BMW E46 330dA Touring

[helix402]

Eibach rear bar waiting for the new links:



I had to paint it black as I can't be doing with red bits.

[helix402]

Bits to go on:



Rusty brackets in the bin now.


Minor eBay error, my German let me down! I thought I had a bargain from Germany for a set of H&R springs. These are the specific ones for the extra weight of the 330d Touring. It was only when I read the small print that I realised I had only ordered the fronts. With Christmas coming I can't justify buying a complete set of four now so have taken the Eibachs off the rear and put a pair of Sport rear springs on.

B8s ready for the H&R springs:

Edited by helix402 on Tuesday 6th December 18:30

[helix402]

Springs on:



Standard Bilstein damper against B8, a somewhat larger rod in the B8!

[helix402]

H and Rs on:






This is a more sensible ride height:






Eibach 21mm rear bar on too.

[helix402]

Updated my list of changes: BMW 330dA SE Touring

BMW Individual Interior sill trims
Philips Silver Vision/Chrome Vision headlight bulbs
Clear indicator bulbs
Bilstein B8 front dampers
H+R Sport front springs
Z4 24mm front anti roll bar
Eibach 21mm rear anti roll bar
M3 rear damper top mounts
M3 rear trailing arm bushes
O/s/f Alcantara/cloth sports seat
Sport rear springs
LED interior light bulbs
LED no plate bulbs
Z3 rear top mount plates
Purple tag steering rack
Flat wiper blades
Metal no plates
X5 silver/leather gearknob

Edited by helix402 on Thursday 15th December 21:01

[TroubledSoul]

Excellent thread, this has really helped me ahead of getting mine. Hope you don't mind me asking a small number of questions?

1. What size silicone hose do I need to refresh the vacuum hoses and how many are there/where are they?

2. I'm going to try the EGR delete, but if like you I find it makes things worse, did you end up purely removing and blocking the EGR vacuum hose?

3. Unless I'm mistaken, a lot of the bits such as the hose to the EGR and the Allard EGR bypass are actually listed as being 320d items but they look correct for the 184 engine to my eyes. Is this the case?

4. I've not looked into this for years, but what are the biggest OEM anti roll bars that fit?

Cheers and best of luck continuing a nice project :thumb up:

[TroubledSoul]

TroubledSoul said:

Excellent thread, this has really helped me ahead of getting mine. Hope you don't mind me asking a small number of questions?

1. What size silicone hose do I need to refresh the vacuum hoses and how many are there/where are they?

2. I'm going to try the EGR delete, but if like you I find it makes things worse, did you end up purely removing and blocking the EGR vacuum hose?

3. Unless I'm mistaken, a lot of the bits such as the hose to the EGR and the Allard EGR bypass are actually listed as being 320d items but they look correct for the 184 engine to my eyes. Is this the case?

4. I've not looked into this for years, but what are the biggest OEM anti roll bars that fit?

Cheers and best of luck continuing a nice project

[helix402]

TroubledSoul said:

TroubledSoul said:

Excellent thread, this has really helped me ahead of getting mine. Hope you don't mind me asking a small number of questions?

1. What size silicone hose do I need to refresh the vacuum hoses and how many are there/where are they?

2. I'm going to try the EGR delete, but if like you I find it makes things worse, did you end up purely removing and blocking the EGR vacuum hose?

3. Unless I'm mistaken, a lot of the bits such as the hose to the EGR and the Allard EGR bypass are actually listed as being 320d items but they look correct for the 184 engine to my eyes. Is this the case?

4. I've not looked into this for years, but what are the biggest OEM anti roll bars that fit?

Cheers and best of luck continuing a nice project

Glad you enjoyed the thread. This is the hose I use:






The hose connects the egr, turbo, engine mounts.

My egr is still fully connected and operational, you can bypass it by just unplugging the vacuum pipe and plugging. You can also programme the egr to operate differently (inject more or less exhaust gas) with BMW diagnostic software.

You may be right about M47 egr bits fitting, you can check on realoem if they are the same.

Re arbs, the largest front bar is 24.6 on late 4 cylinders. Compacts (320td and 325ti) have 26 front, M3s have 26.5 front or 30.8 on the CSL. I can't confirm the Compact or M3 front bars fit, I think they should. Largest rear bar is 20mm from a conv.

The easiest arb option to source and keep the price down is a 24.6 front and a 19mm rear. Watch out for some eBay sellers, they may try and sell a bar as one size when it's not.

Edited by helix402 on Wednesday 4th January 09:06

[SebringMan]

Good work as always!

So you are now on B8s? They are a great shocker .

Have you tried the B4 in your shots? If so, what did you make of them? I've had mixed results myself, but on other cars.

[TroubledSoul]

I've had a look for the front bars and the 4 cylinder ones on ebay appear to be a different shape to the 6 cyl items? Also if a seller is selling a bar as being 24mm does that mean it will actually be 24.6?

Apologies for the derail, I'll ask anything further on my own thread

[helix402]

I hadn't noticed the 4 cylinder front bars were a different shape. The 24mm will definitely fit. I have B8s on the front and standard Sachs on the rear. I couldn't cope with the rear B8s, they were too firm for me. Here's an M57tu getting a new thermostat:



I haven't had B4s on my car, I've fitted them to others with no complaints.

[helix402]

Cleaned my wheels up for a new pair of front tyres:




It's also time for a "fun" job:

[helix402]

New front to rear brake lines fitted today. I had genuine BMW ones ready to go. However when I looked at the job I realised that fitting them would mean removing the fuel tank. I didn't fancy that so made new lines out of copper. I routed them over the fuel tank. It was a bit fiddly but not too bad. The trick is to lower the tank and not undo any brake pipe clamp fixing bolts, just slide the pipes in.
Also remove the n/s fuel tank cover panel under the rear seat. I cleaned up the surface rust on the floor too. I think the copper pipes will outlast Munich's finest steel! If anyone wants a pair of gen BMW pipes for a non DSC car (ASC/ASC +T only) drop me a pm.

[JakeT]

In your immense BMW beardness, what's the difference between DSC and ASC lines? Also the 330d came with ASC? That must make yours a rather early build.

[helix402]

Allow me to don my anorak. According to the E46 training material my car (build date 08/00) should have DSC III Mk20, it doesn't-it has ASC+T. I guess BMW had a few spare ASC pumps on the shelf, or the training material is wrong!
I'm not sure how the pipes differ, I guess perhaps slightly different length or maybe union size. Real OEM will have the difference if you look it up. Does your 328 need brake pipes? They may be the same if it has ASC.

[JakeT]

My thought was also around that time that the more powerful cars got DSC.

That's a very kind offer, thank you. But it looks like the 328 has had brake pipes in the past, not the full front to back as I saw a couple of unions when under the car. It does need a rear caliper though...

[helix402]

Calipers aren't too expensive. You may find the 328 a little under braked if you drive it briskly. The 330 got the larger brakes.

[JakeT]

You'd be correct, and if it didn't come with new discs and pads in the boot (and it's going to be a shed runaround while I'm city bound next year) I'd be going for a 325mm front setup from a 330.

[helix402]

Calipers aren't too expensive. You may find the 328 a little under braked if you drive it briskly. The 330 got the larger brakes.

[helix402]

Gave it a clean today:

232592 miles