Everything wrong with my 2003 BMW 330 XI

[@davidsoto7114]

This guy is the real deal. straight to the point in perfect english, no bullshit. 😂 comes in straight like a arrow with those shades and funky hairstyle ! Lol you go bro

[@DriverJsGarage]

Thanks! I've since cut the hair off lol, but it was fun growing it out for a while.

[@davidsoto7114]

@@DriverJsGarage hairstyle was dope guy. & I was high as fuck watching that awesome review. Other KZbinrs should learn from you. I’m interested in getting a 330xi with about 100k miles & changing ALOT of parts just for pre maintenance

[@DriverJsGarage]

It's one of my favorite car's I've ever owned. It's definitely not the cheapest or most reliable I've owned, but definitely one of the more fun for the cost of it.

[@rocketbunnyboy0323]

I was thinking of getting this as my first car do you think it would be good? or would there be too many problems for me to worry about? I've been looking at lots of other cars as well, but this has AWD and it sporty. I really wanted AWD since I like in a cold climate.

[@DriverJsGarage]

The E46 is one of my favorite cars I've owned.... but.... Honestly unless you are mechanically inclined or have deep pockets filled with cash, I would choose something cheaper to maintain. An oil change alone at a reputable shop on these can be expensive due to it running synthetic, and being a bit more involved than some less expensive cars. I'm planning on doing an update on this car in a few weeks since I've now owned it for 3 years, and even with doing some of my own work it's ran me double what I paid for it just to keep it on the road. For first cars go inexpensive, that way if you wreck it it's not expensive to replace, and you can also more cheaply insure them. Look to late 90's Cavaliers, Late 90's / early 2000s Camry or Civic as well. These cars aren't terribly expensive, they are relatively easy to work on and parts are super inexpensive by comparison to an E46 3 Series (which is one of the cheaper European cars parts wise). I bought an 1988 Camry as a beater for $500 in good running and driving condition and drove it for 2 years and put on over 30k Miles in that time. and it died with 260k due to a trans issue. Had I not wanted to buy a truck any ways (and been in the middle of the coldest month of the year) I probably could have put a cheap transmission in that car and driven it another 5 years with no issues.

[@rocketbunnyboy0323]

@@DriverJsGarage Thats what I was kinda of thinking. I'm looking at maybe a Civic Si or Acura Tl. Thanks for the response man!

[@DriverJsGarage]

You're welcome. Always look at common failure points and how much they cost to repair in time and parts or direct repair prices (shop repair) to see if you can fix or afford to pay the repair fees. Everything breaks eventually.

[@sniperking305]

@@DriverJsGarage honestly no bro any caviler is bad especially if you crash I almost died and was pretty badly injured because of it

[@DriverJsGarage]

@sniperking305 I was speaking strictly from a ease of maintenance and cost stand point. They are inexpensive to drive and maintain. But yes you are right the crash rating is pretty sad on the Cavi's

[@anthonymartinez8458]

Bonus lesson: How to be a good dad

[@DriverJsGarage]

Thanks, I do my best :D

[@aedandouglas441]

Hey when are you planning on doing another video with the 330xi

[@aedandouglas441]

I’m getting a 2005 myself and we love to see how you do some of those upgrades

[@DriverJsGarage]

I'll probably do a 1 year later update soon, not much has changed it's my daily driver and I've not been driving much over the last year.

[@DriverJsGarage]

But I also have the motor to build. It's just been a lower priority lately as I've been laid off from my primary job.

[@cherylcanmmodore9294]

Hi I own a bmw 330xi, would you tell me how to get my control panel to the sunroof to stay up!! Mine keeps falling out in front of my rear view mirror which is dangerous.

[@DriverJsGarage]

Without actually seeing the back side of the control panel to see if there is damage that's causing it not to stay up. My quick recommendation would be to just buy a replacement panel. They aren't too expensive on Car-Part.com or ebay

[@titob1895]

why did you have to replace the other engine

[@DriverJsGarage]

A valve was damaged so I had the head and valves rebuilt, while the shop was checking out the car the coolant tank popped (common on the E46). The car overheated and popped the head gasket flooded a cylinder and they suspect it bent a rod, because it had a bad vibration and was knocking. We worked out a deal since the rod could have been them or a side effect of the valve issue. They covered the full cost of labor and I bought the donor motor. (The labor was easily 3x what it ran for a donor motor. I have the motor they pulled but haven’t had the time to tear it down and verify yet.. but that’ll be down the road.

[@samb8996]

Your video title should be “what’s good about BMWs”?!

[@DriverJsGarage]

That would be a much much longer video.

[@brandynware4131]

Does it have an aux cord plug?

[@DriverJsGarage]

I didn't when I bought it, but I did install one shortly after getting the car. You can check out the process on how to do that here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jonIc2N-edx2jac

[@MrKobe-mu5wq]

Does this car have a AUX input port?

[@DriverJsGarage]

No not from the factory it does not, but there are several extremely simple to install options you can use to add one very easily. I actually installed one of the cheapest options for adding an aux input. studio.kzbin.infoXXeB0HDwCWE/edit

[@nermannerman114]

What are the common problems?

[@DriverJsGarage]

Great question, and probably a good video topic, but typically the cooling system and depending on the year it was built the subframe. As the newest E46 is now over 15 years old, there will be a decent amount of aging problems. But the issue(s) I think almost every E46 owner has run into is the coolant reservoir cracking/breaking. The plastic they used can't handle heat cycles forever without becoming brittle and is prone to cracking from the heat and or pressures as it gets brittle. (The same can be said for some of the hard plastic vacuum lines they use on the engines as well). Cooling fans also break due to issues with the plastic and if they aren't taken care of or inspected regularly when the fan breaks it can send the broken parts into the radiator potentially causing damage). These cars are expensive to have serviced and need more attention during maintenance than say a honda civic or chevy cavalier of the same vintage, but the work is mostly easy to do yourself if you are mechanically inclined (there are how to's on several parts websites to help with this). Parts aren't terribly expensive for the most part, but labor if you need to take it to a shop is going to be what gets you as a second hand owner. TLDR; cooling system is the most common issue, and if you aren't servicing the car yourself regularly it's going to be expensive to maintain.

[@nermannerman114]

@@DriverJsGarage thanks a lot I know it's not a good first car but I just can't resist lol the one I have my eyes on is a 2002 bmw 330xi with 192.000 km on it

[@DriverJsGarage]

If you're comfortable turning wrenches there are a ton of great walk through videos for most of the common stuff and even better is parts aren't terribly expensive compared to more modern bmws or turbo cars.

[@zachchica3648]

DriverJ’s Garage how tall are you??? Please respond thanks

[@DriverJsGarage]

One of the more interesting questions I've gotten, and I'm curious why you're asking... But I'm 6'2"

[@joshuabaker6886]

You want to sell it?

[@DriverJsGarage]

Not really, but as with anything for the right price it could happen. But seeing as I've got plans for it, the price would have to be seriously worth my while.

[@ragnar2817]

So cute kids :) record with them

[@DriverJsGarage]

Thanks, I don't plan to have my kids on the channel a lot right now, just because of their ages and wanting them to maintain their anonymity until they are old enough to choose for themselves if they want to be in the spotlight, but I appreciate the kind comment!

[@DriverJsGarage]

Still haven't gotten to it, scheduling these last few weeks has been an absolute nightmare.