Buying a high-mileage luxury car, BMW or not, is surely not for the faint-hearted. That’s especially true if the car in question is a couple of decades old as it’s the case with this BMW M3. However, this isn’t just any M3 from the E46 generation, but one that has had just one owner. Well, until recently as now it’s been bought by Eli from YouTube channel IgnitionTube.
You’re not going to find many cars with 341,000 miles (nearly 550,000 kilometers) and still with their original owner, and if you will, chances are that vehicle will be in pretty good condition. It’s the case with this particular coupe as the person who bought it in the first place did not neglect it. The YouTuber is somewhat of a Volkswagen Group enthusiast with an affinity for Audis, so the M3 E46 is a bit out of his comfort zone and was an impulse buy.
While the car is not in perfect condition, it’s not too shabby for something built in the first half of the 2000s. It will be fully fixed now that it has exchanged hands and the owner has access to plenty of spare parts given the nature of his job. He also happens to have friends with in-depth knowledge about the model, so it looks like he’s all set for pleasant ownership.
The first order of business would be to thoroughly clean the car inside and out, while some of the known mechanical issues that have to be sorted out include the subframe and of the bushings. The engine pulls strongly and it’s not leaking, while the manual gearbox runs smoothly, so there shouldn’t be any major concerns. After giving it a proper wash and fixing the mechanical issues, Eli says he’ll begin to modify the car, hopefully not too much.
It’s somewhat of a rare occasion to see an M car with so many miles on the clock, and by the looks of it, the performance coupe has ended up in good hands and still has a bright future up ahead.
[Source: IgnitionTube / YouTube]