E46 BMW 320d

N

ne3tz

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Hi Guys,

I'm interested in buying a 2002/2003 BMW 320d. The one I'm looking at, has 99 000 km's on the clock. What I'm worried about is the turbo. How reliable is the turbo on this car? I know that there were issues with these turbos, but I heard BMW recalled them. So would this car have been recalled to sort out the issues? Or am I taking a chance buying this vehicle?
 
from what i can see a 7 year old bmw diesel is asking for trouble.... i stand to be corrected though. don't have much experience with bmw
 
Stay away - diesels are NOT maent to be in BMW's...they are good with N/A M52's!
 
wouldnt go near it, service/parts/maintenance is going to be high....ask them to quote you on 1 electric window switch and motor...u will b shocked.
 
go onto the bmw forums and ask around. call people like Rob at RGM (+27 11 792-8352) and Sav at Savspeed (0116097017) for some background on those cars.
 
I wouldnt touch it.

Dont like diesel.

Poping a turbo out of the motor plan will set you back a couple of R1000 to repair/replace. This may be an option if you get the motorplan extended but that will be costly too.
 
I was considering the same car, I'm glad this came up. I actually spoke to a diesel mechanic the other day and he advised that the turbos in these cars do tend to go after about 5 years of use.

I definitely want to go with the a diesel car, is there any model you guys would recommend?
 
KaMoS said:
I was considering the same car, I'm glad this came up. I actually spoke to a diesel mechanic the other day and he advised that the turbos in these cars do tend to go after about 5 years of use.

I definitely want to go with the a diesel car, is there any model you guys would recommend?
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i never had issues with the focus tdci, u might find others have...but its worth a look..
 
Optimus01 said:
I wouldnt touch it.

Dont like diesel.

Poping a turbo out of the motor plan will set you back a couple of R1000 to repair/replace. This may be an option if you get the motorplan extended but that will be costly too.
Click to expand...

lol, it would be alot more than that, wouldnt be surprised if it was in the 20k region or more
 
KaMoS said:
I was considering the same car, I'm glad this came up. I actually spoke to a diesel mechanic the other day and he advised that the turbos in these cars do tend to go after about 5 years of use.

I definitely want to go with the a diesel car, is there any model you guys would recommend?
Click to expand...

I'd only go with the devil's fuel from now on after only driving petrol cars. Reason? Amazing performance and economy. I'm driving a golf 4 Tdi (1.9) 2003 model with 140k on the clock which I bought on auction in 2007 with 77000km on the clock. 1 tank of fuel gives me 950km and I'm not light footed... Most expensive service was the cambelt change at 120k which cost me 7k.

Next car is going to be a BMW 330d or Audi 3.0 TDi quattro.
 
KaMoS said:
I was considering the same car, I'm glad this came up. I actually spoke to a diesel mechanic the other day and he advised that the turbos in these cars do tend to go after about 5 years of use.

I definitely want to go with the a diesel car, is there any model you guys would recommend?
Click to expand...

If the turbo blows, I'm not folking out R20K. And as you as say, the diesel mechanic says these turbos go after just five years. The problem with a second hand diesel is that you don't know if the owner looked after the car well, so yeah would have loved to purchase it but decided not to. Now to find a diesel car with no turbo problems....
 
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waste of time, energy & MONEY!

If I could give you any advice as a 320d owner - dont waste your time!!! I bought a 2002 320d October 2008. It broke down April 2009 - and still standing. I bought it for R99k at 100,000km. I've spent R56,000 fixing the piece of sh** and I still dont have it. I drove it for a week in Jan of 2010 and it went back for a further R10k repairs. The problem is the turbo - majorly so. If you are still looking at buying one, obtain the engine number. Do yourself a favor and phone BMW Assist, speak to Johannes Conradie and get the CIA report. If the turbo has been exchanged twice, DONT buy it. You will also probably notice that the crankshaft vibration dampers are worn. Not a good combination with a faulty turbo. Another problem is the catalistic converter. If that clogs up, the turbo goes. If the turbo goes, you get a bearing knock. Which means u gotta replace the whole friggin engine.

WORST BMW by far - and I've driven a few. Any diesel model is a waste of BMW's time as they dont fix the problems, they just add more!!! If you want to buy BMW diesel, buy new - not second hand as the previous owners driven the shyte out of it and the engines are crap.

P.s. I notice u still looking for a diesel car - dont waste ur time on a second hand model - any turbo diesel second hand is bound to give you problems. Buy new, with a motorplan and extended warranty. Turbo's seem to go after 100,000km. BMW's excuse = poor lubrication.
 
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nick.ddc said:
If I could give you any advice as a 320d owner - dont waste your time!!! I bought a 2002 320d October 2008. It broke down April 2009 - and still standing. I bought it for R99k at 100,000km. I've spent R56,000 fixing the piece of sh** and I still dont have it. I drove it for a week in Jan of 2010 and it went back for a further R10k repairs. The problem is the turbo - majorly so. If you are still looking at buying one, obtain the engine number. Do yourself a favor and phone BMW Assist, speak to Johannes Conradie and get the CIA report. If the turbo has been exchanged twice, DONT buy it. You will also probably notice that the crankshaft vibration dampers are worn. Not a good combination with a faulty turbo. Another problem is the catalistic converter. If that clogs up, the turbo goes. If the turbo goes, you get a bearing knock. Which means u gotta replace the whole friggin engine.

WORST BMW by far - and I've driven a few. Any diesel model is a waste of BMW's time as they dont fix the problems, they just add more!!! If you want to buy BMW diesel, buy new - not second hand as the previous owners driven the shyte out of it and the engines are crap.

P.s. I notice u still looking for a diesel car - dont waste ur time on a second hand model - any turbo diesel second hand is bound to give you problems. Buy new, with a motorplan and extended warranty. Turbo's seem to go after 100,000km. BMW's excuse = poor lubrication.
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Eish you seem to have really gotten the bad end of the stick there.

Last August (I think it was) I got myself the 2004 Facelift 320d with 90000km on the clock.
Car was still in Motorplan and in that time had BMW give it the once over and got a new turbo out of them as well.

When researching the car, I also came across the nightmare stories of the turbos.
What I found out was that the '01 to 03' turbos were dodge and then after that the glitch was sorted and the newer design from '04 onwards are really not that problematic (as far as I've heard)

I've gotta say that I really enjoy my tractor :p and it's economical and not giving me any hassles at all.
Just recently had my oil service done and always topping up my tank once a month with injector cleaner and touch wood, I'll be keeping this car for a long time to come.

I know of quite a few e46 and e90 320d owners and they honestly love their cars and I'm really pleased with mine.

I hope to keep this car and either get a bakkie or petrol performance car to go along with it, but will hopefully never get rid of it.

Don't know if the OP is still watching this thread, but all you need is car with Motorplan and have it checked out by BMW and then you'd know what you're getting yourself into.
 
True that Nick, BMW 320d's are a prblem, a guy I know is driving one and he is always copmlaining about the maintanance cost of the vehicle. Sometime last year he had to fork out a lot of money for a clutch and soon after that the turbo was gone as you said. Another guy was driving a Jetta 4 Tdi also experienced problem same with a friend who was driving a Polo1.9 Tdi before buying a GTi, so my advise is stay away from diesel engines.
 
You have to remember that these are really "high performance" diesel engines. You get close to 200K and you are looking at BIG expenses whether you like it or not. SO everyone knows that and stay away from cars in that range like the plague.........which is 2 years down the line when you would like to sell on your car, that now has "only" 100 000 on the clock. You may not hit problems, you may even enjoy your turbo diesel and it's economy, but all that savings will fly out the window when you need to discount it to get rid of it.
I agree, buy it new and flog it before 100 00 and you are doing good, after that you are the sucker stuck with a car no-one wants.
 
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