WANTED Family Car | 3L or higher | Manual | Preferably BMWs from 2000 onwards | Budget £1k-18k, ideally £6k

[Theog]

Evening all,

I’m looking for a good family car which has been very well looked after (mechanically) and looking to keep this car for 5+ years with as few nasty surprises as possible.

Generally speaking, I think this forum attracts a high calibre of car enthusiasts. I would also like to think any transaction carries an unwritten comradery / transparency / level of trust and honesty which you wouldn’t get from a cold sale at ‘Megga Car Sales.com’.

For what it’s worth, there maybe some additional perks of selling to me given my background with hifi / audio / furniture. Check out https://www.gullandaudio.com/?utm_sourc ... mily%20Car for context.

With the above in mind, I’m fairly open to thoughts / cars which people maybe looking to sell in the hope that I find a great car, whatever shape or form it comes in.

As a bit of a background, I loved the 3L e46 touring and big fan of the various e91’s out there. The f31 has been a bit of a disappointment so far, but I’ve only tried 335d variants, so would love to be shown otherwise as the interiors / practicalities of them are fantastic. I guess I like the e46 the best, but the e90’s might be less prone to rust and general age degradation, so this maybe where the happy medium sits. I’m also open to M3’s if the condition / price is good.

__ Key Importance __
- Great mechanical condition.
- Manual.
- Petrol.
- 4 door or at least something which is easy for kids to get in and out of / baby chair thing.
- Forum member or trusted friend of forum member.

__ Medium Importance __
- 3L or more.
- Light interior e.g. cream / white. You get the picture.
- Hydraulic steering – however I believe some late e90’s has electronic!?
- Estate ideally, however perhaps a saloon would be sufficient… estate would be best, but I know they are near to impossible to get hold of.
- M3 / M sport, or equivalent ‘sport package’.
- Less than 100k, but if in good condition then this overrides the mileage.

__ Usage __
- Wife has a colt for general usage.
- This will be for weekend outings / light commuting. Estimating 8k miles a year.
- 2 euro trips a year, so ideally enough space for 2 adults and a baby or two. This is why I like the idea of estate, or at least the option for a roof box (suction based ideally).

__ General Thoughts On BMW Variants __
- E46 3L touring – very lovely car, but hard to find with the above. Bit worried about rust and subframe.
- E46 M3 – yummy, but worried about age now. Also hard top prices are a bit sickeningly high still. Perhaps best to spend a bit more for e90 m3 reducing age related issues!?
- E91 3L n52 – would love this, but hard to find.
- E91 335i (n54) – hard to find and also worried about turbo issues and the likes of.
- E91 335i (n55) – even harder to find but interested as this would be a great option.
- E90 335i (engines as above) – would prefer estate, but I guess a suction-based roof box would be ok for euro trips to allow extra space.
- E90 M3 – interested if great example.
- 5 series is of interest, but instinct tell me 3 series is sufficient / more my style.



Thoughts welcome.

Best,

Theog

[Mr Tidy]

Here we are again OP!

I had a very similar problem earlier this year when I decided to sell my 52 plate 325ti because like most E46s it was getting a bit rusty and crusty underneath. I replaced it with a manual E91 325i (N52 engine), but for half your ideal budget as it had done over 130K - but with full main agent SH.

I might have considered an E46 330i Touring, but my nephew has got a 54 plate 325i Touring and that had 3 crusty arches on it when he bought it 2 years ago! Mind you it began life in Scotland - he's had new front wings earlier this year following an "incident"!

I'd have looked for an E91 330i with the N52 if I'd had a bigger budget - not sure I'd be brave enough for a 335i, and the early ones cost over £500 a year for tax!

Any generation of 6 cylinder Touring seems to be really hard to find, and they sell really quickly - I'd have looked at an E90 if I could have found one with the split/fold rear seat option.

We seem to like the same cars, but mine isn't for sale - and isn't quite what you want!

Good luck with your search.

Iain

[Theog]

We seem to like the same cars, but mine isn't for sale

Haha yes I think your right there!

I'm not in a massive rush, as I need to buy something in the next 6 months or so haha, but then again I've been looking for a year or so now, so thought I would put something out there hoping that a golden goose will fly into my lap haha. If something comes up, then why not get it!

I suppose a lot of comes down to the forum... if someone's looking for a change and want to ensure their car will be looked after going forward, then I guess I could be me, providing my son doesn't 'do a jackson pollock' in the back hahah.

[Mr Tidy]

We seem to like the same cars, but mine isn't for sale

I suppose a lot of comes down to the forum... if someone's looking for a change and want to ensure their car will be looked after going forward, then I guess I could be me, providing my son doesn't 'do a jackson pollock' in the back hahah.

Yes, well worthwhile.

Someone on here was selling a Le Mans Blue E91 330iSport with the N52 around the time I was looking, but it was over your ideal budget and I just couldn't justify spending that much - my Z4 didn't cost me too much more!

[arl10]

Have you considered a X5? I had one for 12 years, very practical, easy for car seats as we had 3 to put in on occasions, great for the pram ,push chair. I averaged 28mpg with a 30d, servicing was not too bad, tyres are expensive.
They are relatively cheap to buy, most are 300 to tax and the safety factor if it hits anything there won't be much left of the other car.
Just an alternative to the E46 they are great cars but getting on a bit.
If you want to spend max budget check out an active or gran tourer, loads of space 45 mpg and buy a 3.0l sports car for the week end.

[Theog]

Have you considered a X5? I had one for 12 years....or gran tourer, loads of space 45 mpg and buy a 3.0l sports car for the week end.

Hmm i would normally write off the x5 in a second, but maybe i should have a poke around one.

My boss just bought a GT 5 series, so would be a little odd getting one. Pluss tbh not that hot on the looks. Enough to put me off tbh.

Nice suggestions though!

[Gazza51]

530 or 535 estate

Example https://www.gumtree.com/p/bmw/bmw-5-ser ... 1316738691