Talk to me about E46 coupes

Talk to me about E46 coupes

Author
Discussion

ftypical

457 posts

117 months

Saturday 9th September 2017
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The air inlet trunking between airbox and throttlebody, FCABs and RTABs, CCV, thermostat, water pump (possibly), radiator (possibly) the valve in the inlet manifold (possibly). The bonnet release. Dampers, top mounts, ARB bushes/links. Fuel filter and vacuum hose to the fuel pressure regulator. All these are maintenance items.

Dirt collects in the wheel arches at either end of the sills. If it isn't removed, or the under seal is compromised the sills will rot.

The front wings go rusty no matter what around the wheelarches.

176k, goes well, maybe 1/4 ltr of oil every 5k, rust free (apart from the wings - which I replaced). smile

StuTheGrouch

5,714 posts

161 months

Saturday 9th September 2017
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I owned a facelift M Sport manual 330 for over 5 years until a couple of months back when I traded it in for a BMW 645 (I needed a V8, you see). My 330 was overall the best car I've owned without a doubt, and I still have regrets about letting it go- I didn't need to trade it in or sell it, I could have run both cars together but couldn't justify it. In the time I owned the car I did the servicing and repairs myself, and found the car a pleasure to work on, except the fking CVV which is a pain in terms of access. Jobs completed:

- Front suspension arms
- Both serpentine belts and tensioners (one tensioner literally blew up!)
- CVV. As above, this was a 6-8 hour job and the most frustrating task completed on this car
- New coolant system. Not done at the same time, but ultimately all components will fail. The expansion tank cracked whilst driving, then the radiator was leaking (and clearly bowed). The water pump, thermostat and pipes were next.
- Oil level sensor
- New driver side lock (done by a specialist) after the original one seized
- Starter motor. Again, done by a specialist due to access needs

The car only failed me twice. First time being the tensioner failure, though I managed to get the car home on that occasion. The second time was the starter motor. Neither are drastic failures, but could leave someone stranded in the middle of nowhere.

My car has rust emerging in one rear arch and both front arches. I used waxoyl to keep it under control and slow it down, but it was inevitable.

I loved mine and really miss it.

pits

6,423 posts

189 months

Saturday 9th September 2017
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330 here, it's one of the last on an 06, it's one 160k now, we've put 70k on it and it's had
Front arms.
Air inlet boot.

That's it, and only has a small spec of rust on the rear arch, sadly the service booklet got lost a few years back so we can't get it repaired under the corrosion warranty frown

Patrick Bateman

12,143 posts

173 months

Saturday 9th September 2017
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I'll add that despite these maintenance items, sourcing cheap (relatively) but quality parts for BMW's is easy and plentiful if you know what you're looking at.

StuTheGrouch

5,714 posts

161 months

Saturday 9th September 2017
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pits said:
Air inlet boot.
Forgot about this. Add that to my list above.

GSF car parts is a great place to get bits for the e46. Especially with their weekly minimum of 50% off everything offer codes.

RC1

4,096 posts

218 months

Sunday 10th September 2017
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i agree all e46's are sheds including mine


Chris71

Original Poster:

21,535 posts

241 months

Monday 11th September 2017
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Why is it that any time I identify a type of car as a potential purchase the good ones suddenly dry up? I could swear there was a recently-refreshed E46 sat on every street corner before I began actively looking for one. irked

ETA What do you think of this one? It does need a little money spent. The MOT history has no mention of rust or brake issues, but front wishbone bushes have been flagged up a couple of times and it has a couple of tyre advisories. I presume we're looking at about a grand to fix those (if you put fresh tyres on all round)? Could be quite a nice low-mileage car for £3k in total.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

Edited by Chris71 on Monday 11th September 09:29

Smuler

2,286 posts

138 months

Monday 11th September 2017
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Chris71 said:
Why is it that any time I identify a type of car as a potential purchase the good ones suddenly dry up? I could swear there was a recently-refreshed E46 sat on every street corner before I began actively looking for one. irked

ETA What do you think of this one? It does need a little money spent. The MOT history has no mention of rust or brake issues, but front wishbone bushes have been flagged up a couple of times and it has a couple of tyre advisories. I presume we're looking at about a grand to fix those (if you put fresh tyres on all round)? Could be quite a nice low-mileage car for £3k in total.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

Edited by Chris71 on Monday 11th September 09:29
someone's nicked the badge wink
I thought it had a vile interior, lots of owners, I don't like auto at all.

Nothing I'd not encountered in MOT history thought and no mention of oil leaks, which another one I spotted which otherwise was better, had suffered from.




JakeT

5,406 posts

119 months

Monday 11th September 2017
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RC1 said:
i agree all e46's are sheds including mine

Bloody shed. who even is ALPINA? Tell you what, I'll do you a deal. Straight swap for my 328ci. At this point it's ME taking the risk.


In all seriousness, lovely thing. The 3.4 being the last handbuilt ALPINA engine makes it more special.

Chris71

Original Poster:

21,535 posts

241 months

Monday 11th September 2017
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Smuler said:
I thought it had a vile interior
Condition-wise or just the colour?

I'm afraid I have a very un-Germanic preference for bright colours. I'd go for red or blue with a cream interior ideally. smile

Smuler

2,286 posts

138 months

Monday 11th September 2017
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Chris71 said:
Condition-wise or just the colour?

I'm afraid I have a very un-Germanic preference for bright colours. I'd go for red or blue with a cream interior ideally. smile
That interior color, always looks tired at best. I guess that accentuates the lack of cleanliness when pictures took.

Red is German, surely, the famous Imola. Brilliant color. I had a pre facelift model, purely as a runaround to compliment my M3.

The summer I got it, no one took any notice of the M3, everyone just used to come over and look at Red biggrin





Chris71

Original Poster:

21,535 posts

241 months

Monday 11th September 2017
quotequote all
Smuler said:
Chris71 said:
Condition-wise or just the colour?

I'm afraid I have a very un-Germanic preference for bright colours. I'd go for red or blue with a cream interior ideally. smile
That interior color, always looks tired at best. I guess that accentuates the lack of cleanliness when pictures took.

Red is German, surely, the famous Imola. Brilliant color. I had a pre facelift model, purely as a runaround to compliment my M3.

The summer I got it, no one took any notice of the M3, everyone just used to come over and look at Red biggrin
To be fair, I would contemplate a black interior on an E46. There's enough different shades and textures going on that it works quite well. Some of the older cars look very dark and depressing in grey/black to my eye. The VW Corrado with its great slab of plastic dash springs to mind...

SebringMan

1,773 posts

185 months

Monday 11th September 2017
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To me the car looks like it may be worth a viewing. A friend of mine paid more for one with a few issues, albeit it was a facelift.

For the wishbone bushes I'd go BMW only or Febi Bilstein/Lemforder if you can bear to go to the dealer. They will take a good garage less than an hour to do IMHO. It's one of the easiest jobs I've done on an E46 when I've had the right tools (a puller sped up with a rattle gun smile).

vsonix

3,858 posts

162 months

Monday 11th September 2017
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Chris71 said:
Alas, it appears to be sold. Shame, I've got a bit of a thing for bright interiors.

The auto thing for me entirely comes down to the usage. I would always go for a manual for a Sunday afternoon fun car. Even if you get something where the actual shift is pretty horrid, the extra engagement can be priceless if you're blipping your way down the gearbox with a good engine. But, while I'd never describe changing gear as especially taxing, there is something more relaxing about letting the car do the work if you're just going about the daily grind. I don't think I've ever crawled along on the M25 wishing I was doing my own clutch work.
Yeah, 9 times out of 10 I prefer manual but if I've just driven three hours to get to London then got stuck in stoppystarty traffic in London for another two hours to get to my eventual destination in North London, when I get out of the car I have full on cramp in my leg and can sometimes barely stand. I know the car probably isn't 100% to blame for this, I do have sciatica related to an old back injury - but these days when I am doing a trip up to London, I take an auto unless there's a very good reason to want to take one of my manuals (i.e. too nice weather not to be in a convertible).

iSore

4,011 posts

143 months

Tuesday 12th September 2017
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Chris71 said:
To be fair, I would contemplate a black interior on an E46. There's enough different shades and textures going on that it works quite well. Some of the older cars look very dark and depressing in grey/black to my eye. The VW Corrado with its great slab of plastic dash springs to mind...
You need to pester Chris to sell you his silver one. It really is lovely and needs nothing doing at all, rare for an E46!

Chris71

Original Poster:

21,535 posts

241 months

Tuesday 12th September 2017
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iSore said:
Chris71 said:
To be fair, I would contemplate a black interior on an E46. There's enough different shades and textures going on that it works quite well. Some of the older cars look very dark and depressing in grey/black to my eye. The VW Corrado with its great slab of plastic dash springs to mind...
You need to pester Chris to sell you his silver one. It really is lovely and needs nothing doing at all, rare for an E46!
I may well do so. smile

He's almost as far away from me as it's possible to get within the confines of England, though, and I could do with something sooner than his will be free. That said, I'm not having a huge amount of luck elsewhere at the moment, so I may well still be in the market. Spoke to him the other day and he does like exactly the sort of person you'd want to buy one of these from.

RC1

4,096 posts

218 months

Tuesday 12th September 2017
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JakeT said:
Bloody shed. who even is ALPINA? Tell you what, I'll do you a deal. Straight swap for my 328ci. At this point it's ME taking the risk.


In all seriousness, lovely thing. The 3.4 being the last handbuilt ALPINA engine makes it more special.
best accidental purchase ever!

admittedly i dont smoke a pipe nor wear fluffy lined slippers but its a great little motor allied to an already sweet chassis brought to life but outstanding suspension set up

RC1

4,096 posts

218 months

Tuesday 12th September 2017
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SebringMan said:
To me the car looks like it may be worth a viewing. A friend of mine paid more for one with a few issues, albeit it was a facelift.

For the wishbone bushes I'd go BMW only or Febi Bilstein/Lemforder if you can bear to go to the dealer. They will take a good garage less than an hour to do IMHO. It's one of the easiest jobs I've done on an E46 when I've had the right tools (a puller sped up with a rattle gun smile).
Agreed re the bushes - value line parts so quite cheap and hugely satisfying job when done. and yes, get the puller first!

thats one of the great things about the e46. so easy to DIY with some patience and an easy car to get around even for the novice. i recently did the control arms on my b3s and it was a pita job mainly due to knuckle scraping access for the 'bone to subframe nut.

Chris71

Original Poster:

21,535 posts

241 months

Wednesday 13th September 2017
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This one is relatively local to me. Allegedly rust free and FSH. Brand tyres (the last one I saw had Sunny tyres on all four corners ... never a good sign). Any thoughts?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/bmw-330ci-Msport/3024501...

JakeT

5,406 posts

119 months

Wednesday 13th September 2017
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Boring colour combo. But looks fine to me!


@RC1, I agree there. As much as I love an ALPINA, they're a little tasselled loafers...