BeEmDoubleEww: Part Teww

Oops.

The one I looked at had a light tint and aftermarket wheels.

You’ll have to excuse me; I meant this to be an apples-to-apples comparison, but it just didn’t work out that way. Sorry about that.

I set out to find another 3-series wagon and found a RWD black over tan automatic 2000 323iT with 170K.

While it and the 325xiT aren’t all that divergent, there were noticeable differences. The most notable difference was the increased weight with the AWD, which added about 300 pounds to the newer wagon. Also, while the engines appeared to be the same (like I’ve said many times, I’m no brand expert), they were clearly tuned differently, swapping output ratings. The 323 is rated at 170 hp, 184 torques and the 325 pumps out 184/175; weird. I could definitely feel the difference. The enthusiast that doesn’t need bad weather traction might be most inclined to go for a 5-speed RWD 323iT, if a good one could be located. Regardless, the engines in both cars are excellent to control. They sound great, feel superb and you’d have to be pretty jaded (hello) or power mad to want or need much more. Still, the slushbox-saddled 323 felt rather slow.

To be entirely fair, this 323iT wasn’t a particularly well cared for example. A multiple owner car with records long gone, the headliner was sagging and the front driver’s seat looked like Freddy Krueger had owned it at some point. A couple of seat covers would have been nice. The dash was pretty messed up, too; well worn would be a good description. In addition to multiple body dings, the a/c blew warm and a taillight was broken and desperately in need of replacement. There was a little rust on the top of the roof at the windshield and the rear wheel wells. This car hadn’t lived the pampered life of the 325iT that I’d driven and I had the distinct feeling that I wasn’t even scratching the surface with what this particular wagon needed, which would equal expensive. But it was most likely a driver while you remedied things.

This wagon didn't have the optional Sport suspension, which was a bummer. I wonder if it's too harsh.

The owner was asking $4300 and KBB is around $2100, which would have been far more reasonable. He had a driveway full of various cars and clearly wasn’t necessarily a BMW fanatic. More like he bought cars cheap, drove them into the ground and moved on. Sounds familiar.

It occurred to me that one could look at a vehicle like this as something rare, even if it wasn’t necessarily desirable to anyone other than a brand loyalist or wagon fanatic, like me. These are pretty neat small wagons and they definitely drive nice, probably better than anything like them on the market at the time. Back then, BMW actually deserved the “Ultimate Driving Experience” market-speak, even if they were down on power; the suspension setup and subsequent handling feel truly is that good.

Below is a pretty good, if rather boring, video about what to look for when buying a used E46. To paraphrase the guy that made it, "...unless you work on the car yourself, don't buy an E46."

Interesting, but the time to check out an X5 had arrived and that was my next stop.