I am looking for a new car and one of the choices would be an E46 330d. I was really looking for a manual, but I've found a really nice auto one for a decent price.

Does anyone here have any experience of these? What's the auto box like? Is it worth holding out for a manual one?

 

dont do it mate i have a 330 auto and its the biggest mistake of my life and i once found a karmasutra that was my moms

the auto boxs are shite mate
the manuals are the nuts though
bullet proof almost

 

Haha. Thanks, I'm not too keen on autos. Maybe just wait for the right manual to come along.

 

the autos are nice but give em some shit and they die very quick
the 6 speed mani for the win mate

 

my mates auto box and torque converter shit themselves together,1200 quids down the pan.manual box is the best

 

might be selling my 2000 330d (silver) manual long mot. it has done 200k but been serviced throughout and get 47mpg all day long
pm me if interested i am in east anglia tho

 

I had auto, and gotta say i loved it! And i had mine remaped and it never grumbled. So nice. Though my car was low mileage and heard auto boxs can run into problems about 90k miles which is poor.

When i get a BM again i will deffo have another auto as its so nice and relaxing.

 

Not gonna even mention what happend to my 330d auto after a month of having it......

 

Lose 6 or 7 mpg, and they die due to not having oil changed, more sealed for life bollocks.
I'm in same boat, so few manuals about just a waiting game.

 

Precisely. Why BMW decided on a sealed for life unit is beyond me... But, if you pick one up with sensible miles and in full working order it's deffo worth changing the fluid and filter straight away, and then at every inspection 2 thereafter to keep it tip top.

 

More attractive servicing costs, like other marques.
Should have seen the box oil that came out of my M3 at 100k+ miles, was black.
Change proved immensely afterwards.
Is silly really, even say every 50k is no big deal or expense, but would help a lot.