BMW 330 Clubsport

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Discussion

LanceRS

Original Poster:

2,171 posts

136 months

Wednesday 10th August 2016
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Well, it's been a while and nothing much to report. It's now done over 115k miles and I'm really happy with it. Apart from the current fly in the ointment,


I was really please to have a car with the xenon lights, until now. I turned them on, the drivers side bulb flickered a couple of times and went out. A repeatable trick it seems. There appears to be a myriad of things that could have failed to cause this, none of which are particularly cheap. A friend has some diagnostic equipment that came up with;

Chamber 2 low voltage

VAC front load sensor, short circuit to earth.

This has me puzzled (not always that difficult), I have no idea what Chamber 2 is and I thought that the front load sensor was for the self levelling function.

Anyone with any ideas on the above, then I am all ears.

Once I have managed to sort this out, there is an inspection 2 due in a couple of thousand miles.

Mr.Jimbo

2,082 posts

182 months

Wednesday 10th August 2016
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I think it's referring to the bulb itself, no idea how these work but reckon it could be a failed bulb shorting?

Max M4X WW

4,788 posts

181 months

Wednesday 10th August 2016
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Swap the bulb and see if the working one 'swaps side' if it does, its not the bulb wink

Sf_Manta

2,188 posts

190 months

Wednesday 10th August 2016
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I had the same problem, and it won't be the bulb most likely.

Have you had condensation issues in that headlight? cause if you have, it'll have gotten into the igniter box that sits under the bulb and inside the headlight assembly.
Would recommend a fresh seal and check the condition of the headlight lense as it tends to crack rather easy.

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showparts?id=EN52-...
> Part 16 - Igniter with lead.
> Part 19 - Seal

Should be about £80-100 for a new one. I couldn't resolve the condensation problem, so I put 2 x 4mm diameter holes under the box's location to allow water to drain out as it tends to pool in that area.

If you're stuck , I can come down and help sort it out on a Saturday afternoon smile

LanceRS

Original Poster:

2,171 posts

136 months

Thursday 25th August 2016
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Thanks Ian, I might have to take you up on your kind offer at some point, I tried taking it apart the other day but ran out of time. What happened to just undoing a couple of screws? I don't think that it's the bulb as I assume that they would either work or not.

Sf_Manta

2,188 posts

190 months

Friday 26th August 2016
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It's a bit fiddly to get out, least on the face lift versions like mine.
Given it's a pre face lift unit, it may need consulting the Haynes book of lies (I have one..for reference) but as far as I know, there's 4 screws that hold the unit in.
2 up top on the front beam which are easy to spot, and 2 down behind the light, one is a bit tricky to spot.

jelluzz

35 posts

151 months

Friday 26th August 2016
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spent more time then I care to imagine disassembling E46 headlights. 3 possible things that could cause the issue. Least likely is the bulb, the other is the ballast and the igniter.

4 bolts to get the unit out, 2 up top on the front slam panel, 2 behind but try and use a bit of finesse as they rust and round easily.

The ballast sits underneath the headlight unit, held it by 3 torx (IIRC) bolts, which as you can probably guess rust and round off easily.

Pop the headlight lense off and remove the bulbs from the back end. Use the adjustment screws on the top of the headlight to tilt the inner unit as far forward as possible and from round the back you should be able to see a little ball joint that you need to pop out to remove the inner unit (projector etc.) the igniter box sits directly underneath the outer (xenon) surround (little black box with 2 wires that have a red connector that hold the xenon bulb in place)

I know the description is a bit confusing however the link below should help out!

http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=6095...


LanceRS

Original Poster:

2,171 posts

136 months

Sunday 13th November 2016
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A small update. The non functioning headlight was rather fortunately just a bulb, which was nice.

For the second time this year I managed to get a screw in one of the rear tyres the evening before a Sunday Service! Hopefully I will not have a repeat performance before Goodwood.

The car has just had it's inspection 2 at DM Worx. A couple of advisory things that I already knew about, some new front tyres will be on the agenda soon as will the rear brake lines (how do BMW manage to design them so that the one over the tank corrodes but the rear easy one doesn't?).

Other than that it has been pretty much plain sailing.

Interestingly, when I dropping it off, I was asked whether I preferred it to the e36. An interesting question, one that I have considered a few times over the last eighteen months or so.

Although they are only one generation apart, they are very different. Both have positive and negative points in relation to each other. The e36 has a better ride and feels a much more analogue experience, more fluid. This one's quicker steering rack is a welcome improvement as in the adjustability of the seat and wheel, making it possible to get an almost perfect driving position. And that engine. The car does not feel any faster than the 328 sport that it replace, but it is so much smoother, truly a wonderful way thing. It does however seem to use a bit more fuel. I have not gone to the effort of producing figures, but on average it appears to be about twenty miles per tank short.
My one big pet hate on this one and where it really falls down in comparison, is the fly by wire throttle. What was wrong with the simple premise of a cable that attaches the pedal to the throttle body?
Which would I choose were I to be in a position to do so?
I honestly don't know, I have enjoyed both. I would not have voluntarily replaced the e36 and by the same token, I have no intention of replacing this one. I does exactly what I want it to do, looks great (to my eyes anyway) and judging from Autotrader, is worth what I paid for it.

Anyway, if you have read this far, thanks for your patience, hope it all makes sense, it's been a long weekend.

Tim1989

738 posts

133 months

Sunday 13th November 2016
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I used to work with the previous owner of this! Been in it a few times. Lovely machine, glad it's still being used properly. Any idea what the guy you bought it from replaced it with? He was always into his BMWs

LanceRS

Original Poster:

2,171 posts

136 months

Sunday 13th November 2016
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If you're referring to Miles, he had been given a company Mini Cooper Diesel thing. Nice in its own sort of way, but not the same. He did genuinely seem sad to see it go but couldn't justify having both. He seems to have kept it well, the front bumper had evidently been refreshed given the lack of stone chips at 101k miles and the gearnob was new.

Tim1989

738 posts

133 months

Sunday 13th November 2016
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I am. If I remember rightly his family was properly into cars so not surprised it's been looked after.

rich85uk

3,312 posts

178 months

Sunday 13th November 2016
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Reading this makes me miss my old 330ci, glad to hear you take it to DM Worx knowing Tim personally they are all passionate about cars

Sorry if i missed it but does your exhaust valve still work? mine was stuck open and after removing some sound deadening the exhaust was very boomy around 2k rpm

LanceRS

Original Poster:

2,171 posts

136 months

Sunday 13th November 2016
quotequote all
Tim1989 said:
I am. If I remember rightly his family was properly into cars so not surprised it's been looked after.
Very much so, his dad's office was full of race memorabilia, some cracking stuff. I told him to keep his eyes open for it at Le Mans when I take it there.

LanceRS

Original Poster:

2,171 posts

136 months

Sunday 13th November 2016
quotequote all
rich85uk said:
Reading this makes me miss my old 330ci, glad to hear you take it to DM Worx knowing Tim personally they are all passionate about cars

Sorry if i missed it but does your exhaust valve still work? mine was stuck open and after removing some sound deadening the exhaust was very boomy around 2k rpm
Seems to still work, has a nice low burble on tick over, not to loud even when making progress. Being a Clubsport it already has some of the sound deadening missing, it spends most of it's time on the M40 and it's perfectly reasonable.

culpz

4,881 posts

111 months

Monday 14th November 2016
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Really smart these. Love the colour and they look much nicer than the normal 330CI's which, most of time time, just look like any other E46 really. Is this Estoril Blue i take it?

I'm sure these will end up appreciating or at lest hold their value well. Every time i see one they seem to be fetching quite a decent amount. How many of these did they make?

LanceRS

Original Poster:

2,171 posts

136 months

Monday 14th November 2016
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It is indeed Estoril Blue, the photos don't really do it justice. When it's clean and the sun is out, it looks amazing. They also came in Silver, Black and a dark blue that I cannot remember the name of, black being the rarest.
I'm not sure how many they made but it cannot be many, certainly not in relation to the mainstream model. There never seem to be more than about five for sale at any one time and it is very rare to seem another on the road (although someone working in a garage down the road did have one for a while which confused a number of people).

LanceRS

Original Poster:

2,171 posts

136 months

Monday 2nd January 2017
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A small update, my nice teenager bought me what I had asked for as a Christmas present. So after some fiddling and swearing I have finally fitted the centre arm rest.



Not the greatest achievement in the world but a small improvement. A small matter of note for anyone else ordering one of these second hand, make sure that the seller sends the mounting bolts. They are longer than the originals and according to the man in Sytners parts dept, only come as part of the arm rest. Fortunately a friend happened to have some the right length.

Other than that it's been situation normal, with not much to report other than a nice trip to Goodwood for the Sunday Service.

LanceRS

Original Poster:

2,171 posts

136 months

Friday 21st April 2017
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A little bit to report.

A nice new pair of Pilot sport 4s for the front has made it much nicer to drive.

It's also just had a the driver's airbag recall done. Unfortunately this happened when it was cleaned.


On a positive note, I did not have the conversation that I expected to have. In fact it wasn't much of a conversation at all "I'm very sorry sir, we'll get it in and repainted ".

So for the last few days I have been using this courtesy car.


Excellent customer service, especially for my old car that they must know is unlikely to ever go in for something that I have to pay for.

Driving around in a new car, nice as it is, reminds me how much I like the simplicity of the old E46. Fortunately I pick it up on Monday, I will miss the Bluetooth phone thing though.

Podie

46,630 posts

274 months

Friday 21st April 2017
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I'm sure I've seen aftermarket head units that look like BMW ones - might be worth a look to fix the Bluetooth want...

LanceRS

Original Poster:

2,171 posts

136 months

Saturday 22nd April 2017
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To be fair, now that I'm married with children, it's very rare that I get any calls that are that important laugh
We're up to 125k miles now and I've had the call to collect it, so Monday morning I shall do so and pick up some anti roll bar bushes while I'm there.