The E46 325ti Appreciation Thread

[FredClogs]

Hil_lo said:

My bolster has ripped in that exact place as well. Was thinking of doing it myself, how did the repair cost?

Hi, it cost £30, the fella did it whilst I walked into town and had a sausage butty in booths, he took the whole seat off and stitched it from the inside too! He's in Poulton le fylde near Blackpool, ex TVR trimmer with a shop full of TVRs in various states of retrim, I would defo recommend him to anyone.

[Kawasicki]

So, I'm living in Germany, yesterday evening I bought a 2001 325ti. I probably spent quite a bit more than the uk price. It cost me 2200 quid, and it has 115k miles, it looks pretty tidy, and it drives well too.

I have owned a few bmws before, mainly 318is in both e30 and e36, but also an e24 635csi.

A few questions
...how does the m54 cope with sustained high revs? I often drive flat out, for extended periods, so continually bouncing off the limiter in 5th will be fairly normal. Is it true that the oil pump nut has a tendency to loosen?

...one issue with driving is the gear shifting smoothness, it doesn't shift into gear without being fairly slow and deliberate. I will remove the cdv and probably fit a new clutch...the gearbox oil was changed recently. It is annoying because the short ratios need lots of gear shifting and it isn't remotely slick!

Thanks for any advice.

[Mr Tidy]

Sorry, I can't offer any insight regarding driving flat-out on the limiter in 5th (bearing in mind I am in the UK where we have a 70 mph limit)! And my nearest "motorway" has had a 50 mph average limit for the last 18 months anyway - cruise control is handy for that though!

But it sounds like a shame you didn't find a facelift with the 6 speed gearbox - my nephew has one and they seem to be geared the same in 5th as the pre-facelift so don't get near the rev-limiter in 6th.

I also haven't seen anything about a nut in the oil pump, but hopefully someone on here can help with that.

To be honest I think they are better suited to roads with some bends - great fun to chuck around!

Hope you enjoy yours!

Oh and let us have some photos and/or details of spec - SE or Sport, colour, any extras, etc.

[Kawasicki]

Mr Tidy said:

Sorry, I can't offer any insight regarding driving flat-out on the limiter in 5th (bearing in mind I am in the UK where we have a 70 mph limit)! And my nearest "motorway" has had a 50 mph average limit for the last 18 months anyway - cruise control is handy for that though!

But it sounds like a shame you didn't find a facelift with the 6 speed gearbox - my nephew has one and they seem to be geared the same in 5th as the pre-facelift so don't get near the rev-limiter in 6th.

I also haven't seen anything about a nut in the oil pump, but hopefully someone on here can help with that.

To be honest I think they are better suited to roads with some bends - great fun to chuck around!

Hope you enjoy yours!

Oh and let us have some photos and/or details of spec - SE or Sport, colour, any extras, etc.

Yes, I wanted a 6 speed facelift car, but they are about twice the price. I'm saving for a house, so I'm being tight with my cash!

I'll get some photos up when I get a chance.

Oh, there were plenty of bends on the autobahn drive, tyres even squealed a couple of times during cornering at about 240kph or about 150mph, with the engine bouncing off the limiter. Joy.

[JakeT]

With regards to the oil pump nut from what I saw on the forums some time ago it is only the B30 that is affected by that. The B25 in the ti is all good.

[s m]

Kawasicki said:

So, I'm living in Germany, yesterday evening I bought a 2001 325ti. I probably spent quite a bit more than the uk price. It cost me 2200 quid, and it has 115k miles, it looks pretty tidy, and it drives well too.

I have owned a few bmws before, mainly 318is in both e30 and e36, but also an e24 635csi.

A few questions
...how does the m54 cope with sustained high revs? I often drive flat out, for extended periods, so continually bouncing off the limiter in 5th will be fairly normal. Is it true that the oil pump nut has a tendency to loosen?

...one issue with driving is the gear shifting smoothness, it doesn't shift into gear without being fairly slow and deliberate. I will remove the cdv and probably fit a new clutch...the gearbox oil was changed recently. It is annoying because the short ratios need lots of gear shifting and it isn't remotely slick!

Thanks for any advice.

BMW were aware of the oil pump nut problem, particularly on the 3 litre M54 as they did a special pump nut with a locking agent for the U.S. Version of the 330 that had the raised rev limit and extra power.
Part number is 11417897238
.
I guess if you envisage doing lots of high revs it would be worth doing something about the pump or at least checking it the nut isn't loosening off/replacing with a hipo shaft.

It may be a dynamic balance problem specific to the M54B30?

I've got the 6-speed box and changed the oil last year - it's fairly slick now, does make high speed cruising a bit more relaxed - to be honest I've only really maxed mine out in 5th once, when I visited my friend who lives in Germany.
Dropping it into 6th meant a lot of revs left......but there really wasn't the poke to make use of them
The 6-speed doesn't seem to suffer with the detent pins where the 5-speed stick won't centre

[blindmaninchains]

After coming to the decision to buy a 325ti, thanks to this thread, I picked one up this afternoon. It's a 2003 Sport with 77k under its wheels, which I'm not that keen on actually, but absolutely love everything else about it. Feels so planted, and yet agile. It's my first car with more than 4 cylinders, my god the noise! Little bit of rust on the front arches to sort, other than that seems to be in really good order.

Anyway, here's a pic

Cheers

[Mr Tidy]

blindmaninchains said:

After coming to the decision to buy a 325ti, thanks to this thread, I picked one up this afternoon. It's a 2003 Sport with 77k under its wheels, which I'm not that keen on actually, but absolutely love everything else about it. Feels so planted, and yet agile. It's my first car with more than 4 cylinders, my god the noise! Little bit of rust on the front arches to sort, other than that seems to be in really good order.

Anyway, here's a pic

Cheers

Lovely looking car you have there, very jealous if it is a facelift!

Sorry to hear about the rust - mine doesn't seem to have any (yet)!

This thread has a lot to answer for I think! Oh and yes the sound is just so good when you get past about 4,000 rpm - lovely!

Kawasicki, not sure if it would help with what you describe but there is an OEM kit with a new bush and shims for the gear-change to remove any slop - which mine will get at it's next service!

Edited by Mr Tidy on Sunday 12th June 23:33

[blindmaninchains]

It is indeed a facelift. The rust isn't too bad, just an inch or so along the very edge of each front wheel arch. I'm friends with a bodyshop owner, so I'll have it sorted later this month.

[s m]

blindmaninchains said:

After coming to the decision to buy a 325ti, thanks to this thread, I picked one up this afternoon. It's a 2003 Sport with 77k under its wheels, which I'm not that keen on actually, but absolutely love everything else about it. Feels so planted, and yet agile. It's my first car with more than 4 cylinders, my god the noise! Little bit of rust on the front arches to sort, other than that seems to be in really good order.

Anyway, here's a pic

Cheers

Nice, Mystic Blue
CD changer as well

[JakeT]

s m said:

blindmaninchains said:

After coming to the decision to buy a 325ti, thanks to this thread, I picked one up this afternoon. It's a 2003 Sport with 77k under its wheels, which I'm not that keen on actually, but absolutely love everything else about it. Feels so planted, and yet agile. It's my first car with more than 4 cylinders, my god the noise! Little bit of rust on the front arches to sort, other than that seems to be in really good order.

Anyway, here's a pic

Cheers

Nice, Mystic Blue
CD changer as well

Had a look at this on AT last night. Rain/light sensor and a very rare Professional Head unit vs the regular Business unit that comes in the E46...

[s m]

JakeT said:

s m said:

blindmaninchains said:

After coming to the decision to buy a 325ti, thanks to this thread, I picked one up this afternoon. It's a 2003 Sport with 77k under its wheels, which I'm not that keen on actually, but absolutely love everything else about it. Feels so planted, and yet agile. It's my first car with more than 4 cylinders, my god the noise! Little bit of rust on the front arches to sort, other than that seems to be in really good order.

Anyway, here's a pic

Cheers

Nice, Mystic Blue
CD changer as well

Had a look at this on AT last night. Rain/light sensor and a very rare Professional Head unit vs the regular Business unit that comes in the E46...

Yeah, noticed that 521,661,672 & 676

[gregs656]

Very nice purchase.

Leather or Alcantara?

[s m]

gregs656 said:

Very nice purchase.

Leather or Alcantara?

N6SW - Blackleather

[Kawasicki]

s m said:

BMW were aware of the oil pump nut problem, particularly on the 3 litre M54 as they did a special pump nut with a locking agent for the U.S. Version of the 330 that had the raised rev limit and extra power.
Part number is 11417897238
.
I guess if you envisage doing lots of high revs it would be worth doing something about the pump or at least checking it the nut isn't loosening off/replacing with a hipo shaft.

It may be a dynamic balance problem specific to the M54B30?

I've got the 6-speed box and changed the oil last year - it's fairly slick now, does make high speed cruising a bit more relaxed - to be honest I've only really maxed mine out in 5th once, when I visited my friend who lives in Germany.
Dropping it into 6th meant a lot of revs left......but there really wasn't the poke to make use of them
The 6-speed doesn't seem to suffer with the detent pins where the 5-speed stick won't centre

Thanks for the locking nut advice. I'll look into it.

I'm going to hit the gearshift quality issue hard...new clutch, new hydraulic oil, new gearbox oil, new gear stick, new linkage, remove cdv, pressure bleed system..hopefully that'll sort it out.

[Hil_lo]

JakeT said:

Had a look at this on AT last night. Rain/light sensor and a very rare Professional Head unit vs the regular Business unit that comes in the E46...

Auto whipers and lights is very handy. Mine has it.. Might be why my rear whiper still works.. Then again I haven't checked to see if the rear comes on in 'Auto mode'.

[JakeT]

Hil_lo said:

Auto whipers and lights is very handy. Mine has it.. Might be why my rear whiper still works.. Then again I haven't checked to see if the rear comes on in 'Auto mode'.

Join the club, mine also works! With regards to the rear wiper, no it will not work when the switch is in auto mode. The rear wiper will only work in intermittent mode when the stalk is pushed one click away from you. When reverse is selected and the rear wiper is on it will run continuously. Don't use the rear washer though, that's what ruins the motor!

[venskip]

JakeT said:

Don't use the rear washer though, that's what ruins the motor!

I unplugged the washer motor recently when I had the trim out of the boot for exactly that reason!

[Hil_lo]

Do any of you find dipped beam to be rather poor, thinking of upgrading the dipped H7's. I don't want to bother HID kits or upgrading to xenons. Just wondering if you have a recommendations for new bulbs.

[helix402]

Philips Silver Vision.