Hi,
I'm just buying one, which seems to be in great condition, but I don't have a good mechanical knowledge. Is there anything to look out specific to this model that I should pay particular attention to while it has a warranty? I'm hoping that it will be largely trouble free for me over the next couple of years!
Cheers, Dave
I wouldn't.
Hugely over-priced for what you get.
Unless you absolutely have to have a RWD hatch, there's loads of other stuff on the market that's much better and cheaper.
You've hit the nail on the head.. I wanted RWD (but did consider an A3 quattro). I've done FWD to death, it's just not a patch on a RWD for fun in my opinion. don't get me wrong i've had FWD 250bhp fun but it bores me now!
I wanted good fuel economy so this seems to fit the bill (up to 61mpg). Plus it looks well smart with the standard M Sport kit in my opinion. see
Turbo failure. Make sure it has oil changes at least as often as recommeneded, preferably more often, and always allow afew moments idling after being on boost before shut down.
Put afew £'s away for the invariable replacement anyhow.
Tim..
Hi Tim,
Whoa thats major! Do you know if that is applicable to all 320td regardless of production year, and also at what mileage they have been known to fail?
Cheers.. that's bad news but good to know.
Dave
Early 134's were not really affteced, later 150's and 163's yes. The turbo is under alot of strain in these applications and is marginal in terms of quality.
Failure can be anywhere after about 30k miles, but realistically 60 or 70k intervals...
A replacement rebuilt or rebuild of your own unit from a specialist like Van Aiken or Turbotechnics with upgraded seals and a 360 thrust brearing would seem to be the way to go- OEM replacments will fail again.
Tim..
I've done a bit more digging round on some forums and there are people stating that models produced after July 03 which have the six speed gearbox have a different turbo and are unaffected though, I haven't seen anyone state that they have had the problem with this late model 150hp engine but that doesn't completely satisfy me.
Well it will have a full years BMW warranty so any performance loss and it will be straight in. I will quiz my local dealer about it anyway to see if they have an official statement.
I'm getting it tomorrow. Wish me luck!
Many thanks for the info. Dave
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