RE: Shed Of The Week: BMW 325i (E46)

[NickCQ]

Nicely written ad as well, seems to be sold by the rare realistic private seller. Knowing the market at the moment, it might pop up again with a white background and shiny tyres for the 'bargain' price of £9,995 in a few weeks.

[Spannerski]

I had one of these.

Looks nice drove nice, but
Ridiculously small boot given the size of the car.
Very lardy so needs a big engine to get moving.
And the most un-comfortable seats ever.

[Oddball RS]

I also had one of these as a company motor way back when, the sound was great, the performance less so, zero torque and a fairly low red line, which given how you had to flog it to go quickly wasn't that helpful.

[J4CKO]

Amazing how a car like that can look so fresh and so many others look like old nails, could turn up anywhere in that, good colour combo, nice wheels, good condition and absolutely no Barrification to be seen.

Seems a disservice to call it a shed, wouldn't have looked much different at a year old really, hopefully some drift monkey doesn't get their hands on it and ruin it, serious value for a £1000, someone get it bought and look after it, look how E30s have dissapeared and got expensive.

Also, cant you do something with intakes off a 328i to release a bit more power ? I think the manual is probably a better option on a lower powered six like this as otherwise they can feel a bit gutless and lazy so would expect it gives it a bit more of a sporty feel and a few more bhp would help, think the intake stuff can add as much as 25 bhp based on a quick google.

[varsas]

J4CKO said:

Amazing how a car like that can look so fresh and so many others look like old nails, could turn up anywhere in that, good colour combo, nice wheels, good condition and absolutely no Barrification to be seen.

Seems a disservice to call it a shed, wouldn't have looked much different at a year old really, hopefully some drift monkey doesn't get their hands on it and ruin it, serious value for a £1000, someone get it bought and look after it, look how E30s have dissapeared and got expensive.

Also, cant you do something with intakes off a 328i to release a bit more power ? I think the manual is probably a better option on a lower powered six like this as otherwise they can feel a bit gutless and lazy so would expect it gives it a bit more of a sporty feel and a few more bhp would help, think the intake stuff can add as much as 25 bhp based on a quick google.

You fit the M50 manifold from an e36 325, and a big bore throttle body onto the 328 as the factory manifolds on M52 engines is restrictive. You'll be up to maybe 220bhp then, it seems very much like the M52B28 (M52B28TU in an e46 because it has twin VANOS) was limited to 192bhp, like a few other cars such as Alfa 2.5 V6, lower spec RX8 etc. Not sure why so many cars have exactly 192bhp. German insurance/tax reasons?

Edited by varsas on Friday 12th May 11:34

[RyanTank]

at that age and miles, the cooling system could do with an overhaul. rads are prone to bowing at the bottom, expansion tanks will crack.
Bodywork is in good order as far as the pictures show, possibly kept garaged to save it from the rot, but check the inner lips, any bubbling will be fine if dealt with early.
I tried really hard to find one in this condition when I was looking, but my low budget meant anything 6cyl was tatty or barried.

[BFleming]

That has had paint - and being a 16 year old E46 I would be more surprised if it hadn't. The arches all go crumbly on these, and the front passenger side wing is a different shade.
As for coolant leaks from the expansion tank - they go bang & will dump the coolant instantly, they generally don't go 'drip drip'.
The gear stick often won't centre in neutral (i.e. it'll stay left or right); it's an internal gearbox issue so not a linkage issue, and is expensive to fix (so most people don't).
Watch oil consumption. My brother's E46 328i (M52TUB28) used zero oil, my E46 330i (M54B30) used a litre every 1000 miles.


The factory spec of this week's shed:
Vehicle information
Type code AV32
Type 325I (EUR)
E series E46 (4)
Series 3
Type LIM
Steering RL
Doors 4
Engine M54
Displacement 2.50
Power 141
Drive HECK
Transmission MECH
Colour STAHLBLAU METALLIC (372)
Upholstery STANDARDLEDER/SCHWARZ (N6SW)
Prod.date 2001-03-22
Vehicle options
S210 Dynamic stability control
S249 Multifunction f steering wheel
S255 Sports leather steering wheel
S279 BMW light-alloy wheel star spokes 45
S302 Alarm system
S411 Window lifts,electric,front/rear
S428 Warning triangle and first aid kit
S431 Interior mirror with automatic-dip
S438 Fine wood trim
S441 Smoker package
S470 Isofix-System
S473 Armrest front
S481 Sports seat
S508 Park Distance Control (PDC)
S534 Automatic air conditioning
Vehicle options
S661 Radio BMW Business (C43)
S692 Preparation, BMW 6-CD changer I-bus
S785 White direction indicator lights
L812 National version Great Britain
S850 Dummy-SALAPA
S863 Retailer Directory Europe
S877 Delete cross-pattern operation
S880 On-board vehicle literature English
Vehicle options
S520 Fog lights
S550 On-board computer
S832 Battery in luggage compartment
S853 Language version English

Edited by BFleming on Friday 12th May 11:43

[sinbaddio]

That looks lovely. Rare to see an original one these days. I hope to god that whoever buys ot keeps it standard. Top shed.

[g3org3y]

Good car. LIKE!

[anonymous-user]

Great thing to tool around in.

[Bladedancer]

Where are all the E36 gone? Just a few years UK was awash with them and now you can hardly spot one.
Have they all been crashed or crushed?

[MajorMantra]

Very nice. I'm on the lookout for a Touring right now but I'm not sure if there are any manual, petrol, non-rusty ones left.

It doesn't even have to be a 325i - I'd settle for a 320i since it's still a 6-pot...

[culpz]

Oddball RS said:

I also had one of these as a company motor way back when, the sound was great, the performance less so, zero torque and a fairly low red line, which given how you had to flog it to go quickly wasn't that helpful.

They actually have a fair bit of torque. It's more the fact that it's accessed higher up within the rev range as apposed to low down from something like a turbo motor. Also, bear in mind, that the engine is located within a heavy (at the time) saloon body, which doesn't help things.

I do see what you're saying, but it definitely doesn't have zero torque. That's just simply not true.

[PistonBroker]

Looks great.

Alas, I suspect the dog won't go in that boot so it rules itself out on that front in my considerations of 'what shed am I going to buy in September to tide us over until our next car?'.

I have hope I'll find something similar in Touring flavour. False hope I imagine!

[s m]

PistonBroker said:

Looks great.

Alas, I suspect the dog won't go in that boot so it rules itself out on that front in my considerations of 'what shed am I going to buy in September to tide us over until our next car?'.

I have hope I'll find something similar in Touring flavour. False hope I imagine!

If it's just a dog wagon rather than needing a full Touring, don't overlook the 6-pot Compact - room for a dog in the back, don't rust as bad as the other bodystyles and the 6-speed box doesn't suffer with the 5-speed detent issues.
Compact looks weird but you don't worry about it whn driving it

[klunk0]

Truly excellent sheds. We have two similar E46 323 saloon and cabrio with M52TUB 45k/130k). But be wary shedders - Tis a black hole - once in one you are unlikely to buy anything "improved" for obsolescence by accountants / badly screwed together. Sadly this can include many newer BMW 3er variants - this limits your options. Anyone who has worked out what you can buy today with comparable engineering, daily use and longevity/TCO from 5-20 years - I'd love to know.

[BFleming]

Shed said:

You also get people telling you that you should have bought the 330 instead, or the 328 at least. Those two do have bigger engines, bigger power... bigger torque... and bigger brakes

Almost. The 325i & 328i both had 300mm discs up front, but the 330i has 325mm discs.

[culpz]

s m said:

If it's just a dog wagon rather than needing a full Touring, don't overlook the 6-pot Compact - room for a dog in the back, don't rust as bad as the other bodystyles and the 6-speed box doesn't suffer with the 5-speed detent issues.
Compact looks weird but you don't worry about it whn driving it

325ti is a good bet for all the reasons that you've stated. The issue is that you're probably not gonna get one within shed budget, good example or not. They seem to be quite rare aswell but not impossible to find by any measure.

I really quite like them but i end up looking at 172/182 Clio's instead when looking at fast hatchbacks of similar price.

[Qubit]

Lovely engine, rest of it i wouldn't want to be buying as a shed unless it drove superbly well on the test. Suspension stuff goes on these quickly and isn't cheap to fix (well obviously not). And thats just for starters.

[V8 TEJ]

s m said:

M54 engine rather than M24