E46 Common Problems?

[TW]Fox · 5 Jul 2007 at 10:25

wohoo said:
No but the E46 equivalent jap mobile will be not far off bomb proof

Whats the equivilent Jap car to a 2000 328Ci? ie, a well built, well specified Coupe that'll hit 60 in under 7 seconds and do nearly 150mph?

wassap · 5 Jul 2007 at 10:58

[TW]Fox said:
Whats the equivilent Jap car to a 2000 328Ci? ie, a well built, well specified Coupe that'll hit 60 in under 7 seconds and do nearly 150mph?

Well maybe not in coupe form, but an accord will be bomb proof, certainly has an rear axle which will remain attached to the car. (dont think you well built argument quite fits here

)

Supra's and Imprezza's certainly arent a E46 equivalent.

[TW]Fox · 5 Jul 2007 at 11:00

wohoo said:
Well maybe not in coupe form, but an accord will be bomb proof, certainly has an rear axle which will remain attached to the car. (dont think you well built argument quite fits here )

Supra's and Imprezza's certainly arent a E46 equivalent.

Neither is a Honda Accord really, is it?

hummaia9 · 5 Jul 2007 at 11:06

I am an E39 guy, but I understand that suspension/bushes are a bit weak on the 3, but when you buy at that age you should plan for a refresh at some point anyway.

danza · 5 Jul 2007 at 13:26

Hmmmm, this has given me a lot to think about.

On one hand is the E46, with a potentially masive problem that could materialise at no notice, but more likely will never be a problem. On the other hand is the drawing board, to which I may have to. go back to :/

I quite like the ATR, and the CTR has grown on me a lot recently. The Astra Coupe has lost some of its appeal due to the shoddy interior (well, the dash at least), but it's not out of the running as a plan B yet. I still really want to stick with a coupe, but I fear a compromise may be in order, somewhere down the line.

wassap · 5 Jul 2007 at 13:37

[TW]Fox said:
Neither is a Honda Accord really, is it?

See this is where you and I differ, to me a E46 (unless its a 330p/d coupe) is nothing special at all.Just an over priced car for badge snobs.

[TW]Fox · 5 Jul 2007 at 13:40

wohoo said:
See this is where you and I differ, to me a E46 (unless its a 330p/d coupe) is nothing special at all.Just an over priced car for badge snobs.

But we are talking about the 328 Coupe which is very much the same as the 330 - it's its predecessor.

Quite how can you say the E46 is nothing special compared to a 98-02 Accord is beyond me, even a 318 feels like a cut above an Accord in terms of quality and build.

wassap · 5 Jul 2007 at 16:37

Im not talking about the older accord more about the newer one, and the comparison between the E46 range in general (which i assumed the OP was talking about too), the coupes are nice, i dont doubt that.

I just dont think the rest of the range is all that, as i said before the 330 both in petrol and diesel form are lovely motors, but the rest of the range just makes me go well 'meh'.

On the whole the E46 is nothing special, its a 4 door saloon with a posh badge, it doesnt wow or impress me any more than a accord or other high spec mass produced >£24k saloon.

Its not really better built either,well built cars tend to remain attached to their axles.

Hawk Tuah · 5 Jul 2007 at 16:45

danza said:
Aside this, are there any other problems that plague the E46?

From experience, they seem prone to indicator failure.

[TW]Fox · 5 Jul 2007 at 16:59

wohoo said:
Im not talking about the older accord more about the newer one,

328's were discontinued in 2000, that Accord didn't come out until 2003 :confused:

and the comparison between the E46 range in general (which i assumed the OP was talking about too), the coupes are nice, i dont doubt that.

The Coupe's are fundamentally the same as the Saloons. How can you say the saloon isn't well built, etc etc blah blah but then say the Coupe is nice? Fit, finish, etc is the same.

I just dont think the rest of the range is all that, as i said before the 330 both in petrol and diesel form are lovely motors, but the rest of the range just makes me go well 'meh'.

I think it's the image thats making you go meh not the car, after all, it's only the engine that sets a 330 apart from a 325.

Its not really better built either,well built cars tend to remain attached to their axles.

Becuase of course, Japanese manufacturers have never, ever had a single design fault or recall ever?

I'm never in a million years going to say BMW's are 100% reliable becuase they are not but that comment is a tad unfair - it's an isolated design issue which BMW more often than not fix for free - even on 8 year old cars.

danza · 5 Jul 2007 at 18:09

Some people reckon about 1% of cars are affected by the subframe cracking issue. I think it could be a bit higher. It is not just isolated to 99-01 manufactured cars (although it is more common).

Zoiks!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8362789948066992482&sourceid=searchfeed :eek:

This is worrying really. Over at e46fanatics:

http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=157603

http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=123618

http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=195602

Gentlemen, check your subframe mounts!

I'm still not put off (idiot I am), just now I know what to look for, and what to do if this happens (cry). Is there any way an issue like this would be covered under insurance, that is if BMW won't help financially? :confused:

Simon · 5 Jul 2007 at 18:35

[TW]Fox · 5 Jul 2007 at 18:44

"There are no reliability issues with E46 BMW's!"

danza · 5 Jul 2007 at 18:46

Simon said:

Exactly!

The more I think about this, the less it makes sense to buy a car that may develop this problem, i.e go for a different manufacturer and never have to worry 'what if it happens'.

danza · 5 Jul 2007 at 18:47

[TW]Fox said:
"There are no reliability issues with E46 BMW's!"

ROFLMAO!

wassap · 5 Jul 2007 at 20:09

One thing to bear in mind, forums are filled with problems, nobody goes on forums saying saying, hey my car is running great.

Surely there must be some tell tale signs that the axle is close to coming off, stress marks on the seams?

Save a couple of grand extra if you really want a coupe, 10-12k should get you a high mile but decent enough 330.

wassap · 5 Jul 2007 at 20:13

[TW]Fox said:
328's were discontinued in 2000, that Accord didn't come out until 2003

The Coupe's are fundamentally the same as the Saloons. How can you say the saloon isn't well built, etc etc blah blah but then say the Coupe is nice? Fit, finish, etc is the same.

I think it's the image thats making you go meh not the car, after all, it's only the engine that sets a 330 apart from a 325.

Becuase of course, Japanese manufacturers have never, ever had a single design fault or recall ever?

I'm never in a million years going to say BMW's are 100% reliable becuase they are not but that comment is a tad unfair - it's an isolated design issue which BMW more often than not fix for free - even on 8 year old cars.

Im gonna dump the accord argument, as for the coupe vs saloon, im a very superficial kind of guy, the coupe looks nice to me (im not mega hung up on build quality tbh) and thats all im worried about.

And you say its only the engine sets apart a 325 and 330, wellto me thats a big difference, the engine makes a massive difference to the car, the feel,the weigh balance,power delivery alters the cars character greatly.

If the Jap motors do one thing well, its reliability, and this has been proven time and time again, in all the various surveys, they to all intents and puposes pretty bomb proof