E46 330i and 330d gears

[3V0M-WP]

A friend of mine is looking for either an E46 330i or 330d. Preferably the diesel.

I know the manual came in 5 or 6 speed, but did the auto also come in 5 or 6 speed? I know there was a 5 speed Auto.

He wants the 6 speed, but in Auto.

 

[RAArmstrong]

AFAIK the E46 only came with a 5 speed auto.

 

[P1000]

Auto came only with a gm 5 speed box. If you want to have a bad BMW experience, buy a car with that box.

 

[///Moose]

Auto came only with a gm 5 speed box. If you want to have a bad BMW experience, buy a car with that box.

+100000

 

[Yuben]

A friend of mine is looking for either an E46 330i or 330d. Preferably the diesel.

I know the manual came in 5 or 6 speed, but did the auto also come in 5 or 6 speed? I know there was a 5 speed Auto.

He wants the 6 speed, but in Auto.

Yes the 330d also came in 6 speed manual, but the 330d Auto only came in 5 Speed.
IIRC there are no 6 speed autos in the whole E46 range...

 

[msm]

If you want an automatic 330d, buy the E90, else avoid the E46 auto.

The E90's came with the ZF box which are a million times more reliable than the crap GM boxes fitted in the E46 :thumbdo:

 

[RAArmstrong]

Auto came only with a gm 5 speed box. If you want to have a bad BMW experience, buy a car with that box.

Have heard lots of horror stories, but then have also heard stories of guys getting quite high mileage without issues... :dunno:

 

[Andy1GP]

A friend of mine is looking for either an E46 330i or 330d. Preferably the diesel.

I know the manual came in 5 or 6 speed, but did the auto also come in 5 or 6 speed? I know there was a 5 speed Auto.

He wants the 6 speed, but in Auto.

Yes the 330d also came in 6 speed manual, but the 330d Auto only came in 5 Speed.
IIRC there are no 6 speed autos in the whole E46 range...

330d also came with 6spd manuals. I have one. General consensus is to steer clear of the autos. On the diesel they're more prone to fail, but if you nurse the car and resell after a year or so it doesn't really matter. You're going to struggle to find any 6 spd manual E46's worth buying.

Auto's are everywhere and 5spd only. If you can find a 5 speed manual 330d that's probably your best bet bang for buck.