First 6 Cylinder BMW (2015 330d Touring)

[Antony1985]

Good afternoon everyone,

Whilst keeping the Argentinians away from the Falklands for the past 6 months I decided to treat myself and upgrade to a bigger engined BMW.
I've had a few different 2-litre BMWs (116d / 320i / X3 20d / 116i), but I justified the bigger engine by telling myself I'm nearly 40 so I need a bigger engine, silly I know but it worked

My budget was £16k and I was looking for the car with the best service history and lowest miles I could afford.

After researching 330d/335d cars for 6 months whilst away, I found and bought (yes that's right, I blind bought from 8000 miles away ) my first 6-cylinder BMW.

As if 8000 miles wasn't far enough, I ended up buying the car from a dealership 290 miles from my house and due to flooding in the South West, I ended up on a 7-hour train journey shortly after a 20 hour flight to get there . Luckily, the car was exactly how it looked in the pictures, and the 5hr drive back was just how I thought it would be, smooth, comfortable, and very BMW like.

The car is a 2015 330d Touring with 59K miles on the clock. Not many gucci bits but the interior looks brand new and the car appears to have a very good service history. Servicing intervals every 12 months as the previous owner didn't do anywhere near 10k miles a year. The lack of use over 3 years prompted me to look for a BMW specialist who can ensure everything is as it should be.

The car is now booked into AutoWorks in Swindon, they are going to give it a thorough inspection so fingers crossed it's as good as the interior and service history suggests. Does anyone have any experience with these guys? Their communication has been first-class so far!

Having read PH for many years, I've always wanted to create a reader's thread. It won't be as eloquent or technically interesting as some people's posts on here, but it will be my honest journey with the car.

Thanks for reading,

Ant

[AnduHowman]

I like the effort to get a car, you really couldn't have made it harder for yourself!

[BlueJ]

Congratulations Ant, great purchase.

I had one of the early one's - a '62 plate in the same colour as yours - and ran it from 8k up to 85k over almost 4 years.

Superb all round cars - great choice, happy motoring!

[Percy.]

Colour combination is great, I have the bigger brother, 530d

[d_a_n1979]

Antony1985 said:

Good afternoon everyone,

Whilst keeping the Argentinians away from the Falklands for the past 6 months I decided to treat myself and upgrade to a bigger engined BMW.
I've had a few different 2-litre BMWs (116d / 320i / X3 20d / 116i), but I justified the bigger engine by telling myself I'm nearly 40 so I need a bigger engine, silly I know but it worked

My budget was £16k and I was looking for the car with the best service history and lowest miles I could afford.

After researching 330d/335d cars for 6 months whilst away, I found and bought (yes that's right, I blind bought from 8000 miles away ) my first 6-cylinder BMW.

As if 8000 miles wasn't far enough, I ended up buying the car from a dealership 290 miles from my house and due to flooding in the South West, I ended up on a 7-hour train journey shortly after a 20 hour flight to get there . Luckily, the car was exactly how it looked in the pictures, and the 5hr drive back was just how I thought it would be, smooth, comfortable, and very BMW like.

The car is a 2015 330d Touring with 59K miles on the clock. Not many gucci bits but the interior looks brand new and the car appears to have a very good service history. Servicing intervals every 12 months as the previous owner didn't do anywhere near 10k miles a year. The lack of use over 3 years prompted me to look for a BMW specialist who can ensure everything is as it should be.

The car is now booked into AutoWorks in Swindon, they are going to give it a thorough inspection so fingers crossed it's as good as the interior and service history suggests. Does anyone have any experience with these guys? Their communication has been first-class so far!

Having read PH for many years, I've always wanted to create a reader's thread. It won't be as eloquent or technically interesting as some people's posts on here, but it will be my honest journey with the car.

Thanks for reading,

Ant

That looks a superb buy; congrats

I'm biased; I love my F31 and it's just done us a great service on our road trip to The Highlands and back

Enjoy the car and keep us all posted with how you get on with it (and lots of pictures too)

[Antony1985]

AnduHowman said:

I like the effort to get a car, you really couldn't have made it harder for yourself!

It all seemed a good idea in the beginning, throw in flight delays and floods and things become less fun

BlueJ said:

Congratulations Ant, great purchase...62 plate in the same colour as yours - and ran it from 8k up to 85k over almost 4 years.
Superb all round cars - great choice, happy motoring!

Thanks BlueJ, I may not have this very long. I am retiring from the Armed Forces at the end of the year and it looks like I'm off to Saudi Arabia as a civvy.

Percy. said:

Colour combination is great, I have the bigger brother, 530d

After trying to fit my boys bike in the back the 530d would have been a better choice lol

d_a_n1979 said:

That looks a superb buy; congrats

I'm biased; I love my F31 and it's just done us a great service on our road trip to The Highlands and back

Enjoy the car and keep us all posted with how you get on with it (and lots of pictures too)

I've just spent all morning reading your 19-page thread lol great read, thanks for sharing it. I love those smaller wheels on yours! I like to see a chunky tyre on a rim, I can only imagine how much more comfortable the ride is.

[BlindedByTheLights]

Great car especially in that colour combo, I’ve just got my first f31 in 330d too, lovely and smooth and quick when needed.

[d_a_n1979]

Antony1985 said:

d_a_n1979 said:

That looks a superb buy; congrats

I'm biased; I love my F31 and it's just done us a great service on our road trip to The Highlands and back

Enjoy the car and keep us all posted with how you get on with it (and lots of pictures too)

I've just spent all morning reading your 19-page thread lol great read, thanks for sharing it. I love those smaller wheels on yours! I like to see a chunky tyre on a rim, I can only imagine how much more comfortable the ride is.

Cheers

Yup; the weekend I collected the car I binned the 403Ms and 19" RFTs and fitted the 18" 400Ms with winters; and then now with the 405Ms for summers and 397s for winters etc...

For our local roads and the roads we've just been driving on around The Highlands; they're as big as I'd want to go personally... Plus the ride is smoother/quieter and comfier

18s make the blue Brembo calipers stand out more too haha

[Percy.]

Antony1985 said:

Percy. said:

Colour combination is great, I have the bigger brother, 530d

After trying to fit my boys bike in the back the 530d would have been a better choice lol

I ran an F31 as a company car for two years and definitely needed more room, so when I sold my Audi S4 Avant in December, I wanted something bigger.

The F31 definitely has it's merits, it is more agile and a better everyday car but for long journeys I much prefer the larger F11.

[Court_S]

That’s a great colour combo. The leather on the wheel has survived really well given how easily BMW wheels seem to go very shiny.

The 30d is a great engine and works really well with the ZF8.

[Mad Maximus]

That’s a good looking car with a peach of an engine a nice colour interior and exterior what’s not to like. If you don’t like the spec you can always oem+ these BMWs.

[andy118run]

Very Nice.

The best colour...here's mine -



(A 2014 335d with sub-30k miles)

Like you, I was just out to get the cleanest, lowest miles 330d/335d I could find with a pretty similar budget.

Mine is a BMW approved used car and in the 2 or 3k miles I've done in it since I got it before Xmas I'm thinking it's going to be a really solid and dependable family car with a decent turn of speed when needed...

[cerb4.5lee]

These are great all round cars I reckon, and yours is a lovely colour combo. Enjoy it.

[Mr Tidy]

That's a properly long distance purchase in a great colour combination - now you just need to enjoy it!

[CB 987]

In my experience Dale and the team at Autoworks have been very good, they worked on my previous E91 335i and F31 Alpina. Hope they give it a clean bill of health.

Cheers.

[Antony1985]

Court_S said:

That’s a great colour combo. The leather on the wheel has survived really well given how easily BMW wheels seem to go very shiny.
The 30d is a great engine and works really well with the ZF8.

The interior is one of the reasons I went for this car. If someone looks after their car this well for 10 years, surely they look after the mechanical parts in the same way.

CB 987 said:

In my experience Dale and the team at Autoworks have been very good, they worked on my previous E91 335i and F31 Alpina. Hope they give it a clean bill of health.

Thanks mate, that's good to hear. As soon as I know the "expensive bits" are all in good order I can start planning what to do with it. Loving the look of Dan B's 325d on the smaller 18" alloys, they are definitely on the radar.

[d_a_n1979]

Antony1985 said:

Court_S said:

That’s a great colour combo. The leather on the wheel has survived really well given how easily BMW wheels seem to go very shiny.
The 30d is a great engine and works really well with the ZF8.

The interior is one of the reasons I went for this car. If someone looks after their car this well for 10 years, surely they look after the mechanical parts in the same way.

CB 987 said:

In my experience Dale and the team at Autoworks have been very good, they worked on my previous E91 335i and F31 Alpina. Hope they give it a clean bill of health.

Thanks mate, that's good to hear. As soon as I know the "expensive bits" are all in good order I can start planning what to do with it. Loving the look of Dan B's 325d on the smaller 18" alloys, they are definitely on the radar.

A set of staggered 400Ms on yours with 235/45 and 265/40 tyres would look superb IMO; in a bright silver they'd compliment the cars colour superbly

The OEM sized tyres are too small IMO; they have a slight stretch. One size wider and they're perfect