So, after a good bit of hunting for a relatively cheap, fun, stickshift car to drive around while I work on the Infiniti's many small issues, I finally found and bought a 2001 BMW E46 330Ci convertible.
Purchase price: $1500
I've for a while wanted another convertible (I definitely regret having sold the '88 FC3C), and the E46 'verts tick off all of the boxes I was looking for. Overall, this one is pretty clean, looks pretty good, and seems to be in shockingly good mechanical condition. It made the hour-plus drive back from Louisville where I bought it without any issues at all (beyond the cruise not working), and it handles incredibly- its aftermarket suspension goodies likely aiding that (more on that later).
It's not without its issues- what I've found/know of so far is:
- LARGE crack in the windshield, though thankfully it starts in the bottom center and runs toward the passenger side so isn't in the driver's main FOV at all
- Tires are scary- see picture below. Like REALLY scary.
- Cruise control doesn't work. Checked the fuse and it's fine, likely culprits are the brake switch and the actual buttons on the wheel. Will likely pull a brake switch if I go up to the junkyard this weekend to see if it helps.
- Seats aren't the greatest, as seen in the pictures. Not in a huge hurry to fix this, though if I can find some cheap ones in a junkyard that are good I might pull them.
- Passenger side top drain is clogged- have already looked up how to fix this and will probably try some of the easier ways to resolve it in the next few days.
- SES light is on- haven't hit it with a scan too yet
- Airbag light is on. I'm 95% certain that the passenger-side airbag is disconnected given there's a small connector hanging down where the fusebox is on the passenger side. Will have to figure that out eventually.
- Appears to have a bit of a power steering fluid leak- but given it's mostly where the cap is, I believe it's the seal on the cap
- Driver's window may not seat quite properly when all the way up, it bangs a bit on hard bumps.
The good stuff:
- Engine sounds awesome and runs beautifully- night and day from the E36 with the likely blown head gasket I drove last week. Only engine 'mod' I can see is it has a cone intake instead of the normal airbox
- Clearly has some suspension mods- don't have a picture of them but it appears to have at least yellow Koni shocks and possibly lowering springs. Additionally, it has camber plates on the front end. I think it handles better than anything I've ever driven.
- Transmission shifts perfectly.
- Top works great
- Has HID lights that a stupid powerful, and appear to have been done well/professionally.
Overall, it looks like it will be a great little car to drive around with the top down. Given I got it for $500 under Challenge budget, it's not impossible that I could take it down if I wanted. I clearly wouldn't be very competitive, but it would still be fun.