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IMO the N62 is a dog of an engine, with many well known, although serious, issues that they all seem to suffer eventually. Sure, you can fix them all one by one, but by that point you have spent thousands on just the engine, and havent even begun to work on the issues the E63/64 platform has. I'd take an E46, or even an E90, over another of those horrible land whales any day. Theres a reason you are finding them in your budget...

E46 is still a great looking car design, in any shape, and especially in the facelift with MSport. E90 has never been that grate for me, and whilst it is slightly more modern the tech in them is now showing its age. E46 for me every time, and can’t go wrong with the 330d especially for those distances. A 6 speed manual would be the unicorn.

Bugger it’s not a manuel.

WHAAAAAAAT is that thing! https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/528i/listing/4434283986 So keen on this as a Sunday drive car, or even to fit some decent brakes and troll people at track days. lucky its not local.

Nah. Way more prevalent on the n47 and even then not that common. probably wouldn’t go for the recommended 30k km / 2 year oil change intervals though. This engine is in virtually every diesel x5

I see there’s an E90 325d that will have the better N57 3L diesel and M sport kit for 7.5k @gjm…probably worth a look, possibly some slightly dodgy history with change of plate but would be buying on condition at this end of the market https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/325d/listing/4315961185?bof=wDULWD9h

When everything works, they do make really good open road/long distance cruisers though. Very comfortable and I imagine they would be super stable on the Autobahn.

SA would move down the list for me. They aren't built quite the same. I'd take a german made one, every time. Like how SA E30's rusted in the weirdest places.

Looks aside the E46 being more simple and generally cheaper to keep on the road is why id choose it (assuming both are in similar condition). 2004 will have the 'best' subframe floor version too. I know the in UK they have rust issues but the odds of that here are surely slim.

It appears Sachs dont make an specific aftermarket msport version as far as i can tell. Aftermarket Sachs do some weird chopping and changing sometimes, once size fits all types deals included (maybe why E90 are coming up since they share a similar rear design) I can only see 2 types of Sachs - 'Standard' and 'Sport suspension' versions. Sachs 310 987 appears to be the sport version Bilstein B4 are typically made with standard and sport versions also. 19-144238 appears to be the B4 sport version. B6's and B8's are their upgraded units over Sachs, B4's etc really generally used for lowered cars. I dont know about the E8X cars but older models sport vs m-suspension was usually a little lower, firmer with bigger sway bars. The sport shocks will work fine regardless, I doubt you would notice any difference putting the sport versions on coming from worn shocks. If you are really fussy you can go genuine BMW Sachs at some crazy price no doubt.

from memory it cost me roughly $800 (hutt automatics @95 an hour) to drop and reinstall the same box on my 540 which i assume will have gone up since that was 3 years ago. I remember as I was quite insensed by it. I think AAAutomtive quoted $650 for labour for Lyall Bay service center to drop/reinstall but then additional cost to freight it to Auckland and back to be repaired. With such a problomatic box unless you are planning to sell the car ASAP for the sake of your own anxiety surely it's worth getting Zane to drop it and take a look, knowing it's had a tonne of stuff replaced already. Real sh*t/expensive scenario though either way. Sorry to hear man.

If, as you say, it is a 320i and is running on 5 cylinders then that's a substantial upgrade since they only came with 4 from factory... Smartarsery aside, and at the risk of sounding like a broken record, the N46 engine that this would have come with is one of the worst things BMW has come up with in recent history. Some mechanics are known to flat out refuse to work on them due to how problematic they are. They're plagued with issues and are very rarely worth saving. Especially if you're paying someone else to do the work instead of DIY. And especially if that someone is BMW. You'll end up with a bill that's multiples of what the car is worth. Did you pay them for the work of replacing the valvetronic motor out of pocket or was it some sort of recall/insurance arrangement? Did they offer you any feedback as to what the faults might be before proceeding with the work? From what I know the timing chains stretching is one of the many known issues on the N46 so I would think it weird if they didn't offer to change those out "whilst they're in there". That could be considered as an oversight and used as an argument against having to pay twice for labour I guess. But then again, I wouldn't be taking a car like that to BMW for engine work in the first place. As for the cam cover "being too hot to touch", I wouldn't take that as much of an indicator of anything. BMW engines jut run hot in general. Mine runs just fine but even the plastic top covers are too hot to touch after a regular commute.

Same M57 engine. 6 speed zf auto in the e90 will be more economical than the 5 speed in the e46. If the e46 is a msport and the e90 isn’t that might sway it for me. E46’s may be starting to rust

No doubt other little bits and pieces but yeah. In saying that i dont have a clue about E30 prices these days and everything seems expensive to me.

$3,060. That seems like a lot for some twisted sport seats and an unknown condition motor.

Yes, for anyone in Auckland experiencing this fault, Karl at AAutomotive in Archers Road Glenfield is able to sort it. Was a faulty TCM mechatronic unit which at full replacement is around $7k-$8k... but thankfully can be repaired in Auckland for a fraction of that with a 20000km/12mth warranty

If you end up wanting a more "out of the box" option check out the likes of: https://venoxy.com/695-e46. They do customs as well as the standard options on their website.

Also converted a couple of 123d`s. One to a manual with origional N47 and another to M57N2.

Recent update: 135 Brakes, M135 Wheels and Manual conversion.