discussion 2013 330D M Sport Buyer Advice Needed

[Unknown_Soldier]

Hi all, I'm considering buying a 2013 330D M Sport (F30) with 228K KM on the clock. Seller listed it for R195K on Autotrader (I see the ad has expired now) and agreed on R170K with me. Seems like a decent deal and a lot of car for the price, but I'm still a bit hesitant at pulling the trigger as this would be my first BMW and the high mileage does have me wary.

Seller done a full refurbish of the gearbox in March 2026 (think he said it was like R45k, he does have invoice for 6 month warranty on work done), he also replaced all tyres in the past year and done an EGR delete with tune. He did mention that the battery will need replacing as it has mostly just been standing by his place since he got his new car.

I am based in CPT and had the car taken for a pre-purchase inspection at Mosports Performance in Ottery (see report attached). If I bought the car, I would definitely get the battery and thermostat housing replaced ASAP, and the rest I could do over time, but the other thing that has me concerned is the taped-up cables/wires, would this be a red flag?

 

[///M Individual]

Yes the wiring and random cable unplugged would have me wary.

Also if it was anyone other than ZF that did the gearbox rebuild I wouldn't trust it.

 

[320d]

That could be anything really? would be hard to say if its a random plug or not just from a description point of view. no pictures no nothing?
A lot of car for that money. i would laugh at someone if the offered me 170k for mine.

 

[AshG108]

Honestly,
If you want your first BMW, don't go and get a high-mileage vehicle as first ownership and you doing a private buy. It can go two ways and in this day and age of purchasing cars even at dealers becoming so difficult, get yourself a 330d with lower mileage or even a 320f F30 to start of with and lower mileage.
A high mileage, unknown car can leave you with a bitter taste from further maintenance issues, seen this on many posts on socila media where people think BMW are the cars of sin and the most expensive, time bomb ever when they have purchased lemons or high mileage cars with tons of risk on them.
I would get something like even the 320d, with around at least 90k mileage and learn about the brand and car from there and then get into something hotter later on.
Any car with well over 200k on the clock in a private, UNKNOWN sale no matter what documents are produced is a gamble.

 

[1 Eyed Monkey]

Honestly,
If you want your first BMW, don't go and get a high-mileage vehicle as first ownership and you doing a private buy. It can go two ways and in this day and age of purchasing cars even at dealers becoming so difficult, get yourself a 330d with lower mileage or even a 320f F30 to start of with and lower mileage.
A high mileage, unknown car can leave you with a bitter taste from further maintenance issues, seen this on many posts on socila media where people think BMW are the cars of sin and the most expensive, time bomb ever when they have purchased lemons or high mileage cars with tons of risk on them.
I would get something like even the 320d, with around at least 90k mileage and learn about the brand and car from there and then get into something hotter later on.
Any car with well over 200k on the clock in a private, UNKNOWN sale no matter what documents are produced is a gamble.

I should have taken your advise before buying my 320d

 

[modocrat]

Honestly,
If you want your first BMW, don't go and get a high-mileage vehicle as first ownership and you doing a private buy. It can go two ways and in this day and age of purchasing cars even at dealers becoming so difficult, get yourself a 330d with lower mileage or even a 320f F30 to start of with and lower mileage.
A high mileage, unknown car can leave you with a bitter taste from further maintenance issues, seen this on many posts on socila media where people think BMW are the cars of sin and the most expensive, time bomb ever when they have purchased lemons or high mileage cars with tons of risk on them.
I would get something like even the 320d, with around at least 90k mileage and learn about the brand and car from there and then get into something hotter later on.
Any car with well over 200k on the clock in a private, UNKNOWN sale no matter what documents are produced is a gamble.

AMEN

 

[Unknown_Soldier]

Yes the wiring and random cable unplugged would have me wary.

Also if it was anyone other than ZF that did the gearbox rebuild I wouldn't trust it.

If I recall correctly, I believe it was at ZF.

 

[Unknown_Soldier]

That could be anything really? would be hard to say if its a random plug or not just from a description point of view. no pictures no nothing?
A lot of car for that money. i would laugh at someone if the offered me 170k for mine.

Please see attached photos from seller of engine bay.

 

[husaindindar]

Yoh this one you run from far away....
Insulation tape along the harness tell you somebody's been cooking there, struggling to find a fault...

 

[Unknown_Soldier]

Honestly,
If you want your first BMW, don't go and get a high-mileage vehicle as first ownership and you doing a private buy. It can go two ways and in this day and age of purchasing cars even at dealers becoming so difficult, get yourself a 330d with lower mileage or even a 320f F30 to start of with and lower mileage.
A high mileage, unknown car can leave you with a bitter taste from further maintenance issues, seen this on many posts on socila media where people think BMW are the cars of sin and the most expensive, time bomb ever when they have purchased lemons or high mileage cars with tons of risk on them.
I would get something like even the 320d, with around at least 90k mileage and learn about the brand and car from there and then get into something hotter later on.
Any car with well over 200k on the clock in a private, UNKNOWN sale no matter what documents are produced is a gamble.

Thanks for your advice.

The reason I'm looking at a 330D and not a 320D is because I'm coming from a Toyota 86, and my thinking is that if I'm losing the "fun" factor of that, I at least want something that's much more powerful. While the 320D is certainly still more powerful than the 86, I don't think it's big enough to make up for that loss of fun.

While I've never owned one myself, a lot of my family have diesel bmws in different shapes and forms, so I have at least driven them to have experienced the difference.

I also hear you on the mileage, even finding one at around 150k km would be nice, but the market is not great atm (at least not in CPT), as I can't find any decent mileage 330Ds (E90 or F30) for a reasonable price e.g. someone is selling a 2006 E90 330D with 149k km for R210k, another person is selling a 2013 F30 330D with 95k km for R340k. Otherwise, everything else is market price with 170-180k km on the clock.

 

[320d]

That tape is oem guys. mine is exactly the same.

 

[AshG108]

Thanks for your advice.

The reason I'm looking at a 330D and not a 320D is because I'm coming from a Toyota 86, and my thinking is that if I'm losing the "fun" factor of that, I at least want something that's much more powerful. While the 320D is certainly still more powerful than the 86, I don't think it's big enough to make up for that loss of fun.

While I've never owned one myself, a lot of my family have diesel bmws in different shapes and forms, so I have at least driven them to have experienced the difference.

I also hear you on the mileage, even finding one at around 150k km would be nice, but the market is not great atm (at least not in CPT), as I can't find any decent mileage 330Ds (E90 or F30) for a reasonable price e.g. someone is selling a 2006 E90 330D with 149k km for R210k, another person is selling a 2013 F30 330D with 95k km for R340k. Otherwise, everything else is market price with 170-180k km on the clock.

Understood but FUN factor versus needing a lot of maintenance, at this mileage wear and tear items will be required and it would be unknown as you would be trusting someone you do not know. It would be wear and tear and god knows what else.

We have had similiar discussions on this forum before and at the end of the day, it is your money and your choice. You are asking for opinions on it and we share what we know for years going through all the models and platforms as much as we can.

Coming from a Toyota 86, known for being a Toyota and non turbo vehicle things differ widely. The power will be there, the fun will be there however you will need to do suspension refresh, coolant and oil lines, piping refreshes and you also have to find out why was the gearbox refurbed? ZF gearboxes need services around 80 - 100k and then again at 180 - 200k as standard. Needing a refurb is already something you should ask. If it goes again and needs replacement, are you ok with a larger than R45k bill? Secondly, you buying a car with a tune, do you know who the tune was done by and what is the tune setup? How much of preventative maintenance has been done to support the tune? The last time I broke my gearbox on my E90 was purely because we pushed the car way above it's limits and broke it. Car was fun, car was fast...car didn;t have gearbox upgrades and kaboom! Thankfully, lesson learnt and school fees.

Then has the drivetrain also been upgraded and also tuned to match the power output? at that mileage, how good are the injectors? have they been serviced or refurbed? Has the vibration dampener pully been changed and it should be either on its second one now or needs to have it changed possibly. That around R7800 right there. Injectors are easily R3500 each times 6. Suspension refresh can cost you around R30k.
If you get this car, you going to need to replace the stuff with OEM items unless you have another supplier for very much similiar or the same items. Its a fast vehicle, don't want to skimp on important items.

These are few questions at the top of mind, the gents can add more things - and the reason i say the above is because of the above is unknown as you do not know the car.

Final call is up to you ... but yeah ... good luck on whichever way you go. Don't wish any less for anyone.

 

[AshG108]

That tape is oem guys. mine is exactly the same.

The OEM tape for the harness I think normally has wiring loom tape which is more like a material velcro type?

 

[AshG108]

Since you are based in Cape Town, there are a few good cars we see but the main oke that you want to really get good info from down there is @M3boi - this okes is a fusspot of note BUT this leads him to finding unicorns.

 

[DRCraig]

Most forum members will tell you R170k for a MSport F30 30d is probably too good to be true.

A tuned 320d with a downpipe is no slouch. Yes, not mind blowing power, but it is a decent first BMW.

Some time ago, Liberebil raced a F20 120d against a 86 (both tuned), and the 20d ran away from the 86 quite comfortable.

 

[BMW786GP]

My view: i spent just over a year looking for a clean 30d sedan. My options were f30, f10, g20 , g30 and even the GT's. I found the GT's too bulky for my needs and then focused on the remaining.
The poor build quality on the f30s put me off. Compare this to any other 3 series and you will know what i mean. Compare it to a f10 and its miles apart whereas g20 vs g30 has bridged the gap