Although money isn't much of an issue, in S'pore... We're talking about losing at least USD12,500 if we sell the BMW. It's a stab in the wallet.

After some consideration, I think my dad is intent on keeping the car. Reason being, I'm getting my driving license in about two years' time, and by then, we would have our third car. And we would buy it then, and then maybe sell the E46.

We wanted to consider the E90... But it's too much money. Coupled with poor service and commonality, we struck it off. And even if we buy the E90, the 325i and 330i commands a great premium over the base 323i. The only E90 within our price range is the 323i, and it isn't much of an upgrade over the 320i, I think. I was glad they discontinued the 4-cylinder E90 320i, it wasn't continuous with the rest of the 3 Series range.

I can understand the squeaky suspension being a big issue. When I owned my 96 Audi A4, that was my biggest issue. I spent a lot of time with several mechanics to isolate the problem and it turned out to be the bushings in the control arms.

The leaky door sounds like the vapor barrier is not secure. It is a known issue with the E46 and is easy to fix.

Sell the BMW. You obviously got a duff model.

So yup, I did what everyone said we should do... We sold the BMW.

Unfortunately, we didn't go for the E90.

Neither did we go for any German sedan.

We went for the Honda Jazz!

Before everyone piles up on top of me, I'll say now that there's a valid reason for this. The high cost of maintenance, along with high fuel consumption and expensive servicing took a toll on my sister's salary. She felt she wasn't ready for a BMW yet, so she settled for something more practical, frugal and cheap. Make no mistake about it - I prefer the BMW over the Honda anyday - but it's my sister's car anyway, and it's her decision. So that's that. Heh.

For the benefit of those who don't know, the Jazz is Honda's award-winning supermini:



Thanks everyone for your advice, and let's bid farewell to the faithful E46.

Hopefully when my sis gets a new job she'll venture back into BMW again.

Omg :d

I totally understand that decision. Plus that thing will be a tank and go on for miles and miles. Congrats

From an E46 to a Jazz, quite a difference!

Reading this thread, it seems like you have had quite a few problems with the E46, I can understand why you got rid of it. I haven't heard of problems like that with the E46, especially one late in the models life cycle, where most problems are meant to be fixed!

Although the Jazz is a great car, and very reliable, it tops quite a lot of the reliability surveys over here, and is great value for money!

Hope your sis has fun with the car!

Yeah, it's not quite something I'd go for myself, but I can understand. It's cheap to buy and cheap to run. Even of itself, as a city car the Jazz is a decent vehicle, and I hope it serves your sister well, and reliably!

Thanks everyone.

I think the reason why our specific model had so many problems was because the previous owner didn't take good care of it. After we purchased it the technician said it had suffered an accident before. We did impulse buying I guess, and we regret it quite a bit. We lost about SGD20,000 in depreciation. Now that we've learnt our lesson, my dad would never venture back to buying second-hand again.

The last straw was when the car stalled in the middle of traffic last week.

Mirage, please keep us updated on that new BMW center in Singapore you were telling about. I'd love to read/see more of that!

Edit;

Hmmm could this be it? Looks promising:


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