Would you buy this e46?

[Holland]

the only e46 i would buy is an 03+ ZHP package sedan. don't buy that car.

This or an M

[nrubenstein]

Isnt a 323i a 5 speed auto? I thought the 4 speed was in the 318i.

I can't speak to Canadia, but early E46es got a wretched GM transmission.

[10Toes]

rear subframe fails it is over 5k to repair, i had a 328ci and it was repaired before i bought it

Weird, mine was only ~$200 and a case of beer

[nrubenstein]

Im also interested in the failure rate of the rear subframes. I heard it was around 2% and mainly coupes which isnt bad odds. I could be wrong on that though.

Both E46 323 sedans that I've been under had subframe mount failures. It's pretty bad in the early cars. Reinforcing/repairing is not a big deal if you have access to someone who can weld and some basic mechanical skills, but it can get expensive if you need to pay someone to do more than a bit of mobile welding.

[nrubenstein]

Weird, mine was only ~$200 and a case of beer

Repaired "properly" by BMW means that the entire back end of the car is taken apart and the entire piece of metal is removed at the spot welds and replaced. That is a $5k repair.

Repaired with reinforcement plates and a bit of welding is $1-2k if you didn't actually rip the mount out.

The same repair at home is the cost of plates. And a couple hundred bucks to a mobile welder if you don't have the ability to do it yourself.

[slammin.e28]

Repaired "properly" by BMW means that the entire back end of the car is taken apart and the entire piece of metal is removed at the spot welds and replaced. That is a $5k repair.

Repaired with reinforcement plates and a bit of welding is $1-2k if you didn't actually rip the mount out.

The same repair at home is the cost of plates. And a couple hundred bucks to a mobile welder if you don't have the ability to do it yourself.

Don't the dealers just pump some foamy shit into the area if it's not badly cracked?

[nrubenstein]

Don't the dealers just pump some foamy shit into the area if it's not badly cracked?

The structural foam has specific guidelines on when it can be used. The early cars were prone to some pretty gnarly failures, including tearing the entire mount out of the body.

[canadiankid]

Ohhh boy. Just checked the headroom specs. They are the same as the e30. 37". Thats just not going to cut it anymore. That plus auto= a pass.

[slammin.e28]

The structural foam has specific guidelines on when it can be used. The early cars were prone to some pretty gnarly failures, including tearing the entire mount out of the body.

Okay. I figured it was one of those, "Oh, I'm lazy today so I'm just gonna pump this shit in a let 'em roll" kinda fix.

[achtung911]

It was 99-00 323 and 328's that had subframe issues. I had an 01 330. Why do I know this? I worked for the BMW dealer for 4.5 years on the body shop side. My advice skip...