Bmw or Mercedes.

Dupont

I’m looking to buy a diesel automatic car. Have it narrowed down to a 320 04-07 or merc c class 04-07. Budget is 2600. Prefer the bmw as tax is cheaper. Anyone any idea which is the better car or anything to look out for

Gorgeousgeorge

Dupont wrote: »

I’m looking to buy a diesel automatic car. Have it narrowed down to a 320 04-07 or merc c class 04-07. Budget is 2600. Prefer the bmw as tax is cheaper. Anyone any idea which is the better car or anything to look out for

Think the 2.0 bmw n47 engines of that era were bad. I like the merc personally

Wailin

Gorgeousgeorge wrote: »

Think the 2.0 bmw n47 engines of that era were bad. I like the merc personally

No they'd be the M47 engine which had their own issues but nothing as catastrophic as the timing chain on the n47.

colm_c

On that age of car, condition of the individual car varies widely.

Buy based on that.

bazz26

The only N47 engined BMW on the OP's budget will be one with intergalactic mileage or one that needs a new timing chain. The older M47 would be more reliable in that price range.

I'd probably go with the C Class though as it feels better packaged on the inside than the 3 Series. C Classes tend to be better equipped also and probably shade it in comfort too. Reliability will totally depend on the individual car at that age rather than reputation.

BorneTobyWilde

Why not a E class. same engine but better spec.

E class 06 onwards has a better auto box? More gears?

Idbatterim

The e46 saloon is poor looking in my opinion. Go with an e90. ThAt Diesel engine is also reliable afaik. Not the problematic late 2007+ one.

Wailin

Idbatterim wrote: »

The e46 saloon is poor looking in my opinion. Go with an e90. ThAt Diesel engine is also reliable afaik. Not the problematic late 2007+ one.

I always thought the E46 was one of the nicer looking 3 series and E90 the worst.

Idbatterim

Wailin wrote: »

I always thought the E46 was one of the nicer looking 3 series and E90 the worst.

I think the E46 facelift coupe is nicer than the E92 coupe. But saloon wise I prefer the E90 looks wise, I also heard it was more refined and will be a good bit more "current"

Dupont

BorneTobyWilde wrote: »

Why not a E class. same engine but better spec.

E class 06 onwards has a better auto box? More gears?

Just not a fan of them. Like the slightly smaller c class

Dupont

bazz26 wrote: »

The only N47 engined BMW on the OP's budget will be one with intergalactic mileage or one that needs a new timing chain. The older M47 would be more reliable in that price range.

I'd probably go with the C Class though as it feels better packaged on the inside than the 3 Series. C Classes tend to be better equipped also and probably shade it in comfort too. Reliability will totally depend on the individual car at that age rather than reputation.

What engine is in a 2004 320d m sport.

Also I’ve got prices on insurance on a bmw and it’s in a pretty high insurance rating. Does anyone know what category the merc falls into.

Leonard Hofstadter

Dupont wrote: »

What engine is in a 2004 320d m sport.

Also I’ve got prices on insurance on a bmw and it’s in a pretty high insurance rating. Does anyone know what category the merc falls into.

M47.

E46s have a whole pile of 'common faults' that you need to be aware of: rust (front and rear arches), suspension (rear trailing arm bushes in particular, but the ball joints, drop links, camber bolts, steering knuckle joints and track rod ends, as well as the front suspension wishbone bushes can all fail), ABS sensors, final stage resistor (if it's got climate control), coolant expansion tank, thermostats (and there are two of them in the diesels) are all things to be wary of. It needs to have had the oil filter changed to the vortex style one otherwise you can have turbo trouble and it is recommended that the automatic transmission oil is change every 100,000 miles (despite BMW claiming that it is good for the lifetime of the car).

With a BMW it is always worth paying more for a well kept one - and ideally one that's had some of the issues above addressed.

Cheap ones are cheap for a reason and if it's not been looked after you can expect some fairly hefty bills - they are definitely not a car you can run on a shoestring.

Even a well maintained one will give trouble every now and again but then again we're talking about cars which are nearly 14 years old - they will be reliable enough if they have been looked after and I have seen 320ds with over 250,000 miles on the clock - just don't expect Ford or Toyota levels of running costs or reliability.

I don't know what the Mercs are like but my memory is that Mercs were atrocious for build quality from the mid 90s to mid 2000s so if anything I'd say you'd have more problems with a Merc.

selectamatic

150bhp m47 in the e46 320d's 2002-2005
(the coupes were also available in 06)

The first of the e90 saloons had a 163bhp m47 engine which was basically the same as the one in the e46 except for a slightly bigger turbo. The change to the timing chain eating n47 came about in late 07 or early 08. These are 177bhp.

Common issues that need to be checked: were the swirl flaps removed and blanked and was the turbo filter changed to the later vortex style one. Rust on the front wings and rear arches too. Also check for juddery brakes.

The early w203 Mercedes c-class is regarded as one of the worst cars Mercedes ever made so id be giving them a miss. They've the dearer tax too and a very poor resale value. If going for one aim for as new a one as you can find, I think these were facelifted in late 2004 and Mercedes supposedly fixed some common issues with them during this facelift. Electrical problems, rust issues and injector issues being the most common problems.

A clean well minded auto e46 would be my choice out of the options given as there'll be plenty to choose from and they'll all be under budget they also handle brilliantly. I'd say finding a clean auto e90 320d in budget would be tough.

I've a 2003 manual e46 320d with 170k miles on the original turbo, clutch and flywheel and consumables aren't too dear either. So all in all its been very easy run they still look great too especially msport models.

Automatic d5 Volvo s60 could be worth considering too. good engine good comfort and generally reliable over all.