BMW 3 Series Touring (99-05) - Car for High Mileage Commuting

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Sat 29 Mar 2014 12:15
BMW 3 Series Touring (99-05) - Car for High Mileage Commuting - Rianp

Over the last few weeks I've been trying to find myself a good used car that will fit the bill for my 600mile/week commute (mostly motorway cruising).

The primary requirements are-

Good on fuel economy (I hope for +50mpg on a 70mph motorway cruise)

Likely to be reliable covering high mileage

General Running costs should be affordable

BMW hasn't actually been on my list to look at. I've been keeping an eye out for a 1.9tdi Skoda Octavia. But a friend said I should take a look at a 320d. I was a bit dismissive but having checked out auto trader there do appear to be some which are pretty good value. I'm looking to spend approx £4k so whatever I get will already have done a fair mileage.

other cars on my radar are - Honda Accord, Skoda Octavia, Volvo V40

I would really appreciate any comments and advice as to if the 320d would fit the bill well for my needs. particularly relating to reliability, running costs, and in comparison with the likes of a 1.9tdi Octavia.

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Sat 29 Mar 2014 12:32
BMW 3 Series Touring (99-05) - Car for High Mileage Commuting - unthrottled

I like the E46 3 series but I still don't your money goes very far with BMW. I think the 2.0D engines of that era had issues with swirl flaps and inconsstent turbo life. The 8V 1.9 VAG engine doesn't have these issues.

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Tue 8 Apr 2014 12:15
BMW 3 Series Touring (99-05) - Car for High Mileage Commuting - RobJP

Thing is, even the latest of the E46 cars is now 9 yrs old. And, as you say, you're going to be buying one that's covered a good number of miles. And then you're expecting that 9/10 yr old car to do 600 miles a week.

The same applies any car that is approaching that sort of age / mileage. Things do start to just wear out. You might be lucky, but then again, you might not.

Finally, a 320d of that age will probably do 40-45mpg. Don't expect anything more than that

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Wed 9 Apr 2014 10:12
BMW 3 Series Touring (99-05) - Car for High Mileage Commuting - pd

Whatever you buy 30k miles a year will take a toll. You can't buy a car of this sort of age and price bracket and expect it to take that sort of punishment without needing to spend some money on it at some point. 30k miles a year costs however you try and do it.

The cars you mention are not bad choices although I'd probably go for a S60 rather than a Volvo V40.

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