Advise From Pro on E46

[Whalesith]

Hi all the Beemer Pros,I'm a newbie to BMW. An Altis driver currently, but wanna get 3 series E46 and need some basic advice.My budget is RM110K. Looking at E46 - 318i, 320i or 325i. Realistically after some shopping around my budget can only get those model in year 2002 and before at best. These are my questions:1) Any particular year make which i should avoid?2) 318i vs 320i. Which is better?3) Anyone thing i can do to get the car checked by a BMW specialist before i buy?4) Any general advice?Would appreciate any feedback guys. thanks a million!

 

[roland1888]

Hi, welcome to the club. It will be nice to introduce yourself first...
To answer your questions:
1. For your budget, none really.
2. 320i is definitely better. In-line 6 cylinders. Best choice will be a 325.
3. Don't quite understand the question.....
4. Try to get a post-facelift E46, and also the past service and maintainance records.

 

[StRat]

1) Any particular year make which i should avoid?
2) 318i vs 320i. Which is better?
3) Anyone thing i can do to get the car checked by a BMW specialist before i buy?
4) Any general advice?

Hey bro.. see, tai kor roland scold you adi . First post, introduce lar yourself Anyway, welcome aboard!

I'm no sifu.. but..

1) If your budget allows you to get an '02 car, sure lar get an '02 car. Newer and face lifted. Better resale value. Avoid '98 n '99.. No steptronic unless you don't mind lar.
2) 320i for sure.. but RM110k for '02 320i I doubt.. unless you manyak kamcheng with the dealer.
3) Check the car like you would a girlfriend before making her your wife. Get a GT1 diagnostics done. Only some mechs have that.
4) From Altis to a UDM.. hmmm.. If you've got a gf/wife, please have them informed early that you'll no longer be spending so much time with them.

Cheers bro and all the best with your search

 

[Mouse]

i dun think with 110K budget u can get any of the model u mention above year 2002, getting 2001 & 2000 definately but not 2002 with that budget, even 318i year 2002 cost 130K not to mention 320 or 325

 

[Whalesith]

yeah yeah tai kor roland oredi scolded.

My sincere apologies brothers, let me introduce myself. My nick is Whalesith, currently residing in KL.

Thank you all so much for your input. I have spoken to a fren who's driving a E46 323ci and he also advised to get at least 320i. He said that 318i is only 4 cylinder..no point. He said try to get the 320i with 6 cylinder, altho not so common but there is are couple around. Is that true? Do 320i comes in 4 cylinder?

So now at least i can stop looking at 318i. Hey guys i actually got a quote for E46 325i, '01 for RM120K - 128K (before negotiation). what's your opinion?

 

[Mouse]

yeah yeah tai kor roland oredi scolded.

My sincere apologies brothers, let me introduce myself. My nick is Whalesith, currently residing in KL.

Thank you all so much for your input. I have spoken to a fren who's driving a E46 323ci and he also advised to get at least 320i. He said that 318i is only 4 cylinder..no point. He said try to get the 320i with 6 cylinder, altho not so common but there is are couple around. Is that true? Do 320i comes in 4 cylinder?

So now at least i can stop looking at 318i. Hey guys i actually got a quote for E46 325i, '01 for RM120K - 128K (before negotiation). what's your opinion?

u offended those who is driving 318i (including me) when u say no point getting a 4 potter and we hate u for that . i dun think any of the 320i comes with 4 pot. 325i u can get cheaper than that coz my cousin just got one CKD year 2001 for 118K. take your time to search and dun rush into buying coz its a BMW and not an elba toaster, good luck

 

[BMW9700]

Hi all the Beemer Pros,

I'm a newbie to BMW. An Altis driver currently, but wanna get 3 series E46 and need some basic advice.

My budget is RM110K. Looking at E46 - 318i, 320i or 325i. Realistically after some shopping around my budget can only get those model in year 2002 and before at best.

These are my questions:

1) Any particular year make which i should avoid?
2) 318i vs 320i. Which is better?
3) Anyone thing i can do to get the car checked by a BMW specialist before i buy?
4) Any general advice?

Would appreciate any feedback guys. thanks a million!

for your budget get a 2000 328i and will be very happy with the power etc

regards

 

[StRat]

Mouse is right dude.. You think us 4 potters cannot drift like fast and furious ah ?!?! So for that very same reason, I hate you too!

320i 2.2 - 6 potter.. but definitely not within your 110k budget.
325i '01 is a good choice ma.. no facelift la.. but good choice nevertheless..
328i 00/01 - Within budget, high roadtax (RM4/day), but POWER

Happy searching..

 

[clint]

To all the knowledgeable BMW E46 sifus, I am also new to this forum but have introduced myself on another Thread. I am also looking for a E46 but i am very confused with the facelift year. In which year and month did the facelift model came in for 318i, 320i, 323i and 325i ? Everyone is giving me a different answer. Also in which year did the 2.0 come in for 318i and 2.2 come in for 320i ?

Thank you so much....

 

[Mouse]

To all the knowledgeable BMW E46 sifus, I am also new to this forum but have introduced myself on another Thread. I am also looking for a E46 but i am very confused with the facelift year. In which year and month did the facelift model came in for 318i, 320i, 323i and 325i ? Everyone is giving me a different answer. Also in which year did the 2.0 come in for 318i and 2.2 come in for 320i ?

Thank you so much....

yes its confusing, but i know facelift is available in europe much earlier as early as 2001, but malaysia facelift is somewhere middle of 2002

 

[E46Fanatic]

yeah yeah tai kor roland oredi scolded.

So now at least i can stop looking at 318i. Hey guys i actually got a quote for E46 325i, '01 for RM120K - 128K (before negotiation). what's your opinion?

Most important thing for a good ownership experience with a used E46 is low mileage and authenticated with a complete service history IMHO. Many car dealers can make the car pretty by a detailing job and a not too expensive paint job, but the on going maintenance of the car can get costly if it was not well cared for. Also there are many known cases of ODO mileage resets, so the complete service history is important.