E46 330i/xi vs E9x 335i/xi reliability, maintenance, and repair cost?

[mikemc422]

So I was looking to buy myself a BMW a while ago, and did a lot of research on the E36 E46 and E38, but with the commute I had and my budget I realized it was smarter to buy a brand new car and have a small payment with a warranty and free maintenance plus better mpg, and everyone was telling me for reliability and practicality buy a toyota, so I did. Well 14 months later my warranty is up in 5k miles, and the car has been falling apart since day one. I'm on my third trans (6 spd manual), my window regulators have been replaced 3+ times, my interior is fading, I've had rust and peeling paint issues, the car shakes over 65, etc etc etc. buying a toyota was my biggest mistake ever, it's easily the least reliable vehicle I've ever had, in the past 10k miles (since the bumper to bumper warranty ended, about 2-3 months) I've put $1200 in repairs into this car. Now I'm ready to trade it in on a BMW. I'm looking at a 3 series, a post-facelift E46 330 or an E9x with the N54... I've found a few examples of each that I can trade my car for flat out, all with 110-140k miles, auto transmissions (why are manual trans BMWs so hard to find?), good condition cosmetically, with maintenance records since new, and either one owner personal vehicles or personal lease then one personal owner vehicles, all with the options I want too (sunroof, remote entry, and the cold weather package). I'm moving up north soon, and will have a ~80 mile a day commute, so I need to know: is one generation better than the other in the snow? I never looked into the awd cars- do they have common issues the rwd cars don't have and are they actually better in snow? Which ones are cheaper to maintain and repair? Is one generation more reliable than the other? I know the 325i is supposedly more reliable than the 330i for the E46, but I want the extra bit of power, and from what I've found the 335i is more reliable than the 328i right? I know I want to avoid 02 and older, and 06/07 (I don't really like the pre-facelift E46, and I'm a bit wary of first model/powertrain year vehicles as I've had problems with that before). Any advice is much appreciated, sorry for the long post.

[floydr]

For the E90: any 335i is less reliable than an N52 328i (or 325i/330i from 2006). The 328i is a de-tuned 330i (essentially).

Late-model E46 are pretty reliable; the 330i is no less reliable than the 325i from the same years. Just remember they're all at least 11 years old, without modern electronics (BT, nav, etc.)

The 'xi cars have front half-shaft/CVJ to worry about, particularly the sleeves need replacement 60K-80K. The E9x xDrive transfer case has been a bit problematical, especially the clutch positioning motor.

[mikemc422]

For the E90: any 335i is less reliable than an N52 328i (or 325i/330i from 2006). The 328i is a de-tuned 330i (essentially).

Late-model E46 are pretty reliable; the 330i is no less reliable than the 325i from the same years. Just remember they're all at least 11 years old, without modern electronics (BT, nav, etc.)

The 'xi cars have front half-shaft/CVJ to worry about, particularly the sleeves need replacement 60K-80K. The E9x xDrive transfer case has been a bit problematical, especially the clutch positioning motor.

So I guess I'll look for a late model E46 330i! Maybe I can find a ZHP sedan... the age doesn't really bother me, before my new toyota the newest DD I'd had was a 2000 civic si, and my most reliable was a tie between my 94 Camaro Z28 vert and my 88 Ford LTD, neither of them ever broke down on me. I know I want to buy lowish mileage though (under 150k) being that I'll be driving even more (I currently run around 45k a year, once I'm up in NJ I'll probably do around 50-55k a year, mostly highway to and from FL being that the court says I have to allow my father to see my brother once a month "without making him travel over 250 miles" until he turns 18 in another 5 years) so whatever I buy will hit 200k in under 3 years, then I'll give it to my brother for his first car and buy another with lower mileage for me when he gets his license or when it dies I'll replace it (hopefully it doesn't die though, only routine maintenance and occasional small issues). I know whatever I buy will get all new fluids and a full tune up over the first few days/weeks depending how long parts take to come in...

[mikemc422]

One thing I'm seeing in almost all of the cars that I don't recall reading about or seeing before is this




It almost looks like the firewall is cracking or rusting through? Is this something to worry about? Or does this just happen and not really effect anything?