Buying an e46

[Mavrick 0]

I am looking at selling the e30 and buying an e46, basically looking for a newer vehicle and one that has four doors. Also something that has less maintenance than a 21 year old car.

I ideally want a 330i but i think that it streches my budget a little to far and im not to fond of spending my profit from my first home on a car...

I am looking at 323i and up, 318's are out of the question, there's no way that i am powering down. I would like to have it in manual but i know that they are quite rare and that the 330i didn't come in a manual. I personally didn't think that i would own a auto car until i was old(er) but the cars i am interested in all seem tobe automatic so i guess i'll just have to bite the bullet.

My budget is 20k and would be good to see a little bit of change for some wheels and susp in the future.

The specs i am lookign to fill are: Black, under 100k, leather and an msport kit. I may be asking a bit much but there aint much point in buying a car your not happy with.

I know that Josh (hybrid) is the resident e46er but all opinions are welcome.

I have tralled tardme and seen the regulars on there. I will be in contact with the loacl BMW shop (jeff gray P. North) as i know them quite well.

Im in no rush to sell/buy but am just searching at the moment.

So basically after all that i am looking for pro's and cons of certain models or if there's a buyer guide avaliable hat would be mint.

My apologies for any spelling mistakes.

Cheers,

Mavrick

Edited April 16, 2008 by Mavrick

[wild_weston 0]

Hi there,

I just upgarded to an E46 330 motorsport from an E36 328 a month ago. Was thinking about it for a while, finally took the plunge and am very happy with my new car.

I managed to pick mine up for $14k with 140k on the odo. I know you are after a manual but mine came with tiprtronic paddles on the steering wheel, when you are in sports manual mode there isn't that much difference to a true manual (apart from not moving your left leg). I don't think these were standard but it prooves they can be retro-fitted - just stick ina M3 steering wheel and link it all up.

With $20k you should be able to pick up a 330 motorsport. They all seem to start at $20k but you can probably get them down a bit from the asking price. You should obviously look for one with all the parts you want already fitted, msports susp good wheels etc.

Only a couple of things to fix on mine. Just need a new rear window motor (these fail a lot it seems), and a couple of plastic bits from the front bumper (spotlight surround etc).

I would advise going for the 330 above the others engines for the power but also for the basic spec you get. The 330s tend to be fully loaded where as the other models have less, the closer you get to the 318. As always with the BMWs, look for service history. If it has been well maintained you shouldn't have too many problems.

Only other thing I would say with an E46 is that everything seems to be electric and run by computers within the car, from the keys to the lights. Bit of a pain if you want to get your default settings changed as you have to take it to a dealer. Apart from that they're fine.

Regards

Edited April 16, 2008 by wild_weston

[hybrid 1040]

14k is pretty cheap for a motorsport! .... last I saw they were more like 35k, good on you for scoring that!

[Mark 178]

Where are all these 14k 330i Motorsports??? Hook me up!

Seriously though: You should be able to find a nice 323i or 325i in manual. Just be patient.

[simke 0]

$14k is an excellent deal... I got my 328ci for $18k. Could have found something a bit cheaper, but this one was in perfect condition with full service history from Team McMillan, so I decided I'd rather spend a grand or two more at the start and have no problems later on.

[hybrid 1040]

The 330 has bigger brakes, better suspension and options as standard.

Things to look out for:

* Radiator hoses aren't turning a 'brownish' colour... they are about to explode if so.

* Auto gearboxs are running smooth. Also be careful with reverse. They have a pause before it actual engages, let it do so dont hit the accelerator straight away.

* All belts, Radiator fan is straight

* the window carriers break quite easily (plastic bits the hold the glass to the electric winder) .. dont let some autoglass muppet try do it if your car gets broken into .. they just break them .. get BMW to do it.

* Try get one with NAV .. even if you dont plan to do the conversion straigh away, having the Jap NAV option at least allows you to cheaply convert it to NZ (about 1000 for the nav computer and some hotwire / jochen know how)

* Get one in leather (as you requested) they are in a different leauge to cloth cars, dont settle for anything less. (you can actually for about 2500-3000 have your car leathered with premium qaulity leather from Retro Vehicle Enhancement. 09-376 4442; 27 MacKelvie St Grey Lynn Auckland )

* Dont worry too much about getting "Walnut" trim inside the car .. you can easily have the trim painted with special long wear / textured paint for not much coin.

erm think thats it ... If you going to put mag wheels / suspension on it .. come talk to me first as I can work out what your after and help you out with getting the correct sizes / spring rates ... so many people mess it up on the e46 with out knowing it.

Im on my 3rd set now to get it right

Pics of mine

http://www.bimmersport.co.nz/forums/index....=15#entry144581

[wild_weston 0]

Now that is a nice car Hybrid. Bit flasher than mine for sure.

Here is the link to the pics of mine off trade me. Got it cheap from a really good bloke up in Auckland who used it as a company car. I've only had it a month, everything seems fine on it but always a bit nervous with a new car for the first few months (just in case you find big bad problems).

http://www.bimmersport.co.nz/forums/index....showtopic=15451

Mavrick

I did a bit of homework on the E46s before I bought one and the common faults seem to be:

Cooling systems - especially the expansion tank blowing due to the thermostat below it sticking. If this happens you can seriously mess up your engine if you don't get it fixed.

Windows - plastic bits break so easily, inside the door.

Reverse gear - can mess up on some gearboxes which costs a lot to fix. I think I'll try the tip from Hybrid to avoid this.

Niggles:

Stereo - speakers vibrate a bit on low bass. Head unit ok, but if you want to put in an aftermarket one then you need a new bit of dash.

Air Con - a bit over zealous at times.

Single climate heating - was dual climate in the E36.

Keys - cost a lot of money. Make sure you get a car with more than one. When you buy a new one you then have to pay more to get it programmed the way you want. Preferably you want two remote master keys (especially if your missus will drive it), they remember all the settings last time the key was used (seat position, climate setting etc) so you don't constantly have to change everything when someone else drives it.

Apart from that they are all good.

Hope this helps with your choice.

Edited April 17, 2008 by wild_weston

[hybrid 1040]

Niggles:

Stereo - speakers vibrate a bit on low bass. Head unit ok, but if you want to put in an aftermarket one then you need a new bit of dash.

you can now buy a bezzel which will take standard single DIN aftermarket radios. Or you can buy a converter that will change the signal to line level from the head unit or radio unit too an after market amp and speakers.

Air Con - a bit over zealous at times.

I set mine to 23 for colder days and 21 for warmer days and leave the middle heater trim on the vent in the dash to middle for warm days and up for cold days... aim these all upward so they dont blow on your face / body and set it too full re-circlate / air con on and just hit the auto button and leave it. Make sure you have your air con filters changed at every service. My passengers comment on how comfortible my car is climate wise. This is I feel one of the best features of the e46 .. the climate control.

Single climate heating - was dual climate in the E36.

Its not needed as its properly computer controlled if set correctly.

In the later 7 series the dual system is a bit of a joke. Its just not needed.

[mr E34 11]

April issue of Total BMW has E46 info, hope you can zoom in to read.

Edited April 17, 2008 by mr E34

[hybrid 1040]

Interesting article ... they are a little wrong around M3 stuff not fitting the non m models. it does .. you have to either widen the guards (as I have) or mold the front bumper and rear bumper to fit. Side skirts will bolt striaght on.

[mr E34 11]

Interesting article ... they are a little wrong around M3 stuff not fitting the non m models. it does .. you have to either widen the guards (as I have) or mold the front bumper and rear bumper to fit. Side skirts will bolt striaght on.

Article spans E21-E46, Total BMW & BMW Car are both good mags.

Any idea which manual box you can fit to an E46 330i?

[hybrid 1040]

sure .. both the ZF 5 and 6 speed will fit .. _however_ .. its a major to change to manual form auto.

you need to change a lot of electronics .. get hold of a manual gearbox ECU and reflash the main DME for manual. Drill holes into radiators with new sensors .. and other fun stuff like that .. there is a massive write up one of the e46 fanatics guys did on doing it ... he still didnt have it 100% right as the goldern spanner kept showing up due to him not changing out the auto gearbox ECU and trying to flash it instead. (the electronics are slightly different.)

Im sure with a bit of jochen know how .. this could be hacked

but yeah .. the cost is around 8k to do it (I looked into it) It would be just easier if I bought an m3 in the end.

[Yuen 16]

Interesting article ... they are a little wrong around M3 stuff not fitting the non m models. it does .. you have to either widen the guards (as I have) or mold the front bumper and rear bumper to fit. Side skirts will bolt striaght on.

Not too clued up on the E46, but does that only apply to pre-facelift?

[hybrid 1040]

Face lift panels are only different for the front fenders with the shape of the headlight/side makers. You can bolt face lift panels from a 02 sedan straight onto a non face lift sedan. Same thing goes for coupes.

Bumpers will interchange between them all. Again the m3 "non face lift look" bumpers fit on a sedan/coupe .. just need the above mods. The m3 bonnet will fit straight onto a non face lift coupe

[Yuen 16]

Cool... Cheers Josh.

[mr E34 11]

Low priced E46 330i on TradeYou? You guys would know how much work/faults it may have with that mileage.

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/C...n-150417574.htm

Edited April 20, 2008 by mr E34

[Yuen 16]

Looks like a good deal Are you still looking for an E46 Boris?

[greenday-rulz21 5]

It doesn't have leather!

[jjs 60]

It doesn't have leather!

Not many of the Jappa's do.

You could always splurge $3k or so and get leather retrofitted...

[mr E34 11]

Looks like a good deal Are you still looking for an E46 Boris?

Only buy NZ New cars Yuen unless i know its iron clad history.

[hybrid 1040]

Just get a pre-purchase inspection done ... they will point out anything dodge. Jappas you only have to worry about crash repaired ones ... even then .. if its just a panel rub repair.. youll be fine.

[*Glenn* 854]

Just get a pre-purchase inspection done ... they will point out anything dodge. Jappas you only have to worry about crash repaired ones ... even then .. if its just a panel rub repair.. youll be fine.

Totaly agree with Josh here. Doesnt matter what model BMW ( or any car for that matter ) you intend to buy, get a pre-purchase inspection done by either the agent or a independent repair specialist that works on the make & model vehicle you intend to purchase......NO EXCEPTIONS.... remember it's "buyer beware" and before you hand over your hard earned cash.....GET IT CHECKED !!!!

[drifty325i 0]

Franks sister is looking at a NZ new 1 owner Red 2002 Motorsport facelift 330i at the mo, 4dr 50,000km not sure if its leather yet shes bringing it out to me tomorrow to have a good look over it, it will be check over by a professional as well but ill do the initial look over to make sure its worth looking at. Think they want around 30k with a warranty, sound like a fair price? Ill have more details tomorrow

Thoughts? cheers

[hybrid 1040]

Sounds like an excellent price

[Mavrick 0]

Cheers for all the info and replies.

Will take it all into account upon purchase. Really need to get out and take a few for a test drive and make up my own mind i guess.

Cheers,

Mavrick