# Looking for some advice on used 328d



## boradori007 (Jul 14, 2017)

Hey guys,
I am in the market for used diesel vehicles and I thought 328d will be a good candidate. (located in california)
Now I never owned a diesel or BMW so I will need some help with questions that I have
1) What do you think about 2014 328d with high miles? (70k+ miles)
2) How reliable are 2014 328d models?
3) Anything I should look out for when it comes to diesel cars?
I would greatly appreciate any kind of advice/help!
Thanks


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## floydarogers (Oct 11, 2010)

boradori007 said:


> Hey guys,
> I am in the market for used diesel vehicles and I thought 328d will be a good candidate. (located in california)
> Now I never owned a diesel or BMW so I will need some help with questions that I have
> 1) What do you think about 2014 328d with high miles? (70k+ miles)
> ...


70K on a 2014 is kind of high, but the engines have seemed very solid, and transmissions, too. 2014 is as reliable as anything for the diesels, and for the F30 models. Only real problems have been electronics in the F3x.

There is some question in my mind regarding the SCR/NOx reduction system; although I'm encouraged by BMW's recent actions in extending some warranties on the older M57 emissions systems, and by the fact that BMW re-designed the SCR system for the F3x series. IIRC, there were some early 328d problems with a bad batch of NOx sensors - I believe they've all been replaced by this time.

My wife's has been rock solid, except for electronics.


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## glangford (Dec 11, 2013)

I'd zero problems with mine except for a DPF sensor replacement. No electronics issues with mine. I'd be interested in what potential electronics issues there are. 

70K miles does seem to be a bit high, but as said the engine and tranny seem rock solid. It's 2017, you might find a 2014 or 2015 coming off of lease with less miles, then purchase certified premium with some warranty. 

No one knows really but at some point a carbon buildup will probably need to be rectified with walnut shell blasting. BMW dealers have gotten pretty good at it, and it's not a total horror story, but somewhat costly. I've seen the 6 cylinders cost around 1000-1200 on this forum, the 4 should be less.


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## skagen93 (Jul 17, 2017)

*high mileage experience*

Purchased my 2014 328xd in July of last year with 72k on the odometer. I have just hit 112k and have had no issues with the engine, trans or any other part of the vehicle. It is mainly used on a freeway commute about 65 miles each way with a 75mph speed limit. Avg mpg is at 47.6 since I purchased. Using Amsoil 5W-30 euro spec for oil with the diesel fuel additive every 5k and Peak DEF fluid for the two refills I have done. If the car looks and acts like it's brand new and I would definitely consider it. I considered trading mine in recently after a major hail storm did $10k+ in damage and found that many local dealers had multiple options for the diesels that were coming off lease from 2014. I would definitely recommend this car for any commuter but would probably buy CPO if I purchased today just for the coverage early on.


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## Enthusiast 456 (Jun 23, 2014)

I had 0 issues with my 2014. Turned it in with I think 56K trouble-free miles.


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## listerone (Jul 21, 2009)

boradori007 said:


> Hey guys,
> I am in the market for used diesel vehicles and I thought 328d will be a good candidate. (located in california)
> Now I never owned a diesel or BMW so I will need some help with questions that I have
> 3) Anything I should look out for when it comes to diesel cars?


My "d" is low mileage so I can't help you with your long term reliability questions. However,there's one thing about diesels in general that many people (in this country,at least) don't understand.That is...diesels are best suited as highway cruisers,not stop & go/drive to the supermarket/type cars.They're at their best at a steady 70mph on a 150 mile trip.

I guess this could be called an opinion rather than universally recognized fact.But consider that it's not a coincidence that train engines and 18 wheelers are powered by diesel rather than gas.


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## Pierre Louis (Oct 23, 2011)

If I only drove in the city, a hybrid would have better fuel economy while a diesel might carbon up. Since direct injection gassers are also suffering from CBU, perhaps they aren't that great either.

Other than that, diesels are great in hot weather with the A/C cooling the car since they are more thermally efficient than gassers and much more practical than EV's since A/C seems to drain batteries fast.

The other meme I wish people wouldn't constantly repeat is that automatics are now better than manuals for fuel economy. I have yet to see this in real life. Its likely the shift points on NA cars are designed more for the fuel economy test etc. 

I also don't know why anyone wouldn't prefer a manual in heavy traffic since most automatics require a steady pressure on the brake pedal so they don't run into the car ahead while a manual can coast or be "feathered" to creep at a good slow speed. I know since I've owned a TDI with a manual for 160,000 miles.

But I guess its just me....

PL


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## bjbolduc (Dec 19, 2012)

I have about 60 k miles on the 328 xed and will be turning it in at end of lease. 
Overall a good car. I had a def issue about 2 years ago but otherwise very reliable. 
Good gas mileage it you do a lot of highway. 
I got a great deal 3 years ago and right now they are not as hungry to move diesels. 
Maintenance is very ridiculous at the dealer however so find a good independent shop 
I won't be getting a new bmw as my next car but do recommend this model if it has what you want

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## bjbolduc (Dec 19, 2012)

bjbolduc said:


> I have about 60 k miles on the 328 xed and will be turning it in at end of lease.
> Overall a good car. I had a def issue about 2 years ago but otherwise very reliable.
> Good gas mileage it you do a lot of highway.
> I got a great deal 3 years ago and right now they are not as hungry to move diesels.
> ...


In addition make sure that what you are buying has your desired features. For example the base halogen lights are poor. Only get the hid lights.

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## Flyingman (Sep 13, 2009)

I found a well equipped 2016 328D back in June for about $32k with 20k miles on it. CPO.

I traded in my 2010, 120k 335D.

I'm a happy camper so far. Much better MPG with the 328d and I have adjusted to the lower torque. Car is still plenty quick and really great as an Executive Commuter car.

Zero issues so far.:thumbup:


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## sbalea (Mar 12, 2014)

62K miles on my 328d. Only one problem so far, a CEL indicating a faulty injector, at around 30K miles. Got the injector replaced under warranty. Everything else was and still is solid.


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## clinkinfo (Nov 7, 2012)

skagen93 said:


> Purchased my 2014 328xd in July of last year with 72k on the odometer. I have just hit 112k and have had no issues with the engine, trans or any other part of the vehicle. It is mainly used on a freeway commute about 65 miles each way with a 75mph speed limit. Avg mpg is at 47.6 since I purchased. Using Amsoil 5W-30 euro spec for oil with the diesel fuel additive every 5k and Peak DEF fluid for the two refills I have done. If the car looks and acts like it's brand new and I would definitely consider it. I considered trading mine in recently after a major hail storm did $10k+ in damage and found that many local dealers had multiple options for the diesels that were coming off lease from 2014. I would definitely recommend this car for any commuter but would probably buy CPO if I purchased today just for the coverage early on.


Except CPO is just a glorified powertrain warranty no matter what the BMW sales person tries to tell you.

READ THE CONTRACT! When it comes time to repair almost anything else the SERVICE manager will have the wonderful conversation with you about what you're "bumper to bumper" warranty DOESN'T cover. Spoiler alert, it's pretty much everything else.


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## Harfend (Jan 3, 2018)

My 2015 X3 28d CPO was purchased 4 months ago with 45K. Currently at 49700. No regrets. I love it and the diesel returns outstanding mileage compared to a similar gas engine. Agree that the standard halogen headlights do not have the "WOW factor" of the HID's. I had a CE within a couple days of purchase that was caused by the Nox sensors. They were replaced under warranty. I also purchased the maintenance package and exterior/interior/wheels protection. Agree that most BMW dealers have limited diesel technicians to work on the vehicles and they don't have parts in stock so repairs can take several days... Lucky for me, I have been given a loaner (hence the experience with the HID lights on a 17 X1) so that I could get to work. Also, if you need a trailer hitch... They are expensive! Try and work in the cost when negotiating the deal. I wish I had done that.


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## Santorini Blue (Apr 7, 2014)

I love my 14 328D. I would not buy one again. Turns out they are terrible polluters.


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## Pierre Louis (Oct 23, 2011)

Santorini Blue said:


> I love my 14 328D. I would not buy one again. Turns out they are terrible polluters.


Please explain, with scientific evidence.

Unfortunately, gassers pollute more and are not scrutinized as are diesel cars. Look it up.

PL


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## FredoinSF (Nov 29, 2009)

Santorini Blue said:


> I love my 14 328D. I would not buy one again. Turns out they are terrible polluters.


I can understand questioning a diesel purchase in the future, but a 328d described as a mass polluter? A gas powered leaf blower pollutes more.

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## Doug Huffman (Apr 25, 2015)

pierre louis said:


> please explain, with scientific evidence. Unfortunately, gassers pollute more and are not scrutinized as are diesel cars. Look it up. Pl


+1


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## jck66 (Nov 28, 2017)

Don't feed the troll...


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## edycol (Jul 8, 2015)

Pierre Louis said:


> Please explain, with scientific evidence.
> 
> Unfortunately, gassers pollute more and are not scrutinized as are diesel cars. Look it up.
> 
> PL


That is misleading what you saying. 
Diesel engine is NOx factory. Reason why we have SCR is that with the way direct injection works, with lower consumption comes increased level of NOx. Diesel engines are having immediate effect on human health and per WHO, diesel exhaust is cancerous. 
Gasoline engines emit more CO2, major cause of greenhouse effect. However, CO2 is not nearly as dangerous for human health as NOx.

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## Doug Huffman (Apr 25, 2015)

Pierre Louis said:


> Please explain, *with scientific evidence*. Unfortunately, gassers pollute more and are not scrutinized as are diesel cars. Look it up. PL


+1

WHO political

GET UN OUT OF US
GET US OUT OF UN


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## edycol (Jul 8, 2015)

Doug Huffman said:


> +1
> 
> WHO political
> 
> ...


Yeah right.

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## wxmanCCM (Feb 17, 2010)

edycol said:


> That is misleading what you saying.
> Diesel engine is NOx factory. Reason why we have SCR is that with the way direct injection works, with lower consumption comes increased level of NOx. Diesel engines are having immediate effect on human health and per WHO, diesel exhaust is cancerous.
> Gasoline engines emit more CO2, major cause of greenhouse effect. However, CO2 is not nearly as dangerous for human health as NOx.
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Actually, SI (gasoline) engines produce more engine-out NOx than diesels. Their three-way catalysts are extremely effective in reducing tailpipe NOx emissions to near zero. However, if the TWC loses its effectiveness as it ages, NOx emissions from gasoline cars can be excessive.

Diesel engine exhaust has been deemed carcinogenic by IARC, but that was the results of studies of 1940s- to 1990s-era engines. There's no evidence that modern diesels have emissions which produce tumors, in the lung or anywhere else.

https://www.healtheffects.org/system/files/ACES-RR184-Press Release_0.pdf


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## edycol (Jul 8, 2015)

wxmanCCM said:


> Actually, SI (gasoline) engines produce more engine-out NOx than diesels. Their three-way catalysts are extremely effective in reducing tailpipe NOx emissions to near zero. However, if the TWC loses its effectiveness as it ages, NOx emissions from gasoline cars can be excessive.
> 
> Diesel engine exhaust has been deemed carcinogenic by IARC, but that was the results of studies of 1940s- to 1990s-era engines. There's no evidence that modern diesels have emissions which produce tumors, in the lung or anywhere else.
> 
> https://www.healtheffects.org/system/files/ACES-RR184-Press Release_0.pdf


I think in England they did study with equipment in trunk where they had more NOx out of modern diesels (Skoda Octavia 1.6 tdi) then old diesels (1995 1.9 tdi VW Golf). 
As far as I know, WHO study was based on research they did just for that purpose. Take into consideration that EUGT study paid by VW, BMW and Daimler was commissioned in purpose to debunk WHO recommendation. Of course, VW provided VW Beetle with software tweaked purposely to debunk WHO study. 
It is easy to dig out 2012 WHO recommendation. Just go on their web site. Of course one can claim how all that is conspiracy theory. I am expecting soon NOx issue to turn into socialism debate, then somehow second amendment will get introduced, and as finale, George Soros will be blamed.

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## wxmanCCM (Feb 17, 2010)

Here is an older graphic I scanned from a Johnson-Matthey brochure many years ago:










There also the graphic in the middle of this page:

http://www.air-quality.org.uk/26.php

I'm fully aware of the IARC classification of diesel exhaust as a Group 1 carcinogen. Again, that is based on pre-filtered diesel exhaust. The ACES study is being used by EPA and other regulatory agencies, so I don't think there's any manufactures' bias in that study.

Even if it is true that NOx is as much of a public health issue as is being asserted (I have my doubts), all diesel vehicle lines certified in the U.S. are subject to months of extensive additional testing and have since the NOV was issued to VW in September 2015. The additional testing is conducted to ensure the vehicles' certified emissions are representative in all "driving cycles and conditions that may reasonably be expected to be encountered in normal operation and use." Or "every which way from Sunday" as EPA puts it.


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## Doug Huffman (Apr 25, 2015)

I wonder how large is the sample of the population that served on diesel powered submarines. The few remaining are dying of old age at a pretty good clip now. I have a co-worker, ***8216;Diesel Dave***8217;, that must be among the last, that is hale and hearty.

At one point in my career, the NRC tried to convince us that diesel fuel was a deleterious substance for its cadmium content; desperate to deprecate diesel.


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## APFPilot (Feb 22, 2018)

Doug Huffman said:


> I wonder how large is the sample of the population that served on diesel powered submarines. The few remaining are dying of old age at a pretty good clip now. I have a co-worker, 'Diesel Dave', that must be among the last, that is hale and hearty.
> 
> At one point in my career, the NRC tried to convince us that diesel fuel was a deleterious substance for its cadmium content; desperate to deprecate diesel.


That might be true in the US, but you can get brand new Diesel boats from a number of countries including Germany, Russia, and France.


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## Doug Huffman (Apr 25, 2015)

APFPilot said:


> That might be true in the US, but you can get brand new Diesel boats from a number of countries including Germany, Russia, and France.


Thanks. The point was to people with histories of breathing diesel smoke/fumes for long periods over long years.


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## edycol (Jul 8, 2015)

wxmanCCM said:


> Here is an older graphic I scanned from a Johnson-Matthey brochure many years ago:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


NOx is an issue in Europe. We were talking generally about diesel emissions. In the US it is not since NOx issues from 1970's prompted CARB to go tighten limits. Businesses didn't decide to limit NOx, it took administrative state to do it. 
You can have all doubts you want about diesel emissions, but it is fairly easy to dig out studies on google scholar or JSTOR about this issue. 
You have very good study by Nesbit et al (2016) that in some 115 pages explains issues around NOx in Europe and administrative differences between US and Europe.

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## edycol (Jul 8, 2015)

Doug Huffman said:


> Thanks. The point was to people with histories of breathing diesel smoke/fumes for long periods over long years.


There are still live survivors of Chernobyl disaster. However, we do not brush teeth with nuclear powered toothbrush.

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## Doug Huffman (Apr 25, 2015)

edycol said:


> There are still live survivors of Chernobyl disaster. However, we do not brush teeth with nuclear powered toothbrush.


Speak for yourself. My occupational dose is 0.03 Sv.


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## wxmanCCM (Feb 17, 2010)

My intent was to show that engine-out NOx emissions ("No Catalyst") were actually lower than gasoline engine-out NOx emissions.

I don't disagree that Europe has an ambient NO2 problem, but it's somewhat self-impose due to the extremely strict NO2 ambient air quality standard it adopted in 2010 (40 micrograms/M3 or about 21 ppb). That's less than half the U.S. NAAQS of 53 ppb (both annual average).

To put thing into perspective, here is a comparison of emissions from the "multi-state" test the WVU conducted compared to the average emissions of the gasoline car fleet in 2008 (a large percentage of the cars on the road in 2008 were 2004 or earlier models which would be certified to Tier 1):

2013 Passat TDI emissions in ICCT/WVU report ("multi-state" test) vs. average gasoline vehicle fleet emissions in 2008 per EPA

(Grams/mile)

Emission.............Average Gasser in 2008*...................Passat TDI In-Use ("multi-state")**

THC..........................1.077..........................................................0.01
NMHC.......................1.034..........................................................0.00056
NOx..........................0.693..........................................................0.42
CO............................9.400..........................................................0.03
PM............................0.0044........................................................0.0002

*EPA, "Average Annual Emissions and Fuel Consumption for Gasoline-Fueled Passenger Cars and Light Trucks" https://permanent.access.gpo.gov/gpo55409/420f08024.pdf (chart on page 4)

**2013 Passat in-use emissions - Thompson et al., "In-Use Emissions Testing of Light-Duty Diesel Vehicles in the United States." International Council on Clean Transportation Report, May 15, 2014 (Pages 77-86)

Note that even the average NOx emissions were lower on the non-compliant Passat than the average gas car on the road in 2008.


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## APFPilot (Feb 22, 2018)

Doug Huffman said:


> Thanks. The point was to people with histories of breathing diesel smoke/fumes for long periods over long years.


Exactly and I was acting to bolster that point by showing that some of the most modern submarines are still diesel powered.


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## Pierre Louis (Oct 23, 2011)

wxmanCCM said:


> My intent was to show that engine-out NOx emissions ("No Catalyst") were actually lower than gasoline engine-out NOx emissions.
> 
> I don't disagree that Europe has an ambient NO2 problem, but it's somewhat self-impose due to the extremely strict NO2 ambient air quality standard it adopted in 2010 (40 micrograms/M3 or about 21 ppb). That's less than half the U.S. NAAQS of 53 ppb (both annual average).
> 
> ...


this ^^


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## Bmwn47 (Feb 9, 2020)

Hey all, I am considering purchasing a 2014 or newer bmw 328d and was wondering how solid these cars are with their timing chains. I know this was a huge issue on 2010 and previous n47 engines and was wondering if the engine was ever revised to fix this issue. Thanks in advance


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