Learn me E46 needs

Hi everyone,

  One or my sons is looking for a car.  Saw a 2002 325xi with 172k on it.  Thinking of checking it out but wanted to see what I should be looking for.  So, learn me E46 please?

-Mike

Plastic and rubber in the cooling system gets brittle with age. Run away at any sign it's been overheated.

Check for Rust at the jack points.

They are decent cars overall, possibly the last BMW I would say is truly DIY-friendly.

Like basically every 90's-up BMW parts are expensive in general, they need every single piece of the cooling system replaced every 100k, they need a set of control arm replacements on a similar schedule (don't cheap out here, they will fail in 15k and you get to do it all over again), the window regulators stick and fail but aren't that hard to replace, the VANOS solenoids can fail and are a pain to replace, feel like there's something else I'm forgetting...

For the E46 specifically some years of automatic transmission would fail and lose reverse (IIRC there was a big lawsuit over it), the DISA valve can fail and get sucked into the engine, oil filter housing gaskets fail and they leak oil, rear subframe mounts can tear out of the unibody (less of a problem on the IX cars though), stereo quality is terrible for how expensive the cars were new, and I've noticed that the E46 is the newest BMW that will really rust to pieces in salt states.

Overall they are good cars but they are still a BMW with all the good and bad that entails. I loved my E46 330ci, would probably buy a 330i ZHP or M3 if the right example came along.

Service history would be the best place to start looking. A e46 will run a long time if properly maintained.  See how long ago the cooling system was serviced.  Check for oil leaks, most are easy fixes but the awd oil pan gasket is a pain.  Check the front CV joints for torn boots & binding joints & make sure the transfer case is not making any noises or vibrations.

We have an E46 M3 in the fleet. Some of the updates might help. 

Don't let your 14 year old have the keys until you know the cooling system is good.  One of many life lessons I've learned.

Stampie said:

Don't let your 14 year old have the keys until you know the cooling system is good.  One of many life lessons I've learned.

Do we want to ask how that’s going? 

In reply to David S. Wallens :

He traded it for a inop Miata. 

In reply to Stampie :

So things are looking good?

And, personally, I have always been a fan of the E46. It took the E36 (a nearly perfect car) and updated it just enough. It's the right size, too. 

I followed this one last night so, for a minute, we had two E46s. 

In reply to Stampie : replacing the ccv is also very time consuming idk if thats on the 2.5 or just the 3.0