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Convertibles

Also you are going to sweat etc.. with top down...some ppl will be smelly too.
If you drive to work with top down and the sun out, good luck with that.

Remember, top down and the sun is always on you.

verts are fun if you are just putting around town or driving along a coastline (with earplugs in)...lol
 
Joe Bass said:
Imo if I'm getting a summer only car, it's gonna be a rag top.
And preferably a Little Red Corvette.

Sent from my custom purple Joe Bass mobile device using Tapatalk
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Oh you Princess. It'll muss your hair giving you that just fcuQed look all the cool kids crave.
 
nakkers said:
.................another observation...........does anyone remove their hitch ball when not towing? Why do I care? Why do I notice? Need to let these things go.
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I leave mine in, with a hitch lock. Protects my bumper in the dreaded grocery store parking lot! I had a lady yell at me for having it sticking out. She tore a hole in her bumper hitting it! 0 sh*ts given! Got rear ended in a drive through as well! Zero damage to my Xterra, dudes civic, not so good. Punctured radiator. He was ******......I drove off with my coffee!
 
MNSTR said:
I leave mine in, with a hitch lock. Protects my bumper in the dreaded grocery store parking lot! I had a lady yell at me for having it sticking out. She tore a hole in her bumper hitting it! 0 sh*ts given! Got rear ended in a drive through as well! Zero damage to my Xterra, dudes civic, not so good. Punctured radiator. He was ******......I drove off with my coffee!
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It's like a frame slider but for your rear bumper ahahhahahaahah
 
black_CG2 said:
Whats a good price range for e46 vert?
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No idea these days, I haven't shopped for one for a while.

Look for one that hasn't been banged up. Use a paint meter and check every panel- nothing on a Carfax only means it wasn't reported to police/insurance.
Every 100,000kms or so, they need to have their water pumps and thermostats replaced. The cooling systems on these cars are really the only weak spot.
Many develop small leaks at the head gasket- not a big deal to replace, and the gasket is $30.

The 3.0l inline six is pretty bulletproof, as is the 6-speed manual gearbox. To change the oil, I used a marine fluid extractor to suck the oil out of the dipstick tube (straight path to bottom of pan), change filter (which is located very conveniently at the front of the engine bay), dump in new oil, and drive away. Under fifteen minutes, without spilling a drop, while wearing a suit. It's that easy. Plugs are easy, too. Thirty minutes to do all six.

They go through brakes like a fat kid through pizza, as BMW uses a very soft pad compound. Terrific initial bite, but your wheels get covered in brake dust in minutes. Get some EBC or Powerstop street rated pads, and it's much better.

Don't buy anything from a local BMW dealer. They're all thieves. Buy out of the US, or preferably aftermarket.

Great cars, though- the only thing aside from regular maintenance that I had to do on the three that I owned was replace a starter that went bad.
If you're seriously considering one and have more questions, PM me.

Cheers
 
BTW where do you get those brass balls for hitches? Can't wait to accessorize my new hitch.
 
99CBRF4 said:
No idea these days, I haven't shopped for one for a while.

Look for one that hasn't been banged up. Use a paint meter and check every panel- nothing on a Carfax only means it wasn't reported to police/insurance.
Every 100,000kms or so, they need to have their water pumps and thermostats replaced. The cooling systems on these cars are really the only weak spot.
Many develop small leaks at the head gasket- not a big deal to replace, and the gasket is $30.

The 3.0l inline six is pretty bulletproof, as is the 6-speed manual gearbox. To change the oil, I used a marine fluid extractor to suck the oil out of the dipstick tube (straight path to bottom of pan), change filter (which is located very conveniently at the front of the engine bay), dump in new oil, and drive away. Under fifteen minutes, without spilling a drop, while wearing a suit. It's that easy. Plugs are easy, too. Thirty minutes to do all six.

They go through brakes like a fat kid through pizza, as BMW uses a very soft pad compound. Terrific initial bite, but your wheels get covered in brake dust in minutes. Get some EBC or Powerstop street rated pads, and it's much better.

Don't buy anything from a local BMW dealer. They're all thieves. Buy out of the US, or preferably aftermarket.

Great cars, though- the only thing aside from regular maintenance that I had to do on the three that I owned was replace a starter that went bad.
If you're seriously considering one and have more questions, PM me.

Cheers
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how are they for winter driving and rusting?
 
99CBRF4 said:
Every 100,000kms or so, they need to have their water pumps and thermostats replaced. The cooling systems on these cars are really the only weak spot.
Many develop small leaks at the head gasket- not a big deal to replace, and the gasket is $30.
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Surely you mean Valve cover gasket. Head job is 19 hours ++

@Black_CG2, watch for head gasket problems if you do start looking for one of these. It's common enough to warrant a thorough check with a mechanic you trust before you buy. The cooling systems are indeed a weak point and many get overheated at some point, which often leads to the head gasket failure. Problem is without a 20 min plus test drive it can easily be masked by the seller.

As for price, a great condition low mileage example will still get north of 10k. We recently sold one with 230k and a less than perfect body for $7k, granted it had a low mileage engine swap not to long before (guess why)

-D- said:
how are they for winter driving and rusting?
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Rag tops will always be **** for winter driving. If you want best of both, look to hard top convertibles, there's a few options out there
Edit: Rust is a non-issue for most BMW's
 
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I on the contrary had really bad experience with the e46. Too much maintenance problems, electrical problems like camshaft position sensor & other sensors.

To top it all off, there was a recall for subframe cracking in the US. No recall for Canada. I believe it's a $10,000 job. If you drive one & you hear clunking in the trunk, run away!
 
RockerGuy said:
I on the contrary had really bad experience with the e46. Too much maintenance problems, electrical problems like camshaft position sensor & other sensors.

To top it all off, there was a recall for subframe cracking in the US. No recall for Canada. I believe it's a $10,000 job. If you drive one & you hear clunking in the trunk, run away!
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A buddy of mine had a non convertible...after buying it used, a month later all the lights came on the dash...then things started to fail big time.

I guess it's a crap shoot or you only drive them in good weather.
 
RockerGuy said:
I on the contrary had really bad experience with the e46. Too much maintenance problems, electrical problems like camshaft position sensor & other sensors.

To top it all off, there was a recall for subframe cracking in the US. No recall for Canada. I believe it's a $10,000 job. If you drive one & you hear clunking in the trunk, run away!
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$80 for BOTH intake and exhaust febi CPS. It does not look like it's harder to change than doing your oil. I love how the price of german cars gets dragged down because of perceived high maintenance. Well, it is high if throw the keys to the dealer, but there is a wealth of DIY information out there.
 
daught said:
$80 for BOTH intake and exhaust febi CPS. It does not look like it's harder to change than doing your oil. I love how the price of german cars gets dragged down because of perceived high maintenance. Well, it is high if throw the keys to the dealer, but there is a wealth of DIY information out there.
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How do you account for the significant depreciation?
 
daught said:
$80 for BOTH intake and exhaust febi CPS. It does not look like it's harder to change than doing your oil. I love how the price of german cars gets dragged down because of perceived high maintenance. Well, it is high if throw the keys to the dealer, but there is a wealth of DIY information out there.
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After working on Japanese cars, German & Korean cars I have to admit it is more time consuming & more expensive on German cars. It's true that sensor is easy to replace but if you don't have resources or knowledge of that car it can be inconvenient. Plus you can't really drive the car with that sensor out.

Replacing the spark plug on that car is not as easy as replacing it on a civic, you have to remove the cabin filter which is in the way. The last plug at the back is quite stubborn to replace.

Since there is 6 cylinders in a compact chassis it is not that easy to work on. You have to move alot of stuff in the way. It is definitely not easy to replace the starters on those cars. It can only be accessed from the bottom & you have to twist your hands in to get at it.

Mechanics always charge a premium for these cars & I understand why
 
nobbie48 said:
After a while I got tired of playing with the new toy and left it up.
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That's like owning a Busa and going to only posing or ice cream meets.

The old boy had a TR3 and a Sunbeam Alpine. Both were daily drivers. Tonneau cover spring through fall, and the soft top went on for the winter. He was a hard mofo.
 
RockerGuy said:
After working on Japanese cars, German & Korean cars I have to admit it is more time consuming & more expensive on German cars. It's true that sensor is easy to replace but if you don't have resources or knowledge of that car it can be inconvenient. Plus you can't really drive the car with that sensor out.

Replacing the spark plug on that car is not as easy as replacing it on a civic, you have to remove the cabin filter which is in the way. The last plug at the back is quite stubborn to replace.

Since there is 6 cylinders in a compact chassis it is not that easy to work on. You have to move alot of stuff in the way. It is definitely not easy to replace the starters on those cars. It can only be accessed from the bottom & you have to twist your hands in to get at it.

Mechanics always charge a premium for these cars & I understand why
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Each with his own. I rather work on the dreaded 2.7T audi than wash a civic.
 
Another thing is on the e46 BMW recommends replacing the rotors with the pads. Parts are not cheap & if you can't afford to buy one new, most likely you can't afford to maintain one
 
RockerGuy said:
Another thing is on the e46 BMW recommends replacing the rotors with the pads. Parts are not cheap & if you can't afford to buy one new, most likely you can't afford to maintain one
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I recommend replacing the rotors with the pads on pretty much every car on the planet
 
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