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Registered
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Surfside Beach, South Carolina
Posts: 45
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Which year would you choose?
Hey gang, right now I am in the market to purchase another BMW. My first car was an '84 318i that took me from high school through college... An amazing little 4-banger she was! I'm now driving a VW Passat but I've decided to go back to a BMW as I miss every aspect of BMW ownership. Specifically I am looking at models between 2001 to 2007, so my question for you all was there a year I should avoid due to more problems than usual??? Thanks for any advice~
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03-15-2009, 09:26 AM
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Registered
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Sacramento CA
Posts: 1,147
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Based the experiences of my wife, my boss, and my sister, and a conversation with a dealer mechanic, the early e46s had more issues than the later ones, particularly the Ms. Based only two data points, my bosses 2003 and my wife's 2004, they must have worked out all the bugs by 2004. His 2003 was in the dealer a dozen times on warranty (coil failure, multiple window and sunroof failures, alignment problems, brake problems), but has been pretty good since then. My wife's 2004 330 has been virtually trouble-free since day one.
I personally don't care for the current 3-series styling, interior or exterior. |
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03-16-2009, 06:26 AM
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Friend of Warren
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Lincoln, NE
Posts: 16,497
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I am a fan of the E46 and own one. Just from the aspect of the rear sub-frame problem on a number of the 1999-mid 2001 E46's, I would avoid those years.
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Kurt V No more Porsches, but a revolving number of motorcycles. |
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03-17-2009, 07:04 AM
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Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 10
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Ours (early '99 automatic) has 160K miles and except for an A/C compressor and the usual BMW stuff (water pump, coolant expansion tank, thermostat) it has been a great car.
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03-26-2009, 08:17 AM
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Join Date: Apr 2009
Posts: 5
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Late model E46 (facelift) with a 6cyl. enigne. M54s are bulletproof and build quality comapared to earlier E46s and current 3er is great. A 330 may sound appealing but that nose is too heavy and that engine too strong for an ordinary chassis (i.e. non-M-prepared). So a 325 or perhaps a silky 320 (2.2ltr 6Cyl.)
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04-10-2009, 03:32 AM
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