Thoughts on 2003 325i

[heddie]

hi all,

In the mist of maybe buying a 2003 325i with 165k km on it. took it for a little spin today.... drives nice ( somehow, I was expecting a more wow factor... didn't happen) but it does drive nice.

Did notice a few things....

1. there's a slight pull to the right
2. the check engine light is on ( orange...the owner said there's a red level as well???0
3. there's a circle indicator on ( on the right side of the dash)...
4. the some of the trims is coming off ( back driver side)
5. the right door mirror's cover is off (looks like it's just held on by tape.

the cosmetics aside, should I be concern with the check engine and the other light ( he didn't know what it was).

would anyone have an idea on how much the car is worth?

thx in advance for ur time.

rgds

[LagunaM3]

Hmm, ok:

1) Could be an underinflated tire, a bad alignment, or a bent suspension part
2) The fact the owner never bothered to check why the CEL is on would raise a red flag with me. It could be something benign like a loose gas cap, or something real bad like a blown catalytic converter (~$2K USD).
3) Not sure what this is (and I don't have my E46 manual handy).
4) Car is ~6 yrs old. Trim shouldn't be falling off, but I guess some people treat their cars like crap...
5) See #5.

I'm just guessing that this car was probably not taken very good care of. And north of 160K km is when the lack of car care starts to manifest as expensive problems. I'd stay the hell away, but that's just me...

[spazzboy]

I'd keeep away too.
Neglecting a CEL is never good. (Even though it lights up quite often on my 740i, it could be benign, just like it could be major).

From the sounds of it, the Previous Owner did not maintain his car meticulously.
There are loads of 3ers out there. Skip this one.

[McNihil]

1. (Like LagunaM3 said)
2. You speak of orange to red level ? Maybe you're talking about the oil change interval light ? (I've never driven an E46 but it's like that in my E36, but separate from the CEL)
3. Sounds to me like a brake sensor light...like the brake pad wear symbol... looks like (O)
4. and 5. (I agree with LagunaM3)

If the owner doesn't even know what the lights on his dash mean it's not a good sign. Sounds like he wasn't taking very good care of his car. If he's offering a very good price (no more than 7000$) then it could be worth bringing it to a specialized BMW shop to get it inspected before buying and getting an estimate of the costs of repair.

[Silverblades181]

The circle indicator sounds like brake pads sensor wear warning.

Stay away from neglected BMWs, they end up very costly.

[heddie]

much appreciate all the feedbacks... To be fair, the gentlemen said it's his wife's car so he's not too familiar with all the lights.

The car looks pretty clean overall so I don't think it was neglected but they brought it to a garage near st. denis and rosemount ( cheaper I guess).

Did notice the headlights and hood was white washed.. like it was sand blasted ( I'll assume due to the road rocks.. he said u can sand it back or simply replace the cover).

Again, thanks to all members for their time and thoughts.

rgds