E46 1.8 touring

[StefanAnghel]

Hello guys,
I'm looking to buy one of them as a family horse,
Anyone knows anything about them?
Thank you

[capri_rob]

IIRC the earlier ones are better - later ones with the "valvetronic" engines ( N44 ? ) have all sorts of issues and are not DIY friendly.

The earlier ones are apparently prone to the odd headgasket failure when they're getting on a bit but not much else - good cars.

Andyboy, Pacerpete or Barry BSS are the ones to ask

[Brian28]

I've had one for about four years, pretty decent really, mid 30s mpg easily, can get closer to 40 if you drive like a saint. Space rocket miles (180k plus), all the toys and no issues except leaks oil like a sieve. I had one of the earlier engines before in an E46 saloon, nicer drive imo but not many tourings made with them (the pre-facelift ones with the rectangular rather than round lights in the front bumper). They will likely get a lot cheaper over the next few months as they are now two models old.

[darkchild]

The early M43 powered cars is the one to go for if you're after a cheap to run daily. Their only real weakness is the occasional head gasket. They go OK and will return 35mpg.

The M43 was replaced in 2001 by the N42 valvetronic. It gets a bit of a hard press but with 143bhp they go quite well. Problems are numerous though and they're not very DIY friendly. The timing chain tensioner is a weak spot, they leak oil all over the place and failed sensors are common. I ran one for 2.5 years but finally moved it on last year as I got fed up fixing most of the above as well as rusty front wings, broken door handles, knackered air-con.

A decent valvetronic is a nice car and mine used to return 42-44mpg on a run. Weird sounding engine though, particularly at idle.

[StefanAnghel]

I'm looking at a x plate (2000) one... 120k miles and new mot... Should last me until next winter