hi

[martincos]

Just sayin hello as im new here and will come straight in and ask you nice peoples advice. looking at getting a 2000-2001 330 now dont now which to get the diesel or the petrol what are ur experiances with them? main things to look out for? and the like any info would be great cheers in advance.
Martin

[Hemibum]

Welcome martincos. Just don't fall into the trap of taking anything on this site seriously. If your'e looking for subjectivity, you came to the wrong place.

However, you'll enjoy it!!

[CommanderJameson]

Get the petrol. Sounds nicer, goes faster, not too bad on economy.

Be prepared to go through a lot of fuel in your first few weeks (months? years?) of ownership because BMW straight sixes sound bloody fabulous at 6000RPM.

[A S P]

Both are considered great cars and the 330d would probably have been considered the pick of the range if it wasn't for being compared to a BMW petrol straight six, I've a 2.8 which I think is great but the 3.0 is much, much better. For a largish petrol 3.0 six pot you can get pretty resonable economy, unless you do interstellar mileage get the petrol. The diesel is also a bit more complex engine technology wise, and whilst a reliable car there have been issues with the turbo's going, inevitable once the cars get older.

I'd also avoid BM main dealers, find really good indie specialist and you'll get much better service at very reasonable prices.

[martincos]

Cheers lads for the wellcome looks like the petrol is the one to go for then not to clued up on bmws like the 330s tho. Got a saph cosworth at the mo but need something with some reliability yet still plenty of go so seemed a good choice to go for any more info on what to look for will be great cheers
Martin

[toastboy]

Not much to add but I've had my 330ci for 2 years and 60k miles now and it's pretty much been fault free (apart from passenger door handle failure once). Mine returns around 29mpg according to the OBC and take a litre of oil every 1500 miles. I've just traded it in at 94k miles and it's still going as good as it was when I bought it.

[Rochester BMW]

Diesels are for Girls!

anyone who owns a diesel of any sort is a big girl!

so unless your a nancy girl, buy a petrol, its the mans choice!

[vee]

Rochester BMW said:

Diesels are for Girls!

anyone who owns a diesel of any sort is a big girl!

so unless your a nancy girl, buy a petrol, its the mans choice!

f*** it , have one more

To the original poster, at 100k+ a 330d can start to get expensive as there is much more to go wrong with a diesel engine, and these bits are more expensive than a petrol.
My 142k mile, 2002 330d sport had fbmwsh and a new turbo at 100k. This still blew on the M1 resulting in an oil fire which destroyed the car.
Also, it will take approx 20k miles to recover the premium you'll pay for the d over the i.

Also agree wholeheartedly about the indy advice - BMW can be costly and is unnecessary out of warranty.

[martincos]

Thanks people, looks like its the petrol then, pretty much unanamous. Will start having a look this weekend lots of autos about tho deffo want manual cheers
Martin