Quote:
Originally Posted by chris719
The E90 seems decently reliable other than the models with N54 engine. I would agree that anything earlier than E90 is asking for trouble.
|
Interestingly, I picked up a 99,000-mile 2005 E46 330i convertible in September 2019. The car found me, as I was not looking to pick up a fourth BMW to care for. The owner was a co-worker who bought it used at 50,000 miles 10 years ago. The owner wanted the car "to go to a good home", vs. dumping it at CarMax.
The owner gave me a mostly complete set of service records. That information shows a few unusual requirements such as replacement of a power steering hose, and early replacement of the alternator, battery, coolant tank, intake hose, and water pump, all around 75,000 miles. The starter gave out just two weeks into my ownership. So the car has had its share of common E46 issues.
I've since put 16,000 miles on the cabrio after replacing some items such as de-glazed mirrors, and base-lining the fluids at 100,000 miles. It's part of my daily fleet so it sees a good 320 miles a week service and has proven to be trouble free so far. I'm interested to see how it stacks up to my E90 and E86 as far as reliability.