E46.. thoughts please

Post Fri Nov 11, 2011 11:40 pm

firstly.. anyone with a good eye for colour naming know what colour this E46 is?
all i know is it's a sort of metallic wine.. the guy can't recall the proper name

i'm going to view this car tomorrow, it's a "2000" 328i SE (with M-sport additions: sport seat's wheels & suspension) 115K miles, full history, 3 owners from new, top spec entertainment system inc TV/sat nav package & the bonus is it's a 5 speed manual the present owner said "every box was ticked when new"

what are there pros & cons??

Post Sat Nov 12, 2011 12:02 am

thank's.. i have a look and see what shows up

Post Sat Nov 12, 2011 12:06 am

diable wrote:I can't remember which ones had an issue with the rear diff coming away from the floor plan so do a check.

Looks good though as I am starting to like the e46 tourings more now.

found this..
As on the E36, the E46 3 Series has been known to suffer the dreaded rear floor failure. This occurs when the rear suspension mount literally rips out of the floor. This causes not only a dangerous situation but a hefty repair bill.

Post Sat Nov 12, 2011 12:11 am

just read that if the diff bushes have not all ready been replaced then take it to BMW as they replace them free with stronger items.. was never a recall but if you take it to them they sort it.

apparently it's not as common in European car's more the US market.

Post Sat Nov 12, 2011 12:28 am

diable wrote:A mate had his saloon's diff rip out of the floor pan, this was a few years back and BMW repaired the car the bill was £1000's

ive read a few posts now on various BMW/E46 rear diff mounts & 99% have been repaired for free, mostly since 2008 & it is showing mainly on early 1999 models, more the saloons as they seam to have had a harder life?

Post Sat Nov 12, 2011 12:37 am

also.. forgot to add, ive been offered the E46 as a straight swap for my E30 318iS.. i'm a terrible decision maker so what thought's can be added about the swap?

if i go ahead i will be parting with what has been the cleanest E30 ive owned & one of the cleanest ive seen. the E46 owner is in his late 50's & has only owned BM's.. the touring is his wife's car and he want's my car to tuck away in to his own BMW collection.

Post Sat Nov 12, 2011 12:46 am

the guy has priced it between £2200/£2400 but is not for sale, he only offered it as a swap.
there's over £5K spent in my E30 over the past 2yrs.. but probably worth about £2500 on the right day to the right person?

Post Sat Nov 12, 2011 1:05 am

diable wrote:What do you want and will you regret it when the E30 is gone?

i will/would regret parting with my E30 but i think i'm ready for "moving on".. 18mths of stress free motoring it's gave me, deffo still a cracking looking car.
but my needs for a larger car fall down to we like to go touring about and ive been looking at BM estates or LWB shogun.. gave up on the shogun thought rather quickly and ive lost a lot of interest in car's this past year & feel i may not carry on giving the E30 the attention it will need to keep it as it is.. we all know once an E30 starts going bad it turns in to a lot of time & money to correct properly. so i'm thinking ive owned it, had the pleasures of driving it now let someone else carry that on.

Post Sat Nov 12, 2011 6:44 am

Sounds to me you've already made up your mind what you want to do Ian .If your feeling that way it time to move on and the e46 touring is a good choice imo.
Providing you get a good one which that one looks.
Good luck with the viewing.

Post Sat Nov 12, 2011 8:38 am

thanks Jake.. just waiting on the E46 owner finishing work this morning then arrange a meet time this afternoon within Perthshire.

ive still got one eye on a E30 cabby lying at my mate's garage, that should hopefully be my winter project.. so i'll not be totally out of the E30 scene

Post Sat Nov 12, 2011 6:41 pm

I have a 2002 E46 330i touring, and an '88 2dr 325i. The E30 is by far the better vehicle. I test drove a 328i and found it gutless TBH, the 330 is in another league.

Watch out for:
parking sensors not working,
aluminium front suspension arms with non replaceable ball joints,
check all the lights on the tail gate and the rear opening glass the wiring harness on the hinge can fail,
any engine warning lights, especially traction control and dsc,
vanos issues, listen to the engine whilst it's idling and the bonet open,
a failing DISA (in the inlet manifold) valve makes a rattling noise at idle,
the electronic engine thermostat is £70!

Post Sat Nov 12, 2011 9:27 pm

thanks to all above post's... i have decided the best thing to do is keep my E30, the regret i'd have about letting my example go would leave a hole in my well being.. might sound like i'm a sad guy to some but ive let a couple of strong car's go in the past to later think.. why!??

TBH the guy turned out to be a total time waster, he made me think i was doing him a massive favor by agreeing to allow him to have IMO: one of thee cleanest E30's on our roads.. made me look a complete fool .. but i can tell you one thing, i aint no persons fool, the last laugh will be with me.. rant over, nuff said

Post Mon Nov 14, 2011 3:45 am

In the end of the day a good e46 can be found easily, a good e30 cannot.

If you have the space keep the e30.

Plus just because the e46 is newer it does not make it more reliable.

Post Mon Nov 14, 2011 9:54 am

mrLEE30 wrote:In the end of the day a good e46 can be found easily, a good e30 cannot.

If you have the space keep the e30.

Plus just because the e46 is newer it does not make it more reliable.

Absolutely correct. E46 is a great mile muncher and a lot of metal for your money these days - but lots are available and they are still losing money.

Post Mon Nov 14, 2011 7:56 pm

cheers guy's.. looking more likely that'll i'll have a E30 cabby project to keep my E30 iS company very soon, i wasn't looking to part with my E30 but i must admit if the E46 i was offered was as good as the guy's description then there's a good chance i'd have swapped.. we do a bit of touring & the E46 would have been a more ideal car than either my E30 or Corsa SXi
ive since found an advert on gumtree for the E46.. same contact phone number as i have but a different sellers name?

Post Mon Nov 14, 2011 8:04 pm

The diff ripped off on my sisters 318 E46 BMW said due to age they would not fix for free got scrapped in the end.

IMO the build quality on the E46 is not anywhere near as good as an E36 and miles apart from the build quality of the E30

Post Mon Nov 14, 2011 8:55 pm

pac1982 wrote:The diff ripped off on my sisters 318 E46 BMW said due to age they would not fix for free got scrapped in the end.

IMO the build quality on the E46 is not anywhere near as good as an E36 and miles apart from the build quality of the E30

E46 feels better built then the E36 to me. Albeit more things to go wrong.