same thing happened to my bmw,it had a spark from plugs,no holes in fuel hoses,fuel filter was ok and turned out to be the fuel pump,but your problem could be any of these things.A good place to find out info on bmw's is bimmerwerkz.com,bimmerboard.com and plenty more,just put a search in google saying bmw e46 wont start and a few more will show aswel,thats how I found out what was wrong with mine and also found out how to fit fuel pump,so didnt have to take it to a mechanic,hope this helps and good luck on repair
shaun, December 2008