Sunroof acts strangely. Sometimes the close direction will end up tilting the glass, open will close it, and when it does this it may cease to function for several minutes. Once I had to force it down. Dealer has no idea.
CD player failed to eject CDs. Replaced under warranty. New unit is doing the same thing after 6 months.
Headlights develop small, unsightly cracks in front of the low-beams, allowing moisture inside. Replaced under warranty. Problem has returned. Warranty has expired.
Fuel tank sensor went bad. Replaced by dealer.
Developing transmission problems in the form of rushing noises accellerating from zero, and brushing noises at any speed while on throttle. Noises getting louder as time goes by.
This car turns heads, but once inside is uninspiring and an ergonomic nightmare. There's a long list of complaints, but my review won't get posted with an exhaustive rant. Needless to say, it took them 30 years to finally put the window switches on the driver-side armrest.
Like all BMWs they feel solid. I think they took it a bit too far with with this one. It's ultra-heavy and slow - my 1993 318i handled much better and had better take-off with the 5-spd manual.
If you're reading this because you're considering a 3-Series, make sure you go for the 328i of this model year and get decent seats.
I wrote this review. I looked at a previous review I did of my 1993 318i and I can't believe how much my opinions of BMW have changed since then. I couldn't even entertain the slight possibility of buying another BMW now. But back then, I was totally enamoured with my awesome little car, despite the problems.
The truth is, BMW hasn't been building decent cars for a decade now. They're just a reliable as they were before (not very) and now all that "driving pleasure" is just plain gone.
The BMW 3-Series E46 is a very good car and I'm so sorry if you had problems with yours.
But thing is: I wonder if the BMW 3-Series sold in America are built in South Africa or Germany?
The South-African ones, are generally poorly built compared with the BMWs built in Bavaria.
They are built in germany...
The three Series built in SA are not exported to Germany.
I purchased my 2000 323i in September 2006. Had it inspected entirely for previous body damage and for overall mechanical condition. Mint car. Found it on a used import car lot. Only 82 km. on it! A beautiful looking car for sure. This car is my second vehicle because I own another car also. Since then I've driven it only 15km and had only two oil changes and a coolant change. I love driving it but a few annoying items recently kind of turned me off. Some rust is starting to appear on the right rear wheel arch and the air bag light came on and is still on when I drive. Also the expansion tank for coolant has a small leak and the gas gauge sometimes doesn't read full after putting in a full tank of gas. Mileage could be a little better since this car uses 91 octane with only 170 horsepower. I'm thinking seriously of changing this vehicle for another car before a really expensive repair is needed.
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