E46 330d - What to look out for?

[StuBeeDoo]

Hello.

For the last 10 years I've been running an E30 2.7 on LPG. I'm getting to the point where it will soon need a full restoration and I really can't be bothered. The E30 had me hooked on BMW from day one, and any replacement car has to be RWD and 6 cylinders. I've got used to the low running costs of LPG but I can't be bothered to get a 325i, 328i or 330i and convert it - plus having to plan my journeys/holidays around the locations of LPG retailers is getting tiresome.

I'm not a lover of "moderns", but an E46 330d seems to appeal to me. It would have to be a touring - for preference, or a 4-door. My budget would be £3.5k - £4k, but I have some specific wants which will narrow my search - it must be manual, have a sunroof and it mustn't have leather.

What should I be looking out for, in terms of known faults? Obviously low priced/high mile cars are best steered well clear of. I've never had a diesel before, how easy - or otherwise - is the 330d to DIY service? I've noticed one or two 330d adverts recently saying "needs turbo" - do turbo faults spell game over for an E46 of a certain age, from a financial viability point-of-view?

TIA

Stuart

Edited May 6, 2013 by StuBeeDoo

[Mike-]

A touring 330d, manual, with a sunroof and cloth seats? Good luck finding that.

Not sure on turbo failures and whether they're weak or not, but I tend to view all diesels being particularly prone to turbo failure on account of them having turbos. What type of driving do you do? I get 36mpg on the way to work in my petrol 330.

[starkie7]

You will struggle to find a decent 330d touring in your ideal spec, there really isn't many about with manual boxes let alone sunroofs (mine has both ) and plenty are starting to get neglected at that price too. Don't discount cars with leather, it's a fairly easy swap and you should get a decent bit of cash out of it. I don't recall hearing many turbo faults on 330d, 320d seem to have more turbo related issues, while a new turbo is over £1k you can get then reconditioned for around £350. Servicing is pretty straightforward and nothing to worry about. To be honest, change the oil and filters, especially the oil separator for a vortex, clean out the egr, fit a decat, get a remap and leave it alone.

[mjn]

Don't think i saw any manuals with a sunroof when i was looking for mine.

But, isn't a sunroof kinda 80's?

[momo]

I have a manual g'box with a sunroof! It's great!

[Beezer]

I have a manual g'box with a sunroof! It's great!

Me too

[StuBeeDoo]

Thank you all for the input so far.

You will struggle to find a decent 330d touring in your ideal spec

I reckon that I can get the E30 through its next MOT in early September, but by the time next winter's past, it will be looking really ragged. I think I've probably got a year, maybe slightly longer, to find the right E46. I'm in no rush, just yet.

As far as the gearbox is concerned, I could possibly be tempted into an auto if the rest if the car is the right spec. The 'roof is a must have - I went to great lengths and expense to find a glass panel for the E30, and import it from USA.

On the subject of auto 'boxes;- what are the Steptronics like on a day-to-day and a year-to-year basis? I have a friend who has an E36 M3 which originally had SMG and he ended-up having the car converted to manual as he had so much grief with the SMG. Is Steptronic a similar system, or am I barking up the wrong tree? Sorry if I'm being a bit dim, but I've never had anything whatsoever to do with any form of auto - in fact I think the last time I drove one must have been 25 years ago.

Edited May 9, 2013 by StuBeeDoo

[StuBeeDoo]

Sorry, but I have a couple more questions:-

I've seen a couple of cars for sale listed as having 204bhp engines. When were they introduced? Was it at the introduction of LCI/facelift? I know that re-mapping is a minefield, so I'd rather steer clear. I'm actually not interested in bhp bragging-rights - gimme torque!

Same question for 6-speed manual 'box - when did that come in?

Are there many cars with half-leather? I could settle for that, but not full leather.

[Wash]

I don't know when exactly the 204bhp 330d came in but I know that the 204bhp came with the 6 speed. The facelift for the E46 saloon/touring was in 2001 so you can buy a 330d with the older 184bhp engine/5 speed gearbox as a facelift.

I wouldn't be too fussed on the interior, it's very easy to change them over. If you buy a car that has everything but you're not keen on the interior then it's worth buying the car, browsing ebay for an interior that's to your liking and then swapping it out and selling your old interior.

[TriggerFish]

Agreed on the interior. I got one with leather (which I too don't like) and swapped it out for the fabric sports seats for less than £150. I should be able to sell the leather seats for around the same sort of money.

[StuBeeDoo]

I think I've sussed the 204bhp/6-speed queries using ETK. I can get a Webasto 'roof retro-fitted, so that isn't an issue now. I realised before I posted my original question that I could do a buy/swap/sell on an interior through eBay, if necessary, and I would, but I'd like to avoid it if at all possible as I don't have anywhere to either store the stuff or do the swap.

Yet another question. You'll be charred-off with me before much longer.

What is the "swirl flap mod"? I'm guessing it's inlet manifold related, but what's involved, and why is it done? For every action there's an equal and opposite reaction, so what downsides does the mod. have?

Edited May 9, 2013 by StuBeeDoo

[Wash]

I think I've sussed the 204bhp/6-speed queries using ETK. I can get a Webasto 'roof retro-fitted, so that isn't an issue now. I realised before I posted my original question that I could do a buy/swap/sell on an interior through eBay, if necessary, and I would, but I'd like to avoid it if at all possible as I don't have anywhere to either store the stuff or do the swap.

Yet another question. You'll be charred-off with me before much longer.

What is the "swirl flap mod"? I'm guessing it's inlet manifold related, but what's involved, and why is it done? For every action there's an equal and opposite reaction, so what downsides does the mod. have?

There's little flaps in the inlet manifold on the diesels, the hinges the flaps use can fail and then the flap is consumed by the engine causing lots of damage (meaning you'd need a new engine). You can get swirl flap blanking plates to replace the original swirl flaps so you don't need to worry about them anymore. There's no downsides to blanking the swirl flaps.

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk 2

[StuBeeDoo]

OK, still on the subject of the swirl flaps, I Google'd it and found a couple of references saying that the issue is far more prevalent on autos than manuals. Is that for real? If so, is it still worth doing the mod. on a manual - for peace of mind?

[starkie7]

The gearbox would have no effect on the swirl flaps or whether they are likely to break. However, the 184bhp engines with manual gearboxes didn't have them in the first place, so no worries.

[popeye330d]

im sure if you got leather youd be able to swap them on here for cloth and maybe some cash your way

330d is lovely to drive day to day, but insist on a decent test drive, take it right to the red paint and watch for any dips in power, on top of your usual checks

[Beezer]

There's no downsides to blanking the swirl flaps.

Not entirely true. Removing the swirl flaps causes a small but not insignificant flat spot at around 1800 rpm. It's irritating me so much I'm considering replacing my flaps.

[StuBeeDoo]

The gearbox would have no effect on the swirl flaps or whether they are likely to break.

I thought it strange, that was why I asked the question.

[Rich_D]

Not entirely true. Removing the swirl flaps causes a small but not insignificant flat spot at around 1800 rpm. It's irritating me so much I'm considering replacing my flaps.

I've had 2 different 330d's now that are both de-flapped and never noticed a flat spot???

There was no noticeable difference when I replaced them

As for replacing them, unless you fit brand new ones, don't bother

[GeoffMM]

Done 40k on my 330d with flaps removed and no flat spot for me.

It is remapped though so maybe that's why?

[Rich_D]

my first one was remapped, my current one isn't, no flat spots on either car

[arry]

On the subject of auto 'boxes;- what are the Steptronics like on a day-to-day and a year-to-year basis?

The flapping the stick up and down the gears is crap. Just don't bother. I'm not a great fan of autos but I really, REALLY like my 330d being auto, because it suits the car / engine perfectly. But the 'manual' gear change bit on it is handy for going down steep descents and that's about it; otherwise I just don't bother with it....at all......ever.

[Rich_D]

I used to drive mine a lot in M mode if I wanted to go quickly, used to respond well and shift quickly

Most of the time it stayed in D for commuting

[ian332isport]

Hi Stuart,

Good to see you made it over from the e30zone. I also moved from an e30 to an e46 330D touring (via a mk4 golf). I do still have my e30 though. They are fantastic cars, and actually quite capable. I reckon my 330d is probably quicker from A to B than my more powerful and lighter e30. It's just so effortless and easy to drive quickly. I chucked a set of H&R anti-roll bars on mine which made it much more stable. I replaced the shocks as well, but with standard spec Bilstein B4's. It's still running the standard springs, but handles really well and retains the comfort.

My car is the later 204bhp engine with a manual box. I removed my swirl flaps a while back and one had already broken, but managed to hold on enough to avoid getting sucked in. Don't even consider leaving them fitted. I also noticed no difference to power delivery with them removed.

Overall, they're fantastic cars and a major step up in comfort and features from an e30. I still love my e30, but not as a daily driver anymore. As with any car, they have their 'common problems'. Suspension bushes are quite common failures, but cheap and easy to replace for the most part. Rear subframe bushes are a bit more work, but still not a killer. My car has done about 126k miles now and the rear bushes are still the originals, so it's not like they fail that often. I guess it depends how and where the car has been driven. Mine has done mostly motorway miles, so I guess the bushes had an easy time of it before I got it.

If you have a laptop, you can get decent diagnostic software and a suitable lead for about £50, so you don't need to be paying dealers or other garages for diagnostic work either.

Turbos can and do fail, but mine is still running the original and not showing any signs it's about to die. Some people have needed a turbo at 70k miles, others are still going strong at 170k. I guess it's luck of the draw, or possibly even how the car is driven (assuming services are done properly). The turbo breather filter is known to cause turbo failure and not routinely replaced under normal service schedules. Fit the later vortex style unit for peace of mind as they don't block like the earlier 'loo roll' style filter. I suspect a lot of turbo failures are due to this not being serviced, so it may not be fair to say the turbos are unreliable.

Overall, they are not that much harder to service/repair than an e30. Brakes are much the same if a bit bigger and parts are cheap enough. Places like BMMiniparts are good for genuine parts with a discount, or ECP etc for decent OEM parts. As with anything, try to avoid the cheapest parts, or you'll be doing the job again quite soon.

They don't suffer from rot quite as bad as the e30 either. Front arch lips are common failures due to the arch liner rubbing on the inside. This usually requires a new wing, but they come off easily. Rear arches can go as well, but the rest of the car seems fairly resilient to rust.

I think that covers most of it.

Cheers,

Ian.

[StuBeeDoo]

Hello Ian, fancy seeing you here! That's just the kind of report I was hoping for.

Once I find a suitable E46, my E30 will be going the way of so many others. At the moment the rot isn't terminal but the car as a whole is only worth a small fraction of the sum of its attached morsels. A very quick, conservative, rough estimate has me looking at £2-2.5k I could potentially pay back of the loan I'll need to finance the E46.

Strangely, our preferred colour seems to be Imola Red, like your sigpic.

Edited May 12, 2013 by StuBeeDoo

[StuBeeDoo]

OK, time for another question - one which may not get answered.

In real terms, is there much difference in fuel economy between the 184bhp/5-speed manual and 204bhp/6-speed manual cars? In my experience the "Government figures" mean Jack S*** (and in any case, there is very little difference between the two in the listings I've found). If my references are correct, with the exception of 6th gear, the later cars are "shorter geared".