Hi all!
Let me introduce myself quickly. I'm Francois de Villiers, as of today a fourth time 3-series owner. My previous cars were a 1991 E30 325i MEX, 1995 E36 325i M and a 1998 E36 328i Exec. All three gave wonderful service, eventually sold at 300 000, 250 000 and 200 000 km respectively. The 1991 car was particularly impressive because I was young, had it a little modified and drove as hard as I could, always! Only started using a little oil between services from around 250 000km.
I'll be starting a new job on the other side of Jhb next month and will be travelling around 200km/day for the first 6 months. Therefore I went shopping for a reliable, comfortable and low mileage fuel saver that wont loose a heck of a lot of value by adding 50 or 60 000 k's in the next year.
I eventually decided on a 2002 E46 320D Auto with 120 000km on the clock. It may be my 4th 3 series, but my first oil burner and first automatic.
The car is in super nick (boot carpet not worn, full set of tools, no accident damage) but has a somewhat less than full service history. I plotted the service records and its a perfect straight line of 12000km per year, so I am comfortable it is a one owner car. Dave Robinson checked it out and gave it the thumbs up and it one hellavu nice drive. It has just been serviced includin glower control arm bushed, has 5 new tyres, and the purchase price included license, registration, a nice polish and a full tank of diesel
Probably overpaid a little ... R 88 000 which is around R 11 000 above retail. But then again, what else can you buy for R 88 000?
So now that I'm back in the family, a couple of introductory q's:
- tyre life on these cars ... I know its related to tyre type and usage patterns, but what could I resaonably expect based on mainly highway travel at legal speeds?
- with the above usage profile ... 6.5l/100 achievable?
- suggestions for good independent BMW workshop around Pretoria / East Rand / the South?
- things I have to check out immendiately? EGR, crank breather, what else should I not leave to the next service?
That's it for now ... hell it's good to be back!
Francois
Oh yes ... one more.
Is the 2002 model the one with the more robust swirl flaps and electronic turbo, or am I mixing my threads?
One more ... is the 2002 model fitted with the more robust swirl flaps and electronic turbo actuator?
Let me introduce myself quickly. I'm Francois de Villiers, as of today a fourth time 3-series owner. My previous cars were a 1991 E30 325i MEX, 1995 E36 325i M and a 1998 E36 328i Exec. All three gave wonderful service, eventually sold at 300 000, 250 000 and 200 000 km respectively. The 1991 car was particularly impressive because I was young, had it a little modified and drove as hard as I could, always! Only started using a little oil between services from around 250 000km.
I'll be starting a new job on the other side of Jhb next month and will be travelling around 200km/day for the first 6 months. Therefore I went shopping for a reliable, comfortable and low mileage fuel saver that wont loose a heck of a lot of value by adding 50 or 60 000 k's in the next year.
I eventually decided on a 2002 E46 320D Auto with 120 000km on the clock. It may be my 4th 3 series, but my first oil burner and first automatic.
The car is in super nick (boot carpet not worn, full set of tools, no accident damage) but has a somewhat less than full service history. I plotted the service records and its a perfect straight line of 12000km per year, so I am comfortable it is a one owner car. Dave Robinson checked it out and gave it the thumbs up and it one hellavu nice drive. It has just been serviced includin glower control arm bushed, has 5 new tyres, and the purchase price included license, registration, a nice polish and a full tank of diesel
Probably overpaid a little ... R 88 000 which is around R 11 000 above retail. But then again, what else can you buy for R 88 000?
So now that I'm back in the family, a couple of introductory q's:
- tyre life on these cars ... I know its related to tyre type and usage patterns, but what could I resaonably expect based on mainly highway travel at legal speeds?
- with the above usage profile ... 6.5l/100 achievable?
- suggestions for good independent BMW workshop around Pretoria / East Rand / the South?
- things I have to check out immendiately? EGR, crank breather, what else should I not leave to the next service?
That's it for now ... hell it's good to be back!
Francois
Oh yes ... one more.
Is the 2002 model the one with the more robust swirl flaps and electronic turbo, or am I mixing my threads?
One more ... is the 2002 model fitted with the more robust swirl flaps and electronic turbo actuator?
