1 Protege sold, 1 328i owned tomorrow

[SilverBulletES]

After 15 years driving poor men's BMW's (Buick Electra T-Type, Nissan Sentra SE-R, Protege... ok the first and third are a stretch) I'm getting the real thing tomorrow.

Still have my Miata. Not leaving the Mazda family anytime soon.

At most I'm going to Jim Conforti shark it and get a Conforti cold air intake. And it's probably due for some good Bilsteins in 15K miles. Might eventually put the shorter M3 limited-slip diff in it. The rest of my car money is for the Miata. No use in messing with perfection. (Well, OK I might put the real Euro turn signals and tails on it too.... OK I swear that's it.)

 

[Mr. 4500 RPM]

I want to do this upgrade to compliment the e36 m3. But I wan an AWD 328 hehe.

 

[SilverBulletES]

You could get a 325iT with 5-speed and AWD to replace the P5. They aren't easy to come by but they are out there.

However, I've read enough reviews that say AWD Bimmers are definitely not as fun as the classic rear-drivers. (Not that they suck.) That's easy for me accept though because I live in a climate that gets zero snow and very very little rain.

It sucks that BMW never put a 2.8L or 3.0L in an E46 wagon. (As far as I know.) A 330i 5-speed wagon would have been badass. I think in five years I'll trade this in for a 6-speed E90 328i wagon minus the stupid iDrive.

 

[Mr. 4500 RPM]

Well I see it like this, if I were to lease a vehicle that is good/practical in snow. And seeing as how most leases come to around 300 something anyway the luxary of a 325xi/328xi would be the bomb. I would lease something new I think. I just need to sell the P5 first.

The M3 is sticking around and once I sell the P5 will be the winter beater DD. But I wish I could get a 328xi. Well short term wise I wish .

 

[mikeyb]

Nice, I see a good project car there. 99 or 00? mileage?

You could always build your only high performance BMW touring.

Rogue Engineering has done acouple of S54 3.2L swaps into e46 Tourings. I'm waiting to see if BMW does a e91 M3 Touring with the V8.

 

[mikeyb]

You could get a 325iT with 5-speed and AWD to replace the P5. They aren't easy to come by but they are out there.

However, I've read enough reviews that say AWD Bimmers are definitely not as fun as the classic rear-drivers. (Not that they suck.) That's easy for me accept though because I live in a climate that gets zero snow and very very little rain.

It sucks that BMW never put a 2.8L or 3.0L in an E46 wagon. (As far as I know.) A 330i 5-speed wagon would have been badass. I think in five years I'll trade this in for a 6-speed E90 328i wagon minus the stupid iDrive.

There are tons of used e46 Tourings up here in New England with AWD. Both the 2.8L and 3.0L were available in the e46 wagon in europe.

Idrive is an option on the e91 Tourings just like it is on the other 3ers. To bad BMW will not sell the 335it here in the starts. That would be an awesome grocery getter.

Well I see it like this, if I were to lease a vehicle that is good/practical in snow. And seeing as how most leases come to around 300 something anyway the luxary of a 325xi/328xi would be the bomb. I would lease something new I think. I just need to sell the P5 first.

The M3 is sticking around and once I sell the P5 will be the winter beater DD. But I wish I could get a 328xi. Well short term wise I wish .

M3 is going to be a winter beater? if you are getting a xi I would park the M3 vert and just drive that. I hope you get a e90.

 

[Mr. 4500 RPM]

There are tons of used e46 Tourings up here in New England with AWD. Both the 2.8L and 3.0L were available in the e46 wagon in europe.

Idrive is an option on the e91 Tourings just like it is on the other 3ers. To bad BMW will not sell the 335it here in the starts. That would be an awesome grocery getter.



M3 is going to be a winter beater? if you are getting a xi I would park the M3 vert and just drive that. I hope you get a e90.

Well that woud be the point of the e90. I would like a new 328xi for the winter and keep the m3 in the garage as it stands. The P5 has got to go though, its convincing the old man for the e90 that is the trick. I dont mind the P5 and its in good condition and runs well, but its time for an upgrade. Once the P5 is gone the M3 will get winter wheels and be good if I do not get a new car but I would hate to take it out on winter and let the salt and grime take it out on such a pristine example of a car, if you could see the condition in which it is in!

The current lease offer is too good to pass up 389 a month for 36 months with 2,500 down. And that is a basic one with automatic. I went to the dealership yesterday and looked around but had nothing for a test drive unfortunatly. Basically the only thing I would do is switch the auto for a manual and get the cold weather package and be set.

I am thinking of now headed to a dealer up northernly and checking out the xi and see if I can go on a test drive. But it depends if they have one and how long it takes to get up there because I need to be back at work for 6:00 pm so it might not work out. It is a shame that the 2 door is a little pricier because I LOVE THE COUPE WITH ALL MY LIFE. In my mind I have to decide on exterior and interior color options. I am kinda diging alpine white or metalic black exterior (maybe even red (freak))

I would probably get the leatherte because leather is not something I really need, I know it would need to be a special order since 3/4th of the 3 series are auto, or so the sales man in greenwich told me. any advice mikey?

 

[SilverBulletES]

Cool article Mikey. That's exactly what I kinda wanted to do... but I don't have that much money right now at this point in my life.

Love love love the 328. Owned it almost 24 hours now. It just rolled over 104K miles. HOWEVER... it was owned by an engineer who works for TRD. He's working on their NASCAR stuff... but owns an M3 himself and his owned Bimmers for 20-something years. BUT... he paid for BMW dealer and shops to do all the work. I have a stack of records. And his wife drove this car. They took awesome care of it. It doesn't look a day over 30K miles or 2 years old.

Already replaced recently: entire cooling system (these tend to go out on E46's at 100K miles.) Their mechanic accidentally broke the clutch so it has a brand new one. Lots of sensors replaced recently. New rotors and pads within last 15k miles.

The way I look at it, I only have electrical gremlins and some bushings to worry about for the next 50-60K miles. I'll probably replace the struts in 20.

Anyway, probably going to not be a project car outside of the Conforti intake and shark. This is my commuter -- don't want to f with it too much. Maybe once I start to drive it into the ground I'll make a racer out of it. The Miata on the other hand... it's already driven into the ground....