Rolling e46 shots... no 56k

[Eric Giles]

How do we know that E30's were trouble-free when new, since the newest ones are over 15 years old? Who here bought their E30 new, kept all the records, and can remember what happened 15 or more years ago?

Since you work at a shop, I think your view is a bit biased. You ONLY see the cars that have problems. Since the E46 is very common, you see lots of E46 problems. The E30 is relatively rare, so you don't see many problems. The thing that you don't see are the hundreds of thousands of E46s driving around with few or no problems. Same on E46 fanatics. Most of the members there are apoiled kids under 25 who mod their cars, then beat the crap out of them, then complain when something breaks.

You see lots of complaints because people in general are quick to complain. People rarely give praise when something works as expected.

I've owned American cars my whole life, until two years ago. These vehicles ranged from the 1970's to 2000's. The E46 was the first German car I've owned. It has FAR exceeded my expectations in terms of performance, comfort, economy, build quality, and reliability. In addition, it is an order of magnitude better than any of the American cars I've ever owned in my entire life, in all the categories listed above.

Before whining about the new BMWs, I suggest checking out some of the other vehicles on the market, now and in the past, to gain a more balanced perspective. You'll find that a large percentage of cars are crap, and the Germans are consistantly at the top.

I agree with your post, Eliminator. I gave one personal example of my sister's '86 325 that she bought new from the dealer-now one case does not make it a fact for all cars, but her car was constantly at the dealership for problems. And guess what-they were mostly issues with the ECU and the electical system of the car. Don't get me wrong-she loved the way the car drove. It was her daily 100 mile commuter, and after 3 years and a bit over 100k miles she traded it in. It was getting to be anywhere from $300-600 on average every two months or so to fix something.

As I said before in my first post on this subject-ALL of BMW's cars have issues-some more than others for sure, but they all have them. Trent sees a lot of E46's in for service-well, I imagine he does because the E46 has been the biggest seller for BMW ever-there are hundreds of thousands of them on the road today in the U.S. Even if a small percentage of them had problems, that would still be thousands of cars-but it doesn't make them all junk.

Josh-in my opinion from actually owning each 3 series generation (3 E30's, 1 E36, and 3 E46's), the E36 was a step down in build quality from the E30-no question about it. But, the E46 was a big step forward-and I would say that yes, overall the E46 body structure is an improvement over the E30. And the interior materials are much nicer too-time will tell if they hold up as well, but the materials in the E30 are pretty darn barebones-there is just not much to them. Not putting it down-just the way time and consumer tastes move on.

I just think the E46 is getting unfairly bashed in this thread-and from my personal experience it does not deserve it.

[Mtriple]

My DD last winter. What a piece of shit.

[TUD]

Having owned two E46 coupes ('00 323Ci & '01 330Ci) I was never impressed. They looked good, but were just very uninspiring to drive. The E46 is too damn isolated and when compared to the (3) E30s and the (1) E36 that I have owned. It is an absolute bore to drive. Zzzzzzzz...... Honestly the E90/E92 is more interesting to drive than an E46.


Edit: BTW, I pretty much agree with Eric. Usually we are on the same page in regard to the various 3-Series generations.

[Jand3rson]

Josh-in my opinion from actually owning each 3 series generation (3 E30's, 1 E36, and 3 E46's), the E36 was a step down in build quality from the E30-no question about it. But, the E46 was a big step forward-and I would say that yes, overall the E46 body structure is an improvement over the E30. And the interior materials are much nicer too-time will tell if they hold up as well, but the materials in the E30 are pretty darn barebones-there is just not much to them. Not putting it down-just the way time and consumer tastes move on.

I just think the E46 is getting unfairly bashed in this thread-and from my personal experience it does not deserve it.

Don't think I'm not listening to what you're saying, I am. But it's just as you stated, your personal experience. If yours was a positive one, then that's cool.

[trent]

You'll find that a large percentage of cars are crap, and the Germans are consistantly at the top.

Please, I am smarter than that. E46 are 100X better than piece of shit Audis, VWs, etc.

I know all about that. Sure there are lots of E46 on the road, and I do see ALL the problems. The difference is, these problems are happening to ALL E46s -- not just the ones I see. Ask any shop, any dealer, what pays bills? E46 and E39s. :)

Don't just take it from me....take it from everybody who works on these cars. They all end up getting fixed someplace, if YOU know about it or not.

[trent]

I just think the E46 is getting unfairly bashed in this thread-and from my personal experience it does not deserve it.

You even keep saying you owned E46s and dumped them before the problems started. You don't have a say in this matter then -- if you would have kept yours, you would be agreeing with me 100X.

[speedblind]

i personally dont give a shit about any BMW anymore. my next car will be s2000 or STi.

Good choices, both of them. ;)

We seem to be going opposite directions. I went WRX -> S2000 -> E30

[Eric Giles]

You even keep saying you owned E46s and dumped them before the problems started. You don't have a say in this matter then -- if you would have kept yours, you would be agreeing with me 100X.

Fair enough on the point you made-at some point I will probably will find out first-hand about E46 long term reliability. If it is that bad, you can be the first one to say 'I told you so!' :)

[Eric Giles]

Don't think I'm not listening to what you're saying, I am. But it's just as you stated, your personal experience. If yours was a positive one, then that's cool.

:up:

[trent]

Fair enough on the point you made-at some point I will probably will find out first-hand about E46 long term reliability. If it is that bad, you can be the first one to say 'I told you so!' :)

Damn, I was hoping I would get to you more than that.

:cheers: Owe you a drink if Im ever around where you live. :)

[Bill 84 318i]

i personally dont give a shit about any BMW anymore. my next car will be s2000 or STi.

Ha, the only two other cars I've ever owned. Nice taste. :up:

[TUD]

I want to state that my '01 330Ci went through 3 sets of control arms before the warranty was up in July of 2004. Total BS! There were other issues, but this one was a constant issue.

[ping65810]

I think quality of most cars has gone downhill all across the board. Do you know why I bought an e46? Around here, you pay the same price for a 2001 Accord loaded as a nice 2001 e46 coupe with the usual options. Hence why I went BMW. Plus I like everything about it better than a Honda. They still aren't bad cars, though. The biggest problems seem to be with trim pieces, window regulators, and ball joints. Now, I am used to replacing ball joints very often, and I had awful trim problems with my e36, so all in all, its not too too bad.

[Julien]

I just don't see where you are getting that e46s are so bland to drive. What are you comparing them to, an e30 with equally stock suspension? The only bland/boring part of my e46 is the Clutch Delay Valve, which i have removed and the ASC, which stays off... other than that, i'm stumped why anyone would find this car boring.



Julien

[DanGillan]

yea. it seems like people are talking about stock or mostly stock e46's. when you have a well modified e46, whatever version it may be, if modified to the level of some of the cars around here are extremely fun cars to drive. especially the highly modded m3's which can be found fairly afordable.