RE: BMW 320Ci Cabriolet | Shed of the Week

[JD2329]

PistonTim said:

Croydon.
Rotten seats and interior.
50 shades of silver.
Bumper hanging off.
Odd (aftermarket?) wheels.
Spares or repairs.

No part of that is likely to lead to a pleasant surprise.

On balance I agree, the swingometer is firmly towards dog.

[Flanners]

BFleming said:

I ran an M54 for a few years in a 330i. Some of my experiences:
Rebuilt the vanos as I had no faith it was working
Replaced cam position sensor
Replaced all the air intake pipes & vacuum as they were split
Replaced ICV
Replaced the radiator which was bowed at the bottom & split
Replaced the expansion tank when that exploded
The gearstick wouldn't centre - common issue needing a gearbox-out fix
Oil leak from (I think) the filter housing
Replaced the CCV to try to stem the oil consumption - it didn't help
Replaced the belt & failed tensioner
Replaced leaking water pump

The oil consumption was incredibly bad in the end - 1 litre for 250 miles. No blue smoke though & no oil leak (in the end).
It seems the 320i, 325i and 330i M54s all have pretty much the same fuel consumption - mine averaged 28mpg over 3 years.
I can't say I'd want another.

Good to see a real world rundown on ownership and possible pitfalls....so often lacking especially for what are seen by many as 'premium brand' cars.

[Court_S]

otolith said:

greenarrow said:

Is it really that bad? Driver's seat is worn, but that's often the case on a 16 year old car.

Is BMW interior build quality really that bad? My E class is now on about 120k, I got rid of my last one at 160k, neither looked anything like that. Nor did my Saab 9-5 at similar mileage.

I don’t think it is.

My 130i that I sold in April this year with 115k on the clock at 15 years old looked nothing like that inside. My other half’s 125i is fast approaching 100k and looks nothing like that inside either.

My E46 at 100k looked a million times better than this weeks shed too.

[Wiccan of Darkness]

Judging by the seats that was a motability car for someone with crohns disease and hay fever. Or some other form of gordian knot of gastrointestinal distress.

MOT history suggests the car has been sat for a long time, tyres, brakes and shocks all coming up on advisories, this isn't a car thats been well looked after.

Don't park this car with the roof down, you'll return to find it filled with broken plasterboard, a few binbags and an old mattress.

The biggest red flag is the vendor. No listing on google, so no opportunity to leave a bad review when the car blows up. Best thing for this car is to park it in Rufford ford for some internet likes.

[otolith]

Wiccan of Darkness said:

MOT history suggests the car has been sat for a long time, tyres, brakes and shocks all coming up on advisories, this isn't a car thats been well looked after.

16304 Jan-17 to Mar-19
18199 Mar-19 to Oct-20
2972 Oct-20 to Feb-22

Nothing since February.

Interior looks like it's been driven to the Moon and back.

Hmm.

[emperorburger]

If it was half decent, it would be up for at least double. It's a shtter

[Triumph Man]

BFleming said:

I ran an M54 for a few years in a 330i. Some of my experiences:
Rebuilt the vanos as I had no faith it was working
Replaced cam position sensor
Replaced all the air intake pipes & vacuum as they were split
Replaced ICV
Replaced the radiator which was bowed at the bottom & split
Replaced the expansion tank when that exploded
The gearstick wouldn't centre - common issue needing a gearbox-out fix
Oil leak from (I think) the filter housing
Replaced the CCV to try to stem the oil consumption - it didn't help
Replaced the belt & failed tensioner
Replaced leaking water pump

The oil consumption was incredibly bad in the end - 1 litre for 250 miles. No blue smoke though & no oil leak (in the end).
It seems the 320i, 325i and 330i M54s all have pretty much the same fuel consumption - mine averaged 28mpg over 3 years.
I can't say I'd want another.

Yeah, as my previous post, I know what you mean! I've heard the 3 litres are worse for oil consumption than the 2.2 and 2.5 (although some don't use any - it's a lottery). I never replaced the CCV on mine - it wasn't giving any failure symptoms. I did however rebuild pretty much the entire cooling system, although it was fairly easy and not that dear.

[Iamnotkloot]

I think this example, is a no

[to3m]

Looks like it has Xenon headlights (I think?), but it's got the non-HID headlight adjustment dial and no headlight washers.

[S600BSB]

No

[Darnoc95]

With a drivers seat like that im betting some serious clocking might have been done

[BFleming]

to3m said:

Looks like it has Xenon headlights (I think?), but it's got the non-HID headlight adjustment dial and no headlight washers.

Projector lens for halogen bulbs in the facelifted coupes & cabrios.

[MDMA .]

Bumper look like they’re from another car. Off side rear arch I’d say was rotten and been bogged up. They’ve only painted the curve! It even looks like they’ve left it short in length too. Near side seems the right length, off side looks 5-10mm shy.
On this occasion, I’ll pass

[varsas]

BFleming said:

I ran an M54 for a few years in a 330i. Some of my experiences:
Rebuilt the vanos as I had no faith it was working
Replaced cam position sensor
Replaced all the air intake pipes & vacuum as they were split
Replaced ICV
Replaced the radiator which was bowed at the bottom & split
Replaced the expansion tank when that exploded
The gearstick wouldn't centre - common issue needing a gearbox-out fix
Oil leak from (I think) the filter housing
Replaced the CCV to try to stem the oil consumption - it didn't help
Replaced the belt & failed tensioner
Replaced leaking water pump

The oil consumption was incredibly bad in the end - 1 litre for 250 miles. No blue smoke though & no oil leak (in the end).
It seems the 320i, 325i and 330i M54s all have pretty much the same fuel consumption - mine averaged 28mpg over 3 years.
I can't say I'd want another.

I ran a 330ci Sport for a few years, including doing track days. Had no issues except a faulty climate computer and a door rubber. My car had done about 80k miles. I actually didn't rate the car that much, coming from an E36 328 overall it felt a bit dull but the engine was fantastic and on track, where you could really exploit the balance, it came alive, just not as good as the E36 on road.

My 5 speed manual car returned 35ish mpg while I had it (not on track, obviously!), and didn't seem to use any oil. It makes sense fuel consumption is simialr across the engines, the capacity won't make a huge difference if everything else is the same.

Edited by varsas on Friday 23 September 13:22

[Water Fairy]

My 2004 E46 currently has 192k on it and the interior is 100x better than this. I have had the arches blown over in the past but at least it's all the same colour.

This one is very questionable.

[otolith]

Water Fairy said:

My 2004 E46 currently has 192k on it and the interior is 100x better than this. I have had the arches blown over in the past but at least it's all the same colour.

This one is very questionable.

Might have passed through the hands of someone who does haircuts for profit?

[Limpet]

The E46 is still the most handsome of all the 3-ers IMO, particularly the LCI cars like this one.

This one looks like a bit of a project though.

[CornedBeef]

I don't think it's that horrendous to be honest, you must remember the price tag.
The seats are rough, but remember it's a convertible - perhaps lots of exposure to sun and no leather treatment to keep things fresh (how many non-PH normal car users would even be aware that's a thing?).
Admittedly probably had a bit of a front end shunt from the bumper paint and tie wraps, but meh - £1500!

[wpa1975]

It has been untaxed since 25th May 2021, last V5c issued January 2021 so it has been sat around a long time.

Also gaps in the mot history, so you do have to wonder if the mileage is correct.

[Sandpit Steve]

Ooh, that looked like a great shed at first glance…

But no, it’s a parts car with no MoT and unlikely to get one at any reasonable cost - because they would have, wouldn’t they? Bring a trailer!