We had the offending swirl flaps removed by PMG (i think thats the correct name) at Chelmsford on two 320d's fitted with that engine, circa £220 IIRC correctly for removal, custom made blanking plates and fitting.

The earlier compact was traded for a coupe when some rather ominous sounds started to be heard in the top end, at around 120k only and serviced very well since bought at 45k when the turbo immediately failed as they tend to have a habit of.

The rare 3.0d X3 is a rather nice drive should you happen to spot one.

Good servicing at sensible mileages is IMO the thing to look for on a modern Diesel, missing or dubious services walk away.

However if its of any interest, my son bought a 325i 3 series estate probably 6 or 7 months ago now, despite a 3 litre very sweet petrol engine its proving surprisingly economical considering he isn't one for hanging about.

I mention this because IMHO modern Diesels are not the really long term trouble free and durable bet that their predecessors once were in many cases.

Edited by gordonbennet on 08/02/2016 at 21:54

This discussion has conflated into addressing 1 and 3 series models but in my case concerns a petrol 116i - 2007 model bought from a BMW dealer three years ago with 17,000 genuine miles showing. It was never economical and bated on acceleration when cold but otherwise is an exceptional car, if a little slow. A year last November issues began at around 25,000 miles when it began going into limp mode and several mystifying diagnostics resulted in a new throttle body, which did not cure the problem. The car still ran normally but prompted worries about cooling system sensors, blocked waterways, faulty ECU etc. Coincidentally or otherwise, my daughter was learning to drive at the time and practiced half a dozen emergency stops at around 30mph. The car threw its timing chain over three sprocket teeth and would not start. An excellent local garage, Simon Green of Horsforth cautioned this to be a common problem with all BMWs including 6 series models and that the manufacturer would not pay for it. His bill would have been £900+ The manufacturer did pay, on condition I took it to Stratstone Harrogate. I did not have a BMW warranty and Warranty Wise declined to cover the cost. The limp mode issues continued with over 120 annoying and at times frightening instances in the past year. More mystifying diagnostics proved that the throttle body repair had been unnecessary and finally BMW agreed to replace the Engine Wiring Harness free of charge, covering an estimated cost to me of £800. They put the limp mode issue down to poor crimping on the connections at the throttle and again their engineer at JCT 600 stated that this was a common fault on the 1 series. My research threw up the reality that this is a common fault across the range of models. Patience and the threat of consumer legal action to their Quality Assurance dept covered the cost of reapirs that could well have exceeded £2,000. BMW's reputation is currently better than their cars. On balance I am extremely disappointed, especially to find in my researches that these cars have plastic thermostat elbows and water pumps which disintgrate over time and block up waterways. Heat cycling also cracks header tanks. I guess best advice would be, if you can't extend to a model with a manufacturers warranty consider buying a buss pass. Not good.

>I have been advised to look out only for a vehicle of up to 2007 vintage as after that date >they did something to the engine which was 'bonkers' and caused major problems with >reliability.

I am not sure why you say bonkers, it simply the suppliers did replace machine tool often enough and caused the timing chain to be poor qualility. So most people would be ok , just some unluck people who got chain build at the end of a run.

These chain found there way into many german cars not just BMW and i think it 2007-2008. I had a 2007 did 150,000 miles no issues, so a lucky one.

2007 would not be the best year, a later then 2008 or 2005-2006 should be ok. Its still worth ensuring there is no chain rattle/noise and get the chain inspected before purchase. This is not so easy as the chain is at the rear of the engine and it hard to tell if it stretched or damaged.

Edited by slkfanboy on 09/02/2016 at 09:30