I’ve had various BMWs over the years. The one I liked best was a 330d E46, lovely car.

(I currently have a 320d F30, which is rea;ly nice as well)

IMO 3 series are nicer than 5 series, if you don’t need the room, real drivers cars.

I bought an E91 335D earlier in the year and have put nearly 9k on it so far. Bad side, I’ve had a weird issue with brake pad sensors which required the rear pads changed early and all the wear sensors replaced. That’s an issue you could have with any bmw.

I was looking for 330Ds, around the 2008 age and a 1 owner 2006 335D with under 60k popped up privately so snapped it up. It’s auto only on the 335 but I feel it suits it very well. I’ve driven manual 320D’s and felt the gearbox was quite clunky so happy to get an auto. However I find the steering wheel paddles to shift down the auto box (standard on a 335) is useful for faster driving as the front will push wide if you don’t drop a cog for faster corner entry. This is worth considering if you are comparing a manual 330D v auto 330D, depending on how you intend driving it. You can still shift down using the stick on the 330D auto.

The tyres seems to last well, I’ve only worn about 2-3mm out of the rears and it’s been subject to more than a few high speed drifts and aggressive driving. The power is amazing once you are on the move, I’ve been able to out pace seriously fast cars and it makes overtaking a smooth, safe and pleasurable experience on country lanes.

The diesel doesn’t like short trips but we only ever use the car if it’s a journey over 20 miles.

It’s docile when driven normally. I’m sure it’s worse on fuel than the 330D, it gets 35mpg average and 38mpg on a run. Even if abused it still returns 32+. You don’t buy one of these to compare to a 50mpg boring 2l rep mobile. You run these cars because it allows you to have sports car like performance, while driving your bike to riding spots on good roads. Life it short and fuel is as cheap as it’ll ever be right now so do it.

Went to see a 2003 325i sport touring today. Trading in my Celica and picking it up next Saturday 🙂

How easy do bikes go in the back?

Thanks for more replies!

damitamit – Member
Went to see a 2003 325i sport touring today. Trading in my Celica and picking it up next Saturday
How easy do bikes go in the back?
POSTED 20 MINUTES AGO # REPORT-POST

He he I’m swooping my celica and mr2 for a 330D 🙂

Wheels off, seats down and chuck bike (or two) in, no worries. Makes it easier if you take out the retractable load cover first.

The 4 pot petrol engines arnt that special, BMW 6 pots are always going to be their speciality.

Brilliant car! I’ve had an e90 330d saloon auto for the past 5 years and 60K miles and it’s been almost faultless. Mine has a split breather pipe but so long as I don’t fill the tank to the very top it doesn’t leak fuel and isn’t costing me £400 to fix! I get about 36-37mpg (according to the computer) with a heavy right foot and only a little motorway driving. I have the through loading (folding) rear seats and can comfortably get my bike (with wheels off) in the back – would struggle with 2 though! The only real downside is the run-flat tyres which can give a crashy ride on poor roads particularly when they are worn and on bigger rims …and the fronts do cause the car to tramline quite badly when they are worn. The more recent Bridgestones do seem to last reasonably well though (approx. 20k) but they are costly to replace (approx. £850 set). It’s the first car I’ve had that I wouldn’t hesitate to buy again …then again that M135i 🙂