[e46Scrub]

Hi! My name is Tom and I have just bought a salvaged 2001 330i with 84xxx miles, then I dropped some money into it to fix up whatever I saw that was broken, this ended up being fenders, hood, bumper cover, the cooling mechanism up front with the fan i forgot the name. The car now runs and drives and can be driven on my friends dealer plates sometimes. I drove the car to Pennsylvania (from the Jersey Shore) Everything was great, I had a huge smile plastered all over my face when I was behind the wheel, it has now passed Pennsylvania inspection!

There is a problem though. It smokes and smells a little when I turn it on, also, my dealer friend says that it misfires on 3 :yikes: cylinders. He also is now telling me that I could have bought an 04 330 vert in immaculate condition for like 2 grand more than I spent on this car :facepalm:. I am stuck, quite happily, with this car and would like to know if any of you out there have had the same problem and fixed it? Keep in mind that I have done literally nothing about this so far and it could be an easy fix that I just havent found yet. I have 1 month untill my birthday and untill I can get my licence, the car is still uninsured and unregistered.

Any ideas fanatics? I hate to sound needy, but does anyone know any fixes? Also, any cheap mods that one can do with little experience and diy experience? I know how to change fenders, front bumper and hood, and even my drivers side window regulator which was busted, but my skills go no further than that. Help an aspiring e46 fan out!

I know I should have skipped a regular front bumper and fenders but my dad told me I shouldnt do that stuff, and would not let me order body kits and whatnot online even though I was only using his card to order and paid him back each time.

PICS COMING SOON!!!

 

[Acidic]

how much did you get ur 2001 salvaged title 330i? why did you get a salvaged one. bmw are cheap now. you can get e46 clean title and runs perfect for under 10k.

 

[e46Scrub]

i paid $3,500 for it, $3,000 for parts and labor not done by me (fan shroud, etc) and have an almost perfect 330i for about 6 grand, did i make a mistake?

 

[Acidic]

for me yes... 1st its a salvage title next is u spent 3 more grand for repair. and now there still more problem..

you couldve bought a clean title 330 close to 6k. add a more cash and you have a clean car. you already bought it so just fix it. it will be hard to sell it and you wont be able to get the same amount you spent on that car.

goodluck with it...

 

[My325XI]

I dont think so...

 

[e46Scrub]

Don't think so what? I really am confusedbyh that last post hahah

 

[chet31]

Well, basically you have a $6,500 car in working order w/ a problem and a salvage title. That doesn't seem like a horrible deal. And no, you could not have gotten a clean title 04 330 immaculate vert w/ similar mileage for $2K more. You would be looking at roughly double what you spent, I know, I just bought an 05 vert. The salvage title is not that big an issue w/ a $6,500 BMW.

Anyway, my suggestion would be to post a new thread, skip the purchase story, and focus and elaborate more on the engine problem. The other part of your story is distracting us, obviously.

 

[e46Scrub]

Thanks a lot chet! A lot more encouraging and a bit less "acidic" (i crack myself up:lmao than the other guy. Will do, thanks for the idea about the new post im a bit of newbie around here.

 

[Acidic]

hahahha lol. well thats was just my opinion. heheheh

so yeah just like chet said post a new thread. or search. make sure u search first or else people here will kill you. happened to me. so anyway yeah search for problems and diy fix and solutions. look im not pro so yeah ahhaha

goodluck with the car. hopefully you fix it soon.

 

[chet31]

Good luck, hope the engine problem is an cheap easy fix, it'll be interesting to see how it turns out ...

 

[Five_seveN]

i have a rebuilt title car and should have put it up for sale the day i got it. its been on the market for over 12 months already and absolutely no one is interested in salvage/rebuilt cars, so youre going to run into problems when it comes to selling. i have also spend around $7k in repairs over the past ~3 years of ownership and that price will continue to rise

stay away from total loss cars unless you plan on keeping them forever and have the money to pay for repairs