E46 vs E90

[Harv]

So the e46 is old enough that it's "quirks" are known, and some people are working on them on their own.....

The e90 is starting to age too. Are the e90's starting to get the same way? Are the e90 pitfalls starting to be known as well?

Skip?

Recently Jen and I were kicking around the idea of selling the Jetta TDi wagon. If Jen gets this new job, her commute would be just over 2 miles (when I'm in town and Take Anna to school) and that's not good for a TDi as it will NEVER reach operating temp. So the thought is 05 e46 wagon or do we jump into the e90 world? It has to be a wagon and it has to be a manual transmission. Has to be 05 or newer since the Jetta is an 04.

John

[SteveJ]

I think my next car purchase will have another point to consider:

Is there a Bentley service manual available for the car?

Our R55 MINI is April 2008. Bentley has said they "are working on" a new book for the R55/56 MINIs. Not having a book SUCKS. Going by the RealOEM pictures helps some, but it ain't the same. I recently posted about a coolant leak and got no usable response from two different on-line groups.

Most of the newer car owners are still under warranty, so they just go to the dealer. Even so, I'd like to know how things go together. I guess that is how we react being from the '02 world.

[Darryl]

The e90

I‘ve had my 2006 325i for about 4 months… If you go with an e-90 make sure you have a dealer run the serial number so you can see the cars history… I haven’t read a ton about the e-90 but they don’t have the greatest reputation and are expensive to work on according to a few Bimmer guys I know… Overall I do like the car and I think it’s a nice improvement over the e46 in some ways… Comfort mostly but a little too big…

The E46

I owned a 2000 323i for 5 years. Really can’t say enough about how great they are. Bought the car with 50k miles and drove it to 133k miles… Brakes, coolant tank and a few sensors along the way…. One of the cheapest cars I’ve ever owned from a maintenance standpoint… I was checkbook mechanic before I bought this car… Information about any issue you’ll have is on the net, that’s why I ended up fixing my own car… Car felt like it did the day I bought it… No rattles or leaks…

E90, more comfort creatures and very nice to drive, verdict is still out…

E46 easy to work on…

Owned an E36 too, raw version of the e46… All great cars…

Safe bet IMO is the e46 wagon…

Prices on used 128’s are under 20k now and might be worth a look… That’s likely my next car…

[Harv]

Thanks for the great insight.

John