Welshy,just paid about

I agree that 55mpg is unrealistic for daily use for the vRS. We have an Ibiza 130PD which is basically the same as the Fabia and on a recent 400mile each way run to Scotland the car averaged 50mpg. In normal use it averages in the mid 40's.

I get around 47-48 mpg with a mixture of driving.

From experience I get very close to the official combined mpg of the car I purchase. Maybe that is an indication of how hard (or not) I drive my car.

10K service is approx. £150 and 20k service approx. £180 IIRC. BMW will be on variable but with my driving style it ended up around 12k services on my M3.

I would check out service costs on the 330d as I wouldn't be suprised if they were more than double the cost of the Fabia.

I would check out service costs on the 330d as I wouldn;t be suprised if they were more than double the cost of the Fabia.

Although that will be main dealer prices. Our local BMW independent specialist quotes less than the Skoda main dealer prices, plus I don't believe there is a cambelt service....

Chris

Welshy,just paid about

Although that will be main dealer prices. Our local BMW independent specialist quotes less than the Skoda main dealer prices, plus I don't believe there is a cambelt service....

Chris

this is true timing chain is only to be changed at 160k - and only if really needed they are very robust (but drawback is they make a noise - while rubber is very quiet & cheap but requires 60k changes/6 year changes.

Having said that on my first car a cavalier I bought it with 80k on the clock SRI16v the rep owner had owned it for 5 years and it was due a cambelt change. I owned the car for a further 8 years I never replaced the cambelt and it was driven very hard every day. I sold it to a friend with 240k on the clock original timing belt. This was a very good car cheap as chips to run and buillet proof, drawback it lost its value in a big way.

The suspension was only changed at 180k the clutch was never changed (and was still in fine condition when I sold it)

To retorte - this may be the facts for comp cars however how does this compare to private car use? Identifying a stat like that in isolation is pretty meaningless, likewise it is true that 1 in 3 cars are stolen.

The secret is to buy on condition - given these cars will have 100k ish milage on them driving like you suggest will show up. i.e. you can check the emmissions/you can check compressions/you can listen to the engine.

Fair enough, however if you own something then the likelyhood (human nature) is to look after it more than if it is owned by a faceless company.

As far as buying on condition, I agree absolutely - if you buy with your eyes and ears you'll undoubtedly do better than if you buy with either heart or head

BTW - welcome to the forum :P

Everyone I know who drives a company car rags it from cold, doesn't give a monkeys about the interior, slams the gears around, sits on the clutch at traffic lights etc. etc.

I wouldn't go near a company car to be honest, a private car should be better looked after because it's that person's wallet if it goes wrong.

Not all company cars get trashed. A company I used to work for made the driver pay for any damage / repairs outside of normal servicing. The cars were inspected by management once a month too and disciplinary action taken if necessary.

I don't think there is any 'safe' formula to buying a used car. Demos, old biddy cars, company cars and private cars all have plus and minus points. Pot luck really, and just hope you get a goodun.

Oh, and go for the BM.

Myself I wouldn't trust a 100K BMW - been there, got the new block .....

That was a 530i V8 which became notorious for the cylinder erosion issue

Trouble with an older BMW is that if anything big does go bang, it's a write off.

this is true timing chain is only to be changed at 160k - and only if really needed they are very robust (but drawback is they make a noise - while rubber is very quiet & cheap but requires 60k changes/6 year changes.

Having said that on my first car a cavalier I bought it with 80k on the clock SRI16v the rep owner had owned it for 5 years and it was due a cambelt change. I owned the car for a further 8 years I never replaced the cambelt and it was driven very hard every day. I sold it to a friend with 240k on the clock original timing belt. This was a very good car cheap as chips to run and buillet proof, drawback it lost its value in a big way.

The suspension was only changed at 180k the clutch was never changed (and was still in fine condition when I sold it)

My previous car before the fabia VRS was a coupe 20VT which I owned for 4 years. The fabia is a better all round car for my driving style so I am glad I made the change. The ultimate performance of the fabia is of course considerably less than the coupe but it is much more accessable. The performance of the fabia from 2000-3000 rpm is better than the coupe and this was the rpm range where my coupe spent most of its time.

I cannot comment on the 330d though. Try both and see is my suggestion.

**

The Golf GT TDI150 is another quality piece of kit very strong in the gear and only marginally slower than CTR's from a standing start, this too could be an option (see many of these for

You could have my VRs with 45K on the clock for the trade in price ie not much more than 7K?

Myself I wouldn't trust a 100K BMW - been there, got the new block .....

That was a 530i V8 which became notorious for the cylinder erosion issue

Was this the Nikisil issue which affected the '96-'99 engines?

Chris

Yes, it's not an issue anymore and affected cars were fixed under warranty. Don't think it affected diesels either

None of that sounds accurate to me. As i've found out, there's hardly ANY difference between the 130 turbo and the 150. There are some slight changes though.

The Golf Tdi 150 has a slightly bigger Turbo and different injectors to the 130 giving it slightly more BHP but with the downside of a little more turbo lag. In the real world there's little difference in performance between them but for my money a 130 remapped to about 180 is the way to go with a diesel Golf.

Also I'd have thought a remapped VRS would give a BMW 330d (standard) a close run !

Drove a new 330d (231bhp)sport and it was a bit of weapon two of my mates now have them. I swapped my octi vrs for a 320d sport and never regretted it. Have you thoought of getting a 320d and chipping it up. You would get a lot newer car for your money (and I once beat a fabia vrs from a rolling start - but don't tell anyone) also if you compare standard figures the 320d and fabia vrs are'nt miles apart

I very nearly bought a 330d Touring instead of my Octavia vRS Combi, but the former was just a tad too pricey at the time.

A 2002-registered 330d (part of the 3-series range that BMW refer to as the "E46") with approx 40-50k on the clock can probably be had for £10k. So for your sub-£7k budget, you are looking at higher mileage probably, not that it should be any problem. Ex-police vehicles might be a good source, if you like white....

Some of the 320d models suffered from a cam sensor problem: including the one that I had as a courtesy car once :(

There were some mechanical changes, even during the E46 production period, that meant that later 330d models are more powerful than earlier ones. I can't remember the stats, but it's the difference between sub-200 bhp and 200bhp+ I think. A chip might negate the gap a little I guess.

I'd personally avoid the auto or tiptronic gearboxes (rugged and reliable though they are) and stick with a manual (maybe with an aftermarket short shift kit) to wring every last drop out of it. Should be better economy too.

Useful site for any car buyer at this link

And yes, I've seen a 330d pull away from me on a long motorway stretch, both in my vRS, and my BMW E36 328i. Lovely piece of kit: I think I've even seen a modified 330d that was prepped for the Gumball rally.

Si

My dad ran a 2002 E46 330d Sport (184bhp 5speed manual) for 80k miles of which i did about 10k

The performance difference between the 330d and VRS at speeds under say 80mph is not as great as you might imagine, so real world there isn't much difference. However the performance is effortless in the 330d - its a lovely smooth engine. Economy is also pretty good for the manual expect high 30's - i managed 41mpg on a long run.

Compared to the 330d and his current A4 3.0tdi the Vrs feels much more lively around town - probably due to smaller turbo spinning up quicker. Power in the vrs is also a bit more on/off in delivery which helps make it feel faster. Both the A4 and 330d are much more relaxed in terms of delivery - A4 even more so than the BM.

Servicing intervals will be similar for both (variable servicing on the BM was about 13k) but costs for labout/parts are expensive on the BMW. The cost of the services is reasonable - just expensive should you require anything else. Rear tyres were approaching £200 each Fronts £130 each!

In the 80k we had it nothing went wrong and it performed perfectly. However i have heard stories of failing turbos around the 100k mark (£1-2k to fix i believe). Also my girlfriends father has had the camshaft sensor problems on his 330d. Early models also suffered from warped clutch plates (should have been sorted by now though)

Other thing to bear in mind is the 330d saloon is not very practical. Cabin size is only similar to the vrs and the boot is a small odd shape. Rear seats don't fold down (Cost option) which really limits the size of stuff you can get in.

The ride in the 330d Sport is also very harsh - imho totally unacceptable for UK b-roads. The car looks wonderful sat low on the 18" MV alloys but they and the sports suspension ruin the ride. Across b-roads i can make better progress in the vrs - i felt sick, let alone the passengers in the BM. I believe the standard suspension and smaller wheels are much better.

The 330d is a very good car. Lovely and relaxed on m-ways and fun around the (smooth) twisties. Its a very different car to the VRS though - also at the price you are looking you might struggle to find a good one. If you can i'm sure you will enjoy it.

Which car you get depends on your priorities. It's difficult to compare a 330D to a VRS because they are completely different cars, that are aimed at different people. If you want effortless performance then the 330D is probably the car, but if you want good performance with cheap running costs then you can't beat the VRS. Personally I'd get the VRS every time. The service/repair costs for a 330D would be scary. Try comparing the hourly labour rate for Skoda and BMW - I think you'll find BMW to be twice the price! Skoda parts are also much more affordable.

I investigated the suggestion of a 320d SE and chipping it up - price wise these appear to be around the

I've got a 330i touring and it's not that big in the boot. It is only slightly bigger than the saloon, but of course the seats do fold.

I investigated the suggestion of a 320d SE and chipping it up - price wise these appear to be around the

Another suggestion if you're concerned about running costs, would be to get one of the big engined petrol (post '99) BMW's and convert it to LPG. The big petrols are nice and undesirable, so you can pick up a good one for well under budget and use the change for the LPG conversion. You then have diesel running costs but with 6-pot/8-pot performance

Chris