Bmw E46 320D (Pre Facelift)

[Eurofan]

I think one of the most well known diesel european cars in the country is the BMW E46 320D. A lot of this due to the permit imports (the pre facelift) that came in to the country. In addition i personally know of a few 320d's been personally imported. Some of these cars have some starship mileages. My cousine bought his 1999 model 320d with 145,000 miles and sold at 170,000 mileas in two years without any major issue. He used it mainly for outstation running.

I was told that if you maintain properly on time these cars are long lasting and efficient cars. I own a facelift common rail diesel, which is a totally different technology. Could someone who has used a 320d (pre facelift 1999 - 2002) give their feedback, because i want to buy one for my wife.

[MadMMX]

Pretty Decent car. Had a 65-XXXX before moving to a petrol facelift. Super diesel mileage and the service interval is about 14k kms. The only thing you need to be careful of is the condition of the turbo. Otherwise mileage wise these are rock solid and rumor has it that you can do 200k before needing to touch the engine. Also check the condition of the aircon.

Prices are also a little down but not by much more than before.

Cheers,

MadMMx

[Eurofan]

Hey i was told by the agents that if you idle the car for about a minute before switching off the car and change the breather filter often there is nothing to worry aboout the turbo. What exactly do i need to check about the AC?

Cheers

[MadMMX]

Hey i was told by the agents that if you idle the car for about a minute before switching off the car and change the breather filter often there is nothing to worry aboout the turbo. What exactly do i need to check about the AC?

Cheers

Some of these cars have had jap compressors plugged into them due to the high cost of the bm ones. Usually the capacity of those is a little inadequate in comparison to the original one. When you start the car and turn the a/c on listen for a gasping noise inside the car - Also the ac cooler repair is a messy (and pricey) one as the whole dashboard has to be removed to get at it. Correct about the ccv filter as well - a thing ignored by a lot of people - the same ccv or pcv on the petrol's applies across the board to all e46's.

[Yuhaan Radhiera]

I think one of the most well known diesel european cars in the country is the BMW E46 320D. A lot of this due to the permit imports (the pre facelift) that came in to the country. In addition i personally know of a few 320d's been personally imported. Some of these cars have some starship mileages. My cousine bought his 1999 model 320d with 145,000 miles and sold at 170,000 mileas in two years without any major issue. He used it mainly for outstation running.

I was told that if you maintain properly on time these cars are long lasting and efficient cars. I own a facelift common rail diesel, which is a totally different technology. Could someone who has used a 320d (pre facelift 1999 - 2002) give their feedback, because i want to buy one for my wife.

The e46 320d's are no doubt good cars, but it has its cons, yes regular service is a must on these cars after 10 years these cars

give a lot of issues and it costs a lot to bring it up to its original state. The thing to watch about on these cars are the turbos

and swirl flaps, so when you are looking to buy one look at its service intervals.

other than that car will run fine

[rangerover]

Blanking a the swirl flaps is 6,000 LKR job. And the turbo needs to be idled before switching off. Atleast on the facelift, the turbo helps to produce over 150 bhp off a 2,000 cc diesel engine, so obviously such performance parts need care. In UK most cars are running fine with over 200,000 miles on them (over 300,000 Km). The only reason cars might give probs here is that ppl use them and hack them as jap diesels. Only using as a workhorse and not maintaining it on time is asking for trouble on europeans. If used properly the car can give you trouble free motoring with diesel efficiecies off in excess of 13 Km/litre (on the common rail facelift atleast)