Bmw E46 320D As First Car?

[dingare]

Hey nice folks,

So, I'm contemplating getting my first car. Budget is between 2.5-3.0 million. What I want is a sturdy, comfortable and reliable car with decent fuel economy. Resale value is important, but not at the top of my priority list. There seem to be a few 320D cars out there.

Advice?

[Kavvz]

Hey nice folks,

So, I'm contemplating getting my first car. Budget is between 2.5-3.0 million. What I want is a sturdy, comfortable and reliable car with decent fuel economy. Resale value is important, but not at the top of my priority list. There seem to be a few 320D cars out there.

Advice?

No nice folks here D. You've been sadly misinformed. And how dare you consider anything other than a Honda Vezel? Shame on you!

(Welcome to Autolanka D. Nice choice of first car; I'm sure it'll prove to be an interesting accusation. Finding a 320d in good nick with extensive service records is key here I think, but I'll leave it to the 320d / BMW owners to advise you on that. Lucky for you there do seem to be a couple of passionate BMW owners here on the forum and I'm sure they'd be a good resource. All the best on your search.)

[tuner88]

there are few forum discussions on de same, I too read them when i was looking for my first car. E36 in my case, E46 was also a famous topic. please find some links below, ( i went with something else though not a beamer ), good luck mate, hope you find the best.

http://forum.autolanka.com/topic/10054-bmw-e46-320d-pre-facelift/

https://www.google.lk/search?q=e46+autolanka+site:forum.autolanka.com&espv=2&biw=1366&bih=621&sa=X&ei=ilrpVL7TDYKVuATOp4H4Cg&ved=0CCcQrQIoBDAA

[dingare]

No nice folks here D. You've been sadly misinformed. And how dare you consider anything other than a Honda Vezel? Shame on you!

(Welcome to Autolanka D. Nice choice of first car; I'm sure it'll prove to be an interesting accusation. Finding a 320d in good nick with extensive service records is key here I think, but I'll leave it to the 320d / BMW owners to advise you on that. Lucky for you there do seem to be a couple of passionate BMW owners here on the forum and I'm sure they'd be a good resource. All the best on your search.)

Vezel was my first choice because it's a really good jeep with 4x4.

(I kid, clearly).

Thanks. People have been nice so far

[AbeysinghE]

Hey nice folks,

So, I'm contemplating getting my first car. Budget is between 2.5-3.0 million. What I want is a sturdy, comfortable and reliable car with decent fuel economy. Resale value is important, but not at the top of my priority list. There seem to be a few 320D cars out there.

Advice?

wow.you got to be a different guy for sure..What made you choose a Euro car as your first car?????? BTW..that's a brave decision man..I owned E46 1800 cc Manual few years back and loved it you can go for a newer one for your budget. Mine was 1998 model.. Go for your choice man and good luck on you purchase..but don't ask me about maintenance cost as you can't compare it with a Jap car..If you are still worrying about relatively high maintenance cost compared to Jap cars..then Beamers are not for you mate...

Edited February 22, 2015 by AbeysinghE

[dingare]

wow.you got to be a different guy for sure..What made you choose a Euro car as your first car?????? BTW..that's a brave decision man..I owned E46 1800 cc Manual few years back and loved it you can go for a newer one for your budget. Mine was 1998 model.. Go for your choice man and good luck on you purchase..but don't ask me about maintenance cost as you can't compare it with a Jap car..If you are still worrying about relatively high maintenance cost compared to Jap cars..then Beamers are not for you mate...

I was looking around for various options for the budget that I had, and when I saw that the 320/320D was withing range, I figured why not! Because from what I've heard, there is sometimes an unnecessary fear among people on owning a European car. I know these things are built like tanks, are quite comfortable, and now that they've pretty much depreciated all they can, will hold the value better (do correct me if I'm wrong).

Plus, the rear-wheels being driven <3

[Dinukap4]

You would be shot in the head for using the words ''Resale value'' if you were in a BMW community they get really insecure.These are reliable if maintained well but not 'Toyota' reliable and the E46 is now a very old car its like a hooker who's pushing 50 they have been used and used and are full of diseases now unless you find a day one to today company maintained car which is unlikely because who owns a good e46 wouldn't sell them off and if they did it would be higher than your budget. As your first car you need to drive the car around town with your buddies showing it off and going thats my car I bought it with my hard earned money (or dads money) and not being at the garage every few weeks cursing the mechanics. Do yourself a favor and buy a newer model maybe 2008 ish or go for a Japanese Car.

Edited February 22, 2015 by Dinukap4

[Watchman]

You would be shot in the head for using the words ''Resale value'' if you were in a BMW community they get really insecure.These are reliable if maintained well but not 'Toyota' reliable and the E46 is now a very old car its like a hooker who's pushing 50 they have been used and used and are full of diseases now unless you find a day one to today company maintained car which is unlikely because who owns a good e46 wouldn't sell them off and if they did it would be higher than your budget. As your first car you need to drive the car around town with your buddies showing it off and going thats my car I bought it with my hard earned money (or dads money) and not being at the garage every few weeks cursing the mechanics. Do yourself a favor and buy a newer model maybe 2008 ish or go JDM.

Is there a particular reason you're recommending a JDM car and not a regular export model?

[zaradiyel]

Hey there,

One of my buddies has owned one for a few years and its been quite economican when it comes to routine maintenance.He usually takes it to Milroy but the quality out there has somewhat deteriorated over time,however there are ppl who know how to take care of beemers and most of the spares are readily available.

Beware of fuel pump issues as it would be a costly replacement.

Fantastic car to drive and to be driven in specially when the turbo kicks in in 320 D.

I hope you could go for the face-lift as it gives better fuel economy and power output.

All the best.

[zaradiyel]

Hey there,

One of my buddies has owned one for a few years and its been quite economican when it comes to routine maintenance.He usually takes it to Milroy but the quality out there has somewhat deteriorated over time,however there are ppl who know how to take care of beemers and most of the spares are readily available.

Beware of fuel pump issues as it would be a costly replacement.

Fantastic car to drive and to be driven in specially when the turbo kicks in in 320 D.

I hope you could go for the face-lift as it gives better fuel economy and power output.

All the best.Hope you will find one soon and enjoy the ride.

[zaradiyel]

Edited February 22, 2015 by zaradiyel

[Dinukap4]

Is there a particular reason you're recommending a JDM car and not a regular export model?

Sounds cool. I like to be cool.

[Janith Seneviratne]

its all about the past maintenance, especially in a diesel Beemer, most of them out there have a pretty bad maintenance record's, as with any euro you have to use the proper oil, proper diesel, and suspension overhaul every couple of years, preventive maintenance is a must, always take a proper Beemer Specialist(No Maka Bass) when you go look the car. if those things check's out it will be more reliable, and for option's wise Beemers are always ahead of time compared to a Jap of the same era, in a facelift E46 320d as its a common rail engine using something other than Super Diesel would make things worse watch out for that, in my personal opinion i would always go for a Gasoline, they are much more reliable and pretty much bulletproof engines, economical too,

Hope that help's

[The Don]

Hey nice folks,

So, I'm contemplating getting my first car. Budget is between 2.5-3.0 million. What I want is a sturdy, comfortable and reliable car with decent fuel economy. Resale value is important, but not at the top of my priority list. There seem to be a few 320D cars out there.

Advice?

A few pointers here.

1. There is absolutely no issue buying a BMW as a first car, but please only do so if you are really into cars and are willing to put in the time and effort to maintain it properly. The reason is unless you do so as these ladies are little old now, you might end up with an expensive problem in your hands. Most issues on BMWs are due to incorrect maintenance by people who know these cars.

2. Never buy a BMW because its cheap. If you find a cheap car its cheap for a reason, and with Euros its a lot better to pay a bit more and get a good example which will give you less hassle.

3. There are two versions of Diesel engines in the E46. The older conventional diesel and the newer common rail diesel. The common rail engine is a lot better in every way including reliability. If you can't find one for your budget its best to buy one with a M series petrol engine, which seems hardier than the early N series engines fitted to these.

4. The prices are stable and move with the rest of the market

But bottom line is, Resale value, fuel economy are not reasons to buy a BMW. Comfort and sturdy yes, but an involving drive is BMWs USP. But they do develop quite a few quirks as they grow older. The older Diesels seem to have quite a few issues, the ABS sensors need replacement, the seat belt sensors become buggy, the instrument clusters seem to develop problems amongst others. And in BMWs after a while you need new discs to be replaced with pads. But the single biggest issue is makabass involvement and cars which have been messed around and poorly maintained.

[Muditha420]

m gonna weigh in here.... came across few while hunting for another car. even though the beamer bug bit me after checking a few cars gave up. m sure there are well kept cars out there but the once came across were poor examples. the beading's around the windshields are literally brittle they sorta crumble in your hands... the buttons inside the car specially the air-con and window switches were ruined. where the sun hits or either to extreme heat the center console plus certain dashboard parts were like melted (similar thing have seen on Galants). these experiences were from the E36 and E39. E46 on the other hand seemed good and people did recommend to go for the petrol variant rather than a diesel. but by that time i had enough of them.

Still they do look pretty good though

It would be a good idea to get a car which has a decent record of being well kept, would relieve you of headaches. Don't the agents have pre-owned cars, remember seeing one at the agents near Nawala junc.

Edited February 23, 2015 by Muditha420

[madmax]

A few pointers here.

1. There is absolutely no issue buying a BMW as a first car, but please only do so if you are really into cars and are willing to put in the time and effort to maintain it properly. The reason is unless you do so as these ladies are little old now, you might end up with an expensive problem in your hands. Most issues on BMWs are due to incorrect maintenance by people who know these cars.

2. Never buy a BMW because its cheap. If you find a cheap car its cheap for a reason, and with Euros its a lot better to pay a bit more and get a good example which will give you less hassle.

3. There are two versions of Diesel engines in the E46. The older conventional diesel and the newer common rail diesel. The common rail engine is a lot better in every way including reliability. If you can't find one for your budget its best to buy one with a M series petrol engine, which seems hardier than the early N series engines fitted to these.

4. The prices are stable and move with the rest of the market

But bottom line is, Resale value, fuel economy are not reasons to buy a BMW. Comfort and sturdy yes, but an involving drive is BMWs USP. But they do develop quite a few quirks as they grow older. The older Diesels seem to have quite a few issues, the ABS sensors need replacement, the seat belt sensors become buggy, the instrument clusters seem to develop problems amongst others. And in BMWs after a while you need new discs to be replaced with pads. But the single biggest issue is makabass involvement and cars which have been messed around and poorly maintained.

DItto on all of the above. Although not my first car, my introduction to BMWs was a E46, a 1999 320d that I owned back in SL. Since then I have always had a BMW in my garage. Over the years I've owned 3 E46s (2-320Ds and a 325xi), 2 E90s(335i and M3) and now have a E70 X5. Hopefully next year I will have a F80 M3 or a F80 X5M, but either way I will always have a BMW in my garage. They are addictive cars and I like the progression from the older model to the new one. Not the cheapest to maintain even here in the US but truly worth the ownership. I've owned many makes and models of cars over the years but BMW is the only brand I keep going back to.

Edited February 23, 2015 by madmax

[asier]

Guys iv being eyeing for an e46 318i for few months now...but most cars i found online and contacted are there for months without selling..now im having second thoughts about having one..any one can give a probable reason for this???

[Rukster]

I dont think there is any specific reason... just the market forces and changes in demand I guess... there are lots of options in the market and cars of this vintage are getting afforable to many in terms of purchase price ... but for maintenace for most it will cost and arm and leg....

As many enthusiasts have suggested, always look for a well maintained specked out car that has a documented history on repairs, servcing and maintenance..

the pre facelift 320d E46 cars can run into many repairs concering their age and due to problems relating to diesel pumps, turbos, gear box and engines... if you are looking for a car from 1998-2002 look for a petrol M series engined car (M43 & M52) and from the facelift gen look for a commonrail diesel than a "n" series petrol engine...

Remember, if a BMW is cheap - walk away, unless you are willing to take a deep dive and get your hands dirty while making a hole in a your bank A/C

Good luck !!!

[ashsl]

i am gonna buy e46 soon. this thread helped me out