Advice needed on buying a 2000 BMW 330I steptronic

[WernerV]

Hi guys, Im new to te forum and Im a HUGE bmw fanatic! I was actually looking for a 2003-2004 facelift 318i but then I came across this beauty, its a 2000 330i steptronic with 177 000km on the clock for R90 000, it has full service history and the guy told me the previous owner was a lady. On the photos the car really looks well looked after but what bothers me is the kilometers and being a steptronic, the fuel consumption!! Can anyone please tell me if this is a good reliable car (engine and gearbox wise) and at what fuel consumption am I looking at? Car magazine says approx 9.9L/100km avg which is about 10km/L?

Will a facelift 318i be a better choice as I will be doing a lot of town driving in it?

Any advice will be much appreciated.
Thanks.:thumb:

 

[moranor@axis]

what i have seen from people who drive a 318i is they not much lighter on fuel than the the bigger 6s in real driving conditions...

 

[Tumo]

Cant really comment on the fuel efficiency, but I can guarantee you that you will find a newer BMW (2002-2004) with less km on the clock for the same price.

 

[andrewbuch]

318i is heavy in town. My last tank I got 570KM's out of it, and that included 350KM open road cruising @ 100Km/h (and that was less than 1/4 tank) so the rest of the tank went to the other 200 or so KM's.

318i on open road is light on fuel. 330i in town is not too bad on fuel if you drive well. the 318i you need to give it stick to get it to do anything, so always need to drive it hard.

 

[Jobmeyers]

Just make 100% sure that this car is in very good condition.and that story about "old lady owned the car".
:bs:
- 24 months ago i bought a 2001 330i steptronic 160000km, also full service history etc, went through AA for check up etc
I've spent R44000 since then on this car to try and keep it on the road.List of problems is to long...latest is my fuel pump is faulty at the moment.R5000 to replace.:cursin:

 

[BMW M]

Werner,

If you decide to buy, have the gearbox oil drained, and filters replaced (R2000 at stealership) They say its a lifetime fluid that doesnt need replacing... Trust me, its not, my 2001 325i's Steptronic bowed out at 134000km you dont want to see smoke bellowing in your rear view mirror from a packed up ZF19 box... Mine cost me R15000 to repair, BMW wanted to charge me between R40 and 60k. Do this every 50000km!! Other than the usual e46 bugs like window actuators, radiator expansion tanks, power steering pumps, window washer pumps, rear trail arm bushings and lower control arm bushings... you should have a solid car. Fuel consumption on the 330i is in your hands...or should I say foot.

 

[SirSparky]

Werner,

If you decide to buy, have the gearbox oil drained, and filters replaced (R2000 at stealership) They say its a lifetime fluid that doesnt need replacing... Trust me, its not, my 2001 325i's Steptronic bowed out at 134000km you dont want to see smoke bellowing in your rear view mirror from a packed up ZF19 box... Mine cost me R15000 to repair, BMW wanted to charge me between R40 and 60k. Do this every 50000km!! Other than the usual e46 bugs like window actuators, radiator expansion tanks, power steering pumps, window washer pumps, rear trail arm bushings and lower control arm bushings... you should have a solid car. Fuel consumption on the 330i is in your hands...or should I say foot.

+1

 

[Coisman]

imp:
How much can you spend??

 

[WernerV]

thank you so much for all the replies and info guys, much appreciated. Maybe I should search for a manual rather, the steptronic gearbox sounds like a costly business to me, I know that this car has been driven hard, I mean, who buys a 330i to drive slow in? Other problem is, this guy is in capetown and Im from George so its a 480km trip that I need to do just to go and have a look at it.. So a six cylinder is my best bet?

---

imp:
How much can you spend??

:thinking: errr...about R95 000! We bought a house now so I cant spend too much on a new car:bawling:

 

[msm]

I've had a few steptronic BMW's before (and my current ones). No major issues (touch wood :mmm: ), but I did do an oil change on my previous ones when the mileages went above 150K KM...

In any case, there are 2 main reasons I currently have a steptronic. My SO drives the car and I sit in too much traffic ..... if it were'nt for those 2 reasons, I would take a manual any day .... preferably a E46 M3, but I'm digressing now

Anyway, just my R0.02 on this.

---

Werner,

If you decide to buy, have the gearbox oil drained, and filters replaced (R2000 at stealership) They say its a lifetime fluid that doesnt need replacing... Trust me, its not, my 2001 325i's Steptronic bowed out at 134000km you dont want to see smoke bellowing in your rear view mirror from a packed up ZF19 box... Mine cost me R15000 to repair, BMW wanted to charge me between R40 and 60k. Do this every 50000km!!

Agree with you on preventative maintenance. However, I think it's also important that the level should be checked - might not be necessary to replace the oil every 50K KM, but still might need a top up.

 

[andrewbuch]

My dad has had auto's & steptronics for years, and never had problems.. His 740i got it on 100K Km & drove it to about 220K Km and gearbox was fine & it got driven hard. But maybe he had the oil replaced, I dont know.. Was before my cars on the brain days

So I would not be afraid of autos, Just make sure its looked after & serviced

 

[Coisman]

imp:
my baby is in the market for R135k
but for anyone in here... R125k :thumbsup:
2003 325i exlusive, manual, 89,000km, full service at bmw, motorplan till end October...
Never mind... I love her to much.
PS: if you can get to R125k, let me know...

 

[BMW M]

I stand corrected, but the gearbox (steptronic) changed in 2002. The ZF19(H) box was a problematic one for BMW, when you look at secondhand prices, the autos from 1999-2002 are cheaper than the manuals mainly for this reason. Late 2002 - 200x the situation is reversed where the Auto is more expensive than the manual, this after BMW changed the box to a improved version.

If you want to know which one your car has:

When in 'manual mode' if you need to push the gearlever forward to gear up, you have the ZF19 box, if its the other way round, you have the improved, much more reliable one.

I would still do the oil change regardless of the box fitted. Better safe in spending R2000 than sorry and end up spending R15000 or more as was the case with me.

Just my R0.02 worth.

 

[P1000]

I stand corrected, but the gearbox (steptronic) changed in 2002. The ZF19(H) box was a problematic one for BMW, when you look at secondhand prices, the autos from 1999-2002 are cheaper than the manuals mainly for this reason. Late 2002 - 200x the situation is reversed where the Auto is more expensive than the manual, this after BMW changed the box to a improved version.

Not according to realoem, but they do make mistakes.

If you want to know which one your car has:

When in 'manual mode' if you need to push the gearlever forward to gear up, you have the ZF19 box, if its the other way round, you have the improved, much more reliable one.

This change was done to all models for an unrelated reason which a cannot remember right now.

EDIT:
Here you go:

On all models with Steptronic from 2002, the only change is to the manual shifting
modes. In order to be consistent with SMG operation, the positions were reversed.

 

[BMW M]

Like I said I stand corrected, but I do distinctly remember BMW offering me the 'better' box at R60k as aposed to the fitted box for R40k.

Still have the paperwork and quotes somewhere, will go and look and give feedback.

 

[lucian]

Can anybody tell me what the gearbox oil cost and where (apart from steelers) can one purchase it?
Need to change gearbox oil on 3201 manual (2000 model).
Gears are very sticky.

I am in Cape Town, Northern subs

 

[Yusuf Compact Ti]

Hi guys Im Also looking at picking up a 2001 330i steptronic later today R97500 with 108000km ...Full sports pack with all the options ..... Its about R9000 over retail though but It was driven by a 70 year old ..... Am i paying to much ? It has thouse wooden finishes inside I would like to replace that with plin black ...any ideas?

 

[P1000]

Hi guys Im Also looking at picking up a 2001 330i steptronic later today R97500 with 108000km ...Full sports pack with all the options ..... Its about R9000 over retail though but It was driven by a 70 year old ..... Am i paying to much ? It has thouse wooden finishes inside I would like to replace that with plin black ...any ideas?

There is no reason to pay more than retail, ever. Finding OEM black trim is very hard to do, but you can paint them yourself. That does, however, make them look like you painted them yourself and the wood looks better than that IMO... Tell them you will give them 90k.

 

[msm]

Finding OEM black trim is very hard to do, but you can paint them yourself. That does, however, make them look like you painted them yourself and the wood looks better than that IMO...

Not if done properly with a fair amount of patience and some decent wet sanding :thumb:

 

[P1000]

MSM, I can see flaws in your paintwork, even from the photos... But if you are happy, then what does it matter?