Possibly the worst used car I've ever seen? E46 330Ci

[kchika]

In memory of naturally aspirated straight sixes from BMW, I've been looking at E46 330i/330Ci Coupes lately. Being very specific about my color choice (black on black with xenons, PDC and electric mirrors), I've only been able to find three in the country at the moment. One of them was 20 miles away so I went to look at it this morning. After a brief look around and test drive, I discovered...

1. The windscreen has been replaced with something from RAC.

2. The car had three cheap tires and one PS2.

3. The fuel level indicator was faulty - it's always on "empty".

4. The washer fluid warning light (?) came on intermittently during the dest drive.

It's a 55 reg with 59k miles. It's had two previous owners and five service stamps, one of them bring an oil service. Spec wise, nothing much apart from electric mirrors. The dealer wanted £8,995 for it. Is it that hard to find a well looked after E46?

Also looked at E36/46 M3/Z4M, but can't afford the insurance. Don't want E90s or 130is either...

Edited by kchika on Wednesday 19th October 13:44

[Phunk]

All E46 330i's have PDC and electric mirrors, so you are only really looking for cars with xenons

[gizlaroc]

That is top dollar, friend just bought a black on black E92 330i coupe with everything including nav and bluetooth for £9500, that had 63k miles on it, seemed a lot of car for the money I reckon.

I now you don't want an E92, but makes the 330ci look well pricey.

[VWAUDI]

It's overpriced. Would a good one be worth that money? I doubt it myself.

I don't see an RAC replacement windscreen as an issue, provided the car wasn't in a prang.
A washer fluid and fuel sender is hardly a big issue either.
Tyres can be changed too.

HTH.

[rb5er]

VWAUDI said:

I don't see an RAC replacement windscreen as an issue, provided the car wasn't in a prang.
A washer fluid and fuel sender is hardly a big issue either.
Tyres can be changed too.

+1 hows is a replacement windscreen an issue?

Budget tyres probably put on by the dealer, and its not too hard to fill up the washer bottle.

Personally i would not want to spend that sort if money on a car that will be worth half that in 2 years, its hugely overpriced.

[4rephill]

kchika said:

In memory of naturally aspirated straight sixes from BMW, I've been looking at E46 330i/330Ci Coupes lately. Being very specific about my color choice (black on black with xenons, PDC and electric mirrors), I've only been able to find three in the country at the moment. One of them was 20 miles away so I went to look at it this morning. After a brief look around and test drive, I discovered...

1. The windscreen has been replaced with something from RAC.

And that's an issue because?
Most cars of this age will have had their windscreens replaced by now and most will have been done on insurance which will mean that there was an arrangement between the insurance company and someone like the RAC or Autoglass. Very few people would have gone to the extra expense of having a genuine BMW replacement windscreen fitted.

kchika said:

2. The car had three cheap tires and one PS2.

And? That's a bargaining tool when it comes to the price then. It's not exactly complicated to get the tyres replaced and not it's not really a reason to reject the rest of the car if it's in good condition.

kchika said:

3. The fuel level indicator was faulty - it's always on "empty".

Quite a common fault. Most likely the fuel sender in the tank has got a loose wire on it that needs soldering back on or it requires a new sender fitting. Not the most complicated or expensive thing to fix. Again it's a bargaining tool.

kchika said:

4. The washer fluid warning light (?) came on intermittently during the dest drive.

Either the fluid was low and as you were driving around the sensor picked up it was low every now and again or more likely the sensor has gone faulty and needs replacing. The latter is quite common and not that hard/expensive to replace so again, it's a bargaining tool.

kchika said:

It's a 55 reg with 59k miles. It's had two previous owners and five service stamps, one of them bring an oil service. Spec wise, nothing much apart from electric mirrors. The dealer wanted £8,995 for it. Is it that hard to find a well looked after E46?

It will be if you consider a car with these faults to be the worst used car you've ever seen!.

They're all pretty trivial faults in the grand scheme of car buying!. It's not like the engine had numerous oil leaks, wouldn't run properly, smoked badly, wouldn't go into gear, pulled violently to one side, had horrific colour mismatch of all exterior panels, excessive corrosion, brakes failed to stop the car, door dropped 6 inches when opened etc., etc.

It's a 6 year old car with a few niggly issues at best by the sounds of it.

[Gaygle]

I've currently got my 330i up for sale. Seems to be 1 of about 5 in the country up at the moment that hasn't been owned by a pie key. Although it's Topaz Blue with cream interior so doesn't fit your requirements.

[mph1977]

rb5er said:

+1 hows is a replacement windscreen an issue?

one of these OEM fanboi tossers , like the gimp who want his Boxster resprayed by porsche after it got some concrete (not cement) dust on it , or the those who spout off how certain manufacturers warranties require only branded parts to be fitted ...

[Fox-]

gizlaroc said:

That is top dollar, friend just bought a black on black E92 330i coupe with everything including nav and bluetooth for £9500, that had 63k miles on it, seemed a lot of car for the money I reckon.

Seemed excessively cheap to me.

[Vee]

mph1977 said:

one of these OEM fanboi tossers , like the gimp who want his Boxster resprayed by porsche after it got some concrete (not cement) dust on it , or the those who spout off how certain manufacturers warranties require only branded parts to be fitted ...

Idiotic comment - do you know anything about the guy t call him a tosser ?

OP - windscreen shouldn't be a problem - what exactly is the problem with it ?
Tyres - dealer has probably put some cheap ones on. Easy to replace.
Check the xenons work properly, including auto levelling.

That is top money for an E46, I'd expect it to be close to perfect.

[Fox-]

I tend to reject cars with no-name tyres because I have no interest in owning a car previously owned by somebody who had anything other than a money no object attitude to its ownership.

[kchika]

This is the car in question:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/05-55-BMW-3-Series-330ci...

As many have said, I'm paying top dollar for a non-M E46 and I'd expect everything to be perfect on the car. If this car was £6k or so then I would have cared less.

I'm not too bothered about the 'box. These are the two other cars I'm looking at:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2011...
(Looks extremely tidy to me but there's a warning light on the dash?)

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2005-BMW-3-SERIES-/16059...
(Strange, this was £8,999 yesterday)


What are your thoughts?

[Fox-]

kchika said:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2011...
(Looks extremely tidy to me but there's a warning light on the dash?)

The engine isn't running..

[MarkwG]

If that really is probably the worst used car you've ever seen, I think you've had a very priviledged existence...

[mph1977]

Vee said:

mph1977 said:

one of these OEM fanboi tossers , like the gimp who want his Boxster resprayed by porsche after it got some concrete (not cement) dust on it , or the those who spout off how certain manufacturers warranties require only branded parts to be fitted ...

Idiotic comment - do you know anything about the guy t call him a tosser ?

OP - windscreen shouldn't be a problem - what exactly is the problem with it ?
<snip>

it really is tosspottery of the first order to be overly concerned about a properly fitted windscreen from one of the major fitters, unless it's a none quickclear screen fitted to a vehicle which should have it .

[gizlaroc]

Fox- said:

Seemed excessively cheap to me.

Yeah and me, but that is what he paid for it, guy said he had originally had it up for £12950 and nothing, then £12,450, then £11,950 and then it had to go so he put it up at £10,000 no offers and it still sat there for a week and this was the only call!

He said he would give him asking but needed his car to go back first which was happening on 3rd November, seller said if he said if he collected before the weekend he could have it for £9500.

Looking on autotrader though there does seem to be loads on there from £8k to £12k, more saloons though, but plenty are M-Sports.

Just seems like so much car for the money.

One thing though, I sort of forgot a 56 plate is now 5 years old, keep thinking it is a couple of years old.

[Fox-]

I noticed a few sellers do that that. They panic and drop the price every week because they dont get any calls, without realising these are slow cars to sell. I saw some people literally moving by a grand every 2 weeks. Mental.

When I sold mine I put it up at the price I want. In 2 months I had only 2 serious calls. The second person took it away for pretty much asking price. Yea, it took months, but these cars dont sell like Corsas.

Madness dropping the price until it sells..

[Ecurie Ecosse]

OP - can you please scout out used cars for me when I am looking next?

[kchika]

What does everyone think of this?

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3328309.htm

Seems to be sensibly priced and spot on with with my requirements but no electric seats or electric mirrors.

[Fox-]

It's on Pilot Sport 2's all round. I have never seen more expensive tyres than PS2's so its always encouraging to see them fitted as it indicates the owner hasn't been always looking for the cheapest way to do something