Hi! Can I afford to maintain e46?

[hir_ruslan]

Dear all,Hi, just a brief intro, my name is Zach, originally from Rawang, 27 years. Not sure what is the stadard self introduction here in this forum.I'm in a big dillema. I really want to get a 320 ci coupe e46 or any e46 coupe. My budget is about 100k. My major concern is on the maintenance part. Everybody is saying that BMW is high maintenance and can be problematic and that make me so hesitate for BMW. Love the car, saw how great cars all the members have here. Appreciate if some of you can help me on this matter.Thanks a lot in advance.

 

[chili e30]

hi there,i have move your thread to newbies section & edit your title so it look more like a newbies intro.by the way welcome to the forum.

 

[dzuljazz2001]

Dear all,

Hi, just a brief intro, my name is Zach, originally from Rawang, 27 years. Not sure what is the stadard self introduction here in this forum.

I'm in a big dillema. I really want to get a 320 ci coupe e46 or any e46 coupe. My budget is about 100k. My major concern is on the maintenance part. Everybody is saying that BMW is high maintenance and can be problematic and that make me so hesitate for BMW. Love the car, saw how great cars all the members have here.

Appreciate if some of you can help me on this matter.

Thanks a lot in advance.

welcome to the forum bro .... if you take good care of your udm, it will take care of you with minimal cost but than again, if you can have a budget of RM100K, maintaining a UDM wud not be much of a problem ...hv to knw the right ppl (OM) and they will certainly tell you where to hv it done (maintenance) cost effectively ..... do join us as an Official Member soon and I assure you it will be worth the membership .....:rock:

 

[hir_ruslan]

welcome to the forum bro .... if you take good care of your udm, it will take care of you with minimal cost but than again, if you can have a budget of RM100K, maintaining a UDM wud not be much of a problem ...hv to knw the right ppl (OM) and they will certainly tell you where to hv it done (maintenance) cost effectively ..... do join us as an Official Member soon and I assure you it will be worth the membership .....:rock:

Dzul,

thanks. well I'm not going to pay it cash hehehe still have to get a loan. In additional I am maintaining a c200k sport edition but that car still 2 years under warranty so not to much of a concern.

So, this car is a very affordable and easy to maintain? IF that is the case, which year or version that i should be looking for?

thanks

 

[deep3102]

welcome to the club, look around the forum for answers to your doubts, im sure you will be able to secure sufficient knowledge before diving in for ur UDM...good luck and do join us as OM soon

 

[pwncake]

Hello, I am also looking to purchase a E46. I am wondering how much should i expect to set aside in a year to afford the maintenance. The only thing standing between me and a beauty beemer atm is all the horror stories about maintenance costs.. Can anyone give me a ballpark figure of what i should expect?

THanks!

 

[mizhan]

selamat datang ruslan..

 

[bimmerholic]

welcome to BMWCM forum bro!

 

[ICEMAN 68]

welcome to bmwcm ....

spare rm10K and it would be sufficient enough to get going for a start ... therfore it would be better to seek for a car with good service record history ...

 

[fabianyee]

If depends a lot on the present condition of the car and how the ex-owner have maintained it. U may end up with a tiptop car and not having to spend much or a lemon car which gives u endless headaches especially if you don't have a reliable mechanic. I would say this applies to all cars and not just BMW...

Regular maintenance for the E46 is not that much... But bear in mind that there would be wear and tear items to replace for a >5 year old car even if the previous owner has maintained it well...

 

[QD250]

welcome to the forum....

 

[astroboy]

Maintenance cost? It depends..

A. Which work shop? SC?

B. What parts? New? Original? 3rd party? Recond? Used? Chop Shop?

 

[r37720]

A lot of people can afford to get beemer but not many people can really stand with high maintenance cost.

I used to have E46 5 years ago and I have spend easily RM20K for one year although most of the time I was abroad. Same goes to my current E60 and E30. As the BMW owner, you cannot stand with the deteriotion of the performance although still driveable.

I sold the E46 to my closed friend and he can afford to use it for 6 months only due to high maintenance. I do not try to scare you but this is a fact.

 

[ssa34]

Selling My E46 Coupe

Bro, im selling mine. I can give u a very good deal if your're really interested. My ad is in the E46 forum under 318ci for sale.

 

[pwncake]

Thanks for the welcome, advise and offers, everyone.

From what i can discern, maintenance can be affordable, but highly depends on what you do to maintain the car. Perhaps it is better for me to elaborate a little more, so that you guys would have a better perspective.

I am planning to get a lifestyle unregistered BMW 318 E46, which has travelled 15,000km. It is about 2 years old, most probbably reconditioned from another country. To be honest, I am not a large wage earner atm, but I can set aside either an initial rm10k for maintenance, or rm3000 - 4000 every year for maintenance.

My alternative car would be a brand new Toyota Corolla Altis. But obviously, Beemers are every man's dream, so wondering if I can afford to reach the sky a little for this...

Again, thanks all!

 

[hir_ruslan]

Thanks all for the reply,

RM 20K a year? wow that is high!! I hope that ia AB price + charges. How about the normal specialist workshop? Are they as high? What are the normal stuff that need to be replaced?

 

[erica34]

... I used to have E46 5 years ago and I have spend easily RM20K for one year although most of the time I was abroad.

perhaps what r37720 meant was there was one year when he had spend more than rm20k on his e46. i doubt one has to spend rm20k every year on maintenance for regular e46s, not sure about the m3 though. but you can sure blow more than that in a year if you're into modification/upgrades.

 

[ans451s]

Hi there, and welcome to the forum.. Let me relate my experience, maybe that might give you some idea of the maintenance.
1) I highly recommend that you get one with service history of all the parts changed, which might help with preventive maintenance
2) I got mine in Sept 2009, and so far I have had to change
a) Recon GB - RM6000
b) Radiator + all hoses RM1500
c) Fuel pump + fuel filter + misc parts RM1200
d) Other misc expenses - service, brake pads, tires, shocks and all absorbers, etc. RM3000 +

After that, it drives like a dream and has not given problems (yet!)

Not to scare you, but just giving you some idea of what you might expect

 

[hir_ruslan]

hey guys,

thanks for the clarification. erm..i saw some 118 or 120 bout my price range? Can somebody give comments on these model compare to e46?

I heard e46 do seems to have some problem with the G/B due to the temperature or soemthing, aight?

 

[chong82]

Hi there, and welcome to the forum.. Let me relate my experience, maybe that might give you some idea of the maintenance.
1) I highly recommend that you get one with service history of all the parts changed, which might help with preventive maintenance
2) I got mine in Sept 2009, and so far I have had to change
a) Recon GB - RM6000
b) Radiator + all hoses RM1500
c) Fuel pump + fuel filter + misc parts RM1200
d) Other misc expenses - service, brake pads, tires, shocks and all absorbers, etc. RM3000 +

After that, it drives like a dream and has not given problems (yet!)

Not to scare you, but just giving you some idea of what you might expect

I agree with you, all these is preventive measure that should be done earlier on.
On top of that, it also depends on the driver's driving style and how often its being used/
travel distance in a day.

So the answer to hir_ruslan's question is very subjective.