After last month’s epic suspension and brake change I’m pleased to report that I’ve been enjoying the 330d this month, stopping only to give it a clean inside and out. It’s been down to the New Forest, and rallying with me up near Bridlington, and on both those events has of course been an impeccably behaved and worthy companion.

This does mean I’ve got time to reflect upon the changes I’ve made over the last few months. When the car is clean, despite being four years old, and despite the new 3 series now becoming commonplace on our roads, the 330d looks smart and modern. Indeed, upon entry to a quiet car park in the New Forest the attendant commented on how well kept it was, saying that it looked new. Had I not been expecting a bollocking for oversteering into the car park I might have had the presence of mind to tell the gentleman that the car was nearly 100,000 miles old!

It has struck me that I’ve not commented much on the Fulda Excelero tyres that I fitted some months ago, and given that I’m a perpetual whinger, this can only mean that they’re not bad at all. Grip is fine in both wet and dry. Wear is okay – the rears have plenty of life left after some 4,000 miles which is more than could be said for a set of tyres I once put on an E36 M3! Road noise is noticeable, but it was with both the Dunlops and the Bridgestones I’ve had in the past – presumably the touring shell allows more road noise from the rear wheels into the cabin space.

The Rossini brake discs are okay. On the way up to Bridlington I gave the car full beans on some back roads outside Bridlington, and after a little while the brakes became noisy and the pedal showed some vibration. I backed off and they soon quietened down, but I’m not sure what to make of that. It does seem that I’m doomed to never have complete confidence in my stoppers.

The new front suspension bushes have worked a treat. A poor downtrodden friend who is forced from company Vectra to Vectra has just received yet another one, and commented as to how nice it was to have “new suspension”. He’s right, but believe me, I’d rather spend a Saturday under the car on the driveway fitting new rubberiness than suffer the spectacular hill of junk that is an 07 plate Vectra SRi. For god’s sake, they’ve even removed the bonnet gas struts that I had on my 1997 Vectra!

So then, my 97,000 mile old 330d feels like a new car, looks as smart as a new car, manages well over 40mpg on a run and is no longer depreciating too horrendously. All it needs to do now is carry on working without costing me anything other than fuel, insurance and RFL, and I’ll be a happy boy. Now that the M3 is online and being used as the main car, the 330d stands a good chance of maintaining this hallowed trouble free status. Fingers crossed.

Mileage since last report:785
Total Mileage: 97,581
MPG this month: 42
Cost this month: £0