BMW E46 320D SE Anyone got one or know much about? good car?

[mboon]

As above, looking to buy one but hearing lots of storys of EGR valves, Maf sensors and failed turbos.
Seen a few I like but not sure where too look?
Had two E36 M3's and never owned a diesel before, driven loads for work but never owned.

Any advise tips or hints would be great, also if anyone is selling one at a cheap rate please let me know.

PS What sort of MPG are the 330d getting? This car is purely to take the kids around in. The summer car will be tucked away which this does all the leg work.

thanks
Mark

[Tonberry]

If you do go for one, try for 2001 onwards as they have 150bhp.

[DannyVTS]

Look into swirl flaps and also I think there is a weak spot on the turbo which causes them to mash themselves up

[mboon]

Tonberry said:

If you do go for one, try for 2001 onwards as they have 150bhp.

I heard the 150bhp ones suffer from turbo failer?
Is there much difference in straight line grunt compared to the 136bhp one?
thanks

[mboon]

DannyVTS said:

Look into swirl flaps and also I think there is a weak spot on the turbo which causes them to mash themselves up

Am I right in saying the pre 150bhp cars never had the swirl flaps? This is what I have been told but am not sure it is right.

Heard lots of horror stories on the swirl flaps

Also, would I be better of looking at a MK4 Golf GT TDI? Maybe 130/150PD? Ideas on them would be good too as I am torn between the two but going for the BMW as I like my BMW's.

[j44esd]

Hmm, tricky. I had one, a 2000 'W' with the 136bhp engine - fantastic motor (Albeit a touch slow), never had a thing go wrong. Based on that I recommended one to a friend, he has had it 6mths (A '54 plate) - it has just come back from the garage with a £2400 repair bill after the swirl flaps went and a piston ate them. Apparently you can have them removed, there is a firm that advertises kits on the internet - but I cannot alas remember their name.

I don't want to start the swirl flap/blown out of all proportion on the internet argument again, I just want to share with you two first hand (Well, one second but very closehand) experiences.

YMMV

(I am a big BMW fan, but just want to throw this out there, so please don't think I'm trolling)

[littleredrooster]

mboon said:

PS What sort of MPG are the 330d getting? This car is purely to take the kids around in. The summer car will be tucked away which this does all the leg work.

thanks
Mark

My 330d auto gives about 36-37 commuting and 45-46 at (in)decent motorway speeds. I'm not known for a delicate right foot, however.

[Patrick Bateman]

Swirl flaps are easy enough to remove, not as if it's an essential feature of the car you can't get rid of.

[crolandc]

Have had 03 320d now for 3years, got it with 72thou on and put modified crankcase filter on as the old unmodded filter had clogged up and was pulling oil through turbo waistgate this fixed the oil smoke problem, also removed the flaps. Car has done 10004 mls now with no problems, very good car and allways get +50mpg on a run, 35 knocking about hth

[Tonberry]

Blanking Plates - http://www.pmwltd.co.uk/

Info on the swirl flap issue - http://www.bmwswirlflaps.co.uk/

To be fair, a lot of modern disel engines have issues with injectors, turbos and swirl flaps. You just need to read as much as possible into the issues.

I personally would go for a later 320D despite the issues as they tend to have sorted other faults with the models through life cycles revisions.

[mboon]

Cheers for the experience chaps.

I guess to stay away from remapped cars?

Going to thrown this one in as well.

330i Sport v a 320d?

How many miles to the gallon would a 330I Sport 2002 get?
Found a cheap one with FBWMSH but high miles, lovely spec and condition and thinking I could get this car for cheaper than a standard 320D SE spec?
Never had to buy a car which relates to low fuel consumption and I think this is why the 330i has caught my eye...??

[6potdave]

I had a bad experience of one, me and the missus bought one in touring format to cart the dogs around. The car itself was lovely, a sport model with almost every BMW optional extra fitted.

However after about 6 months the problems started, oil breather failed, turbo went, intercooler needed replacing, various sensors and 4 injectors later the repair bill was nearing £3K - the idea behind the purchase was to buy something that was nice to drive, practical and economical. In practice we would have been better off with a 330i! I was told these engines are pretty dire until 2005 when these issues were addressed. If you don't believe me google 320d engine problems and you will see what I mean.

In fact when we advertised ours I was very honest on the ad and put in all the work that had been done, I had 2 phonecalls from people not wanting to buy it but looking for advice as theirs was going through the same issues! I love BMW's and I'm sure I will own many more but only the 6/8/10 cylinder petrols for me now thanks!

[Blue Oval84]

mboon said:

How many miles to the gallon would a 330I Sport 2002 get?

How long's a piece of string really!

To give a clue we'd need to know how long your commute is, what type of roads etc.

On a motorway clear run expect 35mpg from a 330i though if that helps?

[mboon]

Cheers guys, just looked up the 330i Sport and it seems on a combined run it will do around 40mpg which is better than my M3 Evo which struggles to do 30mpg on a long run.

So would it be a bad idea to use a 330I for a family car compared to the 320d?

Hearing more and more stories of people replacing lots of bits and the price of bits for them seems very high for a diesel car that has been sold in bulk?

Would I be better off getting a 330I straight 6 and not worry about the problems the 320d has and just pay the extra in fuel?

Last thing I want is to buy the car and it has to keep going in the garage getting bits replaced at BMW prices. I know with any car it could happen but seems to be less to go wrong on the straight 6?

[6potdave]

mboon said:

Cheers guys, just looked up the 330i Sport and it seems on a combined run it will do around 40mpg which is better than my M3 Evo which struggles to do 30mpg on a long run.

So would it be a bad idea to use a 330I for a family car compared to the 320d?

Hearing more and more stories of people replacing lots of bits and the price of bits for them seems very high for a diesel car that has been sold in bulk?

Would I be better off getting a 330I straight 6 and not worry about the problems the 320d has and just pay the extra in fuel?

Last thing I want is to buy the car and it has to keep going in the garage getting bits replaced at BMW prices. I know with any car it could happen but seems to be less to go wrong on the straight 6?

Yes with the offset of fixing all the problems on a 320d you could easily afford the fuel for a 330i. I would expect to get late 20's, early 30's on the mpg side of things depending how you drive. The straight 6's are reasonably unproblematic, if you can afford to run an M3 a 330 will be like getting a payrise!

[*Al*]

I have a 2003 330Ci manual, the straight 6 engines are fantastic, plenty of grunt when you want it and fairly economical dependant on how you drive of course. At around 70mph on cruise i can get just under 40mpg and lightfooted around town (uncongested)28-30 mpg. Drive aggressively and the juice disappears! Great cars though. I had a Passat diesel (06) never again.

Edited by *Al* on Tuesday 26th April 12:27

[Sir_Dave]

From October to February i had a 330ci Sport. Averaged 28mpg on my 95 mile daily commute. Thats sitting at 80 leptons.

Got fed up going to the petrol station every 4 days so bought a 320d Sport instead.

Currently averaging 46mpg on the same journey. Have removed the swirl flaps, cleaned the EGR & fitted the later model oil seperator. Total cost about £80.

If it was my sole car id be quite happy with a 330d, but i have a Clio Trophy for fun, so wanted maximum economy with the commuting barge.