2005 E46 318Ci - N46 engine advice.

[Olivergt]

Firstly, apologies, title is a little wrong, it's a Coupe not Convertible.

My son is looking at a 2005 318i with 75k miles on the clock, full history (apparently!)

I'm reading horror stories about the N46 engine being unreliable and having rattling timing chains etc.

Are they really as bad as people are saying? Or is it just a case of using the correct oil and regular changes to prevent any issues?

Thanks.

Edited by Olivergt on Thursday 23 January 12:09

[the_g_ster]

Heavy car, vastly underpowered, high running costs, mpg woeful, yes, they do go on higher mileages cars, high tax, high insurance, I can't work out why someone would want one of these in this form as worst of all combinations.

330, yes, cracking, but not cheap to run, rust and bushes on subframes and engine mounts and small yet annoying partial corrision issues. Then, also, the hood will need focus.

[Olivergt]

Thanks for the comments.

Unfortunately, here in Ireland, the road tax prohibits the 330, even the 318 is €710 a year, so very painful.

Plenty of 318's here, but very difficult to find 320's and 325's, and then then road tax kills you.

The good thing about Ireland though is they don't use much salt, so rust isn't as big an issue on them here.

I'll take a look with him and be very critical on any little thing.

Oh, and apologies it's a Coupe, not Convertible, put the "C" in by mistake. I'll update the original post as well.

Edited by Olivergt on Thursday 23 January 12:08