Hi all,
We arrived in NZ at the end of June last year, staying at a friends house for a few weeks before renting near Clevedon, south-east of Auckland.
We're long-term German car fans having had many Mercedes, BMWs, VWs and Audis. My first BMW was an E21 323i, followed later by a 840Ci. (My brother had the 850 - interesting comparison.) My wife drove an E30 320i coupe for several years.
Work for me was very slow to be sorted. We didn't want to jump into daily life straight away but after a few months here, we decided it was time. And Telecom laid off 140 or so IT Project Managers... My field. That didn't help at all, and marked the start of a long slog, and money worries, before I found work in Hamilton.
It's a nice drive south, but quite a distance, and my Merc really isn't suitably economical! I've been looking for cheap (try living for 14 months with no income!), economical, sensible, practical yet fun wheels for a while and have found a 2002 E46 320d Touring which would suit. (A 520d might be better, but beggars can't be choosers.) I'm aware that there can be a number of issues with the M47TUD engine, but also that it is a good engine provided it is looked after.
So, it's an older car. It will doubtless need some attention. So the first of (doubtless) many questions is: who are the good guys for looking after 10-15 year old BMW diesels? I've been on many forums in the past, especially while in the UK, so 'normal' rules apply - let me know the good'uns here perhaps, but PM (in confidence) details of anyone to avoid!
Long term I may look to make some minor changes to the car and engine, but these will be more around maintaining reliability and power, and increasing economy. I know it could be tuned and tweaked, but 120km each way to work means this isn't really a car to 'play' with too much.
Thanks folks.
Graham
