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It's a 10 year old car, stuff goes wrong, stuff wears out and the costs of these make things like perceived savings on road tax seem irrelevant. If high mpg and low road tax are a priority then something other than an old BMW diesel is a better bet.
BMW and M Power Owners
- Thread starter panthro
- Start date
I am not convinced that buying a post 2011 car will get you away from the 2L BMW diesel timing issues by the way, i know of several timing chains to have gone personally on cars newer than this over various models. If i personally have heard of a few then this must still be a common failing. It was enough (well, and that i would rather a larger engine anyway) that i didnt even consider the 4pot diesels when buying my last BMW.
That's a good argument in favour of getting a newer car, perhaps with a warranty. It doesn't necessarily sound like a good argument against getting a BMW.
Is it that other cars have fewer things that can go wrong, or when they do go wrong they are a cheaper fix? Obviously if all I cared about was tax/MPG I would get... a Fabia, or Fiesta, or something like that. The 320d seems to tick a lot of boxes in terms of being an estate, nice car to drive, etc as well.
There's nothing wrong with any 320d, they're economical, a decent amount of performance (for the vast majority), they generally look ok and are nice to drive. In terms of reliability it's like any older car, you need a bit of luck, and buy the best one you can find.
However, the 2008-2011 N47 engine is an area of concern. I had one for a while and the timing chain stuff did concern me, but it was never a problem thankfully. I know people only moan online if they have an issue, but it does seem a more serious and common problem than most people would ideally like.
I currently have the fabled M54 engine and while it's great, I don't buy into the fact the 20d BMW's are some sort of disgrace. It all depends what you want.
Carwow is showing a new order from £40,826, not bothered to run an actual quote to see what comes back with an individual colour and tech pack but i'd say you want to be exploring that avenue too - unless you would only order a new one in that colour with that pack and no other options anyway.
To be fair it was fabled in 2001 and is about as good as anything else around at that time.
It's still a great engine though.
Mine 430d is a N47 as far as i can tell and just reached 139500miles.
I've had it for the last 4 years - since 121000 miles - and alls good in the world.
New shocks and a wheel bearing being the only expense - apart from tyres and brakes.
Run flats are an experience but have saved me on a few occasions.
i did have it remapped to 215 ish bhp and is steady as a rock.
Like you say, people moan on the internet but rarely praise.
why not?
Personal preference.
Because it's better than every other engine in the 4 Series GC other than the 3 litre turbo petrol, which are rarer and cost more.
It's a 120k mile 4 series...it's not as if there aren't other cars out there! Also if he's only running it at 215bhp why not just go for a 420i? It's about as refined.
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Is it a 420 or 430?
Just bought a 440i convertible. Had been deliberating on what to replace the S3 with for a while, contemplating loads from R8 (V8) to 911 (997) and plenty in between. Finally decided I’d rather go newer that’s got some kind of warranty (and I’ll likely get an extended warranty with BMW once the used warranty expires).
The 430d is 258bhp standard so not sure what he's on about.
The 6 cylinder diesel is a better engine than the 4 cylinder petrol. It's smoother, more refined, more powerful and offers better performance. The fuel efficiency is a further bonus though of limited use at 5k a year.
It's also the most reliable engine in the range.
I maintain that only the 6 cylinder petrol is worth buying over it.
It's marginally more powerful if he's de-rated it to 215bhp (fuel economy?). As for refinement...marginal. You're neglecting the increased propensity for issues related to diesels and (VERY!) light usage. At 5k miles per year the fuel savings offered by the diesel will be pennies vs the petrol.
Plus, petrol smells better.
Surely he has a 420d if he's got an N47 engine remapped to 215bhp?
I disagree. I tried to replace my 530d with a 528i in 2016 and ended up with another 530d. It's just better.
6 cylinders make all the difference.
There is a typo somewhere that's for sure. Perhaps he meant 315bhp.