2003 BMW 325ti Sport

[ethomas]

After much internal debate, and far too long checking classifieds and looking at everything from a 500 quid Ford Puma, to an 8k Brera, I picked up a 2003 325ti last week with 135k on the clock for a little over shed money. Of course, in a spectacular display of ineptness I chose to pick it up on the last day of the month, so I lost a month of tax before I even turned the key

The car was cheap as chips, but the service history is pretty lax. I know this should be a danger sign, but the engine is smooth as butter, the leather interior is superb, and there is not a jot of rust that I can see. It is off for a thorough check up and service this week, will update with more information after I hear the bad news. The things I knew about the car when I bought it are:

• Rear wiper not working
• Passenger door not unlocking with the remote or the lock button (locking works)
• One parking sensor is not working
• Alloys are kerbed to buggery
• Driver window switch is missing (switch still works if you stick a finger in it)
• Very small dent in NS rear quarter
• Two small patches of damaged lacquer (bonnet and OS front quarter)

I already contacted a local body repair shop for a quote on fixing the lacquer and rear quarter, if it is less than a couple of hundred I will get it done. The passenger door lock is probably a solenoid or a relay, I can handle a soldering iron so this should not be too difficult to repair. Alloys will be fixed when I next replace the tyres (not too distant future I think), and I have a replacement window switch and parking sensor on the way already. The rear wiper I will probably remove and bung up the hole, put some water repellent on the rear window and be done with it.

In the drive from around Luton to around Stansted, I was relieved to find that the car handled very nicely given its age. However, a few new things came up on the drive home:

• Knocking sound from nearside rear suspension on low speed bumps
• Handbrake is iffy about engaging sometimes (reels like the cam slips off the teeth if it is not perfectly centred)
• Steering is a little jumpy on some road surfaces

Hopefully the knocking is something as simple as a bush or a suspension link and can be easily sorted. The handbrake is considered a weak point on these cars, I have ordered a replacement lever unit for a tenner from ebay that should fix this problem. The jumpy steering might just be me being unused to 18/225 rubber on the front and stiffish suspension.

Anyway, I will keep this thread updated as things progress, and more pictures when I get around to it.

[ethomas]

Thanks for the replies. I really get the impression that these cars are something of a hidden gem, the little (uglier?) sister of the E46 coupe that never gets asked to the dance

I took some pictures of the body damage and got a quote from a very well regarded local bodyshop. It seems it will be the cost of the car again to fix it! I will keep an eye out for a less expensive option, eBay search alerts have been setup etc. If anyone knows of a cheaper way to fix peeled lacquer then please let me know!





(perhaps the quarter panel could be smart repaired...)

Cheers,
Edward

[ethomas]

First of all, thanks for your informative and enthusiastic post sm. With everything I read about this car I become happier that I made the right choice.

Just got a call back from the garage, the major problems are a broken rear spring (down about 10mm on the off side, this will be the banging noise), a knackered exaust mount, and badly worn front flexi brake hoses. Not too bad considering. One rear tyre is down to 2mm, and the rest are all about 3mm, so I will get new boots and a wheel refurb at Lepsons ASAP, with perhaps an interior detailing across the road at KDS done at the same time. With luck this should be all the expensive things done until I get around to sorting the paint and the dent.

Other news:

• Salvaged handbrake lever arrived yesterday
• New parking sensor should arrive today (found one in the correct colour on Ebay for £17)
• Colin at gm5Info helped me diagnose the locking problem, new actuator will be ordered today

Pictures of the refurbed wheels will, of course, be forthcoming

[ethomas]

Picked the car up from the garage post-service, it is definitely a huge improvement, and the security of having it looked over is great. There is still a bit of knocking from the rear end, the garage mentioned that the rear trailing arm bushes are nearing the end of their life, so that looks like the next major job. I hope I will be able to DIY it if I can get hold of the appropriate tool to remove the old bush.

The valet guy just finished cleaning the interior, he said it was full of grime and "gack" as he put it. Definitely a much nicer place to be now.

[ethomas]

aka_kerrly said:

I like that, facelift bumpers an skirts make a huge difference, is it also a 6 speed?

I keep looking at 325TI compacts an really should give one a whirl.

Yup, I think that all the facelifts have the six speed box. It is a great car, a little different to most of the hot hatch choices around £2k and a lovely place to sit.

[ethomas]

PaulGT3 said:

Hi mate I've got one of these too. And I'm doing my rear trailing arm bushes this weekend. I bought the tool off ebay for £30 delivered. Once I've finished with it, do you want it for say £20 delivered?

That would be awesome, I will send you my email address in a PM. Let me know how you get on with the bushes too, are you going for OEM or poly?

[ethomas]

After a little more reading it seems like OEM is definitely the way to go. Regarding limiters, did you find a decent price for these in the UK? The verschlag ones look a good bet for $55, but on this side of the pond I can only find turner or rogue, at around £90.

I am going to the USA in September so perhaps I should wait until then and bring some back with me.

[ethomas]

Car is away since Friday morning getting its wheels seen to, when it comes home again I will take a look at the rear suspension. First job will be to replace the rear shocks and shock mounts, this seems to be a very common problem area, and the fix is simple and relatively cheap. I ordered a new pair of Sachs shocks (OEM I believe), some Meyle HD shock mounts, and new boots and bump stops. The Meyle HD RTAB bushes will come at the same time, but I will probably wait until the end of September to install these along with a pair of limiters. This should help a lot tightening up the rear suspension and reducing the clunky noises on low speed bumps, it should also help to tighten up the steering a little. After the new bushes go in I will get everything aligned.

Thanks for all the help and input so far, I will let you know how the new wheels look when they are done!

[ethomas]

s m said:

helix402 said:

These are worth fitting too:


http://www.bimmertune.com/index.php?route=product/...

I can check the modified plate part no tommorow if you like.

I'd echo that.... And the front strut plates if you ever do the front suspension - 51717036781

Thanks for the tips! Ordered a pair of those, along with new top and bottom washer stacks for the rear shocks.

I just got a call from Lepson's telling me that the wheels were more broken than I thought. All of them needed some degree of straightening, and three of the wheels needed new metal welding in, including around the entire rim on one! The lovely people there have fixed three of them for free, and are only charging £60 for the giant welding and straightening job on the last wheel

[ethomas]

helix402 said:

Nice one, I found it on RealOEM earlier. Two of those on their way from Cooper Hereford. The complete order was:

33526762325 x 2
33526788999 x 2
33526779398 x 2
07119905374 x 4

I think that this covers all the little metal parts that have probably rusted away. Getting impatient to have my car back now, tomorrow afternoon or Wednesday morning I think...

[ethomas]

Just picked the car up from Lepsons. Holy crap, they are good . Only took one photo because I wanted to get on the road, but the wheels look like new (this was the worst wheel, and the one that needed the 360 degree weld):



I have been accumulating a few parts to fit, starting tomorrow with the air filter, pollen filter, and handbrake:



Finally, I replaced the broken driver side window switch, so I no longer have to jam my finger in the hole to make it work

[ethomas]

A couple more jobs done. Air and pollen filters are fitted, the outgoing air filter didn't look too bad, which gives hope that the car was not too badly neglected. The outgoing pollen filter was missing, so perhaps not

I also replaced the handbrake lever which was a bit of a ballache. The centre console has to come out first, which is not too bad except that I did it in the underground garage of my apartment block, and it was pretty dark. A decent worklight is needed before too long. The teeth on the outgoing lever were totally shagged, there were perhaps 3 places in its travel where the pawl would securely engage, the rest of it was rounded off and useless. The new lever looks brand new. Kids, press the button when engaging your handbrake!

In preparation for the next job, I removed enough of the boot trim to get to the rear shock mounts. As expected these are totally shagged (I can wiggle the top of the shock with my thumb and forefinger). The good news is that the metal appears to be in good shape; underneath a bunch of road grime that made it through the gap where the mount used to be, there is nothing wrong with the structure that I can see.

[ethomas]

Some small updates. The new shocks have gone in and cured the bang going over bumps. The job took a couple of hours, I managed it without jacking the car, but I wouldn't recommend it. There is not much room under the car with the MTech suspension and body kit, and getting the new shocks to line up with the uprights was horrible. Apart from that the hardest part of the job is getting all the interior trim back in place

A couple of new things arrived, I now have EU legal number plates in pressed aluminium (for that Deutsche look), and a nice new filler cap to replace the pound shop special that the car came with. She is all ready for a trip to the Netherlands next week, to clear out some leftover belongings from my old apartment there. Once we are back here I will think about doing the front suspension and steering column to cure the slight slop in steering, and I will get the rear trailing arm bushes installed.

[ethomas]

curlie467 said:

I think that it will be the rack. Does it wander around the road and tramline easily?

I need to have a good look at what the steering system is doing while my girlfriend sits in the car and wiggles the wheel. The most common problem seems to be the rubber joint below the UJ in the steering column, in RHD cars this is on the hot side of the engine and often seems to get loose around 100k. Very few people reporting problems with the rack itself, and the car doesn't seem to wander much (never driven a car with 18x225 front tyres, so hard to know what is normal).

[ethomas]

Mr Tidy said:

Hi OP - good to see another fan of these!

I am surprised that there is not more of a cult following for them, I guess the looks are a bit Marmite, and the M3 tends to hog the limelight. Even so, NA straight six, RWD, 192 bhp, in a practical hatchback ticks pretty much all the PH boxes.

For replacement boot struts, have you tried a breakers? Give Quarry Motors a bell and I am sure they will sort you out for beer money (admittedly I live in the south, beer here is expensive).

One quick question, how tinted are the windows in your car? I suspect mine have an aftermarket tint on - driving home tonight I had the window down so I could get a decent view out of the window, there isn't any noticeable film on the inside, perhaps I need to look again once the light is better.

Cheers,
Edward

[ethomas]

Mr Tidy said:

Only possible replacement would be a 130i - would it be hard to fit a 3 litre N52 in a Compact?

Not hard at all, the 330i had the same block and heads, you just need the crank, pistons, one of the cams, and a remap (if internet lore is correct). I believe that an M3 engine is also a possibility, Quarry Motors sell conversion kits for 3-4k (depending on the vintage of M3 you would like) containing all the gear you need. A 325ti with 320 bhp of M3 power would be something special!

Btw, I tested the tint on my front windows, and it was blocking something like 80% of available light! The legal limit is 30% I believe, so that is gone now (leaving a mess of sticky stuff that doesn't come off too easily). Off to the Netherlands tomorrow via Harwich to pack up the last few things in my old place, so I get to try driving on the right for the first time

[ethomas]

Don't worry about thread crapping, anything on these cars is welcome here . I am in NL until Friday, when I get home there should be a big pile of stuff waiting for me, including a complete front end suspension refresh kit, and a new steering disc.

Has anyone here replaced the rear subframe and diff bushes? I think my car will need it sooner rather than later, but it might be a stretch for my DIY skills (particularly on my own).

[ethomas]

I am not sure the correct name for it, it's the joint in the steering column that is not a UJ. They are a very common source of steering wheel slack, particularly in rhd cars. The reason for the blizzard of activity is me being between jobs at the moment, after September I will have a lot less free time, so I am keen to do what I can before then. Having said that, I will probably leave the subframe bushes for the time being

[ethomas]

I have had a busy day! New front control arms, front control arm bushes, track rods, front anti roll bar links, and rear trailing arm bushes are on the car! The front components were not in too bad condition, they would probably have been ok for another year. The offside RTAB was completely bksed though (NS was ok), the new ones should be a nice improvement.



I also realised that my car is missing the front plastic tray, so the bottom of the engine is absolutely filthy. A pattern part has been found (BMW want £200+ for a genuine one), and will be ordered next week.

Some things I wish I had known before I started that job:

1. You can never have a big enough hammer when ball joints are involved
2. The 22mm nut on the middle ball joint on the FCA is horrible, a 22mm ratcheting spanner would have saved me about an hour
3. Cutting through track rods with a mini hacksaw to save money on new CV boots is stupid. I got so bored I nearly went Mad Max and cut through my ankle instead
4. Cheap jacks make lifting a car onto axle stands pretty terrifying

The car is in for a four wheel alignment at the moment, on Thursday I will drive it from Stansted to Fishguard, so praying to the gods of Munich that it holds together . Can't wait to drive it once it is sorted.

Remaining jobs:

• Fix the passenger door lock (new actuator)
• Fix the parking sensor (broken wire)
• Fix the bodywork and paint (2016)

[ethomas]

I had my first really long run in the car last weekend, going from Stansted to Fishguard on Friday and back yesterday (approx 300 miles each way). The car performed flawlessly, not missing a beat each way and leaving me at my destination feeling comfortable and unstressed. Even the way back wasn't too bad, despite 2 hours of bank holiday delays on the M4. On the return journey I added a bit of B-road blast along the B4313 from Fishguard to St Clears, which was an absolute pleasure.

Anyway, I decided to reward it with new brake shoes (the parking brake is worse than useless) and a refresh of the centre console, including a rear ashtray delete and installing a cupholder in place of the roll-top storage thing.

I also diagnosed a bad oil level sensor (15 seconds of low oil light on starting the engine) which will get replaced at the next oil change.