What to look for when shopping for your first BMW e46.
Disclaimer: I am not an expert. These things are what I have learned from personal experience. Be sure to do your own reading, and get your potential car checked out by a mechanic.
Other things to look out for:

Rattle/clicking from VANOS unit up front. Does the car feel like its missing a lot of low down torque? (then vanos seals are gone)

Leaking sump gasket
Obvious leaking cooling parts.
Damaged cooling expansion tank
In four cylinder model is the vacuum pump gasket leaking?
Is there any play or clicking in the steering wheel when you turn it slightly?
Check out for broken rear trailing arm bushings. Or any other broken or cracked bushings (there are a lot).


Link to buyers guide: http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthre...