E46 Compact

[paoloh]

Morning guys,

What platform do these run on?

Is it the old E36, E46 or is it all new?

[ZeroSum]

Afternoon , The 2001> compact is all E46 including suspension. So you can actually unbolt and fit eveything from an M3 CSL if you wish. (I belive someone has)

[D5ACT]

Truly awesome car.

I test drove a 325ti Sport about 6 months back. Great car, really nimble and enough power to put a smile on your face. Certainly an improvement on the last compact and not as 'whiz-pop-bang' as a Civic Type R.

[mattpullen64]

I used to have a 325ti and agree they are great cars. If you're looking at one and doing a fair few miles, i would suggest getting the face lifted version with the 6speed gearbox.
Apart from that, i don't think you could go wrong...

[NickXX]

Great cars as mentioned above.

Has a bit of a stodgy image due to the e36 model, which in the UK came with only 4 pot engines (Europe got 6 pots iirc) and e30 rear suspension.

[StuB]

I ran a chipped E46 320td compact for c70k miles and loved it, very quick (relatively), superb handling and discrete.

Does have an image problem, but only for image conscious wangers and doesn't fit a set of golf clubs in the boot apparently.