BMW E46 325ti Sport Compact
BMW’s best kept secret
Words/Photos – Tony Ruane
I’ve always had a soft spot for BMW’s often unloved model, the Compact. I thought I’d hit the jackpot many years ago when I was given a company car and chose an E36 Compact, only to be thwarted at the last minute. Fast forward twenty six years and I still had a Compact itch that needed to be scratched. I searched high and low for the perfect car. The search wasn’t going to be easy, as I had a particular model and colour in mind, and I wasn’t about to compromise
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ack in 1995 I started a new job working for a medium sized meat processing company as a Technical Manager. The owner of the company decided he wanted me to visit two more sites in Scotland on a regular basis and very quickly appointed me as the Group Technical Manager. My new role meant I had to regularly hire a car and one Monday morning the owner of the company called me into his office. He said, ‘Tony, it’s costing us far too much money in car hire for you to visit the other sites, I think we have justified the case for you to have a company car.’ I asked what make and model of car I could choose, as I was well aware
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that there wasn’t a company car list. The reply was, ‘don’t take the p**s and remember you have to pay tax on the value of your choice. Otherwise, you can have whatever you want.’ It was with this in mind that I did my research and chose a BMW E36 Compact. Imagine my horror when the very next week the company accountant called me into his office to tell me that he had been out and bought me my company car, a diesel Ford Mondeo in hearing aid beige. My dream car had just slipped away from me and I was absolutely gutted. Fast track 26 years and we are in the winter of 2021. I decided that
this itch still needed to be scratched, I needed to buy a BMW Compact. Not just any BMW Compact, but an E46 325ti Sport Compact in Imola Red. The search began. In December I found such a car in Ireland and began speaking to the owner who was a very nice guy. He even sent me an original hardback sales brochure for my E31 840Ci, for which I was very grateful. We arranged for me to view the car whilst over in Northern Ireland to watch the Sheffield Steelers take on the Belfast Giants at Ice Hockey. Unfortunately, due to Covid-19, this was cancelled and so was the trip to Northern Ireland and the deal never www.bmwcarclubgb.uk
