8 min read
Sport, electric or ALPINA? How to read an E46 Sedan or Touring seat listing
Basic or sport, manual or electric: four front seats for the E46 Sedan and Touring, plus ALPINA. What a used listing tells you, and what it leaves out.
Blog · research notes
Articles about buying guide
What we learn while building the configurators: changeovers, part families, the traps. Every article names its sources and how sure we are.
10 min read
Six wheels, three families: how to tell E46 factory wheels apart
Style 44, 45, 68M, 71, 119 and 135M: spoke pattern, size, square or staggered, and what BMW's European catalogue lists each for. For used-set buyers.
8 min read
Before you pay: how to read a used E46 parts listing like a pro
A general guide to buying genuine BMW E46 parts in Europe: what a listing must show, why a headlight needs both sides, new versus used, VAT and shipping.
8 min read
There is no such thing as a 'sport seat': what you are really buying for an E46
For four E46 bodies BMW's catalogue lists seats as frames, rails and covers, never as one part; only the Convertible and M3 differ. What a sport seat really is.
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Pick your model, year and body style in the configurator and get the part that fits it, with the OEM number and offers side by side.
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