The Last bargain E46 - 325ti Compact
2024 ж. 8 Мам.
24 608 Рет қаралды
Everybody loves the E46 M3 but prices have soared.. what if you want a usable performance BMW at a fraction of the cost?
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stop it, I want to get one soon, dont want the prices to go up, do we?
The first generation 1 series with the six cylinder engines in coupe and convertible form is a genuine E30 successor.
Yes... But...
E82 125i coupe with 3.0 for the win.
Just a shame the look like a hairdressers car though! 😂 …. The 1 series coupe that is!
Glad you enjoyed the Compact I'm still loving it but I went for BC's in the end Ohlins just worked out too dear all being fitted next week so the chassis will defo be tighter thanks Jack a pleasure to bring it down for you to try out.
I miss mine so much 🥺😢
@@larryjimbob Buy another now while they are still affordable
Yes finally someone appreciates these cars! Best e46 (not m3) I've ever owned.
Sometimes i understand im so f...king lucky i have an e30 325i convertible that my father bought brand new. Its my fondest belongings
Great video, thanx a lot! We have the 316ti in the garage, and though a bit light-footed in the rear in wintertime, it really is a blast to drive. And that is with just 116 hp 😁
A BMW with winter tires is an astounding amount of fun! My F20 116i is one of the very best cars I've ever driven in the winter, so easy to control
I had an E46 316Ti a few years after a (very late model) E36 318iS Coupe. The 316Ti was an absolute dog compared to the 318iS. And it was more than just the engine - the 316Ti should have handled better, but it .... just didn't.
Yeah, my brother in law had a 318iS which drove excellent. Still like the compact though 😁
The advantage of the pig ugly BMWs of today, makes these guys look like minters.
If the e46 Compact isn't pig ugly, nothing is.
@@bjornar9026only its back is ugly, the rest looks very nice, especially with the M-packet.
Nice - I like these a lot - that cabin is fantastic - an object lesson in quality, and playing down the gizmos - modern BMWs take note - you used to be one of the best in this field!
This looks exactly the same as my 325ti. I’ve had mine for 16 years and still love it, best car I’ve owned, she’s never let my down.
The engine derivative is M54B25, a fabulous engine that goes on forever. My E39 has 220,000 miles on it and still pulls really well.
306 000 km on my E39 525i touring. Engines still runs great, but likes to burn some oil, courtesy of the undersized lower piston rings, which is a pity…
@@e28forever30 yes, mine likes a drink too. I've switched to 10W 40 to try and compensate for its unfortunate habit!
@@huwprice881 I was thinking of doing that too... Are you using fully or semi synthetic?
@@griffspeed I'm using Castrol Edge, although I may do a Liqui Moly flush and oil / additive next time. It seems to run well on the 10W40 though.
The one I had drank a fair bit of oil. It meant I never had to worry about oil changes. Just a filter now and again. My mate's drank about a litre for every 50 miles!!! He scrapped it in the end.
I owned an E46 compact 2.0d, it wasn’t slow and easy to give myself a smile driving it. I’d have it back any day, I regret selling it. If you hold the traction button down for 5 seconds (from what I remember) it disables traction control 👍🏼 It was great to see you at Shed Fest, I’m the guy who came over and shook your hand and said “I thought it was you then I recognised your voice, sorry I’m not subscribed” I’m subscribed now.
Assumed "breast" was some sort of slang 😂
A Freudian slip, perhaps!
I had an E46 325i saloon for 5 years and it was absolutely sublime; smooth engine, good handling, comfortable, looked great.. and the only car I've actually made a profit on lol
I think the Compact next to the quicker steering had a slightly wider front track / axle for agility. They wanted to create a premium great handling hot hatch priced below the normal similarly powered E46. Therefore the Compact didn't get the 3 litre nor the M3 engine. So they needed to create an appeal for potential Golf VR6 customers to choose this BMW instead. Hence sporty, slightly different looks, slightly ligher, yet not too powerful to irritate the 330 and M3 customers. I actually like the looks, slightly JDM-like . I think they have aged better than the normal E46s. As soon as the first 1series was introduced the E46 Compact had become redundant. The 3 and 5 door 130i then turned the 325 Compact obsolete. Some remained unsold at dealers for quite a long time.
The suspension of E36 was for cost reasons - they wanted to offer the Compact nearer Golf prices and so the scalpel was applied.
It also is quite puzzling that at the time it was said to be an absolute pig with awful handling but the E30 got praised for its handling and nowadays the compact is said to be the best handling E36
@@kristoffer3000 never underestimate the greed of a motoring Journo
@@exgtt2061 I suppose BMW didn't invite enough of them down to some all expenses paid lavish hotel on the south coast of Spain like is the norm nowadays
There are soooo many brilliant cars out there that got hammered by the motoring press due to economic, political and downright corrupt agreements made behind closed doors. The key is figuring out these underdogs and taking advantage of ignorance.
it also shared the rear suspension with the Z3 series of cars, including the widow making Z3M coupe!
Can’t get the back end out with this amount of power…….cuts to inner city estate and 1.2 litre 20 year old hatchbacks dancing like Hannu Mikola is behind the wheel!! As I was constantly being told at Skool……try harder boyyy. Great film as always Jack. Where is the Pantera btw??
One of those cars with a turbo or a tuned 3.0 M57 engine, E46 saloon front lights and bumper, and LSD would be a riot.
I have an M57 swapped one, it's pretty lively even on an open diff
I have one in black color ,it’s a 318ti (1.8 engine) but same output as the 316 at 116hp It has 18 nch breton wheels and snichtzer mirrors , It’s also equipped with Brembo brakes It’s not a fast car but God it’s a joy to ride. Has about 150.000 km but still drives as new.
First BMW I bought brand new was an E46 Compact in Cyprus. I think the colour was Majestic Blue (dark metallic blue), fully loaded with all the options (climate control, Business Stereo, etc) and tax free it was still less than a UK base model. Added eibach suspension, M6 look alloys and some Hamman mods to it. Did almost 40,000 miles in 3 years in Cyprus, shipped it back to the uk with me and eventually sold it to my sister. One of the nicest handling cars I’ve owned, my kids still talk about it even though they’re heading for their late 20s 🫣
I know I comment a lot on your channel, but you seem to hit on all my favourite oddball cars. We never got the E46 compact here in the states and the E36 was a sales flop. I had a 1996 318ti, and it remains one of my most favourite cars. It was good looking in that handsome E36 way, utilitarian with that huge hatch and fold down seats, and once I equipped it with Bilstein coilovers, M3 wheels, Racing Dynamics anti-sway bars, and E46 330i brakes, one of the best handling little cars I ever owned, all while getting excellent fuel economy to boot! One of the few cars I actually miss owning.
Doing pretty much that to this one at moment BC's, strut braces and uprating the brakes with a few other upgrades and next year an LSD then the rear will come into play
@@dan3092mine had one of the last factory LSDs BMW put into any of its non -M cars. I had the winter package. A month or two later and they got rid of the LSD for traction control. Made for a very fun little car. I was planning on making mine lighter.
Fond memories of this car, I had one as my company car having exceeded my target for the year I was due a 320D but as a reward on collecting I discovered it was a top spec 325i, great company to work for and incentives work I exceeded targets every year, and the 20 strong sales team were inspired by this car to work incredibly hard, two years later I was given a 330i, happy days
I’ve got an auto 325ti, it’s brilliant. Was lots of fun watching your review. Love this 6 speed version, stunning.
I own a 1998MY BMW 328i (e46 sedan) and I love it.
I ran a 6cyl E46 coupe for 17 years. A really lovely place to be, comfortable airy cabin, lovely seats, cracking manual box (5 spd) and silky smooth engine. The M54 is a great power plant BUT suffers from the fragile plastics issue, especially as the miles pile on. You need to ensure the cooling system is on point, radiators should have been replaced by now! Fragile front wings (not such an issue on the compact) and spiralling ongoing costs compared to my annual mileage was my only reason to shift it on......for a brand new M240i in 2022. Still miss it at times....😢😊
I had a new e36 316i in 1996.£14000 no radio and steel wheels
Stick a BMW inline 6 in anything and it's going to be fun to drive.
Somewhat true! The layout is going to be too long for some kinds of cars, hence why V6 or flat-six is preferred for most 'more modern' sportscars and racecars from the 1980's onwards. No doubt inline-sixes are better (more elegant) engines, but V6s or flat-sixes often make for a better car with better centralised mass. The team who ran the R32 Nissan GT-R in Australia were surprised when that 'still' had an inline-six in 1990 as they were expecting it to have the 'more modern' V6 from the 300ZX which would have improved handling in their view. BMW could have raced their Super Tourers as inline-sixes (making a 2.0 inline-six was well within the rules, there were plenty of other 5 cylinders and 6 cylinders out there like the Volvo, Mazda and Ford) but they chose to use the inline-four -- I guess for the same packaging & weight advantages of the shorter engine, as with the inline-four in the E30 M3? If the BMW Super Tourers had a 2.0L inline-six revving to 8500rpm that would have sounded epic (the old 635Csi sounded incredible, as did the M1 of course)! That's a shame in a way. The newer BMW N52 solves the weight issue in some ways with its magnesium alloy block. It's kind of strange that only the NA version had the magnesium block and that the N54 turbocharged engine had a aluminium alloy block. Would you prefer the N52 or M54 for engine swaps (S54 if budget permits)? 🤔
Thanks, Jack - another cracking review. The variety on your channel is amazing.
When the compact came out all my army mates bought them. Got named Comshat!
Glad to see you again Jack, I learn something every episode, about the cars and their dynamics. You also place a perspective on the vehicles, not comparing apples with oranges. Nice.
I have a 2004 E46 325i Saloon and love it. I do like how it handles, before this I had a MK4 Golf GTi which was a really nice car but I do like the BMW more.
I have an M57 swapped one and it's just magic ✨ old school feeling to it 👌
I had one, loved it, they have gone up in price by the sounds, think i paid 2.5 for mine. It is a shame they never did an m3 compact, an s54, lsd and some squat arches would have made this a true classic.
I'm fitting an LSD soon
The French lad "Smells like Gasoline" did one of these up.
Totally down with this Jack. We had a Mini from new back in 2002 with many issues, BMW gave us a 320d compact while the Mini was in getting fixed. It was fabulous, so we chopped in the Mini for a 318i compact sport. Would have loved to have the 325i but we already had a performance car. The 318i was a very good car with a 16v revvy quality feel.
We only got the first Gen ti in the states. Apparently BMW buyers here didn't care for an 'entry level' Hatchback look. It really looks like they just chopped the trunk off. Great review as always!
I've got on with 80k on the clock been hidden for 7 years now love my 325ti best car I've ever had
You should get it out of moth balls and enjoy it
Awesome. Had one for 2 years and it was a really good car, the looks though did divide opinion.
Had one too, awesome little machine.
I had one of these 325ti's! Loved it
I bought one of these as a stop gap 11 years ago, kept it for 6 years. Mainly as I'd been blown away by one in an e36 328i I had a few years before and I got one 2 cars later. And they rare in 325ti guise. Fun little cars though and sound better still than my current car. The real poor mans/thinking mans m3 though for me would be a 335d e92 which I upgraded to after it. I would suggest you give one of those a go if you haven't tested one. My first diesel ever the torque and drivability is off the chart, with a modest remap or tuning box they really are sublime.
My brother had one of these 325's in more or less the same colour fantastic car glorious sounding straight 6 I'm fairly sure his was a very late end of the line one on a 05 plate, he also had a Mercedes clc a few years later and although I would definitely say the quality was better on the Merc the BMW felt far more dynamic and more of the drivers car .
One of my current daily driver is a 1998 5speed manual 318ti with 1.9 straight 4 and stainless Stromung exhaust. It drives very much like my previous 1974 2002tii, but more solid and faster. I LOVE this car! BMW didn't "just lop off the trunk. The car is completely different from the e36 aft of the windscreen. The doors are longer and are aircraft style, the frame folding into the roof - which is elongated giving more back seat room. Unfortunately, we didn't get the e46 compact in the US.
Imo the Compact was ugly for many years. That front bumper/light assembly takes some getting used to… That 325 motor is a masterpiece, I owned a 156 V6 for 2 years and drive an E36 325i for 70 odd miles, imo the BMW has the edge. So smooth
I had a white one in manual in South Africa, bought it new and put 145 000 km`s on it before I sold her...loved every km behind the wheel... I had a 1995 E36 325i before and wanted a more compact package which this car perfectly provided me with...great to just cruise around Johannesburg in and simply sublime out on long highway drives from Johannesburg to the Kwa-Zulu South Coast, performed beautifully on the very long drive to and back from Joburg to Cape Town too...i`d have another one tomorrow if I could get one in decent shape...
I had an E36 316i Compact and loved it. Took the wife and I everywhere that we wanted to be. It was slow, but economical (good, as it was my daily). Would have kept it longer, but found a great deal on an E38 735i (and that was epic!). I'd have one of those E46 325tis, but having bought 2 cars since November (one closing on very, very rare and receiving the tlc that she deserves), my wife has hidden my car purchasing savings stash!
Had 2 of these and now in a 130i. 130i is definitely a step above in terms of go, but has thy similar small powerful solid feeling that these have. I don't think they even look bad in sport form.
I have always loved the E46 compact, having had three of them back in the day. Two 316ti when they were new and later a used 318ti as a daily driver next to my Z4, all with the M package.
No way. Had one of these years ago and it was great. Was just looking this morning for another one. 👌🏼
TY J! 🙏🙏
Excellent content as always Jack 👏
My mum had an E36 compact from new and I totally agree that It didn’t drive particularly well and the switch gear was really poor quality. She upgraded to a run out E46 Compact, and whilst just a 1.8 L it’s really revvy, the gear change is brilliant and I totally agree the steering is fantastic!
I had a 325ti back in the day. It was a really good little car in all fairness. I thought it sounded sweeter than my friends E46 330i. It returned 31mpg over the three years I had it….it did however suffer from every E46 issue other than rust. The looks were a bit challenging, especially the clear lights (what were BMW thinking). They look best on sport trim I think. There is a chap on PistonHeads who’s fitted a S43 to one….
I had (according to the VIN) the Canadian press car, a 96 Mtech. Fun car!
Love how odd it looks, didnt know this was a thing. Now I really want to bring one to the States!
There's one on eBay at the moment, but needs a bit of bodywork correction for £1,650 and has done under 100,000 miles. A bargain project?!
Got to agree with you on the looks. My brother had a first generation car and I always thought it looked a coupe that had been rear ended. The styling made the front end look out of proportion to the rest of the car, two different cars joined in the middle I always thought.
The E46 with a straight 6 is a magic combination. Had a 330i E46 and can honestly say it's one of the best cars I've ever owned 😀😀😀😀😀
You would love a Boxster if you haven’t already…
@@exgtt2061 I did a track day a few years ago in a 911 Carrera 4. It was very planted and handled lovely but definitely preferred the N54 engine in my 335i. Something about the linear power delivery that I didn't quite get with the Porsche
Fantastic cars these Jack! I’ve got an E46 325i saloon. Mine has the slightly quicker purple tag rack too. There are also two different power steering pumps fitted over the years. One has less assistance (and more feel). Strange that the M3 steering is inferior. I suppose it has to cope with a higher top speed and being able to sneeze on the autobahn! Those 18inch MV2 alloys are my favourite style too. I couldn’t live with the looks of the hatch version though! The M54 is a great engine, and sounds lovely. If it’s lacking low-end torque, I wonder if it’s the Vanos seals. The M3 seats are different, but those basic sports seats are really nice. I’ve got the Nappa leather upgrade. Great proper drivers cars!
Very nice review Jack! I used to have one, unfortunately just a base 318ti , but it was reliable and better driving joy than my sister's Golf mk V in my opinion. What you could try do next, if anyone in UK borrows you a good example is a review on the Z4 Coupe 3.0 Si. That's a car i currently use as daily (with manual gearbox) and i tend to think, these were really great, now a bit forgotten cars. It has nicely sounding and powerfull N52 engine and feels really as a nice (one day maybe) classic sportscar of the old recipe .. long bonnet, straight six, rear wheel drive. They aren't so expensive, perhaps not as great as Porsche Cayman of its day, but currently half the purchase and running cost ... i found it very interesting option.
I would say head over to Guy Moerenhout's ABARTH museum this summer and he'll will probable let you drive his FIAT ABARTH 131 Rallye and at be even more!
Looks a lot better than when it first came out but like the e36 compact, the e46 compact looks kind of dreadful against the full fat version e46. Colour here helps a lot. It reminds me of a Rover from that period. MG ZR did the same thing to the Rover 200 covering the rectangular headlight with the two holer plastic panelling.
Definitely gonna be a future classic and definitely worth keeping hold of 😎
I must admit, the 1 series 3 door hatch is a lot of car for the money as well, in the current market at least. In my country 4-5k buys you a good one with the essentials and a 16 or 18 engine, under 200k km.
Cracking content as always Jack 👍
Thanks Ryan, have a good weekend!
A bargain is a jar of hotdogs these days, but please continue to tell us all about this pile of poop.That I'm really interested in for my next daily 😂😂
These were great to drive I agree. I have driven most engine gearbox configuration The original compact I really didn’t like. Use to drive quite a few and really wasn’t impressed. My auntie had a 318d compact that was horrible although incredibly reliable she bought it new and did over 250.000miles Her son had for his first car. But this model you are driving was an absolute peach
Compac? 😂 Jack it's pronounced compact, with a T.
Probably a Yank
Just about to part ex my wife's '52 plate 325ti Auto for £500, only 80k miles, but lots of cosmetic issues so going to the scrapyard I think. Half thinking about keeping it and tidying it up now.
To unstick the back end you need to turn the traction control full off by holding the button for 5 seconds. It’s a cool traction control system as it brakes the spinning wheel
well they did a 125i coupe - with the 3.0L engine (just needs a remap back to 270hp) I had a convertible which was a lot of fun
Enjoyed this video. Thank you for the mammaries.
I owned 130 msport LE ……..awesome
Morning Jack- breast🤣 i had a e36 m3 and the 6 was glorious. I used to get a new company car every 5000km and this was one of them. I enjoyed it in the dry more than the EVos and WRX. Wet was a different story lol
In the US, we got the e36 Compact Ti in 1.8L, 4-cylinder form. Since the e36 _front_ suspension was barely different than the previous e30 version, the e36 Compact had effectively a continuation of the e30 suspension as a whole. There were detail differences but nothing more, really. Many people swapped 6-cylinder engines into those cars, of course. Sadly, we never got the e46 Compact here. If we had, in 6-cylinder form, I probably would have owned one by now. I did daily-drive a 6-cylinder e30 Coupe for about 8-9 years, and loved just about every mile of it. For a while, I had possession of my e30 _and_ an early e36 318i sedan, which made for an interesting comparison. I preferred the e30, personally, on the strength of the engine (of course), _but also the rear suspension._ The e36 simply felt like it was on rails, which is hard to complain about. But, the e30's semi-trailing-arms (STAs) were far more lively and entertaining. If you know how to drive an STA equipped car, how to predict its behavior and to use that, to incorporate it into your driving, it is a more rewarding and enjoyable experience, in my opinion. The superior camber and alignment control of the e36's multi-link setup would ultimately prevail, especially as the tires get wider, on the race track. But, so does ABS, traction control, stability control, and some other things we have learned to do since the era when BMW first deployed its particular semi-trailing arm designs. I'm talking about character, personality, charm, challenge, and fun - not lap times. [Rant concluded.]
330Ci's are not much more expensive than these now. Much better looking too and more power with the extra 500cc!
E46 Sport Seats are very different shaping to the M3 specific seats.
Thank you for this video. I have never even heard of this BMW! Early compacts were ridiculed a bit so that might be why it has such a low profile.
Lovely car and video Jack 😊. I’m glad you quickly moved up to 145k subscribers, stuck on 144 would have been gross 🤗🤣. Best wishes, Bob M. South Wales
E46 was the pinnacle of bmw design. Just bought a m3 convertible absolutely love it. I’m hoping it will go the way of the e30 m3 in another 15years or so
Probably the ugliest BMW out there, at least until recently. I hate those frontlights with a passion.
I completely disagree. I think the Compact has grown old gracefully and looks unique and really pretty 😍
I disagree too. These look great. Not to mention far better than the awful designs of modern BMW's.
I actually like the E36 version of this, but nothing will ever convince me that the headlights in this version are anything but hideous.
@@uselessDMIt must be possible to switch it for a regular E46 front end.
@@uselessDMyou’re bang on the money. The e36 compact is a nice looking little car. The e46 compact is ugly
Owned one, handled brilliantly but to my eyes it’s a face only a mother could love, I thought side profile and rear and rear 3/4 it was a well proportioned thing, but those headlights 😩
I have an E46 M3 and although it can be costly I don't think I'd swap. I had a year with the new 128ti when they came out in 2020 which was a fun hatch.
It’s aged well apart from the typical Beama sea of black interior that six cylinder is sweet and smooth but not a lot of torque how many oil leaks has it got 😂 I had two E46’s both leaked oil like the Torrey Canyon and used petrol like a Wetherspoons pump. It’s nice to see these cars being saved and used.
I got Jebaited into thinking this was an M539 restorations video 🤣🤣
Had one back in the day, was a hoot, it’ll be a unicorn car soon 😊
fab cars I have the 118ti and its great fun cheers
A small hatchback with an inline-six engine and rear wheel drive -- certainly no one makes anything like this, these days!
My favourite Compact was a 316 E36 with a supercharger, if you ever find it to review it was a smile a second.
Enough power to have fun, well that's what it's all about! It's also the reason I never rated my MX-5, even in 2.0 guise. With a whell at reach corner and 2.5 litres I'd imagine it'd suit yiur average driver more thsn the M3, and with rear seats, whats not to like?
I owned a first generation Compact 316i as a company car. It was a fun car, even though it did not have a lot of power. A co-worker had the better version, the 318ti and it needed 3 sets of brake pads and rotors in the 2 years he drove it. Probably undersized.
Those cars are seriously tail-happy. Had an incident in one on a wet roundabout back in 2006.
Jack, can we have an update on the Panthera’s shipping progress?
I'd agree with the front end looking better in this colour. It's still not great though.
Good if you can find one, they were almost the same price as the full sized 3 series. I think they sold less than 20 of them here.
I think that engine was the M52 unit - bullet proof. The 318Ti had the 1.9 M44 (TC/16v) engine which was again bullet proof, very perky and better than the Golf GTI engines at the time.
No, it was the M54.
I think my e46 325ti msport must be one of the last registered in the UK. 23rd June 2005, I've only seen 1 other 05 reg since getting mine (12 years ago). Bmw stopped making these in 2004.
I had that engineer in my z3, with e30 suspension….total nuts understeer into the corner due to the weight it the front then oversteer the way out due to crappy rear end with no weight….in the wet it was like a capri! I have a 1.9 z3 that is better balanced but I miss the straight six grunt and smoothness ….might turbo it 😂…actually my z3 had the 2.8!
M52 engine vs M54 in this one.
A BMW E46 330ci is what we should be talking about. But not bad for the Ti
This is quicker than Coupe due to lower dif ratio
These cars hold a special place in my heart, I’ve had 3 over the years and loved every one of them. Having owned pretty much every iteration of petrol E46 (currently have an M3 coupe) I can honestly say these cars are the 2nd best car in the E46 line up behind obviously the M3. I love them so much I’ve been looking for a cheap one recently, but having sold my last one, an 03 grey 6 speed with 96k for £2k about 5 years ago I was shocked at the prices people are asking. Anyone know of one for a couple of grand let me know id buy it in a heartbeat
Your corrections always make me smile, but this weeks cut-away made me laugh. To my shame, I recommended this series BMW to a friend of the family when she came to me with a list of company cars to choose from. She had a VW Golf with a good spec, and I said go for the Compact! In fairness to me, it was late 90’s early 00’s and BMW were a bit more special than Golf’s at that time. (Maybe I’m trying to make excuses for my cr@p advice)
Compact > Mk4 Golf any day of the week
That was a funny faux pas. That will teach you for watching Valentina Nappi videos before your car reviews (Saying that, James Hunt used to get revved up with a hot woman before going out in his cars)! 😂