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Old 03-02-2021, 04:05 PM   #31
equ
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As you all know better than me, the e46 has many advantages... Curvy design, room for a spare, lighter weight...

The e90 does have a big one. Solidity. I was rear-ended - quite heavily - back in 08 in a 06 330xi. The car took it like a champ. I had had a 330Ci and a 330i sedan zhp by that point. While the e46 sedan was marginally stiffer framed than the coupe, neither come close to the e90. This goes for my later e46 m3 as well. When you enter a steep garage ramp at angle, so as to not scrape, you feel the 'twist' in the machine and the e90 was better at that. Just felt more one piece.

I replaced my 330xi with a 330i, both 06 n52's, 255hp. In that trim (and between 07 to end of 09), I did not find the engine lacking. Smooth and easily 85mph+ on the highway for long stretches. I preferred it to the m54, more economical. I wasn't worried about reliability so cannot comment on that. I later had a 335xi and I liked that car too, one of the ones I wish I had not sold. I got angry at it when it got stuck on an ice pile (while wearing winters) and replaced with the b8.5 s4.
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Old 03-02-2021, 04:11 PM   #32
SARAFIL
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its already on the carfax. I'm not sure I care on a car like this. Similarly should I care re a rebuilt title or other issue on a beater car, if the price was adjusted and time passed since rebuild was sufficiently long (like 2 to 3 yrs)?

**if** you buy the car, I’d recommend you negotiate a good price reflecting the discrepancy and then have them put the correct mileage on the paperwork and accept the potential TMU flag. I wouldn’t willingly sign an odometer disclosure w/ incorrect mileage. If they screwed up and are willing to eat the $$ difference that’s one thing, but they could get their dealer license revoked for intentionally lying about the mileage on the car. Also not worth the risk to you down the road if something were to happen w/ car before you eventually caught up to the overstated mileage.
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Old 03-02-2021, 04:48 PM   #33
Josh (PA)
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**if** you buy the car, I’d recommend you negotiate a good price reflecting the discrepancy and then have them put the correct mileage on the paperwork and accept the potential TMU flag. I wouldn’t willingly sign an odometer disclosure w/ incorrect mileage. If they screwed up and are willing to eat the $$ difference that’s one thing, but they could get their dealer license revoked for intentionally lying about the mileage on the car. Also not worth the risk to you down the road if something were to happen w/ car before you eventually caught up to the overstated mileage.
thanks, I'm heavily leaning towards the 2nd one (the 2012 version). That one had the odd Carfax mileage values back in 2015 / 2016. All were reported by the same BMW Dealership (Norwood) and the car was CPO'ed after the discrepancies. Any idea how that would have occurred?
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Old 03-02-2021, 10:52 PM   #34
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thanks, I'm heavily leaning towards the 2nd one (the 2012 version). That one had the odd Carfax mileage values back in 2015 / 2016. All were reported by the same BMW Dealership (Norwood) and the car was CPO'ed after the discrepancies. Any idea how that would have occurred?

Wow, that’s really odd. All of the records are at same dealer and several entries after the discrepancy so it’s not like someone just typed in the wrong number one time. I have no clue what to make of that.
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Old 03-04-2021, 07:57 PM   #35
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Over the weekend something hung up on it while my wife was driving it to get our daughter, who lives in downtown Philly. It pulled to the left and was shaking pretty badly. She had to pull over on I76 near Philly (super busy, kind of sketchy, not a good place for a woman alone on the side of the road). I think it may have just been a sticking brake caliper, but in any case it freaked her out and she has decided it is time for it to move on and us to have a more reliable beater. The issue went away sometime after she pulled over and hasn't come back since.
AWD or RWD? The front CV joints are a known problem area on these. After I paid an independent shop for a 5 year / 50K add-on warranty, I haven't had either of them fail (not coincidence, they got some better parts and assembled and installed them extra carefully).

A sticking caliper should leave some unusual scuffs on the rotor which you should be able to see with a decent light even without taking the wheels off.

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Does anyone see any downsides (beside the e46 is a more fun car than the e90)? Anything I should know about n52s vs m54s?
Someone can have my E46 when they pry the keys out of my cold dead hands.

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On the one hand, the e46 is death by 1000 paper cuts in that it seems like something is always naggingly wrong. On the other, I spent a decent amount of time on it lately, and it seems to be running better than ever. I've put a couple hundred miles on it since my wife had the issue and have felt nothing wrong.
Mine has been relatively trouble-free, once I got past all of the factory miswires and other initial quality defects / TSBs / recalls.

I will admit that it has become more expensive in recent years, with the major recent expense being the "replace everything in between the kidneys and the engine block" due to BMW using plastic or mixed-material stuff in the cooling system.

Other than that, I've had 3 window regulators, 3 windshields (rock damage), a bunch of CV joints until I bribed the car to stop eating them, a valve cover gasket, a HVAC blower motor, and the usual consumables (fluids, tires, pads & rotors).

It has one unresolved issue which I don't care about (in fact, I'm happier this way). The annoying "pump 1/4 of the wiper fluid out the headlight washers if you dare use the washers at night" problem. The car would randomly lose all of its wiper fluid out through either of the headlight washers. The independent shop tried fixing it a few times but I finally just unplugged the headlight washer pump and plugged the hose with a golf tee.

And I used to use the car for things well beyond what it was designed for. One time I ended up hauling over 1000 pounds of wood flooring. It used to go cross-country to California and back once or twice a year, and it has been off-road places where Jeep Wranglers generally "air down" to make it through the washouts.
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Old 03-04-2021, 08:02 PM   #36
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AWD or RWD? The front CV joints are a known problem area on these. After I paid an independent shop for a 5 year / 50K add-on warranty, I haven't had either of them fail (not coincidence, they got some better parts and assembled and installed them extra carefully).

A sticking caliper should leave some unusual scuffs on the rotor which you should be able to see with a decent light even without taking the wheels off.


Someone can have my E46 when they pry the keys out of my cold dead hands.


Mine has been relatively trouble-free, once I got past all of the factory miswires and other initial quality defects / TSBs / recalls.

I will admit that it has become more expensive in recent years, with the major recent expense being the "replace everything in between the kidneys and the engine block" due to BMW using plastic or mixed-material stuff in the cooling system.

Other than that, I've had 3 window regulators, 3 windshields (rock damage), a bunch of CV joints until I bribed the car to stop eating them, a valve cover gasket, a HVAC blower motor, and the usual consumables (fluids, tires, pads & rotors).

It has one unresolved issue which I don't care about (in fact, I'm happier this way). The annoying "pump 1/4 of the wiper fluid out the headlight washers if you dare use the washers at night" problem. The car would randomly lose all of its wiper fluid out through either of the headlight washers. The independent shop tried fixing it a few times but I finally just unplugged the headlight washer pump and plugged the hose with a golf tee.

And I used to use the car for things well beyond what it was designed for. One time I ended up hauling over 1000 pounds of wood flooring. It used to go cross-country to California and back once or twice a year, and it has been off-road places where Jeep Wranglers generally "air down" to make it through the washouts.
I love that you still have your wagon. And I remember that problem about the headlight washers. I ordered my next E46 with options a la carte instead of the CWP to avoid the headlight washers!

It seems that once you replace nearly everything off warranty, BMWs are bulletproof.
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Old 03-07-2021, 07:17 AM   #37
Josh (PA)
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@ Terry, it is an AWD wagon.

We went ahead and put it in our daughter's name, so she could get her own insurance and have it for the next year and a half in the city. I'll get it inspected for her in the next couple of weeks and see if my INDY can find anything.

We are putting the replacement search on hold for a bit. My wife needs to spend some time in a few E class wagons. She's ot 100% on the ew x3 as the replacement for the X5 train. She just doesn't like SUVs. If an E wagon (either a 2019 e450 or maaaayyybbeee an e63 is back on the table) fits her goals best, then we'd look for a cheap little SUV with some semblance of towing capacity for a beater. If she prefers the new X3, then an e90 LCI wagon would be a great compliment.

We'll take our time and figure it out in the next couple months.
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Old 03-07-2021, 02:08 PM   #38
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Terry - do you happen to know the total you’ve spent on repairs/maintenance over the life of your wagon? Im curious what it takes to run a German car once it’s long out of warranty. My guess is an average of $250/month? I know you love that car so it’s not a question of $$, but just curious as it relates to buying and running fully depreciated cars.


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Old 03-07-2021, 02:28 PM   #39
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Terry - do you happen to know the total you’ve spent on repairs/maintenance over the life of your wagon? Im curious what it takes to run a German car once it’s long out of warranty. My guess is an average of $250/month? I know you love that car so it’s not a question of $$, but just curious as it relates to buying and running fully depreciated cars.


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Not to barge in, but mileage/year will matter a lot. Our LR4 could be considered inexpensive to run. In the ~3.5 years since it was out of warranty, we've spent ~$500 in maintenance/repairs. But we've also only driven it <20k miles it that time.
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Old 03-07-2021, 05:51 PM   #40
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Here you go, Josh. An alternative scenario for your wagon hunt:

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/19...aQm15vN937P0zk
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