All BMW E46 318i owners

Hi

About a year ago we have bought my mom a 2005 BMW 318i with 68000km on the clock with MP intact. She has done approx 12 000km with the car now. In this time the car went in for a scheduled oil service, new clutch and flywheel, brakes and discs, coolant and brake fluid flush, lower control arm bushes etc.

I would like to know what mileage these cars will do before it will start costing you bick bucks on engine overhauls, etc. My mom drives like a granny with the occasional spirited sprint.

We have been out of the BMW circle for about 8 years and I do not have a clue as to what to expect after 100 000km....

I have read through most of the post with regards to the usual problems experienced on the E46, but would like to know more about the reliability on the 318.

Please post the mileage done on your E46 318 BMW and the common problems experienced.

Thanks

Thomas

We had a 2003 BMW E46 318i ,
These cars run forever , or so I'v been told before.
Ours had 101 000km when we traded it in.
Problems experienced .
Failed Auto Gearbox just after motorplan expired costing +- 80grand from BMW .
Got a mechanic to do it for +- 12000.
Otherwise everything ran perfect .

2003 e46 318i

i now have 138000 km. mp expired at 110000km.

since mp expired, only things i've changed is brakepads.

Gotta chip in here with my 2001 318i (pre facelift) ,260k on the clock. Hasn't been anywhere near a dealer since about 100k, only a private guy and me.

- Clutch finally went 2 weeks ago (At that mileage, I'm not surprised, it was the original!) R4k
- Minor coolant leaks crop up constantly, no-one seems capable to find and fix, I top it up, no biggie.
- Uses some oil (once again 260k, not complaining), but not a lot.
- Replaced blower resistor (Fatal flaw of the e46 no 1). R700.
- Replaced 2 window motors (Fatal flaw of the e46 no 2), also about R700 a pop. FWIW my e60 is now also making weird noises on the driver window motor, will probably also go soon. BMW problem all round then....
- Replaced front brake discs. (mileage, not surprised, blah blah...) R400 a pop? something like that.
- Crankcase pressure control valve (loss of power, stop, let stand for 20mins, fine again... lather, rinse, repeat), Cost like R200 to fix.
- 1x Battery. ~R1500
- The shocks are totally gone now, going in to get replaced. Got quoted R3200.
- Driver airbag is throwing codes now, needs to be replaced. (And THIS one is like a R5k job, that I may just ignore)

This SEEMS like a bad list but it's mostly just routine maintanence stuff you'd expect. Seriously this car has only once ever broken down on me, and that was the clutch, and I still drove it to the mechanic with literally NO clutch.... IMHO, *MY* 318 is a very dependable car that I will have a hard time parting with. I'm going to see many more k's out of her before I'm ditching it. However now she's my secondary car, so I won't be clocking up the k's quite as quickly as before.

The secret is do the maintenance, pay attention.

They are good cars,auto gearbox likely to give up after 150000km,water pipes and fittings are very weak.Window mechn very weak on these cars.

Biggest problem for E46 318i is oil leaks

got a 318ti and pre facelift 318i

my ti has been very reliable apart from the usual e46 problems.
Replaced control arm bushes, Pads, Expansion tank,brake fluid, battery tyres ignition coils and done routine services,
next up major service, discs/pads, front wheel bearings, all fluids flush transmission,radiator, diff and maybe a new water pump if the budget allows me.
car has over 200 000k's and still going strong still same as she left the factory.

the sedan hardly gets driven drives like 35k's a week so apart from a few services shes still ok also.

I think we have discussed E46 318i problems to death. Please refer to this thread:
http://www.bmwfanatics.co.za/showthread.php?tid=3173&highlight=common+problems

E46 318. A/T Currently 156000 on clock bought a year ago with 100k on the clock.

Brake pads and disks. one pipe replaced

other than that no problems..Love my GOPHER

Hi

Thanks for all the replies, much appreciated!!!

@Ricky318i - Thanks for the link.

Good day bmw fans. My name is Samuel, 23yrs of age. I am driving a 2004 bmw 318i E46, I encountered a gearbox problem 18 feb 12 to this day I don't have a solution. My car won't reverse instead when I put it on reverse it engages neutral and when I put it on neutral it engages drive, so it seems like the gears shifted forward. I took it to bmw and they said I must pop up 70grand for a new gearbox, I told them I'm not crazy. So anyone please advice as to where can I get a second hand Gearbox. Please advice. I love my car and selling it is not an option I'm considering.

Swiegie,

Please specify what motor you have. Since its a 2005, its possible that it is the N46 motor which is now found in the E90 320.

If it is the N46, you have no problems, well mostly not.

If its the N42, well, your life my suck a little as problems are really hard to diagnose.

Thing is this, they are lovely cars, really are. My wife's N42 now has 220 on the clock, and I did almost 2,000km with it the other weekend, really nice.

Samisto, auto or manual, I assume auto ?

If so, plenty around, looking at about 10 to 15k to have your box repaired.

Alternatively, if it is auto, you can change it to manual

Hi

The car has the N46 engine. It is almost on 98 000km and still going strong! It spent a lot of time at BMW before the motorplan expired. BMW replaced most of the suspension parts, diff, side shafts, shocks, etc.

So far the car is behaving and we will probably keep it for another year or two.

Cheers

I would say keep it longer.

N46's are fine.

Proper oil pressure and coolant, and all is well

Anyone got pictures of the inside of a 2003 E46 BMW 318i oil pump??