BMW 320d Q&A

Grimspoon

Grimspoon

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The 320d is on my list of possibles to buy (yes I know its boring and not a Alfa) :p but I want to hear some more info on them. Especially from people who have or had 1.

What were your experiences? Good cars? Economical? Expensive to service once out of warranty? ( I am talking general service)

I am looking at an 08 low mileage model. Good / bad year for the 320d? I know some cars have had bad years.

Any other information would be greatly appreciated. :)
 
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From what I've heard, the early 2000's 320d had problems with the turbos. This has been sorted out long ago. It is a very economical car. It's a much better buy than the 320i.
Oh, and when buying any BMW extend the maintenance plan.

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Guy at work had a 2006 320d - the car pretty much cost him his job.

Something snapped twice in the engine costing a good couple k to fix. Then blew the engine (not sure what) and needed to replace engine at R30k or so, a couple thousand km later the turbo went aswell at R20k. R1500 to change the oil every so often.

Sounds like fun.
 
Thanks for the feedback.

Went to drive one after work, nice car, everything I am looking for.

1 thing I noted though was that the steering is pretty stiff. Apparently all BM's are like this. Used to my tdi light steering.

Another thing the guy told me is that all BM's come with run flats. Thought it was optional? R2000 a tyre scares me.
 
Grimspoon said:
Thanks for the feedback.

Went to drive one after work, nice car, everything I am looking for.

1 thing I noted though was that the steering is pretty stiff. Apparently all BM's are like this. Used to my tdi light steering.

Another thing the guy told me is that all BM's come with run flats. Thought it was optional? R2000 a tyre scares me.
Click to expand...

The 5 series steering is like butter. 1 series is also less stiff.
 
SYNERGY said:
The 5 series steering is like butter. 1 series is also less stiff.
Click to expand...

Wonder what was up with this car then. Seemed abnormally stiff. Plus there was a run flat warning on. The guy said it was nothing wrong but BMW needed to reset the warning. Maybe the tyres were flat lol
 
When I drive my moms 330i the steering is alot stiffer than my polo, but when you get used to it, it's really quite good. Granted she has the full sports pack on the car so car is lower and suspension harder, and steering wheel is smaller, but you get very good feedback from the road and it's so fun to drive!
 
nakedpeanut said:
When I drive my moms 330i the steering is alot stiffer than my polo, but when you get used to it, it's really quite good. Granted she has the full sports pack on the car so car is lower and suspension harder, and steering wheel is smaller, but you get very good feedback from the road and it's so fun to drive!
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cool.

Is it true that all BMW come with run flats?
 
The new 320D runs @135kw, which in my opinion is 'Wow' for a 2l diesel. On top of that it has improved fuel consumption figures now down from 5.4l/100km to 4.7l/100km. Pretty much brilliant engineering.
 
IRG said:
The new 320D runs @135kw, which in my opinion is 'Wow' for a 2l diesel. On top of that it has improved fuel consumption figures now down from 5.4l/100km to 4.7l/100km. Pretty much brilliant engineering.
Click to expand...

Even the 130 kw is WOW! Got awesome power!

nakedpeanut said:
I think they do.. My moms has.. And ya ~10k to replace the tires! She has 18" rims due to the sports pack
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ouch!!
 
dj_jyno said:
Could be... that's one of the side effects of flat run-flat tyres.
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I think that was the case and the guy was just BS me. . . That steering was way to heavy. It was like driving a truck without power steering.
 
Sigh ... where to start ... im also looking into getting a 320d after having 2 320i's over the last 5 years ... trade in every 3 yrs.

So far for the steering is only tight if you take the sports pack .... very hard steering and bucket seats bleh just not worth it
specially since there is no real speed boost ... lame yes ... very IMO.
Then I got an exclusive pack and daaaaaaaaamn!!! steering is amazing like butter someone said above and the other little perks
also cool so a 320d with exclusive pack with be like driving expensive butter for cheap ;)

Tyres!!!!! bleh on the sports pack i had 19", front and back dif sizes backs cost me R5k each to replace and fronts R3k each to
replace ... that will never ever ever ever ever .... happen again not for tyres at least oh yeah run flats ... i now have std 16"
runflats and they cost around R1100 which i can deal with after bonus month every 2 yrs

so yeah 320d def a go!!!
 
nakedpeanut said:
lol maybe ya just really weak :p
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lol maybe :p

Deep78 said:
Sigh ... where to start ... im also looking into getting a 320d after having 2 320i's over the last 5 years ... trade in every 3 yrs.

So far for the steering is only tight if you take the sports pack .... very hard steering and bucket seats bleh just not worth it
specially since there is no real speed boost ... lame yes ... very IMO.
Then I got an exclusive pack and daaaaaaaaamn!!! steering is amazing like butter someone said above and the other little perks
also cool so a 320d with exclusive pack with be like driving expensive butter for cheap ;)

Tyres!!!!! bleh on the sports pack i had 19", front and back dif sizes backs cost me R5k each to replace and fronts R3k each to
replace ... that will never ever ever ever ever .... happen again not for tyres at least oh yeah run flats ... i now have std 16"
runflats and they cost around R1100 which i can deal with after bonus month every 2 yrs

so yeah 320d def a go!!!
Click to expand...


This 320d I drove didn't have the sports pack, so there was definitely something wrong with the tyres, not to mention there was a run flat warning on the screen :rolleyes:

Its a great car, but there are only 2 things that are putting me off, A the tyres are just stupid expensive and B after the motorplan the turbo alone will cost R35 - R40k to replace. Eina!
 
Okay, I dont own a 320d but I do own another 3 series and I just wanted to say to please be aware of the cost of tyres on a BMW. If the runflat light is on, there is a problem, either the tyres are flat or there are different brands of tyre on the car. Either way it is a pain because runflats are not optional on Beemers, they are mandatory and linked to the motorplan. To make matters worse he can switch that light off temporarily but it will come on again after a short period of driving

The engines on BMW are magic, they really are some of the best in the world. The tyre choices are very poor though, a runflat 18" will set you back an absolute fortune (R2500 each).

As for the steering, they are stiffer than most other cars, I have owned cars with both exclusive and sports packs and on both the steering is tighter. So in short, check the tyres properly, budget for the replacement, extend the motorplan and the car will treat you well! Plus you have an excuse to drive like a chop, its expected from BMW drivers (kidding!)
 
The_Omlette said:
Okay, I dont own a 320d but I do own another 3 series and I just wanted to say to please be aware of the cost of tyres on a BMW. If the runflat light is on, there is a problem, either the tyres are flat or there are different brands of tyre on the car. Either way it is a pain because runflats are not optional on Beemers, they are mandatory and linked to the motorplan. To make matters worse he can switch that light off temporarily but it will come on again after a short period of driving

The engines on BMW are magic, they really are some of the best in the world. The tyre choices are very poor though, a runflat 18" will set you back an absolute fortune (R2500 each).

As for the steering, they are stiffer than most other cars, I have owned cars with both exclusive and sports packs and on both the steering is tighter. So in short, check the tyres properly, budget for the replacement, extend the motorplan and the car will treat you well! Plus you have an excuse to drive like a chop, its expected from BMW drivers (kidding!)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info Onlette. The cost of the tyres is really putting me off, I mean to do all 4 tyres will set you back R10k, that's R10 000 :wtf: :eek:

Any other reasonably sized wheel would cost you R1000 a tyre, and that's probably for a fairly decent tyre.

What concerned me about this 320d in particular was that warning light, if there is nothing wrong with the trye, then there is something wrong that is reporting that something is wrong :p

It does blow my mind that the run flats are not optional. I mean yes you assume you can afford R10k on tyres if you drive a BMW, but spending that on 4 tyres is just insane.

They guy did mention that some people actually have them replaced with normal tyres and then just keep a can of that tyre weld in their car in case of a flat. Doesn't sound very smart to me.
 
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