BMW E46 330i or 330d ??

xtremedetailz · 20 Jul 2010 at 22:19

[TW]Fox;16985960 said:
So dont start now, stick with what they do best.

Diesel BMW's are for people doing 20k a year or who have a good warranty.

So in all honesty you would take the 330i over the 330d regardless ?

Morba · 20 Jul 2010 at 22:19

Wants economy when doing little mileage but looking at a 3ltr engine. Excellent

[TW]Fox · 20 Jul 2010 at 22:20

xtremedetailz said:
So in all honesty you would take the 330i over the 330d regardless ?

Absolutely - the two cars I drive the most are a 530d and a 530i and nothing would make me chose the 530d over the 530i unless I suddenly needed to cover massive mileage. The 530i is quicker, sounds better, is more fun to drive and doesnt have an exploding turbocharger or injectors. Just an exploding cooling system instead, which is a bit cheaper

Morba · 20 Jul 2010 at 22:21

Injectors don't explode! They just go to **** one after the other

xtremedetailz · 20 Jul 2010 at 22:22

[TW]Fox;16986006 said:
They were in production for like... 4 years. Did you buy a 96 then a 97 then a 98 then a 99 or something?

It's not bad - 35mpg on a Motorrway run, 28-32mpg on a mixed run, 22ish around town.

And yes it did go like that

my last one was a late 99 model.

And yes the SMG box made the car worse on fuel.

And guys i am not a troll so stop posting unless you are commenting on the thread.

paradigm · 20 Jul 2010 at 22:23

xtremedetailz said:
And yes the SMG box made the car worse on fuel.

Not on any of the ones I drove.

xtremedetailz · 20 Jul 2010 at 22:24

well thanks guys for your input, it has helped a lot.

i never knew there was so many issues regarding the 330d.

NickXX · 20 Jul 2010 at 22:24

xtremedetailz said:
So in all honesty you would take the 330i over the 330d regardless ?

I had a 330d before and would take another over the 330i. Very good ownership experience for the 3 years that I had it.

[TW]Fox · 20 Jul 2010 at 22:25

NickXX said:
I had a 330d before and would take another over the 330i. Very good ownership experience for the 3 years that I had it.

You took it from 3 years to 6 years old. I would imagine this is an utterly different ownership experience to buying a 9 year old one.

Morba · 20 Jul 2010 at 22:25

There isn't so many. Not really.

xtremedetailz · 20 Jul 2010 at 22:25

paradigm said:
Not on any of the ones I drove.

My last one was around 5mpg less with it having the SMG box.

It was very weird to get used to also with it being a manual box and clutch but changes like an auto.

[TW]Fox · 20 Jul 2010 at 22:26

xtremedetailz said:
i never knew there was so many issues regarding the 330d.

There are not so many - there are two (Three if you count the swirl flaps on the automatic). They are just reasonably big issues, thats all.

paradigm · 20 Jul 2010 at 22:26

xtremedetailz said:
i never knew there was so many issues regarding the 330d.

Such as?

The ONLY issue I can think of (and it hasn't been mentioned as far as I was aware) is the swirlflap issue. Which wouldn't affect you anyway as you can't afford a facelifted 204PS M57TU engined car, and you don't want an auto.

All the other foibles would be commonplace on most modern high-pressure diesels, from any marque.

xtremedetailz · 20 Jul 2010 at 22:27

Morba said:
There isn't so many. Not really.

no just big expensive ones

Morba · 20 Jul 2010 at 22:28

xtremedetailz said:
My last one was around 5mpg less with it having the SMG box.

It was very weird to get used to also with it being a manual box and clutch but changes like an auto.

You do 10k a year, does 5mpg really make that much difference to you?!
Smg with clutch? Thought these didn't have a clutch pedal?

Morba · 20 Jul 2010 at 22:29

xtremedetailz said:
no just big expensive ones

No more expensive than dual vanos replacement. Far cheaper tbh. Injectors are £250ish fitted, turbos a few hundred more.

paradigm · 20 Jul 2010 at 22:29

xtremedetailz said:
It was very weird to get used to also with it being a manual box and clutch but changes like an auto.

What?

Changes clutch like an auto? You realise an auto has NO CLUTCH.

It is just a hydraulically operated clutch. The reason people find them weird to get used to is that they try to drive them like a manual. Don't. Keep your foot on the throttle and change gear, don't try lifting off during the change or you end up with that infamous jolting people assume is the SMGI style.

Then again, as an owner of one, I'd have expected you to know this.

Six6siX · 20 Jul 2010 at 22:29

Slight hijack: Whilst on the subject of the petrol sounding better, what can be done to make the sound of the 6pot more noticeable? (I don't mean 2JZ style, just a little more... obvious....?!)

[TW]Fox · 20 Jul 2010 at 22:30

paradigm said:
All the other foibles would be commonplace on most modern high-pressure diesels, from any marque.

Absolutely. BMW's 3.0'd is not some sort of unreliable disaster - it's one of the best turbodiesel engines ever made - but unfortunately being a commonrail turbodiesel it shares the achillies heel of other commonrail turbodiesels. They are not unique BMW issues at all and buying somebody elses diesel doesnt stand you in any better stead for avoiding issues.

It's a diesel thing, not a 330d thing.

A real shame because up until the commonrail revolution, the older diesels literally were massively reliable. They were also massively noisy and slow as well, sadly the very innovations which have made them smoother, more powerful and more refined have also taken away the reliability for which they became known.

xtremedetailz · 20 Jul 2010 at 22:30

paradigm said:
Such as?

The ONLY issue I can think of (and it hasn't been mentioned as far as I was aware) is the swirlflap issue. Which wouldn't affect you anyway as you can't afford a facelifted 204PS M57TU engined car, and you don't want an auto.

All the other foibles would be commonplace on most modern high-pressure diesels, from any marque.

Its not that i cant afford a newer one, i just assumed that 6k would be enough for a decent one.