E36 328 vs E46 330 at c. £1600
Discussion
I’ve finally whittled down my choice of car having discounted E39 540’s as too much of a gamble at this price bracket.
Annoyingly I need to move fast as my no claims window runs out in a few weeks (2 years since most recent policy expired).
There are examples of both the E36 and E46 at the £1400 - £1700 range which is what I’m looking to spend. Clearly I’m not going to get a minter at this price bracket.
I do not want to spend more than max £1700 really and would like opinions on which you’d go for at this price bracket?
If I were to go with the E46 I’d have to take which ever variant is available (more likely to be the 5 door sedan) but it must be manual, I want / need the involvement of changing gears and I won’t be doing much of a commute or any business miles etc.
If I were to choose the E36 there is much more variety, so it would probably me the coupe (as the convertible really doesn’t appeal).
I've found 1 E46 5 door advertsied that sounds mechanically sound (with bills to prove expensive suspenion work etc. carried out recently) but the advertiser saids there is a very small bubble of rust to the paintwork.
Whcih would you choose? Over to the PH massive :-)
Annoyingly I need to move fast as my no claims window runs out in a few weeks (2 years since most recent policy expired).
There are examples of both the E36 and E46 at the £1400 - £1700 range which is what I’m looking to spend. Clearly I’m not going to get a minter at this price bracket.
I do not want to spend more than max £1700 really and would like opinions on which you’d go for at this price bracket?
If I were to go with the E46 I’d have to take which ever variant is available (more likely to be the 5 door sedan) but it must be manual, I want / need the involvement of changing gears and I won’t be doing much of a commute or any business miles etc.
If I were to choose the E36 there is much more variety, so it would probably me the coupe (as the convertible really doesn’t appeal).
I've found 1 E46 5 door advertsied that sounds mechanically sound (with bills to prove expensive suspenion work etc. carried out recently) but the advertiser saids there is a very small bubble of rust to the paintwork.
Whcih would you choose? Over to the PH massive :-)
E36 coupe but i am biased, only got a 4 Cyl but i think its brilliant nothing major gone wrong and its at 130k. Best mate bought a E46 coupe and he likes that too also we had a E46 coupe and a touring in the family and they were really good with no real faults either.
In a direct comparison from when mine was standard I would say the E46 ride quality is slightly better but I much prefer the looks, handling and even the interior in my E36, it seems slightly better built.
Oh and £1600 would get you a good condition E36 while only a average E46 unless you were lucky.
In a direct comparison from when mine was standard I would say the E46 ride quality is slightly better but I much prefer the looks, handling and even the interior in my E36, it seems slightly better built.
Oh and £1600 would get you a good condition E36 while only a average E46 unless you were lucky.
blade7 said:
E36 328 with an inlet manifold upgrade is pretty much a match for a 330, at your budget I'd look for a good 328.
the e36 328 is faster, handles better and more fun than the e46 330 stock. with the 325 inlet manifold it is just miles better!iirc early e46s can have some issues. I've had both e36 and e46, and though the e46 looks a lot more execcy, the e36 was soo much fun to drive.
has to be the 36 all the way on this one in my opinion, more choice, car will be in better condition, as mentioned a 328i with mani and remap is a match for the 46, theyre lighter, more involving (personal opinion) and you will fade into the millions you see everyday with the 46. nice 36's are getting rarer and rarer especially in 328is spec, i think on the 328i sport pre 95 came with the lsd and after that open diff and T/C so a nice early car with low miles would be a bonus, im sure there will be a 36 owner with an extra long beard on here that can confirm right or wrong,
hth
Rotta
hth
Rotta
Efbe said:
blade7 said:
E36 328 with an inlet manifold upgrade is pretty much a match for a 330, at your budget I'd look for a good 328.
the e36 328 is faster, handles better and more fun than the e46 330 stock. with the 325 inlet manifold it is just miles better!, after I changed the manifold on mine it was a different car, pulled to 7k much easier 
.Efbe said:
iirc early e46s can have some issues. I've had both e36 and e46, and though the e46 looks a lot more execcy, the e36 was soo much fun to drive.
Subframe issues on the early ones iirc.rotta said:
has to be the 36 all the way on this one in my opinion, more choice, car will be in better condition, as mentioned a 328i with mani and remap is a match for the 46, theyre lighter, more involving (personal opinion) and you will fade into the millions you see everyday with the 46. nice 36's are getting rarer and rarer especially in 328is spec, i think on the 328i sport pre 95 came with the lsd and after that open diff and T/C so a nice early car with low miles would be a bonus, im sure there will be a 36 owner with an extra long beard on here that can confirm right or wrong,
Yep, early Sports came with LSD which was later replaced with the ASC+T on facelift models (post 96 iirc). Pretty darn rare to find one.FWIW, Sports are very nice regardless, lovely BBS cross spokes, special Bilstein (yellow) dampers, M-tech kit, dark headlining etc. Really nice looking cars (I prefer my coupes sans rear spoiler).
I would also say, don't overlook the touring. Just as fast as the other models, really quite practical and often unbarried so finding an unmolested example might be easier.
Mine (and it was quite a bit less than 1.6k)
Jakestar said:
I’ve finally whittled down my choice of car having discounted E39 540’s as too much of a gamble at this price bracket.
Annoyingly I need to move fast as my no claims window runs out in a few weeks (2 years since most recent policy expired).
There are examples of both the E36 and E46 at the £1400 - £1700 range which is what I’m looking to spend. Clearly I’m not going to get a minter at this price bracket.
I do not want to spend more than max £1700 really and would like opinions on which you’d go for at this price bracket?
If I were to go with the E46 I’d have to take which ever variant is available (more likely to be the 5 door sedan) but it must be manual, I want / need the involvement of changing gears and I won’t be doing much of a commute or any business miles etc.
If I were to choose the E36 there is much more variety, so it would probably me the coupe (as the convertible really doesn’t appeal).
I've found 1 E46 5 door advertsied that sounds mechanically sound (with bills to prove expensive suspenion work etc. carried out recently) but the advertiser saids there is a very small bubble of rust to the paintwork.
Whcih would you choose? Over to the PH massive :-)
Go on condition, model doesn't really matter that much. Although an early 330 isn't going to be significantly quicker than a 328 and you can mod the 328 to similar HP easily. The e36 is probably the more "fun" car to drive and arguably early e46 328's steer better than the 330's do.Annoyingly I need to move fast as my no claims window runs out in a few weeks (2 years since most recent policy expired).
There are examples of both the E36 and E46 at the £1400 - £1700 range which is what I’m looking to spend. Clearly I’m not going to get a minter at this price bracket.
I do not want to spend more than max £1700 really and would like opinions on which you’d go for at this price bracket?
If I were to go with the E46 I’d have to take which ever variant is available (more likely to be the 5 door sedan) but it must be manual, I want / need the involvement of changing gears and I won’t be doing much of a commute or any business miles etc.
If I were to choose the E36 there is much more variety, so it would probably me the coupe (as the convertible really doesn’t appeal).
I've found 1 E46 5 door advertsied that sounds mechanically sound (with bills to prove expensive suspenion work etc. carried out recently) but the advertiser saids there is a very small bubble of rust to the paintwork.
Whcih would you choose? Over to the PH massive :-)
With this limited budget the best value E46 330/328 will be something with mega mileage and FSH that puts other buyers off - but dont be put off by 150k + miles on these cars, they are more than capable and with a genuine full service history from BMW will drive the same as an average mile example. I dont see how else you could get a 330 for this price unless its a nail.
Rust is the enemy at this price of 3 series so check front and rear arches, rear boot lid, top of windscreen and make sure you do a VOSA mot history check (you'l need the V5 serial number) as these 3 series are ripe for clocking as they take big mileages so easily.
Rust is the enemy at this price of 3 series so check front and rear arches, rear boot lid, top of windscreen and make sure you do a VOSA mot history check (you'l need the V5 serial number) as these 3 series are ripe for clocking as they take big mileages so easily.
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