e46 330d buying advice
Discussion
I've just had a new auto gearbox at 111,000 miles, but apparantly they can go earlier. Now you've had it done you should relax. (I paid £1700 all in)
My other history on my 2002 auto 330d, modified to about 230hp
40k miles: Fuel sensor on tank went -£20
50k: lights around rear numberplate went -£50
85k: Inline fuel pump relay went -£5 (took ages to pin down the fault)
85k: Front bushes wore out -£120
90k: 2 injectors gave up (out of 6) -£750
111k: auto gearbox went -£1700.
that's about it. It's done 4 trips to the alps, 2 to Le Mans and 70k in my hands. Usually very trustworthy and refined.
My other history on my 2002 auto 330d, modified to about 230hp
40k miles: Fuel sensor on tank went -£20
50k: lights around rear numberplate went -£50
85k: Inline fuel pump relay went -£5 (took ages to pin down the fault)
85k: Front bushes wore out -£120
90k: 2 injectors gave up (out of 6) -£750
111k: auto gearbox went -£1700.
that's about it. It's done 4 trips to the alps, 2 to Le Mans and 70k in my hands. Usually very trustworthy and refined.
Just bought one myself last week. 54plate manual saloon. Absolutely cracking car, can be civilised or when you want an absolute riot. Am gonna keep mine standard for 12months then a remap should see 260bhp.
As said above watch out for the front arm bushes, best way to check them is to brake hard from high speed, if they're shot you'll get judder through the steering wheel.
Also you mentioned the swirl flaps. If you're any good at DIY car maintenance you can take them out and replace the actual flap with an M5 bolt and some loctite. Or, search for a company called PMW, they make alloy blanks to go in place of the swirl flap assembly.
Another thing you should check or replace as soon as you get the car is the crankcase breather. BMW changed the part from a loo roll type filter to a plastic vortex type, the loo roll filter can get clogged up whereas the vortex doesn't, a clogged filter can help in turbo destruction from what I hear. Best to get it changed for the sake of £19.
I've also been advised to get a decat for the first cat after the turbo. Not so much for power gains, more to drop the exhaust temperature close to the turbo, again prolonging the life of it.
Hope none of this puts you off by the way, it's more preventative maintenance than anything else, as I said before, an absolutely cracking car.
As said above watch out for the front arm bushes, best way to check them is to brake hard from high speed, if they're shot you'll get judder through the steering wheel.
Also you mentioned the swirl flaps. If you're any good at DIY car maintenance you can take them out and replace the actual flap with an M5 bolt and some loctite. Or, search for a company called PMW, they make alloy blanks to go in place of the swirl flap assembly.
Another thing you should check or replace as soon as you get the car is the crankcase breather. BMW changed the part from a loo roll type filter to a plastic vortex type, the loo roll filter can get clogged up whereas the vortex doesn't, a clogged filter can help in turbo destruction from what I hear. Best to get it changed for the sake of £19.
I've also been advised to get a decat for the first cat after the turbo. Not so much for power gains, more to drop the exhaust temperature close to the turbo, again prolonging the life of it.
Hope none of this puts you off by the way, it's more preventative maintenance than anything else, as I said before, an absolutely cracking car.
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