Hi all

Thinking of buying one of these for my daily runner. Just wondering if anyone here has had one, more interested in the 330d but not sure if that comes with an auto box in the convertible body.

If not, then is the claimed mpg of a manual 330d to be believed ?

SBK

 

Its e46 you're thinking of not e36. Fairly sure you can have either manual or auto in all body types.
What do you have listed as claimed mpg?

 

I have a friend who runs a 330CD convertable, manual, he drives it failry hard and gets a genuine 35-40mpg, so not bad for the performance.

 

I had a 2004 330d, got to say one of the best cars iv ever had power is incredible, left the scoobys for dust on the straight, i drove from Alicante Spain, to Border of Paris on one tank, with 3 up, i did have it chipped later, was amazing, im looking at getting another one soon,
Only problems i had with it, although was repaired under warranty, NS indicator fell out, on motorway smashed me mirror, Air con pipe leaked, fixed under warranty, HAndbrake cables seize after a while, Something to do with the heat shield, i did over 50,000 miles without any problems other than those listed, , Manual with cruise control i had.
Best wishes in your search,

 

Have had 2 330ds, a coupe and a saloon, both remapped to 255ish both returned 35-39mpg, cant complain about the cars at all, great performance and economy. Not far off a standard STI but will obviously not put the same smile on your face (its a diesel!).
Liked mine so much ive now bought an e90 330d which is currently remapped to 295bhp and returning 40.3mpg (over last 1000 miles). Wouldnt buy a 330i, great engine but too slow when its so easy to map the diesel, having said that 330i's are great value and should return 26-28mpg.
In an ideal world id have a 320bhp classic scoob and a 330d for day to day.

 

Hi all

Thanks for your replies. I like the idea of a lazy automatic gearbox, so am looking for a 330d auto but read that the auto box takes about 10miles off the mpg. I would love a convertible 330d, but will look at the saloons due to family requirements.

Also, be reading about issues with swirlly flaps which seem to break away and drop into the engine. Anyone suffered that problem ??

SBK