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Reliable Work horse
- Thread starter Cruiser
- Start date
the problem with auto is if it breaks its cheaper to convert to manual than fix the auto...
zaleonardz
Well-known member
Higher miledge auto gearboxes WILL go poof, some will go at 101,500 just out of motor plan, some will last 400,000 but its going to break.
Depends how its been handled, did it develop an oil leak that you did not know of and ran the box low on oil, did you tow alot, do you try and launch the car in every gear for no apparent reason?
Then your looking at about 25k if not a little bit more.
Cruiser, as much as I love the E65, if your not mechanically or more electically inclinded, ie your going to do your own work, I would say skip that 2002.... 2004+ or nothing. ALternatively look at the E60...
Depends how its been handled, did it develop an oil leak that you did not know of and ran the box low on oil, did you tow alot, do you try and launch the car in every gear for no apparent reason?
Then your looking at about 25k if not a little bit more.
Cruiser, as much as I love the E65, if your not mechanically or more electically inclinded, ie your going to do your own work, I would say skip that 2002.... 2004+ or nothing. ALternatively look at the E60...
nasser said:
Well I am really keen on the 330d I found. its auto, and I know you guys think I should look for Manual, but I want an auto. I pulled its history from BMW, nothing stands out. Comes with a year warranty, hopefully will cover anything. I find it hard to think BMW would come out with a car with a dud gearbox. Maybe they ones we hear of that broke have been chipped.
P1000
///Member
I have studied the specific gearbox in the 330d. It has a couple of flaws and I know of many that went poof on stock standard cars. There is even one member on the forum that has now rebuilt his twice.
That said, 100kkm is very little and if you have the gearbox serviced now it should last for a long while still. Just have some money in reserved for when it breaks (Rebuild will cost around R22k for a decent job).
With all that said, my gearbox is at 280kkm, but it is starting to go, so the one you saw could still last quite a while if you don't thrash it on every opportunity you get.
Just remember to barter on the price. These cars are difficult to sell, because everyone thinks an old modern turbo diesel is going to cost millions to repair every month and that the auto box will break any day now.
If I personally had the option now, I would find a 6 speed manual 2005 e46 330d (there is one on the forum for a very nice price).
That said, 100kkm is very little and if you have the gearbox serviced now it should last for a long while still. Just have some money in reserved for when it breaks (Rebuild will cost around R22k for a decent job).
With all that said, my gearbox is at 280kkm, but it is starting to go, so the one you saw could still last quite a while if you don't thrash it on every opportunity you get.
Just remember to barter on the price. These cars are difficult to sell, because everyone thinks an old modern turbo diesel is going to cost millions to repair every month and that the auto box will break any day now.
If I personally had the option now, I would find a 6 speed manual 2005 e46 330d (there is one on the forum for a very nice price).
maybe the parts at fault should receive cryo when its rebuilt? im not sure what the problem is...
Sankekur said:
I would have thought the guys at BMW know what torque the 330 puts out, and would spec the box accordingly. These cars are not randomly put together. Transmissions, engines, diffs, tyre size, all these things are factored. Granted, all these items are mechanical and cannot be expected to last forever.
Raybimmer
New member
Every gearbox has torque limits but IMHO the ammount of times the gearbox has handled say 90 percent of maximum torque plays a role .I expect the gearbox changes to a higher gear near peak power revs ( say 4200 ) in spirited driving which means the maximum torque revs ( say 2200 ) have been passed in each gear so the box has been working hard . Look at fuel consumption figures from the factory -do any of us get the same consumption ? they may change up at lower revs .
Sankekur
///Member
Cruiser said:
You'd think they would, but remember BMW also regards the oil usage of a car to be within spec if it uses 1l/1000km. They also say the gearbox oil is a lifetime oil, it ain't. Then don't forget about the ridiculously long service intervals on there newer cars. This sort of make you wonder.
At least it would seem that they are setting things right as I heard figures that the new 8 speed auto in the F10's are rated up to 1000Nm.
P1000
///Member
Sankekur said:
What I said was - the gearbox that is fitted in the F10 comes in a variant rated at 1000Nm, I don't think that model ever gets fitted to the F10...
Interesting though - that gearbox is rated 1000Nm for diesel application, but only 900Nm for petrol. According to a mechanical engineer, kW is actually more important than torque in the gearbox design...
So if you take that into consideration, the gearboxes fitted to the M57's might actually be rated to take the torque from the diesels, so BMW did not just slap some components together.
More importantly - the parts rated at 360Nm and 390Nm (lowest rated parts) in the 5l40e and 5L50E gearboxes respectively, are never the parts that break in the stock 3/530d's. Also, this gearbox was fitted to almost all the straight 6 E46/E39s (petrols) in America, and they also suffer from most of the problems the diesels see. The main problem is the valve body material is too soft and the pistons eat the cylinders up. This causes various problems amongst them oil pressure drop, and that coupled to the high torque of the diesels lead to slipping of the clutchpacks and thus premature wear and failure.
335i Lci said:
Horses for courses...... For me a vehicle than I can drive for the next two - three years and run up another 150 to 200K is a workhorse, and the 330d would do the job a whole lot better than a 2.5d. Farmer Brown on the other hand would view it in a different light.
