BMW E46 High Mileage....
 

I'm looking to get an E46 BMW between now and the end of july.

I would get a car on finance and get something a bit newer but i will be moving soon so i will just wait until next year. But i'll have around the 1500-2000 mark and you can get plenty of E46 for your money.

My question is, what experience do you guys have with E46 BMWs that have high mileage (80-90k+). Do they last well? Do they need much work if they have been serviced well?

I have seen some nice ones with service history. You can push for a 330 but these have 100k+ miles on them. I don't want to buy anything with over 110k on it really.

Do they still last a while? My dad had an old e30 that had about 150 on. He ended up scrapping it due to Faulty electrics, but then it was an old 80's car with lots of "modern electronics" on it. So i doubt this will be much of an issue on a car from 2000-2002.

Thanks in advance :thumb:

My brother is a bit of a BMW nut, he has had everything from E30's in standard form, 2.5 turbo converted and Skyline RB25DET conversion, he has also had some 46's in his time.

He had a E46 with high milage at 140k 330 and it was as sweet as a nut, you wouldn't have thought it had done that milage by looking at it or driving it, he did have to search for it mind you and I do seem to remember him saying the rear sub frames on the 46 can cause issues.

I believe the rear sub frame failures were confined to the coupe only.

My 330D is on 99k, is still in very good condition and drives perfectly OK - and I was offered £4k for it as a trade-in last year. I do wonder what condition a similar car would have to be in for it to be up for sale at £2k.

If you're not going to be keeping it all that long, I'd suggest sticking with something like a 320i rather than stretching to the bigger engine and having to look at tatty cars that are cheap for a reason.

The diesel ones are worth far more than the petrol. From what I've seen, it's either a 318/320 or a 330i that is in this price range. Probably due to the high fuel costs of 330i and typical low spec on the 318s & 320s.

Will have a look in to the subframe issues.

Are there any other common faults for either the coupe or saloon?

Well the saying goes, 100k miles and it's just broke in.

I will txt my bro and ask, I wouldn't get to hung up on milage providing it has support service history though

Spoke to my bro and yes sub frames were an issue where they would crack the boot floor and the turbo on diesel models seem to give up after 170k in the cars he has had.

Other than that they seem to be pretty good, that's his views and what he is Is aware of as known issues

I've just sold a 328Ci, good cars, the rear floor issue is mainly on the early cars, 323's and 328's. The floor went on mine, but I managed to blag BMW to fix it. 325's and 330's shouldn't have any issues.

The petrol sixes will do tons of miles as long as they're looked after, 100k is **** all.

Thanks for all the help and replies. It put a bit more confidence in what I am looking for.

I'd say they are good for high miles.

Our 330ci has done around 110k iirc, and runs & feels great.

They have a number of niggly faults to look out for though, rusty front arches, nackered cooling system (water pump and other bits tend to fail by 80k), fsr failure, front lower arms...

I've had to do them all on ours in the 3-4 years we've had it.

I did the water pump & thermostat as a precaution when I got it, but when I checked the rad it was badly bowed, so I ended up doing the lot.

Ours will be up for sale soon, but I'll be looking for more than 2k.

I'm in a similar situation at the min... been offered a Y reg 330ci M Sport with 114k on it for £1600

... although it needs 2 rear tyres and a rear brake caliper, seems abit of a bargain and drives well.

Any thoughts from BMW owners??

What year is yours and how much would you be looking for?


seems ok, but based on what you need to replace, you may be able to find something better, judging by what i have seen on Autotrader

i have had 2 bmw's.the first was a box standard 318se.i bought itwith 116,00 miles,had it for a 2 years and had no problems at all.

my other is a 320(2.2) m-sport with 88k on the clock(2004)black,fsh,tinted windows and the m-sport extras and in very good cond inside and out.a friend is borrowing it for a wedding later this month then might be up for sale but want more than 2k.

E46 can be had really cheap nowadays and IMO are one of the best buys for the budget money depending on your practicality you need, the touring seem to be a bit more due to family car etc, the lower mileage ones seem to hold the value than higher milers but as long as the high milers have been looked after I.e regular services etc then just as good IMO, just look out for the usual second hand car checks as you would.

Sounds like a bargain to me if it's definitely a sport. Just make sure you check front & rear arches for rust, check climate control (if fans fluctuate or run with ignition off ut needs a new fsr), ask if thermostat & water pump have been replaced and check for knocking from frobt suspension.

Our is a 2000 x 330ci in steel blue:

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5189/...82517c61_b.jpg

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5069/...3c4288e0_b.jpg

When I looked recently, 330ci's seemed to be advertised from around 2k up to around 3k for an se, and a bit more for a sport (prefacelifts) - but I'll check again before I advertise within next couple of weeks.

That looks amazing, nice one :thumb:

IMO these were the nicest shape 3s and the E39 5 series from the same time was the nicest shape 5. Best BMWs made IMO, before they went all angular and too full of electronics!

Sorry to butt in but Im hoping to buy a 325ci coupe sport on an 02 plate today, has 118k on it, not bad mileage from what I can find around 2-3k, the guy wants 1800 for it, good price? Its leather trim in good condition with new MOT.

Great looking cars these, I was going to get another classic scoob but seem to get more fir your money with these.

Sounds good to me!! If it's tidy then that's a good price imo.

I bought my manual 330d sport saloon over three years ago with 120,000 miles on the clock, she's now remapped to 245bhp/370lbft and has done 173,000 and hasn't missed a beat, its been the best car I've owned

Have a look on bmwland or bimmerforums, 250,000 is easy for a diesel bmw, well the m57 lump anyhow.