Bmw 320d

[madmax]

Hey Madmax,

Really nice car and a very good buy! I am also looking to buy a sedan in the 2L range.

My options are the Toyota RS200 and the Bmw 320d. IMO, both vehicles are in the same price range and fall into the same category with regard to trim levels etc. Please correct me if I am misinformed.

Since you have first hand experience with the 320d, I appreciate it if you could provide some feedback on your experience with the bimmer.

You have stated your getting 16km/l, which is quite awesome to say the least. But how are the maintenance costs? How much does it cost to service the car? How is the availability of spares and their costs? And how much do you recon will a 2002 3 series (with the remodeled head lamps) cost?

Thanks in advance.

There is one major difference between these two cars, RS200 is a petrol whereas the beemer 320d is diesel. So first of all you will have to make the decision whether to go petrol or diesel. The RS200 will defintely give you more performance and the beemer will give you more miles per gallon. Being a diesel the 320d is a bit slow on the pickup, but it's better than any diesel I've driven.

In my opinion I think the beemer has better trim levels as opposed to many RS200s that I have seen here in SL. But in other markets RS200 and the beemer 3 series are in the same category.

When it comes to service I reckon the RS200 will be cheaper, coz beemer replacement parts are a bit expensive.

The beemer 320d is to be serviced every 10000miles and the total bill with all filters replaced can come to about 20K, but I have no clue as to how much it'll be for the RS200.

The 2002/2003 facelift model is now going above 5 Mil range, and that has the newer common rail diesel engine which puts out 150 BHP as opposed to the 136BHP on the 99/2000 models.

My personal persective is the beemer is more classy than the Lexus, but depends on you personal taste too.

[rajiv]

Thanks for the quick response.

I personally feel that the 320 is a quantum notch above the RS200 in terms of class and 'image' as well. And owing to the increase in petrol prices in the near future, the prudent choice would be the 320d. But my only worry is whether the maintenance costs will be too hard to handle... But I suppose that is a price you have to pay if you want the prestige and class that comes with the bmw.

As for me, there's still a bit more brain wracking to do before I make a decision. Btw, where do you service your car? Prestige Motors is it?

[fuzzo]

get used to dishing out 20K each time you take your car in for anything.. that's the trend wiht the bimmer

the Rs200 will be cheaper to maintain in my opinion

[madmax]

Btw, where do you service your car? Prestige Motors is it?

Yes I do my oil service at the agents - Prestige Automobiles, the rest of the filters I change at a friends garage. Milroy's garage is a more afforable place for repairs on beemers, lot of people go there...

get used to dishing out 20K each time you take your car in for anything.. that's the trend wiht the bimmer

the Rs200 will be cheaper to maintain in my opinion

Fuzzo you're right, but since you save on fuel it's almost acceptable... Petrol is to go up by another 4 bucks very soon!!

[fuzzo]

yeah i used to go to milroy as well. he was really good with the older bimmers. with the newer ones, sometimes he recomends the agents as well coz he doesn't have the computer etc

also euro parts (or something like that) on cotta road claims to work on european cars but try and stay away from them.

[sharkster]

The beemer 320d is to be serviced every 10000miles and the total bill with all filters replaced can come to about 20K, but I have no clue as to how much it'll be for the RS200.

machan is it 10000miles or km's? either way i think its not too bad cos my service costs 5k (1k for servicing, 2k for air cleaner, 500 for oil filter n 1.5k for oil) and i change everythng around 3000km's so in 10000km's its a tad over 15k

so 20k is ok for a beemer

[madmax]

machan is it 10000miles or km's? either way i think its not too bad cos my service costs 5k (1k for servicing, 2k for air cleaner, 500 for oil filter n 1.5k for oil) and i change everythng around 3000km's so in 10000km's its a tad over 15k

so 20k is ok for a beemer

There is an internal service indicator which counts down from nearly 9XXX Miles (everything on a beemer is miles ) that's nearly 15000 Km

Here is the break down of the service cost

Oil- Rs. 8000

Fuel Filter -Rs. 2000

Oil Filter Rs. 3000

Air filter Rs. 4000

[sharkster]

There is an internal service indicator which counts down from nearly 9XXX Miles (everything on a beemer is miles ) that's nearly 15000 Km

Here is the break down of the service cost

Oil- Rs. 8000

Fuel Filter -Rs. 2000

Oil Filter Rs. 3000

Air filter Rs. 4000

and i assume thats 3000 bucks for labour? y so much for oil man???? anyways it think its alrite cos its not that different for a jap car (well mine) plus if u consider it to b extremely reliable i think its worth it in the long run...wonder how u wudve handled an EVO

[madmax]

and i assume thats 3000 bucks for labour? y so much for oil man???? anyways it think its alrite cos its not that different for a jap car (well mine) plus if u consider it to b extremely reliable i think its worth it in the long run...wonder how u wudve handled an EVO

Prestige uses Mobil Synthetic oil which is about 1600 bucks a litre, and this thing has a capacity of 5 litres..

[Watchman]

Prestige uses Mobil Synthetic oil which is about 1600 bucks a litre, and this thing has a capacity of 5 litres..

cant you take your own oil & tell them to use dat? cos i think some agents let u take in your own parts/meterials.

[xXx]

i've heard that an engine repair in a diesel car is quite high compared to a petrol car. taking this into consideration isn’t going for a diesel a gamble between low fuel cost and high maintenance. this being a BMW an engine repair will cost sh*t loads isn’t it?

i had a similar experience with a freelander.

[Cule]

i've heard that an engine repair in a diesel car is quite high compared to a petrol car. taking this into consideration isn’t going for a diesel a gamble between low fuel cost and high maintenance. this being a BMW an engine repair will cost sh*t loads isn’t it?

i had a similar experience with a freelander.

Well, I wanted to buy a pre-facelift 320D with English plates for around 4M, but I spoke to both Milroy and the agents before looking for a car, and they both readily admitted that the pre-facelift diesels gave problems around 50k miles on the odometer; when pressed about these problems and the cost of repair, they were vague but said the oil, water pump etc may need to be replaced; then I spoke to a person who works on both Mercs and Beemers, and when asked, he told to keep well away from the 320D, so that was that. But Milroy did say that the petrol 3 series (E46) as well as the facelifted cars didn't have many problems, but the only BMW I was interested in was the 320D and the facelifted diesel car is rare and pricey. Just my 2 cents. On the plus side, for a Diesel, this car flies, and I don't think even the 3 series petrol cars (unless 6 cylinder) have quite the pull of the 320D.

[xXx]

Well, I wanted to buy a pre-facelift 320D with English plates for around 4M, but I spoke to both Milroy and the agents before looking for a car, and they both readily admitted that the pre-facelift diesels gave problems around 50k miles on the odometer; when pressed about these problems and the cost of repair, they were vague but said the oil, water pump etc may need to be replaced; then I spoke to a person who works on both Mercs and Beemers, and when asked, he told to keep well away from the 320D, so that was that. But Milroy did say that the petrol 3 series (E46) as well as the facelifted cars didn't have many problems, but the only BMW I was interested in was the 320D and the facelifted diesel car is rare and pricey. Just my 2 cents. On the plus side, for a Diesel, this car flies, and I don't think even the 3 series petrol cars (unless 6 cylinder) have quite the pull of the 320D.

mate which 1 did u mean by the facelift BMW is it the E90, the latest 1? any ideas on the fuel consumption of the petrol E46?

madmax if u wont mind me asking what was the mileage of your car when you purchased it?

[sharkster]

mate which 1 did u mean by the facelift BMW is it the E90, the latest 1?

there are two E46 faces, the rear is more or less the same tho the newer one has crystal lights and the front lights r totally different

i think the face-lift came out around 2002 and the old E46 was in 1999...i reckon the interior trim is different too else it wudnt sell

[Watchman]

Well, I wanted to buy a pre-facelift 320D with English plates for around 4M, but I spoke to both Milroy and the agents before looking for a car, and they both readily admitted that the pre-facelift diesels gave problems around 50k miles on the odometer; when pressed about these problems and the cost of repair, they were vague but said the oil, water pump etc may need to be replaced; then I spoke to a person who works on both Mercs and Beemers, and when asked, he told to keep well away from the 320D, so that was that. But Milroy did say that the petrol 3 series (E46) as well as the facelifted cars didn't have many problems, but the only BMW I was interested in was the 320D and the facelifted diesel car is rare and pricey. Just my 2 cents. On the plus side, for a Diesel, this car flies, and I don't think even the 3 series petrol cars (unless 6 cylinder) have quite the pull of the 320D.

well, true, diesel engines (not just BMW) suffer from under compression with time... so needs to undergo an overhaul in like 200,000 (varies with the vehicle and running conditions/maintenece).. but still running it is easy.. so in the end it depends on the driver and how much you use it... its either "larger block payments" OR "higher running cost".. so, you can run a rougn calculation on how much you'd save by buyb a diesel by getting the difernce of Rs/km and multiplying that by your expected running for the next couple of years...

it probably wont be 100% accurate, but her, if you're gonna be spending so much on a car wouldnt hurt to take 15 minutes to do this....

[madmax]

The E46 came out in 99 and the facelift e46 came out in 2002. From what i heard the interior is almost the same, the front lights and grill are somewhat different and so is the Engine. The face lift has a Common Rail direct injection engine which is more pwerful and said to be trouble free..

I also spoke to Milroy and also another friend of mine who does work on beemers... They all said there are some problems that they've noticed on the 320D.

One is the injector pump giving trouble around 50K

The clutch gives some faults

There is a known fan issue too...

My car has a 41K miles milage, and the company service records indicate both the injector pump and clutch have been replaced... so that's why i deciced to go ahead and buy this car...

Another funny thing is, I've done quite a lot of research on the e46 320D on the web, but did not find any user comments or reviews on these so called "Common" problems... Most of the user comments from around the world suggested the car to be very good.

[Pericles]

One is the injector pump giving trouble around 50K

The clutch gives some faults

There is a known fan issue too...

My car has a 41K miles milage, and the company service records indicate both the injector pump and clutch have been replaced... so that's why i deciced to go ahead and buy this car...

Now taking bets that madmax will experience clutch issues before the end on this year. Popularly knows as "The curse of P*******", clutch issues have surfaced on all cars owned by max, bar the VZ-R, to the best of my knowledge. Makes me sorta nervous that its due sometime soon

[Cule]

well, true, diesel engines (not just BMW) suffer from under compression with time... so needs to undergo an overhaul in like 200,000 (varies with the vehicle and running conditions/maintenece).. but still running it is easy.. so in the end it depends on the driver and how much you use it... its either "larger block payments" OR "higher running cost".. so, you can run a rougn calculation on how much you'd save by buyb a diesel by getting the difernce of Rs/km and multiplying that by your expected running for the next couple of years...

it probably wont be 100% accurate, but her, if you're gonna be spending so much on a car wouldnt hurt to take 15 minutes to do this....

They (Milroy and others) weren't referring to the inevtibale engine rebuild at 200k or whatever, they were talking about RECURRENT, RUNNING repairs and replacement of parts, which are very costly, even if done via Milroy, Gawd only knows how much the company will charge.

I even thought of buying a company maintained car that has ALREADY had these repairs done, the logic being that once they are done, then I won't need to worry about them. No such luck, even such cars are known to develop problems.

What gave me the jitters mostly was when the sales guy at the company claimed 50,000 miles was high milage for this car; I've been using Merc W124 diesels for the last 4 years, with those 100,000 km (50k miles) is just like a new car!

Finally, I thought I'd stick with my old Merc

[Pericles]

This dead thread need revival, coz Madmax has got his hands on a new "economy" ride, another 320D. This one an AC Schnitzer version.

Pics soon

[fuzzo]

did he sell the other "econ" ride.... the new one is red is it not

[Pericles]

did he sell the other "econ" ride.... the new one is red is it not

Yes and yes

[VWvortex]

Pericles, this AC Schnitzer version is it just a kit or with any mods to the engine & suspension?

[Pericles]

Pericles, this AC Schnitzer version is it just a kit or with any mods to the engine & suspension?

I have no idea. I'll let the man answer when he gets back from his training session.

It does have a badge on the back and a badge on the steering tho And I left a very nice strip of rubber from the rather large Potenzas.

[isurujosh]

Pics soon

whr r da pics?

itz nice to recognise AL members in thier rides while out side the forum.

[Pericles]

This dead thread need revival, coz Madmax has got his hands on a new "economy" ride, another 320D. This one an AC Schnitzer version.

Pics soon

OK, here be the pics.

It was getting dark again and no tripod. I'm improving on the camera shake