We got a M Sport SALOON on a 02 plate. 330i.

They drink oil. BMW say anything over 1000 miles to a litre is fine. You will struggle to tell this but check for signs of smoke if it is burning alot!

Rust on the arches

Front light washer jets fail, most disconnected now I expect

Sign of the heater fan problem... The fan will pulse until you turn it right up to full power then it will work fine

If you corner in the car and it feels like the traction control is coming on, this will be a speed sensor on one of the wheels. Turning the traction control off will stop this.

Thermostat as above, ours is new and still takes around ten minutes to heat up

If you find it is wondering with the road like ours is, apparently changing the front rear trailing arms helps... but not had it done. It has passed two mots like this. Its a very common problem with the E46 as it is heavy.

Do not be afraid of the miles on the engine. Ours has 170,000 on the clock and ticks like a watch. Make sure everything around it has been changed, brakes, suspension etc.

I took ours out at the weekend and was seeing 46 MPG at 60mph and achieved 40MPG over a 400 mile trip. I got nearly 500 miles to a tank in a 330i.

You will no doubt feel the gearbox is odd when trying to select gears from cold. This is a couple pound grommit but it is a box out job. It feels like the car cannot make its mind up to select a gear. So you will go for third and accidently get 5th. Sounds worse than it is,within ten minutes of driving it you will automaticly comensate for it