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jlj

Is this a good specimen?

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Door trims don't seem to match the dash trims. 

It doesn't look like Nappa leather either, just the standard stuff, which isn't very nice at all tbh. You can confirm though by running the last 7 digits of the vin through a BMW vin decoder (loads on Google). 

Otherwise, looks nice and clean. 

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Is this sort of post frowned upon? 

I read the what to look for, however that information cannot be gleaned from the ad.

Was simply hoping for some e46 enthusiasts to possible look at the ad and its specs and say, yeah this might be worth checking out or GTFO thats rubbish for the money. 

The guide then comes into play when I go out to look at the car.

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It's so hard to tell from pictures, the true reflection of a car, especially when your going to spend your hard earned cash on one. I was mearly pointing out, that it might be better to go view it, but taking all the points from the guide, as it does look nice.

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Hi TriggerFish,

2 minutes ago, TriggerFish said:

Door trims don't seem to match the dash trims. 

It doesn't look like Nappa leather either, just the standard stuff, which isn't very nice at all tbh. You can confirm though by running the last 7 digits of the vin through a BMW vin decoder (loads on Google). 

Otherwise, looks nice and clean. 

Yeah, I am waiting on the VIN to do exactly that.

The trims not matching sounds alarming, are you thinking an accident or a botched DIY? 

This nappa leather claim possibly not being true is a bit disconcerting.

I have not heard of a Sports Individual model, is this something special?

Price wise how does it look? I tried a couple of valuation sites, and came back with a max of between 3 - 4k.

Jon

 

 

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Hmmmm not frowned upon, but this forum is seriously not very active these days so you will get advice but not in a very timely fashion.

I have a 54 plate 330ci sport auto vert in a better colour which has every option ticked possible but the one in your ad has a few porkies told as Joe (above) has said. The leather isn't special order, some of the trim doesn't look right, the miles are OK, the spec doesn't look particularly high either. These cars came with a lot from the factory but that one hasn't got any more than most. My car is coming up to 78,000 miles and I've had it 18 months now - i bought it on 57k miles with one owner and full BMWSH and it was as if it came out of the factory the week before. Mine had a matching hard top too.

There's lot of these around - go and drive a few, you'll know which feel tight and sorted and looked after. Mileage shouldn't scare you but there are tons out there with sub 100k miles for the same money.

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Individual just means that something was ticked on the "Individual" options list - as Triggerfish has said just get hold of the last 7 digits of the VIN and you can find the original factory build sheet free online. A car being Individual doesn't make it any better than another but may have different colour trims or leather or paint finish - the car in your ad has none of those things.

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Its not that bad, three punters already!

Actually I was looking for higher mileage, my rationale being that once you have done 120k plus, most of the consumables will have needed addressing, bushes, springs, etc.

What did you pay for that 18 months ago?

Did you buy it private or trade? was it listed anywhere special?

 

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I wouldn't be too concerned with the trims not matching. It's at least 10 years old now (forget the exact age of that one). The carbon cube trim on the dash has a horrid texture, so the fact it's gone from the grab handles is a blessing IMO. I'd look to remove the rest of it if I purchased it. (Carbon cube removal was the first thing I did to my current e46!)

Rich has answered the rest of your points :)

What sort of quality you'll get, I don't know, but the e46 owners group on Facebook has some cheaper cars kicking about. If they're all dogs or not, I don't know

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I'm new here and have been following various Vert's for about 6 weeks now. This one, complete with cream leather, was taken off Autotrader about a week and a half ago. I say this one as it had exactly the same number plate, mileage etc. It then appeared back on Autotrader with black leather and a reduced price from £4,400. Obviously also on eBay and it appears it is now sold. The eBay add also reads as though it's a private sale whereas, the Autotrader add was definitely through a dealer. BJM Autos or something.

 

It all seemed dodgy enough for me not to bother, whatever the price.

 

As for availability, someone above alluded to the fact there were 100's out there. Sorry mate, there aren't. My spec requirements maybe somewhat restrictive, I've got 5 in my saved ads on Autotrader. I've not looked at any yet so it's likely that at least 60% of the 5 will be not as described so that suggests only 2 out there would suit my needs. Pricing is also all over the place. Private sales at higher prices than dealers for similar cars. Some dealer cars at north of £8k WTF. I phoned one and asked if it was an "M" and he'd left that detail out of his ad. He didn't like my inference that he may be a tad overpriced.

 

Mind you, I guess it's par for the course when buying a 2nd hand car. You have to kiss a lot of frogs. Shame there are very few private sales and virtually none on here. I'd prefer to buy from an enthusiast than someone who just shifts any old metal for profit. 

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Sorry "mate", there are loads. I only had a few minutes to find a couple of facelift 330ci cars and i only looked on eBay, not even Pistonheads or Autotrader or Facebook groups or google searching or anything else that is a few more clicks away.... and I'm not even looking hard.

Personally, I'd go for the last car, - lucky number 10 - this is a good spec, btw - and will give you double the MPG of the petrol.

If you need any more help then just let me know. No affiliation to any of these and other than a cursory check to make sure they aren't cat C or D then they are all viable purchases that need to be test driven or looked at further. 

Here's 1) http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-330-CI-Sport-Convertible-/332006723006?hash=item4d4d248dbe:g:98gAAOSwmLlYBknr

And 2) http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-330ci-M-Sport-Auto-Convertible-2005-E46-in-Imola-Red-with-Hardtop-/182406957364?hash=item2a784d4934:g:VvgAAOSwZQRYa6Kv

And 3) http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-330ci-Convertible-M-sport-2004-Automatic-/162332425395?hash=item25cbc43cb3:g:pn4AAOSw241YWP-A

And 4) http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2005-BMW-3-SERIES-330CI-SPORT-FULL-HEATED-ELECTRIC-LEATHER-CONVERTIBLE-PETROL-/252669490542?hash=item3ad446756e:g:RrgAAOSwx2dYGzPz

And 5) http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-330-CI-M-SPORT-AUTO-GREY-2004-CONVERTIBLE-PX-BMW-330D-530D-subaru-/192066504018?hash=item2cb80e4552:g:tIgAAOSw241YZ9aR

And 6) http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2005-BMW-3-Series-330-CI-M-Sport-Convertible-Automatic-Auto-/152374181805?hash=item237a357fad:g:~9YAAOSwHsRYDzKK

And 7) http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2005-54-BMW-330-CI-SPORT-CONVERTIBLE-AUTO-ONLY-79-000-MILES-/182345433227?hash=item2a74a2808b:g:-g4AAOSwImRYH630

And 8) http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-330-CI-M-SPORT-AUTO-AUTOMATIC-330-MSPORT-M-SPORT-CONVERTIBLE-SMALL-M3-/252693073101?hash=item3ad5ae4ccd:g:qQAAAOSwEzxYXFHq

And 9) http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-3-SERIES-330-ci-sport/302147248423?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D38661%26meid%3D5c8746c4cf5b4806a4de59ea626ab75a%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D5%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D252693073101

And 10) http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2005-BMW-330D-CONVERTIBLE-M-SPORT-GREY-CI-330-3-SERIES/201755979989?_trksid=p2047675.c100009.m1982&_trkparms=aid%3D888007%26algo%3DDISC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D38661%26meid%3Dc05054008e5b41908dec43ec7d39a0c6%26pid%3D100009%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D2%26sd%3D322375654106

Edited by Rich (BoxClever)
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And by the way, having an M on the log book was down to whichever person was keying in the new car info at the DVLA at the time as most are recorded as Sports and not MSports. It's the same car anyway, but it seems the last year or so of production the dealers all started registering them as MSports. Go and see a few, mate, get some real experience.

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To add to Rich's point, my first e46 was a sport model from the factory, bit just recorded as '330d' on the log book. (and 330d se with most insurance firms, oddly.) Don't get too hung up on what the log book says - what the chassis number tells you is much more authoritative. :)

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Rich, Thanks for taking the time to link that little lot. The Imola Red one I had not seen but it's not for me. As I said in my post, I have quite a restrictive options list which obviously makes the ideal car much rarer. Must haves are 330ci petrol, auto, factory nav, 6 CD, less than 100k miles, heated seats. Nice to haves are dark exterior and cream interior and the HK Ice. I think 1 on your list of 10 was in the ball park and is on my short list to view.

Trigger & Rich, I lead you astray with the "M" comment. I meant to write "M3" because at that price level we were almost in "M3" territory. I was really just challenging the dealer on his pricing as it was probably £4k overpriced for a non "M3"

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Yeah, it got sold, must be decent demand out there.

I signed up to the e46 sellers page on facebook, a few cars on it, questionable looking sellers though.. or it could just be me. 

Rich interesting list, I think they probably didn't show up as I kept my distance to 40 miles from London.

Significantly higher across the board than the 3-4k I wanted to spend, would have thought I could get a e93 with just a bit more. 

Number 10 seemed a bit pricey with its dodgy electronics. Not sure how the boot is not completely standing out if he missed it in a respray, and why he didn't get it done afterwards.

The search goes on.. 

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The moment you're spending more than £2k on a car then you need to be looking out of area and be prepared to travel a few hours, especially if the car is ticking all the boxes for you. 

But I also would be prepared for paying strong money for the better cars - £5k will buy you a great one, And don't kid yourself as the £3k car that looks too good to be true will need bringing home and want about a grand freshening up both the cooling and suspension pretty quickly  

And a quick word about HK - do not have this on your tick list as it is not a great improvement in sound at all. These cars run on weird ohm'age and if you are picky about music fidelity then all the kit including the wiring will either be stripped out or made redundant. 

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I was looking at this one the other day

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/E46-330ci-Convertible-M-Sport-/122287495123?hash=item1c78e717d3:g:BNYAAOSwUKxYY7Lc

Seats look a bit rubbish, is it possible to re holster/ refurb leather seats?

The price is a bit low, I have a good BMW indie who sorts out my e61, so the spare cash could be used to fix up any outstanding issues.

thoughts?

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I paid 6k for my 2005 330ci facelift msport vert, 1 owner from new FBMWSH, 68000 miles, 12 months warrenty, all recalls completed.

£2500 worth of warrenty paintwork completed by main dealer consisting of all 4 archs renewed. All cooling system replaced, both front arms upgraded, rear suspension overhauled, very very tidy car great spec minus sat nav, hardtop included with storage stand, biege/cream leather, mystic blue paint. £1000's worth of reciepts for all sorts of bits that have been replaced through the dealer. It was sold as being over serviced but compared to some of the dogs i went to view i think the one i bought has been properly serviced and things replaced when they needed to be instead of waiting for them to go faulty.

Its a great car so i think you certainly get what you pay for with these.

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5 hours ago, calw123 said:

I paid 6k for my 2005 330ci facelift msport vert, 1 owner from new FBMWSH, 68000 miles, 12 months warrenty, all recalls completed.

£2500 worth of warrenty paintwork completed by main dealer consisting of all 4 archs renewed. All cooling system replaced, both front arms upgraded, rear suspension overhauled, very very tidy car great spec minus sat nav, hardtop included with storage stand, biege/cream leather, mystic blue paint. £1000's worth of reciepts for all sorts of bits that have been replaced through the dealer. It was sold as being over serviced but compared to some of the dogs i went to view i think the one i bought has been properly serviced and things replaced when they needed to be instead of waiting for them to go faulty.

Its a great car so i think you certainly get what you pay for with these.

I totally agree with calw123 - I paid a few hundred more than that in August 2015... 54 plate 330ci sport vert, switchable auto, one owner, FBMWSH, 57k miles, all recalls done - sparkling graphite metallic, black sports / heated / electric leather (all in perfect condition) factory satnav, HK sound, Xenon lights, hardtop with stand and wind deflector. The car was/is perfect and the few people on here that have seen it all think the car has been repainted as the finish is still so good.

You absolutely get what you pay for - mine was one of the most expensive in the country at the time and had everything i wanted in one of the best E46 colours. They are out there but buy the best one you can with the options you want as retro-fitting stuff costs more than if it had been part of the package and poorly maintained cars will bite you in the arse within a short amount of time in ongoing costs.

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Well as mentioned there are many cars out there.  I myself looked at 11 before I found the right one (use that word Loosely lol ). 

In the end I settled for a 2002 325ci with 100k on the clock with full history for £1200 had quite a bit spare to fix the issues that were present so in the last 12 months I have done the following 

Radiator 

Water pump

Expansion tank 

Thermostat

CCV & hoses 

Lower wishbone bushes 

Wings X2

MAF 

Rocker Cover Gasket

 

I don't have any complaints with the car and think I got myself a bargain and some of the jobs I have done didn't need doing but they were done because they are known problem areas

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On Thursday, January 05, 2017 at 13:38, DaveNE said:

Well as mentioned there are many cars out there.  I myself looked at 11 before I found the right one (use that word Loosely lol ). 

In the end I settled for a 2002 325ci with 100k on the clock with full history for £1200 had quite a bit spare to fix the issues that were present so in the last 12 months I have done the following 

Radiator 

Water pump

Expansion tank 

Thermostat

CCV & hoses 

Lower wishbone bushes 

Wings X2

MAF 

Rocker Cover Gasket

 

I don't have any complaints with the car and think I got myself a bargain and some of the jobs I have done didn't need doing but they were done because they are known problem areas

That does sound like a good deal. 

Saw the car today, car seemed sound,drive was good. 

Interior was very tired, anybody know how much it would cost to return the seats and panels? 

 

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1 hour ago, jlj said:

That does sound like a good deal. 

Saw the car today, car seemed sound,drive was good. 

Interior was very tired, anybody know how much it would cost to return the seats and panels? 

 

When you say return the seats and panels i guess you mean retrim? A cheaper and quicker option is just buying a good condition full interior, will set you back £300 wish, maybe a bit more, but a full retrim in decent leather will cost more and take lots longer.

Have you got a link to the car you saw? The interiors on these normally don't wear badly, a few things like seat bolsters and plastics getting scraped but not much else shows too much age.

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