High Milage BMW E46 330i - Risk?

[siovey]

crofty1984 said:

siovey said:

crofty1984 said:

I have an E46 estate (2 litre 318).

You have my commiserations.

You're telling me! Getting it up for sale on Sunday (after I've used it to pick up a fridge!). Picking up a nice wee Mazda 2 in very green on Saturday. ??

Apologies, i'd had a few beers at this point last night. I guess you're aware of the issues these have. A work colleague of mine had one and said it was the worst pos he'd ever had. Constantly breaking down, completely unreliable engine etc. My FIL said pretty much the same on a car he owned from new.I've had a couple of e46's and was looking for another 330 until recently but couldnt find one in the spec i wanted for love nor money. I wouldnt touch anything less than a 325 but then i'd always regret not getting the 330 instead! Good luck with the new car.
Cheers

[KingOfTheRodeo]

Thanks

Going to look at the car on Sunday. Hopefully it's fine. Then once there looking need to try and convert the wife to the need for a new car.

So 130k miles on a car like this ok then?
The car has no service history. But they have said they will service it before they sell it?

Is that car worth it for 3k?

[UK345]

Just had a look at your link and the price seems competitive. Its a good colour and has a few options although the satnav will be massively out of date now. One thing to consider, the alloy wheels that the car has are the 18 inch m sport ones which are prone to corrison and cracking. I broke one of these down for spares a few years back and they are very well put together. As with all cars of this age, give the front wheels and a shake to try and feel for worn out components. Rust is a biggy on these so check it over well. No service history at that age is acceptable.

[KingOfTheRodeo]

UK345 said:

Just had a look at your link and the price seems competitive. Its a good colour and has a few options although the satnav will be massively out of date now. One thing to consider, the alloy wheels that the car has are the 18 inch m sport ones which are prone to corrison and cracking. I broke one of these down for spares a few years back and they are very well put together. As with all cars of this age, give the front wheels and a shake to try and feel for worn out components. Rust is a biggy on these so check it over well. No service history at that age is acceptable.

Ah great. Thanks for reply... posted on a e46 facebook group. They werent very recpetive. Said it was over priced. Especially as no service history.

Rust will be checked... which areas are prone to rust?

Sat nav wise i would probably look at getting it replaced with an android type system. Do they fo aftermarket ones with sat nav? Would it work in the e46? Do you need a certain gadget to get sat nav working?

[stevesuk]

KingOfTheRodeo said:

Rust will be checked... which areas are prone to rust?

Wings (they rust from the inside out, so if there are a few bubbles in the paintwork on the top edge, its probably a crusty mess underneath already). Leading edge of the sills, the thin strip of metal that runs between the bumper and the bootlid. The bootlid itself, and the underside of the bonnet. That's just what I chased on mine, or heard other people mention. Oh, and see if you can get a look at the rear brake pipes (might be hard to see with the wheels on). Someone had bodged the rear brake pipes on mine, by cutting off the last rusty few inches, and fitting a joint. My mechanic reckoned that wasn't the right way to do it - the trouble is, the correct method involves dropping the fuel tank!

KingOfTheRodeo said:

Sat nav wise i would probably look at getting it replaced with an android type system. Do they fo aftermarket ones with sat nav? Would it work in the e46? Do you need a certain gadget to get sat nav working?

You can get Android headunits (with nav, radio, iPod connectivity etc.) for about £400 on eBay, that are designed as a plug and play replacement for the factory nav.

[KingOfTheRodeo]

well I went to view the car today...how could i describe it in one word? Dog? Unloved?

from a far car looked fine, then as I got closer could see the front fog light driver side had been smashed in. the alloys were ruined, kerbed to pieces! the front bumper had a huge gap where it should connect to the top part of the car. Rear was dented as anything.

Similarly there was a E60 estate there m sport... equally unloved... the mesh in the 'mouth' part of the m sport kit had a couple of panels missing and the drivers side wing mirror surround was a mess...covered in white substance...looked like bird crap but wasn't.

very disappointed

[bga]

KingOfTheRodeo said:

Ah great. Thanks for reply... posted on a e46 facebook group. They werent very recpetive. Said it was over priced. Especially as no service history.

Marque-specific groups tend to think that everything for sale is overpriced. That is unless it's one of their own which tend to be genuinely massively overpriced but that's OK as it's a "forum car".

Check front and rear arches for rust. I saw a couple with dodgy boot lids (on the touring).

[KingOfTheRodeo]

Like i said, the car was a dog, havent looked in detail at the boot openings. The exterior was awful condition. Such a shame as it looked ok in the pictures.

As for the specfic marque groups, definitley see that. Especially when they are selling their cars!!

Could i say sometimes the groups are a bit too chavvy? Haha

[KingOfTheRodeo]

Like i said, the car was a dog, havent looked in detail at the boot openings. The exterior was awful condition. Such a shame as it looked ok in the pictures.

As for the specfic marque groups, definitley see that. Especially when they are selling their cars!!

Could i say sometimes the facebook group members are a bit too chavvy? Haha