Well I have finally bought a new car - a gorgeous 1998 BMW E46 328i SE! It has 110k, full service history, purchased from a man who had owned it since 2001, long tax and MOT, 5 speed manual gearbox, full leather sports seats, cd changer, sat nav (from 1998), and god knows how many other things!

A couple of small bubbles appearing round the arches but they have been sealed and hopefully won't get any worse.

I love it! So nice to drive both on the motorway and on a twisty B road, really comfortable, very good on fuel (easy do 40+ mpg if you are being sensible) and pulls incredibly well

Anyway, enough from me. Here are some photos








And one of it with my old ST24:



All comments / opinions welcome - it is nice to hear your feedback. My only plans for this car are a nice set of MV1 alloys for the summer (will put winters on the current alloys) and possibly a newer sports steering wheel.

Thanks! These roads are really good - that is just coming out of Lochinver and heading towards Ullapool

Pictures 2, 3, 4, and 5 were taken this morning using my phone with no editing at all. Amazing the difference a wash, polish, and wax makes!

Looks good but needs some genuine BMW mats

That bumper looks good - I will keep my eyes open and see if I can find one

No idea what colour it is unfortunately, will try and find out.

Genuine BMW floor mats... I like the sound of that! Hopefully not too expensive

I don't think they are that pricey actually and if the ones in my car are original (10+ years old) then they are mint so you could get some used ones.

Car looks really nice, I'd be tempted to update the lights to clear all round and possibly change the steering wheel.

Very nice.

Thats a very early E46, my E36 is 1999 on a T plate.

Thanks guys

RWD is great fun, not been too silly with it yet as I am still getting used to it, but it does handle beautifully.

Apparently that is a private plate, but it is a very early 1998 model. Not fussed about the plate though!

What is the best way to look after the leather? The ST24 had half "leather" seats but they were worn anyway so I didn't bother doing anything to them. Want to keep this nice though

I Vote for Gliptonne products

Thanks

Yes it is a bit different to what other students drive, although I would much prefer this to a brand new MINI or 116i etc.

Will look into these products, thanks! Tempted by the AutoGlym stuff too, purely because there is a shop up here that sells their stuff very cheaply.

+1 on Gliptone for leather. I use the cleaner and conditioner. Lovely 'leathery' smell too!