'Oddjob' aka 2002 330i Touring
Discussion
Been a busy day today, got most of what I wanted to do done however still have to do a few more bits and bobs to finish prep for the next trip to the Nurburgring in a month.. Yes i got the fever 
Firstly, it was installing the hoses I'd waited 3 months to turn up. Which involved not only removing the old ones, but also having to dremel off the clamps to relieve them of the hose fittings that the stock setup uses.
Cue a small slice in the crimp.. which was prized off with a screwdriver.
Top hose with it's ends removed.
Old hoses out and relieved of the required quick fit connectors.
Installing the new hoses wasn't too tricky, though found it was worth while making some alignment marks to make installation easier.
Gearbox and diff oil, while i was at it , the engine's had a oil change too, using Castrol Edge 5w40 given this seems to have slowed the oil consumption drastically, and only needs the occasional top up every 2 months now. The clear bottle with the tube coming out I got from Screwfix (Laser product number 4385) given getting the oil back into the gearbox would have been hell! Given how much fight was in the plugs.. I doubt the car's ever had it's gearbox oil changed :/ Dealers aren't up to scratch..
Still have the diff oil to change, and a good check round on all the brake sliders with the handbrake to adjust ready for the trip.
Firstly, it was installing the hoses I'd waited 3 months to turn up. Which involved not only removing the old ones, but also having to dremel off the clamps to relieve them of the hose fittings that the stock setup uses.
Cue a small slice in the crimp.. which was prized off with a screwdriver.
Top hose with it's ends removed.
Old hoses out and relieved of the required quick fit connectors.
Installing the new hoses wasn't too tricky, though found it was worth while making some alignment marks to make installation easier.
Gearbox and diff oil, while i was at it , the engine's had a oil change too, using Castrol Edge 5w40 given this seems to have slowed the oil consumption drastically, and only needs the occasional top up every 2 months now. The clear bottle with the tube coming out I got from Screwfix (Laser product number 4385) given getting the oil back into the gearbox would have been hell! Given how much fight was in the plugs.. I doubt the car's ever had it's gearbox oil changed :/ Dealers aren't up to scratch..
Still have the diff oil to change, and a good check round on all the brake sliders with the handbrake to adjust ready for the trip.
Edited by Sf_Manta on Monday 2nd January 17:14
Edited by Sf_Manta on Monday 2nd January 17:14
motorhole said:
That'll be the hoses done for as long as you have the car then! I think Rich Harrison was saying Mocal now have an oil filter cap for a cooler for the plastic topped M52/M54 filter housings? Might be a worthwhile upgrade if you intend to make track days a more regular habit.
I'd be thinking about dedicating funds to the Manta though
The BMW's just being tweeked so it'll keep going for a long time, basically so reduces the cost of maintaining it in the long run.. and survive the occasional track day I'd be thinking about dedicating funds to the Manta though
Recently found this via a friend having a look at Racetracker.de's website and found some pictures we'd missed from last year.
Edited by Sf_Manta on Monday 2nd January 17:18
Well.. just what i need before going off to the Ring next week 
Bloody stupid potholes, thanks Northamptonshire council for doing piss all about repairing your potholes.
Now having to see if i can get the rim repaired, does anyone have the number for their highway's department?
Bloody stupid potholes, thanks Northamptonshire council for doing piss all about repairing your potholes.
Now having to see if i can get the rim repaired, does anyone have the number for their highway's department?
Edited by Sf_Manta on Monday 2nd January 17:20
Figured I'd update this some.
Having done some more laps as in the Ring, some work was required..
Firstly fitted a new igniter module on the driver's light given it was playing up, though no photos. The whole job is a bit of a pig to do as it involves dismantling the entire headlight. Ironically the igniter sits at the lowest point of the headlight and fills up with water, so added 3 4mm holes in the base to help drain any water from the headlight. Since then no problems and the fogging issue has stopped.
The handbrake had been giving issues in not actually doing it's job. After inspecting it, found that the shoe pads were de laminating or in some areas completely come away from the steel part. Not to mention the drum surface inside the disc was completely corroded to the point there wasn't really anything for the handbrake to really get a grip on.
So new shoes and discs were brought.
New Shoes fitted.
And completed. Just need to do some final adjustments on the handbrake to dial it in tomorrow, however it does now actually hold the car.
Having done some more laps as in the Ring, some work was required..
Firstly fitted a new igniter module on the driver's light given it was playing up, though no photos. The whole job is a bit of a pig to do as it involves dismantling the entire headlight. Ironically the igniter sits at the lowest point of the headlight and fills up with water, so added 3 4mm holes in the base to help drain any water from the headlight. Since then no problems and the fogging issue has stopped.
The handbrake had been giving issues in not actually doing it's job. After inspecting it, found that the shoe pads were de laminating or in some areas completely come away from the steel part. Not to mention the drum surface inside the disc was completely corroded to the point there wasn't really anything for the handbrake to really get a grip on.
So new shoes and discs were brought.
New Shoes fitted.
And completed. Just need to do some final adjustments on the handbrake to dial it in tomorrow, however it does now actually hold the car.
Edited by Sf_Manta on Monday 2nd January 17:23
Edited by Sf_Manta on Monday 2nd January 23:34
Finally time for another update. Need to get the handbrake adjusted again as it's bedded in finally.
Besides that, having seen the LED upgrade on 5harp3y's thread ( http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
So brought the bulbs which i thought fitted, though took 2 goes to get all the required bulbs due to incorrect fitments (Found out that front and rear indicator bulbs on a E46 face-lift are 582s not 382s as Halfords suggest)
However once they've now been fitted, I'm still to fit the fog-lights but overall rather impressed with the improved performance.
Rear lights with indicators lit
Just rear lights and foglight
Front indicators and sidelight LED's which had been done.
Besides that, having seen the LED upgrade on 5harp3y's thread ( http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
So brought the bulbs which i thought fitted, though took 2 goes to get all the required bulbs due to incorrect fitments (Found out that front and rear indicator bulbs on a E46 face-lift are 582s not 382s as Halfords suggest)
However once they've now been fitted, I'm still to fit the fog-lights but overall rather impressed with the improved performance.
Rear lights with indicators lit
Just rear lights and foglight
Front indicators and sidelight LED's which had been done.
Edited by Sf_Manta on Monday 2nd January 17:24
Bit of an update, the car's been fairly problem free cept for a few minor issues.
For one the front wheel bearings were getting noisy after 30k's miles of use, plus some runs at the Nurburgring and Silverstone.
So...
New Bearings ordered in. Yes there is a bearing company known as FAG..
New toy.. Ryobi 1/2" Impact driver, made life a lot easier
After getting the caliper off, the hubs proved a little tricky at first
Old bearings.. seen better days.
New bearings on, and much quieter than before.
For one the front wheel bearings were getting noisy after 30k's miles of use, plus some runs at the Nurburgring and Silverstone.
So...
New Bearings ordered in. Yes there is a bearing company known as FAG..
New toy.. Ryobi 1/2" Impact driver, made life a lot easier
After getting the caliper off, the hubs proved a little tricky at first
Old bearings.. seen better days.
New bearings on, and much quieter than before.Edited by Sf_Manta on Monday 2nd January 17:29
Bit more work today, mainly maintenance to clean up the filter and give the AFM a clean to hopefully resolve a slight hesitation in midrange
Rather grubby and in the first clean.. it took 3 good washes to bring it clean.
World's most expensive sticky tape.. yes it's gold reflective tape, brought for a purpose.
Starting to cover the heat shield to hopefully reduce intakes temps, I'll be using the thermal camera at work to find out how much.
Finished inside, didn't need to go mad with it.
And the main reason, backside is now covered, even by putting a hand in there's a noticeable difference between the hot and cold sides.
All finished, just waiting on the filter to finish absorbing the fresh filter oil.
Next work is mainly to get the MOT done in a month's time.
Rather grubby and in the first clean.. it took 3 good washes to bring it clean.
World's most expensive sticky tape.. yes it's gold reflective tape, brought for a purpose.
Starting to cover the heat shield to hopefully reduce intakes temps, I'll be using the thermal camera at work to find out how much.
Finished inside, didn't need to go mad with it.
And the main reason, backside is now covered, even by putting a hand in there's a noticeable difference between the hot and cold sides.
All finished, just waiting on the filter to finish absorbing the fresh filter oil.
Next work is mainly to get the MOT done in a month's time.
Edited by Sf_Manta on Friday 30th December 16:52
MOT Time again.. and passed No advisories whatso ever.
However I've been having trouble with fault codes popping up and generally having the car feel down on power and misfiring.
After checking / cleaning sensors and the DISA valve.. eventually traced down to of all things
This piece of rubber in the intake
Well and truely gone, all of £10 to replace and a hour's worth of fiddling, car's back to full power ready for PH Sunday Service next week
No advisories whatso ever.However I've been having trouble with fault codes popping up and generally having the car feel down on power and misfiring.
After checking / cleaning sensors and the DISA valve.. eventually traced down to of all things
This piece of rubber in the intake
Well and truely gone, all of £10 to replace and a hour's worth of fiddling, car's back to full power ready for PH Sunday Service next week
zippyonline said:
I was watching them on eBay too! Nearly bought them for my E91, but was going to finish off changing my rear end bushings first...
You got a bargain there.
CH-R's really do look good on these.
I made a sneeky offer on them and the guy accepted. Been wanting a set for ages but the retail price was eye watering You got a bargain there.
CH-R's really do look good on these.
GrantB5 said:
Just had a read through this, dunno if its my work pc or not but most of the images wouldnt load!
Looking forward to see what the wheels look like on the car.
The pictures are broken cause Facebook keeps breaking the links, will be transfering them over to photobucket and getting them fixed sometime MondayLooking forward to see what the wheels look like on the car.
As for on the car....
Edited by Sf_Manta on Saturday 31st December 13:47
JakeT said:
Now to fix those faded bumper trims!
Will be probably sorting them out by replacement given I've tried everything to try and restore them, probably easier to replace! GrantB5 said:
I like that!
Nice touch.
I will have a flick through again on Monday
All pictures now moved to photobucket, shouldn't have a problem now seeing them hopefully. Nice touch.
I will have a flick through again on Monday
GrantB5 said:
Good stuff!
Can't wait to sort my brakes out all round and new hoses. Have done my rears but pagid bits and bobs and new vw hoses.
You going to the ring again anytime soon? I'd like to go once I have brakes sorted all round.
If you're changing hoses, honestly, it's worth swapping out to stainless steel lines from Goodridge or HEL, it'll sharpen up no end, and use something like ATE TYP200 or a good Motal brake fluid if you're planning to go to the Ring. I put Ferrodo DS2500 pads on (new ones will be going on soon), ATE Superblue (TYP200) and the HEL lines on and I honestly haven't been able to get the brakes to fade since either at the ring or 2 PH Sunday Services at SilverstoneCan't wait to sort my brakes out all round and new hoses. Have done my rears but pagid bits and bobs and new vw hoses.
You going to the ring again anytime soon? I'd like to go once I have brakes sorted all round.
At the Ring, you'll find if you're doing a few big stops, having good brakes you can depend on is a must. I heard a lot of people complaining about theirs and something like this:
'Ring hero' - "My brakes fried after only a couple of corners, barely coped on the rest of the lap"
Me - "Well what did you put on?"
RH - "Pagid stuff, the guy at Eurocar parts recommended this would work fine"
Me - "Er... was it all standard stuff? cause that's probably what they gave you"
RH - "The guy at Euros said it'd be fine."
Me - "Uhm.. worth investing in something like DS2500s and good fluid, the stock at Euros is just off the shelf, it's not really meant for track work"
RH - "Oh.."
Planning to go in May, probably the first bank holiday weekend though it depends on further work on the car end of April being completed.
Grant20V said:
Nice result.
It's paid off!
IndeedIt's paid off!
Not much to say at the moment, besides new tyres went on, the Avons were down to the blocks and required changing out. Currently saving up for the next round of upgrades and maintenance. Aiming to do a big update end of March / Easter holidays before booking a trip off to Nurburgring in May / June depending
One very sizeable bill.. Michelin PS4's have gone on, genuinely been pleased having had PS3's earlier, and these seem to have more grip and yet even quieter.
Obligatorily pics..
Cleaned up kinda, the smutz on the road is horrendous.
Just a brief report for now, still saving for the next major chunk of work.
Though it had a bit of a setback with finances due to the driver's headlight finally playing up again and though me having tried 3 times to repair it previously, enough was enough.
Cue one brand new headlight, was not cheap but managed to get the price down from an eye watering £800 to something more sensible, though still made a sizeable dent in the wallet 
No pictures from the install given it was sleeting today and barely 1 degrees C. I didn't want to freeze getting it done!
Also got my BMW Car club membership through having put it off for a while till Autosports came round and found i could do it on discount.
Though it had a bit of a setback with finances due to the driver's headlight finally playing up again and though me having tried 3 times to repair it previously, enough was enough.
Cue one brand new headlight, was not cheap but managed to get the price down from an eye watering £800
to something more sensible, though still made a sizeable dent in the wallet No pictures from the install given it was sleeting today and barely 1 degrees C. I didn't want to freeze getting it done!Also got my BMW Car club membership through having put it off for a while till Autosports came round and found i could do it on discount.
Update time.. and a teaser...
Spent yesterday fixing the rear wiper, which had seized up and needed a strip down, which proved rather tricky and frustrating, though once the pivot was extracted from the housing, in my case it had to be left in situ, and the bushings cleaned up, it was freed up and sorted. Unfortunately no pictures of when i did it, but some shots from the guide.
https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?...
And a teaser for April...
Spent yesterday fixing the rear wiper, which had seized up and needed a strip down, which proved rather tricky and frustrating, though once the pivot was extracted from the housing, in my case it had to be left in situ, and the bushings cleaned up, it was freed up and sorted. Unfortunately no pictures of when i did it, but some shots from the guide.
https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?...
And a teaser for April...
helix402 said:
Need to know what you spent on the coilovers! Enjoy fitting the rears! Don't forgot the front and rear turret reinforcement plates.
Uhm.. a lot, however i had been saving for these for a while to get the funds together. I've been investigating what's involved in changing the suspension. Not exactly new to me given I've already done a full suspension swap on my E30 touring and a friend's old E36 touring some years ago.Having done some research i was going to get re-enforcing plates for both front and rear, new top mounts (stock on the front) with plates.
Turns out Powerflex do a decent kit too for the rear arms and top mounts.
helix402 said:
Looks like the Powerflex come with reinforcement plates.
You'd be correct, shows it here on the PDF instructions: http://www.powerflex.co.uk/i/product_images/5-5630...Looking at those , they're not bad, though there's a few things i'd be curious why they're not included or what it's made from.
There's no re-enforcement plates in that kit for one, plus there's no way of knowing what the polyuethene's hardness rating is, which could cause undue stress in the sheet metal and cause fatigue cracking.,
With Powerflex or another company, you'll know you've got their quality process that'll ensure it's as per the specs within the technical sheets and it has the re-enforcement plates in the kit (bout £30 alone from BMW and thinner material)
There's no re-enforcement plates in that kit for one, plus there's no way of knowing what the polyuethene's hardness rating is, which could cause undue stress in the sheet metal and cause fatigue cracking.,
With Powerflex or another company, you'll know you've got their quality process that'll ensure it's as per the specs within the technical sheets and it has the re-enforcement plates in the kit (bout £30 alone from BMW and thinner material)
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