Why is this E46 Cheaper than others??

[Pugsey11]

As a E46 M3 newbie and looking to purchase my first one i stumbled across this particular one and couldn't but help notice that it was priced very well, am i missing something ?

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

[BFleming]

Pugsey11 said:

As a E46 M3 newbie and looking to purchase my first one i stumbled across this particular one and couldn't but help notice that it was priced very well, am i missing something ?

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

I would bring a paint thickness gauge with you when you go to view it. I suspect it had had rear end damage in its time, but I may be wrong. I would be very surprised if it hasn't had paint though.

[pidsy]

It’s the off season for vert purchases, it’s grey.
It is cheap but I’d want to go through which work it has had done - the usual big jobs.

Decent 46’s are very hard to find these days.

[Pugsey11]

Thank you for your tips.....being a novice its a bit daunting having a budget not much higher than that price and picking the right car and asking the right questions

Are there any companies/people that specialize in M3 inspections ?

Edited by Pugsey11 on Tuesday 22 October 10:51

[deeen]

Short MOT, boring colours, likely to click over 100,000 miles with the next owner? That's assuming the 90k checks out anyway... As above, convertible, if he can't clear it now they might still have it in April? With classic prices softening, maybe they don't want that risk? Also I think of these as around 10k, so it's not THAT cheap...

[ds666]

BFleming said:

Pugsey11 said:

As a E46 M3 newbie and looking to purchase my first one i stumbled across this particular one and couldn't but help notice that it was priced very well, am i missing something ?

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

I would bring a paint thickness gauge with you when you go to view it. I suspect it had had rear end damage in its time, but I may be wrong. I would be very surprised if it hasn't had paint though.

Do you know it has had rear end damage for a fact ? And at 14 years old , I'd be very surprised if its hasn't " had paint " at some stage

[pidsy]

It’s worth noting OP that these are not cheap cars to run.
Pretty much every time I looked at mine it cost me a grand to fix.
I made money on mine when I sold it but it was a cracker. There are so many dogs out there.

[anonymous-user]

It was mot'd twice in 2017 and not at all in 2018..

In between the mess of the mot it has done 600 miles but 8000 on the last one.

Also OP be careful when linking auto trader cars, use the app as it doesn't reveal personal information but the website does.

Before someone calls BS his postcode starts RH5.

[Pugsey11]

Thank you......so probably one to avoid i guess...the search goes on

[ds666]

Worth having a look on m3cutters - I bought mine from someone on there who had done a build thread on what he'd done to the car since he'd bought it ( like spending £6k getting it right ( ish )) ...

[Pugsey11]

Thank you for the heads up, and if you hear of any nice examples being sold then please let me know

[BFleming]

ds666 said:

BFleming said:

Pugsey11 said:

As a E46 M3 newbie and looking to purchase my first one i stumbled across this particular one and couldn't but help notice that it was priced very well, am i missing something ?

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

I would bring a paint thickness gauge with you when you go to view it. I suspect it had had rear end damage in its time, but I may be wrong. I would be very surprised if it hasn't had paint though.

Do you know it has had rear end damage for a fact ? And at 14 years old , I'd be very surprised if its hasn't " had paint " at some stage

I used the word 'suspect' as no, I don't know for definite, but there are some signs there. Hence I would suspect it had had some damage.

[ds666]

What signs ? Genuinely interested in what leads you to your thoughts .

[T1berious]

As a current S54 owner who's had one for 8 years I'd say this.

It might be "cheap" to buy but it is very far far from cheap to run. I'm part ex ing mine this weekend and my stack of main dealer bills makes eye watering reading. As mirrored above 1k each time it went in (inspection II always being a wallet buster).

Personally as fabulous as these cars are they require good upkeep to stay at there best, if you know a reputable indie near you that can help with the maintenance costs.

We budgeted 1.5 to 2k a year on maintenance (that's on top of insurance tax etc).

If you can stomach the running costs they are brilliant cars.

This might sound OTT but when / if you find one see if you can get an oil analysis done. If there's more swarf than oil run a mile!

T1b

[BFleming]

ds666 said:

What signs ? Genuinely interested in what leads you to your thoughts .

There's a couple of different paint shades on there, particularly on the passenger side.

[Sir_Dave]

ds666 said:

What signs ? Genuinely interested in what leads you to your thoughts .

Car dealer that also has a bodyshop on site.

I'd put money on most of them being non recorded salvage and/or in need of "some repair" ...

[Pugsey11]

Thanks for all your replies....the thought of the upkeep costs are slightly worrying ...but !!