Have a look at the maintenance section of the e46 wiki page. Most - if not all - would apply to your car as well.

http://www.bimmerfest.com/wiki/index.php/BMW_E46

BTW, anyone know why the e63/4 never got its own page on Bimmerfest? It's off topic, but it seems like we are missing an opportunity to have a wiki with answers to common questions, tips for easy fixes, and it would give people looking to get one of these cars a good starting point.

Thanks alot for the info FredoinSF :thumbup:.

Thank the guys who put the wiki together. Great info in there.

My best advice for preventive maintenance at 50k is to sell the car!

Every single one of my issues was from 50-90k!

Sent from my LG-P999 using Bimmer App

pablo645 said:

I'm about preventitive maintenance guys so I try to do things to help lessen an unpleasant outcome. I've read here before that its a good thing to replace all the fluids such as transmission (mine is manual), coolant flush, differential oil and full brake fluid flush around the 50K or so mark. I'm planning on dropping off my car soon for service and was wondering if I should have this done.
Knock on wood...No major issues with this car since I've owned it. Runs like a charm. :thumbup:

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I disagree about selling the car.

The OP has a 6 speed manual convertible which makes it an incredibly cool car and takes out the troublesome automatic transmission as a fragile component. Not only that, but to buy a new 650 convertible today he would have to have between 60 and 70 rotting in the bank before tax is even considered. If he has that kind of dough laying around, then yeah get a new one, but if not my advice is to invest it and spend about 1k on preventive maintenance now, and enjoy the car until at least 90 to 100k miles. The newer cars have more fragile electronic crap on them, but I have had BMW's go well over 200k with good maintenance.

To the OP, your car probably has the dynamic drive which the e46 does not. Get your power steering changed with the proper fluid in addition to the stuff on the e46 wiki.

JPEG23 said:

My best advice for preventive maintenance at 50k is to sell the car!

Every single one of my issues was from 50-90k!

Sent from my LG-P999 using Bimmer App

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Troublesome automatic

Most just have to replace the auto tranny pan, thats only $200-800, if that was my only problem I wouldn't have posted anything.

I don't imagine we will see any 6er get to 200k without very extensive repairs and a good amount of $ (hell we're lucky to see them get to 100k without those issues).

Fredoin, in my original response to selling the car, I was being facetious but if you purchased your 6er with reliability in mind, I wish you the best.

Pablo, on another, more positive note; I hope your 6er is reliable and you have years ahead of happy motoring.:thumbup:

Sent from my LG-P999 using Bimmer App

FredoinSF said:

I disagree about selling the car.

The OP has a 6 speed manual convertible which makes it an incredibly cool car and takes out the troublesome automatic transmission as a fragile component. Not only that, but to buy a new 650 convertible today he would have to have between 60 and 70 rotting in the bank before tax is even considered. If he has that kind of dough laying around, then yeah get a new one, but if not my advice is to invest it and spend about 1k on preventive maintenance now, and enjoy the car until at least 90 to 100k miles. The newer cars have more fragile electronic crap on them, but I have had BMW's go well over 200k with good maintenance.

To the OP, your car probably has the dynamic drive which the e46 does not. Get your power steering changed with the proper fluid in addition to the stuff on the e46 wiki.

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LOL. Thanks a lot JPEG23! I do believe though that the number of complaints with the 6 is not has wide spread as you think. Most will agree that the German sometimes over engineer things a bit and therefore leads to all kinds of issues but to be honest, I don't see it different from any other car, if you keep up on your maintenance. I have a '99 honda pushing 280K and it's a manaul. Kept up on the schedule maintenance and replace what needed to be replaced. Sure I spent some money on it but that cannot compare to the value of it because it has saved me a lot.
I do agree with FredoinSF reasoning, which is why I always buy a manual car. My first 6 was a manual and even though it was an 04, I did not have any of the issues I saw folks having with their SMG and Auto models, I did not even have that dreaded convertible top not lock issue on my 04 but got it on my 08. :dunno:.
To be honest I was planning on trading up to the 2012 but decided to dump some money into real estate. :thumbup:. Can't say it was a bad move because I'm already cash positive based on rentals.
I'm planning on keeping it for another year or so because it's CPO until 2014 so atleast I'm covered for major issues. If there wasn't any form of protection on it, I would have traded it already.
Thanks for the advise guys. hey JPEG, don't be too hard on him.... I know it's all in good bimmerfest fun.

JPEG, I didnt say the 6 series was the most reliable car out there - I learned that with my first 6 series - but that does not mean that the car is good for the junk yard at 50,000 miles. Yes there will be repairs but the %60 to $70k buys a lot of new parts. Pointless anyway since the OP has a CPO warranty.