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

[SebringMan]

thebadman said:

The only major fail on this would be the rear sub frame cracking (£1000+ repair) which effected pre-facelift cars.

Or £800 from ETA Motorsport in Brands Hatch . It's hard to justify on a lower valued E46 I admit! And yes they do crack.

The 6 speeds however are a nicer 'box. My mate and I have almost got the wrong gear in his 328i 5 speed! It's not the best changed to be honest! And that was with me driving back in a Mondeo 2.5T manual!

That said it is cheap and there is something about the drive of an E46 ; I could never gel with my lower mileage E36 323i but I did prefer the leggier E46 328i my mate bought ; it's not a bad steer.

[varsas]

giggity said:

Done the E46 shed with a 330i *facelift*.

It was expensive, the car was thirsty, and it was a pain in the ass.

Others have mentioned thirst. Last time I did a brim to brim test my (pre-facelift, so 5 speed) 330 sport got 37mpg, that was over 250 miles; 140 miles of m'way the rest A roads and a few drives through town. This is slightly worse than my e36 328 used to get, that would nearly crack 40mpg. My 3 litre Jaguar S-type auto would just about get 30mpg so I think it's pretty good. I only get 32mpg if I drive it enthusiastically though but even that seems fine for the performance on offer, doesn't it?