E46 330Ci M Sport
Discussion
Those of you following my other threads know I recently sold a CLK55 Cabriolet which is to be replaced by a CLK 63 Cabriolet. Whilst I take my time and look I've bought something cheap to fill the gap; enter a 2003 E46 330Ci M Sport. It's a 1 owner, 52k miles car with full BMW service history. It's really well equipped with:
- Harmon Kardon
- Heated Memory Seats
- Leather
- PDC
- Power fold mirrors
- Professional Nav
- Ski hatch/bag
- Sunroof
- SMG
- TV
- Tyre Pressure Monitoring
- Xenons
It's due a service so I have it booked in with BMW for an inspection II, which at £360 I think is reasonable given they replace the plugs, perform a full health check, and of course valet it. I must admit I haven't called around yet as I assume all dealers charge a similar price.
Impressions, well, it doesn't feel very quick to me. I must admit I was expecting more but it's near enough shed money so I can't really complain, and although now quite dated inside, I think the entire car is quite a classic design and the interior is still a decent place to sit. The ride is quite bouncy - does anyone know if the suspension, like the brakes and exhaust, is unique to this model? It doesn't really feel any different to the M3 in that respect. Handling is great of course and there's just enough power to make the rear end controllable via the pedal.
All in all they seem good value.
- Harmon Kardon
- Heated Memory Seats
- Leather
- PDC
- Power fold mirrors
- Professional Nav
- Ski hatch/bag
- Sunroof
- SMG
- TV
- Tyre Pressure Monitoring
- Xenons
It's due a service so I have it booked in with BMW for an inspection II, which at £360 I think is reasonable given they replace the plugs, perform a full health check, and of course valet it. I must admit I haven't called around yet as I assume all dealers charge a similar price.
Impressions, well, it doesn't feel very quick to me. I must admit I was expecting more but it's near enough shed money so I can't really complain, and although now quite dated inside, I think the entire car is quite a classic design and the interior is still a decent place to sit. The ride is quite bouncy - does anyone know if the suspension, like the brakes and exhaust, is unique to this model? It doesn't really feel any different to the M3 in that respect. Handling is great of course and there's just enough power to make the rear end controllable via the pedal.
All in all they seem good value.
Edited by mwstewart on Wednesday 5th December 21:37
Phew!
It looks like SSG to me too. The car looks mint. A piece of advice now that we are entering winter... concentrate the screen wash otherwise it freezes in the bumper jets and cracks the pipes with ease.
Oh and to answer your question... no the M3 has its own suspension/brakes setup.
The 330 is far cheaper for these types of parts compared to the M3, i think that's half the appeal of the 330, decent performance with the running costs of a normal 6 cylinder.
It looks like SSG to me too. The car looks mint. A piece of advice now that we are entering winter... concentrate the screen wash otherwise it freezes in the bumper jets and cracks the pipes with ease.
Oh and to answer your question... no the M3 has its own suspension/brakes setup.
The 330 is far cheaper for these types of parts compared to the M3, i think that's half the appeal of the 330, decent performance with the running costs of a normal 6 cylinder.
Edited by mini1380cc on Thursday 6th December 09:37
mini1380cc said:
Phew!
It looks like SSG to me too. The car looks mint. A piece of advice now that we are entering winter... concentrate the screen wash otherwise it freezes in the bumper jets and cracks the pipes with ease.
Oh and to answer your question... no the M3 has its own suspension/brakes setup.
The 330 is far cheaper for these types of parts compared to the M3, i think that's half the appeal of the 330, decent performance with the running costs of a normal 6 cylinder.
Thanks for the tip. I know the M3 suspension is unique, but I don't remember the suspension being this hard on the other M Sports I've owned.It looks like SSG to me too. The car looks mint. A piece of advice now that we are entering winter... concentrate the screen wash otherwise it freezes in the bumper jets and cracks the pipes with ease.
Oh and to answer your question... no the M3 has its own suspension/brakes setup.
The 330 is far cheaper for these types of parts compared to the M3, i think that's half the appeal of the 330, decent performance with the running costs of a normal 6 cylinder.
Edited by mini1380cc on Thursday 6th December 09:37
Mines is pretty crashy too compared to the e39 sport i had. I think the low profile tyres don't help at all.
Also if you haven't picked up on it already, it is normal for the M54 engine to use a little oil. I think the general rule is check the oil level every 1000 miles. I've only added 1 litre over the last 6000 miles, so some aren't so bad.
Also if you haven't picked up on it already, it is normal for the M54 engine to use a little oil. I think the general rule is check the oil level every 1000 miles. I've only added 1 litre over the last 6000 miles, so some aren't so bad.
Thanks all. I think if I was keeping the car for any length of time I'd probably the 17's, which are also a nice design as far as wheels go.
I'll keep an eye on the oil use. I had a 320 Sport years ago and that seemed OK, though obviously this is a larger capacity engine. I'm sure it's not as thirsty as the AMG motors
I will probably resist launch control - I managed to on the M3 I had as I think anymore than 2 or 3 attempts and the warranty was invalidated. Obviously not applicable to this car but I don't want anything to break 
I paid just over £4k. I suspect there's not much else there for this figure that hasn't done a lot of miles.
I'll keep an eye on the oil use. I had a 320 Sport years ago and that seemed OK, though obviously this is a larger capacity engine. I'm sure it's not as thirsty as the AMG motors
I will probably resist launch control - I managed to on the M3 I had as I think anymore than 2 or 3 attempts and the warranty was invalidated. Obviously not applicable to this car but I don't want anything to break I paid just over £4k. I suspect there's not much else there for this figure that hasn't done a lot of miles.
carter711 said:
I have to agree that I was expecting the E46 330ci sport to be quicker , it may be because the power delivery is so linear that it doesn't feel that fast, or the solidity of the build. Either way it irsnt make the car feel very exciting.
I think you hit the nail on the head there. It probably makes more sense in saloon 'SE' trim with an auto box.a lot of car for 4k, when you said shed money i thought you were talking under 2k
think we need to implement a rule anything under 2k is considered SHED MONEY
i mean even a pretty high spec shed in B&Q/Homebase isn't over 2k
anything over that and you'd get a nice summer house of pagoda
think we need to implement a rule anything under 2k is considered SHED MONEY
i mean even a pretty high spec shed in B&Q/Homebase isn't over 2k
anything over that and you'd get a nice summer house of pagoda
Looks an absolute treat. Lovely combination with the black and tan. What's with the SE steering wheel though??
OP; just be aware that we don't all have pockets deep enough to entertain AMG Mercs. A little awareness on that front wouldn't go a miss. Your idea of 'something cheap to fill a gap' and 'shed money' is wildy different to that of others.
Not to open a can of worms, but a bit of tact and sensitivity is lacking here. I made a similar mistake, or misjudgement a couple of Christmases ago when I had a Peugeot 106 for sale, at £890. A couple who's car had just died came to look at it, drove it, and seemingly liked it. Despite the age and value of the car, they didn't half scrutinize. 'It's just cheap motoring that'll see you through another 12 months' were my words, apparently, and rather ignorantly. Little did I know that this couple would not have had another £890 in the bank to put the 106 right should it go wrong, they were deeply offended by my words and later told me so on a voice message. 'Cheap motoring' this was not, it was a big deal to them.
Anyway, I digress. There's a moral to this one...
OP; just be aware that we don't all have pockets deep enough to entertain AMG Mercs. A little awareness on that front wouldn't go a miss. Your idea of 'something cheap to fill a gap' and 'shed money' is wildy different to that of others.
Not to open a can of worms, but a bit of tact and sensitivity is lacking here. I made a similar mistake, or misjudgement a couple of Christmases ago when I had a Peugeot 106 for sale, at £890. A couple who's car had just died came to look at it, drove it, and seemingly liked it. Despite the age and value of the car, they didn't half scrutinize. 'It's just cheap motoring that'll see you through another 12 months' were my words, apparently, and rather ignorantly. Little did I know that this couple would not have had another £890 in the bank to put the 106 right should it go wrong, they were deeply offended by my words and later told me so on a voice message. 'Cheap motoring' this was not, it was a big deal to them.
Anyway, I digress. There's a moral to this one...
OK, sure I take your point. I quantified the price purely in car terms, based on the fact that even the cheapest budget new car costs around double what I paid for this.
The SE steering wheel is because the non-M3 SMG paddles only ever came fitted to the standard wheel. It's such a rare option I guess it never made sense to create a modified sport wheel.
The SE steering wheel is because the non-M3 SMG paddles only ever came fitted to the standard wheel. It's such a rare option I guess it never made sense to create a modified sport wheel.
mini1380cc said:
How does the SMG compare to that in your previous M3?
The performance and characteristics are really identical. The only difference is that the M3 offered control over the shift speed where the this one just has regular or 'Sport' modes.Regular mode in the 330 is equal to 'S1' in the M3, and 'Sport' is 'S4'. The auto mode is really a token gesture and not particularly great.
Munter said:
Nice car. But who was it that went around specifying the dog sick colour interior on nice cars of this age. I can't stand it! (But if you can live with it great )
I'm looking to buy something similar but with rear doors and a nicer interior....
Personally I love the colour combination )I'm looking to buy something similar but with rear doors and a nicer interior....
I've had the usual black on black many times in the past and I've come to find it very uninteresting. Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff