E46 BMW, any thoughts?

BrianSD_42

BrianSD_42

New member
Hi,

I have a buddy who is thinking of selling his 2004 330CI, sport with a 6 speed manual. It only has 67k and seems like a good buy.

Any thoughts on these bimmers?
 
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Buddy had one of those, he loved it, thats a good combo ya got there. I'm sure some here will say they are unreliable, but reliability and fun don't always go together. 6cyl RWD 6 speed is an awesome combo.

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Brian,

No pics? It is a great car. Thinking of buying it?

Smooth six. No major problems that I know of but like the 3rd gen 4runner, I am sure it has its quirks. Just troll some of the message boards.

The only strike against it is that the labor rates for BMW mechanics can be outrageous. German electronics seems to always be the caveat emptor for older BMW buyers.
 
They are very special on everything.

Windshield Wiper fluid needs to be from the BMW dealer or it won't work. It clogs the filter. Trust me I know, I've done this before.
 
LittleCaesar said:
Brian,

No pics? It is a great car. Thinking of buying it?

Smooth six. No major problems that I know of but like the 3rd gen 4runner, I am sure it has its quirks. Just troll some of the message boards.

The only strike against it is that the labor rates for BMW mechanics can be outrageous. German electronics seems to always be the caveat emptor for older BMW buyers.
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Thanks. I am considering swapping my current DD (2001 Camry w/88k mi) for the 330CI if I like it. I have owned my 4Runner for years and it is paid off.

I wont get to test drive it until late next week but I will let you guys know what I think afterwards.

I agree about the mechanic. My Toyota mechanic is great but I don't know of any BMW shops so I would have to do some research.

All of you input is appreciated though.
 
brianemc2_42 said:
Thanks. I am considering swapping my current DD (2001 Camry w/88k mi) for the 330CI if I like it. I have owned my 4Runner for years and it is paid off.

I wont get to test drive it until late next week but I will let you guys know what I think afterwards.

I agree about the mechanic. My Toyota mechanic is great but I don't know of any BMW shops so I would have to do some research.

All of you input is appreciated though.
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All German Auto in Escondido is my favorite shop for any German car. Family owned, super knowledgeable, prices are decent too.
 
Had a 2003.5 BMW M3 with SMG. I love driving it. But, it sure had quirks!!

1. Randomly, i would get lock INSIDE my car! Basically, the inside pull handle will randomly go out. So, i had to roll down the window...reach awkwardly outside all the while twisting my arm to lift the outside door handle. BMW never found the cause of it...even when it happened at the dealership. Oh yeah, it looked so ghetto on a date when you're locked inside your own car!

2. The dash electronics would occasionally turn off and back on again...resetting everything.

3. And oh boy, those high performance Michelin tires...wow, they are costly!!!!! But, that is the price you have to pay for a high perf car! :zoom:
 
Dilong26 said:
To me that was the generation of BMWs that looked awesome. The new ones these days, I find butt ugly.
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I too used to dig the E46 a lot more than the E90 but the E90 has really grown on me, much like I didn't used to like the 4th gen 4runners but now I like many of the ones I see.

One of my favorite BMW's would be a '03 540i M-Sport six speed. Ahh, timeless!

OP - do it!
 
My inlaws bought a 2004 325ci right before the snow fell at the end of October (~42K miles on it), they then parked it in my garage since until spring. Because of this I can't comment much on the reliability or anything as its' barely moved in the 4 months they've had it, but I did drive it 8 hours for them as they bought it in Calgary and had to drive back to Grande Prairie and I gotta say it was a fantastic car to drive!

Even with the smaller 2.5L it felt it had tonnes of power, even though it's an auto. Their's is fairly loaded too with leather, adaptive xenon lights, harmon kardon stereo etc. and it's a sweet looking ride. Definately one of my favorite years of bimmers.

I read somewhere, maybe on a bmw forum or here, from a guy that owned a lexus then a bmw. His quote was "you drive a lexus, you wear a bmw", I couldn't agree with him more. The car felt as if it was part of you.
 
Yea, you will like it. No doubt. Up against an M, you could say it is a dog. Against your Camry, I think you know. I hope to see pics though before you buy it. But take it to a mechanic unless you clearly know the history of this 330.

If 4RunningDaily's guy is good, then I would not worry so much about repair labor costs. But again, if you think OEM Toyota parts are expensive, BMWs are at another level.

FWIW: My brother lives in Charlotte NC and many of the trendy banking yuppies had these cars before the crash. Now he is detailing them for sellers on the weekend and seeing them go from 12K to 17K depending on year with all under 100,000 miles with some well below that mileage.
 
gptoy96 said:
Their's is fairly loaded too with leather, adaptive xenon lights, harmon kardon stereo etc.
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The xenons on BMWs are cool...they dance up and down when you turn on the engine. The HK stereo positively suck balls!! Horrible sound...muffled muddy sound. Damn, i tried to love the HK on my M3...but damn, it sucked badly! Sad to say, but my JBL stereo in my little Prius blows the HK system out of the water! That was one horrible stereo system!
 
Thai said:
The xenons on BMWs are cool...they dance up and down when you turn on the engine. The HK stereo positively suck balls!! Horrible sound...muffled muddy sound. Damn, i tried to love the HK on my M3...but damn, it sucked badly! Sad to say, but my JBL stereo in my little Prius blows the HK system out of the water! That was one horrible stereo system!
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Ya the xenons are sweet, the way they "test" themselves and rotate around when you fire it up is fun to watch. There's a 90 degree corner down the road from me and you can watch them move as you drive through the corner, really sweet!

I didn't get much of a chance for the stereo, their's is a convertible so road noise is a bit louder, and I couldn't find my ipod adaptor in time, so I basically only had terrestrial radio (which doesn't have much for options over that drive) so I just enjoyed the sound of the motor basically.
 
They're nice cars and should hold their value well. The only thing that worries me with them is the labor rates and whatnot. When I was looking heavily for an e46 M3, I read up a lot about the 3-series in general and looked at a bunch. As far as I can remember, there were no extremely serious issues to report, especially not for an 04. I believe 01 had something big that was recalled.

I'm a BMW fan. Even though I had to give up on the M3, I'd love to own a Bimmer in general one day. Go for it!
 
I owned an E36 M3, and several BMW's since then. Great cars to drive, when everything is working. They seem to be prone to electrical gremlins. My advice would be not to own one outside of the warranty.
 
sorry not yet.

the guy is supposed to come back from Sea on the 14th and I can drive it on 15th.

i will take pics.

he isnt really a buddy, more of an aquantince.
 
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