E 46 or e34?

[MrBurgundy]

e46, without a doubt

[ArtFoodBMW]

Jesus what the F is wrong with you folks. E34 all the way. Yes e46' are nice if low mileage and cared for, and they do drive very nice. More often than not, all e46's I see are trashed. Interiors fall apart and more electrical issues not to mention all the problems with m54's.

E34's are cheap, easy to get parts for. Soo many have limited slip differentials and good even weight distribution. They also drive nice, very comfortable in comparison to e30's. There is room to work on them if something does break and the engine designs are simple so less to go wrong == better for daily driving

[e30davie]

It's almost as if people prefer different cars:D

also that list of e46 common issues, theres nothign on there that is any different to most cars. Rubber deteriorates over 15yrs...who knew?

[arch4ngel]

Surprised nobody has mentioned the e46 subframe issue yet.
I personally would never buy one without proof the reinforcement has been done.
Was looking for a second car earlier this year and ended up going e39 because a massive welding project is over my head and out of my budget.
https://www.turnermotorsport.com/t-gallery-e46-subframe

[Andrew325is]

I like both the E46 and E34. I would choose whichever you could find in better shape, better maintained, and lowest miles at the price you can afford. If I was buying one of those I would get a Touring. The E46 Touring is a very nice car. Never heard of the Touring having the subframe issue. That seems to be more sedans and coupes that have been abused. I followed a beautiful Glacier Blue E34 on the road today. Very classy car. You may also want to keep an eye out for the very similar E32. Larger and perhaps not as cool to most people, but definitely less common and a better ride than the E34. An S50 or S52 would liven up an E34 or E32 quite nicely, and of course M54b30 or S54 for the E46.

[digger]

Non M E46 is rubbish, actually all are but with s54 you can look past some things.

[djjerme]

Non M E46 is rubbish, actually all are but with s54 you can look past some things.

SE46 would like a word with you.. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[betz]

Non M E46 is rubbish, actually all are but with s54 you can look past some things.

My touring would also like a word. What other car is actually engaging to drive, yet comfortable, practical, easy to maintain, and can get me and my friends on a ski trip to Tahoe in style.

[nando]

An E91. ;)

[Staszek]

E46 without a doubt. There is one more failure I would look for (btw half those failures are really easy fixes, and the control arms and trailing arms well, those are wear items so not sure why that is a failure.

My E46 was rock solid, 201k on it when I sold it and it ran amazing without losing a drop of oil.

The car is very simple to work on by today's standards, and while yes it does have more computers than an E30 I would not call it overly technically complicated.

I think its one of the sweet spot cars from BMW, old enough to still have that nice smaller athletic feel, great steering with the later model racks (early ones were a bit over boosted), but just enough comfort and convenience features to be quiet and modern.

[betz]

An E91. ;)

What about easy to maintain lol

[Andrew325is]

Beautiful touring betz. I agree about the E46 being a sweet spot assessment. Modern without being too complicated and still has the classic feel and looks. Maintenance is easy with a copy of DIS on an old laptop.

[betz]

Thanks! I just got it, and am loving it :)

[nando]

What about easy to maintain lol

They are way better, really. Suspension and chassis stuff especially. I'm at 150k in my E90 (basically the same thing), and I'm just starting to think about replacing the shocks. Control arms? Subframe? Window regulators? What are those? ;)

Replace the water pump, serpentine belt and tensioner at 100k, and never touch it again for another 100,000 miles. Even the cooling system overall is less prone to failure, and if the pump fails, overheating the engine doesn't result in catastrophic damage.

My only regret with the E91 was selling it, and replacing with a V8 X5.. talk about opposites. :/

My favorite thing about the E46 is when someone pulls next to my E30 and wants to chat, they have to open the door because the window doesn't work.. ROFL.

[betz]

They are way better, really. Suspension and chassis stuff especially. I'm at 150k in my E90 (basically the same thing), and I'm just starting to think about replacing the shocks. Control arms? Subframe? Window regulators? What are those? ;)

Replace the water pump, serpentine belt and tensioner at 100k, and never touch it again for another 100,000 miles. Even the cooling system overall is less prone to failure, and if the pump fails, overheating the engine doesn't result in catastrophic damage.

My only regret with the E91 was selling it, and replacing with a V8 X5.. talk about opposites. :/

My favorite thing about the E46 is when someone pulls next to my E30 and wants to chat, they have to open the door because the window doesn't work.. ROFL.

I mean with either car, it's about that basic preventative maintenance. E90s with the electric water pump, if not replaced they just fail suddenly leaving you stranded. No leaking or whining or anything to warn you. And they didn't even put it in an easy spot to replace it! I would say it's not really any better than the E46 in that respect. At least the E46 will give you some indication of something failing. The window regulators take like a half hour if you've done it before and if you grease the window seals regularly it will probably be fine. It's really not a deal breaker, really just more an indication someone is poor or unlucky or just a hack lol.

I have seen both cars be reliable but I've also seen them be a huge mess. I suppose if you like one a lot more than the other you could always argue a case for it. Me, I prefer the looks, small size, and overall feel of the E46 over the E90. I prefer the simplicity and robustness of the AWD system even if it's technically inferior. And I like that it still reminds me, just a little bit, of my E30. :)

[nando]

They don't really fail suddenly. There are error codes that give you hints, and you can change it to trigger a CEL. Besides that, the replacement pumps last way longer (200,000+ miles). The rest of the cooling system doesn't really have the same issues (radiator, expansion tank, etc), you don't need to replace everything at 60k miles routinely.

And even if the pump does fail, as I said, it's not going to destroy the engine like an exploding expansion tank on an E46 can. I've limped two home without issue, one was 15 miles and the other 5 miles. Totally dead waterpumps. Remember, they are already designed to run at much higher temperatures..

None of my E30s or E90s (or the X5 for that matter) have ever needed a window regulator. The E46 regulators are crap. I don't hate the cars, but BMW definitely cut a lot of corners on the build quality.