Hey guys,
I'm supposed to go look at one or two of these turn of the century beemers with a friend. The two candidates are a 2001 & a 2002. Both have somewhere in the 170k range of miles and are asking less than 3k.
What should I be looking at on them? I know the cooling system is a wear item, and the shifter bushings and suspension bushings may need replaced, but that's about it other than normal mechanical stuff (rust, compression, fluids, etc).
Do the e46s have any subframe issues like the e36s? Does the awd add any liability?
Thanks!
The E46s actually have worse subframe issues than the E36 cars to the point that there was a class action lawsuit about it, but the general consensus is that the AWD models aren't really affected due to the torque distribution. Otherwise you listed all the things I would be looking at.
Assuming a lack of maintenance (as suggested by the price tags), in addition to what you listed there will be vacuum leaks in the rubber elbow between the MAF and the TB, the oil filter housing gasket will be leaking, and the CCV will have failed in one of several ways. There will probably be additional vacuum leaks at the valve cover, oil fill cap, and possibly the dipstick guide tube. The coil boots will be degraded, and the plugs shot. The ducting to the alternator will be clogged with debris. The hoses from the PS reservoir will be leaking.
Thanks Pointofdeparture and 02Pilot! I'm glad to hear the subframe issue shouldn't be a big deal. From what I've been reading, it looks like it's primarily the coupes that suffered, not the sedans (for anyone reading this in the future).
That specific list is awesome to look for, 02Pilot. It shouldn't be too expensive (money-wise) to fix, either.
In reply to WonkoTheSane:
The sheetmetal back there is mostly identical between the coupes and sedans, if you look on the E46Fanatics failure thread there are plenty of sedans affected as well. It was more of an issue on the '99-00 cars, BMW strengthened the assembly in '01 and then again in '02 but never fully fixed the issue.
