My E46 is a bulletproof tank in reliability, my advice: Drive it as much as possible because that's when it is at its happiest, E46 doesn't like to sit in the car park
Bought a 325ci last Friday. Wasn’t sure at first, then I took it on a twisty road and the handling is unbeatable. Paid £3k for a low mileage well maintained example, great value for money - highly recommend
The handling is out of this world for the E46... I like take mine down 25W on a twisty road I like to call snake way and drifting the E46 is even more satisfying
I have a 2003 330i and tried to buy a new one but it felt like I’m driving a computer and felt no connection. I took my old one, had a repainted again and the guy asked me why! After I got it back from him, he had a big smile on his face and said “It drives really nice”. Glad to see the E46 love is building up, it’s a special car and you feel so in control and connected. It’s not about the HP, it’s about the quality of the drive. I do wish I had the manual, maybe a swap one day.
as far as the 328 vs 330, you can slap on a 330 intake manifold + camshaft, or even a 330 head, since its all the same bore. The m52Tu burns less oil than the m54 due to the better designed pistons, but you can't go wrong either way.
😂 I love your passion 👍. I know EXACTLY how you feel - for 10 years I owned a 2000 325i E46 - midnight blue with oyster upholstery. It looked absolutely gorgeous and was the most phenomenal driving experience (in performance and comfort) - but it required constant and EXPENSIVE maintenance and repairs. Now retired, I drive a VW Golf - extremely reliable, super economical (5.2 L/100 km), unpretentious (pedestrian - basically a shopping trolley) and at 170,000 km and 8 years old, has not caused me any major issues. BUT - compared with my gorgeous BMW - it is soooo boring. To keep your passion - observe regular maintenance. Happy Beemer motoring 😉
I have 2004 e46 325i, already own 6-7 years now. When i started got this one, spend some money to make me satisfied to drive. not too much problem after that. Still running until now. It reliable car.
I have the same bmw, not the same, but close enough e46 fl coupe 2d with 130kw. It's so fun car, i love it. I had this car for 6 year. I don't won't to sell this masterpiece.
I bought a 2005 330ix from an original owner which is in great shape engine wise but cosmetically needs work... first and foremost, the front and rear light assembly need to be modernized. I have found some reasonably priced none OEM full assemblies, but hesitant to buy them due to comments from buyers that they are leaky, flicker, don't work after a year!! Any recommendations on the light assemblies from and rear??
I bought a 2005 330ci last year for $3500 and put over $4000 into maintenance but it really is worth every penny you spend maintaining these cars, do I wanna sell it ,NOO but I wanna get me a zhp 4 doors now
I have owed many bmw's my dad even worked for bmw the e46 330i is not a raw car and had to many electronics to assist the driver. This review does not make sense.
M52tub28 my first e46, I Have had e46 330i, 325ci, and 328i. I sold my 328i, and at the moment only have my 325ci, I completely regret selling my 328i. The amount of torque it had was way better than my my 325i and very comparable to a 330. After 330km on my m52tub28 stock with just headers, it still dynoed at 193hp at the wheels and 210tq… unbelievable..
The experience! 🎉 Yes! Puts a smile on my face every single time. The ultimate driving machine, the beast whose a queen and a little girl princess too ❤
I installed that one ,also silicone radiator hoses ,CSF radiator , high performance water pump( Stewart ) , high performance, thermostat( barbarian), boot intake silicone ,ECS aluminum vacuum hose F- connector, fuel lines are silicone, silicone vacuum lines as well ,m56 aluminum valve cover , all pulleys replaced ,all belts replaced , Plus oil housing gasket, and pan oil gasket, lower control arms bushings ( polyurethane) by powerflex , k& n air filter and Liquid Molly motor oil , Michelin Pilot Sport 4s all around ,
@@youonlyliveonce2556 Perfect!!! I have nearly the same setup and still had some issues, the cam position sensor went out and the vanos needed to be rebuilt. The symptoms were stalling randomly at red lights and major loss in power, it also put the car in limp mode a couple of times so I replaced the transmission fluid after. It has been great ever since, put about 20k miles on since then. The vanos refresh kit cost $150 and the cam position sensor for both pieces was $45, no problemo just make sure you do all the work yourself if things go sour. The shop I was going to go to because I didn't have time to do it myself wanted to charge me close to a grand. I said screw that, I took the bus to work for a couple days and worked on it when I got home saved a ton of money. The Pilot Sport 4's must be awesome, I have Falken Azenis currently and they're alright. Want those Michelins next for sure
Man you keep making these amazing videos I will never be able to sell any of my babies haha Absolutely amazing work from you and Sherry! Thank you for having me again on the channel. Always a blast!
I got my 330Ci 6 speed manual for 3500€ on 2019 and I plan to keep it for many years. It's probably one of the bang for your bucks on the market if you enjoy analogue cars and fun drives
I had an E46 facelift car. Amazing road feel. Loved the size and styling. For 12 yrs zero issues, then something expensive failed. My only beef with the car is that I found it woefully underpowered. Don’t remember the exact numbers, but I think it had like 125hp. Adequate (modestly) in 2002, but pretty sad today especially since we’re talking anout a fairly large displacement 6-cylender engine. I would have expected a good bit more.
I recently bought a nice cheap 323Ci(M52TUB25). The maintenance is quite high compared to a Toyota or a VW(talking about Europe) but it won’t break the bank if there aren’t any catastrophic issues with it. Just take care of it and it will be very reliable
Nice to see proper video about the 328 xx Doesn't get enough love. Outside of the M, most people are all about the 330, or 325. My 328 always needs something doing it, but love it so much regardless.
The ZHP is only an american model variant and the guy who posted this obviously isn't in america. The 328i isn't as fast as the 330i but the engine is better, the m52tu doesn't suffer the same oil consumption issues as the m54 because of the piston rings. Its just a better engine design, but it has less power obviously. No e46's suck and honestly no e46's are "fast" besides the m3 at present day.
@@kylepatton2423 i never said it wasn't i just argued for why a 328i doesn't suck in any way and why the engine is actually better if u don't want oil consumption issues.
I had a 2001 325ci 5 speed and I sold it a year ago. Regret it I definitely am planning on finding another prefacelift e46 coupe. Definitely one of the best handling cars I’ve driven.
I have had my 04 325i sedan for 13 years now and I always told myself I will never sell it as long as it runs. Did a few mods to it and it was a great experience. I enjoyed every km driving this car. Sadly, it has been spending more time in workshop than on a street for the past 2 years, so I've decided to sell it. The issues started to pile up, from noisy dashboard fan, coolant tank, brake hose, gaskets, exhaust, faulty instrument panel, to engine misfires, suspension, bushing and steering rack. Also, rust became a problem and I had a small crash during winter (suprisingly not while drifting on a snow :)) The car has done 246k, 140k by me. I simply could no longer have a daily car that breaks every 2 months. So I bought a well maintained F20 M135i with manual transmission and boy it is SO much better compared to E46 :) Don't hate me, but it simply is. You have to realize that E46 is now 20+ years old car and it shows. The steering is very communicative yes, but not very fast, engine response is a bit lazy (not a problem with 328i though), handbrake is weak, brakes tend to wobble after you've done a few thousand kms on them (had mine replaced 3 times and it always started doing that), steering is very sensitive to any imbalance in wheels and tyres, the car rolls quite a lot, even with M packet anti-roll bars (H&R ARB solves that), M54 engine likes oil and you need to put N98, otherwise it's lazy, and I could probably think of a couple more weak points. What I'm trying to say is that even though I love E46 to death and I still enjoy driving it despite having a much better car now, newer cars are simply better in most areas and it's time to move on. The car is too old, needs a lot of maintenance and it has been surpassed in many ways by newer cars. Personally, if someone wants to buy E46, I would only recommend a well maintained one, M3, 325i or 330i coupe with M packet, and only for weekends, not as a daily car.
@@capncook5872 The rear lights on the E46 don't match ! 😆 It's as though the person designing the boot lid wasn't talking to the person designing the rear wings.
@@capncook5872 yes, the clear lense on the wing doesn't match the clear lense on the bootlid. Looks odd to me. Plus I prefer the overall proportions of the E39.
