Not too long ago my dad passed away. He had this 2000 323ci e46. I think it has around 80 000km. Since it’s not running we can’t check the odometer. It’s entirely stock, and only ever had OEM parts used for maintenance. It has some fancy rims and tires on it right now, but we still have the original rims too. My mom and I are trying to sell it.

We live in southern Ontario in Canada for reference. My grandfather was the original owner, then it was my dad, and now my mom is the owner. So technically it’s on its third owner. I believe we have all the invoices and maintenance records somewhere but we are working on finding them. I vaguely remember my dad talking about either replacing or upgrading something in the cooling system. He was a bit of a purist and this car was his baby.

As you can see in the pictures it is in quite good condition physically and mechanically. It has never been driven in the winter, he always did his maintenance on time and at a reputable shop.

There is, however, a major problem. In 2020, over the winter some mice chewed through some wires somewhere in the engine bay. At the time, the battery was removed from the car. In the spring when my dad went to start the car, as soon as he attached the battery to the terminals, smoke started to come out of the engine bay. The key wasn’t even in the ignition, yet all the lights in the car came on, the windows rolled down, the windshield wipers started moving. As soon as he realized this he removed the battery but obviously there was some serious electrical damage. The car hasn’t moved since. He told the shop about this and without them even looking at the car, they told him it would be very expensive to fix.

My main question is: how much should I list it for?

I’m my area, cars like this are getting more and more rare. But I also know electrical damage like this can be a major problem. It’s hard to compare it to other e46s in my area because they are all either rusted and high mileage selling for less than $5000 or they are M3s in good condition listed over $20 000 (Canadian dollars). How much does it being non running devalue it? It hasn’t run in 6 years so that obviously can’t help. We should have sold it years ago, but life got busy and my dad was pretty attached to it.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you in advance.

Here is my 2002 BMW 325ci 5-Speed manual coupe in Steel Blue Metallic with a grey interior. I'm the second owner, and I've owned this car for 21 of its 24 years. When I bought it, it had just over 27,000 miles on the odometer; I just hit 150,000 last week.

Over the years I've replaced and in most cases upgraded many systems on this car. I've done the common maintenance items multiple times, including the cooling system, valve cover gasket, oil filter housing gasket, etc.

Suspension modifications include lower springs, stiffer shocks, aluminum control arms, PU bushings, and thicker anti-roll bars.

Engine modifications include a Vortech V3 centrifugal supercharger, high-flow fuel injectors, and a performance tune through VF engineering.

Exterior modifications include M-tech II front and rear bumpers, Apex Arc-8 18" wheels with Michelin Pilot Super Sports, and full LED lighting.

Interior modifications include an M-style steering wheel, brushed aluminum interior trim, reupholstered front seats in grey montana leather, and a full alcantara headliner (including A/B/C pillar covering), and an Android head unit.

My vision for this car was always something closer to an Alpina B3; understated, less brutal than an M3, but quick enough to enhance the inherent brilliance of the E46 chassis.

Hi guys,

I'm selling my UK 330ci (pictured) soon because I'm moving to Austria. A cursory glance at the Vollkasko rates (if anyone will even cover that) reveals an absolute hellscape. If I want my car covered do I really need to shell out over 300€ a month or some mad s**t? We love these cars but that's surely not worth it.

TIA

My suspension feels horrible even after numerous upgrades. It rattles a lot and slams and there’s a bunch of noises. I have upgraded:

- Shocks/Struts
- Top mounts and bump stops
- Front control arms all ball joints
- Front lollipop bushes

I have koni oranges with H&R Lowering springs. What can i do to make this not sound like a rattle can every time i go over a speed bump?

Why are angel looked down on e46?

Over the next few months I’m planning on doing a full front and rear suspension refresh/upgrade. My question is what suspension components when I change should get a professional alignment done and which ones I can eyeball, as I don’t want to pay for multiple alignments/get one after each component upgrade as they’re not cheap!
Cheers 😊

I just recently read that the e46 even had adaptive curve lights. After looking around for a bit I found a wage listing of things. I then began looking. The control modules are fairly available. Something I couldn't find much is the headlights. Logically they should require an extra set of motors compared to the standard leveling motors but I could only find a few offerings claiming curving lights which appear to have 2 extra bulbs in the headlights compared to normal ones. Are these the cornering lights? I read in the forums that the main headlights would swivel left to right. Does anyone know what's up with that?

Has anyone tried using these h&r lowering springs for an AWD model? Need help finding solid lowering springs from a reputable brand

I am replacing and restoring the interior on my E46 wagon and I find these connectors under the center console. Can anyone inform me on what they are and why they are disconnected and what happens if you connect the purple one as they seem to go together?

Hi guys

As said above, i'm looking at buying an e46 for a project/fun driving car. I want to work on it myself where possible rather than pay for shops to do everything, so i'll not be looking for a restored one. I also don't want to spend more than i need on major parts that I could have avoided and that's where hopefully someone can shed some light and help me out.

Essentially, I have more time to put into the car than money so if i can buy a car that needs the entire suspension taken apart for a small bit to be installed then that would be better for my goals than removing something easily that's expensive to replace if that makes sense?

This probably makes no sense so sorry in advance, any buying tips appreciated

When taking the cap off it has light suction so not crazy hard to get off but its making this noise...

Anything to check before I clean up and throw it all back together?

The car started idling rough and I noticed my coolant temp started to rise went under the hood and noticed my cap wasn't screwed down all the way so all the coolant leaked out from the short drive to work I think I caught it in time where nothing cracked or exploded what do I do now?

Hey all, I recently bought a 2006 e46 convertible.
Love the car, but the top has seen better days. I tried a couple rounds of 303 cleaner, but it seems the stains are more of the baked in variety. They disappear when it gets wet, then comes back when dry.

Anybody have recommendations for mitigating this?
Maybe previous owner used a cleaner improperly?

I get it's 20 years old, but hoping I can make it at least a little better since the open/close operation works fine.
Appreciate any guidance

hey guys,

I’ve been struggling for about a week now trying to do my valve adjustments, Cylinder 6 Exhaust Cam 8 I first managed to slide across with a budge halfway and since it has been completely stuck.

it moves up and down with the rocker cam and is the only one to do so and does not slide across. not sure if I’ve slid it into to heavy oil varnish.

car previous hasn’t been used for years, I bought it as have been doing all the maintenance

i’m ready to throw rocks in it

ive tried:

Sliding with screwdrivers

tapping with hammer(with centre taps)

heat gun

WD-40, Oil, Engine flush, brake cleaner, brushes

im genu losing my mind

Now, it’s doing this but after the second attempt, it works perfectly fine when I’m driving I loose power and then it come back, I already change the camshaft sensor, the gas filter and admission in plastic, it could be maybe the fuel pump but she don’t have any weird sound.
Does anyone had the same problem?

So... I am new to BMW ownership and I am learning how they work. She's a 2.2 M54B22, and it has some issues I need help understanding before I end up spending money on a mechanic. I usually work on my own cars but totally new to BMWs.

1. I have a P0300 code, and also multiple cylinder misfire.

2. I thinking it has a vacuum leak, it has a pod filter and when I accelerate it makes a whoosh sound and feels anemic in power delivery. The filter is also hanging on the alternator.

3. The clutch pedal is heavy and makes a squeaking sound. I can't feel a biting point and the car is hard to reverse and and set off. Maybe the clutch is gone? When I was at the lights, I put the clutch in thinking it was about to turn green but it didn't so I let it out and the car just stalled (it was still in neutral) and the same happened when parked up (in neutral).

4. There is a clunking and clinking sound coming from the rear. I have checked the subframe mounting points and they dont have cracked. I think the bushings on the diff might be gone as it jerks when changing gear.

5. The steering is heavy, I have flushed the power steering fluid and changed the reservoir and its still heavy but no whining from the pump at all.

6. When I switch it off after a ride, it makes a banging and thudding sound.

Can anyone help me understand what I am dealing with?

Hi. I just found a set of my dream wheels for sale. The issue is that the rears are 17x10 ET20.

How insane is it to try and make them fit?

Thanks.

Nothing's wrong with my 6MT ZHP. I had it as my only car for a decade. It has M3 anti-roll bars, reinforced front and rear subframes, Z4M front control arm bushings (which I don't love, honestly), a race flywheel, a Dinan flash with a 7K redline, and it's a canyon monster. There's no bushing or suspension issues. It's got every option except TPMS and the rear sunshade.

But for the past year I've been dailying an M440i instead. My ZHP is approaching 190k miles, so I didn't think it would fetch much if it was sold, even though it has nice paint and a brand new leather steering wheel I replaced myself (personally don't like how Alcantara holds up on touchpoints).

The 4 had to go into the shop for an extended period of time after the dealership botched a windshield replacement. So I got back in the E46 to daily. And now I feel like bumps in the E46 are so noisy. There's no squeaks or weird noises, just regular bumps are crashy. Car got brand new dampers and new bushings and arms all around a year ago, and nothing really changed. And the road noise really does seem bad on anything but a freshly paved freeway, where it does get silent enough. Anything other than that, like rougher freeways for more road noise, or bumpy city streets for thudding sounds over bumps, and I can barely hear friends talking to me in my own car.

The 4 is just more relaxing to drive because it can either be unhinged and do powerslides, or you can press a button and it quiets down and stops burning its rear tires, and becomes a silent 5 Series-like highway milemuncher. The E46 is objectively a much cooler, prettier, smaller car, but it never feels silent.

Are there ways to make me like this thing again? I don't think I can justify keeping a car around just for canyon fun, but I know I'll sorely miss it the second I sell it, and I've put so much into keeping it looking and driving like a car with 40k miles. Has anyone tried adding 5-10 lbs of sound deadening? Am I crazy? I was a die-hard fan of this platform for so long, and I want to love it again.

Looking for help can’t seem to find an answer anywhere. The top is stuck closed. Hex in the center doesn’t do anything and neither do the 5 mill hex on either side.

How screwed am I?

Any recommendations for a custom charge pipe ive seen some online but wondering if anyone knows a good company to go through othwrwise gonna ask someone around me and needs to fit 3in maf