[rbryantaz]

I would go with the E46 in general but the price seems high to me on that one. It seems more like the price of an e90.... I highly recommend against the E46 325i. I had his and her e46s for a while and both the wife and I disliked the 325. The 330i with the higher trim and bigger engine was just a much better car.

The M54 3.0 should also be better than the M52TU with more power and a lighter car.

The E46 will probably need a vanos rebuild. I did that on my 2001 330i because it had a serious power lag due to bad seals not engaging the vanos on the low end.

The oil separators often fail on the M54 so it is best to change them. I would remove the intake and change all vac lines while doing it. There is one oil sep line that is really a PITA with the intake on IIRC. Note these have injectors in the intake so it is more work to remove the intake than on a direct injected e90....

Control arm bushings fail quickly on the E46. I would just get the meyle HDs with their bushings. I put powerflex bushings on my E46s and just hated them. They start sweaking after a short time and I never found a lube that helped it...

I would also put in the upgraded disa fix. German auto solutions made the first and the price wasn't bad. It seems there are copycat cheap versions now.

Overall the E46 is easier to work on in many ways but the cars are just getting a bit old now.