My little black commuter, (330ci).
Discussion
Ive been on here a little while now so i thought id put my E46 330ci on here.
I was very specific when i bought this, i wanted to buy a prefacelift with a sunroof, it had to be an auto because the wife is an auto only spaza, i set out to buy the best example of a prefacelift i could find, it had to be imola red with black leather, it took three months to find a black one
.
As you can see its valeted to the highest standerds
.
I went through a phase of valeting it everyweekend, this car was bought as a weekend toy, i had to have four seat which ruled out a 350z, and ive always thought the sport coupe E46 was one of the best looking cars to grace the road, now i got a sideways promotion which meant a big paycut, a bit of responsibility and most importantly working 9 to 5, ive benn working away for nearly 20 years now so being home everynight is a big novelty, feels like i got my life back, since ive started commuting ive stopped being anal about its cleanliness, lifes too short, that saying it will still get polished four times a year.
The interior sold the car to me, its light yellow nappa, it looks expensive when clean, s
t when dirty.
Not many pictures im afraid, ive never been into photographing my car.
Mods.
The only mods ive done is fitted a dynavin thing, fitted LED backlights (i really wouldnt bother), ive done the golf tee mod and removed underbonnet insulation, this makes it sound a bit gruffer.
Costs.
Apart from servicing which i have done at a local indy i do any jobs myself, this keeps costs down and i enjoy it.
So far i have the following,
Front lollipops replaced with Merlye HD items.
Rear trailing arm bushes replaced with standerd M3 ones.
Replaced rear shock absorbers.
New pads all round,Mintex, and new dics's allround , Brembo.
Metal impellor waterpump and new Thermostat.
Thats it really, i find it a very very cheap car to run for a 150mph 3.0 petrol, i forgot to add i also replaced front to rear bakepipes with copper ones last weekend, then replaced the brakefluid.
That really is it, jobs to do, it needs rear tyres, and there is an annoying rattle inside the passenger door, i havent had time or enthusiasm to look into yet.
The one thing that has been annoying it the drivers memory seat, the wiring loom underneath keeps breaking, they are brittle with age, being a coupe and having children it gets tilted alot, when the seat packs up (twice now) i remove it and patch up the loom, the bh is removing the seat, it wont move to get access to the bolts, takes 4 hours to get it out 10 minutes to put it back. This has happenend twice, the last time i triggered the airbaglight, a member on here with an interesting E30 has kindly remembered to turn it off for me, i havent forgot you but ive got to take the passenger doorcover off yet.
Running costs.
My insurence is under 300 quid, my tax is 270 a month and now with my pay cut and commute im getting 27 to 30 mpg, this is a mixture of coutry lanes and town driving, before when it was a weekend toy, 19 mpg.
Summery.
These are a good car, make no mistake,they do everything well, their only flaw is they are too competent, this makes them a little dull, i see it more of a really good GT rather than a round town traffic light racer, this car suits the over 30's, any younger and id say go and scratch that japanese turbo nutter basterd itch first.
Would i buy another in a flash, to some on here its a boring bmw, to others an old knacker, to me its a stunning looking coupe with a six cylinder engine and rwd whats not to like.
This is what ti replaced, owned this 5 years,
which inturn replaced this pile of st, this cured me of spending big money on nearly new cars.
Thanks for looking, boring to some and not everyones cup of tea but i am modest in my needs.
I was very specific when i bought this, i wanted to buy a prefacelift with a sunroof, it had to be an auto because the wife is an auto only spaza, i set out to buy the best example of a prefacelift i could find, it had to be imola red with black leather, it took three months to find a black one
.As you can see its valeted to the highest standerds
.I went through a phase of valeting it everyweekend, this car was bought as a weekend toy, i had to have four seat which ruled out a 350z, and ive always thought the sport coupe E46 was one of the best looking cars to grace the road, now i got a sideways promotion which meant a big paycut, a bit of responsibility and most importantly working 9 to 5, ive benn working away for nearly 20 years now so being home everynight is a big novelty, feels like i got my life back, since ive started commuting ive stopped being anal about its cleanliness, lifes too short, that saying it will still get polished four times a year.
The interior sold the car to me, its light yellow nappa, it looks expensive when clean, s
t when dirty.Not many pictures im afraid, ive never been into photographing my car.
Mods.
The only mods ive done is fitted a dynavin thing, fitted LED backlights (i really wouldnt bother), ive done the golf tee mod and removed underbonnet insulation, this makes it sound a bit gruffer.
Costs.
Apart from servicing which i have done at a local indy i do any jobs myself, this keeps costs down and i enjoy it.
So far i have the following,
Front lollipops replaced with Merlye HD items.
Rear trailing arm bushes replaced with standerd M3 ones.
Replaced rear shock absorbers.
New pads all round,Mintex, and new dics's allround , Brembo.
Metal impellor waterpump and new Thermostat.
Thats it really, i find it a very very cheap car to run for a 150mph 3.0 petrol, i forgot to add i also replaced front to rear bakepipes with copper ones last weekend, then replaced the brakefluid.
That really is it, jobs to do, it needs rear tyres, and there is an annoying rattle inside the passenger door, i havent had time or enthusiasm to look into yet.
The one thing that has been annoying it the drivers memory seat, the wiring loom underneath keeps breaking, they are brittle with age, being a coupe and having children it gets tilted alot, when the seat packs up (twice now) i remove it and patch up the loom, the b
h is removing the seat, it wont move to get access to the bolts, takes 4 hours to get it out 10 minutes to put it back. This has happenend twice, the last time i triggered the airbaglight, a member on here with an interesting E30 has kindly remembered to turn it off for me, i havent forgot you but ive got to take the passenger doorcover off yet.Running costs.
My insurence is under 300 quid, my tax is 270 a month and now with my pay cut and commute im getting 27 to 30 mpg, this is a mixture of coutry lanes and town driving, before when it was a weekend toy, 19 mpg.
Summery.
These are a good car, make no mistake,they do everything well, their only flaw is they are too competent, this makes them a little dull, i see it more of a really good GT rather than a round town traffic light racer, this car suits the over 30's, any younger and id say go and scratch that japanese turbo nutter basterd itch first.
Would i buy another in a flash, to some on here its a boring bmw, to others an old knacker, to me its a stunning looking coupe with a six cylinder engine and rwd whats not to like.
This is what ti replaced, owned this 5 years,
which inturn replaced this pile of s
t, this cured me of spending big money on nearly new cars.Thanks for looking, boring to some and not everyones cup of tea but i am modest in my needs.
Edited by rumple on Sunday 23 September 10:25
rowey200 said:
Just out of interest, why the hate for the 200sx. Loved mine to bits and would defo consider another!
Cheers for posting up pics, I always enjoy seeing what others drive etc
Not hate for the 200, just that one, it was just an unreliable jinx bag of sCheers for posting up pics, I always enjoy seeing what others drive etc
t, drove great but a terrible car to own, it cost me thousands over the 3 years I owned it.rumple said:
Not hate for the 200, just that one, it was just an unreliable jinx bag of st, drove great but a terrible car to own, it cost me thousands over the 3 years I owned it.
t, drove great but a terrible car to own, it cost me thousands over the 3 years I owned it.Fair play, it is a bummer when a car stings you in the pocket time and time again. My 200 was pretty good over the 2.5yrs / 60k that I owned it for, but that was a few years back now. I've got an E36 coupe at the mo, but on the look out for another 200, waiting for the right one to come along
Minor update, she went through her MOT saturday, no advisories i was well pleased with that, the tester even commented on the look and condition of it, shes booked in for an oil service saturday, my LED backlights are starting to fail, i dont know what to do there, repair or go back to original, im getting 28 mpg on my commute but every once in a while get sick of driving so slow, gets around 23 then, i fitted 6 inch Vibe speakers the other week in the parcel shelf, much much improvement and ive a rattle in my passenger door that is im told a loose pin in the regulator, thats it really nothing more to report, the car is now on 82224 miles and running sweet as.
Thanks for reading, Chris.
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