Opinions on a car please!

Psymonkee

Psymonkee

Psymonkee

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Joined
24 Feb 2004
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St.Andrews
Hi,

After a lot of flicking through autotrader etc. despite some cars I would love to own quite a lot are simply outside of my budget or are simply not practicle. That said I've always fancied a BMW and this popped up locally.

330 Ci M Sport

Initial thoughts are it's a overpriced but otherwise seems fairly good but I know diddly about BMWs.

Worth a look?
 
It looks a nice car but is 2 generations old now and with minimal spec. I would hold out for something a E46 with more kit or a similarly priced E90.
 
As above really.

Whats the circular component to the left of the engine on those pics? There's a smaller one which I think is the secondary air pump but not sure what the larger black one is.
 
paradigm said:
M3 excepted of course!?

In fact, that's what I'd be doing if I wanted to spend a large wadge on an E46, saving enough for an M3.
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Indeed, M3 excepted. You're quite right, £7.5k isn't too far away from getting a decent M3 which is what i'd do too.....or keep £2k in my pocket!
 
Hmmm. Tricky. Given you'd probably be able to get it for £7k and it looks immaculate it's hardly an outrageous sum to spend if you want to own one of the last ever E46 330Ci's. The only thing 'crap' about it's spec are the seats, its not as the E46's are generally dripping in awesomely desireable options. The standard spec plus leather is pretty much all you really *need* in a Sport, no matter how nice a 12 year old computer in the dash or some better speakers might be.

It's hard to find a nice one so so going fishing in the cheaper pond to save a couple of grand tops doesn't seem like a must-do endeavour to me.
 
The pond is absolutely full of crap at all price ranges though, you're just as likely to find an excellent car at 5k as you are at nearly 8. 7 is far, far too much to spend on a car that first reared its head in the late 90's.
 
It's £7k not £70k and for that you get a 6 year old car rather than a 10 year old one. Seems like a fair swap for the extra what, £2k? Not many sub £5k facelift 330Ci's are any good, so you'd need to spend at least £5k or more on a 03+ facelift one.
 
Its £7k but its also about 40% more than I think is sensible to be spending on one. It'll be a couple of years newer, but its the same car and will have all the same niggles to look forward to as every other e46 out there. 2k spare fixes a lot of niggles.

It could also be absolutely hanging, I looked at 6k cars that photographed nicely but were minging in the flesh, the owner hadnt a clue and had unrealistic expectations just because it was a facelift car

I just don't see the value personally, find a nice 2004 car for a bit less cash or spend a bit more and have M power in your life ( or a newer design of car)
 
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Lets expend massive additional effort to save a few quid!*

*Obviously my assumption here is that this car is a good example and is convenient to him. If it is, then who knows where and when the next one good one will turn up?

It's not as if the going rate for really great facelift car is £3.5k and this is double the money, is it?

It could well be a nail, therefore don't buy it, but the newer it is the more likely it is that it'll be a half decent one. The older these cars get the more crap most of them become.
 
Have you looked at them recently? Trust me, no matter the price it is incredibly difficult to find a good one, the majority who own these cars actually know very little about them or what is actually wrong with the car, traders just don't care as " its a BMW, innit, top dollar". He is going to have to make a bit of effort anyway ( or is likely going to have to)

Don't get me wrong, £3.5k wouldn't buy you mine either now and its not even a facelift, but I do know all the likely niggles are sorted and how long ago. Asking price really doesn't reflect mechanical condition with these...to a point

Ultinately its just too much money on an e46 imo, but they must sell at the price or it wouldn't be advertised I guess! Personal choice
 
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rodenal said:
Have you looked at them recently? Trust me, no matter the price it is incredibly difficult to find a good one, the majority who own these cars actually know very little about them or what is actually wrong with the car, traders just don't care as " its a BMW, innit, top dollar". He is going to have to make a bit of effort anyway ( or is likely going to have to)
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Exactly. So if this one turns out to be a decent one, why let it go in order and dive back into the minefield?

It's nothing like as daft as the people who appear to still be happy to spend £30,000 on non M power E9x's and original generation 1 Series. Now THAT is properly bizarre.
 
That is indeed properly bizarre, though ( random tangent) someone at work has a 135i coupe and I really kind of want one. Price says no though
 
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