E46 or E92 330
Discussion
I'm currently looking at getting a new more practical car than the MX-5 which I've used as an everyday car for the last 8 or so years. I'm in Norway, so things are a lot more limited here in car choice, not to mention more expensive. My girlfriend needs an automatic (only auto license, and driving licenses here are super expensive, given they will ban new sales of diesel/petrol cars from 2025 there's not much point in her getting this.
For something with a little more power/fun and within my budget it looks to be a choice between a Golf GTI Mk. 5 or 6, an early Mk. 7 Golf GTE, or a pre-2012 BMW 3 series (up to a 330, the 335s and M3s go way out of budget). The car would mostly be for fun (don't need it for work but would use it for that sometimes) and some longer journeys (fun drives/ going skiing etc). One of the main reasons for getting it would be it's a last chance before petrol is gone, and I'd like a great driving car that is more powerful and sounds good.
Two cars I've seen that look very clean are a 2004 E46 330CI and a 2007 E92 330xi.
https://www.finn.no/car/used/ad.html?finnkode=2632...
https://www.finn.no/car/used/ad.html?finnkode=2550...
Has anyone experience of the E46 and E9x and how they compare? Is the E92 better to go for being newer and more powerful, or does it lose out on the driving experience like many other more modern cars? Is there much difference in reliability - from what I understand the M54 engine is probably more reliable as it was less complex? The E46 has the adaptive Xenons, which I've seen is a "must have" option. I've struggled to find comparisons, as all the comparisons that appear seem to be with the M3/M5s instead.
Is there anything in particular to look out for when buying either too?
For something with a little more power/fun and within my budget it looks to be a choice between a Golf GTI Mk. 5 or 6, an early Mk. 7 Golf GTE, or a pre-2012 BMW 3 series (up to a 330, the 335s and M3s go way out of budget). The car would mostly be for fun (don't need it for work but would use it for that sometimes) and some longer journeys (fun drives/ going skiing etc). One of the main reasons for getting it would be it's a last chance before petrol is gone, and I'd like a great driving car that is more powerful and sounds good.
Two cars I've seen that look very clean are a 2004 E46 330CI and a 2007 E92 330xi.
https://www.finn.no/car/used/ad.html?finnkode=2632...
https://www.finn.no/car/used/ad.html?finnkode=2550...
Has anyone experience of the E46 and E9x and how they compare? Is the E92 better to go for being newer and more powerful, or does it lose out on the driving experience like many other more modern cars? Is there much difference in reliability - from what I understand the M54 engine is probably more reliable as it was less complex? The E46 has the adaptive Xenons, which I've seen is a "must have" option. I've struggled to find comparisons, as all the comparisons that appear seem to be with the M3/M5s instead.
Is there anything in particular to look out for when buying either too?
I've had multiple e46 and e9x, for me the driver's car is definitely the e46 as the e9x is just boring in comparison.
That said I drive a e91 330d Sport because I couldn't find a nice e46 at the time, it never fails to disappoint against the e46, I way prefer my partner's 325Ti Sport, my daughter's 325Ti Sport or my Son's 330Ci Sport (we really like e46's).
So if you want a driver's car buy the e46 if you can find a decent one. If you want a newer but boring car buy the e9x.
That said I drive a e91 330d Sport because I couldn't find a nice e46 at the time, it never fails to disappoint against the e46, I way prefer my partner's 325Ti Sport, my daughter's 325Ti Sport or my Son's 330Ci Sport (we really like e46's).
So if you want a driver's car buy the e46 if you can find a decent one. If you want a newer but boring car buy the e9x.
I had an E46 330Ci for a number of years and currently have an E91 330i, both manual. The E46 is more fun to drive and looks better (especially in coupe form, the E46 is probably one of the best looking BMWs in my opinion). E9x is probably slightly quicker but not much in it. Both engines are lovely and will happily chase the red line, although the M54 in the E46 will be slightly easier to maintain than the N52 in the E9x (mechanical vs electrical water pump, no valvetronic), and significantly easier/cheaper to maintain than the N53 which is riddled with well-known and expensive issues (injectors, high pressure fuel pump, carbon build-up on intake valves, etc).
The biggest downside of the E46 is that they are much more rust prone than the E9x. I'm not sure what the market is like in Norway for these cars, but in the UK it's very difficult to find an E46 these days that doesn't have some form of rust, and generally it's the rust that you can't easily see that's the most problematic.
If you can find a rust-free and well maintained E46 I'd go for that, otherwise it's much easier to find E9x cars in decent condition partly due to them being newer but also the rust protection seems much better than the E46.
Xenons come highly recommended on both E46 and E9x as the halogen lights are poor on both. I wouldn't worry about adaptive xenons (where they rotate around corners); both models should come with bi-xenons that do both high and low beams with the xenon lamp, although very early E46s may have come with xenons in low beam only.
I have little experience of autos in these cars, so the only thing I can say is that the E46 will come with the ZF 5-speed and the E9x will come with the ZF 6-speed. Obviously being a newer box the E9x will probably shift quicker and feel a little less like a slush box auto, although I believe the difference between the ZF5 and the ZF6 is much smaller than the improvement to the ZF8 fitted to the later F3x series.
The biggest downside of the E46 is that they are much more rust prone than the E9x. I'm not sure what the market is like in Norway for these cars, but in the UK it's very difficult to find an E46 these days that doesn't have some form of rust, and generally it's the rust that you can't easily see that's the most problematic.
If you can find a rust-free and well maintained E46 I'd go for that, otherwise it's much easier to find E9x cars in decent condition partly due to them being newer but also the rust protection seems much better than the E46.
Xenons come highly recommended on both E46 and E9x as the halogen lights are poor on both. I wouldn't worry about adaptive xenons (where they rotate around corners); both models should come with bi-xenons that do both high and low beams with the xenon lamp, although very early E46s may have come with xenons in low beam only.
I have little experience of autos in these cars, so the only thing I can say is that the E46 will come with the ZF 5-speed and the E9x will come with the ZF 6-speed. Obviously being a newer box the E9x will probably shift quicker and feel a little less like a slush box auto, although I believe the difference between the ZF5 and the ZF6 is much smaller than the improvement to the ZF8 fitted to the later F3x series.
E46 M3 and (former) E46 330 Ci owner here.
These cars represent to me the sweet spot of driving pleasure without being overladen with tech. I'm currently looking for a relatively low mileage 325/330 Petrol Touring as a family wagon.
As others have said: finding a rust free one is the tricky thing. Do that and you will love it!
The E9n's are great cars, but just don't have the same soul, to me. I should add that I am totally stuck in the 90s/early 2000s in terms of my music, culture and attitudes, so just love the cars from this era too!
These cars represent to me the sweet spot of driving pleasure without being overladen with tech. I'm currently looking for a relatively low mileage 325/330 Petrol Touring as a family wagon.
As others have said: finding a rust free one is the tricky thing. Do that and you will love it!
The E9n's are great cars, but just don't have the same soul, to me. I should add that I am totally stuck in the 90s/early 2000s in terms of my music, culture and attitudes, so just love the cars from this era too!
Echo all the above that has been said. Both of the linked examples look very nice. The E46 has a v good spec (though I don't believe those are OE factory alloys).
NRS said:
The car would mostly be for fun (don't need it for work but would use it for that sometimes) and some longer journeys (fun drives/ going skiing etc). One of the main reasons for getting it would be it's a last chance before petrol is gone, and I'd like a great driving car that is more powerful and sounds good.
For me, that would tend towards an E46 especially if you can keep it clean and rust free.I had an E46 325ti for a few years and have since had an E90 330 and currently have an E92 335i.
The E46 coupe is a very pretty car, more so then the E92 although in my opinion that’s a car that’s grown into it’s looms over time probably because every new one gets uglier.
My E46 ownership wasn’t the best. I escaped the rust issue with mine being a compact (which bot seem to rust like the other models) but I suffered from every other common E46 issue….warped rad, thermostat, split expansion tank, water pump (basically the cooling systems of BMW’s of that era are made from chocolate), snapped rear springs and a healthy appetite for bushes and wishbones.
My E90 which was the sane age / mileage as the E46 then I bought that had one issue with VANOS actuators. Other than that it was just consumables and fuel.
Which is more fun? Hard to say. I did love my E46 despite it costing me a small fortune to run but I really loved my 330 and is one of the cars I miss the most.
I’ve generally found the N52 pretty reliable having had a 130i and my other half has a 125i (hers being a bit more reliable than the one in the 130i). The N52 suits a manual better in my opinion / experience but they’re pretty uncommon in the UK.
Would a 125i be an option? With a remap to get to 130i power and a few mods like M3 LCA’s and the camber pin mod they’re a whole heap of fun. More so than the E92 for sure.
The E46 coupe is a very pretty car, more so then the E92 although in my opinion that’s a car that’s grown into it’s looms over time probably because every new one gets uglier.
My E46 ownership wasn’t the best. I escaped the rust issue with mine being a compact (which bot seem to rust like the other models) but I suffered from every other common E46 issue….warped rad, thermostat, split expansion tank, water pump (basically the cooling systems of BMW’s of that era are made from chocolate), snapped rear springs and a healthy appetite for bushes and wishbones.
My E90 which was the sane age / mileage as the E46 then I bought that had one issue with VANOS actuators. Other than that it was just consumables and fuel.
Which is more fun? Hard to say. I did love my E46 despite it costing me a small fortune to run but I really loved my 330 and is one of the cars I miss the most.
I’ve generally found the N52 pretty reliable having had a 130i and my other half has a 125i (hers being a bit more reliable than the one in the 130i). The N52 suits a manual better in my opinion / experience but they’re pretty uncommon in the UK.
Would a 125i be an option? With a remap to get to 130i power and a few mods like M3 LCA’s and the camber pin mod they’re a whole heap of fun. More so than the E92 for sure.
g3org3y said:
Echo all the above that has been said. Both of the linked examples look very nice. The E46 has a v good spec (though I don't believe those are OE factory alloys).
Alloys are Style 403s off the F3x range IIRCNRS said:
The car would mostly be for fun (don't need it for work but would use it for that sometimes) and some longer journeys (fun drives/ going skiing etc). One of the main reasons for getting it would be it's a last chance before petrol is gone, and I'd like a great driving car that is more powerful and sounds good.
For me, that would tend towards an E46 especially if you can keep it clean and rust free.https://www.auto-treff.com/wcf/index.php?article/4...
d_a_n1979 said:
Indeed they are, pre-LCI. They were part of the pack that got you the bigger brakes with blue callipers and the HK sound system.Court_S said:
d_a_n1979 said:
Indeed they are, pre-LCI. They were part of the pack that got you the bigger brakes with blue callipers and the HK sound system.d_a_n1979 said:
Court_S said:
d_a_n1979 said:
Indeed they are, pre-LCI. They were part of the pack that got you the bigger brakes with blue callipers and the HK sound system.g3org3y said:
d_a_n1979 said:
Court_S said:
d_a_n1979 said:
Indeed they are, pre-LCI. They were part of the pack that got you the bigger brakes with blue callipers and the HK sound system.d_a_n1979 said:
g3org3y said:
d_a_n1979 said:
Court_S said:
d_a_n1979 said:
Indeed they are, pre-LCI. They were part of the pack that got you the bigger brakes with blue callipers and the HK sound system.
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