are all the same though, good luck..I have read about the 320d inlet manifold flap giving up - is that a 330d problem too?
My old 330D SE tourer is up here at £9495
www.nostories.co.uk
I sold it to them back in April. You could get it for £8750 I reckon!
Bought as an AUC and so still has BMW warranty on it till 30.12.07
Mint condition, fsh, 4 new tyres, recent water pump.
www.nostories.co.uk
I sold it to them back in April. You could get it for £8750 I reckon!
Bought as an AUC and so still has BMW warranty on it till 30.12.07
Mint condition, fsh, 4 new tyres, recent water pump.
I've got an '02 E46 330d auto. Bought at 37k in 2005, now on 85k. 184bhp -> 210bhp with superchips.
things that have broken:
fuel sensor at ~43kmiles - cost £50
rear numberplate lightthingy - £20
2 injectors at 82kmiles -cost £750 (had inlet manifold decrudded on this visit -VITAL)
fuel pump relay at 85k cost £5
does 35mpg and cruises happily at 120mph (on german motorways)
Will do 550 miles on a tank on the motorway.
best 'all rounder' car I've ever had.
things that have broken:
fuel sensor at ~43kmiles - cost £50
rear numberplate lightthingy - £20
2 injectors at 82kmiles -cost £750 (had inlet manifold decrudded on this visit -VITAL)
fuel pump relay at 85k cost £5
does 35mpg and cruises happily at 120mph (on german motorways)
Will do 550 miles on a tank on the motorway.
best 'all rounder' car I've ever had.
stringbag said:
£11k!! Ouch! Did you have a 320 or a 330?
Search still under maintenance
Was a 330D Sport, great car and i loved it but just go sick to death of it being in the dealers, was it a rouge ???, who knows but i certainly wouldn't have another to find out, turbo problems with BMW's are very common, just get onto some BMW forums and guage opinion there, you'll see what i mean, try here for starters. But do remember for evry bad one there's always a good one..Search still under maintenance
www.bmwland.co.uk
Edited by plowy on Saturday 24th November 18:57
My wife and I are driving our 4th and 5th BMW diesels at the moment and none of them have suffered any turbo problems. We've had two 330ds, one 320d and currently have a 335d and 120d. You generally only hear of the ones with problems not the hundreds of others that are fault free.
Regards
Chris
Regards
Chris
Edited by Methane Bloke on Wednesday 28th November 22:26
I bought mine(a 330D Sport saloon auto)in 2002. Five years and 110,0000 miles down the line and it's still undoubtedly the best car I've ever owned.
I had the diff replaced under warranty two years ago at 60K miles as the dealer thought it was noisy (but it turned out to be the Michelin PS tyres
)
Once the original 3 year/60,000 mile warranty had expired I extended it annually without fail (and it's covered it's cost every year) this as I'd heard some horror stories regarding turbo failures.
From Feb next year I'll be "on my own" and I'm still undecided as to whether to keep the maintenance official BMW or go to a decent independant.
Buy one, they're fantastic cars !
I had the diff replaced under warranty two years ago at 60K miles as the dealer thought it was noisy (but it turned out to be the Michelin PS tyres
)Once the original 3 year/60,000 mile warranty had expired I extended it annually without fail (and it's covered it's cost every year) this as I'd heard some horror stories regarding turbo failures.
From Feb next year I'll be "on my own" and I'm still undecided as to whether to keep the maintenance official BMW or go to a decent independant.
Buy one, they're fantastic cars !
Hi All
Re;- turbo problems, oil changes are hugely important as a cause of failure can be poor oil feed to the turbos' bearings. Dirty oil means dirty oilways which can get clogged preventing or hindering supply of vital lubrication to the bearings. Another thing to avoid is blipping the throttle as you turn off the engine as all this does is get the turbo spinning at high rpm and then you turn off the engine which effectively shuts off the lubrication while the turbo continues to spin for a short while - not good for the bearings as the temperature also increases 'cos the cooling shuts down!
Ideally, if you can leave the engine at idle for a short while before turning it off, this allows the turbo to 'settle' and cool down.
Re;- turbo problems, oil changes are hugely important as a cause of failure can be poor oil feed to the turbos' bearings. Dirty oil means dirty oilways which can get clogged preventing or hindering supply of vital lubrication to the bearings. Another thing to avoid is blipping the throttle as you turn off the engine as all this does is get the turbo spinning at high rpm and then you turn off the engine which effectively shuts off the lubrication while the turbo continues to spin for a short while - not good for the bearings as the temperature also increases 'cos the cooling shuts down!
Ideally, if you can leave the engine at idle for a short while before turning it off, this allows the turbo to 'settle' and cool down.
On the subject of turbo failures, all of the advice that used to be given for owners of powerful turbo petrol-engined cars applies equally to turbo Diesels.
Owners of the original turbocharged Sierra Cosworth were advised to do regular oil changes using a quality synthetic oil, and also to let the engine idle for a minute or so after a good thrash, to let the turbo speed run down to normal.
Turbo failures were often caused by poor maintenance/cheap oil, and by drivers switching the engine off immediately after a hard, fast drive. What was happening was that, after a hard drive, the turbo was still spinning fast, and it was also very hot.
When the engine was switched off immediately, the pressurised oil feed to the turbo stopped, but hot turbo was still spinning fast. This had 2 effects. Firstly, the turbo bearings were starved of oil when they most needed it, causing wear and failure. Secondly, the hot turbo then cooked the stationary oil in the small-bore oil feed pipes, causing it to carbonize over time and block the oil passageways to the turbo bearings, leading to spectacular turbo falure later on as the impeller span up to nearly 100,000rpm with no bearing lubrication.
A turbo Diesel is no different, fundamentally, to a turbo petrol when it comes to looking after the health of the turbo. Modern turbo Diesels are very powerful, with fast-spinning turbo impellers that also can get very hot after a fast drive.
It may not always be stated in the owners handbook of a turbo Diesel, but it is good practice to ensure regular oil changes, using a good quality synthetic, and at the end of your journey to let the engine idle for a minute without touching the throttle, and let the turbo speed return to normal whilst it is still being fed with pressurised oil.
This may not guarantee that the turbo will never fail, but it will certainly minimise any damage unwittingly 'self-inflicted' by the vehicle owner, who may not be fully aware of the best practices for turbo care.
Certainly the vehicle manufacturers should be making a point of mentioning this in owners handbooks, as it would benefit not only the vehicle owners, but also the manufacturers would minimise paying out expensive warranty work on customer's vehicles, which has to be to the benefit of everyone.
Owners of the original turbocharged Sierra Cosworth were advised to do regular oil changes using a quality synthetic oil, and also to let the engine idle for a minute or so after a good thrash, to let the turbo speed run down to normal.
Turbo failures were often caused by poor maintenance/cheap oil, and by drivers switching the engine off immediately after a hard, fast drive. What was happening was that, after a hard drive, the turbo was still spinning fast, and it was also very hot.
When the engine was switched off immediately, the pressurised oil feed to the turbo stopped, but hot turbo was still spinning fast. This had 2 effects. Firstly, the turbo bearings were starved of oil when they most needed it, causing wear and failure. Secondly, the hot turbo then cooked the stationary oil in the small-bore oil feed pipes, causing it to carbonize over time and block the oil passageways to the turbo bearings, leading to spectacular turbo falure later on as the impeller span up to nearly 100,000rpm with no bearing lubrication.
A turbo Diesel is no different, fundamentally, to a turbo petrol when it comes to looking after the health of the turbo. Modern turbo Diesels are very powerful, with fast-spinning turbo impellers that also can get very hot after a fast drive.
It may not always be stated in the owners handbook of a turbo Diesel, but it is good practice to ensure regular oil changes, using a good quality synthetic, and at the end of your journey to let the engine idle for a minute without touching the throttle, and let the turbo speed return to normal whilst it is still being fed with pressurised oil.
This may not guarantee that the turbo will never fail, but it will certainly minimise any damage unwittingly 'self-inflicted' by the vehicle owner, who may not be fully aware of the best practices for turbo care.
Certainly the vehicle manufacturers should be making a point of mentioning this in owners handbooks, as it would benefit not only the vehicle owners, but also the manufacturers would minimise paying out expensive warranty work on customer's vehicles, which has to be to the benefit of everyone.
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