Talk to me about...the E46 330ci

[thatguy11]

I'm giving serious thought to getting an E46 330ci as my next car, as it seems to be a whole lot of car for the money you can pick them up for these days. Proper-sized engine, good power, very balanced chassis and all in a comfortable and pretty practical car.

I know the M54 unit is meant to be a fairly bombproof engine, but what else should I be looking out for? Do the well-documented E46 subframe cracking issues apply to all cars or just early models?

Many thanks