My first job was as a lot lizard at Holtz MB/BMW in '87.
Honestly, the tear down and reassembly wasn’t horrible. However, I did have to bring someone in who was more experienced at welding. That part took a good couple of hours.
And yes, you’re right about the possibility of free repairs, but once a car goes through a few owners, the factory is a bit more reluctant to offer the repair. Original owner? Not even a question.
We’ll see. My wife would sell hers at the right price.
NICE! I bet things havent changed a bit since then. lol. Most of the body shop guys worked there at that time are still there.
That repair looked like a pita, had to remove the whole rear subframe and gas tank, then have the truck towed to the body shop.
BUY AN E46!!!
I have a 2000 323i. Had it for a year. GREAT car.
The handling kicks ass and it is fun to drive as a daily.
Chassis is EXTREMELY stable. VERY forgiving and capable in the right hands.
I have a DINAN flashed ECU and the sport package.
The car gets 27mpg consistently with normal (not bitch) driving.
With a high mileage car you need to change:
water pump $100
PS tensioner pulley $35
PS idler pulley $30
sometimes window regulators like to take a shit
Check the subframe.
The engines are super solid
People cry maintenance but that is only if you go to the dealer for everything.
If you can do some of your own basic work the maintenance is bullshit.
Overall a great car and I would highly recommend it.
Had a 323ci. Fell asleep and did a backflip with it. At least thats what it felt like idk. Anyhoo. Upgrade the water pump to a high flow Stewart water pump. upgrade the rad to an aluminum one with the aluminum expansion tank, replace thermostat. You now have a solid cooling system with no flaws and dumped less than a grand in the car. Wheel bearings are easy as hell to do and not too pricey. The timing chain should be good for about 200k as long as the car is maintained. Fuck what the service indicator says and do your oil at least every 5k. oh ya make sure you use a good quality synthetic. i highly recommend you get a oil extractor if the car is lowered so that you can easily do oil changes on it without having to jack it up (mine wouldnt roll onto my ramps). Do the aforementioned sub frame check. Although word on the street is that only 2% of e46’s were affected (i doubt that). Oh ya. Front control arm bushings. polyurethane is a must. Replacing them with the OEM oil filled units is a waste of time. Specially if you drive the car hard. Also when the need arises replacing the control arms with the Mahle steel ball joint ones is highly recommended. id pick MPD’s brain if i were you. He seems to actually know his Bavarian beauties better than most on here.
Oh ya. i havent had the chance to confirm this yet but i hear that the 325 motor is actually more buildable than the one in the 330. Again i havent had a chance to confirm that or even play with either so take that with a grain of salt. Oh ya about e46 fanatics. Great site but for the most part like 98% of members make 98% of NYspeed look smart.
for a DD why are you going to pay more for the 330? fuck just 325/323 it and save the cash…
JUST an FYI with BMW… I’ve got about 25K miles on three BMW’s e30 325, e36 325, and E46 M3.
Power steering on the e30 and e36 had leaks e30 was in the rack, e36 I never cared it was barely a leak. and buying ATF for it and filling it when its low is super cheap… just pisses people when you leak in their driveway.
As for shit going wrong… I’ve had no problems… 14K on the M3, (some similar parts) and I’ve changed the oil, and fluids, about to change the pads…
e30 - 240K+
e36 - 214K+
e46 - < 90K
Thats all I got for ya… hope it helps
I think I’ve made about 30-40K buying and selling cars in the past 5 years lol.
I say forget about the S2K or 350z and buy a drop top M3 and be done.
Buy a 01 and up car they are not subject to rear subframe tearing, and they have the better steering wheels.
They are very solid cars, my car is at 100k and since new the things that were replaced were
power steering pump, which was my fault
voltage regulator
battery
1 ball joint
Camshaft positioning sensor
I’m not counting brakes and tires
Wow, thanks for the great responses people!
This really isn’t a window shopping thread, dj dstar… I don’t window shop $8k cars… I just want to make sure I get the right setup.
I knew about the rear subframes so i’ll keep that in mind… It sucks that I can’t get rid of my wrx unless I trade it in, so I’m keeping my eyes open at used car dealers for a decent 325 or 330.
I’ve noticed that the 330s are maybe a grand more than an equaily equipt. 325.
I really don’t plan to mod the car at all. I can see maybe a nice set of wheels and tires and that’s it. I really would like a wagon, but I can’t find any in a manual tranny setup… And, I really want the leg rest extenders for the seats, because IMHO it makes it a BMW.
If anyone comes across a decent deal, pm me…I’ve been on auto trader a lot and haven’t found too many within 100 miles of buffalo.
buy what ever car… and I’ll sell you my M seats. if you want the leg extenders
thats not true. only non sport models got the gay steering wheel. they had a tri-spoke version for the 99-00 models but they are still not the version you want…
I did a similar thing that you’re looking at… I went from one all around track/street car to two cheaper more focused cars (I have not yet purchased the track toy part).
For my daily I wanted a BMW 3 for around $10k. so it’s late E36 or early E46…
after all maintenance and mods I expect to be right at $10k, that was my plan from the start.
pros for E36 -
pros for E46
If you do go E46 I would try to get the newer 325/330 motors… I wouldn’t kick a 323 out of bed at the right price, but I would try to avoid them.
unless it’s a track car with urathane/solid bushings I wouldn’t worry about subframe issues etc… it can happen, but there are 50 threads on the internet warning people for every 2 cases that happen on a “street car”
What NON M models e36/46 come with a factory LSD?
I’m assuming cold weather packages?
none of the E46 ones get an LSD except for M
E36s are hit and miss… if you have a newer E36 with traction control then you probably don’t get an LSD, a lot of the early years had them but they are all worn out and work like an open diff. I wouldn’t pick an E36 based on LSD, you can add them for very cheap. In my case I’m going from a open 2.91 to a LSD 3.23 - I could have picked a 3.4x or a 3.9 if I wanted super aggressive.
if you want to tinker with the car, the E36 is the winner for sure… if you just want a nicer daily go E46.
this thread is all full of fail
but here: http://edgemotorworks.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=25&Itemid=55
/thread
the 99-00 tri spoke wheel sucks compared to the 01
Agree 100%
I chose the E36 over many many newer styled and supposed “better” cars just for the raw and nimble aspect. Plus you can probably sell an E36 for just about as much as you paid for it as long as you keep it in good condition.
I guess the reason why i don’t want an e36 is, i want a nice DD… the e46 is a bit more comfy and nicer on the eyes… not saying the e36 is ugly or anything… just less modern looking.
Hell, i’ll have the s2k for fun!
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sorry… I have to. Buy a 6000 dollar car… gut it and track prep it.
then for the DD get the e46 its comfy and won’t kill ya.
I don’t see the point in S2king it if you want to do anything remotely serious with it