what does everyone else think ?
- Thread starter esK`
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Soldato
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Seems like a badge upgrade more than anything. I personaly wouldn't bother.
will take that advice and wait ![[TW]Fox](/data/man-of-honor/2009.png){kind=avatar}
Whilst the 318 is hardly fantastic the E46 is at least nicely built, something which cannot be said about the Astra, which is a terrible car inside and out.
For the sake of a grand, I'd certainly say its worth it.
I'd bother, I cant think of much thats noticeably better for 3 grand without moving up to big engined cars. The 318i is better built, it's a better quality car, sure it's not going to be any quicker but in every other respect it's a superior car and it's only a grand.
As for the A4 - why buy a 95-00 model A4, built to compete with the old 3 Series, over a 99-06 3 Series? It's a later generation of car.
Remember with the right engine in it people are still paying up to £20k for this shape 3 Series - it's a fundamentally decent car even if this one is lacking in spec and pace.
Don't forget how totally crap his current car is. There are few cars that are more hateful to drive than a 1.6 8v Astra.
As for the A4 - why buy a 95-00 model A4, built to compete with the old 3 Series, over a 99-06 3 Series? It's a later generation of car.
Remember with the right engine in it people are still paying up to £20k for this shape 3 Series - it's a fundamentally decent car even if this one is lacking in spec and pace.
Don't forget how totally crap his current car is. There are few cars that are more hateful to drive than a 1.6 8v Astra.
It's probably best to wait a little longer and get a newer one (I have a V plate at the moment) but even if you did go for it it's worth it for the build quality alone for the relatively small price of a grand extra (as long as it's got the paperwork to show it's in good health). Compared to most other cars everything feels nice and heavy and the dash actually feels like a proper car dashboard instead of a piece of hollow plastic that makes creaky noises over time.
With older E46 saloons there are a few things to note which I have encountered on mine (and had resolved on the whole)
- Brake pad sensor cable can become faulty and trigger the pad warning light even if pads are as good as new (had mine replaced by buying a set of geuine sensor wires for a tenner on ebay)
- Front passenger airbag presence mat under the seat is prone to becoming faulty in its lifetime and needs replacing (£60 replacement) or you can simply buy a airbag reset tool to manually reset the indicator. When the airbag light comes on it disables the whole airbag system in the car until the light is reset. The tool to reset it tells you what caused the light to come on so if you find the presence mat caused it then you can simply reset it and get it looked at in due course as the mat still works fine it just seems to go off when a heavy adult sits in it (on mine anyway).
- Door window frame creaking when you operate the electric windows after a good round of hot dry weather but this a common problem on other saloon models too not just older e46. This issue only exists on hot dry days an can probably be fixed manually by adjusting the rubber around the glass when closed but meh...
- Engine management light can come on for a multitude of reasons then randomly go off again for weeks on end. Scotthall Hampshire hinted that this is probably to do with the emissions sensor or the fuel valve which needs replacing in its lifetime. The car runs fine and everything just the light will randomly come on and off on its own accord whenever it detects an issue but not really tell you what the issue could be like the other lights and warnings do.
Other than that though it's highly unlikely to ever let you down mechanically so you're never going to be left stranded in the middle of nowhere one day, just make sure services have been done on time ;p The only time it should see a garage is really during service time.
As Fox reminded me the other day, if you live near Hampshire then servicing is cheap from Scotthall BMW for cars 6yrs or older.
With older E46 saloons there are a few things to note which I have encountered on mine (and had resolved on the whole)
- Brake pad sensor cable can become faulty and trigger the pad warning light even if pads are as good as new (had mine replaced by buying a set of geuine sensor wires for a tenner on ebay)
- Front passenger airbag presence mat under the seat is prone to becoming faulty in its lifetime and needs replacing (£60 replacement) or you can simply buy a airbag reset tool to manually reset the indicator. When the airbag light comes on it disables the whole airbag system in the car until the light is reset. The tool to reset it tells you what caused the light to come on so if you find the presence mat caused it then you can simply reset it and get it looked at in due course as the mat still works fine it just seems to go off when a heavy adult sits in it (on mine anyway).
- Door window frame creaking when you operate the electric windows after a good round of hot dry weather but this a common problem on other saloon models too not just older e46. This issue only exists on hot dry days an can probably be fixed manually by adjusting the rubber around the glass when closed but meh...
- Engine management light can come on for a multitude of reasons then randomly go off again for weeks on end. Scotthall Hampshire hinted that this is probably to do with the emissions sensor or the fuel valve which needs replacing in its lifetime. The car runs fine and everything just the light will randomly come on and off on its own accord whenever it detects an issue but not really tell you what the issue could be like the other lights and warnings do.
Other than that though it's highly unlikely to ever let you down mechanically so you're never going to be left stranded in the middle of nowhere one day, just make sure services have been done on time ;p The only time it should see a garage is really during service time.
As Fox reminded me the other day, if you live near Hampshire then servicing is cheap from Scotthall BMW for cars 6yrs or older.
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