E46 330 with 120k. Does it have much life left in it?

[mekondelta]

Looking at the above with full BMW service history at the weekend. What do you think? Might be a bit tired in some areas but could it be a faithful workhorse/steed?

[phumy]

Depends, depends, depends

Many things can affect it, Service History, condition, price, drive.....its really down to you to make the balance between all of this and only you can make that balance to justify whether it is worth it.

[boobles]

If it's been properly looked after then yes! It will go on for years & years.

[jrinns]

What will the engines go to. I have an e90 325 with 110k on the clock and it drives as new. I will do another 30k this year. If its been looked after then its fine.

[Martyn D]

330's are a great engine, with a good history is not even reached middle age

[Vee]

Diesel or Petrol ?
A diesel may require some expensive bits soon if my old one was anythign to go by.
A petrol will be going strong if correctly serviced.

[mekondelta]

Vee said:

Diesel or Petrol ?
A diesel may require some expensive bits soon if my old one was anythign to go by.
A petrol will be going strong if correctly serviced.

It's a petrol! :-)

[Vee]

mekondelta said:

Vee said:

Diesel or Petrol ?
A diesel may require some expensive bits soon if my old one was anythign to go by.
A petrol will be going strong if correctly serviced.

It's a petrol! :-)

My ownership experience of petrol is that given proper, timely servicing the engine is very reliable. Cam sensors, waterpumps & thermostats need changing regularly as they can fail.
Other than that mine had it's coils replaced under warranty at 18 months old.
Other things which always wear are the front control arms and bushes.
Decent tyres on the sport version are expensive.
Interiorwise, the standard Montana leather is rubbish, the Nappa is much nicer.

Edited by Vee on Friday 29th January 11:16

[mekondelta]

Vee said:

mekondelta said:

Vee said:

Diesel or Petrol ?
A diesel may require some expensive bits soon if my old one was anythign to go by.
A petrol will be going strong if correctly serviced.

It's a petrol! :-)

My ownership experience of petrol is that given proper, timely servicing the engine is very reliable. Waterpumps & thermostats need changing regularly as they can fail.
Other than that mine had it's coils replaced under warranty at 18 months old.
Other things which wear are the front control arms and bushes.
Interiorwise, the standard Montana leather is rubbish, the Nappa is much nicer.

Thanks Vee, it's an SE spec, so can I find out which leather it is?

[+49]

Probably not a silly statment to it's one of the most reliable and bullet proof engines BMW has produced.

Used in alot of the BMW range...3 Series .. 5 series ... x5 ... z4 .... Great engine,Got nominated for alot of those engine of the year award things aswell.

I've seen them with plus 200k,And so far have never heard of one letting of natural causes and they've been round since 2001 odd?..As mentioned before the waterpumps and thermo's go..but there nothing really majour and don't have a massive cost.

I'd say 120k is nothing for one.

Edited by +49 on Friday 29th January 11:21

[The_Doc]

my 330d is on 118k

auto gearbox went at 112k

£1700.

[tgr]

I agree with Vee. I have the 2.8 litre version of this engine in my E46 328i (M52TU which, enlarged and with a different intake became M54) I believe. It's super smooth, very reliable, and by 120k miles any inherent faults in the engine will have been found and fixed. M54s were renowned for burning oil, you should check how much oil it consumes as BMW states something absurd like 800 miles per litre is still ok. Otherwise the water pump advice is good. The cooling system for this engine (indeed across other models like E39) is a weak link. I took the precaution of changing the radiator, expansion tank and water pump when I bought mine. The low oil sensor was also on the blnk - a well known weakness - so I changed that too and did an oil service. Otherwise I believe that the six speed gearbox is slightly less reliable than the previous five speed which I think was taken from the E36 M3 so is well within the design tolerances. Just satisfy yourself it's ok when warm - being a bit difficult when cold I think is fair enough.

My indy gave me some good advice when I was looking. He said it won't be the mechanicals that will eventually kill the car, it'll be the electrics. So check everything works, no flickering lights on the dash.

[Goughie]

The_Doc said:

my 330d is on 118k

auto gearbox went at 112k

£1700.

And yet my 2000 330d is at 188K and hasn't missed a beat.

[sparks_E39]

My 528 had a gearbox go at 95k, previous owner paid around £3000 for a recondidtioned one! Could of got one fitted at nearly half that price I'm sure.

[drivin_me_nuts]

Ex colleague of mine ran one as a work donkey for 250k. Drove it sensibly, had one new clutche in the time but was uber cautious to service on the dot.

If it's got a decent service history at 120k at the right price it's hardly an issue.

TBO paint was more an issue. The front looked like it had been sandblasted and BMW paint is very poor at sustaining a motorway life. I was a passanger init at 200k and it still felt tight and it wore its miles very well.

[LordGrover]

I hope so - mine went through 120k last week. Recently got a clean bill of health from BMW at inspection 2 service.

Famous last words.