My BMW E46 330i Sport
Discussion
petrolveins said:
I'll expand... you are probably mostly aware about the silly bh that drove into the side of my car, admitted fault and I had a witness to agree. Knowing it was expensive I went through insurance rather than get her mates Dad do a bodge fix. Anyway I tell Admiral who listen and ask lots of questions then basically don't want to know, because it's non-fault there is no gain to them so sent me packing with some utterly useless accident claims management company who bumbled around making mistakes and generally fooling about. Cut to the chase my car got fixed, got a nice Scirocco for the week blah blah blah. Then just wonder if that non-fault accident will have affected my premium. I put it down just as it is, and they want £800 extra! That was with the discount of me being a year older with another year NCB. Still curious I try a the same quote but say it was my fault the accident, the premium is £300 LESS than if it hadn't been my fault. They claim that now I am much more likely to be involved in an accident because I had positioned my car in a position to be hit!!!??? I told them about 2 weeks ago I would not be renewing with a bunch of crooks.
Fast forward to today, I phone them to get them to send me my proof of NCB to be told the policy is being automatically renewed on the 1st August, pretty much lost it at this point. bds were trying to charge me £2700 for the next 10months! I had told them twice I was cancelling. Grovelling apology etc, but I will never ever use them again, and would recommend everyone else do the same.
Sorry if that breaks any name and shame rules Mods, and I hope it's at least slightly coherent, been at the bevvys this eve.
Albany Assistance? Similar thing happened to me...Fast forward to today, I phone them to get them to send me my proof of NCB to be told the policy is being automatically renewed on the 1st August, pretty much lost it at this point. bds were trying to charge me £2700 for the next 10months! I had told them twice I was cancelling. Grovelling apology etc, but I will never ever use them again, and would recommend everyone else do the same.
Sorry if that breaks any name and shame rules Mods, and I hope it's at least slightly coherent, been at the bevvys this eve.
petrolveins said:
nickdrinkwater said:
Albany Assistance? Similar thing happened to me...
That'd be them.Fortunately we insisted that they use a body shop we trust, despite their repeated attempts to persuade us to use their
petrolveins said:
Just found out I have in fact got another years NCB than I realised, so a nice refund from Direct Line, I now pay a measly £1300 for my car insurance. Bargain.
How the hell can you, as a young driver, forget how many years NCB you have? That's the difference between insurance being affordable and being mercilessly bent over!wackojacko said:
Hoping my insurance doesn't go through the roof this year :@
fking tt in a Mondeo deciding to stop on a roundbaout for no reason. Barely any damage done and he still went through insurance company the prick. It was my fault because I hit him from behind, though in reality it wasn't.
Looking at your profile it looks like insurance is already through the roof!fking tt in a Mondeo deciding to stop on a roundbaout for no reason. Barely any damage done and he still went through insurance company the prick. It was my fault because I hit him from behind, though in reality it wasn't.
Clivey said:
How the hell can you, as a young driver, forget how many years NCB you have? That's the difference between insurance being affordable and being mercilessly bent over!
Stedman said:
You don't know me very well do you? Richard does...
On another random note, was passenger in my car for the first time after a few too many cocktails the other night, I swear the ride is even better in the back, was very very comfortable to be driven around in, and my god it feels very quick from the back seat.
petrolveins said:
You don't know me very well do you?
Richard does...
Richard does...
petrolveins said:
On another random note, was passenger in my car for the first time after a few too many cocktails the other night, I swear the ride is even better in the back, was very very comfortable to be driven around in, and my god it feels very quick from the back seat.
Compared to our 320 (which is "pleasant" rather than quick, but at least faster than most 2.0 TDi rep mobiles), a 330 feels like it's turned up to "11". - Much more torquey throughout the rev range...I just need to save some pennies now!Been a while since I updated this, so here goes...
I've ticked past 80,000 miles now, meaning I've done over 10,000 miles in the beast. The last 1,000 of that were done up in North Yorkshire, had a family wedding, and since Dad's insurers have done a U-turn on being able to insure under 21s on 'performance cars' (not sure that a 530d counts but I digress) I talked the family into taking my car, and then mum couldn't choose one outfit so the the roofbox had to come too. But my goodness the roads were fantastic, I had last months evo with me and it just so happened to have 3 routes across the North Yorkshire Moors as the Great Drives that month. The cottage we were staying in was in the village that one of them started, so one 4:30am start resulted in a lot of fun. I love my car so much, it was so suited to these roads, roofbox was noticeable though especially at higher speeds, was like a giant airbrake. Oh well still had so much fun.
As for costs, so far just been more fuel and oil. Oh and I have been moaning about a rattle from under the car, turned out to be pinking and has been cured by using Shell V-Power, quite common apparently. Was less happy to find a very small spot of rust in the rear arch, but having been recommended an excellent chap off here he talked me out of getting it repaired. Purely cosmetic he said, and for the money not worth doing as I'm probably not keeping the car more than 2 years more. Good news that as I have an ever growing list of things to do.... Pretty much at the top is a new exhaust system, I recently discovered the car has 2 silencers and a whopping 4 catalytic converters, and it really doesn't show off that engine enough. I'm looking at cat-back Eisenmann systems, with a view later to replacing the cats and exhaust manifold with much better free flowing ones and just 2 sport cats. Coilovers are also on my list, the suspension is a bit tired and the car needs to go lower. After all that a remap might be on the cards, and in the meantime I'm looking at doing various cosmetic bits, things like more alcantara in the interior and a few other bits and bobs.
Next big thing is for the brake service happening next week. In the meantime here are some photos from Yorkshire.
330i on the Moors by tlynchie, on Flickr
330i on the Moors by tlynchie, on Flickr
330i on the Moors by tlynchie, on Flickr
I've ticked past 80,000 miles now, meaning I've done over 10,000 miles in the beast. The last 1,000 of that were done up in North Yorkshire, had a family wedding, and since Dad's insurers have done a U-turn on being able to insure under 21s on 'performance cars' (not sure that a 530d counts but I digress) I talked the family into taking my car, and then mum couldn't choose one outfit so the the roofbox had to come too. But my goodness the roads were fantastic, I had last months evo with me and it just so happened to have 3 routes across the North Yorkshire Moors as the Great Drives that month. The cottage we were staying in was in the village that one of them started, so one 4:30am start resulted in a lot of fun. I love my car so much, it was so suited to these roads, roofbox was noticeable though especially at higher speeds, was like a giant airbrake. Oh well still had so much fun.
As for costs, so far just been more fuel and oil. Oh and I have been moaning about a rattle from under the car, turned out to be pinking and has been cured by using Shell V-Power, quite common apparently. Was less happy to find a very small spot of rust in the rear arch, but having been recommended an excellent chap off here he talked me out of getting it repaired. Purely cosmetic he said, and for the money not worth doing as I'm probably not keeping the car more than 2 years more. Good news that as I have an ever growing list of things to do.... Pretty much at the top is a new exhaust system, I recently discovered the car has 2 silencers and a whopping 4 catalytic converters, and it really doesn't show off that engine enough. I'm looking at cat-back Eisenmann systems, with a view later to replacing the cats and exhaust manifold with much better free flowing ones and just 2 sport cats. Coilovers are also on my list, the suspension is a bit tired and the car needs to go lower. After all that a remap might be on the cards, and in the meantime I'm looking at doing various cosmetic bits, things like more alcantara in the interior and a few other bits and bobs.
Next big thing is for the brake service happening next week. In the meantime here are some photos from Yorkshire.
330i on the Moors by tlynchie, on Flickr
330i on the Moors by tlynchie, on Flickr
330i on the Moors by tlynchie, on Flickr
Synchromesh said:
Stop it. Stop it with that prose and those photos. The last thing I need right now is a 330i shaped hole in my wallet...
Do it! I live in Brighton Mon-Fri, essentially London by the sea, and I drive from the centre to Uni everyday and then home to work at the weekends to afford to. I love it. Love my weekend commute too, time it well and it's much faster cross country than on the motorway, though I often see 20mpg at the end, but gosh is it rewarding.petrolveins said:
Been a while since I updated this, so here goes...
I've ticked past 80,000 miles now, meaning I've done over 10,000 miles in the beast. The last 1,000 of that were done up in North Yorkshire, had a family wedding, and since Dad's insurers have done a U-turn on being able to insure under 21s on 'performance cars' (not sure that a 530d counts but I digress) I talked the family into taking my car, and then mum couldn't choose one outfit so the the roofbox had to come too. But my goodness the roads were fantastic, I had last months evo with me and it just so happened to have 3 routes across the North Yorkshire Moors as the Great Drives that month. The cottage we were staying in was in the village that one of them started, so one 4:30am start resulted in a lot of fun. I love my car so much, it was so suited to these roads, roofbox was noticeable though especially at higher speeds, was like a giant airbrake. Oh well still had so much fun.
As for costs, so far just been more fuel and oil. Oh and I have been moaning about a rattle from under the car, turned out to be pinking and has been cured by using Shell V-Power, quite common apparently. Was less happy to find a very small spot of rust in the rear arch, but having been recommended an excellent chap off here he talked me out of getting it repaired. Purely cosmetic he said, and for the money not worth doing as I'm probably not keeping the car more than 2 years more. Good news that as I have an ever growing list of things to do.... Pretty much at the top is a new exhaust system, I recently discovered the car has 2 silencers and a whopping 4 catalytic converters, and it really doesn't show off that engine enough. I'm looking at cat-back Eisenmann systems, with a view later to replacing the cats and exhaust manifold with much better free flowing ones and just 2 sport cats. Coilovers are also on my list, the suspension is a bit tired and the car needs to go lower. After all that a remap might be on the cards, and in the meantime I'm looking at doing various cosmetic bits, things like more alcantara in the interior and a few other bits and bobs.
Next big thing is for the brake service happening next week. In the meantime here are some photos from Yorkshire.
Don't leave the rust, get it fixed. It can spread quickly and I've seen it go from bad to very bad in a matter of months.I've ticked past 80,000 miles now, meaning I've done over 10,000 miles in the beast. The last 1,000 of that were done up in North Yorkshire, had a family wedding, and since Dad's insurers have done a U-turn on being able to insure under 21s on 'performance cars' (not sure that a 530d counts but I digress) I talked the family into taking my car, and then mum couldn't choose one outfit so the the roofbox had to come too. But my goodness the roads were fantastic, I had last months evo with me and it just so happened to have 3 routes across the North Yorkshire Moors as the Great Drives that month. The cottage we were staying in was in the village that one of them started, so one 4:30am start resulted in a lot of fun. I love my car so much, it was so suited to these roads, roofbox was noticeable though especially at higher speeds, was like a giant airbrake. Oh well still had so much fun.
As for costs, so far just been more fuel and oil. Oh and I have been moaning about a rattle from under the car, turned out to be pinking and has been cured by using Shell V-Power, quite common apparently. Was less happy to find a very small spot of rust in the rear arch, but having been recommended an excellent chap off here he talked me out of getting it repaired. Purely cosmetic he said, and for the money not worth doing as I'm probably not keeping the car more than 2 years more. Good news that as I have an ever growing list of things to do.... Pretty much at the top is a new exhaust system, I recently discovered the car has 2 silencers and a whopping 4 catalytic converters, and it really doesn't show off that engine enough. I'm looking at cat-back Eisenmann systems, with a view later to replacing the cats and exhaust manifold with much better free flowing ones and just 2 sport cats. Coilovers are also on my list, the suspension is a bit tired and the car needs to go lower. After all that a remap might be on the cards, and in the meantime I'm looking at doing various cosmetic bits, things like more alcantara in the interior and a few other bits and bobs.
Next big thing is for the brake service happening next week. In the meantime here are some photos from Yorkshire.
I don't think the 330i has 4 cats as both the E39 M5 and E46 M3 only have two. Rather than spending lots of an exhaust and coilovers (which would certainly make the car too hard to drive on the roads where I live), I'd consider an E46 M3 instead. Much faster and tighter than the 330i.
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