BMW 330d (E92) | Shed of the Week

Shed has found another SOTW debutant for you this week in the smooth shape of this BMW 330d E92 coupe. Good looking cars, these, and even better looking under the bonnet which conceals one of the best diesel engines ever made. 

This example has a pleasing whiff of permanence about it. Apart from a corroded rear spring that was replaced between the ’23 and ’24 MOT tests, nothing other than consumables have been noted on the 17 tests before last October’s examination, which showed no advisories. There was one small weirdness in 2010 when no action was taken on an ‘engine oil low strong advise’ entry. You would have thought that would have been as easy to sort out as the busted brake light that they actually needed to fix to get the pass. 

That apart, the MOT history suggests that the car has been serenely marching through its life in a relaxed fashion, which would be quite correct as that’s something a 330d did very well out on the roads. Its straight-six 3.0 turbodiesel pumped out 228hp in pre-LCI guise and a monstrous 369lb ft between 1,750 and 3,000rpm. Petrol or diesel, including the 335i and the M3, no 3 Series cars out-torqued it apart from the PH legend that is the 430lb ft 335d and the refreshed 2008-on version of the 330d with 380lb ft.

The 330d was a brilliant motorway cruiser, topping out in coupé format at 154mph. With the six-speed auto box as here (a chunky manual was available on the 330d but not on the 335d) it was remarkably quick on smaller roads, too, with a 0-62mph time of 6.8 seconds. In the right hands – ones that could work around its slightly old-school chassis – it was more or less as quick across country as the N54 petrol-engined 335i range-topper.

Shed once owned a 330d. He found it more than exuberant enough to get the postmistress moaning in ecstasy, or Mrs Shed just moaning, while he was quietly smirking at the semi-reasonable VED rate of £305 that went with its 175g/km poison score and combined fuel consumption figure of 43mpg. Try as he might, and even with his divers’ boots on (which is a story for another time) he was never able to get that number below 30mpg.

Outstanding recall is not something Shed has ever been blessed with, but the Government MOT check site reveals that there’s one of them on this car. It’s a bit of a tease, that site, because it doesn’t tell you what the recall in question was. The main E90 contenders were a dodgy cable to the battery’s positive terminal, potentially and unsurprisingly leading to unwanted engine cutouts, and a fire risk caused by a chafing blower regulator wiring harness connector. Either of those sounds important enough to get even lazy sods like Shed out to the BMW dealership, where the prospect of free repairs should outweigh his natural aversion to Febrezed carpets and hissing coffee machines.  

We’re not told any more about this car than the bare minimum, and the lack of useful interior pics is regrettable. Still, through the miracle of photography we can see that it’s got a working sunshine roof – a rare and desirable option – and a functioning tachometer displaying what Shed remembers to be the correct idling speed of 550-600rpm. As the next owner of this particular machine you should be using your eyes again to check for oil leaks around the sump, oil filter housing and valve cover gaskets, as per the advisory mentioned 15 years or a few paragraphs ago. High-pressure fuel pumps, driveshafts, EGR coolers, VANOS valves and coils could all let you down too, and doors and windows didn’t always work like they were supposed to. Sounds like plenty of stuff to trip you up, but you’d be very unlucky to cop for all that lot in one car.

For some the biggest pachyderm in the pantry will be the mileage, which is suitably elephantine at 180k – but what do you expect from a high-performance car that was £37,000 new and that’s now on offer at £1,995? Worth a punt at this money, surely.