BMW E46 Buying Questions

Went and test drive a 2002 BMW 325 Ci. Very nice car. I liked it quite a bit. But it did a few things that I need a little experienced observations on.

It whistled when romped like a turbo starting to die. In fact, I thought that's what it was. Sounded so turbo like I forgot it's a naturally aspired inline six. Since there is no turbo, what would this be? Reving it up in neutral did not make this sound. You had to be driving and let it start to really push the car and suck in air for it to happen.

It was dog slow off the line. Floor it and wait. It would smoothly rev up, and once you were going about 30 mph, it would take off. Again, acting just like a turbo car (exactly like a turbo Volvo in fact). Is this generically normal for this car/engine? Performance really was underwhelming.

Twice the transmission (automatic) seemed to get momentarily lost between gears while I was doing things like flooring it or backing off. Almost like "flair", but not quite. More like a sedate transmission that did not appreciate all the changing variables I kept giving it. Again with the "is this normal" question. Is this how BMW transmissions behave?

Dionne Warwick - "Walk On By" just jumped into my head.

Walk On By

When you romp on it, it should just go.

Hold out for a three pedal car in any case.

Yea, I'm almost assuredly going to pass. But if it's actually minor issues, well, maybe.

Honestly, the Saab 93 convertible kinda beat it. Yes the BMW felt like a better driving car in that I felt I could toss it harder and it just felt more "right". But the Saab had split climate control, much better stereo, rear seats were more comfortable, etc.

As much as I love a manual gearbox, as a daily driver, slogging through stop and go traffic every day... an automatic is much nicer to live with.

The whistling noise and acceleration lag are almost certainly a combination of intake and CCV vacuum leaks. Quite common and not a major expense if you do the work yourself (maybe a few hundred in parts). Can't comment on the automatic transmission except that I would avoid them like the plague in BMWs based on reputation alone.

No auto. What 02pilot said regarding the crankcase vent system. Also it can clog up as well.

It definitely should not bog off the line. The auto might be normal, not sure.

No auto.

My auto was wicked quick off the line, but it was an 03 with the GM tranny, not the ZF. The changeover is somewhere around 02-03 and the ZF is known to be a lot more failure prone than the GM unit.

Hold out of a manual if you can, though the auto was a decent daily.

In case you missed my post on your other thread..."rear subframe."

Check the rear subframe, but odds are pretty long that it will be a problem, at least for a street-driven car. Mine is 12 years and 110k old, with probably 20 autocrosses, and the subframe is fine.

The whistle, and the lag point to vac leaks. If there was no CEL check for tape or a missing bulb. Also there is a flapper in the intake that changes the runner length. It wears out - and the car either makes NO power down low, or NO power up top depending on where it sticks. Also throws a CEL.

The GM trans sucks, the ZF drives much nicer. I can't say which is more likely to fail. I think they are both undesirable for anyone with 2 working legs but my wife feels differently. Her ZF auto has been flawless. If it dies though... it's much more of a problem to fix than to swap for a manual ;)

I had the opposite experience -- most of the 330i I looked at were cracked, and without exception every seller said that they weren't. Who knows how quickly and whether a small crack becomes a big problem? It's something to assess, but it wouldn't stop me from buying an e46 with all of the other paperwork up to snuff. OTOH, a used E46 from an enthusiast that had already had weld-in reinforcements would automatically be worth $1500 more than one without, to me anyway.

I'll be doing the Redish weld-in plates and post up a build thread.

Other than the subframe, I've been really, really happy with my 330i so far. Wonderful do-it-all car.