E46 330d Touring - Your Thoughts/Now Brought

[iow_corrado_g60 0]

Hi all,

 

I've looked at two E46 - 330D now both SE touring models one in slightly better nick higher mileage one less mileage a few more chips and scrapes. Both alloys etc and cloth interior but I know nothing about them and I havent test drove only switch on engine cheeked electric PAS etc?

 

So any thoughts/comments much appreciated,

 

Also the lower mileage one has been chipped.

 

They both early E46's 2000 and 2001

 

Cheers Andy[flash=]

[james28 0]

my mate has got one had it remapped at mrc and it flies :) loads of torque and tops out at 155 allegidally. spelling doh!!

[KipVR 1]

You're on iffy ground with the higher milers, the diesels are not the most reliable of units though very economical, go onto e46 fanatics (mainly americans though) or bimmerworld.co.uk forums and you'll see. I ended up buying a 330i petrol touring and if you drive it sensibly you get 30mpg out of it. Petrols cheaper, the engines are reliable and unstrained, and very easy to work on. Parts are about the same as a corrado for basics, 250 for new discs and pads and sensors all round (oe manufacturers) but the general feel of the car is rock solid.

 

I love the little touches, like the keys have their own chip in them, so if my wife gets into the car all the air con, radio, seats, mirrors adjust to her settings, when you put it into reverse the ns mirror dips so you can see the kerb, the rear glass on the rear hatch opens seperatly, the list goes on. They are truly excellent cars and very glad I chose one over the A4 equivalent.

[iow_corrado_g60 0]

Cheers Kip, I've done a bit of investigating the auto box seems to be one area of concern, but i've only been looking for a manual, also theres a plastic inlet manifold swirl flap, apparently it can break of an wreck the engine, and what you said about brake discs, the 330d eats them according to various sources,

 

I'm going to see one tomorrow so will let you know how i get on its hopeful got all the nice little elctrical touches you mentioned it has leather and multi function steering wheel,

 

Thanks again Andy

[KipVR 1]

There all good cars mate, the problems with the autos is just the ZF boxes- the earlier ones. The facelift GM boxes models didn't suffer. Good luck with the hunting. :D

[Ugly Bloke 0]

My brother has a 52 plate 330D touring manual, with all the options such as TV/Satnav, dual climate, cruise, on 18 inch wheels. Lovely car, averages mid 40's and upwards. Fabulous build quality, feels like it will last and last. A bit cramped for space though.

[KADVR6 0]

i'm also looking into a diesel 3 series Andy as i'm not "feeling" the skoda for some reason, it just does not do anything for me.

 

so i asked the old man he's views on the e46 tourers, my dad is probably a bigger BMW geek than ANYONE on here is about corrado's :lol: he's view/opinion was to purchase a newer/less miles on the clock 320d, then take it a company called DMS who actually have a warranty with there re-maps, and are the only tuners in the uk who BMW UK actually carry on with the BMW warranty on newer cars when re-mapped with DMS.

 

after the re-map the 320d will be approx 195bhp/390nm, so as quick as a standard 330d but returning much much better fuel consumption than a 330d, plus much cheaper insurance than a 330d, tax is only £140?? per year.

 

just something for you to think about Andy.

 

karl

[fla 9]

very interesting thread - i'm also looking at the 3 series but the saloon (4 door). KADVR6, something worth bearing in mind about the 320, i wrote it off because i thought it was a bit gutless, plus i like the sound of 6 cylinders vs 4. btw, thoughts on the 325i or 330i? I also want leathers, satnav (if possible), sports suspension, 18" rims and climate, not much really... they're not too pricey, on the trader for between 4 and 6k. But the only problem with the 3 series is the image. Hence i was considering the E39 530i/d with the 18" parallels as an MSport.

[BigTartanJudge 0]

Have also been thinking about one of these, although like fla the 4dr saloon (330d sport) for my next car. They seem like a lot of car for the money and have seen 2001-2003 examples around 50-70k miles for £6k-£7.5k - now this was a £35k car new and has done all it's major depreciation......

 

I would rather get one that avoids the tax increase bracket, but however the earlier models only got 185BHP as opposed to 204BHP in the later ones. Also, was seriously thining about the auto version just for smoothness, but I hear they can be prone to failure (£1500 for replacement inc fitting)? Also heard mutterings about overheating and turbo's going. The manuals are quite hard to come by and command more money too.

 

This said they come pretty well-specced, with most getting lots of options e.g. xenon HID's, decent hi-fi with Harmon-Kardon optional, poss, sat-nav and tv, most have elec leather and heated seats etc and can be remapped to 240-260BHP easily with 450+ft-lbs torque for £300 by the likes of DMS as Karl mentioned. Still looking at 35-40MPG too which can't be bad.

[fla 9]

BTJ, if you do find out more do post this up. Incidentally, how much is the road tax on the 330d and 330i post 2001?

[BigTartanJudge 0]

Hmmmn, done a bit of digging, and it seems it's actually only a big difference if you are going from pre-2001 330i petrol to post-2001 330i petrol.....

 

VED is £185 per year for 2009/2010 for both the pre-March 2001 330D and 330i petrol (goes on engine size alone).

 

VED for post March 2001 330D is Band I @ £175 per year (puts out 177g CO2/KM) [actually LESS than older models !]

 

VED for post-March 2001 330i petrol is Band L @ £404 per year (Band K £215 if car reg 01/03/01-26/03/06) [puts out 244g CO2/KM]

 

And for those interested in fuel consumption overall from Autocar etc:

 

330D sport = 42.8 mpg (combined)

Metric: 6.6 litre/100km

13.2p/mile (fuel cost per mile)

 

330i = 27.7 mpg (combined)

Metric: 10.2 litre/100km

18.5p/mile (fuel cost per mile)

 

So say for an average of 10000 miles a year the car will cost you an extra £530-ish to run purely on fuel costs alone (and that was a while back when diesel cost more than petrol) if you are doing average / combined driving, then factor in the added £229/year extra cost of VED for the petrol 330i (if you go for a post-March 2001 330i) as opposed to 330D. and adds up to about £760 extra total. If you have your 330D remapped it will have even better mpg, more power than the 330i petrol version and SHED-LOADS more torque.

 

Added to the fact that recently diesel is now same price if not cheaper than cost of petrol, no wonder lots of people are going for the diesel versions, and have been hard to find a decent one with low miles etc.

 

Not true about the 320d e46 though, mpg is only 2-3 mpg better combined and VED is the same £175 for post-March 2001 and £185 for pre-March 2001. The 330d engine is far smoother, progressive, unstressed unit with less lag compared to the rather clattery (esp with higher miles) and laggy nature of the 320d unit, esp with higher miles.

[fla 9]

thanks for the data. So i'll be looking for the diesel then, although Kip reckons they can be fraught with problems, turbos etc?

[BigTartanJudge 0]

I wouldn't have said they are fraught with problems, but the turbo's and inlet manifolds (they swirl flaps which can break off but they can be removed) are know to be not as strong as expected, same goes for autobox. It would only be expensive if autobox (£1500) or turbo went (only expensive if turbo went and you kept driving it, if not exchange turbo only £400-ish plus fitting). Main problem caused affecting turbo is people not warming up and cooling down the diesel before thrashing the hell outta it. If it had worried me that much, I wouldn't still be considering it and I would just go for an e46 M3, but they are another £5k for a good un, and more expensive to fix if something goes wrong, and servicing and parts are more expensive, and MPG is less, and VED more etc, etc. you get the general idea :D

 

I will prob be looking for a post-2003 (204BHP as opposed to 185BHP) manual 330D sport with low miles in the next wee while. Nearly 300BHP and 500 ft/lbs torque from just remap, full exhaust system including downpipe and intake mods and still with 40+mpg all day long will suit me fine. :salute:

 

e46 330D with exhaust clips, sound good:

 

[KADVR6 0]

heres the figures i found for the 2 cars,

 

1st the 320d

 

Fuel Consumption (Urban) 35.3 mpg

Fuel Consumption (ExtraUrban) 60.1 mpg

Fuel Consumption (Combined) 47.9 mpg

0-62mph 9.3 seconds

Top Speed 131 mph

Cylinders 4

Number of Valves 16 V

Engine Power 150 bhp

Engine Torque 243 lbs/ft

 

2nd the 330d

 

Fuel Consumption (Urban) 30.1 mpg

Fuel Consumption (ExtraUrban) 53.3 mpg

Fuel Consumption (Combined) 41.5 mpg

0-62mph 7.6 seconds

Top Speed 147 mph

Cylinders 6

Number of Valves 24 V

Engine Power 204 bhp

Engine Torque 302 lbs/ft

 

 

so yeh you see that then it looks like its gonna be a 330d, and especially with one of those exhausts fitted, it sounds great :D i'm off on friday and i have 2 320d's to look at and 3 330d's to view.

 

i will report back on friday when i have finished driving them.

[fla 9]

just out of interest Karl, how much are the 330s and what spec are they?

[KADVR6 0]

right then i have been looking at the BMW's the last 2 days and driven 9 of them. What i have really noticed is the 330 is great on the motorway but around town you really notice the extra weight under the bonnet compared to the 320, the 320 is FAR better around town and you can really throw it around bends, doing this in the 330 you do feel massive understeer.

 

so its very much like the old g60 vs vr6 scenario, and personally i'm going for a newer 320d with less miles and more options than you can normally find on a 330d

 

this one in particular caught my eye http://search.autotrader.co.uk/es-uk/ww ... gLetter=03

[fla 9]

very nice - i'm looking at the saloon, but your feedback is nevertheless useful. How was the 320 on the motorway?

[KADVR6 0]

hi Hasan,

 

the 320 was still very good on the motorway and was returning about 55mpg, it was not slow and did not feel sluggish at all, but the 330 did feel more at home on the motorway, with more power/torque for overtaking.

 

so i'm going for a 320, and then get it mapped at DMS so it will not be far off a 330 in power/torque but with much better MPG.

[iow_corrado_g60 0]

Hi all,

 

This topic has really come on since I last left

 

I took the plunge and went for the 330d didn’t really want the 320d although the more sensible option I’m sure

 

It’s an early e46 330d SE Touring(2000 x-reg)

 

17" Alloys

Full Grey Leather

Climate Control

Cruise Control

Fully Functional Steering Wheel

Electric Mirrors

Electric Windows

On Board Computer

Warning triangle

First Aid Kit

Dog Guard Hidden in rear seat

Rear Luggage Straps

Etc,Etc

 

I’ll show the pics in a minute.

 

The Driving

Its great I’ve been getting 35mpg when wielding the right foot and 39 when driving normally.

It handles very well for an estate and makes me feel like im not overly driving an estate how ever if you do plant it round a corner the traction control does step in ferociously but is very calming and should keep me out of trouble 3rd and 4th Gear are exceptional and 5th is all about the cruising power from 45mph all the way up, I chickened out at a fair lick the other day, The car itself is very comfortable and like my e36 the arm rest is the best positioned of any car ive ever driven( small things hey)

 

 

Problems/Issues

It has a few issues but I brought at a very competitive price so with that in mind one of the rear parking sensors is playing up and so too the central locking which I now think I have a fix for, then there’s a bit of bodywork to sort and a new air con belt but other than that I cant fault it.

[coullstar 0]

You mean you bought it, then brought it home.... :wink:

[iow_corrado_g60 0]

You mean you bought it, then brought it home.... :wink:

 

That'd be the one1!!

 

to clear up a few bits as I have been doing a bit of digging myself in the last 10 days,

 

re-mapping i've found a company that will re-map to 246bhp and 490n/m torque thats not to be sniffed at all for £312.00

 

and as for the sound the 330d has a lovely low V6 grumble no mods as yet! :grin:

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Nice one dude! I loved my old E30 325i Tourers. Just something about them 8)

 

My mate had a 530d and got it chipped and it was frickin fast! His was the later engine and needed an uprated fuel pump for some reason :shrug:

[BigTartanJudge 0]

You mean you bought it, then brought it home.... :wink:

 

That'd be the one1!!

 

to clear up a few bits as I have been doing a bit of digging myself in the last 10 days,

 

re-mapping i've found a company that will re-map to 246bhp and 490n/m torque thats not to be sniffed at all for £312.00

 

and as for the sound the 330d has a lovely low V6 grumble no mods as yet! :grin:

 

Looks like a good buy mate, how much did she sting ya ?

 

Interesting, which company is this that has quoted figures for the remap ? I know of several with pretty good reputations including DMS Automotive. However, as yours has the early 184BHP engine with the Bosch DDE4.0 ECU, the most I have seen claims for are around 230BHP at absolute max.

 

Although, 246BHP remapped sounds about right for the later 204BHP-engined 330D (Bosch EDC16 ECU), you they haven't gotten the figures mixed up ?

[KADVR6 0]

nice one andy,

 

if your going to get it re-mapped the only place to go is DMS, they check the turbo and fuel pump etc etc before they do a re-map, thats why you get the warranty with a DMS re-map.

 

and yeh the 330's do sound nice even with the standard exhaust fitted, i've just gotta find a 320d/330d that i'm totally happy with.

[iow_corrado_g60 0]

Defo the right stats gents here's the email I recieved there website is mentioned in it! I went to them as they re-mapped my mates mk4 GTTDI to 210 from 150 and he was over the moon and still is 2 years later,

 

I totally agree with what your saying about DMS, but where are they located Karl???

 

Andrew

 

 

 

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