2003 325i, Should I keep it?
 

Hello All,

I'm really debating on keeping or trading in my 2003 BMW 325i (Steel Grey/Black Leather, Premium Pkg, Sport Pkg, HK Sound, Leather and Wood, Automatic)

It's original to me, I drove it off the lot on my 18th birthday back in 2003 and it now carried 79,500 miles on it with a CPO warranty until 4/09 or 100,000 mile

Now I love driving it, minus the sport seats that do tend to fatigue after time, It's really never had any problems minus software updates and regular maintenance, so I'm thrilled it's so gosh darn good to me.

Now It has a few issues:

The Rain Sensor was cracked during window replacement and needs to be fixed
I attempted to auto-adjust the Bi-Xenons, but ended up breaking somehow the interior halogens, they no longer work on both side, any ideas? :yikes:


And It's Short falls:
-Lordy does this car eat TIRES! it's needed a new expensive set every year!!!

SO, the plan was to trade her in for a Mercury Milan for work, so in the mean time It's become my new work car, but it's essentially paid off, but I'm worried about how reliable it will be after the warranty is up, I can't be having a cash cow :dunno:

Any Ideas?

keep it until the warranty goes bust.

Then get the Milan.

Not familiar with the Milan at all, but assuming that your E46 has been lovingly cared for so far, it ought to be a maintainable automobile for another 50-100K miles or more.

Find yourself a trustworthy independant mechanic who can/will fix Bimmers and run that one until the wheels fall off or you finally get bored with her.

That would be my advice. I regularly drive an E39 540i and now an X3 and I still really miss my lil' old E30 325is.

Good luck with the decision.

D

e46s are quite nice bmws...wait until the warranty runs out and then do the trade...

Keep the e46 until the end of time. Find a good BMW indy shop. In general, if a BMW is reliable now, it'll be that way for a while.

It should not be going thru a set of tires annually..........check your alignment.

Keep it. I would drive an older e46 over a new Milan hands down. It will cost you more to maintain, but it is worth it. You have to make the decision. Which would you rather drive? BMW or Mercury? If it takes you more than .00001 second to answer this question, you may have issues.

Fixed your post!

Remember what Ford stands for: Fix Or Replace Daily.

OK but I won't be handing over my credit card.....

I thought it was actually Found On Road Dead :rofl:

Actually, I am not sure Ford's reliability is all that bad today and it is hard for me to throw "reliability stones" driving an e53, but I would still rather drive an e46 over a Milan.

correct, as Ford is now equal to Toyota in quality/reliability

I saw that commercial too, but I don't agree. They are getting better, but they aren't as good as Honda or Toyota (across all models). According to consumer reports Ford's new cars are better than ones from GM, Chrysler, Volvo, MB, VW and a few others with regard to reliability. It appears that they currently make the the most reliable domestic new cars.

It's likely a combo of Ford improving and Toyota slipping. Toyota's quality has fallen quite a bit in the recent years. Back in the good ol' days, Toyotas were built well and the pieces inside and out were screwed on tight, gaps were small and well-aligned.

Then we had a '05 Toyota Avalon, which was still nice but the quality was worse than that of our '92 Toyota Previa. Then we got a '07 Toyota Camry as a loaner once and that car was awful. I was surprised at how far the brand has fallen.........the plastics were thin as a dollar bill, panels were misaligned all over the place, and everything felt like it was built to last 4 years.

On the other hand, Ford still has issues with material quality. But the panel gaps have gotten a bit smaller and are lined up fairly well, even if the window glass still rattles. But more of the pieces have a substantial feel.

I agree on the Camry, Disagree on the Ford Bashing, The Fusion I had in New Orleans was really awesome for the 4.5 hours of driving I spent in it, it's quiet, comfortable and the sync is awesome, no complains other than the V6's mileage

Hey, chiming in here. We kept our 2000 323i until it had about 98,000 on it. CPO warranty ended at 100K. But now we'd wished we hung onto it for a errand car, etc. My X is getting spendy to fill up and I've been driving my Mom's 99 Civic to save gas...and I'd rather be driving the 323 than that Civic! Civic is relentlessly reliable but too much road noise for my tastes; but $35 bucks to fill up versus $85 + or -; not hard choice being unemployed! I'd hang on to your 2003 and drive it until it drops. With a great indy mechanic (have it thoroughly checked out now and then you'll know what you can plan for financially & mechanically for next few years) you can get another several years comfortably out of it and save some $ in the process over another car. And personally I'd probably never buy another brand new car again.

I don't have anything against Ford or Toyota having owned both but they feel bland compared to BMW's. After driving the Civic for 5 days and I get into my X or the 325 I realize why we own those 2 cars. Good luck!

I agree with the others. Keep it at least until the warranty is up. She's been good to you and I'm sure you'll miss her. Come on, you want to get rid of your 18th birthday present :confused:

Keep your E46 if you can, We have one with the same mileage and still loves it.
Check your fuse box for the interior light, you prolly have a blown fuse. As far as tires, check you alignement, I jjust finally replaced the tires on ours and got almost 50K on them running LP tires on 18's!

Looking over this part of your post i wonder how (aside from getting something new) You can justify the change to a "Mercury Milan".

How much will the "Mercury Milan" cost?
Will it be more over time than the repairs to your BMW?
Think about it for a moment. If anything fix up the 3er
and keep er. No car note is a good thing IMHO.

Sell it and get a Mini S?

You mean interior light for the headlamps?

The Mini is far to small

Yeah - check fuse 32 should be 5A. We are talking about the H7 DRL lights right?

sweet!

Keep it man, I'm not a friend of Milan..! :)

I think it can do the job...

Trade after warranty is over and then get a new 330i

Keep it, keep it, keep it!
A close friend has had an E36 325i, and with a little bit of TLC, it has gone 240K since he bought it.
Add that to the "happy quotient" you'll get driving a ZSP BMW over a ford.

I had an Expedition rental, it was nice. It rode nicely, it felt tight and fresh, and it hauled myself and 6 relatives across the southeast in air conditioned comfort returning 14MPG.
My friend has one with 45,000 miles on it. It sounds like hell once you start it, the seats are worn out and squishy and gulps down a lot more fuel to go the same speed. Fords: Good Rental, bad long term (>30days) choice IMO. :thumbdown:

:iagree:. The Fusion and Mustang V6 were memorable rentals. Even if the latter was a rubbish car in every imaginable way, it still had charm. And that's what matters.

Its the lesser of two devils, IMO.
Hertz tried to stick me with a Hyundai once. :rolleyes:

So are you keeping it or getting a new ride?