[Thebugdoc]

“Im bmw sind Sie entweder ein Passagier oder ein Pilot, die Wahl liegt bei Ihnen”!

In a BMW you are either a passenger or a pilot, the choice is yours!

Rightly said by anyone who’s driven a bimmer
I was always a BMW fan despite owning a c200 Mercedes due to the sheer driving dynamics it offers

Recently one of my friends picked up a super clean E46 325i and boy isn’t she hawt 😍
Be it the SMG ( sequential manual transmission ) with paddles or the rev-happy engine, classic beemers always put a smile on your face.


The naturally aspirated 2.5 Liter 24v Inline 6 gasoline engine (BMW M54B25) accelerates this 325i to 62 mph in 7.2 seconds which is pretty fast even by today’s standards

This isn’t an ownership or long term review yet, hope this post inspires my friend to lend me the car for the weekend 😜and I can post the same

Please enjoy the pictures and I shall update this thread with updates

[ThePoloDriver]

Peak BMW design to say the least! Do these carry the original paint? If yes then a commendable job keeping dings and dents away. Congrats to the owner!

[Maky]

Thanks a lot for sharing this!
I remember when I saw my first BMW & it had this clean old school design and how it was swarmed by people where it was parked. People had seen Merc's but never Bimmer's as they never were officially sold in volume in India till much later...

I was wondering, could you get your friend to share the ownership costs for such an old German? I especially am interested in knowing as it looks so clean and well maintained : )

[GTO]

A true classic, congratulations to the new owner! As ThePoloDriver said, this is really "peak" BMW design; this & the E39. The car looks super well-maintained and that 325 number-plate shows the attention-to-detail from the original owner. Wish it was a pure manual gearbox though .

[Gypsian]

This machine is a timeless classic. The E46 BMW 3 Series is widely regarded to be the best looking 3 Series of all time, and many will say it’s the best 3 Series of all time. Its simplicity allows it to stand the test of time and look great even by todays standards.
Which model is this particular example and how much has it put on the odo?

[Thebugdoc]

Originally Posted by ThePoloDriver

Peak BMW design to say the least! Do these carry the original paint? If yes then a commendable job keeping dings and dents away. Congrats to the owner!

Yes, she is a thing of beauty! As per the current owner, the car seems to have the original paint

Originally Posted by Maky

Thanks a lot for sharing this!
I remember when I saw my first BMW & it had this clean old-school design and how it was swarmed by people where it was parked. People had seen Merc's but never Bimmer's as they never were officially sold in volume in India till much later...

I was wondering, could you get your friend to share the ownership costs for such an old German? I especially am interested in knowing as it looks so clean and well maintained : )

Surely, have asked him and he has offered to ask the previous owner about the same and will post an update to this

Originally Posted by Gypsian

This machine is a timeless classic. The E46 BMW 3 Series is widely regarded to be the best-looking 3 Series of all time, and many will say it’s the best 3 Series of all time. Its simplicity allows it to stand the test of time and look great even by today's standards.
Which model is this particular example and how much has it put on the odo?

The 6-cylinder NA offers great throttle response coupled with BMW dynamics it creates magic. The odometer shows around 90000kms which should be about right considering the good state it’s in right now

[Porcupine]

Absolutely gorgeous! This generation of BMW's was truly the pinnacle of their design language. Even the 5 and 7 series of this generation are simply stunning.

Does the owner plan on keeping it stock or are there any plans to do anything to it?

[Exile]

Absolutely stunning! Simple and elegant, understated beauty. Seeing a few older 3 and 5 series on classifieds these days, the only thing stopping people from picking them up might be the thought of high maintenance expenses (also the inflated used car prices). Would be great to know how the reliability and expenses was for this E46.

[Gypsian]

It truly gives you pure raw power from an NA rev-happy engine with exhaust notes distinct to BMW which is not the prerogative of modern turbo petrol beamers, all though modern beamers are great cars, this one is surely a collectible. A throaty sound that will make you want to step on that pedal harder and harder the more you drive. Looks like this macgine is good to go for many more years to come.

[MahiDesai]

Beware, the Bangalore police don’t stand to see 3 letter number plates. I was fined for having original number plate with 349 and they said "0" is missing and it should read "0349" and fined me for Rs.1000/-

Really felt disgusted with these day light robbers in Bangalore Traffic Police.

While 325i having 325 as a number is good, please for god’s sake (BLR traffic cops' sake), change the number plate to 0325 for cops to rest in peace.

Cheers

[dipen]

Your friend (the current owner) mandatorily needs to be best friends with Karan.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-...page-14-a.html (My 2001 BMW 328i (E46) build thread! Update: New video + Magnaflow Exhaust upgrade on page 14)

[midazolam]

Wow! She is a beauty. Please we want a full review of the car with lots and lots of pictures for us to drool upon.

[Thebugdoc]

Originally Posted by GTO

A true classic, congratulations to the new owner! As ThePoloDriver said, this is a "peak" BMW design; this & is the E39. The car looks super well-maintained and that 325 number plate shows the attention to detail from the original owner. Wish it was a pure manual gearbox though .

Absolutely! Manual transmission would have been the icing on the cake but isn’t the smg equally good?

Originally Posted by Porcupine

Absolutely gorgeous! This generation of BMW's was truly the pinnacle of their design language. Even the 5 and 7 series of this generation are simply stunning.

Does the owner plan on keeping it stock or are there any plans to do anything to it?

I guess he intends to keep the car stock as he is more of a sedate driver.

Originally Posted by Exile

Absolutely stunning! Simple and elegant, understated beauty. Seeing a few older 3 and 5 series on classifieds these days, the only thing stopping people from picking them up might be the thought of high maintenance expenses (also the inflated used car prices). Would be great to know how the reliability and expenses was for this E46.

As far as my knowledge goes it isn’t really expensive to maintain classic BMWs, the spares are harder to source than a classic Merc but can’t be that bad. My friend got a clutch set of three for his e46 for 30k.

Originally Posted by MahiDesai

Beware, the Bangalore police don’t stand to see 3 letter number plates. I was fined for having original number plate with 349 and they said "0" is missing and it should read "0349" and fined me for Rs.1000/-

Felt disgusted with these daylight robbers in Bangalore Traffic Police.

While 325i having 325 as a number is good, please for god’s sake (BLR traffic cops' sake), change the number plate to 0325 for cops to rest in peace.

Cheers

Bangalore traffic police will challan you even if everything is right from your end. They caught me 5 times in a day for random reasons, it’s more of an issue if your car isn’t a KA reg I guess. Thanks for the heads up, will certainly advise him to get the plates changed.

Originally Posted by dipen

Your friend (the current owner) mandatorily needs to be best friends with Karan.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-...page-14-a.html (My 2001 BMW 328i (E46) build thread! Update: New video + Magnaflow Exhaust upgrade on page 14)

I have read his thread, very interesting write-up. Will surely share the link with my friend. Thanks

Originally Posted by midazolam

Wow! She is a beauty. Please we want a full review of the car with lots and lots of pictures for us to drool upon.

[A.K]

Originally Posted by Porcupine

Does the owner plan on keeping it stock or are there any plans to do anything to it?

I believe he plans on selling it. Seems to be the same car on TBHP Classifieds.

https://classifieds.team-bhp.com/buy...3-Series.html/

[Thebugdoc]

Originally Posted by A.K

I believe he plans on selling it. Seems to be the same car on TBHP Classifieds.

https://classifieds.team-bhp.com/buy...3-Series.html/

Posted for sale by his friend. Hope she goes to someone that truly deserves her