'Oddjob' aka 2002 330i Touring

[Sf_Manta]

Well, after a good few years running my old E30 325i (See : http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a... ), it's gotten to the point where I'm just not able to keep repairing the car every weekend (or so it feels) with niggling faults. It's had it's moments, and a decent daily driver, including driving all the way to Germany in it (including a run up to 120mph indicated on the autobahns) but times move on and given the new job has gone permanent.. I've finally gotten around to treating myself to something a tad faster.. modern.. and hopefully less rust problems, or just a few minor spots that can be easily resolved with treatment and some touch ups.

I present 'Oddjob' since the last 3 digits on the number plate are 'OBJ' a 2002 330i E46 Estate, with the Msport pack and lots of goodies, I paid a bit over the glasses recommended price, but with the mileage it had and the history to back up the figures, it was a no brainer.







Old and new tourings, soon to be only the new one as the old one will be cleaned and sorted out for sale over Christmas.


Yes that is the genuine mileage! I couldn't believe it till i saw the paperwork.



And already the tweeks have begun... The car drives nicely but having been so used to the Z3 shift setup in my E30, I'll be sorting the same conversion on the E46 as it's just FAR too long for my liking, it's akin to rowing a boat through the gears.

First up a Storm Motorwerks weighted gear knob. Made from billet Aluminium and with a titanium coating.

Edited by Sf_Manta on Monday 2nd January 16:17

[Sf_Manta]

Partially the prospective, but it's actually interesting to see how much bigger cars are these days.

This is why car parks feel smaller, the spaces haven't changed, the cars have just gotten FAR bigger.

[Sf_Manta]

Richair said:

Very nice and a timely thread for me as I've started looking for a new daily and I think my mind is made up on one of these; exactly the same spec/colour combo as yours would be nice! I have a 328i se touring for a while and it seemed to do everything very nicely indeed, although I would have proffered a sport so this time around nothing less will do.

Did it take you long to find it as there doesn't seem to be many around? But then again choice always seems limited at this time of year...

I have a slight niggily thought that an Impreza WRX wagon could be slightly more entertaining though, or maybe not. I've not decided yet.

Nice e30 by the way- I'm in a similar predicament to you in that I currently run a nice golf mk2 GTI as a daily but feel I should probably grow up a bit and replace it with something newer, booooo.

R

It took me ages to find a good one, pretty much had given up since all i'd seen was in astronomical mileage, and had been looking at Audi S3s and S4s and having bad luck in finding a good one. This came up, went up and looked at it, there's a few minor niggles to be sorted, found there's water getting into the passenger foot well, though this apparently is due to a seal failing inside the door , easy fix once you get the interior panel off (Job for over my xmas break) and a CD changer that needs a good clean.

The E30 has been a great daily driver, but what with my job eating up more time and needing to visit clients and such soon, I couldn't keep bouncing around in a 24 year old car as I'm racking up more miles these days.

[Sf_Manta]

Well, after a week on the road, the car was filthy.. I don't have a picture, but it was going from the normal blue to brown. So cleaning time.



Already need to get a few things to sort, for one no matts.. which I thought were in the car. The CD changer needs pulling out and a good clean, hopefully this should get it working again, if not then it's staying out. Also found the cause of the wet floor.. not the seal, but a bottle of screen wash that the cap came loose and emptied it's contents on the carpets, had to mop that up.

And picked up my new shorter shifter, it's from a E60 545i and has shortened the shift by about 30%. It's not mega short (Z4M is the one for that but needs more work to get it to fit) but it's a very noticeably shorter shift, much more precise.



This is the old shifter, but the new part number's on the bag, you'll need the bush at the bottom too if you decide to do this change, total cost is around £60 for both parts.



And with the Motorwerk's knob on it's a very nice and distinct selector now. Next up is the CD Changer cleaning and install to hopefully get it working proper, followed by the CDV delete.

Edited by Sf_Manta on Sunday 21st December 18:22

[Sf_Manta]

You need ramps to get the car up, but took me around an hour or so, the fiddle is getting the bush out the selector support, and yes my car is a 5 speed, but both 5 and 6 speeds can have this done.

There's a good few guides around online. http://www.diymybmw.com/e46/short-shifter/ was the one i used, though it's same as an E30 setup.

[Sf_Manta]

BlimeyCharlie said:

I had one of these when I also had an e46 m3, and for me the 330 was nice to drive but too quiet and smooth. I think it was unfair to compare the 2 cars though. Still think the Touring's are really smart to look at though, and rare.

I've got to agree, it's a bit TOO quiet.. the E30 I can hear the engine, where as this I can't.

Maybe cause to get a good exhaust system at some point

[Sf_Manta]

Well had the CD changer out today to try and clean it.
Lens seems to be clear of anything, but the changer still won't go past track 7-8 on any CD, guessing it's getting stuck and needs the sliders cleaning for the laser.

Also done the golf tee mod.. and MUCH better the engine actually has quite a good note to it.

[Sf_Manta]

Max M4X WW said:

Sf_Manta said:

Also done the golf tee mod.. and MUCH better the engine actually has quite a good note to it.

Good stuff, some say they drone with it done but have no idea. My 320i makes a little bit of noise, you can hear it's a 6cyl.

Is the part number for that selector the correct one? Concerned the gear knob may be a little low as I've swapped from a wooden one to the 'Clubsport' type which is a fair amount smaller.

It's a tad shorter, but not too bad, with the club-sport knob it's even shorter, but shouldn't be too bad. http://www.diymybmw.com/e46/short-shifter/ you can see the difference in length there.

[Sf_Manta]

Said short shift isn't... really much of a short shift. I've been a bit disappointed with the lack of direct feel having now had it in there for a few months.
Compared to the Z3 setup in my E30, this hasn't lived up to the hype.. so will be getting the Z4 3.0 version next month and will be changing it out again, Ho hum, should have gone for that in the first place.

Also the E30 has departed my ownership to a older owner in Northern Ireland, who's since put the car into the body-shop for fresh paint and some body work and returned my wheels, after we agreed a price, wheels have come back and now being stored for my next major project car so a result I'm very happy with.


Also whilst reporting on the car. I've now been using it and racked up near enough 3000 miles since purchase and have found some faults, some have been fixed, others need resolving.
Those are the following:
> Rear screen heater doesn't seem to work... the fuse is intact but no idea if power's being drawn, I've got a relay, but as yet not had a chance to fit it.
> The engine's developed a bit of a thirst for oil.. but no leaks or any smoke. Found out via research it's the CCV valve, so I've got the parts on order to replace the system. Given the age and the lack of use the car's got from the previous owner, I've got a suspicion that the breather system's gunked up.
> Rear gas struts weren't all that good. Now replaced and the tailgate now goes to full height.
> Tyres replaced after the fronts were found to be perished, which explains why the ABS was going off at the drop of the hat! but also the car was on run flats all round, now not anymore and the car drives so much better.
> CD Changer still doesn't work, probably will be replacing the whole stereo once funds allow.
> Rear brake lights keep getting stuck on. Turns out it's the switch, so that's also on the parts ordered

This past week alone has been 600 miles up and down the country for work





This was 1 week's worth of dirt... I left it for 2 once but won't again.

Edited by Sf_Manta on Saturday 14th February 17:14

[Sf_Manta]

Well the parts I ordered still haven't been fitted, mainly down to weather and me falling sick with a nasty flu Still suffering with an inner ear infection caused by it.

Still, had to do some work on the car that was forced due to the car being laid up during my illness... the rear driver's side caliper decided it wasn't going to work anymore and stick on.



Said offending caliper removed...



And it's new replacement in, ironically my E30 previous had exactly the same fault around about the same time after i'd brought that car
Though said work was complicated by me accidentally leaving the locking wheel nut adapter in the locking wheel nut and went out to test drive the car after having regreased the sliders hoping that was the cause of the sticking brake to no avail....

Cue me having to go to BMW , borrow their master key set and remove all 4 locking wheel bolts (temporarily replaced with some normal ones I had spare thankfully) till a replacement adapter arrives That was £9.20 I won't be forgetting about next time.

Edited by Sf_Manta on Saturday 7th March 14:56

Edited by Sf_Manta on Saturday 7th March 14:58

[Sf_Manta]

Well, booked a week off from work after Easter, so got plenty of time to do some tinkering.
Recently found that the car was drinking oil... to the point the low warning came on. Some research showed that E46s apparently have a issue where the breather system clogs up after a couple of years and starts to play up.

So I've gotten replacement parts to replace the system so should resolve that issue.

Also brought these .. and got them delivered.



Powerflex front wishbone and RTA bushes, having found that the original bushes have pretty much collapsed, figured it's a good excuse to upgrade.
Given that my previous car had these, and fitted a friend's E36 with them, all with good results in sharper handling, reduced wear and extended tyre life, I wasn't about to plump for the regular bushes.

Edited by Sf_Manta on Monday 2nd January 16:20

[Sf_Manta]

Will have a look when i get a chance.

Otherwise today, has been front end rebuild, which started around lunchtime and was finished just before 7pm
Found out that my front brakes were not long for this world..



Think i got my money's worth out of those, ok it was a £150 bill for the parts, but whist the car was in the air, better to do it now.
Greased all the sliders up after cleaning them. Why do dealers not do this?, the sliders lock up otherwise and the inside pad ends up burning out faster.

And the new power flex bushes are in, have found on the test drive, the car did feel sharper, steering was a bit lighter to boot but more responsive and communicative.

Edited by Sf_Manta on Monday 2nd January 16:23

[Sf_Manta]

Matt_N said:

How much of a pig is it to do the bushes?

I've got a 330i salon which is no soubt due some new bushes in the near future (consumables!).

Have you attempted the RTAB?

Also, where did you get them from?

Ta.

Edited by Matt_N on Tuesday 7th April 20:17

Front bushes are a bit of a sod to extract from the housings, means cutting the insides out with a hacksaw, then slicing the outer sleeve very carefully till you split it then the bushes should fall out. The new power flex bushes push in with some copper slip to help and a vice, takes about 4-5 hours to do , but helps having a friend to help or someone who's done it before. (needs a vice to hold it).

Getting the housings in and out is fairly straight forwards to be fair, the time is extracting the bushes from the housings but once those are out, it's fairly straight forwards to do so.

I'm going to be doing the RTA bushes tomorrow, so I'll get a few more pictures hopefully and do a write up, as I don't have a bush removeal tool... so going at it with a hacksaw and a bearing puller.. see how we get on

I got my bushes from here http://www.powerflexshop.com/

[Sf_Manta]

So today was changing the RTA bushes, I used one of the many guides to check for details, but if you've done an E36 RTA bushes, it's the same idea for the most part, but actually a bit easier as BMW revised the design to make it easier to change the bush in situ. One trick i did was to give the brackets a light coat of paint / primer just to give me a mark to re align them once I'd changed the bush, least then I'd know the tracking wouldn't be a mile out.

First up it's getting the bush down into a area where you can attack it:



I used a bearing puller, but there are special tools for this job. I didn't have the time / money to go hunting, so made do with my bearing puller to force out the inner part of the bush.



Once that was free, I got the outer ring cut with a hack saw, least as far as i'd dare without cutting into the arm itself, before using a chizel and a lump hammer to split it. Given how bad the bushes on mine had corroded , it didn't take much to get them out. Problem was the remains of the outer shell had bonded themselves to the face of the arm.

So out with the dremel to clean it up, it's nasty and dusty work, so face masks and goggles came out too.



This was what was left once i got the bushes out.



The Powerflex items are a lot easier to fit, just press in by hand with plenty of copper slip, and I bolted it all back up.

Edited by Sf_Manta on Monday 2nd January 16:37

[Sf_Manta]

Matt_N said:

Good to see the PF bushes go in nicely, I've had to wrestle a fair few of those in the past!

Mine has just been MoT'd with no advisories on the bushes so I think I'm gonna go for a 4 wheel alignment first.

It might be an idea to get the PF bushes installed first, as your alignment won't wonder out as the OEM bushes wear out. It didn't take me more than 4 hours to change them in an afternoon's work, though do soak all the adjustment bolts on the upright to help free them off so the guys doing the alignment aren't fighting with the car for hours, saves some cost

[Sf_Manta]

Well, forgot to update this , but managed to get the 4 wheel alignment done, it wasn't far off but I found out that the front wheels are set to 0 degrees camber Which is a bit odd, but still feels like the front end wants to push in corners. I'm guessing it's set to encourage understeer and dialing in some front negative camber should improve the handling further.



Also today's activities involved a change of oil as the car was still wanting to suck down whatever was in it. The filter to be blunt had seen better days , so much for having been 'recently' serviced, the filer looked like it'd not been changed in over a year.
Still, fresh one in and 6.5 litres of Castrol Edge 5w30 in the engine, it seems to be happier so far.

Also found a hesitation or misfire as of late was becoming noticeable at part throttle around 2-3000rpm, which turned out to be the plugs being WELL past their change date judging by the condition. Soon as the fresh set in, all hesitation had gone.





Old on the left new on the right, probably was overdue for replacement.
And one last job was to change out the malfunctioning brake light switch, the old one decided it work but constaintly, leaving my rear brake lights on. Great for getting tailgaters off my back but I doubt the police would take kindly if they'd spotted me with them stuck on.

Edited by Sf_Manta on Monday 2nd January 16:40

[Sf_Manta]

No photos today, but did change out the fuel filter, which turned into a utter saga as whomever put in the old one had used jubile clips and then rounded the lot off.. Great.

Managed to undo them but in no way was i going to be able to redo them. Thanks to a friend 6 new clips were acquired and a replacement tube for the perished vacuum tube that fell apart. All back together and after an initial air lock which a few mins waiting for the fuel pump to prime the system sorted out the problem and returned the car to normal running.

Shall have to see how fuel economy and performance is now. On the cards for replacement is
> New set of aux belts as the current ones are looking decidedly worn out
> New radio to replace the dead CD changer and crappy tape player.
> New air filter (Looking at the proper K&N filter setup with heatshield)
> Braided hoses for the brakes and clutch lines and delete the restriction valve in the clutch line

The aim is since some plans fell through for a holiday in the US this year, Me and a friend plan to tour some of Europe, visit the Ring and do a few laps and finish off by going to the Belgium GP in August, should be one hell of a trip

[Sf_Manta]

Already changed the CCV valve and WHAT a bh of a job it is to do along with all the pipes.
I did some research into why these engines suck down oil, and it's a few reasons, the CCV issue for one but also grade of oil used. Though recommended is between 0w30 and 5w30, the thinner stuff is more likely to be sucked through.

I've swapped out the oil not long ago for 5w30 Castrol and so far oil consumption hasn't been an issue as yet, will be keeping an eye on it though.

[Sf_Manta]

Well, so far the parts are coming for the trip to Europe, mainly for the ring.

Firstly, due to the lack of a decent stereo, or CD changer for that matter, Managed to pick one of these up whilst on offer:


Unfortunately, due to a cock-up, I've got the wrong adapter loom and have to wait till the correct one arrives, before I can fit it. The other annoyance is the central mount single din adapter that BMW did is NLA, at least here in the UK. However there is a company who carry it in the USA, but it's $150 Something for the future but till then i have to put up with the crappy off centre fascia one.
Plus being DAB, an extra antenna is needed, managed to find a decent one on ebay for £20 that attaches to the windscreen, again, have to wait as the screen has a number of chips / cracks in it from the roads I have to drive which is bks.

The final thing on order currently..should turn up this week would be this:



Next month will be brake / clutch line replacement and a full system flush, and maybe some decent pads, suggestions would be good but considering DS2500 by Ferodo.

[Sf_Manta]

Well.. after much waiting..



Which then the contents of which was duely fitted... in about an hour.



First impressions are that the engine is noticeably more responsive to throttle input, and has a bit more urgency about it through the rev range (Would need to do back to back dyno runs to confirm differences), and the aural dept has meant I've got a face like this

Edited by Sf_Manta on Monday 2nd January 16:42