E46 330 coupe wanted

E46 330 coupe wanted

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Mr Tidy

22,065 posts

126 months

Friday 17th April 2015
quotequote all
s m said:
Just as an aside, having owned saloon e46 330 and saloon e36 328, the e46 Compacts seem to be generally a lot less rusty. Performance wise a 325 Compact is not far off a coupe 330 down to gearing and weight differences
You are so right - Compacts seem to represent great VFM, although I know their looks are a bit Marmite!
I bought a 325 ti last year and foolishly let my nephew drive it, so then I had to look for a 325 for him!
I put an alert on AT and 02/03 Coupes were all nearly double the money of Compacts; you may get electric seats in Coupes, but some are "flat" SE spec with cloth - at least 325 Compacts all have Sport seats in at least 1/2 leather/alcantara and if nobody else will drive it you don't need memory seats.
Compacts don't seem to suffer the rusty arch problem all other E46's have - but why didn't they make a 330ti?
If mine suffers a serious failure I would love to create one of those (ideally with an N52 rather than an M54) - lovely!cloud9


s m

23,164 posts

202 months

Friday 17th April 2015
quotequote all
Mr Tidy said:
s m said:
Just as an aside, having owned saloon e46 330 and saloon e36 328, the e46 Compacts seem to be generally a lot less rusty. Performance wise a 325 Compact is not far off a coupe 330 down to gearing and weight differences
You are so right - Compacts seem to represent great VFM, although I know their looks are a bit Marmite!
I bought a 325 ti last year and foolishly let my nephew drive it, so then I had to look for a 325 for him!
I put an alert on AT and 02/03 Coupes were all nearly double the money of Compacts; you may get electric seats in Coupes, but some are "flat" SE spec with cloth - at least 325 Compacts all have Sport seats in at least 1/2 leather/alcantara and if nobody else will drive it you don't need memory seats.
Compacts don't seem to suffer the rusty arch problem all other E46's have - but why didn't they make a 330ti?
If mine suffers a serious failure I would love to create one of those (ideally with an N52 rather than an M54) - lovely!cloud9
They actually did make one - unfortunately it was faster than the 330 coupe.
There was going to be a sort of 'budget M-lite' car at one point ( hence a lot of the little chassis upgrades the Compact model either introduced to the E46 range or retained - quicker steering ratio, stiffer suspension/damping, shorter diff, thicker ARBs etc ) - it was its own little project at one time under a guy called Wolfgang Epple ( now at Jaguar )
Like many things it didn't happen

Mr Tidy

22,065 posts

126 months

Friday 17th April 2015
quotequote all
s m said:
They actually did make one - unfortunately it was faster than the 330 coupe.
There was going to be a sort of 'budget M-lite' car at one point ( hence a lot of the little chassis upgrades the Compact model either introduced to the E46 range or retained - quicker steering ratio, stiffer suspension/damping, shorter diff, thicker ARBs etc ) - it was its own little project at one time under a guy called Wolfgang Epple ( now at Jaguar )
Like many things it didn't happen
Well you have hit the nail on the head there - if they did make one I don't have it!
And it would obviously be quicker than the 330 Coupe, which is the whole point surely!
All the other "Compact only" options (like no need for the golf-tee mod) suggest a seriously potent Compact was on the radar (bit like the 135iM) but sadly never happened!
So PHers surely need to do what BMW didn't - I believe it was Hartge who put an M3 engine in a Compact! That would be rare/expensive/wonderful!
Mind you if budget was no issue I might go for Hartge's 5 litre V8 1 Series, but I doubt they sold (m)any!laugh

philmots

4,630 posts

259 months

Saturday 18th April 2015
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Looks like you want the world without the words budget..

Cars under 3.5k will be scrimped on, tatty here and there.. A desirable tidy car that's been looked after will always fetch a premium.

Someone will always pay low money for a tatty one and someone will always pay top money for a good one.

Getting a good one for tatty money will probably be a case of good luck, good timing, not too savvy seller or all the above.

AM7

268 posts

128 months

Sunday 19th April 2015
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E46 prices do confuse me rather a lot..

I'll be selling my 2001 325Ci Sport during the summer, its on 101k with genuine full history (14 stamps, last 8 or so MOTs and receipts/invoices), no rust whatsoever, a decent spec (e.g. electric leathers, xenons, sunblind) and slight bit of wear and tear as you'd expect on a car of this age. I was going to put it up for around £3k in the hope of accepting £2.8k-£2.9k?

This is in no way an advertisement as the car isn't even getting sold yet, but some of the examples in here are rather more pricey for very similar vehicles?

LanceRS

Original Poster:

2,171 posts

136 months

Friday 1st May 2015
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Quick update, it seems that the world is full of people who cannot be honest when asked a direct question over the phone before I get in the car and travel.
If a car does not look showroom fresh, that's fine, just be honest. Stop advertising the car as something it's not and pricing accordingly.

Matt_N

8,900 posts

201 months

Friday 1st May 2015
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Would you consider a saloon?

I'm looking to sell my Topaz blue manual 330i Sport facelift.

ftypical

457 posts

117 months

Friday 1st May 2015
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LanceRS said:
Quick update, it seems that the world is full of people who cannot be honest when asked a direct question over the phone before I get in the car and travel.
If a car does not look showroom fresh, that's fine, just be honest. Stop advertising the car as something it's not and pricing accordingly.
Well, I would if it weren't for the reason for buying it still being valid.

Although, if you have an E92 to swap...

sleithykeithy

170 posts

194 months

Friday 1st May 2015
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I can feel your frustration with dishonest sellers, however I'd just like to balance things out by saying what honest people there are out there too.

Bought myself a Grey 2005 330cd manual 3 weeks ago via a private sale, and paid £5k for it.

The advert sounded great, and perhaps too good to be true, but he answered every question I had and it did fill me with confidence, so I decided to go and have a look. What an immaculate car stood in front of me. Rear seats have never been sat in, still look like new, as does the passenger seat. Drivers side is ever so slightly worn, but doesn't seem like 88k's worth of miles. Huge stack of old receipts including the original bill of sale. Refurbished wheels with Michelin tyres all round. It's clearly been pampered all its life.

There are great cars out there, and I know I am extremely lucky (I'm normally the one that misses out!) however they are getting harder to find.

Now the aircon is broke. Don't you just love cars!

LanceRS

Original Poster:

2,171 posts

136 months

Sunday 17th May 2015
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Today is a good day. Just out a deposit down on this. Picking it up on Tuesday.

jshond59

16 posts

107 months

Sunday 17th May 2015
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Very nice! Jealous!!

ZX10R NIN

27,494 posts

124 months

Sunday 17th May 2015
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Well done I'm glad you found the car you wanted.

StuntmanMike

11,671 posts

150 months

Sunday 17th May 2015
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That looks very nice.thumbup

wjb

5,100 posts

130 months

Monday 18th May 2015
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That CS looks special OP, I saw the add on Auto Trader, a lot of car for the money. I might be dipping into the 330ci market to replace my 320td. I've had a 325i sport saloon but not a 330.

I do fancy a CS, but what exactly is the correct premium to pay for a CS over a similar spec/condition 330ci?

LanceRS

Original Poster:

2,171 posts

136 months

Monday 18th May 2015
quotequote all
wjb said:
That CS looks special OP, I saw the add on Auto Trader, a lot of car for the money. I might be dipping into the 330ci market to replace my 320td. I've had a 325i sport saloon but not a 330.

I do fancy a CS, but what exactly is the correct premium to pay for a CS over a similar spec/condition 330ci?
Thank you, I hope to enjoy it for many years to come. My only real plans for it other than that are to replace the black kidney grills and fit the centre arm rest.

As far as a price premium goes, it's difficult to say. I only viewed one that was any cheaper at £3000 and it was pretty much as good as this one. The others were 3.5k to 4k and were dogs. Conversely I viewed non clubsports in the same price range which were just as rough. I think it is a bit of a lottery really.

I went for this one because of it condition and just got lucky that it happens to be a Clubsport in the right colour.

ftypical

457 posts

117 months

Monday 18th May 2015
quotequote all
LanceRS said:
Today is a good day. Just out a deposit down on this. Picking it up on Tuesday.
He shoots - he scores ...

Now, wasn't that worth the wait? smile

LanceRS

Original Poster:

2,171 posts

136 months

Tuesday 19th May 2015
quotequote all
Hopefully so. I shall post some more pictures when I get it home.