2000 BMW 320D Sluggish Test Drive

Triangla

Ok, test drove a BMW 320D, 2000 model earlier today.

My first time driving a diesel so unsure about performance. Nearly had to floor it to get any movement and seemed to slow down with drag when I took the foot off.

Bringing it back to his house his driveway was a bit steep. From almost dead stop it really struggled to get up in first gear. I had the pedal to the floor.

Any thoughts, is this typical?

phelixoflaherty

Avoid it. Trust yer instincts

Triangla

Cheers, wasn't sure if that was the way diesels are but my '98 1.4 astra felt like a ferrari on the way home from it.
Pretty disappointing I must say.

mickdw

That car is f*cked I would think. it should have reasonable power & certainly shouldnt struggle to get anywhere.
Drive some more of them. I also know of a 320d of that age which seems to have lost a large portion of its original power.

Edit: seeing post above, if a 1.4 astra feels powerful compared to it. It is 100% not running as it should.

Triangla

I was very surprised at the contrast as my own car is a lowly astra, 3 years older and has only 12,000 less on the clock. I reckon he just didn't look after it which is a shame cos it's a lovely looking car.

At least I go to next testdrive with some bit of an idea now.

SpannerMonkey

i currently drive a bmw 645ci 333bhp 4.4 liter petrol v8 and i can tell you an E46 320d is not sluggish in anyway i have owned 2 in the past and they are great cars my GF owns one now and it is a great drive , trust your instincts must be something wrong with it

bmw535d

well it had 130bhp to start so id say its lost around 30-40 due to poor maintenance. you'd be better getting an 04 one as they where upgraded to 150bhp.

Eoin

That engine has 136bhp and while not the smoothest sounding, it's a solid one. Should behave nothing like you've described OP.

bmw535d wrote: »

well it had 130bhp to start so id say its lost around 30-40 due to poor maintenance. you'd be better getting an 04 one as they where upgraded to 150bhp.

They changed to the 150bhp in 02, but 04 was when they sorted out a few of the turbo problems.

Triangla

Mailed seller about it there. He said mechanic said turbo was fine, got shocks and bushes done but that it was still slower than it should and that most E46s of that vintage were too.

I asked him did the mechanic say anything about why it's slow so should be interesting to hear the opinion given.

Eoin

It could be the ERG or MAF or something like that, but I don't think I would bother pursuing it.

Nforce

I've a '01 320d with 162k miles on the clock. Still pulls like a train. It's serviced every 5k miles and the EGR is cleaned every 15k. Things to watch out for on these cars include faulty air con sensor (aka Hedgehog), worn wishbones, dodgy central locking..especially during good weather, faulty oil sensor and corrosion of the rear brake pipes.
The car you test drove might have a dodgy MAF sensor (not dear to replace),might have a failing turbo (faulty turbos were more common on the facelifted 150bhp '02 320d) or might just be a ball of shyte.

Henry Ford III

Triangla wrote: »

Mailed seller about it there. He said mechanic said turbo was fine, got shocks and bushes done but that it was still slower than it should and that most E46s of that vintage were too.

I asked him did the mechanic say anything about why it's slow so should be interesting to hear the opinion given.

Go find/drive another (better) one. They are plenty lively enough.

bmw535d

eoin wrote: »

That engine has 136bhp and while not the smoothest sounding, it's a solid one. Should behave nothing like you've described OP.



They changed to the 150bhp in 02, but 04 was when they sorted out a few of the turbo problems.

that sounds more like it.. i always get it mixed up.

Owen

I had one as a demo for a week around 2005, it was an 03 model. Absolutely no power in it. Turned out to be the MAF meter, which is about 2/300 Euro to replace. They can be cleaned though with the correct spray. If it's not the MAF, it could be injectors, or it could also be the Lambda (o2) sensor. Anyone of those three will cause a 320d to run like a pig.