E46 Oppopinions?

"With-a-G is back to not having anything written after his username" (with-a-g) 07/15/2015 at 11:35 • Filed to: None

0

13

I’m happy with my current car situation but I have an opportunity to get an E46 BMW 330i with 100k miles on it at a pretty decent price. (Before you ask: it’s an automatic.) What are the chances that this is a money pit, vs. a fun four door to bang around for a couple years? Anything particular I should look out for?

Ci@CI, the disciple of Bangle > With-a-G is back to not having anything written after his username 07/15/2015 at 11:44

1

As an owner of a 2002 330Ci... Fuck. It’s love man. The E46 is a car that you love. It’s fucking amazing and fucking awful in equal measure. She will push you to new places and make you do things on the road you never thought you would or could do, but she will also punish your wallet like a talented dominatrix. She will ruin how you perceive cars as well. Nothing is as good IMO as an E46, from design to fit and finish.

Schaefft > With-a-G is back to not having anything written after his username 07/15/2015 at 11:50

0

Things that will need to be dealt with apart from normal wear and tear items:

Automatic transmission

Vanos

Potentially rear subframe

Have fun doing research on these things! :)

Party-vi > With-a-G is back to not having anything written after his username 07/15/2015 at 11:52

0

What year is it?

You will need the water pump replaced (older plastic pumps had a tendency to get old and brittle and grenade), plugs replaced (easy but you need the correct brand), transmission flushed, probably a final stage resistor if your vent blows erratically, there are some other little things. I just clicked over 160,000 miles in my ‘02 330Ci and aside from some past due maintenance it’s been a reliable car.

Party-vi > Schaefft 07/15/2015 at 12:00

2

sedans didn’t have issues with rear subframes IIRC, and VANOS should fine at 100k miles. Then again, these are strange cars. Some never have issues while others are lousy with them.

With-a-G is back to not having anything written after his username > Party-vi 07/15/2015 at 12:04

0

It’s a 2004. Replacing the water pump on a Beemer is likely a $1500 job at a shop, right? That’s the kind of stuff I’m afraid of.

Schaefft > With-a-G is back to not having anything written after his username 07/15/2015 at 12:10

0

Replacing the waterpump yourself shouldn’t take longer than an hour and cost you nothing more than the part itself. If you wanna buy a car like that I would recommend to do some research first.

Schaefft > Party-vi 07/15/2015 at 12:15

1

Ehh, it’ll be worth having a very close eye on it anyway, if you believe what people say, the Vanos seals will fail at this mileage. I always thought the rear subframe only is an issue on the Coupes as well, I can remember reading that it might be an issue on the other body styles tho. No idea how frequent this would occur on a sedan, its still worth reading about it if you wanna buy an E46.

With-a-G is back to not having anything written after his username > Schaefft 07/15/2015 at 12:39

0

I’m happy to do maintenance myself, but I know sometimes these things are overly complicated. Even my Miata needed a full timing belt job just to get to the water pump because of the way it is packaged. I have (perhaps unfairly prejudicial) visions that a BMW engine will have many more interdependent parts like that.

Party-vi > With-a-G is back to not having anything written after his username 07/15/2015 at 12:48

0

2004? I’m not sure if that would have received the upgraded part or not. Replacing a water pump is around $600 - $800 if I recall correctly. Had mine done at a competent independent shop.

Smoggi - powered by 3 cylinders > Schaefft 07/15/2015 at 15:55

1

From what I know the subframe issues got fixed with the facelift. The Sedans got that in 01 so he’s fine with his 04 on that front.

66671 - 200 [METRIC] my dash > With-a-G is back to not having anything written after his username 07/15/2015 at 23:42

0

If I’ve learned anything from driving my dads its that probably the electronics are what’s gonna cost you, but as always, you’re probably better off researching at the E46 forums or something idk.

Timmeah > With-a-G is back to not having anything written after his username 07/16/2015 at 12:38

1

You can buy the pump for under $200. It takes less than an hour, basically you just take off the serpentine belt, take off the pulley (2-4 screws), then take off the pump (two or three bolts) then just replace.

E46s are fairly reliable when taken care of, and most things are actually quite easy to work on.

Trunk Impaired 318 > With-a-G is back to not having anything written after his username 10/01/2015 at 13:28

0

It shouldnt be anywhere near that expensive, I was lazy and just took my E46 to a shop and had all my pulleys and belts replaced along with the water pump, $600 for parts and labor. Its also a fairly easy job to do yourself and the water pump itself isnt that expensive