E46 Tales

Keen to know what you paid for your E46 and what your total investment (after preventative maintenance, fixes, etc.) in the first 3 months of ownership.

I've learnt that it's actual best to pay a fortune upfront on a clean E46 (or any car for that matter) than a cheapie that ends up being more expensive.

I'll start with my 2.
Bought the car (320i Individual) for R64000
Did some maintenance work etc got to R76000
Along the way the engine went ( purely my fault, belt tore and I drove the car up the hill to my house).
Engine swap for R35000 to 2.5 (325i motor) incluing a few service items and fuel pump replacement.
Did shocks for R5000
Car smokes a little at start up and at high revs (motor fitted has 420000km ~ Murphy's law on this car)

So past R116000 my cheapie became an expensive exercise. Consumption 12.3l/100km (heavy auto box)


Then I got a very clean E46 325ci

Paid R76000 and all I have done so far is tyre replacements and alignment.
Drives and moves like a dream, has 158000km on the clock (feels like genuine mileage looking at books and how it drives - but you never know if E46s)
I drive my cars hard and the consumption is at worst 9.6l/100km
On average , used as a daily, around 9l/100km


So let's hear your stories! I saw someone bought a 330i for R120k the other day, add preventative maintence easily R140-R150k for an E46

Interesting post bud...especially because I am in the market for a clean e46 330i...quite interested to see the response here:thumbs:

Looking forward to seeing the replies, this should make for an interesting read and enlightenment

I will check my spreadsheet tomorrow and update on my expenses thus far..

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Seems some rather bury their misfortunes!

It's a safe environment guys ~ spill the beans

Interesting thread

I bought my 325i E46 in 2010, with just shy of 70 000 kms on the clock. I did all the enatis/bmw-vin checks to ensure mileage was right and no accident history. I searched for over 9 months before saying I do! and now at 135k km on the clock, I'll never look back.

I paid, R 142 000, before financing which took me 4 years to pay off. My friends all started working and bought F30s and C-classes after University, I still drive my E46, and despite it not being worth much anymore, I feel I can still drive through Melrose arch and it fits in as the shape hasn't aged badly at all.

The bad: I was driving to Pretoria from a friend's place in Jhb when my cooling light went on, I drove another 4/5 km to get to a safe place to check and it resulted in my head gasket going. This was after a year with the car, I was saddened and sent the engine for engineering, got it skimmed, fitted an over-sized head gasket, new cooling parts at about 74k km. This costed about 25k at the time.

Since then, I've only ever done preventative maintenance, tappet cover leaked, tappet gasket, propshaft, diff oil, gearbox oil.

This year, I decided to do everything in Jan as I started working in Jhb and need to do the daily commute from PTA, replaced all four shocks, control arms, every conceivable bushing I could, brake discs, sparkplugs, steering rack, because I heard they go wrong, but mine was fine, but since it was out, replaced that too. Spent 16k this year, but since the day I bought her, my receipts read at R 59 564.00

Total Cost
R 142 000 + R 59 564 + Finance Amount + Tickets + Licence + Registration
= North of R 200k.

And soon I have to part ways with my E46, but I just can't let her go, the E46 is more than a car, it becomes part of you, so leaving her with my Dad to drive every Thursday until I return to South Africa.

@Karthik, great story mate.
Your car does look mint and well taken care of.

that_guy_Ettiene said:

I will check my spreadsheet tomorrow and update on my expenses thus far..

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Click to expand...

Okay so according to my spreadsheet ( without petrol, licensing etc and labour) I standing on R34 512.13.

That amount is without the part if already bought like gaskets and headers and the now very needed engine mounts and exhaust.

Thus purchase price plus maintenance is at R 109 512.13

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Not bad for a 330i in prestine condition.

I paid R120k for my 2004 330i M-sport in 2016 when it had 123 000km. It was worth this premium as the car is in a like-new state (specifically the interior), and had a lot of work already done (fresh suspension, clutch, etc).

I have probably spent another R60k on it, but this includes preventative work, and some minor upgrades (OEM xenons, 3.38 diff, Bluetooth, etc) and a few cosmetic things as well.

The car drives like new, and is rock solid. Worth every cent to me.

So I bought mine about 10 months ago.
'01 330i Individual with about 165k kms on the clock (With service history, but not fully BMW Serviced)
Paid - R72k up front.
I should've got a mech to check before buying, but by my untrained eye I didn't have too much to spend to get it 100%.
After buying I sent it to my mech to check thoroughly. The engine, was very clean, with no sludge, but....Turns out a previous owner had installed incorrect air pipes, and that was causing it to push out oil. I changed the following:
Tappet cover gasket, Oil filter housing gasket, Engine breather (I have no idea what this is, maybe the valve) and pipes, Air con belt, Alternator belt, Prop shaft coupling, 1 tensioner, 2x gearbox mounts, rear gearbox seal, Fuel sender pump, oil level sensor, and sump gasket.
I also had the airbag light on, which took me forever to sort out, but in the end it was my occupancy sensor which had gone, AND my SRS Control Module which I replaced and had re-coded.

All that came to between R15-20k, so total spend is about R90k.

I still need to spend a few k on a spare key, and redoing my headlining.

I've got that usual problem with the Detent Spring on 5th gear and the box feels a little funny (I think from standing for a long time before I bought it). I'm not a huge rush to do anything about this. Might just flush the gearbox and leave the spring for last.

This car annoyed me and cost me quite a bit more than I thought it would when buying it...but overall, I still love it. And thats my e46 story up to date...

I think anyone buying in the R70-80k price range and getting away with under R20k initial maintenance spend is winning. It's an old car, it's going to need work.

i bought my '01 330Ci (ex-UK) around 2013. so have had it for 5 years now. i bought it at 155,000 km's (now sitting at 196k)

car was a bit neglected when i first got it, but paid around USD$7200 for it after change of ownership fee's etc. it has been a problem child during my ownership:

(2013) f/r shocks+tyres - $900
(2014) waterpump - $150
(2014) auto gearbox neutral safety switch - $300
(2014) gearbox fluids replacement + filter - $800
(2014) front control arms + bushings - $500
(2015) Oil filter housing gasket - $80
(2015) new valve cover - $400
(2015) VANOS seals - $200
(2015) fuel pump - $250
(2015) belts+tensioner+rollers - $600
(2015) Thermo+hoses+exptank+radiator - $1500
(2017) Subframe+Diff bushing+rear wheel bearings - $1400
(2017) Flexdisk+centre bearing+propbalancing+gbox mounts - $600
(2017) Rear shocks - $300
(2017) Front control arms+inner/out tie rods+shocks+rollbar links - $ $1300
(2017) Power steering pump (2nd hand) - $400

i may have missed a few smaller things, but thats all the major expenses minus fuel, taxes, servicing etc. so in 5 years for repairs, i've spent over USD$9680 on it. its been a problem like i said, but i love this car too much...and after doing most of the above, it drives almost like new.

hope this helps

AdiS said:

I paid R120k for my 2004 330i M-sport in 2016 when it had 123 000km. It was worth this premium as the car is in a like-new state (specifically the interior), and had a lot of work already done (fresh suspension, clutch, etc).

I have probably spent another R60k on it, but this includes preventative work, and some minor upgrades (OEM xenons, 3.38 diff, Bluetooth, etc) and a few cosmetic things as well.

The car drives like new, and is rock solid. Worth every cent to me.

Click to expand...

I just went through my expense list. I calculate that roughly R22k of what I have spent so far was strictly necessary (including entire cooling system overhaul with OEM parts ) work. The rest was either further preventative (but not yet strictly necessary), cosmetic/restoration, detailing, or upgrades.

In October last year, I had a WRX as a daily and felt it was time for a change. Listed the car for sale with the intention of looking for an E46 320d/330d.

I had a few cars bookmarked and was ready to make the appointments. A few days into the listing, a guy reached out to me asking if I would be interested in a deal for a 330d with 211k km.

The car presented well, we concluded the deal and I was pretty happy. The 330d wasn't perfect but it had good bones about it.

On day one of my ownership, the turbo went boom. I was somewhat pissed but took the opportunity to sort out a few things including a new intercooler, map sensor, oil feed line, and a swirl flap delete. Serviced it as well and was looking forward to a trouble free phase as the big ticket items had now been sorted and that was that. The car already had good bones and drove really well.

Everything back together, it lasted 7km before the turbo went boom again. In the rain, doing 50km/h. Long story short, it was the builders fault and he refused to accept responsibility. (Yes I should have went to Gaby to begin with but hindsight is 20/20).

Replacement turbo sorted, car has done about 8000km since Feb and even though I had it listed for sale (business reasons, but I managed to swing it without the extra float), I can't justify selling for the sake of something newer + another car installment.

Instead I did the reasonable thing, slapped a set of X5 19's on and have been happily driving it since.

Total cost of ownership: No idea.
Fuel Costs: A whole lot less than the Scooby.

Wes said:

Instead I did the reasonable thing, slapped a set of X5 19's on and have been happily driving it since.

Click to expand...

Let's see how it looks with the new wheels.

Jeremy.d said:

Wes said:

Instead I did the reasonable thing, slapped a set of X5 19's on and have been happily driving it since.

Click to expand...

Let's see how it looks with the new wheels.

Click to expand...

@Wes, that actually looks really good.

SylisM said:

@Wes, that actually looks really good.

Click to expand...

I took a gamble when a set became available on the forum.

Credit goes to @Blert for doing the homework on fitment.

There's alot of conflicting information online on whether they will fit without stories/extra effort.

In the end, it was plug and play, no spacers or long bolts and no rolled fenders. I suppose I could space the fronts out for looks but it's a daily after all. Suspension geometry also hasn't been changed.

I had four adults in the car most of the weekend and my driving style hasn't changed, no rubbing at all.

I was looking for a long distance car which can safely takes my family from the Northern Cape to the Western Cape, a 1000 km trip from one side to another.

Gizmo's advertised a 330i around 2012 if i remember correctly. Read up a lot on the E46 330i's and how everyone was impressed with the power and fuel economy as a daily. So decided to bit the Bullet. So bought her for R80 000.

From the day i bought here she was in tip top shape because gizmo was the one servicing her and she was on 201 000 km's. Biggest items cleaning out my wallet was when they discover in 2013 my fan belt was strip by one of my pulleys and they replace all of it for R9000 with a normal service. then the next year 2014 my Disa valve give me problems and i requested the part R4500 which i fit myself at home reading one of the DIY's on the internet.

2016 i had cooling problems which i did'nt give attention, till it was almost too late. She leave me stranded next to the road but i manage to reach my destination and then i check her in at an independent mechanic which test everything and fix here for R10 000. Till today I've spend +/- R65 000 and that is with all the wheels and sound and extras I've changed or replace with something else.

Currently she is now on 329 000 km's and still gives me a smile when she purrs like a kitten.