2003 BMW e46 325xi

I bought this 2003 325xi in May of 2014 for $6500. It had 102K miles on it and every option I wanted for a college car. It has the sport package (bolstered seats and sport steering wheel), cold weather package (heated seats), Harmon Kardon sound system, and the convenience package (power driver seat with memory and power passenger seat). The only thing I wish it had was a manual transmission. Even though it’s an auto, I love the car. The steering is sharp, the chassis is perfect, the acceleration is smooth, the gearbox is responsive, and it looks amazing. Performance is not too bad; about what you’d expect from a now 13 year old car that weighs 3400 lbs. 0-60 takes about 7.5 seconds but it’s a smooth 7.5 seconds with 60 MPH coming in around 4K RPM in 3rd gear. While I would prefer a manual, the automatic steptronic transmission is nice. I do like having the ‘kickdown’ feature which is what is activated when I press my foot all the way down to the floor (ie. when overtaking). The ‘kickdown’ feature lets the car know that I need 100% of the power immediately and the car drops down to the lowest possible gear for maximum acceleration and then the car holds on to the gears a little longer, too. It’s neat to have a feature where the car knows that you need maximum power right now, and the response is very quick.

I haven’t had the funds to do much to it but I have done some stuff. For Christmas I got an angel eye kit and got that put on and I love the look. I have it wired up so that whenever the interior lights are on, so are the angel eyes; meaning that when I unlock the car the angel eyes turn on and they turn off when I lock the car. I also have it set up so that whenever the ignition is set to stage 2 then the angel eyes are on then as well so they’re my daytime running lights too. I also intend on tinting the windows in the coming weeks. I’ve also installed an AUX port to listen to my phone while driving. I also want to put the BMW alarm in it, but that’ll come later.

In a year and a half of ownership I’ve put in over 20K miles. I’ve taken it to Washington DC a few times and also halfway across the country with my college roommate. That was a 1500 mile road trip and the car handled it like a champ. Every time when I try and start the car, she starts up no problem; this car has never left me stranded.

That’s not to say that there haven’t been problems because there have been some. After about 7 weeks of ownership the service engine light came on and I needed a new MAF sensor which cost over $200. The front left axle boot was cracked open so that had to be replaced as well. I’ve also gotten the idler pulleys and tensioner replaced. All of those repairs have led up to about $1200 which isn’t too bad considering how much others cost. It does have an active recall because of the Takata airbag scandal, but there’s nothing immediate I can do about that unfortunately.

The AWD system has also come in handy a few times. It handles the snow with ease even with Bridgestone Potenza tires. It’s a 32/68 (or 38/62) power split I can never remember which, and is controlled by open differentials and the AWD system uses the DTC to limit wheel spin. It’s a simple system, but has led to some good slides in the snow and helped me pull an e90 out of the snow.