330d?

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I'm looking at getting a new car, and the BMW 330D seems to be quite a nice looking and efficient car.. Is there anything I need to know?

I'm looking at THIS one or THIS one in particular.. I don't have much knowledge at all, so I'm hoping Fox or someone will either tell me to put up or shut up :D Price reasonable? That kinda mileage OK? £8k is max budget.

EDIT: If you know any better..? Must be automatic, ideally diesel.. Black or dark grey with xenon headlights preferred :P
 
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None of those look that great, do you really want to be spending £8k in an 8 year old near 100k mile car with no iDrive just because its a diesel BMW?
 
[TW]Fox;25352146 said:
None of those look that great, do you really want to be spending £8k in an 8 year old near 100k mile car with no iDrive just because its a diesel BMW?
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Well, that's where I'm hoping for some advice! What would you spend £8k on that's automatic as necessity? :)

Edit again: A 5 or 6-series of the same kind of power and efficiency will also do the trick if necessary, doesn't have to be a 3-series.
 
If you want efficiency then presumably you are after low running costs. For this reason I can't think why an 8 year old 330d is the right choice. I'd be after something much, much newer otherwise you will just end up spending the fuel savings (not that there will be much on a 330d automatic) on repair bills and maintenance costs.

What about a diesel Passat?
 
[TW]Fox;25352189 said:
If you want efficiency then presumably you are after low running costs. For this reason I can't think why an 8 year old 330d is the right choice. I'd be after something much, much newer otherwise you will just end up spending the fuel savings (not that there will be much on a 330d automatic) on repair bills and maintenance costs.

What about a diesel Passat?
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They're lovely cars, and I'll have a look around. However, if you were going to go £8k on the BMW route, which would you recommend?
 
RedvGreen said:
Are you after size, economy, performance or status?
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At least 3-series size, and economy, performance and status are all factors.

paradigm said:
I think Fox is trying to say that for £8k, and if running costs were a concern, he wouldn't spend £8k on a BMW of any type.

What about a Skoda Superb? http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classif...w,new/price-to/8500/price-from/7000?logcode=p
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Doesn't fulfil the status part of my needs unfortunately :( Although I know Skoda's are good car's nowadays..
 
You're asking a bit much then, in my opinion.

Realistically, an old BMW will cost a fair whack in extended warranty/repair - you may as well add that onto the initial lump sum you are prepared to pay, to get a far newer and more efficient model. Too many colleagues, friends and I bet folk on this forum (although they'd be too proud to admit, perhaps) have bought a 'steal' that turned out to be too good to be true. An initial £10-12k up front to save them £5-6k on a newer model turned out to be weeks of carless inconvenience and untold expense at gearbox, suspension and electrical issues. (not BMW specific here).

I'm sure people will be sick of me saying it, but i've got a new 330D and it is quite an incredible car. I've not driven any 3-series older than 2yrs, so cannot comment on much about their comparison, but i'm managing upto 58MPG in mine. Performance is pretty mental too for what is a diesel engine!

More money in = less hassle down the line (within limits).
 
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I'd take the Superb over a Passat any day of the week.

I think you may need to forgo either the badge, the gearbox, or the performance if you want to fit it all in under £8k, and it not have interstellar mileage, be a rubbish spec, or be old.
 
RedvGreen said:
You're asking a bit much then, in my opinion.

Realistically, an old BMW will cost a fair whack in extended warranty/repair - you may as well add that onto the initial lump sum you are prepared to pay, to get a far newer and more efficient model. Too many colleagues, friends and I bet folk on this forum (although they'd be too proud to admit, perhaps) have bought a 'steal' that turned out to be too good to be true. An initial £10-12k up front to save them £5-6k on a newer model turned out to be weeks of carless inconvenience and untold expense at gearbox, suspension and electrical issues. (not BMW specific here).

I'm sure people will be sick of me saying it, but i've got a new 330D and it is quite an incredible car. I've not driven any 3-series older than 2yrs, so cannot comment on much about their comparison, but i'm managing upto 58MPG in mine. Performance is pretty mental too for what is a diesel engine!

More money in = less hassle down the line (within limits).
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A warranty hasn't been in my thoughts... I've never bought a car with one (Albeit not as expensive and/or BMW). How essential would you consider this to be..?

geekman said:
How many miles are you going to be doing per year?
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Depends on my job.. At the moment, a lot, but hopefully around 15k in the near future.

paradigm said:
I'd take the Superb over a Passat any day of the week.

I think you may need to forgo either the badge, the gearbox, or the performance if you want to fit it all in under £8k, and it not have interstellar mileage, be a rubbish spec, or be old.
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Hmm.. It may sound silly to many, but I don't want to say I drive a Skoda... I'm 23... Doesn't feel right :(
 
mattyprice4004 said:
Status? A lot of new 3 series seem to be sales rep company cars.
Some status, that :p
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Ha, well maybe I'm a sales rep?! I'm not, but.. :D

Regarding the other cars: My Dad has a Passat and my neighbour (~60 years old) has a Superb! I don't know anyone under 30 with a Superb actually! :p
 
I'm not saying don't buy a BMW for £8k, I did exactly that, I'm saying don't do it if low running costs and efficiency are much of a concern, thats all. They are old and complex cars in your budget, especially the better models like the 330d.
 
I'd be tempted to get a mint E46 330i and use the rest of your budget for running costs. 15k is quite a lot to do in a 3.0 petrol car, but I do more than that in my car and it hasn't bankrupted me (yet!)

That's about the least risky way I can think of if you want to get into a decent BMW for that money anyway.
 
Listen to Fox here. The thing about a 330d at £8K is that it's going to be coming up needing bits refreshed - the kind of bits that could quickly turn an £8K car into a £9K+ car.

The petrol offerings are generally more reliable at this price point. Also, your requirement for an automatic only adds to the complexity of any car you look to purchase.

The thing about the Superb is that, if you can see past the badge, it really is a good car - you can get a good example into your budget and the parts and work will be a lot cheaper than the BMW.

If you must get a 330d for £8K then by all means go for it - just keep another 10-20% of that budget aside for maintenance. :p
 
I don't know what other people think about them but what about looking at a Mazda6 TS2 2.0d? I have had mine for almost 2 years now and done just over 50k miles in that time. Not a single component has gone wrong, although I should mention that I have had it serviced every 12.5k miles to keep it in good condition. I bought it for £6700 with 54k miles on the clock.
 
If your heart is set on a 330d for 8k then have one, you only live once.. just make sure you have a couple of grand spare in the bank just in case it throws a big bill at you (which it probably will at some point).
 
This might be a ridiculous suggestion if you're badge driven but you could get quite a decent ovlov v50 for the money, I actually quite like them though they have no real sporting pretentions. Look good too with the r design tat on them. If it must be diesel the d5 is relatively interesting, nice little car to trundle up and down the motorway in
 
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