Shano76

And if so, any recomendations for good indy Lexus servicing in the Dublin, Wicklow area? Cheers.. Shane.

I've had my '06 220d for just over a year now & despite some initial teething problems that got rectified quickly enough, I'm really enjoying it. It's a lovely place to sit & eat up the miles. IMO it's far nicer to drive than the equivalent BMW e46 320d or the A4 1.9/2.5 TDis. Seats are better, sound insulation is better etc. The only disappointment really is the gearbox. It's a shame that the auto isn't more common over here. All the 220ds seem to be manual (not sure if it's actually available in auto??). I would agree with others that for speeds up to 80mph, 6th is pretty much redundant which means in 99% of daily circumstances it's uselss! At the other end of the range, 1st & 2nd both also seem to be a bit at odds with each other. 3rd & 4th though at speeds over 45mph are a pleasure & give great, torquey acceleration for overtaking. I'll be the first to admit that because mine is on the road all the time, it doesn't see as regular EGR cleans etc., as it should. But it still gets 40+ mpg on the motorway which, considering it's 9 yrs old, heavy & a 2.2 with 160k miles on it isn't the worst, but it's not great either. My old '01 MKIV TDi would regularly see 50+mpg. I am suprised though at the number of people on here buying diesel cars & doing very low mileage. To me it makes no sense. Unless you're doing upward of 20,000 miles a year, there's more value to be had in petrols I would have thought. The increased service costs & wear & tear items like turbos, EGRs, cats etc in diesels far outway any fuel cost savings below that mileage. In Ireland (where I'm from & live) the Govt changed the car tax system in 2008 from a cc based system to a Co2 based system which meant that diesels suddenly became very attractive in terms of fuel costs & tax saving (a typical VW/AUDI 1.9TDi went from around €550 p/a to €256). The result is that there have been very few petrol cars bought since 2008, and there are people all over the country driving big engined diesel cars that are costing more to run than a 1.4 petrol equivalent that would probably better suit their needs. When these come on the market as trade ins, they are riddled with problems like clogged engines, manifolds, cats etc cos they never get properly used. I drive 30+K miles a year with a normal daily commute of about 120 miles & the wife does the same in her car so makes sense for us to have diesels. For my purposes, the 220d is a great car & as I said, much nicer to drive than the equivalents. The complaints & disappointments expressed here seem to be mostly from people who might have been better off buying the 250 or something else altogether given their driving habits. Diesels on short trips are never going to be the more economical choice in the medium to long term. Just my 2 cents.

Hi All, Just an update on progress. Got a new WP & 'stat fitted there a couple of weeks back & the mechanic pressure tested the engine etc. There was a small leak from the old WP but didn't find any blades/fins damaged or ingested or anything like that. Flushed the system & refilled & so far so good. Gurgling sound behind the dash gone, heater working. temp gauge staying just below half way.. hopefully that's the end of it. Relatively inexpensive work which has hopefully solved the issue! Will keep an eye on it & update if any further issues arise.. Thanks again for all the comments & advice above. Shano

Thanks for the advice all. Just looking at waterpumps there. Seem to be a variety of prices online from 50 - 130 quid. Any recommendations on brands from experience? Do they all have plastic impellers or is there any with steel available? Gonna do the 'stat while I'm at it so same question - any recommendations on manufacturer? Thanks as always. S

Nice one. So all things point thus far to a leaky water pump! Makes sense. So, one last question: if I leave it in to the garage to get the water pump done, is there anything else that I should get done at the same time as preventative maintenance? Or anything else that *needs* to get done? I'm guessing compression test, thermostat & any pipe work? Worth replacing the rad too?

just realised I edited that reply rather than post a new one so not appearing as new response. this should do it!

Was trying to upload photo from the phone last night but no joy. Back at the PC now so please see below attached. Leak seems to be oming from behind the pulleys & making it's way down a vertical steel pipe before pooling in the area circled and then dripping round the underside & down onto the splashguard / try beneath. Anyone ever seen this before? Any ideas on what I might be looking at? Also as per the green text, what is the part that it's actually pooling on? Looks like a pump of some sort maybe? Oil pump or something? Thanks again for your help..

Thanks mate I'll try & get one when I get home & post it. Cheers..

Hi All, Shane here from Dublin. Hoping you can help. I have a 2006 220d which I've owned for about 5 months. It has 140k miles on the clock. Soon after I bought it, it began to overheat while the engine was under load. Brought it back to the garage where I bought it (not main dealer) & he did a few things to try to sort it out but ended up having to bring it back again a couple of weeks later to get the head skimmed & gasket replaced under warranty. This seemed to resolve the issue until about 3 weeks ago when the engine started to intermittently overheat again under load. I also noticed that it was using coolant but no evidence of mix with oil etc. figured there was a leak somewhere. Heater also not working properly & gurgling noise behind the dash (heater matrix maybe). This evening after a short spin the engine wasn't quite warmed up when I parked in on our sloping drive, nose down. Took my wife's car out to pick up food & came back to find water coming from underneath the car. Popped the good and could see water leaking from somewhere & dripping into the splash guard underneath. Fired her up & could see water leaking from what looks like a vertical pipe behind the belts & pulleys. Anyone got any ideas on this? I'm thinking maybe water pump & or thermostat? I should also mention that because I use the car daily I haven't had a chance to get it I to a garage so been topping it up with water/generic coolant when needed over the last few weeks. Probably not the best idea but no choice at the moment. Appreciate any help / advice you can give. Thanks, Shane.