Quote:
Originally Posted by Tim Hancock
Just started looking at '99 and newer E46 BMW's. I will be dumping the wife's POS Audi soon and want to replace it with about a 100k mileage E-46 (stick shift). My old E36 325 with 288k on the clock has been very reliable. I am not concerned with any suspension issues as I am prepared to replace that stuff if needed, but I am wondering if engine long term reliability and gas mileage differs much between the different models/years.
I am only considering manual transmissions and performance is not a concern as our old 325 was plenty fast enough to serve as the wife's DD.
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The early E46 had issues with subframes tearing out. The anchors would rip from the structure in front the trunk. Expensive repair and BMW wasn't much help. We have a 99 328i with no issues, so I can't speak first hand, nor guess what exactly causes the problem. If I were buying again, I would try to get an '02 or newer.
On a 6,500 road trip that included some mountains, we averaged over 30mpg cruising at 80 with ac. Wife absolutely loves her car. Frankly, I like the older styling better than the newer edgier lines.
http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1027444&highlight=subframe