Paul N P

Got an option for a BMW 3 series coupe diesel sport as a company vehicle but having problems finding one for a test drive

Any informed opinions out there?

Cheers


Paul

dpb

appear ta be as rare as ........well donno what . ..............was thinkin the same ( private mind)

John STI 8

I've tried a couple of 330cd's and they're pretty nice. The handling is quite good, a little understeery, but power delivery makes up for it. J

Dales2

Had one as a co motor and done 25k miles in just over 7 months. Overall I'm impressed (first diesel). Looks great, smart (leather) interior, pulls extremely well (noticeable improvement at 10k miles), very cruisy on motorway (90mph = 2300 rpm in 6th) and currently reading 47.4mpg on computer.

Major downside is the ride which is the german version of sporty (i.e very hard and bouncy unless the road is smooth). Can quite easily run out of ideas on the type of bumpy moorland roads that the Scooby loves.

Went for 21k miles before the first service was needed too!

Only fault is the bluetooth telephone system which has compatibility problems with my Ericsson phone.

Dream Weaver

Can vouch for the Bluetooth problems - we often get random answer machnie messages from Dales on a Friday where we can hear the radio in the bg for 10 minutes

chris's scooby

I've been waiting for my local BMW dealer to arrange a test drive on one for me.

I think it was May 2002 i called in there and they promised me that they would sort one out for me.

Good job i didn't hold my breath...

N1 SPAN

Drove a mates 4 door saloon 320d and was well impressed. motorway acceleration was superb. I was really surprised. Very nice overall car. It was the tiptronic auto too?

MattOz

Paul,

320Cd is a great car. Plenty of grunt and the sport version looks very nice. I have a 330d sport saloon. Would've gone for the coupe, but it was about 6 months too late. Off the line, the 320 Cd is not much slower than the 330d, and probably less in it when rolling. It may even handle better due to less weight over the front wheels. Mines manual and returns about 42mpg. Have still got 4k miles to go to the first service and it's done 16.5k miles.

Servicing is a £500 option when you purchase and this gives you 5 years and/or 75k miles of servicing at BMW. The only parts not included are tyres. If you don't get the service package, the costs are £130 (oil service) £200 (inspection 1) and £250 (inspection 2). There is an oil service between each inspection, and intervals are approx 18-20k miles.

I've found mine to be an excellent car to own. Not as rapid as my old STI or M5, but a better car to own. Cheap to run if you can stomach the initial outlay. Mine has just about lost the VAT after 12 months, but I'd still get nearly £30k for it today. It was spec'd up though!

Never had a bluetooth problem, but then I have an "old" Nokia 6310i and it's been perfect.

Matt