BMW E46 Reliability | Some things to know Before you Buy

[Music] the bmw e46 is mini enthusiasts favorite 3 series it provides a lighter weight analog driving experience while still offering many of the modern features that we've come to expect in our cars over the years the e46 has depreciated to levels that are almost unbelievable you can find a running and driving 325 in decent condition for less than three thousand dollars even more unbelievable is that as long as you know what you're looking for and you go unprepared i'd actually recommend buying one the non-me 46s are surprisingly reliable in just about every way and when maintained to a high standard tend to treat their owners quite well let's start by discussing the drivetrain overall the e46 enjoys a very stout selection of engines and transmissions complete catastrophic failures are extremely rare to prove this point further you can find a variety of people using the m54 inline-six in racing applications or driven hard on the street with no issues to speak of the blocks themselves are even strong enough to accept aftermarket super or turbocharging with impressive reliability however as with any used cars they have their issues and being a bmw they can be a bit more expensive to fix than the average vehicle so let's start with some of the larger things to look out for and work our way down from there an issue that plagues all e46s and is pretty well known at this point including all-wheel drive models and even the m3 is the rear subframe cracking it is more common on the high horsepower models however it has been documented happening across the lineup including convertibles there was a bit of misinformation going around the convertibles were immune to the issue because of the extra chassis bracing compared to the coupes however there are many documented cases of convertibles being affected the best way to be sure that the rear subframe is in good health is to visually inspect it if you wait until you can feel slop or clunking from the rear end you risk far more extensive damage depending on the extent of the crack the repair will typically cost around fifteen hundred dollars but if you wait until it actually needs replacement you could be looking at four to five thousand dollars in repair bills to replace that rear subframe so it's important to stay ahead of the issue if you own one and to inspect the car thoroughly before buying one the next potentially high dollar item that can fail is the vanos variable valve timing system depending on the extent of the failure the car may run rough and you will notice a loss of power particularly low in torque limp mode could be engaged while trying to accelerate from low rpm or you could see a check engine light typically a complete replacement of the system is unnecessary the seals around the solenoids inside can decay to the point that they're no longer making a seal they're pretty inexpensive to buy and fairly straightforward to replace if you have any mechanical experience even if a complete replacement is required you can expect a 700 to 1200 dollar bill again though that typically isn't the case and you can safely run the car with a malfunctioning vano system it won't actually hurt the engine so you can drive it that way until you have the money or the time to repair it next up we have diesel valve failures this is one that's an easy and fairly inexpensive fix that cannot be put off if you believe it's failed the diesel valves found in the intake manifold and will typically fail between 70 and 100 000 miles at which point you will be able to hear them rattle the car could run poorly and be down on power but most people say that the main indicator will be poor fuel economy in addition to some of those other symptoms however if you allow it to fail completely they can break apart and send pieces into the engine itself resulting in a catastrophic failure so being a 300 part and an easy repair you want to stay well ahead of this issue and likely replace it preventively another system prone to failure as these cars age and it's not specific to these most used cars will have this issue it's the cooling system the plastics and the rubber become brittle over the years and they can crack allowing the car to overheat obviously you never want to allow the car to overheat or even risk it so the general consensus is to replace much of the system preventatively you can get a complete refresh kit for the e46 for around six hundred dollars that includes everything including a new water pump radiator expansion tank and some of the other most common components to fail as far as smaller issues are concerned typical used car components such as sensors and window regulators will need to be replaced but they're generally inexpensive and fairly easy to access as long as you are buying the parts and installing them yourself the cars really aren't much more expensive to maintain than anything else the real cost starts to build up when you're taking the car to a dealership you're buying those oem bmw parts if you do that you're going to quickly end up underwater on one of these cars now the all-wheel drive e46s or xi cars have a tendency to have their front axle boots tear and then shred their front axles here's what i recommend check your front axle boots often check for any grease sling in your front wheel wells and if you see any check the boot and if it's ripped you're going to need to replace the boot and if you catch a ripped boot before the axle runs out of grease and destroys itself all you'll need to do is replace the boot either with a split type or by removing the axle and replacing it with a true sealed boot the split is a good option if you just don't have the time to do it right away but you want to save that axle put the split boot on and then over time take it out and put on a real replacement either way the parts are cheap but the job is a hassle expect to pay three to six hundred dollars to have an axle replaced or if you handle it yourself it could be as low as 20 bucks if you're just going to put a new boot on it's just it's a bit of work so overall would i recommend an e46 as a used purchase yeah absolutely i've owned two and they have both treated me extremely well if you can do any work yourself and avoid purchasing oem bmw parts they really aren't much more expensive to maintain than most other used cars just go into the ownership experience with some research and an understanding that they can be finicky get a pre-purchase inspection be picky about the one you buy and treat it well and an e46 will do right by you so get out there and enjoy one of the automotive market's greatest bargains [Music] you

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Keywords: e46 325i, bmw e46, e46 325xi, bmw e46 325i, buying a bmw, bmw reliability, e46 330i, 325i, 330i, 323i, e46, bmw, used bmw, bmw vanos, m54, e46 reliability, 2001 325i, 2002 325i, 2003 325i

Id: SSv7iwEGuDo

Length: 6min 11sec (371 seconds)

Published: Thu May 23 2019