BMW 330d buying advice please

[carlito]

In the market for a 330d with a budget of around 6-8k to spend.

Prefer an SE spec touring or SPORT.

- common problems to look out for when viewing

- any other advice

All contributions appriciated.

Jay.

[[TW]Fox]

Well finding your prefered trim level wont be hard - they only did either SE or Sport for the 330d. You wont get a Sport for this budget and to be honest I would expect any SE's you find to be on the shabby side as well. This isnt really enough money for a nice one, and you wouldnt want a ropey one would you?

[Doctor Bone]

Get a petrol instead. A diesel in that price bracket will have higher mileage and therefore you'll be prone to a few bills, more so than the petrol. Turbo failure is not uncommon, the diesels will go through suspension components faster than the petrol, like bushes etc. And do you do enough miles to warrant a diesel? Remember the diesels do 40mpg and the petrols do 30mpg on average.

[NickB12]

Probably be an auto, esp the Touring.

I think the engine was uprated from 184 to 204 bhp on about 02 plate.

I found the SE ride a bit soft. Only prob I had was headlight washer flaps not closing, which drained the bottle. Not much, but needed bumper off, so dearer than you might expect.

[VerySideways]

Without trying to breach PH rules, i am selling a 2001 Y 330d SE Touring with 70k, FSH, and leather for £9k. Having looked around mine is priced VERY competetively.

If you're spending less than £8k i'd lean towards a 330i and live with the fuel consumption - a mate has a very similar car to mine but his is a 330i, he gets 22 to 31 mpg, in equivalent driving i get 33 to 43mpg. Mine's quicker above 30mph, his is much quicker off the line.

[The_Doc]

NickB12 said:

Probably be an auto, esp the Touring.

I think the engine was uprated from 184 to 204 bhp on about 02 plate.

'03 = 204bhp

[carlito]

Well after searching the classifieds thoroughly and viewing a few, I think I've ended up with a great example:

330d touring SE with factory ordered:

Black montana sport leather
MV alloys
small screen T.V upgrade
PDC
Harmon Kardon sound upgrade
Titan silver
sport suspension

115k miles with full BMW history mainly from one dealer
2 prev owners
all 3 keys

Paid £5800.00

Hav'nt had a chance to drive it much as just bought it down from Nottingham yesterday but cruised really well and gave me around 150 miles on a quater tank!!!

big difference from the E39 540i we've been in for the past couple of years!!

will get some pics up soon.

[Vee]

Decent price, what reg ?

I'm looking at saloons at the moment.
There is a corking Grey one in the classifieds but the guy wants a little too much. Going to have to wait a while I think.

[carlito]

He Vee

It's a late 2000 on an X plate.

Just looking on on the classifieds today to compare and definatly nothing around with this spec at this price.

I found finding one with a decent spec, even leather was difficult with the tourer's.

absolutly cracking car though so keep looking!

[kentmotorcompany]

The_Doc said:

NickB12 said:

Probably be an auto, esp the Touring.

I think the engine was uprated from 184 to 204 bhp on about 02 plate.

'03 = 204bhp

Late 03/early 04, depending on build date.

It took me 6 weeks to find a particular spec one of these for a customer of mine.

Yes these cars are very hard to find. I just sold one today 01/51 65k Auto, Leather, Sunroof, Heated Seats, Etc. £10k

Im going to try and buy another one tomorrow. It wont be easy though, even amongst trader there is fearce competition to buy good examples of these cars.

The one you bought sounds exceptionally cheap. Hope it is a good one.

[Vee]

kentmotorcompany said:

Yes these cars are very hard to find. I just sold one today 01/51 65k Auto, Leather, Sunroof, Heated Seats, Etc. £10k

Was that a 330d sport ?
If you get any in black with black leather, I'm after one. Auto/manual not important.

[Jack Jones]

Hello
I'm putting my 330d Sport saloon up for sale next week, its an 03 204bhp manual in black with black leather, 77k miles fbmwsh, sat nav / tv, bluetooth, factory sr, 6 cd changer, etc etc. Going to be looking for £12,750. It will be on here with pictures next Monday

[VerySideways]

Good luck - with the market the way it is at the moment i think you're being optimistic...

[kentmotorcompany]

Jack Jones said:

Hello
I'm putting my 330d Sport saloon up for sale next week, its an 03 204bhp manual in black with black leather, 77k miles fbmwsh, sat nav / tv, bluetooth, factory sr, 6 cd changer, etc etc. Going to be looking for £12,750. It will be on here with pictures next Monday

What month was your car registered in 03? How do you know it is 204bhp?

[Welshbeef]

VerySideways said:

Good luck - with the market the way it is at the moment i think you're being optimistic...

Looking at Autotrader that seems to be a fairly reasonable price to start at.

Having said that I have been looking for a while at te 330d Sports and I have certainly noticed the sa\me cars on there for ages now.

[VerySideways]

Sorry, perhaps i should have clarified. I have just sold a 330d and i originally marketed it at what appeared to be a reasonable price and it simply didn't go. I called at least a dozen other advertisers of similar cars and NONE of them had sold after weeks... so i dropped my price a few hundred quid and i got half a dozen callers and the first person to see the car bought it.

I have heard from many many sources that it's definitely a buyer's market right now.

Thankfully i also bought the replacement for less than i had expected.

[Vee]

Welshbeef said:

VerySideways said:

Good luck - with the market the way it is at the moment i think you're being optimistic...

Looking at Autotrader that seems to be a fairly reasonable price to start at.

Having said that I have been looking for a while at te 330d Sports and I have certainly noticed the sa\me cars on there for ages now.

Agreed - although sought after, I don't believe they sell for anywhere near the asking price.
Especially when you consider traders like KMC are letting low mileage, FSH ones go for just £10k (accept that it is 184 bhp and up to 2 years older).
I've contacted various sellers with the spec that I want over the past 4 months as there is no point me wasting mine or the sellers time if they're not interested in the kind of money I want to pay, which I believe is realistic.
The ones willing to move on price seem to have sold, those who are not are still floating around either on AT and/or eBay.

Edited by Vee on Friday 29th February 09:25

[Apache]

VerySideways said:

If you're spending less than £8k i'd lean towards a 330i and live with the fuel consumption - a mate has a very similar car to mine but his is a 330i, he gets 22 to 31 mpg, in equivalent driving i get 33 to 43mpg. Mine's quicker above 30mph, his is much quicker off the line.

If you factor in the price differential (5p a litre typically), then going for petrol does make sense. Has anyone calculated a cut-off where the economies of a diesel become pointless?

[VerySideways]

Problem is that the diesel is likely to cost more to service and has a slightly higher likelyhood of major things going wrong (i.e turbo), plus cost of diesel fuel is currently significantly higher then unleaded, and you'd always be second guessing secondhand values. But the fuel economy could make a big difference if you are doing a lot of mileage. But then resale on the diesel may be much better than the petrol, unless the price difference between the two continues to increase in which case i can see the diesel market taking a battering as more and more people have this exact conversation! Phew.

Much easier to figure out on a new car (330i/330d) after 3 years and 60k miles for example.

[kentmotorcompany]

Apache said:

VerySideways said:

If you're spending less than £8k i'd lean towards a 330i and live with the fuel consumption - a mate has a very similar car to mine but his is a 330i, he gets 22 to 31 mpg, in equivalent driving i get 33 to 43mpg. Mine's quicker above 30mph, his is much quicker off the line.

If you factor in the price differential (5p a litre typically), then going for petrol does make sense. Has anyone calculated a cut-off where the economies of a diesel become pointless?

I think the general opinion amongst the traders I talk to seems to be anythinng less than 12-15k a year, and the equalivlent petrol cars looks more attractive, especially German cars where the price difference between petrol and diesel can be about £2k.

Although you have to keep in mind that whatever extra you spend on a diesel, you will get some of that money back when you sell it again.

Like I have said before though, I have spoke to loads of people who insist on having a diesel because someone told them they were best. Even though they only do very low mileage, and they will get less car for their money.