Every driveway has a car that has not moved in years. A UK car fan found one, a BMW E46 with a window left open, a mirror snapped off and no keys, and decided to take a chance on it.
The owner behind @kiff_carz says the BMW had been sitting for around six years and would not run when he bought it.
“buying it was going to be a bit of a gamble.”
Why The BMW E46 Was Cheap
He paid about $940 and had it dropped at BMW to get a key made. (All prices here are converted to US dollars at the Nov. 6, 2026 exchange rate and rounded.) Once home, his girlfriend helped him push it onto the driveway. Sadly, the engine turned over but would not start.
At least there was still oil in it. The coolant was another story, though, because he found none at all. So he used water for testing first, since there was no point wasting coolant on an engine that might not run.
Finding The Fault
At first he blamed the six-year-old petrol. He pulled the rear seat, siphoned the tank and filled it fresh. However, that was not the problem.
In the end, the fuel pump was the culprit. He says he ordered a new one for about $40 off eBay and swapped it in.
“Okay. Well, there she starts.”
Fixing The List
The first drives brought new problems. Soon he discovered a crack in the radiator, with water streaming out, so he replaced it. Then a rough idle took a new idle control valve, plus a vacuum line he had pulled loose by accident.
The car was also very loud. He points to missing cats in the exhaust, so he fitted a system from his other car and cut the old one out. After that, he ran a compression test, replaced the pulleys and fitted a new belt.
Even so, it failed its first test. Instead of giving up, he worked through the list one item at a time. For example, he fixed the daytime lights, brake and indicator bulbs, a fog light relay and the wipers.
Finally, he took a mirror from his other E46, since someone had snapped this car’s mirror off years earlier.
Not every job went smoothly, though. When he swapped the exhaust, several studs were rusted, and one had snapped. Later, while changing a bulb, he broke a small lever and set off the car alarm. He also found the grime from years outside had settled on the inside of the glass, because someone had left the window open.
What To Check Before Buying A Car That Sat For Years
- Check the oil and coolant before you try to start it.
- Old fuel is a suspect, but not always the culprit, so test the fuel pump too.
- Expect cooling parts like radiators to crack once the car runs again.
- Soak rusty exhaust studs before you put a wrench on them.
- Budget for small items like bulbs and relays, because they add up.
- Write down every cost so you know your real profit.
Where Things Stand
The BMW E46 is back on the road with a new owner. He says his parts total does not include the towing, the new key or the fuel, so the real margin is a little smaller. Even so, he says the sale left him with a profit.
He says he sold the car for about $2,540 and was left with about $1,070.
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