2003 BMW 325ti
Discussion
Hi Guys,
So thought I’d start a thread on my 325ti which I picked up around 2 months ago.
This was the result of me being in the market for the most complete package I could find for £1500, some of the requirements were as follows, as good to drive as possible, sensible running costs, ISOFIX, good safety and in the best condition possible, I wasn’t looking for a project, but a daily driver that could handle everything from the daily commute to a European road trip/trackday but also step in as a family car to transport my daughter/Fiancé around when needed.
Looking back at this now I was asking a lot, and this was clear at the time when it came to actually finding something. But still a few cars were out there, including a Yaris T Sport & Skoda Octavia VRS which ticked pretty much all boxes and a few other options that appealed more but were compromised.. being a Legacy B4 with some really nice touches and a Celica 190, both of these last two could be had for £1500, and I eventually decided on the Celica on the basis it was newer/lower miles & would be more fun/more reliable despite not hitting the mark in some areas.
A deal was struck with the seller on the basis all was good and I set off on a 3 hour drive to get it, however unfortunately despite looking lovely in the pictures the condition left a lot to be desired, I also realised at 6ft 3 I could only just fit in it and the engine, which I expected to be the highlight, felt coarse & uninspiring. Despite this I was still thinking of taking the car, I’d come all this way, and maybe I was just expecting too much for what I had in my pocket.. but for once I had a strong feeling that walking away was the right thing to do, so that’s what I did. I was questioning that decision most of the way home but ultimately it was the right move.
I then set up a viewing of the Legacy and basically had my heart set on that if the car turned out as expected.. however in the meantime I spotted the 325! A 325ti had been suggested to me to consider and I had looked at them previously but every time I looked they were either all SE/auto’s/or dodgy specs.. and if it was to be one of these I had a specific spec in mind. Having owned an E36 328i sport some years before I knew that whilst BMW’s sporty models below the M’s were a nice place to be, for me personally they were just too refined and not enough fun.
The reviews I’d read on the 325ti were promising but I still knew it was effectively a base model manual sport I needed. No leather or electric seats, no sunroof, no MV’s etc etc. I don’t think I’d seen one of these before on any of the times I’d looked, but in the two days before going to see the legacy I was still looking around and finally saw it!
A 2003 manual 325ti Sport in Sapphire black with Alcantara interior, in seemingly good order with good main dealer history to 2016 and 120,000 miles on the clock, the only mods were black front grills and facelift rear lights, both of which I liked, and being as it was quite local I shot off to see it.
Overall it was tidy enough and drove very well indeed. it appeared a good honest car and a bargain to boot, the deal was done and I drove away in it at just over shed money - £1050 :-)
So thought I’d start a thread on my 325ti which I picked up around 2 months ago.
This was the result of me being in the market for the most complete package I could find for £1500, some of the requirements were as follows, as good to drive as possible, sensible running costs, ISOFIX, good safety and in the best condition possible, I wasn’t looking for a project, but a daily driver that could handle everything from the daily commute to a European road trip/trackday but also step in as a family car to transport my daughter/Fiancé around when needed.
Looking back at this now I was asking a lot, and this was clear at the time when it came to actually finding something. But still a few cars were out there, including a Yaris T Sport & Skoda Octavia VRS which ticked pretty much all boxes and a few other options that appealed more but were compromised.. being a Legacy B4 with some really nice touches and a Celica 190, both of these last two could be had for £1500, and I eventually decided on the Celica on the basis it was newer/lower miles & would be more fun/more reliable despite not hitting the mark in some areas.
A deal was struck with the seller on the basis all was good and I set off on a 3 hour drive to get it, however unfortunately despite looking lovely in the pictures the condition left a lot to be desired, I also realised at 6ft 3 I could only just fit in it and the engine, which I expected to be the highlight, felt coarse & uninspiring. Despite this I was still thinking of taking the car, I’d come all this way, and maybe I was just expecting too much for what I had in my pocket.. but for once I had a strong feeling that walking away was the right thing to do, so that’s what I did. I was questioning that decision most of the way home but ultimately it was the right move.
I then set up a viewing of the Legacy and basically had my heart set on that if the car turned out as expected.. however in the meantime I spotted the 325! A 325ti had been suggested to me to consider and I had looked at them previously but every time I looked they were either all SE/auto’s/or dodgy specs.. and if it was to be one of these I had a specific spec in mind. Having owned an E36 328i sport some years before I knew that whilst BMW’s sporty models below the M’s were a nice place to be, for me personally they were just too refined and not enough fun.
The reviews I’d read on the 325ti were promising but I still knew it was effectively a base model manual sport I needed. No leather or electric seats, no sunroof, no MV’s etc etc. I don’t think I’d seen one of these before on any of the times I’d looked, but in the two days before going to see the legacy I was still looking around and finally saw it!
A 2003 manual 325ti Sport in Sapphire black with Alcantara interior, in seemingly good order with good main dealer history to 2016 and 120,000 miles on the clock, the only mods were black front grills and facelift rear lights, both of which I liked, and being as it was quite local I shot off to see it.
Overall it was tidy enough and drove very well indeed. it appeared a good honest car and a bargain to boot, the deal was done and I drove away in it at just over shed money - £1050 :-)
pics above are from when I got it. I've stuck 2000 miles on it since and am very happy with it, it sounds fantastic and is good to drive.
Whilst the spec is close to the basic sport, it still has everything you realistically need.. aircon/climate, PDC, cruise, DSC, CD changer, armrest etc etc
Obviously at this price point nothing is going to be perfect, but there was pleasingly little wrong, everything works inc rear wiper, though it was clear a wheel bearing was noisy and there was an oil leak to sort.
First I did what I seem to do on every new car.. new tyres all round, (kuhmo's), new wipers (bosch aero) and uprated headlight bulbs (nightbreakers), I also took care of the corroded centre caps and gearknob emblem.
tyres, wipers and bulbs totalled around £335 plus £14 on the centre caps and gearknob emblem.
I also picked up a Meguiars paint restoration kit as it was in dire need of a good polish, especially due to a number of marks which appeared to be sun tan lotion, including one full hand print! Luckily they all came out with this kit and it really has revitalised the paintwork, I'll post some pics of it now next time I clean it. This was £35.
So with this all done it still owed me only £1435.
Whilst the spec is close to the basic sport, it still has everything you realistically need.. aircon/climate, PDC, cruise, DSC, CD changer, armrest etc etc
Obviously at this price point nothing is going to be perfect, but there was pleasingly little wrong, everything works inc rear wiper, though it was clear a wheel bearing was noisy and there was an oil leak to sort.
First I did what I seem to do on every new car.. new tyres all round, (kuhmo's), new wipers (bosch aero) and uprated headlight bulbs (nightbreakers), I also took care of the corroded centre caps and gearknob emblem.
tyres, wipers and bulbs totalled around £335 plus £14 on the centre caps and gearknob emblem.
I also picked up a Meguiars paint restoration kit as it was in dire need of a good polish, especially due to a number of marks which appeared to be sun tan lotion, including one full hand print! Luckily they all came out with this kit and it really has revitalised the paintwork, I'll post some pics of it now next time I clean it. This was £35.
So with this all done it still owed me only £1435.
The next step was to get the car in to BMW for a winter health check, I have a friend who works as a tech for BMW and knows these cars very well so it was helpful knowing I'd get an honest answer as to the condition of the car.
He found the following;
Front discs and pads worn
Rear trailing arm bushes worn
Rear diff mount worn
Oil leak from OFHG
And that was about it, everything underneath is correct inc purple tag rack etc and he remarked it was an honest car with some of the standard e46 issues needing addressing.
So with a reasonably clean bill of health I could relax and with a few quid left of the budget I could start getting bits together to fix these bits as well as the wheel bearing.
So I've now bought;
Brembo discs (high carbon ones) & Brembo pads
SNR rear wheel bearing
HEL braided clutch line (removing the CDV so will fit this line at the same time)
Powerflex rear trailing arm bushes
Powerflex rear diff bush
This little lot came to £170, I just need to get oil filter housing gasket and I pretty much have everything I need.
For fitting I'm trying to figure out the best way to do it without getting stung on labour costs, the brakes and OFHG I could in theory do myself, and leave the bushes/wheel bearing to a garage..
Really looking forward to getting these jobs done, then I can really enjoy it! :-)
After this the next job will be to refurb the wheels, they need to be fully stripped down as there's a fair bit of corrosion going on but thankfully they're round with no cracks.
He found the following;
Front discs and pads worn
Rear trailing arm bushes worn
Rear diff mount worn
Oil leak from OFHG
And that was about it, everything underneath is correct inc purple tag rack etc and he remarked it was an honest car with some of the standard e46 issues needing addressing.
So with a reasonably clean bill of health I could relax and with a few quid left of the budget I could start getting bits together to fix these bits as well as the wheel bearing.
So I've now bought;
Brembo discs (high carbon ones) & Brembo pads
SNR rear wheel bearing
HEL braided clutch line (removing the CDV so will fit this line at the same time)
Powerflex rear trailing arm bushes
Powerflex rear diff bush
This little lot came to £170, I just need to get oil filter housing gasket and I pretty much have everything I need.
For fitting I'm trying to figure out the best way to do it without getting stung on labour costs, the brakes and OFHG I could in theory do myself, and leave the bushes/wheel bearing to a garage..
Really looking forward to getting these jobs done, then I can really enjoy it! :-)
After this the next job will be to refurb the wheels, they need to be fully stripped down as there's a fair bit of corrosion going on but thankfully they're round with no cracks.
As above, good cars these, I ran a late red, six speed sport for around fours years and only sold it a few months ago to a good friend. I quite miss it! Have fun, I retired a CSL from daily duties for mine and the length of time it stayed is testament to how fond I was of it. Cracking little car 
Fantastic cars - well done OP! 
Just a shame yours is an 03 but not a facelift.
I've had my 325ti Sport for just over 3 years and love it! (I did pay more than you, but I got it with just under 80K miles).
If you head for the "BMW General" part of the Forum there is a 325ti Appreciation Thread with 87 pages so far!
Anyway gratuitous photo follows!
Just a shame yours is an 03 but not a facelift.
I've had my 325ti Sport for just over 3 years and love it! (I did pay more than you, but I got it with just under 80K miles).
If you head for the "BMW General" part of the Forum there is a 325ti Appreciation Thread with 87 pages so far!
Anyway gratuitous photo follows!
Yes they are still very good value but its not that easy finding one depending on the spec your after..
Mr Tidy yes correct this is a 5 speed, but this is no issue, as mentioned I didnt want it too refined so this is actually a plus for me! I'll happily take a short ratio box over additional refinement for this car! I also expect its a shade lighter and really like where the revs end up on the motorway in top, as its quite a sweet spot for the engine, at around the speed limit a touch of the throttle gives good response and a good noise
Mr Tidy yes correct this is a 5 speed, but this is no issue, as mentioned I didnt want it too refined so this is actually a plus for me! I'll happily take a short ratio box over additional refinement for this car! I also expect its a shade lighter and really like where the revs end up on the motorway in top, as its quite a sweet spot for the engine, at around the speed limit a touch of the throttle gives good response and a good noise
So I've been busy sorting a few of the little bits after getting the paint back to an acceptable standard..
Starting with the rear arches..
Then on to the tailpipes, half way through..
And the drivers seat bolster, unfortunately this does not wear well on the alcantara seats, coupled with usually zero care and they end up torn like this..
I've been on to a few trimmers to get quotes to repair this (with zero success so far), and it will be either repaired properly or I would replace the seat if I find a very good one, but in the meantime I needed to do something, for one it really let the whole interior down and secondly it was only going to get worse if left, so I had to do a bit of a bodge..
Basically I trimmed the loose ends from the alcantara and then used iron on patches trimmed to repair, actually if the colour match wasn't so bad I'd be fairly happy with this, it is holding up fine and has stopped the wear for now/bringing the interior down to an extent.
I've got some work to do to recondition the alcantara, I've decided to go with auto finesse total cleaner plus their interior brush to clean it and the razors to get rid of the bobbles.
Starting with the rear arches..
Then on to the tailpipes, half way through..
And the drivers seat bolster, unfortunately this does not wear well on the alcantara seats, coupled with usually zero care and they end up torn like this..
I've been on to a few trimmers to get quotes to repair this (with zero success so far), and it will be either repaired properly or I would replace the seat if I find a very good one, but in the meantime I needed to do something, for one it really let the whole interior down and secondly it was only going to get worse if left, so I had to do a bit of a bodge..
Basically I trimmed the loose ends from the alcantara and then used iron on patches trimmed to repair, actually if the colour match wasn't so bad I'd be fairly happy with this, it is holding up fine and has stopped the wear for now/bringing the interior down to an extent.
I've got some work to do to recondition the alcantara, I've decided to go with auto finesse total cleaner plus their interior brush to clean it and the razors to get rid of the bobbles.
Thanks, I'd wondered about that but the passenger seat has handles on both sides for folding rather than just one like the drivers side.
I guess I'd end up with both seats having two handles?
Have you done this job before yourself? how hard is it to replace the seat base and swap over the seat frame/backrest section?
I guess I'd end up with both seats having two handles?
Have you done this job before yourself? how hard is it to replace the seat base and swap over the seat frame/backrest section?
I have done it lots of time as I used to work as a BMW Technician. On my own E46 I did it with a pair of Alcantara front seats. It takes quite a lot if patience.
Pic after:
I put a Coupe seat in a Touring, so just removed all the tilt levers and mech. I then changed the seats again for Nappa electric.
Pic after:
I put a Coupe seat in a Touring, so just removed all the tilt levers and mech. I then changed the seats again for Nappa electric.
OK thanks Helix, it's good to know that's an option at least, and I could put up with both seats having two folding handles I guess!
Pody that's Autosol on repeat and lots of elbow grease! Though I have been told bleach to get the worst of the crud off first works well, but don't quote me on that! I'm not 100% happy with mine so will do them again but likely with a light rub down before autosol again.
Pody that's Autosol on repeat and lots of elbow grease! Though I have been told bleach to get the worst of the crud off first works well, but don't quote me on that! I'm not 100% happy with mine so will do them again but likely with a light rub down before autosol again.
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