My intial gut feeling is that this is a good deal if the car is as clean as its supposed to be
My intial gut feeling is that this is a good deal if the car is as clean as its supposed to be
Not great but decent. It's about market for that type of car. 6-7K seems to be about market for that type of car from all that I've seen. Small engine wagons are not exactly setting the market on fire.
its got potential, if thats the same engine as my wifes 07 328xi there might be room for a snail
bmw88rider wrote: It's about market for that type of car.
That's what I was thinking. So I'll go with neither.
Around here the xi bmws dont come up for sale to often, and the wagons just about never.
At 130k miles, a lot of important BMW maintenance work is due, overdue or will be coming up soon. Check the service records
ryanty22 wrote: Around here the xi bmws dont come up for sale to often, and the wagons just about never.
E46 xi wagons are actually the most common variant in America, and that one is about $1500 more than I usually see them for. BMW xi models are fundamentally less desirable to enthusiasts/track guys because the front suspension geometry is compromised by the addition of a CV axles.
The rare/desirable ones are the non-AWD wagons with a 5-speed manual, which can fetch $10k or more if they're well-kept. Also not the same engine as your wife's E90, which would have an N52 - this is the older M54 engine. Engine management is always the problem when you try to boost newer BMWs, and the fact that the OEM turbo N54 series engines are coming down in price kind of makes it more trouble than it's worth.
A 3 pedal BMW wagon is hard to come by in these parts. There is one a couple hours away with fewer miles and a couple years newer (still E46) and they want 12K for it because it is a manual. I would say go for it.
A 3 pedal AWD BMW wagon is a fantastic car. Make sure it's had good maintenance or negotiate accordingly. It is at the top of the market at that price so you should expect the expensive stuff to be done with records to back it up.
That means radiator, cooling parts, some rubber bushings, possibly some power steering hoses/reservoir, dampers, front axles, intake runner adjustment motor doohickey... etc. It can get near $2k as a DIY if NOTHING has been done so do be cautious.
+1 on maintenance
I didn't notice the first time that I read the OP that it was a 3 pedal car! I didn't know that there were any manual / AWD wagons, that's cool.
TBH , I would never want anything in AWD, unless I lived on a mountain in snow country, but if I did, an AWD /manual BMW wagon would be the Bee's knees
I shopped for a manual E46 wagon for months IN ATLANTA, and couldn't find one so I bought a stick Mazda5 instead. I would've been all over that one instead and probably would have driven from ATL to Charlotte to get it.
Just sayin'.
I test drove one like this when we were looking at the M5. It was nice enough, but nothing special. It was just a nicely sized wagon with a stick, the driving experience was fairly bland overall.
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