BMW e46 330Ci

[stugolf]

Well it was with a heavy heart I sold my BMW m235i, just didn’t make financial sense to me as I didn’t do enough fun mileage to justify owning it, was an epic and such a capable car though.



So what to replace it with? I wanted to go cheaper and keep costs down, I like the effortless power it offered, and nice drive, I think I am getting old.

So I found a rather nice BMW e46 330Ci Msport auto, in Topaz blue, the auto bit was not a preference but does make it an easy drive. Its full BMW/Indy maintained and no rusty arches front or back, which I can’t believe! They have been protected as well so the previous owner was conscience of this as well.

Few scratches here and there, needs a new motor in the sunroof and it has a rather garish BMW Individual yellow interior.

The cars had new tyres and refurbed wheels and options like electric sunroof, electric heated memory seats, parking sensors, digital aircon and Cruise control, not bad for 2001.

I actually love the car, it drives so well, I mean really well very much like the m235i without the extra performance, there can’t be many left with such low mileage as well.

Future plans are limited, fix the sunroof, paint the callipers silver and replace a slightly leaking rear light, can’t say the car will be a future classic but for the money it’s a lot of car.

[stugolf]

Thanks guys

Topaz is definitely the fastest colour, very much impressed with the drive of the car, especially for the money, fuel economy is slightly worse than the m235 even without a turbo but that's technology advancements for you!

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Mr Tidy said:

I gave up looking for clean E46s last year and ended up with an E91 325i - but never really gelled with it for some reason.

Picked up and E90 330i last week - I'm a convert to N/A straight 6 petrols!

But the Coupe in Topaz Blue looks great!

This one came as a bit of surprise to me, I didn't actually have to go looking for it but it wasn't for sale so I have to twist the guys arm a bit to sell it

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C70R said:

I've had two with almost identical spec (mine had the HK audio upgrade), and I don't think there's a better all-rounder in the £2-2.5k neck of the woods. It's an absolute jack-of-all trades. Headroom aside (my Mini Cooper has about 5x as much!), the ergonomics were absolutely perfect for me too.

I had mine 4-up with luggage, cruising comfortably at 80-85 on the motorway for hours on end. And I also had it chasing down a well-driven MX5 on the North Coast 500. There are definitely many better cars to do either of those in for the money, but not much can do both so well in my view. People might decry the auto, but I don't think the manual box in these is especially good, and the auto makes for a much more relaxing drive (mine were both London cars).
I also think it's a very well-resolved design on the outside (I would say that - I've bought two!), and still just about keeps its head above the 'council estate' water.

My only gripes were:
- The 18" Sport wheels are too big (crashy ride) and the rear tyres are much too wide (understeer) for it to be truly great.
- Rust. They will all succumb to it eventually.
- Age. The oldest are now approaching 20yrs, and they haven't all been cared for. Yours looks like a good example though.

Couple of little things I'd consider in your shoes:
- Adding an aux input to the stereo is as easy as £10 and 15min work
- Ramair make a foam cone filter which makes the engine sound brilliant at high revs
- Removing the exhaust flap (it's probably seized shut) makes it a bit more woofly without being obtrusive
- Get a specialist to check the cooling system and subframe for peace of mind if there are no receipts
- If your manual shift direction is unintuitive (early cars were the 'wrong' way around), this is a 2min job to swap
- Get rid of the awful coin tray by the handbrake and fit the optional cupholders
- Change the gearbox oil (they were supposedly 'sealed for life', but it's bks)

Edited by C70R on Wednesday 3rd April 11:41

Thanks C70R, some really useful information there I went into owning a e46 with my eyes open and its been inspected for subframe and suspension and a clean MOT which was done at a specialist made me buy the car basically

Not checked the exhaust flap yet to be honest, car sounds quite muted so I imagine this is ceased shut

I'm not sure on the auto box yet, I am so the fence with it, some say change the oil some say don't if its not broken

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TonyRPH said:

What is the red dot in the cluster? (top left, above the mileage)

I know it's not the mileage tamper as that's a larger amber dot which appears next to the trip mileage.

I don't know actually I've just spotted that myself, bad picture? Something on the camera? here's a pic a few miles later and further back

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Certainly not, the paperwork is the best I've got with any car, pre-inspection, all tax discs etc, and of course all matching MOT's, service and repair bills which tally perfectly with the mileage

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C70R said:

"Progress"

In all seriousness, and I acknowledge my own confirmation bias, the E46 feels like the sweet spot for 3-series design to me. Although I suspect we were probably saying that about the E36 5 years ago...

I agree, I love the look of the E46, particularly the coupe and saloon in MSport trim, forgetting its 20+year old design its unfussy with nice lines, subtle and still aggressive, other than the E30 the e46 M3 has to be about the nicest looking of all M3's in my opinion

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So due to having to start using a car for much more mileage I’m going to have to sell the 330, gutted but needs must

Few more pics:

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ATM said:

What are you going to replace it with?

Well I do have a lovely Mk5 GTi Edition 30 sat at home as well but I want a diesel for the daily duties, my Mrs has a Polo R Line BlueMotion and its a lovely thing that does 80+MPG! So something like that is on the cards

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Kettmark said:

Id keep the 330 personally. They're worth buttons and are not too bad on fuel on a good run.
It will surely cost you more in depreciation on a blue motion of similar than the difference in fuel bills...

It is a lovely car, it has Golf R style seats, and basically looks like a MK7 Golf inside, just lacks any form of performance

I’d love to keep the 330 but can’t justify it

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Court_S said:

Shame it’s going OP because it looks like a lovey example.

Thanks Court_S

Its almost one of a kind now, so many bad examples of e46's out there, when I bought this the amount of dogs in incredible!

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So yesterday was tinged with sadness as I said goodbye to my 330Ci, it was lovely and I really enjoyed it, I doubt Id be able to get another like this, final pic:

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Yes sold in just over a week, private sale, got reasonably good money for it too

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Yes the guy loved the car, it’s hard not too really, I still think the e46 coupe is one of the best looking 3 series