Am I being silly?

miikeeyy92 · 19 Apr 2019 at 18:42

I have a 2006 A3 2.0TFSI, currently on 112k miles, and I'm doing 60 miles per day commuting. A guy at work has a E46 330D coupe up for £2k (with 177k miles!).

Putting aside the fact that I love the E46 shape, the BMW has had most work done (bar any new injectors or turbo in its life), am I being silly considering this?

Diagro · 19 Apr 2019 at 18:49

Dunno. Probably

singularity · 19 Apr 2019 at 18:50

Yeah, could be silly

rodenal · 19 Apr 2019 at 20:43

Depends how disposable you see £2k as being

wedrum · 19 Apr 2019 at 22:38

Well at those miles most or all of the niggles should have been done.

Raymond Lin · 19 Apr 2019 at 23:06

Better the devil you know.

lordrobs · 19 Apr 2019 at 23:59

miikeeyy92 said:
Putting aside the fact that I love the E46 shape, the BMW has had most work done (bar any new injectors or turbo in its life), am I being silly considering this?

Define what you mean by most as I bet there are still stacks of potential bills in that motor. Sounds like a sideways move at best and a bad one at worst.

Hades · 20 Apr 2019 at 02:14

I prefer the E46 to the A3. But at this point in both cars lifecycle I would probably not make the move. There is a bigger potential for costs on the BMW side. Obviously that does depend on what work has been carried out on each. Also, as mentioned, better the devil you know.

p1RATE · 20 Apr 2019 at 02:53

2k seems a bit steep for an e46 of that mileage. They are incredibly hard to shift and you'll have a harder time after putting your commute onto it. Other than that it's not that silly, as long as it's well maintained it could serve you well.

miikeeyy92 · 20 Apr 2019 at 08:40

Raymond Lin said:
Better the devil you know.

The fact that my A3 has a brake pad wear light on but I know its just got a break in the cable proves this...

lordrobs said:
Define what you mean by most as I bet there are still stacks of potential bills in that motor. Sounds like a sideways move at best and a bad one at worst.

Had a rebuilt auto box fitted at 146k, swirl flaps have been removed, bushes replaced.

Hades said:
I prefer the E46 to the A3. But at this point in both cars lifecycle I would probably not make the move. There is a bigger potential for costs on the BMW side. Obviously that does depend on what work has been carried out on each. Also, as mentioned, better the devil you know.

Very true.

Seems like its more of a "want" than a "need"

rodenal · 20 Apr 2019 at 09:58

Also having a think about the asking price it's around double what I'd want to pay for an end of life car. No matter how well you or the owner think it's been looked after that's what you're looking at with mileage approaching 200k on an old, generic diesel motor

Scania · 20 Apr 2019 at 11:54

For £1k you’d be somewhat silly tbh, £2k definitely.

It’ll need constant work (more through general age than mileage) if you want one then why not so long as your eyes are open and the price is more realistic.

It won’t be particularly economical either.