after slipping a disc in my back i am now finding driving the zed is becoming very uncomfortable and leaving me with serious back ache.
i have finally taken the hard decision to sell up and buy an E46 convertible (possibly 325 or 330) to replace it.
i have had an E30 and E36 and always found them to be very comfortable as the seats are high enough that my legs bend at the knee. i find the zed seats are too low causing my legs to be almost straight and this is what hurts.
does anyone on here own or has owned an E46 convertible and can give me any pointers of what to look out for when buying it and anything generally when running it?
also, if anyone is interested in a 1.9 pre-facelift with a wide rear end conversion and many extras then please pm me. (i will get a for sale thread up once i put a 12 month ticket on it)
I'm not sure where to start on this one............ Yes, I have one.
I bought it last year. Its a 2002 325ci..... I paid $1000.00 for it. It should have cost more but it wouldn't start because of a low battery. I went out and bought a battery for it and put it in the car. The owner went to start it and couldn't find the key. We thought we locked it in the trunk when putting in the new battery. He had wanted much more money for the car but since I couldn't hear it run and would have to tow it home from North Brunswick to Egg Harbor Township, and he was moving to Colorado the following week, he agreed on 1k. A few hours after I got it home, I got the trunk open by hot wiring the car with a battery charger and there was no key. That night, after much searching, he found the key on his front lawn and mailed it to me the next day. I tried to start the car, but no go. The starter wouldn't work. I hot wired it. That worked but the car didn't start. I sprayed starting fluid in the air filter box, then hot wired the starter and the car fired up running only onthe starting fluid, then stopped. So, no starter and no fuel supply. The EWS system had shut these functions down because the transponder in the key was bad. New key...I think it was between 1 to 2 hundred.dollars. Car started fine. So tied up with other things, the car sat for about a year. I drove it around the block once in a while and got it painted but didn't insure or register it until a month ago. I noticed two weeks ago some condensation inside the car and some water on the floor in the back seat area. I think the drain holes for the rag top are clogged. When I went to start up the car, no dashboard lights or working instruments. Drove it to a mechanic who works for BMW. The motor and trans worked fine but it was all over the road. I was afraid when going there that if something was going wrong, I wouldn't know about it until it was too late since I had no readings on any instruments, ie. speed, water temp, pressure, gas etc. There were no problems except that the steering seemed tight and I was all over the road. The mechanic took it to work with him. He put it on the machine for a reading but could not get anything because of electrical problems. He told me that I needed a steering coupler and bushings on the front end. He didn't know why the car wouldn't hook up to the machine in work. I also noticed that the 4 way flashers go on by themselves sometimes. He said not to spend any money on it as you could buy one for $2500. with everything working. I drove it home. I'll have another BMW guy that I know look it over for a second opinion. WE'll see about what to do when the second mechanic looks at it.
I wish I could give you something positive about the car to help you make a decision. At the time, they were considered one of the best cars made.
From Wikipedia: "The E46 experienced enormous success in all markets and was widely considered the performance benchmark of its class."
See:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_3_Series_(E46)
I still have hopes of using it as I have purchased some replacement seats for it. However, it the second mechanic tells me its not worth it, I'll sell it as a car needing repairs. Also, it had 151k miles on it. Good luck with your decision. Frankie
