E46 manual vs auto
Discussion
Got bored of my a3 s-tronic and thinking about selling it for an E46 330ci coupe.
Found a few I like but a bit stuck between choosing manaul vs steptronic.
I get along well with autos but find them a bit boring if they are not DCT.
But on the flipside I hate being stuck in traffic with a manual car.
Has anyone owned both?
I am looking at spending below £10k so if I spend £8k should get me a nice 2005 with around 40k miles. Or I could spend £5k and get a 2003 FL with 70k miles. Which would you buy?
Found a few I like but a bit stuck between choosing manaul vs steptronic.
I get along well with autos but find them a bit boring if they are not DCT.
But on the flipside I hate being stuck in traffic with a manual car.
Has anyone owned both?
I am looking at spending below £10k so if I spend £8k should get me a nice 2005 with around 40k miles. Or I could spend £5k and get a 2003 FL with 70k miles. Which would you buy?
AB said:
Owned a 330Ci Manual and extensively driven both 330Ci and 330Cd in auto.
Auto is lazy but works ok, not much fun in the petrol. Very well suited to the diesel IMO.
Manual for the petrol, it too can be used quite lazily with not much gear changing needed if you don't want to.
That is what puts me off manuals - experience with manual cars = mainly 2.0 tdi's, constant changing of gears, annoying quite quickly.Auto is lazy but works ok, not much fun in the petrol. Very well suited to the diesel IMO.
Manual for the petrol, it too can be used quite lazily with not much gear changing needed if you don't want to.
Putting 8k into an E46 (bar Alpina and M3) sounds like financial suicide to me.
I'd look at a 2003/4 facelift car with around 100k for around half that!
All mine were autos, suited both well, the diesels box is the GM which has a bit of a habit of breaking. The ZF in the petrols are much tougher.
Depends what you want from a car, I like to mooch about so the auto suited well but it was hard to sell.. I think at this price point people a lot want them to rag about in and modify so won't consider an auto.
I'd look at a 2003/4 facelift car with around 100k for around half that!
All mine were autos, suited both well, the diesels box is the GM which has a bit of a habit of breaking. The ZF in the petrols are much tougher.
Depends what you want from a car, I like to mooch about so the auto suited well but it was hard to sell.. I think at this price point people a lot want them to rag about in and modify so won't consider an auto.
Why financial suicide? Surely the higher the mileage and higher the age, the more likely the expensive parts will fail and that will actually lead to financial suicide?
Not that either matter to me as I have quite a high expendable income monthly, due to no credit and minimal outgoings.
Not that either matter to me as I have quite a high expendable income monthly, due to no credit and minimal outgoings.
What do you guys think of this? Only 25 miles from me http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2014...
Is it quite high spec wise?
Is it quite high spec wise?
twoblacklines said:
That is what puts me off manuals - experience with manual cars = mainly 2.0 tdi's, constant changing of gears, annoying quite quickly.
Not with the 2.5/3.0 you wont they are quite happy to burble along without constant gear swapping IMO 
I have an auto but would of purchased either in fact I like the auto it suits the car well and seeing as I have not owned an auto car for 15 years is a novelty that looks to last so it seems 
tty spec, 0 satnav let alone Pro media money. Early 335i SE with no spec.I have driven both and I found the manual to be ok, it's not slick infact far from it as is every BMW manual gear box. First to second is a lottery getting it to be smooth you have to really baby the clutch release. It takes some getting used to and you'll either end up loving or hating it.
The e46 is a lovely car but suspension and tramlining is very annoying it needs bushes replacing every 30k. Reverse in the manual can become very stiff when you first start. Gear changes are a lottery, the auto fixes this but does make it somewhat boring.
I would personally go for a e90 330i...
The e46 is a lovely car but suspension and tramlining is very annoying it needs bushes replacing every 30k. Reverse in the manual can become very stiff when you first start. Gear changes are a lottery, the auto fixes this but does make it somewhat boring.
I would personally go for a e90 330i...
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