Right, well firstly I think it's a brilliant car! I use it as a daily driver doing a 45mile commute on a little bit of b roads and mostly dual carriageway, previously I was running a Volvo S60 D5 (2.2litre 5 cylinder turbo diesel auto) - it was boring as shit but not mine!
I picked up the 330d with 92k on the clock for a good price, mine is a sport saloon with plenty options and a manual - I was very fussy in wanting a manual sport with the alcantara trim (looks nice but doesn't wear as well as the leather - mine is worn through at one point on the drivers side bolster) and more importantly the later M57N engine which went from late 2003 till they stopped selling the E46 in 2005. The earlier engine is just an M57, the later N came with more power (204bhp), torque (300 lb ft) and less emissions (so cheaper tax - £118 for 6 months, £225 for 12) and is more econimical due to it having a 6 speed in manual form rather than a 5 (auto's drop economy by about 5 mpg)- a complete win win win!
Completely standard it's a very nice drive, comfortable, smooth and very planted with plenty torque, performance would be on par with a standard GT/Glanza but it's so much more effortless due to the wide torque band. The engine is very smooth and revs nicely - not like normal diesels, it happily pulls right through the revs and sounds good too!
It's a great car for everyday but when you want to start pushing on along a nice road the car flows beautifully, I had a brilliant late night drive down from the highlands last night, nice and comfy on the boring bits of dual carriageway with the cruise control on, plenty poke to overtake and then great fun once I got to the backroads.
It's plenty quick enough however a remap will make it even better. For a few hundred rubs you'll get an even smoother power delivery and a good deal more power and torque too (upto around 250bhp and 380lb ft) plus the economy improves. As above after running mine for over 10k miles my average is 47.8mpg according to the onboard trip - and that is not driving efficiently!
I've had no actual problems with mine since getting it, one issue I did find was the flexible coupling between the gearbox output shaft and propshaft,also called the guibo, was worn and causing clunks between shifts. This commonly wears due to the torque - and isn't helped when heavy shifting. The parts costs £50 and is easy to change.
I did carry out some "perventative" problem maintenance when I first got mine - the swirl flaps you obviously know about, although this is not a big issue on the M57N its still peace of mind if you remove them.
The oil separator feeds the turbo and the original part is a "loo roll" type filter which clogs easily when that happens you say bye bye turbo, BMW revised the design to a cyclone type which is maintenance free and again cheap (£40) and easy to change. They can be smokey before this is changed also. Bypassing the EGR valve will also make the car run better as it won't be sucking on its own exhaust, it can either be removed plugged or programmed out.
Bushes wear as it is a heavy car, as Mark said the front wishbone bushes are part of the wishbone so the whole wishbone needs changing to do these - I've got new ones lying next to me ready to change (100 quid a side so not too bad), track rods will also go about the same time.
Brakes are ok standard but depending on condition can overheat easily, my discs had never been changed and were completely shot (not surprising after 100k), but having just changed the rears they're getting better (again new front discs and pads are lying on the floor next to me). I was pleasantly surprised again and the price of these, Pagid front discs and pads for £99, rears with the handbrake shoes also for £130.
For parts eurocarparts.com are very good, they always have good deals on to get upto 30% off the prices listed.
I've been advised it's best to service these every 10k, the onboard computer works out the intervals but is optimistic (22k between oil change?!), you'll need 7 litres of decent gold stuff, ie castrol edge 5w 30 FST - £60 incl filter. The service interval timer can be easily reset without a tool too so fine for diy'ing.
The one worry is if the turbo does go, these are pretty much £1000 and apparently can't be rebuilt as they're VNT's although made by Garret. The horror stories of turbos going are more related to the 320d's.
On the 320d compared to 330d - there is not a huge difference in economy but a massive difference in refinement and power, the 2 litre is harsh and needs thrashed to go anywhere, I've been told this by a few people who would never touch the 20d when the 30d is not much more of an outlay.
That's enough of a brain dump for now! :homer:Any questions let me know but as I said right at the start they're brilliant cars and imo give the best compromise between refinement, speed, economy and fun - I love the fact it laps up cruising along a motorway one minute then thrashing along a back road the next.
Oh and did I mention wet roundabouts.....
