The BMW E46 saloon is classier than the coupe. Discuss.
You'll never get a definitive answer because this kind of thing, along with colour, is always a matter of opinion. Shed is very much a coupe man. The more radical the coupe the better, in fact, as it means he doesn't have to take his mother-in-law down to the food bank every week, what with her not being able to bend down or anything. She's better on the bus anyway, mixing with her own kind.
Colour/wheel/interior spec spot on
In the case of this week's 328i Shed, the saloon vs. coupe argument is greatly simplified by it not having a boot spoiler. This allows the beholder to, er, behold the full untrammelled purity of the 328i coupe lines as penned by Erik Goplen, still Global Creative Director Automotive at BMW Group Designworks USA and a man who knows a nice car when he sees one: he owns a '69 De Tomaso Mangusta.
Regarding the colour, since you brought it up, it's hard to be sure looking through the cobwebs on Shed's Amstrad screen, but this car looks like it's in Boston Green. Now, in today's multivarious, multiplicitous and indeed multilicious society, we must all be tolerant of each others' views, but if you hold the opinion that Fern or Laguna are better greens for a BMW, then (in Shed's opinion) you're a damn fool and a blithering idiot.
Green cars used to be seen as unlucky, on account of how (according to urban myth) they blended into the background of our green and pleasant land and thus always headed up the crash statistics. Green might still be unlucky for all Shed knows, but leaving that aside for the rest of time, just how unfortunate are you likely to be as the holder of the V5 of an E46 328 approaching its autumnal years?
And there's this lovely lump up front too
The pleasing answer should be: not massively. A cracking rear subframe problem affected around two in every hundred early E46s. That was rectified by BMW in post-'01 models. There was no official recall in the UK, but if it was going to happen on this one it would have happened already, and been fixed.
Mechanically, BMW's 2.8 straight six is as close to unburstable as an engine can get. Ten thousand drifters and club racers can't be wrong. This car is an auto, mind, so not the ideal choice for sporting madness. On the plus side though, that means no worries about misslotting third and fifth, an occasional mannerism of the manual. Drive it very gently and you could see 35mpg, maybe even (gasp) 40.
On the important matter of body rust, vendor says there is none on the wings. With E46s it's the arches and bonnets you need to watch, but again without actually spelling it out on his ad the seller gives us reasons to be cheerful. Window motors eventually burn out and brake lines corrode, but then which ones don't? Rattly suspension is again not E46 unique.
Absence of rust a bonus too
Pity there are no interior shots. We're not sure if the grey leather seats are sports jobbies: the tantalising glimpse we're afforded through the side window suggests they might be. Whatever they are, at 146K they're almost bound to have some bolster wear, but that's all part of the character innit. Rubber door strips can detach from their fabric backing - not exactly a deal-breaker. Working air-con is a real bonus. Shed hardly ever bothers to press the AC button on old cars any more as it's usually a complete waste of physical energy, and as Mrs Shed is always telling him, her harsh nocturnal demands are the number one priority.
The M-Tech wheels look spiffing in this application, all the more so because they're wearing minty-fresh rubber. White indicator lenses work well against that green paint too.
Really not much to do here but jump on a train to Gloucester, jump the first old geezer you see coming out of the local Post Office holding a freshly-stamped pension book, and then hop straight into the driver's seat to enjoy the rich, delicious flavour of six-pot E46.
Stunning 328ci auto coupe. 146k miles, 12 months MOT, full service history. Electric grey leather seats, arm rest, CD changer, ice cold air con, metallic paint, immaculate and rare BMW mtec 17" alloy wheels with 4 brand new tyres. Averages 32mpg, No expense spared, No rust on wings!! Bodywork overall very good condition, interior also lovely condition. Been in the family for 5 years. Only selling due to length of commute increasing and don't want to keep putting miles on it. Price reduced to 950 for quick sale!