Right, it's probably fairly old news to quite a lot of people now, but I sold my 4Mo about a month ago - sad to see it go and it was an absolutely fantastic car, but I'd had my year of fun with it and got the big V6 engine thing out of my system (or I hope I have!) and so it was time to go back to something sensible that would do slightly more than 30 mpg on the daily commute to work!

So I needed something slightly bigger and comfortable and something with significantly lower running costs - so obviously it made sense to go out and by a car with a 6 cylinder, 3 litre, turbocharged engine!  It's not quite as mad as it seems, as said engine is a diesel engine, albeit it the biggest most powerful one I could afford.  So what is it?  It's a BMW E46 330D of course!

It's already been on a couple of outings to RR days at Awesome GTi in the last couple of weeks, but here's some pics of it anyway:

 

 

 

It's a 2003 330D Sport Touring (obviously) and it's a later face-lifted model with slightly bigger and more powerful 204 bhp engine - it's completely standard at the moment and was rolling roaded at Awesome GTi a couple of weeks ago and did 212 bhp and 334 lb/ft, which isn't bad at all and they re-map up very nicely. Oh, and I went out of my way to make sure I got a manual box as well, which aren't easy to come by with that engine!

I'm not kidding myself that I'm going to keep it standard and it will probably see a track or two this year, although it's not going to be anything crazy.  I've already had a pair of SuperPro caster adjustment wishbone bushes put in and it'll undoubtedly be re-mapped and have a couple of suspension tweaks as I go along.  Oh, and I want to get some xenon headlights on it as well as people aren't getting out of my way on the motorway quite as quickly as I feel they should.

However, the current project is to make these fit - one pair on the front and one on the back.

So do I regret getting rid of the 4Mo?  Not one jot.  The BMW is bigger, comfier, quicker, handles better.... I've not regrets at all.  My only big gripe is that there's no cup holders in the front of the car, but can't have everything I s'pose. Oh, and the orange dash lighting isn't as good as the blue and red on a VW.

Jon.

Good to read about your new ride Jon.

Must be a different drive from 4mo to rear wheel drive

 

Gorgeous looking car mate, hope it serves you well. Out of interest, what sort of mpg are you getting, is it the 'slightly more than 30' that you were looking for, or more?

Freegs

 Very nice Jon

 Nice, i bet it will become an different animal again once remapped.

great choice jon, I was thinking to get the same car, well engine next year, but think i'll hold onto the golf for a little while longer. 

What do these map to?

KernowFreegs:

Gorgeous looking car mate, hope it serves you well. Out of interest, what sort of mpg are you getting, is it the 'slightly more than 30' that you were looking for, or more?

Freegs

Oh yes.  Commuting to work and back, it's doing about 45 mpg.  On a smooth run at fairly constant 'motorway speeds' it'll do around 50 mpg.   It's not great around town, but very few cars are and it doesn't spend much time there anyway. The automatics typically do about 5 - 6 mpg less that the manuals.

Jon

afro gti:

great choice jon, I was thinking to get the same car, well engine next year, but think i'll hold onto the golf for a little while longer. 

What do these map to?

Which car then if it's not a 3 series? 

Map depends on what engine you get - the earlier 184 bhp engines map up to about 220 ish.  The later 204 engine 'allegedly' maps to about 250, but I've seen RR graphs for cars doing over 260 and silly amounts of torque on just a map.  You don't really need anything more.

Jon.

 

You've gotta love these 3 litre diesels, effortless cruising but plenty of oommph when you want it. I found the steering ( low speed ) a little heavy on my 3 but I still have the desire to waft along in the armchair that is a 530d..

 i like that jon, its a nice looking car

 

 Looks very clean and tidy, Jon. Is that the one I HPI'd for you?

ABM:

 Looks very clean and tidy, Jon. Is that the one I HPI'd for you?

It is indeed! Everything checked out when I went to see it - turns out it had spent all it's life up here on the Fylde with a couple of owners (only ever been serviced by Derek Woodman in Blackpool), then been traded in in Nottingham and the independent in Enfield had picked it up from there and then I bought it and took it all the way back up to the north-west!

Thanks again for doing that cheeky favour for me.

Jon.

damianmkv:

You've gotta love these 3 litre diesels, effortless cruising but plenty of oommph when you want it. I found the steering ( low speed ) a little heavy on my 3 but I still have the desire to waft along in the armchair that is a 530d..

They're fantastic!  Don't have to use much throttle at all most of the time, but still surprised at how quick it is and how well it pulls when you put your foot down, especially considering the size and weight of it. Certainly enough ooomph to spin the back wheels and start getting the back end out on a couple of slippy roundabouts yesterday (honestly, I've never heard Tabs giggle so much).  Had the chance to drive Wilko's mapped E91 330 as well which was just a whole load of extra quick over mine.

Know what you mean about the steering, is a little on the heavy side at low speed but my last couple of cars have been like that so doesn't bother me much.  Ideally I'd like the steering a little heavier at speed (hence the caster bushes) but it's not a big problem.

I did consider a 530 but it was just a little bit too big and ostentatious for me - just couldn't picture myself turning up for work in one of them! Or indeed taking one around the 'ring.....

Jon.

harveysduvet:

ABM:

 Looks very clean and tidy, Jon. Is that the one I HPI'd for you?

It is indeed! Everything checked out when I went to see it - turns out it had spent all it's life up here on the Fylde with a couple of owners (only ever been serviced by Derek Woodman in Blackpool), then been traded in in Nottingham and the independent in Enfield had picked it up from there and then I bought it and took it all the way back up to the north-west!

Thanks again for doing that cheeky favour for me.

Jon.

You're welcome

Glad you're pleased with it

Looking good Jon. I'm considering one of these too. The only thing stopping me is the looks of the A4 Avant. Have you got any experience of the A4 to compare too?

PJ:

Looking good Jon. I'm considering one of these too. The only thing stopping me is the looks of the A4 Avant. Have you got any experience of the A4 to compare too?

Only as a passenger I'm afraid.  Lookswise, I actually prefer the E46 - never been a massive fan of audi's styling to be truthful 

I did consider an A4, but when I looked at the diesels they did, they just didn't compare - 1.9TDi (130bhp) would've been just too underpowered and slow, the 2.5 TDi V6 is just woeful, slow, poor economy and mated to a terrible gearbox, the 2.7 isn't much better, a newer 2.0TDi is less powerful slower and less refined than the BMW and the 3.0 V6 was too new and out of my price range.  It's slightly more powerful than the engine in my E46, but by that point BMW had shifted the goalposts again with the E90 330D and 335D anyway. 

Jon.

 

 Nice

Yes the most annoying thing about these is no cupholders lol. I just put my drinks in the slot under the arm rest.

very nice

had one of these, albeit a saloon, right up my trumpet (to quote JC) this afternoon - he had the xenon's fitted

just don't drive like he did!

Hey Jon,

Welcome to the BMW 6 Cylinder club ... that's a very nice motor you've got mate. Bet it beats my 29.1mpg average mpg

Keith

davy_631:

Yes the most annoying thing about these is no cupholders lol. I just put my drinks in the slot under the arm rest.

Nice idea, but unfortunately mine's got the bluetooth phone kit and that's where the cradle for it goes.

It does have two in the back of the rear centre headrest when you fold it down (quite neat I thought) but they're not much use to me in the front, unless I employ a butler to pass my drinks to and from me.

Jon.

urbantorque:

very nice

had one of these, albeit a saloon, right up my trumpet (to quote JC) this afternoon - he had the xenon's fitted

just don't drive like he did!

No, at the moment I'm enjoying doing all the things you don't typically associate with them - stuff like indicating, letting pedestrians cross the road in front of me, letting cars out at junctions - that sort of thing.

In an interesting development though, another BMW driver actually flashed me and allowed me to pull out infront of him and in to the fast lane yesterday! I was astonished - It seems BMW ownership brings with it some secret un-written code about fast-lane priviliges!

Jon.

vtwin_man:

Hey Jon,

Welcome to the BMW 6 Cylinder club ... that's a very nice motor you've got mate. Bet it beats my 29.1mpg average mpg

Keith

Hi Keith! Not seen you on here for a while!  How's things? 

Yup, I finally moved over to BMW ownership.  29.1 mpg though?  Sounds like my 4Mo!  What are you driving now?  I know you got the 3 series compact after the PD150, but you changed  to a 1 series didn't you?  Is it a 130i? 

Jon.

Yeah, Jon, It's the 130i - absolutely superb car- apart from the mpg and it's so hard not to use all that performance .... I'm looking at retrofitting a cruise control kit to try to get the mpg up a bit. I'm still travelling from Runcorn to Aintree every day and it's costing a few bob I can tell you!

Does the touring handle well? Mate's got one, but drives like a granny ...

vtwin_man:

Yeah, Jon, It's the 130i - absolutely superb car- apart from the mpg and it's so hard not to use all that performance .... I'm looking at retrofitting a cruise control kit to try to get the mpg up a bit. I'm still travelling from Runcorn to Aintree every day and it's costing a few bob I can tell you!

Does the touring handle well? Mate's got one, but drives like a granny ...

Yeah, I saw it was a 130i in your sig after I'd posted that!  Ooops.  I did briefly consider a 1 series but it would've had to have been a 120d as the 123d was too expensive and it would've been just a tad on the small side for me. 

The touring handles surprisingly well - you can tell there's a lot of weight shifting about, but is pretty good - a totally different league to the mkiv's handling.  It's tremendously satisfying when you nail a corner properly!  It's taken quite a bit of getting used to after the 4Mo and how that handled, but I'm getting there and starting to be a bit brave with it now!

Jon.

Have fun with it Jon, but don't turn off that DTC until you are used to the power/rear wheel drive .... I had a few 'moments' getting used to it especially in the wet. Thought I was ready to take on my favourite roundabout in the dry, with DTC off and nearly ended up divorced - I can still hear the screams now - ha ha .... not!

Keith

Yeah, was having a chat with Wilko on saturday and he said he never ever turned his off on his old E46 and it only takes a little patch of diesel or something to get the back sliding unexpectedly.   The other bit of advice I got was that if I manage to get the back out in the dry then I'll probably be going way too quicky to do anything about it and Very Bad Things will happen. 

Jon.

 

Good advice! Don't let it scare you though - I was genuinely nervous on every bend at first, but the DTC is superb - not too intrusive, but jumps in when needed just to remind you that you're not, actually, Jenson Button after all!

Have fun, let us know when you get it remapped!

Now I've had the back sliding and know what it feels like, it's a lot less scary - I think a big part of it until it does go for the first time is the great unknown of knowing that it'll happen at some point, but not knowing at quite which point it'll happen, where it'll happen and what it'll be like! Definitely agree with you about the TC being good but unobtrusive - I guess after donkeys years of making RWD cars, they've got quite good at making them so they're quite difficult to crash!

The plan at the moment is to take it on to the drift circuit at Oulton Park in January and do it in slightly safer controlled conditions, let someone show me it and then get some tips off them too!

The re-map'll be fun when it comes, no doubt.  That won't be happening until after the winte though. Putting a shedload more torque and power through those fat rear wheels doesn't really make a lot of sense just as we go in to winter - have already had a couple of times trying to get on toa gap on a busy roundabout where all I've had is traction control kicking in and no real forward motion to speak of!

Jon.

Congratulations Jon.

You've now moved into a different league.

You're going to need those brakes if you get it remaped.

How do you like the steering?  Makes a change that you can feel what the wheels are doing doesn't it. I am of course assuming the 330d has steering feel, as I haven't actually driven one, but the 320 I drove had a fair bit.

 I used to regularly turn the TC off on my old E46, but mine had the earlier ASC, which was poo.

Has it got the M-Sport / M3 steering wheel? If not, get one, they feel so much better.

Just had a read through this, not a lot to add other than 'nice one!'

I didn't realise the 3.0D would get that sort of MPG, I'd always thought it would be nearer 40 or even 35. I've wanted a 530d as a next car for a long time (though probably won't happen due to cost, but it'll be another 2 years yet so maybe) but the thought of poor MPG from a derv put me off. Nice to know it's still got one of the two plus points to a diesel! (The other being torque of course).

dubster67:

Congratulations Jon.

You've now moved into a different league.

You're going to need those brakes if you get it remaped.

How do you like the steering?  Makes a change that you can feel what the wheels are doing doesn't it. I am of course assuming the 330d has steering feel, as I haven't actually driven one, but the 320 I drove had a fair bit.

Cheers Paul!  Sorry, I've still not replied to your email of, errrr, quite a while ago now!  I will do it at some point though!

The steering feel is good - a little lighter than I'd ideally like at motorway speeds, and those 18" wheels do tramline on the motorway quite a bit, but hopefully quite a lot of that is down to the tyres - half worn Yokohama's of some sort on their at the mo, but it'll be getting some PS2s when the time comes to replace them.

Jon.

Woodinator:

Just had a read through this, not a lot to add other than 'nice one!'

I didn't realise the 3.0D would get that sort of MPG, I'd always thought it would be nearer 40 or even 35. I've wanted a 530d as a next car for a long time (though probably won't happen due to cost, but it'll be another 2 years yet so maybe) but the thought of poor MPG from a derv put me off. Nice to know it's still got one of the two plus points to a diesel! (The other being torque of course).

Cheers!  Yeah, I was astonished when it did 52 mpg on the 200 mile run home with it - that was just sat at a fairly constant 'motorway speed' all the way with the cruise control on.  I can't see it doing anything more than that though.  On a day to day basis it's doing about 44 - 45 ish, but it does drop around town and if you really drive it hard - it's such a big effortless engine though that you don't really have to drive it hard to keep going at a decent pace.  It does get higher mpg because it's a manual - the autos typically see about 5 - 6 mpg less and that's one of the reasons I made sure I got a manual - very difficult to find when I was looking as most people got one with an auto box.

Jon.

Just a suggestion? The front chrome grill's would look even better gloss black

AlexH:

Just a suggestion? The front chrome grill's would look even better gloss black

Oh yes, agree with this.

Get yourself down to BM Town Jon.        Or MStyle if you prefer.    I think they've got Xenon kits too.

BTW did the M3 wishbone idea not pan out?.  Too expensive ie cost/gain ratio.

PS No need to apologise, I've been busy too : I've got something Sachs'y brewing.

Paul.