I wish I could slap my E46's previous owners.

My E46 has had a rough life. 250,000 miles and 5 owners have taken its toll. It seems like the previous owners just beat the sh1t out of the car. All the rock chips on the bumper, and hood and fenders, the scratches in the seats, the dents, drive me crazy. It’s a 5 speed 325xi touring!!!! You can’t treat it like that!!!! HA, when I first got the car, some genius decided to fix the cloudy headlights by painting them with clear coat. SERIOUSLY I don’t want to admit it but I guess I have a junker e46. I still love my car and I’m slowly undoing all the damage. It will never be like it was from the factory though.

Considering that most E46s are almost 10 years old, I’m willing to bet that most members here on fanatics aren't original owners and have had to deal with problems caused by previous abuse.
Am I the only one who, if given the opportunity, would slap the previous owners in the face?
Am I the only one who's E46 was beat to **** by previous owners?

Mine had five owners in eight years. Despite that, it did have a full BMW service history.

Despite that, there was about $6,000 of repairs to be done the day I bought it.

You are not alone....

ive bought a few E46's like this and just mended everything and gave a good refresh and new life polished the whole car and she looks new and drives beautifully again.. i love bringing them back to life and giving them the care they should have.

You are not alone , some things wrong on the interior of mine a few scratches but in time I can fix everything and stray modding it up a bit I've had mine for about 3 weeks , I'm just glad it has have a history of BMW service history

i love bringing them back to life and giving them the care they should have

+1!

Restoring a beat up car is part of the fun.
As long as the car was cheap to buy originally, I'd love to go through the junkyard getting all the parts I need to refresh the car.

My car isn't close to being perfect, but I'm slowly re-building it from previous owners abuse. First gotta tackle the suspension with new tires, then to do a good buffing and wax. Might have to get mine repainted because I've got areas of clear coat coming up from the roof and trunk lid. Overall though I got it for pretty cheap so I don't mind making it into the perfect car.

I am in the same boat as well.. slowly fixing all the items that previous owners let go for years. I have a good maintenance history but the interior is filthy, and I would be surprised if it has ever been detailed, not to mention a multitude of other small problems...

If it works after 250000 miles I pat the previous owners on the back, and say job well done.

Originally Posted by MercForHire

Restoring a beat up car is part of the fun.
As long as the car was cheap to buy originally, I'd love to go through the junkyard getting all the parts I need to refresh the car.

+1 luckily my car isn't too bad, but it gives me a project that I can be proud of in the end

I got mine for $4,000 because of the shape it was in. I knew it was going to be a project car from the start. I cant even begin to tell you all the things I have fixed on it. I dream of someday buying a totaled ZHP sedan for a donor car to rresto-mod my touring. AWD 330 ZHP touring. yes...

My previous owner thought a Bra was the answer to road rash. Just made it so much worse. And more hideous.

it happens. mines got dents, rust, scraps, and curb rush. but I actually enjoy the car more that way because I can drive wherever the **** I want to.

Can't relate sadly. I bought it from the car's first owner, a 50 year old engineer who drove it to work and back so it was in pretty good shape save for a few scratches and dents that one would expect from a 10 year old car.

And why are you complaining op, you crashed your car into a curb right

Most cars with 250k will need work. Hopefully you weren't expecting a like-new car.

We've all been there man, definitely sucks. Try owning an E36 though... then you'll see the torment some PO's can cause a car! I did my best to "rescue" my last E36 from it's PO, but after a year it just proved to be too much of a PITA to fix it up and DD it... wish I had room to keep it and my E46 because it was a fun little car!

So far though the 2 PO's of my ZHP seem to have taken pretty great care of it It's got it's share of small paint chips all over the bumper and hood and some very minor curb rash on the wheels, but overall it was definitely well cared for... the paint chips drive me nuts though, I definitely need to get something to take care of that.

UGH! I can not even begin to think about the previous owners of mine. All the attempted DIY's they did that weren't done properly. For example just other day I fixed rear window regulator, and the door panel had mixed torx and phillip screws haha. So many things like that I've come across, makes me sick.

haha Reminds me of my gf, all the previous bf's she had that didn't treat her as well as me. Sadly, neither her or the car probably appreciated it

it's a 10+ year old car people.. even a honda would be failing.. especially after 250k!!!

04, 36k miles here.. e46 is DEFINITELY on an accelerated "wear and tear" curve..

I'm with you guys.