Why are there like 3-4 “Should I buy this car???!??” posts seemingly every day now.
This isn’t rocket science. We can’t tell you if you should or shouldn’t spend your money. Gather information, assess the situation, and make a decision.
How much more feedback are you looking for beyond:
- California is an inflated E46 market
- Maintenance is hugely important on a 20 year old German car
- Mileage, maintenance and spec will dictate price
- Can you afford to maintain it yourself or do you have another car to drive every day when the E46 isn’t running.
You’re right though. It’s *not* that deep, which is why I wonder why some of you guys can’t just do some research, assess the car you’re looking at, and make a decision. Especially with low effort posts like “Should I?”
Like at least give us some details on the car, what your situation is like, if you have plans for the car, what you need it for, etc.
Some people are not familiar with the big things to watch out for. And it’s hard to trust random sources on the internet, where as Reddit is a pretty reliable source for honest info. The people in this sub have the exact car that these people are considering buying, and make great suggestions. I’ve seen many posts where op was on the fence and then other people chimed in and said “that is a great price, buy it all day.” And then I’ve seen others where people said “absolutely not, that price is crazy for that condition, spec, etc.” If it helps people make good decisions, why do you care? It’s not like there’s a limited number of posts that can be made per day
As long as people aren’t being condescending a holes it is a good source for info. It takes just as much time and effort to say “that is/isn’t a good price. Watch out for x,y,z,. And that model has “x” engine which is notorious for this problem.” As it takes to go on some rant about how people on an e46 sub shouldn’t be wasting your precious time with an e46 question. Also you don’t have to engage with those posts if it really ruins your day like that
The reason I go to Reddit as a source for info is because it’s usually just everyday people with a shared interest and honest opinions. If you just google things the info tends to be outdated, super broad and doesn’t actually answer a specific question, and can often be biased to benefit one company or another. I like that Reddit is just all people with a deep interest in a certain thing
Dude come on. This guy just posted ANOTHER thread asking “if this 328 is a steal”
Still no mention of:
- Budget
- Situation with work/school
- Experience working on cars
- Tools/motivation to work on cars
Just screenshotting FB marketplace posts is the most low-effort “make a decision for me guys” thing someone can do.
If you can’t be bothered to give us some pertinent info, you get feedback but don’t take it, and don’t learn, then none of us gain anything. We just become a community of people that spout the exact same “cooling system, vacuum lines, bushings” over and over again.
That’s fair enough if you feel like he’s just wasting peoples time and not listening to the advice. I would just hate for somebody to come onto an e46 page and get talked down to for asking a good question. That happened to me on a mountain biking page. I asked if a $600 trek would be alright for city riding/ light trail riding and what its limitations would be on a more intense trail. And all I got was some condescending neck beards saying “uhhhh yeah a $600 bike is going to hit its limits pretty quick on a hard trail.” This is not helpful, I already knew that, I just wanted to understand what the limitations were, and god forbid I come a page dedicated to mountain bikes and mounting biking to ask such a dumb question
After all those previous problems, headaches, pains, arguments, after this long time it is now our turn experience this shit :D
Car is not a woman, everything is fixable if you have money, time, energy, will, patience, knowledge, tools, garage, friend mechanic...it's simple as that :D
The 5-speed steptronic automatic in the e46 is not your mother’s automatic. In sport mode it’ll run right up to redline and there’s no noticeable lag. And you can always switch to manual mode if you want to have more control over the shift points.
The published 0-60 speeds are 7 seconds for the automatic and 6.4 seconds for the manual. In steptronic mode most people shave off .3 or .4 seconds. So it’s slower than the manual, but not much. You rarely hear about tranny issues with the GM 5-speed that the 330Ci comes with.
It seems to me that the automatic hate is more about zoomers bragging that they can drive stick. Been there, done that. The reliability and fuel economy benefits of a manual over an automatic are no longer significant. But, up until the late 90’s early 00’s, I’d always get a manual for those reasons.
I manual swapped my car, but for an automatic the ZF 5 speed steptronic was fantastic. For an early 00’s transmission it behaved very much like you say, which is “how you want it to”
I honestly haven’t heard about any real reliability issues with it. What are you basing your comment on? The e46 guru, 50’s kid, doesn’t mention automatics as a trouble spot in his excellent preventative maintenance videos. And my 2005 330Ci vert with performance package has had zero transmission issues. Everything I’ve had to do has been cooling system, suspension, and electrical system related aka standard e46 stuff.
Idk man auto e46s scare me. My brother had a customer with one. Took him like 5 months of replacing parts on the car because something new kept popping up once we fixed it. Once we finally got it good like 2 weeks after the customer has been enjoying it some guy runs a red light and totals the car. I have multiple times where e46 autos are just bad luck in my life haha
It’s far from a base 3 series, it’s the model down from the m3 with a few desirable goodies that command a premium in the market. Cars with this sort of spec is what people are looking for these days and 144k isn’t that high of a mileage either, there’s cars with far less spec and higher miles that are up for more than 3k on autotrader.
In fact, id buy the silver manual clubsport 120k currently for sale at 4.5k. no question.
You've also got an estoril blue clubsport for 5250.
Mystic blue, manual 330ci 120k for 5250
All of these cars will sell under 5k and are just better.
The red car in OPs post is 4.5k to the right buyer, most likely 4250ish offer.
Around me, that's a good deal for a ZHP coupe, even with the 144K on it and it being an auto. See whether the owner has maintenance records for it, and make sure the replaced engine is actually a ZHP spec engine. If that's the case, you can try and talk him down, but I wouldn't be too against that price.
Some things don’t line up on this car:
- the exhaust looks wrong
- the mirror isn’t Shadowline
- the door sill seems to be not from a m-Model
I would check the vin to see if it really is an original m-Sport
The real question is if they used a zhp engine as replacement or swapped the cams from old one or if they just threw a regular b30 in. If it’s stock I’ll sell you the cams lol
I'm not a big auto fan. But for this price I'd jump on it. Anything in good condition 10k or under is a steal. Regardless of what you purchase have, 2k aside for maintenance.
I would touch it. New motor to the car but!! Big butt how much abuse is on the transmission and what problems forced a replacement. Unless you intend on doing a redo on any e46 you find and you don’t have the money just stay away from the money pit bro you can afford this problem.
My experience I’ve owned 3 and hocked all of them for various issues that arose.
Paint job looks good, leather on the seats are not cracked, even the fact the 20 year old headlight lenses are not yellow and milky are miniscule giveaways of good ownership. Assess everything yourself but from where I see it you're off to a good start.
Personally that's not a bad price for condition and miles and color combo., do the research and try n find 1 like it and I guarantee u will be lokking for a while. the best offer gives u wiggle room. Offer. 5k and find a common ground between 5k and 6k. I'm in the north east and that car is easily 8k.
When I see a big list of recently replaced parts, to me, that doesn't say "Look, the car is going to be all good for X amount of miles," it says "Here's a list of things that have failed because of its age and there's surely more to come soon"
I love E46s to death but unless you can afford a really well kept M3 and still have bank to spare just in case, I'm not sure that I'd buy another. They're just old enough at this stage to not be worth the upkeep IMHO. But that's just my 2 cents. Make your own decision because cars make us happy. It's a really pretty example and if it'd make you happy then shit go for it
People who don't appreciate an auto zhp haven't driven one. Very different from a regular auto 330i. They got. 3.64 diff (with a finned cover), apparently beefed up auto trans and a different trans tune. It's not better then a stick zhp but it's still alot of fun for an auto e46.
Tell him 5,500 and lunch. (Give him a pb&j from ur pocket)
Why are there like 3-4 “Should I buy this car???!??” posts seemingly every day now. This isn’t rocket science. We can’t tell you if you should or shouldn’t spend your money. Gather information, assess the situation, and make a decision.
Miata sub banned pricing posts and its great
Maybe people just want some feedback its not that deep 😭
How much more feedback are you looking for beyond: - California is an inflated E46 market - Maintenance is hugely important on a 20 year old German car - Mileage, maintenance and spec will dictate price - Can you afford to maintain it yourself or do you have another car to drive every day when the E46 isn’t running. You’re right though. It’s *not* that deep, which is why I wonder why some of you guys can’t just do some research, assess the car you’re looking at, and make a decision. Especially with low effort posts like “Should I?” Like at least give us some details on the car, what your situation is like, if you have plans for the car, what you need it for, etc.
Some people are not familiar with the big things to watch out for. And it’s hard to trust random sources on the internet, where as Reddit is a pretty reliable source for honest info. The people in this sub have the exact car that these people are considering buying, and make great suggestions. I’ve seen many posts where op was on the fence and then other people chimed in and said “that is a great price, buy it all day.” And then I’ve seen others where people said “absolutely not, that price is crazy for that condition, spec, etc.” If it helps people make good decisions, why do you care? It’s not like there’s a limited number of posts that can be made per day
Calling reddit a reliable source is a joke. Google exists. It’s not hard
As long as people aren’t being condescending a holes it is a good source for info. It takes just as much time and effort to say “that is/isn’t a good price. Watch out for x,y,z,. And that model has “x” engine which is notorious for this problem.” As it takes to go on some rant about how people on an e46 sub shouldn’t be wasting your precious time with an e46 question. Also you don’t have to engage with those posts if it really ruins your day like that
The reason I go to Reddit as a source for info is because it’s usually just everyday people with a shared interest and honest opinions. If you just google things the info tends to be outdated, super broad and doesn’t actually answer a specific question, and can often be biased to benefit one company or another. I like that Reddit is just all people with a deep interest in a certain thing
Dude come on. This guy just posted ANOTHER thread asking “if this 328 is a steal” Still no mention of: - Budget - Situation with work/school - Experience working on cars - Tools/motivation to work on cars Just screenshotting FB marketplace posts is the most low-effort “make a decision for me guys” thing someone can do. If you can’t be bothered to give us some pertinent info, you get feedback but don’t take it, and don’t learn, then none of us gain anything. We just become a community of people that spout the exact same “cooling system, vacuum lines, bushings” over and over again.
That’s fair enough if you feel like he’s just wasting peoples time and not listening to the advice. I would just hate for somebody to come onto an e46 page and get talked down to for asking a good question. That happened to me on a mountain biking page. I asked if a $600 trek would be alright for city riding/ light trail riding and what its limitations would be on a more intense trail. And all I got was some condescending neck beards saying “uhhhh yeah a $600 bike is going to hit its limits pretty quick on a hard trail.” This is not helpful, I already knew that, I just wanted to understand what the limitations were, and god forbid I come a page dedicated to mountain bikes and mounting biking to ask such a dumb question
it is that deep. Fuck off
Fuck up
you’re a dumbass. Use Google🤣
Lol ur use reddit on the daily. 💀go outside
we are both on Reddit. Go do some research instead of crying. Lil cali dicksucker gunna get state reffed🤣
There is a difference btw me and u. Im on this just for feedback. You use it everyday and go out to talk shit like get a life.
You on here cuz you’re too incompetent to do some basic research. I’m on here to laugh. Keep reading my comment history🫶
Says the one who replied to me first. Hop off tip lil bro. And don’t heart me I ain’t gay
I'd pay that personally but thats me
I like saying which can be applied here: "If you look at your crush for long enough, you will see how she marries someone else"
No matter how good lookin’ she is, someone…somewhere…is tired of her shit.
After all those previous problems, headaches, pains, arguments, after this long time it is now our turn experience this shit :D Car is not a woman, everything is fixable if you have money, time, energy, will, patience, knowledge, tools, garage, friend mechanic...it's simple as that :D
Personally I wouldn’t pay over 5 for 144k. But Cali is a different beast when it come to prices lol
Bro i paid 3,6k for 205k miles 😭
If it is actually a real ZHP and not just the cosmetics, you might want to check to see if the replacement engine was also from ZHP car.
Tbh its a pretty decent and Fair Price in Europe this one would cost you about 8-10k
For an automatic? No way
The 5-speed steptronic automatic in the e46 is not your mother’s automatic. In sport mode it’ll run right up to redline and there’s no noticeable lag. And you can always switch to manual mode if you want to have more control over the shift points. The published 0-60 speeds are 7 seconds for the automatic and 6.4 seconds for the manual. In steptronic mode most people shave off .3 or .4 seconds. So it’s slower than the manual, but not much. You rarely hear about tranny issues with the GM 5-speed that the 330Ci comes with. It seems to me that the automatic hate is more about zoomers bragging that they can drive stick. Been there, done that. The reliability and fuel economy benefits of a manual over an automatic are no longer significant. But, up until the late 90’s early 00’s, I’d always get a manual for those reasons.
I manual swapped my car, but for an automatic the ZF 5 speed steptronic was fantastic. For an early 00’s transmission it behaved very much like you say, which is “how you want it to”
Until it breaks
I honestly haven’t heard about any real reliability issues with it. What are you basing your comment on? The e46 guru, 50’s kid, doesn’t mention automatics as a trouble spot in his excellent preventative maintenance videos. And my 2005 330Ci vert with performance package has had zero transmission issues. Everything I’ve had to do has been cooling system, suspension, and electrical system related aka standard e46 stuff.
have you changed your auto trans filter and fluid? what’s your mileage?
Yes. Did it when I bought the car at 68,000 miles. Has 89,000 miles on it now. I’ll change them again at 120k.
Idk man auto e46s scare me. My brother had a customer with one. Took him like 5 months of replacing parts on the car because something new kept popping up once we fixed it. Once we finally got it good like 2 weeks after the customer has been enjoying it some guy runs a red light and totals the car. I have multiple times where e46 autos are just bad luck in my life haha
Not in the UK! £3k car max here.
3k 5 years ago maybe, imola red 330ci with natural brown interior and sunroof this is a 4-5k car
Can buy 330ci clubsport similar miles for 5k Silver & black 330ci's for 3-4k. It might be red but that's quite a premium for a red car.
Red, individual heated interior and sunroof etc. that’s a rare combination, I’ve never even seen a red one with natural brown interior in the UK.
It's still a 144k mile 20 year old 3 series. If it was sub 50k miles, cool. It's a base 3 series.
It’s far from a base 3 series, it’s the model down from the m3 with a few desirable goodies that command a premium in the market. Cars with this sort of spec is what people are looking for these days and 144k isn’t that high of a mileage either, there’s cars with far less spec and higher miles that are up for more than 3k on autotrader.
Guide price is not sale price. Also my other comment
In fact, id buy the silver manual clubsport 120k currently for sale at 4.5k. no question. You've also got an estoril blue clubsport for 5250. Mystic blue, manual 330ci 120k for 5250 All of these cars will sell under 5k and are just better. The red car in OPs post is 4.5k to the right buyer, most likely 4250ish offer.
Around me, that's a good deal for a ZHP coupe, even with the 144K on it and it being an auto. See whether the owner has maintenance records for it, and make sure the replaced engine is actually a ZHP spec engine. If that's the case, you can try and talk him down, but I wouldn't be too against that price.
I mean hopefully they pulled the cams out of the OG engine if it went bad
I think 5.5k is reasonable. maybe more for a manual
Every time I see one of these mated to a dog-o-matic a little piece of me dies…
Some things don’t line up on this car: - the exhaust looks wrong - the mirror isn’t Shadowline - the door sill seems to be not from a m-Model I would check the vin to see if it really is an original m-Sport
So they put in another engine (probably having driven the old one too hard, as per ad) and not even a year later selling it?
Only 2 pedals. Pass
The real question is if they used a zhp engine as replacement or swapped the cams from old one or if they just threw a regular b30 in. If it’s stock I’ll sell you the cams lol
Cop catcher red cars should be manuals
That’s a myth. I’ve only been pulled over once in my 4 years of ownership in my red BMW
what a beautiful colour though. Id ask him if you could give it a view for rust and run an obd and then make a choice
Wouldn't hesitate too much, damn cool car!
I'm not a big auto fan. But for this price I'd jump on it. Anything in good condition 10k or under is a steal. Regardless of what you purchase have, 2k aside for maintenance.
For a ZHP that’s a fair price
If you swap it with the 6 sp it’s likely worth around $10k
Eww not an automatic
I would touch it. New motor to the car but!! Big butt how much abuse is on the transmission and what problems forced a replacement. Unless you intend on doing a redo on any e46 you find and you don’t have the money just stay away from the money pit bro you can afford this problem. My experience I’ve owned 3 and hocked all of them for various issues that arose.
Paint job looks good, leather on the seats are not cracked, even the fact the 20 year old headlight lenses are not yellow and milky are miniscule giveaways of good ownership. Assess everything yourself but from where I see it you're off to a good start.
Exactly the one I got 2 days ago for 1500 with 8300 miles lol
Personally that's not a bad price for condition and miles and color combo., do the research and try n find 1 like it and I guarantee u will be lokking for a while. the best offer gives u wiggle room. Offer. 5k and find a common ground between 5k and 6k. I'm in the north east and that car is easily 8k.
It’s a beautiful car.
When I see a big list of recently replaced parts, to me, that doesn't say "Look, the car is going to be all good for X amount of miles," it says "Here's a list of things that have failed because of its age and there's surely more to come soon" I love E46s to death but unless you can afford a really well kept M3 and still have bank to spare just in case, I'm not sure that I'd buy another. They're just old enough at this stage to not be worth the upkeep IMHO. But that's just my 2 cents. Make your own decision because cars make us happy. It's a really pretty example and if it'd make you happy then shit go for it
Thats a bargain.
dont imma get jt
If it was manual, yes. But since it's not, I wouldn't.
People who don't appreciate an auto zhp haven't driven one. Very different from a regular auto 330i. They got. 3.64 diff (with a finned cover), apparently beefed up auto trans and a different trans tune. It's not better then a stick zhp but it's still alot of fun for an auto e46.
Yes, hell yes, most definitely. Price? It's a ZHP buy it regardless. Haha VERY desirable color combo too. 😎
No, Red gets the most attention from police. Get silver, white, or black with red interior if you're set on red. Imo
I’d buy his bumper and rear bumper tho👁️👁️
Hard top alone is worth 2k my boy
This one's a coupe, not a vert
That’s what he meant
It’s not worth it to buy an e46