BMW and M Power Owners
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[TW]Fox;27164728 said:Shock as old car goes wrong? This is the problem really, they are great but so old now
He has been particularly unlucky though. I see millions of E46s everywhere and I somehow doubt their owners are spending anything like Stew has had to on running costs.
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Got an iPhone 6 today to replace my Galaxy S4. The S4 has always had issues pairing with the bluetooth in the E46 so I resorted to a clip on thing for the sun visor, but have just had a go with the iPhone and it works perfectly 
This makes me much happier than it probably should lol.
This makes me much happier than it probably should lol.Soooooooo. Just picked up my e46 330i Touring, and the lack of BT is an issue.
What's the best shout here? I have an Alpine BT stereo with USB and all that, and could fit that, but I do generally prefer to keep things as stock looking as possible. So what's the next best option? Is there some sort of Parrot thing that can be done sub £100? And what's the chances of getting a USB socket hooked up?
What's the best shout here? I have an Alpine BT stereo with USB and all that, and could fit that, but I do generally prefer to keep things as stock looking as possible. So what's the next best option? Is there some sort of Parrot thing that can be done sub £100? And what's the chances of getting a USB socket hooked up?
[TW]Fox;27164728 said:Shock as old car goes wrong? This is the problem really, they are great but so old now
Is your 200k e39 now a troublesome unreliable liability given it is old too?
Sure no surprise that an old car can generate problems, but I think he's been unlucky as opposed to experiencing typical behaviour from such a car.
not sure on the usb side of things but you should be able to fit a parrot system for under £100 quite easily I bought one for my e46 and there an absolute doddle to fit, the parrot mk series appear to have usb but not sure on the prices
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If you want to do it on the cheap then fit a parrot kit, with a BMW loom adapter (loom adapter sub £10 and saves a lot of messing around and mess behind the dash). The better models have USB too so its definitely the easiest and best way of keeping it looking stock.
Soldato
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Actually feel for you as you've had ongoing issues with your e46 from day one. Are you planning to keep it or will you cut your losses and move it on? It sounds like a complete liability tbh plus there's still the potential for the common faults to occur...?
![[TW]Fox](/data/man-of-honor/2009.png){kind=avatar}
Yes?
Reliability wise mine (November 2003 "53" 330i Sport Touring) has only been so so, but i hope that the things i have done to it are one off's really.
Purchased for £1650 on 145k miles in August
Now on 155k miles at the end of October
In 10k miles in 3 months it has needed:
Coolant reservoir - Common, was very cheap, wont need doing again.
MOT - Any car
New handbrake shoes - Old car i guess, wont need doing again.
New exhaust - Ditto
New brake pipe under the car - Old car, annoyingly expense too.
I dont know if i would class the above as bad or not. My "proper" cars never need anything doing to them by comparison, but then they didnt cost absolutely nothing to purchase? Its a pretty nice car for the money and additional outlay all things considered. I only bought it to thrash 220 miles per day to work in during the week and keep the miles off other stuff and i think its doing OK at that task.
Purchased for £1650 on 145k miles in August
Now on 155k miles at the end of October
In 10k miles in 3 months it has needed:
Coolant reservoir - Common, was very cheap, wont need doing again.
MOT - Any car
New handbrake shoes - Old car i guess, wont need doing again.
New exhaust - Ditto
New brake pipe under the car - Old car, annoyingly expense too.
I dont know if i would class the above as bad or not. My "proper" cars never need anything doing to them by comparison, but then they didnt cost absolutely nothing to purchase? Its a pretty nice car for the money and additional outlay all things considered. I only bought it to thrash 220 miles per day to work in during the week and keep the miles off other stuff and i think its doing OK at that task.
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Jez I'd class all the above as normal wear - I'd be pretty pleased if I had picked up a sport touring for under £2k and I only had to do those types of things to it.
You'll probably find the brake lines had been an MOT advisory for years, and you could potentially have gotten away with rubbing back / greasing - though it's obviously better to replace. Same with exhaust if you had really wanted to bodge it.
You'll probably find the brake lines had been an MOT advisory for years, and you could potentially have gotten away with rubbing back / greasing - though it's obviously better to replace. Same with exhaust if you had really wanted to bodge it.
Soldato
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So my sister's partner is looking to get a M3 very soon, and as a result his 56plate 335i SE is going.
I'm wondering how much I should offer him as I really want it, and i've had the pleasure of borrowing it for a good month and enjoyed every second I was in it.
As said its SE Spec, 56Plate, 96k Miles, 6Spd, Saloon, Idrive (Not working properly will come back to this) with Sat Nav, heated memory seats, Xenons and some other stuff.
Back to the IDrive, its come down with the dreaded CCC failure as a result most of the time you have no IDrive, only time you do is if the car has been left alone for a while IE overnight, where you have the pleasure of having the radio in your morning commute but nothing on when you come home.....And yes, I know how much it costs to get fixed
Besides from that, the car feels well put together, no mechanical faults from what I experienced when I had it and the power is addictive so I want it.
How much would be a reasonable offer for it?
Cheers.
I'm wondering how much I should offer him as I really want it, and i've had the pleasure of borrowing it for a good month and enjoyed every second I was in it.
As said its SE Spec, 56Plate, 96k Miles, 6Spd, Saloon, Idrive (Not working properly will come back to this) with Sat Nav, heated memory seats, Xenons and some other stuff.
Back to the IDrive, its come down with the dreaded CCC failure as a result most of the time you have no IDrive, only time you do is if the car has been left alone for a while IE overnight, where you have the pleasure of having the radio in your morning commute but nothing on when you come home.....And yes, I know how much it costs to get fixed
Besides from that, the car feels well put together, no mechanical faults from what I experienced when I had it and the power is addictive so I want it.
How much would be a reasonable offer for it?
Cheers.
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Yeah maybe, the garage insisted that it needed doing though so to get it through i just accepted. With the exhaust and brake pipe & shoes (i had new rear discs & pads too as they have to come off for the shoes) it was still a £450 MOT though by the time you added on the labour and VAT
Bit rubbish on a sub £2k car but what can you do, as Fox mentioned they are old cars now so i should expect some work.
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Oof £85, that's a nice wee bit of profit for the garage for 10 minutes work.
Bosch coils for that car are like £35.
Im not sure, they said it runs over the top of the rear diff and was a bit of a nightmare to do so took them a couple of hours, ive not checked the validity of this work to be honest but i do have a level of trust with the local garage, i know the owner socially. Hopefully they didnt rip me off too much 
Yeah they put a totally new pipe in (which they said that they made themselves but who am i to know/care whether that is OK as long as it works, doesnt leak, and passes the MOT).
Its good to hear that the whole thing about it going over the rear diff making it a nightmare sounds plausible then
Its good to hear that the whole thing about it going over the rear diff making it a nightmare sounds plausible then