OT — I want an BMW E46 wagon. What should I look out for?

[ravdg316]

Hey all,

Many of you seem to know a lot about cars, so I thought I’d throw out this discussion. I’m looking into an xdrive E46 BMW wagon for long road trips and such. I currently have a Honda Fit which has been an amazing car, but I’ve always wanted one of these. The boxy BMW body style was my favorite.

My previous car was an ‘83 BMW 320i with 250k+ miles, so I’m not afraid of higher mileage cars. I just need to know what I should look out for (lots of noise on BMW forums). If one of you happen to be selling yours or an equivalent, feel free to pm me.

Ideal: manual transmission, roof racks, navy blue with gray interior, 4 wheel drive. There was a picture of one of yours I saw on the forum a couple years ago but I can’t seem to find it...

[adrien]

Ever consider a benz?

I've been driving an e350 wagon for the last 6.5 years. Not manual, but blue with grey, big, efficient, quick, comfy. And I can put my bike in the back with the seats down without removing a wheel.

[p nut]

Hey all,

Many of you seem to know a lot about cars, so I thought I’d throw out this discussion. I’m looking into an xdrive E46 BMW wagon for long road trips and such. I currently have a Honda Fit which has been an amazing car, but I’ve always wanted one of these. The boxy BMW body style was my favorite.

My previous car was an ‘83 BMW 320i with 250k+ miles, so I’m not afraid of higher mileage cars. I just need to know what I should look out for (lots of noise on BMW forums). If one of you happen to be selling yours or an equivalent, feel free to pm me.

Ideal: manual transmission, roof racks, navy blue with gray interior, 4 wheel drive. There was a picture of one of yours I saw on the forum a couple years ago but I can’t seem to find it...

Got no advice on E46's, but you should not expect the same reliability as E30's. Those things were about bulletproof.

[eddief]

I had an e46 330i...for 6 months. Maybe just my car, but the clutch release point was challenging for smooth shifting.

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?p=4945749

Also just fine for cruising but the least forgiving suspension for most "normal" roads.

As I recall manual transmission wagons are very few and far between.

They look cool but one of my least favorite cars of all time. Electronics were over-engineered to be challenging to figure out.

Could not wait to lose a bunch o money and have someone else buy it away from me.

[dddd]

"OT — I want an BMW E46 wagon. What should I look out for?"

Leaks.

[Tickdoc]

I also had an e46 330i manual. What a fun car. Best handling best steering car ever.

The engine valve cover can leak pretty frequently and is sometimes a cheap fix and sometimes it is an expensive fix. Heater core is another common problem, along with window guides.

All the rubber valves and gaskets should be carefully inspected. I love bmw’s, especially of that era, but the squishy bits get cracked and cause problems about now.

My advice would be to take it to a bmw only mechanic if you can, when and if you fine one, just to have it checked out.

Good luck!

[cadence90]

I know nothing about cars...Googled "BMW E46" wagon...came across this...which puts us simple bicycle-building folk to complete shame (https://jalopnik.com/an-e46-m3-wagon-would-have-been-the-best-bmw-1807152574).


https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--6mBfzxtM--/c_scale,fl_progressive,q_80,w_800/n2c1rlfae5oguu8wvi5c.jpg

Damn....
.

[type2sam]

All the rubber valves and gaskets should be carefully inspected. I love bmw’s, especially of that era, but the squishy bits get cracked and cause problems about now.

Agree. I have an e39 from that era that I purchased 9 years and 100k ago. All the plastic hardlines and underhood parts (vacuum, windshield washer, CCV, etc.) get brittle with age and tend to just snap if you mess with them.

With that said, love the car, love the engine...and the paint is glorious. In fact I'm looking for another one with less miles.

Heed the advice to get it checked out by a BMW tech.

[tylercheung]

i think there was a forum called "e46fanatics.com" which is like Paceline but for e46's. (IMHO still the best looking car ever). Dunno about wagons but I think the big ticket items were: inspect rear subframe assembly, inspect all water and fuel pumps, inspect electrical system, inspect front lower control arms and bearings.

Turner Motorsport may also have some stuff.

[p nut]

Years and years ago, I remember reading about rear subframe tears. Check that as well.

[ravdg316]

i think there was a forum called "e46fanatics.com" which is like Paceline but for e46's. (IMHO still the best looking car ever). Dunno about wagons but I think the big ticket items were: inspect rear subframe assembly, inspect all water and fuel pumps, inspect electrical system, inspect front lower control arms and bearings.

Turner Motorsport may also have some stuff.

E46fanatics is particularly helpful. Very much like the Paceline. I'm reading through this post here right now: http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showpost.php?p=16061691&postcount=55.

If anybody has any personal experience with the x-drive variants of these cars, I'd love to hear from them

[jamesdak]

I had a E46 330ci ZHP for several years. Bought it with around 50,000 miles and sold it with over 100,000 miles. Over that time I had no real issues. The car did sit during the winter months though. It did leak oil from the valve cover after sitting on winter but it was only on that first start up. I replaced the valve covers myself anyways and it was an easy job. Cost me maybe $90 in parts. Otherwise it was a rock solid car that gave me zero problems. In fact I'd call it my favorite car for driving of everything I ever owned. The Miata was a bit funner, the vette was faster, but everything considered together the E46 Bimmers are great cars.

http://www.pbase.com/jhuddle/image/111010031.jpg

E46fanatics are the spot for real info on these.

[sand fungus]

I had an E46 325XI wagon for ~10 years and it was not a very reliable car. Seemed that it was in the shop every 6 months or so for something and it was pretty much $500-$1000 in parts for every failure....

Pully Idlers, Alternators, door modules, sensors, transmission was replaced once before warranty expired and the trans was prone to overheating from was I felt was poor oil cooling, various sensors and there were multitude of other things as well... But I am only one sample others could have better results.

All that being said I really enjoyed driving it and it was super handy for skiing and hiking trips. If I was able to do my own maintenance I would probably buy another one but living in a condo doesn't make that possible. I still like to look of that car. The M3 variant that someone else posted earlier would be a dream car!!

Even with the problems I had I still bought another BMW (535xi) because of the way they drive and handle.

Good luck with your search.

[11.4]

You've already mentioned e46fanatics, which is one of your best sites to check out. Always read the stickies -- most of the posts are the kind of stuff that gets you banned around here and aren't that informative but the stickies are pretty good. Also read bimmerforums for more perspective and info and less attitude.

The car sounds great and that makes it very popular. Best exhaust acoustics ever. But reliability for long-distance driving, especially at this age, isn't all that great; or, more specifically, if you do routine parts replacements (bushings, gaskets, etc.) and do religious service, you'll be fine. The car doesn't drive without a fairly high level of love, but with love will drive forever and be a load of fun. Plan to spend money and try to do some of the parts work yourself.

The e46 has a relatively high premium on price so you pay excessively for the experience. And the x-drive at that vintage was still experimental and the seals tended to pay the price. My experience with owning one x-drive and two other e46's (part of owning about 15 BMWs in my life, starting pre 2002 and including every Dinan, Alpina, M-series, and custom boring performance for years) was the following:

1. oil leaks -- requires religious service intervals
2. coolant leaks -- requires religious service intervals and tends to become a complete coolant system replacement (radiator, hoses, clamps, sensors); always happens on long hot-weather road trips
3. power steering leaks -- requires religious service intervals
4. subframe mounts -- if this happens your car is toast but you can inspect carefully for this before purchase and on regular intervals
5. control arm bushings -- requires religious service intervals, but you can replace inexpensively and easily in your driveway
6. crankcase vent valves -- no replacement until they go bad, then a tow
7. on the X series, the front axles didn't last well and had to be replaced every 150,000 km or so.

The TPMS is early generation and a kludge. Same for break wear sensors. You'll hate them. The dash isn't the best and not up to BMW's usual standard. Get the latest model you can find.

Other things: The rear seat backs didn't fold down in some years and models so it's hard to fit a bike in. The spare tires became unreliable in some of this model -- it would hold pressure in the trunk but would die immediately when deployed.

[Climb01742]

My wife had one. Still her favorite car ever. But so many frequent ‘small’ repairs, usually a few hundred to $1000, made her sell it. It’s a love/hate car. So great in so many ways, but a money pit. The x drive did feel very rough and heavy. One small detail: I found the driver’s seat to be one of the worst seats I’ve ever used. Always killed my back, particularly on longer drives. I don’t think the seats were bad initially but they don’t hold up over time. Since you’ll be buying used, might be worth seeing how well the drivers seat is aging.

I had a 540 wagon. Now that’s a car.;) still my favorite engine.

[jwalther]

My daily is an e46 ZHP convertible. Although it's a ZHP focused site, ZHP Mafia is by far the best e46 related online resource: http://www.zhpmafia.com/forums/forum.php

[zap]

Ever consider a benz?

I've been driving an e350 wagon for the last 6.5 years. Not manual, but blue with grey, big, efficient, quick, comfy. And I can put my bike in the back with the seats down without removing a wheel.

We have a mildly modified '06 211 E500 wagon. As noted, single bikes go in easily. Tandem, remove front wheel. An E55 wagon with a supercharged V8 (test drove one) is a blast.

Comfortable interstate machines, reliable with inexpensive (at good indy shop) running costs.

The only BMW I would consider owning are the E30's. A good buddy is a BMW mechanic (restoring his E30 M3 as well) and according to him, each generation after the E30 see's an increase in maintenance frequency and unreliability.

[Rafa]

As a long time BMW tech and an amateur cyclist, I’m happy to find a thread that I might be able to offer some expertise. Yes, E30 is the king, but at best it’s a 16 year old car. Parts availability is getting a bit tricky in some cases, and finding an unmolested example is hard.

For E46 Touring (wagon), in addition to things others have mentioned, a few comments:
1. Yes, some cars had issue with torn metal at the trunk floor, it’s much less common that the interwebs would have you believe. Worth looking at, for sure, I’ve only seen a few torn ones in my years.
2. Window regulators are common failures. Not something you can foresee, but worth at least knowing about. Water ingress from the vapor barriers behind the door panels are also common.
3. There was a ‘facelift’ in mid 2001, so the later cars are a bit nicer.
4. As the M54 engine has aged, one of it’s issues is oil consumption. My wife’s 2002 325iT was burning a quart in a thousand miles. I rebuilt it at 177K miles, and now have ~15K in the rebuild with no more consumption, but if someone wasn’t able to rebuild it themselves, th cost of rebuild might not be worth it.
5. Stick shift is obviously harder to find, but they are out there. A customer of ours recently picked one up in the he east coast somewhere.

Lastly, have you considered the E90 wagon? Also nice, although I don’t like the N52/N54 motor as much as M54.

[ojingoh]

As a long time BMW tech and an amateur cyclist, I’m happy to find a thread that I might be able to offer some expertise. Yes, E30 is the king, but at best it’s a 16 year old car. Parts availability is getting a bit tricky in some cases, and finding an unmolested example is hard.

For E46 Touring (wagon), in addition to things others have mentioned, a few comments:
1. Yes, some cars had issue with torn metal at the trunk floor, it’s much less common that the interwebs would have you believe. Worth looking at, for sure, I’ve only seen a few torn ones in my years.
2. Window regulators are common failures. Not something you can foresee, but worth at least knowing about. Water ingress from the vapor barriers behind the door panels are also common.
3. There was a ‘facelift’ in mid 2001, so the later cars are a bit nicer.
4. As the M54 engine has aged, one of it’s issues is oil consumption. My wife’s 2002 325iT was burning a quart in a thousand miles. I rebuilt it at 177K miles, and now have ~15K in the rebuild with no more consumption, but if someone wasn’t able to rebuild it themselves, th cost of rebuild might not be worth it.
5. Stick shift is obviously harder to find, but they are out there. A customer of ours recently picked one up in the he east coast somewhere.

Lastly, have you considered the E90 wagon? Also nice, although I don’t like the N52/N54 motor as much as M54.

This is a good list. I've owned an E46 330i for a few years now, as well as an E30 318i for a lot longer. Owned a bunch of BMWs over the years. I do all my own work.

The electrical stuff is a notch lower of reliability on this chassis. I think that's mainly due to 100% of it being subconned out. It's not that it's bad, it's just a disappointment when it breaks for dumb reasons. Get used to broken switches, light bulbs that fall out of sockets, sensors or resistors just stopping. It would be par for the course for say a VW, on a BMW it feels out of place. In the last year I've spent about $50 on parts for the electrical system.

Engine: most of my difficulties have been with vacuum/air leaks. I'm going to be fixing my car's vacuum recirc system this summer, I can feel it. In the last year I've spent about $150 on engine maintenance, including fluids and motor oil. I think I'm into it for $300 this summer.

Suspension and brakes: BMWs need suspension maintenance to drive their best. These are heavy cars, and to make them drive like light ones, they have to make a tradeoff between geometry and longevity. After 80k miles, consider refreshing some of the suspension parts - pads, bushings, struts. I'm replacing struts and bushings all around this summer, will be around $500

Biggest thing: these cars are getting old and body work is never cheap on these cars. If you get in even a minor accident there is an excellent likelihood they will total your car, like it or not. They are an excellent bargain for what you get, I like my E46 but still prefer overall my E30. The E46 is far more modern, for whatever that's worth. Good luck and welcome to the family.

[happycampyer]

<snip>

I had a 540 wagon. Now that’s a car.;) still my favorite engine.I had a 540 wagon for many years, and while it was a great driving car, I couldn’t wait to get rid of it. One of the biggest issues is the electrical system. Apparently, the drainage channels in the roof can clog, and then water gets into the car. There’s a critical electical box in the back seat, driver’s side floor that gets wet, and then various systems short out. If you keep the car in a garage, it’s probably less of a problem.

[Climb01742]

I had a 540 wagon for many years, and while it was a great driving car, I couldn’t wait to get rid of it. One of the biggest issues is the electrical system. Apparently, the drainage channels in the roof can clog, and then water gets into the car. There’s a critical electical box in the back seat, driver’s side floor that gets wet, and then various systems short out. If you keep the car in a garage, it’s probably less of a problem.

100% agree. I loved it as a driving car. The V8 was heaven. And the wagon-ness gave it surprising usefulness. I was lucky, as I got 40k+ miles of relative trouble free fun out of it before moving on. As fun as it was to drive, I can only imagine what an E55 Benz wagon would be like. Badass wagons are sneaky fun. A friend had a S6 Avant. Wish more such lunacies were built by more companies.

[tuscanyswe]

Learned to drive in bwms the 328i wagon manual was my favorite. The gearbox and road feel with that lovely steering makes it a really nice car to drive imo.

I know the one i drove had various sensor faults which made a lot of warning signals on the dash in its later years. Among those were the abs as i remember those cut out one winter. It was a reliable car still imo. Family drove it for around 250000 kms before sold.

Rust in wheel arches is an issue on almost all of these around here but we do have a lot of salt in the winter, so that may not be an issue at your location.

I too think they are awesome looking.