Hi all, new to forum. Not currently a BMW owner yet (I had to fill in something upon registration) however I am on the hunt for a E46 330ci.

My budget isn't huge at £2k (might be able to stretch a little in a few months) however I'm not too picky (well I hope im not).

Only requirements it must have are:

Black interior

and no rust.

Other than that any spec I am interested in hearing about. So longs it looks good and runs well and doesn't need anything doing I'll be interested.


PM me if you know of anything,

thanks in advance.

Sadly, James, you will need to adjust your requirement of no rust. Not going to happen, bud. Maybe cleaned up and tidied, blown over, etc., but will be a bit there somewhere. I've got an otherwise very tidy e46 328, but theres the grot in the wings.

Good news, however, 2k should find you a fair one.

In fact, I've just had a look on the bay of E, and theres a P/X in Bury, Lancs, with 10 hours to go standing at £520 at the mo., work to be done but would still come in well under your 2k I should think.

I knew it would be a tall order, perhaps I shall sit and wait and put some more money to one side. Id rather buy one that I can just look after than having to carry work out on as I don't have the time or the space to do it sadly. I'll keep a keen eye out. Rusty front arches don't bother me so much as its an easy fix but rear arches concern me. My old mans have gone there and has had expensive quotes to fix them with little guarantee.

In my opinion, you'll have to push that 2k budget up a little to get what you are after AND it not be a bucket. There are quite a few 330Ci's out there that have had hard lives due to that incredibly entertaining engine under the bonnet and heavy right footed people. with 2 and a half thousand as a benchmark, you'll find one in tip top condition and sub-100k miles on the dials. Don't be to scared of high milers but, ask for a good history of regular services. Also look for if a new clutch has been put in recently.

Keep us posted

Daz

James its what I do for a living and honestly 2k will get you nothing but trouble, auctions are the best bet for your money but no warranties no test drive etc, my advice save a bit to around £3500 it will get you a facelift 53 plate sport manual but doing it this way will get you piece of mind, a good small dealer will give you a warranty fresh MOT and give it a small service but the galloping gunge will still be an issue, take a magnet and piece of tissue if the wings are full of filler its a cheap way to find out and then run a mile!

Regards

Stephen