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Errr it certainly is!
Motorway Coupe - E92? £7k budget.
- Thread starter Kristoph
- Start date
Errr it certainly is!
Try and get a titanium X Sport. All the bells and whistles.
Don
I couldn't see one local to the op, in budget and of a reasonable mileage/age, but definitely the one to go for.
No worries. Both are N52 until about 2008, then N53 after that. All facelift saloon will be N53s. The CO2 rating on DVLA site is the easiest way to tell, browsing from afar. Not sure if it's out of the price range but the Mercedes E coupe is a good motorway car. Not as nice looking as the E92 however.
The bigger the car, the nicer a place to sit on the motorway. Mondeo is a good shout too.
With cars (like Phaetons) that were those kind of prices when new, you need to be prepared to scrap it if something goes wrong. Or drive around in a shed with a posh badge 
The reason they go from 80k+ to peanuts is they are hard to sell, people know the bills will be epic.
The reason they go from 80k+ to peanuts is they are hard to sell, people know the bills will be epic.
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Soldato
Enough for daily driving, it's far from fast but gets up to 80-90 quick enough. It's a lovely cruiser, decent build, good sound system, comfy seats and pretty much silent inside. Gearbox is not the fastest compared to modern autos but I have 0 issues with it, put the foot down and it drops down a couple cogs and moves. I did worry about the performance coming from a 3.0 z4 coupe but honestly it's a different car and it does what it's designed very well.
Only negative is fuel economy if that's important, average around 27mpg mix of a roads and b roads.
All in I do not regret my purchase one bit. Has been trouble free motoring since I got it.
Had a e92 330D for 2 years. Not bad cars with a remap, very capable on motorways. Bought mine at 90k miles and sold around 120k, replaced the clutch on it (remap didn't help!).
My DSC unit failed (very common) - luckily Ecutesting.com do a refurb service for £300, and you don't have to pay £2000 for a replacement
They aren't bomproof cars, but once I took care of the glow plugs / thermostat / manifold gaskets all was well. Drove it across Europe, plenty miles at Autobahn speeds and never broke a sweat. No oil consumption whatsoever, which coming from my e46 330ci that drank 1L per 1000 miles was quite impressive.
I'd recommend an auto though - budget for a gearbox service (£4-500) at a decent specialist and change the glow plugs (they're needed for the DPF regen, and aren't on any maintenance schedule). Overall decent cars, much better built than the F30 that replaced it.
That budget easily gets you a decent 330D SE, if you are patient and less risk averse even a 335D!
I've got a A4 3.0 TDI now, but I admit every now and then a do search for some e92 335D to see what the market is like!
My DSC unit failed (very common) - luckily Ecutesting.com do a refurb service for £300, and you don't have to pay £2000 for a replacement
They aren't bomproof cars, but once I took care of the glow plugs / thermostat / manifold gaskets all was well. Drove it across Europe, plenty miles at Autobahn speeds and never broke a sweat. No oil consumption whatsoever, which coming from my e46 330ci that drank 1L per 1000 miles was quite impressive.
I'd recommend an auto though - budget for a gearbox service (£4-500) at a decent specialist and change the glow plugs (they're needed for the DPF regen, and aren't on any maintenance schedule). Overall decent cars, much better built than the F30 that replaced it.
That budget easily gets you a decent 330D SE, if you are patient and less risk averse even a 335D!
I've got a A4 3.0 TDI now, but I admit every now and then a do search for some e92 335D to see what the market is like!
Soldato
Not going to get a decent one for £7k though. This is still W211 E class/CLK territory and I wouldn't spend £7k there, speaking as someone who spent £5k there and has had to spend a further £1200 replacing both the TCU and the camshaft adjusters (M272, though thankfully out of range of the balance issues which would force you to scrap it). And that's on a 2008 60k mile, full MB service history example.
Passat CC? 67k miles, £5.8k https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201804296022261
The 123d is a bomb at this age with the timing chain tensioner issues. They are also a pain to replace as they were never designed on the N47 to be replaced (lifetime part). The only engines worth looking at from this era of BMW in any model (1,3,5 etc) are the 6 cylinder ones as mentioned (including the petrol models as well)
This seems like a better idea.
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201805206696002?atmobcid=soc3
Bit closer. I've only ever borrowed a 2.0tdi golf, 2009 I think. Was a comfortable drive & beats my history of Clio 1.2 and Clio 182 for motorway driving. Tempted to go and view this today.
Soldato
38.1mpg tho - hopefully that's just the test drives ruining the average... surely they do better than that?
The trip is reading 2.2 so maybe not had a long run?
That generation (the old 2.0 140 with DPF) was woefully uneconomical, to the point where you'll most likely get the exact very similar figures in a manual 330D. The overall driving experience between an old generation 2.0 TDI vs a nice 6 cylinder from BMW is like chalk and cheese in terms of power / torque/ elasticity / NVH.
Reliability wise - you are indeed likely to find a less "tired" Passat as the low mileage BMWs hold their value shockingly well, but a ~100k mile example will certainly serve you for a good few years, especially given that you mostly do motorway mileage.
The BMW is likely to cost more to fix, but over a 3 year time period I think you'll be in the same ballpark with your overall maintenance budget. If the decision was between a 320d and a Passat CC 170, I'd recommend the Passat as the 4 cylinder BMWs have the dreadful N47 timing chain issues. But the 330D is a significantly better car.
Reliability wise - you are indeed likely to find a less "tired" Passat as the low mileage BMWs hold their value shockingly well, but a ~100k mile example will certainly serve you for a good few years, especially given that you mostly do motorway mileage.
The BMW is likely to cost more to fix, but over a 3 year time period I think you'll be in the same ballpark with your overall maintenance budget. If the decision was between a 320d and a Passat CC 170, I'd recommend the Passat as the 4 cylinder BMWs have the dreadful N47 timing chain issues. But the 330D is a significantly better car.
Well obviously, the BMW is a more expensive and better product. But on low budget this isn't necessarily what you want as you'll end up when an older and more tired car that's more hassle.
In theory, yes. In practice, the injector / DPF / DMF / turbo failures are going to be a risk for both for this budget/age of cars, regardless of mileage.
But I think a ~100k mile FSH 330D will not throw more bills at you than a 2.0 TDI 140 with DPF from that generation. It's luck of the draw, but over 3 years I think there will be hardly much of a difference in a passat CC for running costs.
Whereas the driving experience will be significantly better on the 330D. I guess it depends on how risk averse you are, but a Passat CC from that era doesn't inspire me with much confidence.
If you are risk averse, buy a significantly more boring petrol, reliable NA car, then I would agree that there is a lot less to go wrong. (no turbos, no DPF, injectors & DMF less likely to fail, etc)
Or even a 3rd option - 330i. That would certainly be significantly safer than the diesel passat, although be warned the vast majority of them drink oil at an alarming rate.
But I think a ~100k mile FSH 330D will not throw more bills at you than a 2.0 TDI 140 with DPF from that generation. It's luck of the draw, but over 3 years I think there will be hardly much of a difference in a passat CC for running costs.
Whereas the driving experience will be significantly better on the 330D. I guess it depends on how risk averse you are, but a Passat CC from that era doesn't inspire me with much confidence.
If you are risk averse, buy a significantly more boring petrol, reliable NA car, then I would agree that there is a lot less to go wrong. (no turbos, no DPF, injectors & DMF less likely to fail, etc)
Or even a 3rd option - 330i. That would certainly be significantly safer than the diesel passat, although be warned the vast majority of them drink oil at an alarming rate.
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