E46 faults, where to look ect.....

[330]

I'm going to look at a e46 330 touring later, can anybody give me a quick check list of things I should look for, or a link to a post, thanks

[Andyboy]

It's an E46 so everything can go tits up. They're not very robust and most are knackered shitters but you might find a good one.



Rust - everywhere from the roof down, mainly all four arches, screen pillars.
Shagged radiator and cooling system in general.
Make sure the central locking works on the button. Door locks love to fail.
Tailgate hinges seize and break.
Rear boot floor subframe mounting, drivers side. They crack and fail, major job to repair.
Make sure the ASC or DSC is working.
Bottom balljoints, broken springs.
Autoboxes are known to suddenly lose drive, broken clutch drum. manuals are good but can lose definition across the gate.
General tattiness to the interior, particularly the centre console where they sprayed on some prestige soft touch stuff that's all flaking off now.

They were nice when new but are now well known for eating a lot of money with seemingly never ending problems. They look best swinging from the end of a crane. A 330i Sport Touring is about the only one worth having.

[macas]

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/ ... z/usedcars

This is the one 330 and i are going to have a look at...does it look ok for the money?

[B7]

Andy. I've had a few now and they've all had cracks in the bootfloor. Even when the owners didn't think they did. But they've all been on the passengers side (left).

I'm stripping a 330 at the moment and it's a proper shit box. It has 6 of what you listed! 2001 Y 330ci Sport. Was a nice car once.

[ross_jsy]

Went with a friend to look at a 330i on Monday. It was together as far as I could tell, boot floor seemed ok, interior completely unworn, oil a healthy colour etc so he bought it on Tuesday. 24 hours in a warning light had appeared on the dash

Anyone shed any light? Friend said the manual said the light was a lower engine emissions deteced. Not had a look yet but ccv valve or whatever it's called?

[Gavla]

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/ ... z/usedcars

This is the one 330 and i are going to have a look at...does it look ok for the money?

Full service history is a good start...

Engine light on is not...

I bought one off a zoner a year ago to use as a work horse...paid a little too much considering...no service history but the zoner knows his cars so I felt confident. 3 months later the power steering failed £££, car over heats every now and then and the electrics are shot...but it gets the job done. For the money if it lasts me another year or 2 i'll be happy.

The way I see it is that if you get lucky for £950 you get a whole lot of car...if you get unlucky then you may have lost £950 or need to spend another £1k odd getting it right.

[e30topless]

I hate to slate any BMW but they are just vile horrid pieces of sh1t !

like Andy said they were great when new, I had a 2002 330 coupe in 2004 it was awesome.. most are now 10 years +old and ticking time bombs, just another Disposable car sadly

[bss325i]

Haterzzzz

They are NOT all bad!!

I did a pair of shocks on a T reg 328i auto saloon today with 200k miles.

No boot floor crack, no rust, drove ok and even more impressive it was still on its 16 year old original 99 stamped BMW battery!

[Brianmoooore]

Does the boot floor/subframe mount cracking thing affect tourings as well?

[Simon13]

it can do Brian but my Alpina touring boot floor is ok and out of Andy 46 doom list our car has some rust.

From what i've seen the tourings fair the best with this.

You'd think e46's were the worst cars in the world and no other BMW's had any problems in old age. They're bloody brilliant cars.

[bss325i]

The Mrs 330 touring is crack free.

A few bubbles on the OSR arch but that's it for rot.

[macas]

Well.....typical.......hes now decided he wants a four door 1.8....so on the way to look at this

http://www.gumtree.com/p/bmw/1990-bmw-e ... 1099797842

[Andyboy]

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/ ... z/usedcars

This is the one 330 and i are going to have a look at...does it look ok for the money?

For £995 it's not bad - it'll break to that so there's nothing to lose but all I see there is a litany of problems. Engine light can be a lot of things of these heaps - electronic throttle body, one of the lambda sensors (why have just one?) on the catalysts or could just be a wanked cam sensor. It's at the right age for the wonderful LF20 PAS pump that shears off, another E46 improvement.

[pianist]

waking up an old thread here but I am too looking to buy e46 325Ci Coupe because I think it looks very nice and just wondering if facelift is also affected by all these bad things?
Thanks