Quote:
Originally Posted by tincob
My commute is only 25miles round trip and in this age of WFH, Ill only be doing it 2-3 times a week. However, the car would be my primary with my wifes car as the back up in case the BMW is down for repairs.
Reading between the lines, you might lean towards the 330ci as the weekend car?
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I like the E46, don't get me wrong about that. I had a (M54) '05 convertible 330i I bought from a work colleague who sold it to me for CarMax trade-in money at $3,000. It had 100,000 miles on it, so it was a deal I couldn't pass on, and it was a way to keep miles off my Z4 as my E90 was beginning to age out. I had the 330ciC from September 2019 to April 2022; I sold it because I didn't need it anymore. I put 35,000 miles on it and the only real maintenance it needed for the 35,000 miles I had it was front brakes, tires, and the starter died on it 2 weeks after I bought it. I replaced some aesthetic stuff like the mirrors and got new floor mats, added a trunk mat, etc. I've driven a few other E46 when they were new as test drives because I was considering replacing my 230,000-mile E30 with one. The M52/M54 you'll find in the E46 is a decent engine, but I just think the N52 is the better than the M52/M54. The M54 revs "heavy" to me as compared to the N52.
My Z4 is the blend of the E46 chassis with the E82/E90 N52 drivetrain, which is just nicer than the M54 E46 chassis in my opinion. I've had a one or more versions of the BMW 3-series for the past 34 years and over 1 million combined miles driving a 3-series. And I've had overlap of all of them. Comparing the E21 through E90, the E46 stands out to me as the least favorable; still a fantastic automobile to own, but you've asked on opinions to pick between the E46 and E82. I think the E82 is the better choice, weekend or not. Also, I think you will have better luck finding a E82 in good shape vs. a E46. I lot of E46 have been riced out by now.