swap or not to swap

[a4cabrio]

i own a 2005 55 audi a4 s line 2.5tdi cabriolet in aqua blue, its got 93500 miles on it, full service history, full black leather, audi symphony 6 cd front loader, bose, heated electric seats, electric mirrors, cool box in the glove box, audi phone prep, rear parking sensore.

i might swap it for a 2004 54 bmw 330cd m sport in silver, 60000 miles, fsh, heated electric black leather seats, tv/sat nav, parking sensors, bi-xenons, interior light pack,

now i dont know much about bmw's but i do like them and i do like this car, we have both valued our cars near enough the same, now in your opinion, would you guys think this was a good swap or not????????

i dont know the guy with the bmw

[E21_Ross]

auto or manual? i'd personally take the 330cd, more poke, better engine in general, better looks (IMO). HOWEVER, you really need to get an idea of how well the car has been cared for to be honest. a doggy one isn't nice. turbos can blow, auto boxes can blow (manuals don't seem to suffer any issues, as you'd expect). having said that, the same can be said for the audi.

choice is yours at the end of the day. no harm taking it for a drive and seeing what you reckon. does it have to be another diesel conv. though?

[a4cabrio]

sorry i should have put the audi (mine) is a manual and the bmw is a auto, bmw is a coupe not a convertible.

i am getting 38-40mpg from my audi, with the bmw being an auto would i get any where near that???

if i was sure i wanted to swap i was going to take it to a bmw specialist and get them to give it a once over, would they be able to tell if its a good car or not??

[sialdo]

I get 45mpg+ on my 330D although it's an E90 not a E46

[E21_Ross]

a4cabrio said:

sorry i should have put the audi (mine) is a manual and the bmw is a auto, bmw is a coupe not a convertible.

auto boxes are known for issues, but 60k isn't high mileage, check the history. if the gearbox oil has never been done, and you get it, get it done asap IMO.

a4cabrio said:

i am getting 38-40mpg from my audi, with the bmw being an auto would i get any where near that???

depends on types of roads and driving styles. my dad used to have a 330d saloon manual (6 speed box) and got over 40mpg without driving like miss daisy, not sure about the auto though, maybe a few mpg less

a4cabrio said:

if i was sure i wanted to swap i was going to take it to a bmw specialist and get them to give it a once over, would they be able to tell if its a good car or not??

bloody right they should, wouldn't be a good indy otherwise would they!

[a4cabrio]

thanks e21 ross, appreciate your help, i think i will go and check the car out and take it from there.

the only thing i am not too sure of is the fact its an auto, i prefer manuals.

[smileymikey]

The auto option on the Beemer is the muts nuts...and if you get a remap, they go like the wind

[a4cabrio]

would i be right in thinking the car i am looking at would be the 204bhp version??? i dont think i would bother with a remap, would prefer to keep it standard

[E21_Ross]

a4cabrio said:

would i be right in thinking the car i am looking at would be the 204bhp version??? i dont think i would bother with a remap, would prefer to keep it standard

yes it would be, the 204bhp update come some time early in 2003.

[Gunk]

The E46 is a better drive but in my opinion the looks are starting to look a bit dated, your Audi is a prettier fresher design and you know the history, I have never seen the advantage of a sideways move it usually ends in tears, I would appreciate what you have got, not what you havent!

[E21_Ross]

Gunk said:

The E46 is a better drive but in my opinion the looks are starting to look a bit dated, your Audi is a prettier fresher design and you know the history, I have never seen the advantage of a sideways move it usually ends in tears, I would appreciate what you have got, not what you havent!

you think? i think the facelifted E46 still looks pretty fresh. i think it's dated much, much better than the current 3 series! i also think it's one of the best bits of BMW design for a long time. my own opinion though of course. i think it looks much sleeker than the old A4 design!

[Jw Vw]

E21_Ross said:

Gunk said:

The E46 is a better drive but in my opinion the looks are starting to look a bit dated, your Audi is a prettier fresher design and you know the history, I have never seen the advantage of a sideways move it usually ends in tears, I would appreciate what you have got, not what you havent!

you think? i think the facelifted E46 still looks pretty fresh. i think it's dated much, much better than the current 3 series! i also think it's one of the best bits of BMW design for a long time. my own opinion though of course. i think it looks much sleeker than the old A4 design!

I agree, the E46's especially post facelift look fantastic. Still looks classy IMO.

[a4cabrio]

thanks for all the advice and help from you guys, i have decided to keep my car, as has been pointed out i know the history of my car and on another forum people have said the offer seems too good to be true and the car may have hidden problems, thanks again

plus my girlfriend wasnt happy about me getting rid of my car after i spent ageslooking for it lol

[E21_Ross]

Jw Vw said:

E21_Ross said:

Gunk said:

The E46 is a better drive but in my opinion the looks are starting to look a bit dated, your Audi is a prettier fresher design and you know the history, I have never seen the advantage of a sideways move it usually ends in tears, I would appreciate what you have got, not what you havent!

you think? i think the facelifted E46 still looks pretty fresh. i think it's dated much, much better than the current 3 series! i also think it's one of the best bits of BMW design for a long time. my own opinion though of course. i think it looks much sleeker than the old A4 design!

I agree, the E46's especially post facelift look fantastic. Still looks classy IMO.

yup, the pre-facelift has dated a lot, lot worse than the post facelift. i think it still looks fantastic:



stunning car. having said about pre-facelift versions, the M3's don't seem to have aged too badly IMO.

[E21_Ross]

oh, OP - you're probably a little like me, afraid of changing cars because A) you like your car, and B) because you know you're car, how it's been cared for, what its faults (or lack of) are etc.

if i were to go for a 330d, it'd have to be a manual. 6 speeds instead of 5, better economy as well as performance.

[Stu R]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Totally agree. The facelift just smacks of making tweaks because the product life cycle dictates so, and they ran out of imagination.

[matthewg]

Stu R said:

Totally agree. The facelift just smacks of making tweaks because the product life cycle dictates so, and they ran out of imagination.

Agree again, really nice car.

[Gunk]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

I agree I used to own a pre-facelift 330i touring and a 330ci convertible I think the design of both was more subtle and less contrived, as the original designer intended.

[Jobbo]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

I notice you haven't opined on whether the facelifted version looks dated though... my view is that the details are what makes a car look old now, and on the E46, the pre-facelift headlights (whether saloon or coupe) look a decade older than the post-facelift ones.

As for the facelift losing the pukka quad lamp treatment - both saloon and coupe pre- and post- facelift have twin lamps under a single lens cover so I'm not sure what you mean.

[E21_Ross]

Jobbo said:

As for the facelift losing the pukka quad lamp treatment - both saloon and coupe pre- and post- facelift have twin lamps under a single lens cover so I'm not sure what you mean.

yup, the last 3 series to truly have 4 distinct lights would have been the E30. so that's just the E21 and E30 which has quad lamps (of the 3 series) so there have been more 3 series without quad lamps than with....

however, i'll admit, just about every model pre 3/5/7 series (e.g. 2002, E9 coupe, E3 limo etc) all had 4 separate lamps so i guess it's history to a certain extent, but BMW haven't bee doing that for the last 15 years i guess (since the E34 5 series).