At $23,995, Is This 2005 BMW 330i ZHP A Bayerisch Bargain?

According to its ad, today's Nice Price or No Dice E46 is a one-owner car. Let's see if this hot ZHP edition's price tag makes you think the offering dealer is full of number two.

When it comes to boats, tractors, heavy construction equipment, and others, it's typically not the miles that determine the level of wear and tear; it's engine hours. For cars, however, it's the odometer that portends gloom and doom whenever the numbers get too high. Back when nobody thought cars and trucks would last all that long, the odo would roll over once it hit 100,000. Nowadays, you'd have to hit a million miles on most cars before that magic milestone could be manifested. In the case of the 2002 Mercedes-Benz SLK 32 AMG we looked at yesterday, those miles added up to over 200,000, and that was a lot of road for the hot sports car to have covered. Because of that, we all didn't think too highly of the Benz's $8,500 asking price. In a nail-biter of a vote, that ultimately fell in an incredibly narrow 51 percent No Dice loss.

Fortunately for those among us who identify as mile-a-phobes, today's 2005 BMW 330i sports a modest 90,650 miles on its digital odometer. It also rocks the special and sought-after performance package that the Marque's many fans note by its options sheet code, "ZHP."

The ZHP package was a U.S.-only upgrade that was intended to position the so-imbued 330i somewhere in between the standard 330i and the hairiest-chested of all M3. This puts it as Mama Bear to the other two models' Baby and Papa Bears.

Changes on the ZHP included a revised suspension featuring thicker anti-roll bars, firmer springs, and different control arm bushings. In addition to the upgraded components, BMW's engineers revised the model's suspension geometry and gave it a lower ride height. The steering ratio is also faster, and the cars ride on 18-inch Style 135M alloys. Overall, the feel is not quite a halfway point between the plebeian starting point and the M3, but it's a pretty fun car nonetheless.

A big part of that fun comes from the mods made to the 2979cc M54B30 under the hood. The ZHP package includes hotter cams for the straight six, giving it a 10 horsepower bump to 235 and an increase in torque to 222 lb-ft. That's not much, but it also shows up 300 rpm later in the rev range, making for a different feel from the less-peppy car.

Backing that up is a ZF six-speed and shorter final drive in the limited-slip rear end, which, again, are changes made to give the ZHP an edge.

It's not just all go and no show either. The ZHP cars have unique bumper styling and chrome-plated dual exhaust tips. Those changes, along with the slightly lower ride height and the bigger wheels, make the ZHP one of the, if not the best-looking, E46s out there.

This one appears to still wear that style well. The dark silver color may not be the life of the party, but it still properly pops as it should. There's no discoloring of the headlamp covers nor annoying flaking of any of the various roundels, either. Those style 135s also appear to be in great shape, with no evidence of having ever tussled with a curb.

The interior appears up to the task as well. It's a sea of Alcantara in here, with the material covering the highly-bolstered front buckets, as well as the rear bench and sport steering wheel. More still covers the car's headliner. Faux carbon fiber trim crosses the dash and spills down onto the console to surround the shifter.

Craigslist

There are a lot of gadgets in here too, starting with power front seats with multi-position memory for the driver's throne. Along with that comes automatic climate control, power windows and locks, cruise, and a CD stereo. The interior does show its age in the lack of a center stack screen, offering the old-school charm of BMW's orange digital readout in the IP for miles and information readouts instead. Everything, from the pixels in those displays to the carpet mats and floor covering in the boot, all appear to be in stellar condition, having been seemingly well-kept by the car's single owner. The only black mark on the car is a couple of missing components in its boot lid tool kit.

Per the annoyingly brief ad, the car has a clean title and, well... available financing. The dealer's website listing offers some more info, but it's mostly limited to the model's specs and does not give us much in the way of details on this particular car. Despite that, there's a lot to like here, based on the car's apparent condition and this model's fandom among the Bimmer community. Could it then be worth the $23,995 the dealer is asking?

What are your thoughts on that price for this hot-to-trot 330i? Is that a fair deal for the car as it sits? Or is that asking far too much of Mama Bear?

You decide!

Nice Price or No Dice:

Fresno, California, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.

H/T to RevUnlimiter for the hookup!

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