Is a E90 still fit for long journeys?

[DRCraig]

You could ask the tuner for a mild map and switch off the EGR etc. Will help with reliability long term. Have you had your E90 gearbox serviced by ZF?

No gearbox service. When I bought the car I enquired about it, and was advised to not do gearbox service as it would be 'unsafe' to do it at such high mileage- 160 000km being at the time.

 

[DRCraig]

cannot fault the e90 320d in any way.
drove my sons 32od to Durban. 630km one way at 140km/h .. 6.1l per 100km

return trip was fully loaded plus a roof box. car performed effortlessly. 7.1l /100km
i have a heavy foot .. lol
if only the potholes and tyres can now match the cars reliability

Awesome. Auto or Manual?

 

[SHABSFS]

Awesome. Auto or Manual?

auto.. mileage is on 270 000kms
still looks the part and can reach illegal speeds on the free state autobahns

 

[///Herbie]

As of now, the amount of power for me is sufficient- just enough to push you back into your seat. Will update towards end of the year or next year when I take her for a remap. Does you car smoke on hard acceleration?

I agree. The power was definitely sufficient for me too but I did not realize how much I needed the SW
No smoke no. One of the 1st things I checked in fact.
No Tdi-esque smoke dumps here.

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[tatendaak]

I have heard good things about the diesels that BMW makes...When I bought my 321 F30 with the B48 engine, I test drove a 320d and absolutely loved the torque it provided. I then test drove the G20 series 320d and there no difference in NVH between 320i and 320d anymore...unfortunately I could not afford the G20 320d so settled for the 320i only because it had all the bells and whistles (sunroof, Sportline, HiFi sound system, cameras, adaptive headlamps, sport-seats, bigger stereo screen, multifunctional information display, heads-up display, tow-bar...etc) while the 320d they had was poverty spec.

 

[///Herbie]

I have heard good things about the diesels that BMW makes...When I bought my 321 F30 with the B48 engine, I test drove a 320d and absolutely loved the torque it provided. I then test drove the G20 series 320d and there no difference in NVH between 320i and 320d anymore...unfortunately I could not afford the G20 320d so settled for the 320i only because it had all the bells and whistles (sunroof, Sportline, HiFi sound system, cameras, adaptive headlamps, sport-seats, bigger stereo screen, multifunctional information display, heads-up display, tow-bar...etc) while the 320d they had was poverty spec.

A buddy of mine had a G20 320d a while back (which he traded in for two cars lol) and man oh man was it nice. The torque delivery and acceleration was worlds apart compared to my E90.
He had a launch edition so it came equipped with almost everything and definitely looked the part.

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[DRCraig]

A buddy of mine had a G20 320d a while back (which he traded in for two cars lol) and man oh man was it nice. The torque delivery and acceleration was worlds apart compared to my E90.
He had a launch edition so it came equipped with almost everything and definitely looked the part.

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Only 5KW, 20NM difference and a better gearbox. Was the difference really that much noticeable?
The stage 1 120d E82 I had, absolutely destroyed a G20 320d on a highway pull.

 

[Benji]

Since this thread is a love letter to the E90 320d. A friend was looking at buying a nice low mileage 320d but stumbled across a low mileage manual 330i and has gone for that instead as it is the same price compared to a similar 320d...is he making a mistake? Car is to be used as an only car with a 10km mostly highway commute.

The straight 6 motors are known for being bullet proof and should be more reliable that the 20d motors? Also with the price of diesel these days, the fuel savings vs fuel price advantage is rather eroded? Not to mention the 330i will be more fun, but this is hard to quantify in a monetary sense.

 

[modocrat]

While the 320d will offer better economy, the sound of the straight-six in 330i will definitely outweigh that.

 

[henriZA]

Some more love on the 320d from Chris Harris, I quite enjoyed this segment.

Also loved my e90 320d, but I must say for a tall fella like myself it is not the most comfortable. Throw in 2 kids and it does not make sense anymore. I truly wish that we had the 3-series estate / station wagon in F30 / G20 shape in SA.

Do you need anything more than a BMW 320d? - Chris Harris on Cars

 

[DRCraig]

Since this thread is a love letter to the E90 320d. A friend was looking at buying a nice low mileage 320d but stumbled across a low mileage manual 330i and has gone for that instead as it is the same price compared to a similar 320d...is he making a mistake? Car is to be used as an only car with a 10km mostly highway commute.

The straight 6 motors are known for being bullet proof and should be more reliable that the 20d motors? Also with the price of diesel these days, the fuel savings vs fuel price advantage is rather eroded? Not to mention the 330i will be more fun, but this is hard to quantify in a monetary sense.

I would not recommend a 330i inline 6 for your daily commute with the current price of fuel; provided you are on a budget. Even if petrol is R10 cheaper per liter than diesel, the 320d will still be more economical. I, myself would love to get my hands on a 330i E46 Manual some day, but that would solely be to sooth my passion. For a day-to-day car, the 320d wins hands down; even in the reliability department.

 

[///Herbie]

Only 5KW, 20NM difference and a better gearbox. Was the difference really that much noticeable?
The stage 1 120d E82 I had, absolutely destroyed a G20 320d on a highway pull.

Noted at that time that my e90 was factory stock (before SW and decat)
It was quite noticeable at the time to me power band and torque deliever etc all just seemed better. Plus that gearbox was hot-knife-through-butter-seemless lol
The drive was also just very nice

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[DarrylvanNiekerk]

Some more love on the 320d from Chris Harris, I quite enjoyed this segment.

Also loved my e90 320d, but I must say for a tall fella like myself it is not the most comfortable. Throw in 2 kids and it does not make sense anymore. I truly wish that we had the 3-series estate / station wagon in F30 / G20 shape in SA.

Do you need anything more than a BMW 320d? - Chris Harris on Cars

THE Chris Harris from Top Gear is really short so not sure who wrote this?