my e46 330ci, how should i get rid of her...

[rich85uk]

afternoon all, i own an 03 plate facelift bmw e46 330ci. i paid 9k for her a year ago and it will spotless bar the drivers seat and armrest on the door(looked like the old owner liked to wear a big watch etc!!) its sapphire black with a rare light yellow nappa interior and if i do say so myself its a lovely looking car.

however after being cut up at a round about and not used to a car with big alloys and fancy tyres the front alloys are now curbed, and the front l/h side of the bumper has a small scrape on it (may t cut/buff out) and a very very common problem on these cars has happened the suspension bushes need replacing

apart from this its almost perfect, runs well im only 2nd owner, has never played up etc and my mate at a local bmw indy said if i got these issues sorted it would be a mint 330ci and worth the higher end of the price range on a private sale.

problem is im finding it hard to justify the running costs as im trying to save and would like to get rid of it before fuel prices go crazy.i could get all these issues fixed but its going to cost £££ that i dont really have and probably wont gain me anymore money on the car once you take away the price to put it right,time off work and general hassle. so im currently looking at 2 options.

stick it up for sale on here with a 100% honest advert, slightly lower price than other 330ci facelift models and see what i get. then privatly buy a newer cheaper car, ford fiesta, vauxhall astra etc.

px it against a newer cheaper car, take abit less as its a px but then not having the hassle of being without a car etc and let the place i px it find the faults. the only thing im worried about is say px value of my car is5.5k-6k, and i look at a 6-6.5k car from the garage or possibly a straight swap am i what the consider bad from the salesman point of view ( hardly any cash coming there way and a big engined px car) or will they be happy at the fact that they can stick my car up for 8k

ehat would you guys do??

[RobbieL]

I'd surprised if you got anywhere near 6-7k at the moment. I sold my 330ci coupe 2 years ago for 7.5k and it was immaculate, low mileage with FBMWSH - and I had it advertised for nearly 3 months at 7750.

They're not cheap to run and insure so you may be in for a bit of a shock when you try to sell it.

[GKP]

Can't you just push it into a canal?

[honest_delboy]

Need a few more details, SH? (full BMW?), mileage, Spec (Harmon Kardon,sunroof,MFSW) etc

Defo get the bushes sorted, some people may look past the wheels and scuffs. PX will be awful, try WBAC website for an idea...

[rich85uk]

honest_delboy said:

Need a few more details, SH? (full BMW?), mileage, Spec (Harmon Kardon,sunroof,MFSW) etc

Defo get the bushes sorted, some people may look past the wheels and scuffs. PX will be awful, try WBAC website for an idea...

sorry 2 owners, 03 reg, facelift model, fully loaded except satnav,sunroof and HK system. 85k milage, service history was full BMW from previous onwer except 1 where the stamp is missing, although he had the mot that would have tied in with that service at the same BMW garage he took it to all its life. im currenty getting it serviced at a local indy (very well known)

hmmm it almost seems like it isnt worth selling

[rich85uk]

oh and WBAC offered 5.5k when i tried about 2 months ago

[The Riddler]

Burn it with fire.

[Vetch]

Whats the real world mpg on a Beemer 330i then? I've heard they're pretty good considering the size of the engine?

[falkster]

Will it do any better than 25mpg??

[rich85uk]

it can do 35mpg on a gentle run, my last tank saw an average of 28.9mpg which was a mixture of gentle,town and the odd blast once warmed up

[gizlaroc]

rich85uk said:

oh and WBAC offered 5.5k when i tried about 2 months ago

And they will knock off £500 for the bumper scratch, £80 for each curbed alloy, and if they drive it and realise the front wishbones need doing, which is pretty much expected on these at around 80k miles, they will knock off another £600.


Mate, take it to a local garage, cough up the £1000 that it needs to make it right and put it up for what you really want for it.

Or put an honest advert up and hope for the best.

However, one thing to bare in mind is the amount of E46 330ci out there at the moment, there are over 400 on autotrader alone. I have been thinking about another E46 and have been looking at 328ci and 330ci's and there are some blinders out there, just saw an 03 plate sport today with 82k miles on it and the guy has said he would take £6300 for it. Now, when you say yours is fully loaded apart from Nav and Harman, what else is there?? The options that add money are nav and that is about it, Harman is a bonus, as are xenons and leather is expected.

I looked at a 328i sport yesterday that was mint, it was a 2000 but all the bushes, front wishbones and suspension was changed last summer costing £1400, the car felt seriously tight and pulled like a train, he said he would let that go for £3k.

Now, problem you have is when a car gets passed 5 years old buyers start to care more about condition than age, I couldn't care less if it was 7 years old vs 9 years, lets face it both are pretty old, it would be the one that felt the best that would get my money.

The one thing that will really help you sell it is decent photos in a nice location, the amount of cars that are advertised and the images of the cars are on some dodgy looking estate with someone shooting up in the background and a load of homies hanging in the 'hood is unreal!!
I live in a flat, but when taking pics of my car I use a nice backdrop...


Looks better than set against a load of bins that's for sure.

[dave_s13]

It's fully loaded apart from the things that would make it "fully loaded"...

You are going to lose a fair chunk of cash on this car, make no mistake.

Might be cheaper to keep it.

Edited by dave_s13 on Saturday 29th May 23:02

[gavner81]

I know where you're coming from on this, but its often false economy to sell a relatively thirsty car just to buy a more economical car, once you take into account all the costs associated with changing cars. Unless you do a huge annual mileage that is. If you're only doing 10-15k per year, the cost difference between 30mpg and 45mpg isnt that significant. My 120d (pre-efficient dynamics) only does 45 or so. Just do the sums before you decide.

[coley20]

Is it an M sport

If so I`d give you £5.5k for it, if you want a quick sale

Edited by coley20 on Saturday 29th May 23:10

Edited by coley20 on Saturday 29th May 23:11

[War Pig]

Start a thread on one of the biggest car websites, with a link to the car for sale. Oh.

Edited by War Pig on Saturday 29th May 23:23

[glencooley]

Same situation as the OP except mine is slightly older (2001) but its an individual car.

Wondering what you guys think its worth.

FSH, Wishbones done, 90k

Here are a couple of pics:

[joebongo]

I'll give you 3k for it.

[skyslimit]

Got to be said, thats why (check my posting history) my M Sport never went up for sale in the end.

As soon as I asked advice on here, I had a flurry of muppets sending mails asking if I'd take the price of a decent pair of shoes for it. Despite me stating in my posting history I wasn't about to let it go for peanuts.

Hence I decided to keep it, and enjoy it, just a little bit longer.

Glad I did. It's still a complete joy to drive

[glencooley]

Tempting but was hoping for more....

I'm not sure if the individuals have a bit of a premium or not?

[skyslimit]

glencooley said:

Tempting but was hoping for more....

I'm not sure if the individuals have a bit of a premium or not?

Nah, I saw the hook a mile off. Hence, no rant, just relaying my experience.

It totally amazed me though how many bothered with daft offers for mine, despite, stating in bold, not in any hurry to get rid (or even sure that I wanted to sell) and yet still the dafties came out the woodwork. Fair play sending sillyness if I had stated desperate seller, please ream me, but I was the opposite.

Selling cars, seriously, it's got harder in recent years, thanks to the rise of the retard in the UK

Edited to add, I love the colour on yours Glen. Classy indeed

Edited by skyslimit on Sunday 30th May 09:52