320 diesel - Yay or nay?

JohnCleary

After looking for a diesel for a long time, I think i've my heart set on a 320 diesel.

Looking around the 2002/3 range with no more than 80k miles, they can be bought in the UK for around €10k, with VRT around €3200. Seem's good value when you consider Golfs are making the same kind of money (Give or take a few euro)

Anyone got any experiences with these cars? Are they 'bulletproof'/reliable/Pieces of sh1t? Anything I should be looking out for? (Apart from the obvious). There's any amount of them in the UK, so plenty to choose from, I wouldn't even consider buying over here with the crazy prices.

I'm just after something reliable and comfortable that'll pull a single axle trailer (Not a farmer) and enough poke to overtake the Sunday driver

Elessar

I am also interested in this, although it will be a long time before I can afford a 2 litre BMW

Do you have any links to the UK cars you are talking about? Prices you mention are terrific.

JohnCleary

Elessar wrote:

I am also interested in this, although it will be a long time before I can afford a 2 litre BMW

Do you have any links to the UK cars you are talking about? Prices you mention are terrific.

I rang up people in the Autotrader, once you mention 'Can you pick me up at the airport' they start to open to haggling. Best deal i've found so far is €10k for a 2002 with 70k miles, FSH, private sale but I found the garage where he bought it from so i'm gonna give them a ring, verify teh milage.

Kaskade

I had one of these for a few months, I was very happy with it, it handled the bad roads well, had punch for overtaking felt really balanced in the turns best handling 'ordinary' saloon car ive driven and gave over 500miles to a tank.

When it came to selling I got lots of calls so it was all good. If I had to have just one car to do everything I would be strongly leaning towards a 320D .

JohnCleary

That's Kaskade. That's the feeling I got. I drove a 530 to the UK and WOW so comfortable. If I could afford the tax on the extra CC i'd be leaning towards that. Oh well

cyborg

JohnCleary wrote:

....they can be bought in the UK for around €10k, with VRT around €3200. .....

VRT is ~ €5k on a 02 according to the online VRT calculator

JohnCleary

cyborg wrote:

VRT is ~ €5k on a 02 according to the online VRT calculator

Meant a 2001 sorry. 2002 would be total budget VRT wise, would prefer to VRT a 2001

Kaskade

The tax on the 3 Litres is sickening thats why id lean towards the 2litre you can have it remaped or what ever if you feel its underpowered, that was my first diesel and I didnt mind the noise from it either which I thought would bother me

Mr Magnolia

Have a 320d, have it remapped, couldn't be happier . Great car, great performance.

Stephen

Did the remapping affect fuel consumption much?

Elessar

What is remapping?

Stky10

Sparks400 wrote:

Have a 320d, have it remapped

Out of curiousity, how much did the remapping cost, and did you have to declare it to your insurance company?

Mr Magnolia

Stephen wrote:

Did the remapping affect fuel consumption much?

Still in the early stages - too early to say. PM me in a week or 2 and I'll let you know, I'm told to expect benefits of 5-15% but I'm not bothered once it doesn't go the other way.

Elessar wrote:

What is remapping?

Re-mapping is down-loading the parameters for the ECU (Engine Control Unit) sending them off and having them re-configured to give better power output and having them uploaded again(expect 25-35% improvement from a turbo-diesel)

Stky10 wrote:

Out of curiosity, how much did the remapping cost?

It will cost between €400-€500, depending where you are in the country.

Stky10 wrote:

did you have to declare it to your insurance company?

An engine remapping is more or less undetectable, certainly undetectable by an insurance group though I'm open to correction here. It's up the individual, but from a legal point of view you probably should notify your insurer, ask the question of your company before hand, every insurerer is different.

Mc-BigE

You do realise there’s 2 different models of 320d? A 136bhp 1999-2001
And a facelift 150bhp 2001/2 - 2005 model.

I’ve owned/own both over the years and can tell you the facelift model is much more refined than the earlier model, better suspension, and engine. If you can
Stretch to a late 2002/ early 2003 6 speed sport model, it would be worth it in the long run.

Having said that the 136BHP is a good 2nd place and better MPG than the 150BHP.

But check your Irish prices again you should be getting 136BHP 320d for around the 18K mark if not cheaper, this is very close to the importing price including all taxes/flights/ferry/hassle/time off work etc.

Mr Magnolia

Mc-BigE wrote:

You do realise there’s 2 different models of 320d? A 136bhp 1999-2001
And a facelift 150bhp 2001/2 - 2005 model.

I’ve owned/own both over the years and can tell you the facelift model is much more refined than the earlier model, better suspension, and engine. If you can
Stretch to a late 2002/ early 2003 6 speed sport model, it would be worth it in the long run.

Very true, should have mentioned this myself. Think the facelift happened in '02, not sure though, the difference is obvious

Mc-BigE

yes the facelift happened very end of 2001 and most are registered in Jan 2002, forgot to mention that the early facelift had some turbo failure problems, which effected some cars manufactored in the first few months of 2002, the "problem" which by the way BMW NEVER acknowledged, was fixed with a upgraded Turbo from around september 2002, (the month "9" is stamped on a plate under the bonnet)

Must stress that it doesn't happen to all cars, but i think a buyer should be aware of it.

cyborg

The facelift was in sept 01 and any 320d made between this and nov 03 is prone to turbo failure! so either buy a pre facelift or go for a 04 model which had a different turbo fitted by BMW which is much more reliable.

JohnCleary

Thank's for all the info guys, i'm writing down notes, honest!

cyborg - I just read on another forum about the turbo failure, sounds scary

cyborg

JohnCleary wrote:

Thank's for all the info guys, i'm writing down notes, honest!

cyborg - I just read on another forum about the turbo failure, sounds scary

Scary and very expensive because the when the turbo blows it can also damage the engine and cat etc.
The one prone to failure is a garrett turbo and it was replaced with a Blackdot iirc.

HashSlinging

wow a bmw giving engine problems !! dont let junkyard see this thread..

Kaskade glad to see you've turned to the dark side!!

Kaskade

HashSlinging wrote:

wow a bmw giving engine problems !! dont let junkyard see this thread..

Kaskade glad to see you've turned to the dark side!!

Yeah when I went chasing diesels Germans seemed the way to go, Ive had two they wernt as reliable as my Japanese cars but more comfortable, refined and better ride quality. Particularly fond of the BM's handling I will be going back there again soon.

Elessar

What kind of finance do people take out when buying these types of expensive cars? Dealer finance, or bank loan?

I would assume there are a few dealers doing a 0% interest deal?

JohnCleary

Elessar wrote:

What kind of finance do people take out when buying these types of expensive cars? Dealer finance, or bank loan?

I would assume there are a few dealers doing a 0% interest deal?

Please stop asking off topic questions. Start a new thread if you like. To answer your question, i'd hardly call €10k expensive for a car

unkel

Elessar wrote:

What kind of finance do people take out when buying these types of expensive cars? Dealer finance, or bank loan?

Off topic. If you are interested in getting out a car loan or how other people finance their cars, I suggest you start your own thread

TKK

I just got a 2004 320d last Friday. All I can say is go for it

Eoin

I have mine 10 months or so now, and I love it. It's a 00 320D, so has the 136BHP engine which isn't as refined as the newer 150BHp engine, but still not bad. Personally I prefer the look of the pre-face lift model.

Since buying it, I have had to replace the MAF, at a cost of €400 or so. This has made it go a LOT better, but the MPG has dropped considerably, so have to check that out. I think the MAF replacement is common enough on these cars.

The 320D seems to come with a CD player, MFSW and cruise control as standard. The cruise control is a great feature.

If you're into it, there are lots of subtle mods you can make (changing orange indicator lenses to clear etc), which won't look too chav-ish. I've done a bit to mine, which unfortunately has totally cancelled out any fuel savings I've made!

A few little things though:

• At best, I have gotten about 40MPG, 10 off the stated figure. I am well below this at the moment, but hope to have it sorted
• The back seats are tight enough for 3 passengers, but this may not be an issue at all
• I have found the interior as prone to creaking as much as any other car I have owned, and mine was in pretty mint condition when I got it. The interior can be very bland if you get the standard grey plastic trim. However, a lot of the trim can be replaced with 2nd hand OEM stuff.
• The CD stack in the boot skips with even the lightest bump in the road. I'm replacing it with an OEM iPod link
• When stuff goes wrong, it can be bloody expensive to get fixed

Mc-BigE

eoin_s wrote:

I have mine 10 months or so now, and I love it. It's a 00 320D, so has the 136BHP engine which isn't as refined as the newer 150BHp engine, but still not bad. Personally I prefer the look of the pre-face lift model.

Since buying it, I have had to replace the MAF, at a cost of €400 or so. This has made it go a LOT better, but the MPG has dropped considerably, so have to check that out. I think the MAF replacement is common enough on these cars.

The 320D seems to come with a CD player, MFSW and cruise control as standard. The cruise control is a great feature.

If you're into it, there are lots of subtle mods you can make (changing orange indicator lenses to clear etc), which won't look too chav-ish. I've done a bit to mine, which unfortunately has totally cancelled out any fuel savings I've made!

A few little things though:

• At best, I have gotten about 40MPG, 10 off the stated figure. I am well below this at the moment, but hope to have it sorted
• The back seats are tight enough for 3 passengers, but this may not be an issue at all
• I have found the interior as prone to creaking as much as any other car I have owned, and mine was in pretty mint condition when I got it. The interior can be very bland if you get the standard grey plastic trim. However, a lot of the trim can be replaced with 2nd hand OEM stuff.
• The CD stack in the boot skips with even the lightest bump in the road. I'm replacing it with an OEM iPod link
• When stuff goes wrong, it can be bloody expensive to get fixed

Nice looking car, yes forgot to mention i also replaced the MAF in my old 00 320d, your MPG is way off, is she re-mapped/chipped? you should be getting close to 570-600miles for a full tank (60L). might be worth making sure the new MAF is after been re-programmed correctly.

OP. its not all doom and gloom regarding the Turbo failure, a lot of high mileage smokers can have problems with turbo failure, its just wear and tear, but having said that the the 2002 320d model can blow at lower mileage.

It happened to me last year (2002 320d touring with 58K on the clock!),
Luckly it was covered under a 1 year BMW warranty i got when buying the car in Jan 2006, turbo stoped whistling after a hard 1st gear acceleration, the engine automatically went into a kind of recovery mode, ie i couldn't accelerate above 1500rpm.
No damage to the engine,front cat was replaced and new turbo.

have a look at the specialist websites for more details and peoples experiences.
http://www.bmwcarclubforum.co.uk/forum/forum_topics.asp?FID=20
http://www.bmwland.co.uk

DublinWriter

JohnCleary wrote:

I'm just after something reliable and comfortable that'll pull a single axle trailer (Not a farmer) and enough poke to overtake the Sunday driver

I bought an Irish BMW 03 320D last year and it's all good so far.

It was my first diesel and I was a bit worried, being a petrolhead for many years. But its got poke by the stickfull (150BHP) and very economic.

Some 320Ds of that year have a problem with the exhaust box rattling, so ensure you get some sort of guarantee.

You'll get much more value for money if you buy up north.

JohnCleary

I plan on buying in the UK, but after reading the above posts, I might buy up the North from a dealer and get a warranty

TKK

Biggest problem I've found so far is the lag. I'm thinking of getting it remapped to resolve that. This should also increase fuel efficiency. At the moment the obc is telling me I'm getting 40mpg.

TKK

Also the MAF costs around E400 from the main dealer but the exact same part can be gotten elsewhere for around the E100 mark. My last car was a Golf TDi and it also suffered from the MAF failure problem.