330d....good price or not?

[MarkoTVR]

Hi,

I need to consider buying a car for work purposes (or rather I need to stop getting rentals 'cos my normal car is )

I have seen a 51-reg 330d (18" alloys, full leather interior, manual) for sale locally for £14,995. The garage is shut until 4th Jan '05 , so I have no idea of the mileage, BMWSH, etc. However, it looks in very good condition, there are no marks and the alloys aren't even kerbed.

I know this is a broad question given the lack of detail, but does it look like it's worth checking out?

I thought asking a current owner would be best!! Thanks in advance!

Mark

>>> Edited by MarkoTVR on Monday 27th December 00:10

[vixpy1]

For that price, expect starship mileage..

But Mileage on a BMW is nothing so could be worth a punt.

[rassi]

Also worth considering that it is a manual (of course, you may prefer that), which in my - albeit limited - testdrive didn't make the most of the torquey engine. Would much prefer a 330/530d with steptronic. Does it have satnav?

[MarkoTVR]

Cheers for the replies.

I was thinking the mileage would be enormous to get the price down that far, sadly I won't know how enormous until the place reopens.

As for the SatNav, no. Looks like just the normal stereo set up. If I remember right, there was a mobile phone installation too, so it's almost definitely an ex-repmobile.

[ivan232]

Have had My 330D touring for 2 months now and can't stop wondering why it took me so long to discover a diesel car that is a pleasure to drive the price seems very good although mine was around that price it only had 50k on the clock

[trackdemon]

We're probably going to have to change the MCS for something a bit bigger next year, the wife's business is needing space and the MINI's pretty much a 2+2. I've firmly recommended a 330d touring, can;t think of anything that gets close to fulfilling all of our criteria quite so perfectly:

Space
Performance
Reliability
Reasonable running costs
Fun to drive (I've even threatened to track it)
Well built
Comfort
Good residuals
Looks

My preferance initially was for a manual, but I'm certain that the auto would be very welcome for the use the car will get, and will probably bolster resale. They all seem well equipped, I'm guessing leather / auto are pretty much essential and everything else is standard anyway.
Seen several good one's sub £16k with non-stellar mileage (eg the one here: www.dcautomobiles.co.uk/).

Anything in particular I should look for? Any known foible's / recalls / problems?

[spnracing]

15K looks about right to me as long as the mileage is under 60-70K. Second hand car values just keep dropping so even German diesels aren't holding their value like they used to.

I considered part ex-ing my E320 CDi recently (02 plate, 30K) and got offered 16-17K for it, funnily enough by the very same www.dcautomobiles.co.uk/ which is just down the road from me.

[fergus]

Have a chat with MattOz (profile name) to see how the 330d handles on track. He's got round the 'Ring faster in his than several more exotic cars.

PS surely you could make most use of the torque with a manual box?

PPS bloody good all round car, esp the touring.

[MattOz]

Hi Mark,

Seems OK, but depends on the mileage. I remember that in 2001 the 330d Sport had a change of steering rack to make it sportier, along with some subtle front and rear bodywork alterations. It'd be worth checking whether this is the last of the "first" generation cars or the first of the "second".

The manual 330d is rarer than the auto, but IMHO it's preferable. I've had 3 and they have all been manual. They are a great all rounder and as Fergus says, pretty quick in the right hands!

Cheers
Matt

[baz1985]

take a look ont trader site. I'd only buy one BMW warranty (original or extended), sat nav and xenons. I think that the changes took place (facelift) in Sept 2001. With the 204bhp model coming in March 2003.

Baz

[ross]

we've got a 330d touring swapped an m3 and a focus to consolidate to 1 car, had it chipped (ac schnitzer at rossiter in norwich) which doesn't affect the warranty. Very quick, comfortable, fun to drive. 37 mg. fantastic, not much less fun than the m3 actually!