Cadelac

Ok - cheers for the help. Looks like I'll just have to sit tight and keep my eye out!

A follow on from this thread: http://www.bimmersport.co.nz/forums/index....mp;#entry270976 Hi all, Basically, quick story short - I've been looking round for a BMW 330d in MANUAL. Probably around the E46 era... Nothing has come up for quite some time so I'm looking for a bit of help regarding a manual conversion. I've played around with manual swaps before in Subarus but never owned or got my hands on a BMW. The big question really is what is involved with the diesel side of things - are they slightly different boxes to the petrol 330s?? Does the diff need a swap etc. Sorry to ask about such a wide (and spoken of) topic but nobody has really touched on diesels much! Any information would be greatly appreciated (even recommendations on suppliers, mechanics and prices would be excellent!) Thanks in advance, James

Thanks for the replies! Have been looking into importing out of the UK but spoke to an importer down in Cambridge who seemed to think I'd be better off with a special order on a new one as it'd cost so much to get it here! The 530D on TradeMe has been there for quite a while - I seriously considered it until I realised 38k is a little high for a 2001 with almost 100,000 on the clock.. For an extra 10k I'd be in the 2006/7 range! Another option that has been considered (and interested on hearing your thoughts) is the classic manual conversion. Have been doing a bit of reading and everything seems to draw to it being a bad idea... But even if it ended up costing 5k, it'd still be a cheaper option? As far as I'm aware, they definitely sold the 3-series diesel in manual standard here in NZ (but all NZ-New, nothing ever made it to Japan). The 5-series however, was a special order and therefore a bit rarer. Cheers, James

Hi Guys, Have been searching for quite some time for a decent 330D with a manual gearbox. Have seen a few manual 320Ds go by but for some reason a 6-cyl, 3.0 is just that much more appealing! (Possibly a 5-series in manual may do the job??) Recently sold my manual Subaru for an automatic Toyota Hilux (3.0TD 4x4) and seriously missing the control and enjoyment of the manual gearbox, hence my hell-mission to find the 330D in manual. Have been looking for something between the 2000-2005 age range (mainly due to price) but anything is really possible. Any suggestions are welcome. If anyone knows of a manual 330D going on the market, please don't hesitate to let me know! Thanks, James