I have been looking for a manual trans, 4 door driver that will not bore me to tears and stumbled into an '05 ZHP sedan within 3 miles of my house. It has 129k miles, unmodified, never hit and looks to be in very nice shape.
Is there anything in particular that I should be looking for or be aware of? I've been considering a BMW for quite some time but have never owned one.
All input welcome. Thanks!
Pat
At that age and (particularly) mileage, I would budget for immediate replacement of the entire cooling system, the CCV system, and the VANOS seals if you don't have documented proof of them being done. There are probably some other bits and pieces that should be done at the same time (cracked intake boots, etc.), but those are the big ones.
Get it up on a lift, or at least jackstands, and look for torn rear subframe mount sheetmetal. Ask if it was epoxy reinforced under the non-recall program. On a well-cared-for daily driver, the tearing subframe mount is almost certainly not an issue, but it is worth checking before you buy.
Look for leaks at the PS rack, the diff seals, and the passenger side rear of the valve cover.
^That's about all of it ^.
If it's nice enough, you'll be happy w/ it.
I recommend Redline fluids in the trans and diff.
don't forget either the torque converter will go bad, or the reverse gear will fail.
and the intake boots will tear.
and the DISA will fail.
and the A-pillar covering will fall down.
and the control arm bushings will fail.
and the oil filter housing will leak.
and the power steering reservoir cap will leak
gimpstang wrote: don't forget either the torque converter will go bad, or the reverse gear will fail. and the intake boots will tear. and the DISA will fail. and the A-pillar covering will fall down. and the control arm bushings will fail. and the oil filter housing will leak. and the power steering reservoir cap will leak
Yeah, but that's all easy stuff. Well, mostly. The manual transmissions are way better than the automatics. And the DISA problem only seems to have affected a relatively small number of cars.
FYI, pulling the oil filter housing to replace that gasket will make it much easier to get at the CCV without pulling the intake manifold if you combine the jobs.
The suspension is probably worn and any bushings throughout the car probably need to be replaced.
You guys are just not enabling Pat very much here.
E46fanatics has a lot of the above info, along with lots of DIY FAQs to walk the new owner through various "common" trouble spots.
Per Schroeder wrote: E46fanatics has a lot of the above info, along with lots of annoying 20-somethings who think they're on *Jersey Shore* , care only about stance and ICE, and have standards of female beauty so ridiculously high it guarantees they're all either virgins or lying little E36 M3bags.
FTFY.
That was funny. Accurate, but funny.
I've got an E46 and all of the problems have been covered. For a non-enthusiast owned car, it'll need a cooling system at 130k as that can be a costly problem. The rest you can fix in time as it is all more annoyance than critical. Except for the rear subframe cracks, which shouldn't be a problem on a non-enthusiast car.
I really like the ZHP package, although the Alacantra wheel is not supposed to age so well. Sounds like the type of car you want, they should be able to provide you with a bunch of receipts for work done with that sort of mileage.
One thing I noticed with my E36 (which from everything I've read seems to be true of the E46, as well): even though it was sitting on it's original Sport suspension at 120K, with all original suspension bushings, shifter bushings, etc it was still a blast to drive. I'm sure if I had replaced everything it would have been that much better, but I'd encourage you to drive it and see what you think.
My E36 was my first BMW (I sold it to help purchase a new house), but it made such an impression on me that I want another one (an E36 M3, preferably!)...
I strongly recommend taking it to a BMW dealer or independent shop and have a comprehensive pre-purchase inspection done. The cost of the PPI could easily save you 10X the cost in current or upcoming costs.
Those cars are great if well taken care of, but super expensive if you have to catch up on all the stuff the previous owner hasn't done.
Duke wrote:Per Schroeder wrote: E46fanatics has a lot of the above info, along with lots of annoying 20-somethings who think they're on *Jersey Shore* , care only about stance and ICE, and have standards of female beauty so ridiculously high it guarantees they're all either virgins or lying little E36 M3bags.FTFY.
sadly.. I saw that last week when washing the volvo. Guy in the bay next to me had an e46 330i coupe in red... open shirt, gold chains, and a serious attitude problem. He looked absolutely miserable the whole time he washed and then took the car out of the bay to dry it
My experience is that if the coolant was flushed with BMW coolant every two years than the system will be in good shape; so, budget for a cooling system.
Wow...you guys paint a great picture of BMW ownership!
They are more needy than a Camry, that's for certain, but they are rewarding to own and drive. YMMV. I've driven BMW's with old bushings that were still fun to drive - better with new bushings? Yes, but still a well balanced and good handling car.
Cooling system? Not a huge deal, IMHO. I'd rather do the cooling system than a TDI timing belt, for example.
Fantastic cars - I loved our 325it, and our current e36 328i. I want to try other makes, but keep coming back to the 3-series for bang-for-the-buck as a fun and practical DD with a back seat.
Yeah, none of the jobs listed, even the more involved ones, is all that bad. I did the complete cooling system on my E39 within 48 hours of taking delivery; it took maybe four hours without a manual or any prior experience working on the car. The VANOS was probably the most involved, but even that was straightforward, if a bit more time-consuming. One of the really nice things about these cars is that the engineers seemed to have paid some attention to the fact that people might actually have to work on them at some point.
Pat wrote: Wow...you guys paint a great picture of BMW ownership!
There are worse things to own and drive.... 
In reply to 02Pilot: that I don't agree with. example: the lower intake boot to throttle body hose clamp. its recessed against the block, angled down with stuff all around it. to reach it, a mechanic needs a triple jointed forearm and a boat load of luck. easily the most asininely stupid design on the whole car.
gimpstang wrote: In reply to 02Pilot: that I don't agree with. example: the lower intake boot to throttle body hose clamp. its recessed against the block, angled down with stuff all around it. to reach it, a mechanic needs a triple jointed forearm and a boat load of luck. easily the most asininely stupid design on the whole car.
I must be some kind of a freak then. I just had that very intake boot off my car a few days ago (E39 525i, same M54 engine we're talking about here) and had it off and on in about 3 minutes each with nothing more than a standard 6mm nut driver. The first time I did it it was a bit more of a struggle, but nothing particularly awful.
You'll need to log in to post.
