by "JeepJeremy" (jeepjeremy)
Published 02/07/2017 at 10:13
by "JeepJeremy" (jeepjeremy)
Published 02/07/2017 at 10:13
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STARS: 0
Fellow opponauts, while parusing Craigslist I found a car. I’m interested in this car. What do you wonderful people think?
!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!
Isn’t the price too low? Does anyone think this this is a bad idea?
"AMGtech - now with more recalls!" (amgtech)
02/07/2017 at 10:21, STARS: 1
Price seems good to me. I have a suspicion the condition isn’t quite as nice as the listing suggests. But it’s at least worth a look. E46's are generally very good cars.
"EL_ULY" (uly)
02/07/2017 at 10:22, STARS: 3
TEST DRIVE!!!
Listen and feel closly for typical BMW suspension wear
Spend a good amount of time in the engine bay. Make the seller nervous and maybe they’ll share some info not in the ad. Check for any recent repair work (newish gaskets, silicone, parts that may have junk yard labels/writing on them). Check fluids. Listen for any sounds that may be off. Check belts. Check any visible mounts.
Pull the oil cap and check for evidence of sludge. The last 3 bimmer’s I’ve looked at for friends were ex sludge cars.
Besides that, nice clean (physically) car!
"E92M3" (E46M3)
02/07/2017 at 10:22, STARS: 1
Has to be a scam. Price is too low.
"facw" (facw)
02/07/2017 at 10:23, STARS: 2
I don’t think the price is suspiciously low, especially considering all that rust. If it doesn’t bug you it could be a nice machine, though E46s are not cheap to maintain from what I’ve seen.
"jimz" (jimz)
02/07/2017 at 10:23, STARS: 2
for what it’s worth, it’s above blue book.
"Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif" (lumpy44)
02/07/2017 at 10:24, STARS: 2
Do what ULY said, also check that rust area on on the back hatch.
"Ash78, voting early and often" (ash78)
02/07/2017 at 10:25, STARS: 1
IMO, KBB is only useful back to about the 10-year mark. After that, there’s so much variety in the quality of older cars, it’s more case-by-case.
"Ash78, voting early and often" (ash78)
02/07/2017 at 10:25, STARS: 4
Definitely a case for spending $100-$150 to have a Bimmer shop do a pre-purchase inspection.
"facw" (facw)
02/07/2017 at 10:28, STARS: 1
Also looks like it has a bit of cancer on the passenger rear quarter-panel, at the edge below and behind the fuel door.
"JeepJeremy" (jeepjeremy)
02/07/2017 at 10:28, STARS: 1
Thank you, Uly! This is the kind of expert response I needed!
"JeepJeremy" (jeepjeremy)
02/07/2017 at 10:29, STARS: 1
They do that? That’s very interesting. I’ll have to look into that. Thank you.
"Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif" (lumpy44)
02/07/2017 at 10:30, STARS: 1
And also parking way to close to the fire hydrant!
"JeepJeremy" (jeepjeremy)
02/07/2017 at 10:31, STARS: 0
That’s my initial thought, as well. Regardless of blue book value: you just don’t see this type of car in this type of condition in my area.
"Party-vi" (party-vi)
02/07/2017 at 10:31, STARS: 1
I’ve never seen that head unit in a non-M3 E46. Check on engine maintenance. It should have had the water pump done recently, as well as plugs and cooling system in the last 40,000 miles or more recently.
"JeepJeremy" (jeepjeremy)
02/07/2017 at 10:33, STARS: 0
Typical ass hat bimmer park job!!!
"facw" (facw)
02/07/2017 at 10:34, STARS: 2
Though not so close for firefighters to play their favorite game:
"functionoverfashion" (functionoverfashion)
02/07/2017 at 10:35, STARS: 3
If they’ve kept up with maintenance, this could be a nice car for the money, obvious rust spots aside. As others have mentioned, a test drive and an independent shop (or dealer) inspection is KEY.
I’ve had two of this exact car (back to back) over the past 7 years, and still have the second one. I got the first one just as a bunch of stuff started to wear out, and the second one just AFTER someone had done all that stuff.
Everything you’d want to know about the E46 is right here:
http://www.bimmerfest.com/wiki/index.php/BMW_E46
I enjoy this car thoroughly, it’s been my DD since August of 2009 (counting the first one I had).
I will also say, I really didn’t do a lot of my own work prior to owning my 2001 325xi wagon; I learned on that car. So it truly is DIY friendly, believe me. Get a Bentley manual and get wrenching.
Feel free to ask my any other questions you might have; there are certainly some E46 folks here who know a lot also. It’s just funny that this is my exact car minus the color.
"E92M3" (E46M3)
02/07/2017 at 10:36, STARS: 1
It’s the old “price it so low someone will send the money without seeing the actual car” scam. Go ahead and try to set an appointment to see it, and I bet a $100 the seller is “overseas” for work.
"Needmoargarage" (needmoargarage)
02/07/2017 at 10:37, STARS: 1
Doesn’t appear to be a blatant scam to me. Likely needs something somewhat expensive and the seller doesn’t seem the type to have maintained it properly. Looks like a good price for the mileage but even if there isn’t an obvious problem immediately, you will spend quite a bit of money getting the car reliable and maintaining it. Almost better to pay 5k or so for a meticulously maintained one with documentation. Triple check it’s actually titled in his name, as for receipts, as about common issues and gauge his responses.
All that being said, this is exactly the type of Craigslist purchase I frequently make.
"facw" (facw)
02/07/2017 at 10:39, STARS: 1
Yep, if you’re serious totally worth it to make sure you aren’t getting something that would need expensive repairs. If the owner doesn’t want to let you, it’s a good sign to walk away (if they aren’t comfortable giving you the car to take to the inspection, you can see if they will drop it off/pick it up at the shop).
"functionoverfashion" (functionoverfashion)
02/07/2017 at 10:39, STARS: 1
That head unit is interesting. It could be a nice aftermarket thing which someone spent $1000 on, or it could be kind of hacked. I looked into doing that for my car and decided it was too expensive to do right. So I’d definitely want to know more about that.
"JeepJeremy" (jeepjeremy)
02/07/2017 at 10:39, STARS: 0
That was excellent info. Thank you!
"JeepJeremy" (jeepjeremy)
02/07/2017 at 10:39, STARS: 0
That was excellent info. Thank you!
"JeepJeremy" (jeepjeremy)
02/07/2017 at 10:40, STARS: 0
Great calls!
"functionoverfashion" (functionoverfashion)
02/07/2017 at 10:45, STARS: 1
No problem! You’ll note that everyone will start yelling about the cooling system, even in the WIKI! So that’s an obvious weak point BUT the good news is it’s easy DIY and all the parts for a complete overhaul are only about $300? That’s assuming it hadn’t been touched for a long time.
"LeadfootYT" (leadfootyt)
02/07/2017 at 10:46, STARS: 1
That’s a solid buy at that price for those miles, AS LONG AS:
—CCV replaced
—VCG replaced
—Oil filter housing gasket replaced (not oil filter gasket, oil filter housing)
—Cooling system replaced within 40k miles
—Clutch is solid (probably original, they usually last 150k)
—No significant rust
And then expect to re-do the suspension.
"JeepJeremy" (jeepjeremy)
02/07/2017 at 10:47, STARS: 0
I like where your head is at on this. The car is also located in a not so nice part of Ohio, too.
"66671 - 200 [METRIC] my dash" (66671)
02/07/2017 at 10:51, STARS: 1
I mean I like the car but especially with a BMW I would get a pre purchase inspection regardless of the price.
I drove my dad’s old 323ci e46 (which had a 2.5L) manual (rwd) and it was fantastic, I loved that car to death. The electronics are quite finicky on these things, like sensors and errors codes and whatnot and be prepared to pay more when the time comes to fix something, which may be a bit more often than you hope lol.
Other than that the internet and forums should provide you with specific things to look out for. Good luck, I think you’d love it!
"jimz" (jimz)
02/07/2017 at 10:54, STARS: 0
quite true.
"Torq5teer" (torq5teer)
02/07/2017 at 11:08, STARS: 1
Test drive it from a cold start. Have the hood up and windows down on initial start-up. Listen for whistling from the secondary air pump and air oil separator. Listen for excessive valve noise. Test drive for a full drive cycle so any CEL will pop. Poor acceleration/low end torque could be bad VANOS. WINDOW REGULATORS, test all the windows up and down - if they are moving slowly or crooked, they are about to fail. Ask when (not if) the water pump was replaced. While driving listen for clunks over bumps. The big issue is rear subframe failure. Suspension bushings, shocks, and those items are replaceable, subframe failure is bad. It is a manual, so get up to about 25/30 mph, put it in 5th gear and try to accelerate. If it slips, you need a new clutch, transmission is otherwise generally bulletproof.
"Aaron M - MasoFiST" (amarks563)
02/07/2017 at 11:09, STARS: 1
Just to throw another bone out, $2500 for a non-330, non-M E46 seems perfectly reasonable. Since there’s rust on the rear tailgate make sure that you get a PPI and more specifically get the rear subframe checked out...those could fail even before corrosion comes into play. If it’s failing, you just added a pretty significant amount to the price.
Also, I’m pretty amused that a 16-year old, 140,000 mile wagon “drives like new needs nothing extra clean”.
"JeepJeremy" (jeepjeremy)
02/07/2017 at 11:14, STARS: 0
Strong insight! Thank you!
"JeepJeremy" (jeepjeremy)
02/07/2017 at 11:15, STARS: 0
It’s all sorts of suspicious
"Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif" (lumpy44)
02/07/2017 at 11:18, STARS: 0
The irony that both examples are BMW’s too.
"facw" (facw)
02/07/2017 at 11:25, STARS: 0
Not so much irony, as the fact I specifically selected BMW images (I assume it’s more satisfying for firefighters to do it to a BMW).
"Steve in Manhattan" (blogenfreude01)
02/07/2017 at 11:42, STARS: 0
It’s a 16 year old German car ...
"StudyStudyStudy" (jesterjin)
02/07/2017 at 14:37, STARS: 1
I really wanted one of these for my next car, manual, awd (no diffs though so kind of but not really).
Price looks fairly reasonable. Almost too reasonable though. Definitely a PPI and a thurough inspection, but I would jump on it if it passes. The 3 major hurdles being vanos work, transmission work, rear subframe mount failure.
"Torq5teer" (torq5teer)
02/08/2017 at 09:42, STARS: 0
No problem, just wish I didn’t have so much first hand knowledge.