Graphite Metallic 318ci ES aka Angelica

[BN101]

To mod,

Please move into appropriate section of the forum.

Many thanks,

 

BN101 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 27, 2018 by BN101
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[momo]

So long as it's serviced on time it shouldn't be a problem. The owner could've had to use it for work that year.

But then again if at all possible i'd avoid that 2.0ltr petrol engine completely.

[BN101]

Why? Heavy on petrol? I tried looking for a diesel but not many around that are worth looking at. Does it brake down often? 

Edit: wont be doing huge miles in it 4k a year max and I doubt I'd near that. 

Edited May 28, 2018 by BN101
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[momo]

Not 100% sure but don't they suffer timing chain failures?

With that mileage i'd be looking for a 3.0ltr - 330Ci. You wont regret it (until you drive a mapped 330d! )

[BN101]

I spoke about this to a friend of mine who is more into cars than me and said that these problems were common in the early diesel engines. 

Plus I wont get insurance for a 3L engine, not now atleast. 

Edited May 28, 2018 by BN101
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[momo]

I'm sure someone more knowledgeable than me will pop in an advise but your mate is talking about the E90 320d - The N47 engine has timing chain issues. The E46 320d is the M47 and M47N (for Euro 4 spec) engine - those things are bullet proof (after a couple of changes)!! As is the 3.0ltr diesel.

I can't remember which, but one of the smaller petrol engines has a high rate of failure. Because of that I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole..

Actually, think it's the old 4cyl 318i engine with the problems so you might be ok with this one!

[incredirog]

18k isn’t a lot if it’s doing the miles mostly on the motorway but if it’s been thrashed around as a minicab the wear would be more significant. Like what some others have said, get a 330i or d 

[Daz 330 Cs]

2 hours ago, incredirog said:

18k isn’t a lot if it’s doing the miles mostly on the motorway but if it’s been thrashed around as a minicab the wear would be more significant. Like what some others have said, get a 330i or d 

This

I'm doing around 14k a year, 90% of it is sat on the M1, 5am doing 60mph on cruise in 6th @ 1500rpm, much the same coming home @ 14.00. So it’s had a very easy life, compared to as above mentioned something being beaten like a ginger stepchild daily. 

[BN101]

I dont want to make another topic so I'll just ask here,I've also been looking at another 3 series, this one is a 2003 saloon with same 2.0L engine I believe its the 140hp one. Its done 117k miles and has part service history with other documents and MOT till February next year. It costs £850 tho I could try to grab it for less, I am aware the car would definetly require some attention. I know that one wheel arch is starting to rust so that would get sorted. What kind of money am I looking at to throw into this car to get it right? The owner says all electrics are fine and car drives and starts no problem, we all know that nobody will tell you 100% if there is something wrong or not so once bought and taken to mechanics all will be revealed. Am I better off buying a more ready to go type of car? My budget is £2000, this is my first car (yeah I know, petrol,BMW=high insurance tough I'll get through it, I work 10h a day every damn day and if I want anything from life I choose a solid E46 <3). The insurance would be 1700-1800 a year depending on saloon or Coupe, I can afford it. Please advise me   Thanks 

Will post the ads if anyone wants to look into them and give their opinion, the one from autotrader comes from a trade dealership with FSH etc. so I would assume its trustworthy:

https://www.gumtree.com/p/bmw/bmw-318i-m-sport-/1300529218

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201803224828036?advertising-location=at_cars&make=BMW&sort=distance&model=3 SERIES&radius=1500&onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly New&onesearchad=New&price-to=2000&postcode=sr48df&page=1

Edited May 28, 2018 by BN101
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[momo]

Tbh if it was my money i'd get something else for a year or two and get a 330Ci later on. The smaller E46's do absolutely nothing for me.

The first one looks ok, but I wouldn't touch those arches. Mine look like that right now - it'll cost ~£1k to get them cut out and fresh metal welded in/painted etc.. Not worth it at all.

The 2nd one is an ES model - that's the absolute basic spec the E46 came in - doesn't have climate control. BUT it's newer and looks better condition.

Too many compromises for me! Honestly i'd go get an Accord/Civic Type-R and run it for a couple of years and make the most of their reliable motoring then save up and get a 330Ci if you still really wanted it.

You can get a 330Ci for ~£2500 but I know what you're saying about insurance.

[BN101]

The second one has full service history I spoke to the seller on the phone he said least he would take is £1700, I noticed its been on autotrader since April, I think I'll just give it some time and perhaps some other cars would go on sale then. I dont mind the basic model, I know it will be tough to get better for the cash I wanna spend. If I was to get say a golf for around 1400 or 1500 and insure it for 500 and pay 90 a month with tax it would add up to little over 2k so I thought if I pay that little extra I might afford to run an e46. The first one is attractive offer and even insurance works out cheaper but I've heard the most expensive BMW is a cheap one😀

Never the less, thanks for your advice. 

[Dr Evil]

3 hours ago, momo said:

Tbh if it was my money i'd get something else for a year or two and get a 330Ci later on. The smaller E46's do absolutely nothing for me.

The first one looks ok, but I wouldn't touch those arches. Mine look like that right now - it'll cost ~£1k to get them cut out and fresh metal welded in/painted etc.. Not worth it at all.

The 2nd one is an ES model - that's the absolute basic spec the E46 came in - doesn't have climate control. BUT it's newer and looks better condition.

Too many compromises for me! Honestly i'd go get an Accord/Civic Type-R and run it for a couple of years and make the most of their reliable motoring then save up and get a 330Ci if you still really wanted it.

You can get a 330Ci for ~£2500 but I know what you're saying about insurance.

I agree about the arches. Once rust sets in it can be expensive to fix. 

ES is ok. It has a few extras over the old base spec car. 

Type-R Honda will be as much to insure as a 330i and is a much more focused driving machine IMHO. I went from an 328i to an Accord Type-R and aside from both being 4 dr saloons with a bit of poke they were night and day.

[TriggerFish]

FWWI, there's a lot of cheap ones on the various E46 facebook groups. They could well be cheap for a reason, but it might be worth a look?

Mine is in for arches (with a friend) at the moment. What started off as some bubbling has turned into basically all of the inner arch being replaced. I'd dread to think of the labour costs for making and welding in new panels. Fun times(!) I found mine needed work just by poking the inside by hand, and it crumbled. If it's soft under there, walk away. 

[Dr Evil]

Rusty arches is a problem on E46s and they all go eventually. Buy a car with as little rust as possible and then you will get a few years out of it before it becomes an issue. The cost if repairing major rust outweighs the value of the car in many cases, especially with 318s. After a few years you can then decide whether to get it done or just throw the car away.

I think that in a few years values of good 6 cylinder cars will start to rise in which case it will be worth spending the money to keep tbem nice.

[momo]

I think we're a long way off the E46's going up in value..

The E36 328i has only just started creeping back up and E46 M3's seem to be holding right now, probably not far off going up. The E46 6cyl will follow, once the M3 pool has dried up - usually a good few years later.

[incredirog]

IMO the diesels will be rendered obsolete when this environmental nonsense starts to really bite in the early 2020’s its a buyers market for them until then.

[momo]

Highly unlikely tbh as diesels still make up a massive chunk of new car sales. Diesel wont become obsolete until maybe 2050 - a few years after the govt electric car sales only thing comes in. But that's only if manufacturers stop selling diesel vehicles before then.

But with cars like the E46 not having DPFs I can see their values at least holding in the near term. They may drop again later.

[Dr Evil]

21 hours ago, momo said:

I think we're a long way off the E46's going up in value..

The E36 328i has only just started creeping back up and E46 M3's seem to be holding right now, probably not far off going up. The E46 6cyl will follow, once the M3 pool has dried up - usually a good few years later.

Try finding a good E36 328!

Decent E36 328i Sports have been going up for a while now. Values weren't far off E36 M3s a few years back.

I think that now many manufacturers have dropped 6cyl engines from their line up, excluding halo models like the M3, values of good 6 cyl BMWs are going to strengthen. 

I personally don't think values are linked to the availability of M3s, but that's just my  opinion.

I don't think my 330i Touring will be worth a fortune in the next 5 years but I don't expect to lose any money, so long as I properly maintain it and don't put loads of miles on it.

[momo]

I meant in the last few years they creeped up.. A mate of mine bought a 328i Sport for £1500 in 2013. It's worth 4-5 times that now.

But i'm talking decent, desirable models - like the coupe/vert. Not the touring/saloon 6cyls.. People will buy those things for a weekend car or a collector car (esp. low mileage ones).

Nobody will want a work horse for a weekend car.. lol.

[Dr Evil]

Time will tell 😉

[BN101]

So a little update😀 still havent bought a car, the one that I was ment to see I could not get a lift its about 20miles away and my mechanic could not go for whatever reason, when I asked the guy if he could drive it to here and we would workout a deal he said he has done it before and it apparently got him a speeding ticket. To me smells like strong bs and I think the guy was perhaps afraid that the car would brake down on this short motorway drive. Anyway, good thing perhaps still waiting for something good to pop up on gumtree or autotrader. 

[momo]

Dunno, if someone asked me to drive TO them to sell my own car - i'd be a lot more polite and tell them where to go! lol.

Never had a problem selling a car, if someone doesn't want to come to me to see it then there's plenty of others who will.

Tbh to me it sounds like they're trying to be polite and decline your invitation without saying it straight up.

[BN101]

Yeah perhaps you may be right but idk, i know its not everyday someone asks you to drive somewhere to sell your car. I'd drive him back home. I've noticed some of these cars are hard to sell, one dealer is listing his 320d coupe since March and its still there the ad gets refreshed everyday. I phoned up the dealer who sells the grey 318 es from autotrader said lowest price is 1700 with fsh might consider taking a look at it, I doubt it will be sold but they dropped the price as originally it was 1895. Not bad I guess 

[momo]

For ~£2k a 320Cd shouldn't hang around long. He's either got it priced too high or there's something wrong with it, or they're dodgy dealers.

I'd be tempted to go for this tbh:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2008-BMW-320i-3-Series-Petrol-2-0-Nearly-full-mot-Low-mileage/123154420624?hash=item1cac935390:g:tiYAAOSwxuha-Yby

Says it's got a faulty diff - replacement wont be more than a couple of hundred. Fitting, clean it up and you have a £3k car!

[BN101]

Yah, seems like a good offer except its quite far away, I live near Newcastle and will be moving in September to Leicester which ironically is right next to Coventry... Lol im not having much luck so far. Moving and studying at uni forced me to have a low budget if it wasnt for that I would be able to afford something better.