My BMW 330ci Sport
Discussion
Hi all!
I picked up this BMW 330ci and I've had it a couple weeks now, definitely a keeper so I thought I'd share a few photos and my initial impressions.
Bit of a backstory, I used to own an E36 328i Sport which I absolutely adored. In all honesty, it didn't drive that well and was an abused example with something like 8 previous owners, a lot of the wiring was botched, the alarm siren had been chopped off and the dash and carpet was held together with bits of wood. It had also quite clearly had many sketchy MOT's as the rust that magically disappeared on the history was still on the car (as I learnt when I jacked it up and it fell straight back to the floor) and it had definitely been in a prior front end collision as all of the front end parts had breakers writing all over it. Regardless I thought it was such a cool car and really really liked it, especially so once it was on KW coilovers.
Managed to buy it during my placement year, however, returning to uni I realised that I couldn't really afford to run it and regrettably ended up selling the car and buying an MX5 in order to have a bit of a chilled final year not having to worry about anything breaking or going wrong. The MX5 has served amazingly well, it's a great car to learn the dynamics of a RWD car and it's a good amount of fun. The one issue I had with the MX5, (I know it's very cliche), was that I didn't quite bond with it, though it was a great car, it never gave me "the fizz" or any excitement from owning it. I managed to find one in the spec that I really wanted with the mazdaspeed body kit, the 6 speed and an LSD but it really lacked character.
Anyway, after my last exam, I popped on Gumtree to have a look at what was out there and found the 330 that I ended up buying. Met with the seller and had a good look around the car and a deal was done.
A few photos from the day I picked it up:
My mate works at a german car specialist garage (lucky for me!) and there were 2 other E46's in the day I dropped the car off to get it sorted.
Having owned a Panda 100hp, E36 and an MX5 the spec on this car is incredible to me! It has the following options:
Xenon Headlights
Sunroof
Heated electric memory seats
Auto Lights
Auto Wipers
Auto Dimming Mirrors
Electric Folding Wing Mirrors
Harmon Kardon Soundsystem
Rear Parking Sensors (which don't work!)
First impressions:
The straight 6 is amazing, I really missed the noise, power and smoothness during my ownership of the MX5 and it was amazing to be back behind a BMW straight 6 engine. It delivers power so smoothly and makes a great noise while doing so, it's not by any means rapid but it has a decent turn of speed with its 230hp and should keep me entertained for a while before I go chasing more power. The gearbox is nice and smooth but the throw took a while to get used to after the incredibly short throw that the MX5 has.
Handling wise, I was very surprised at how well it can get around a corner, it's no MX5 to throw around a corner but it will go around one quite well and you can quite easily get a bit of oppo on with a quick jab of the throttle mid corner. I haven't really pushed it any harder than that as it needs a good set of tyres on and ideally a full suspension refurb before I start chucking it around corners.
Most of the driving I've done since picking it up has been just general cruising around. I did a run from Oxford to London and it has to be the most comfortable I've been doing this journey. I'm well aware it's no Rolls Royce but in relation to the cars that I've personally owned, the E46 is on another level in terms of refinement and comfort. The seats are great to be sat in for long journeys and once cruise control is set and the thigh supports are extended, you can pretty much just sit back and relax until you reach your destination. The sound deadening is great and really does a brilliant job of insulating the cabin, it's really quite quiet and feels solid and planted at all times. The H/K soundsystem is also surprisingly good and has plenty of range, enough to satisfy a non audiophile like myself and made the 2014 dance mix CD that's stuck in the head unit quite good to listen to!
I think the most surprising aspect of the car is how well it's held up over the 15 years it's been around. I've been fortunate enough to be able to borrow my Dad's F10 520d on a few occasions for 2/3 week intervals each and I would say it rides better than the 5 series (though I'm sure that's mostly down to the runflat) and the NVH levels are about the same in all honesty. The tech that the E46 has on it is enough to impress me and makes the car feel a lot more modern that it really is.
Now, every car has its downsides and my 330 is every car;
Rusty rear arches are the biggest problem, it's not a horrendous amount of rust but it's unsightly when close up so I will be rubbing back the arches and repairing the rusty bits. I've got my fingers crossed that it hasn't rotted the whole way through, but we shall see what happens when I get started!
Oil leak, there's a bit of an oil leak coming from somewhere. I tried to have a little bit of a poke around when it was on the ramps but the undertray concealed a lot of the leak so couldn't quite track it down. I'll be replacing the oil filter housing gasket as a matter of precaution and it'll be going up on the ramps in the next couple of weeks to figure out where the oil leak is coming from.
The rear wheels were cracked and buckled and were looking more polygonal than they were round. These have been replaced with used MV2 rims and sadly the only tyres I could afford at the time were "General sport something or other", these will do until I find myself a grad job and can afford to get some nicer tyres on it. I'll also be refurbishing the wheels that are on the car as they are quite badly kerbed. The idiot part of me really wants to find a set of CSL replica wheels to put on the car.
The xenon bulbs were faulty and worked intermittently, these have been replaced with 6000K bulbs which I think are a nice compromise between chav blue and plain ol' white. Headlights have been adjusted to the correct beam pattern so i shan't be illegally blinding people!
Bodywork issues, the car has a dented boot lid from the time that someone tried to throw a brick through the rear window in the previous owners ownership. The brick also bounced off a garage wall and scraped the NS door. The front bumper has been rammed into something and the bumper is split and the rear bumper has a couple of scuffs on it. Luckily, it seems that there are quite a few "silbergrau" E46's being broken at the moment so I'll acquire the bumpers and boot lid over the coming weeks.
Interior wear; the driver seat bolster stitching has come away from the backrest of the seat. I'm not sure how fixable this is so for the sake of ease I'll be replacing the seat, either with another "sport" seat or some M3 seats which I believe offer a bit more adjustability. The mat on the drivers side has been worn through from the heel of a shoe, so will need a nw set of mats in the near future. The metal trim on the door cards have been scuffed up and the n/s front window switch only puts the window down regardless of how you use it!
The final downside is that the car has done 180,000 miles. The highest mileage car I've owned prior to this was the E36 which had done 167k. I'm not sure how this is going to play out in all honesty! So far it's great, the car has full service history up until last June (even small stuff like chipsaway smart repairs and original invoice) and I plan to continue maintaining it as best I can, so we'll find out if a well maintained car really can go on forever. If it does at any point give up on me, a used M54 engine isn't the most costly thing in the world.
My current plans for the car are to just sort out all the problems over the next year and enjoy it as it is. I think it'll be an ideal commuter/daily car and I don't really fancy slamming it or doing anything too extravagant to it as it's genuinely a great car as it is and has been really quite well looked after by it's 2 previous owners. I'm strongly considering keeping the MX5 for autosolo's, road rallies and track days and have most of the bits needed to turbo it, so there's even less of a need to mess with the 330.
All I've done to it so far is give it a good wash, clay and wax. It'll be getting a polish in the very near future. I found an AUX kit to keep the standard radio but add aux input, took ages to install but works great and will do until I get a Carplay unit.
Few photos post wash:
All in all, it's a really great car and it's left me incredibly impressed. I'm a massive BMW fanboy, so it gives me the fizz and I'm really excited to be able to own and drive it.
I picked up this BMW 330ci and I've had it a couple weeks now, definitely a keeper so I thought I'd share a few photos and my initial impressions.
Bit of a backstory, I used to own an E36 328i Sport which I absolutely adored. In all honesty, it didn't drive that well and was an abused example with something like 8 previous owners, a lot of the wiring was botched, the alarm siren had been chopped off and the dash and carpet was held together with bits of wood. It had also quite clearly had many sketchy MOT's as the rust that magically disappeared on the history was still on the car (as I learnt when I jacked it up and it fell straight back to the floor) and it had definitely been in a prior front end collision as all of the front end parts had breakers writing all over it. Regardless I thought it was such a cool car and really really liked it, especially so once it was on KW coilovers.
Managed to buy it during my placement year, however, returning to uni I realised that I couldn't really afford to run it and regrettably ended up selling the car and buying an MX5 in order to have a bit of a chilled final year not having to worry about anything breaking or going wrong. The MX5 has served amazingly well, it's a great car to learn the dynamics of a RWD car and it's a good amount of fun. The one issue I had with the MX5, (I know it's very cliche), was that I didn't quite bond with it, though it was a great car, it never gave me "the fizz" or any excitement from owning it. I managed to find one in the spec that I really wanted with the mazdaspeed body kit, the 6 speed and an LSD but it really lacked character.
Anyway, after my last exam, I popped on Gumtree to have a look at what was out there and found the 330 that I ended up buying. Met with the seller and had a good look around the car and a deal was done.
A few photos from the day I picked it up:
My mate works at a german car specialist garage (lucky for me!) and there were 2 other E46's in the day I dropped the car off to get it sorted.
Having owned a Panda 100hp, E36 and an MX5 the spec on this car is incredible to me! It has the following options:
Xenon Headlights
Sunroof
Heated electric memory seats
Auto Lights
Auto Wipers
Auto Dimming Mirrors
Electric Folding Wing Mirrors
Harmon Kardon Soundsystem
Rear Parking Sensors (which don't work!)
First impressions:
The straight 6 is amazing, I really missed the noise, power and smoothness during my ownership of the MX5 and it was amazing to be back behind a BMW straight 6 engine. It delivers power so smoothly and makes a great noise while doing so, it's not by any means rapid but it has a decent turn of speed with its 230hp and should keep me entertained for a while before I go chasing more power. The gearbox is nice and smooth but the throw took a while to get used to after the incredibly short throw that the MX5 has.
Handling wise, I was very surprised at how well it can get around a corner, it's no MX5 to throw around a corner but it will go around one quite well and you can quite easily get a bit of oppo on with a quick jab of the throttle mid corner. I haven't really pushed it any harder than that as it needs a good set of tyres on and ideally a full suspension refurb before I start chucking it around corners.
Most of the driving I've done since picking it up has been just general cruising around. I did a run from Oxford to London and it has to be the most comfortable I've been doing this journey. I'm well aware it's no Rolls Royce but in relation to the cars that I've personally owned, the E46 is on another level in terms of refinement and comfort. The seats are great to be sat in for long journeys and once cruise control is set and the thigh supports are extended, you can pretty much just sit back and relax until you reach your destination. The sound deadening is great and really does a brilliant job of insulating the cabin, it's really quite quiet and feels solid and planted at all times. The H/K soundsystem is also surprisingly good and has plenty of range, enough to satisfy a non audiophile like myself and made the 2014 dance mix CD that's stuck in the head unit quite good to listen to!
I think the most surprising aspect of the car is how well it's held up over the 15 years it's been around. I've been fortunate enough to be able to borrow my Dad's F10 520d on a few occasions for 2/3 week intervals each and I would say it rides better than the 5 series (though I'm sure that's mostly down to the runflat) and the NVH levels are about the same in all honesty. The tech that the E46 has on it is enough to impress me and makes the car feel a lot more modern that it really is.
Now, every car has its downsides and my 330 is every car;
Rusty rear arches are the biggest problem, it's not a horrendous amount of rust but it's unsightly when close up so I will be rubbing back the arches and repairing the rusty bits. I've got my fingers crossed that it hasn't rotted the whole way through, but we shall see what happens when I get started!
Oil leak, there's a bit of an oil leak coming from somewhere. I tried to have a little bit of a poke around when it was on the ramps but the undertray concealed a lot of the leak so couldn't quite track it down. I'll be replacing the oil filter housing gasket as a matter of precaution and it'll be going up on the ramps in the next couple of weeks to figure out where the oil leak is coming from.
The rear wheels were cracked and buckled and were looking more polygonal than they were round. These have been replaced with used MV2 rims and sadly the only tyres I could afford at the time were "General sport something or other", these will do until I find myself a grad job and can afford to get some nicer tyres on it. I'll also be refurbishing the wheels that are on the car as they are quite badly kerbed. The idiot part of me really wants to find a set of CSL replica wheels to put on the car.
The xenon bulbs were faulty and worked intermittently, these have been replaced with 6000K bulbs which I think are a nice compromise between chav blue and plain ol' white. Headlights have been adjusted to the correct beam pattern so i shan't be illegally blinding people!
Bodywork issues, the car has a dented boot lid from the time that someone tried to throw a brick through the rear window in the previous owners ownership. The brick also bounced off a garage wall and scraped the NS door. The front bumper has been rammed into something and the bumper is split and the rear bumper has a couple of scuffs on it. Luckily, it seems that there are quite a few "silbergrau" E46's being broken at the moment so I'll acquire the bumpers and boot lid over the coming weeks.
Interior wear; the driver seat bolster stitching has come away from the backrest of the seat. I'm not sure how fixable this is so for the sake of ease I'll be replacing the seat, either with another "sport" seat or some M3 seats which I believe offer a bit more adjustability. The mat on the drivers side has been worn through from the heel of a shoe, so will need a nw set of mats in the near future. The metal trim on the door cards have been scuffed up and the n/s front window switch only puts the window down regardless of how you use it!
The final downside is that the car has done 180,000 miles. The highest mileage car I've owned prior to this was the E36 which had done 167k. I'm not sure how this is going to play out in all honesty! So far it's great, the car has full service history up until last June (even small stuff like chipsaway smart repairs and original invoice) and I plan to continue maintaining it as best I can, so we'll find out if a well maintained car really can go on forever. If it does at any point give up on me, a used M54 engine isn't the most costly thing in the world.
My current plans for the car are to just sort out all the problems over the next year and enjoy it as it is. I think it'll be an ideal commuter/daily car and I don't really fancy slamming it or doing anything too extravagant to it as it's genuinely a great car as it is and has been really quite well looked after by it's 2 previous owners. I'm strongly considering keeping the MX5 for autosolo's, road rallies and track days and have most of the bits needed to turbo it, so there's even less of a need to mess with the 330.
All I've done to it so far is give it a good wash, clay and wax. It'll be getting a polish in the very near future. I found an AUX kit to keep the standard radio but add aux input, took ages to install but works great and will do until I get a Carplay unit.
Few photos post wash:
All in all, it's a really great car and it's left me incredibly impressed. I'm a massive BMW fanboy, so it gives me the fizz and I'm really excited to be able to own and drive it.
Yadizzle1 said:
Oil leak, there's a bit of an oil leak coming from somewhere.
Looks like a decent little project, albeit with a few more miles than either of my 330ci autos.I didn't like the manual and didn't feel like it suited the lazy power delivery well, although I did only try the 5spd.
On the quoted bit above, there are a couple of places that I'd suggest looking:
1. Rocker cover gasket and bolt gaskets. They just crumble and die, and decent pattern bits are available.
2. The engine/gearbox join. Similar amount of labour as a clutch change - may as well do at the same time.
Other than that, I'd do some preventative exploration on the oily bits before you tart the bodywork.
The cooling system gets fragile with age, and can kill engines - look for leaks and a bowing rad.
Check your intake hose for cracks, as the smallest crack can blunt performance.
Two cheap mods for a bit of noise - add an open Ramair intake filter, and chop out the exhaust flap with a Dremel.
C70R said:
Looks like a decent little project, albeit with a few more miles than either of my 330ci autos.
I didn't like the manual and didn't feel like it suited the lazy power delivery well, although I did only try the 5spd.
On the quoted bit above, there are a couple of places that I'd suggest looking:
1. Rocker cover gasket and bolt gaskets. They just crumble and die, and decent pattern bits are available.
2. The engine/gearbox join. Similar amount of labour as a clutch change - may as well do at the same time.
Other than that, I'd do some preventative exploration on the oily bits before you tart the bodywork.
The cooling system gets fragile with age, and can kill engines - look for leaks and a bowing rad.
Check your intake hose for cracks, as the smallest crack can blunt performance.
Two cheap mods for a bit of noise - add an open Ramair intake filter, and chop out the exhaust flap with a Dremel.
Yeah should be a good little project, not too intensive hopefully!I didn't like the manual and didn't feel like it suited the lazy power delivery well, although I did only try the 5spd.
On the quoted bit above, there are a couple of places that I'd suggest looking:
1. Rocker cover gasket and bolt gaskets. They just crumble and die, and decent pattern bits are available.
2. The engine/gearbox join. Similar amount of labour as a clutch change - may as well do at the same time.
Other than that, I'd do some preventative exploration on the oily bits before you tart the bodywork.
The cooling system gets fragile with age, and can kill engines - look for leaks and a bowing rad.
Check your intake hose for cracks, as the smallest crack can blunt performance.
Two cheap mods for a bit of noise - add an open Ramair intake filter, and chop out the exhaust flap with a Dremel.
I haven't driven an auto 330i but have driven an auto 320i, whilst it was fine for daily usage having driven the zf8 speed I was a bit spoilt and decided that a manual 330i would be the way to go for me. I'll probably regret that decision when I'm driving it through town on a daily basis!
Thanks for the oil leak recommendations! I'll definitely have a look at both, have been thinking about sticking a new clutch and flywheel on so will be an ideal time to sort any leaks from that area.
Yep, know all about the chocolate cooling system from my E36. That was a right nightmare to sort!
Will have a look at intake boot thanks!
As you say, I'll be prioritising sorting the car mechanically and getting it in as good a condition as I can before I start with the mods!
A facelift manual 330Ci with the sunroof has to be about as good as an E46 gets - barring the M3!
I had a 52 plate 325ti Compact for 3 years and loved it.
I wanted to replace it with a facelift E46 330i (with the 6-speed box) of some description, but finding one without frilly wheel-arches seemed a bit like Mission Impossible.
But I've ended up with an E90 330i instead. Nothing like as good looking, but it drives really well.
I had a 52 plate 325ti Compact for 3 years and loved it.
I wanted to replace it with a facelift E46 330i (with the 6-speed box) of some description, but finding one without frilly wheel-arches seemed a bit like Mission Impossible.
But I've ended up with an E90 330i instead. Nothing like as good looking, but it drives really well.
Yadizzle1 said:
Hi all!
All in all, it's a really great car and it's left me incredibly impressed. I'm a massive BMW fanboy, so it gives me the fizz and I'm really excited to be able to own and drive it.
enjoy, cant beat a 6 pot Beemer unlike what they chur out nowadays, plus that has held up remarkably well for its age, BMW dont make cars with that build quality no more.All in all, it's a really great car and it's left me incredibly impressed. I'm a massive BMW fanboy, so it gives me the fizz and I'm really excited to be able to own and drive it.
Looks like a pretty solid car. I love the E46 especially in coupe form; I think they’re very pretty and well proportioned it’s just a shame that so many have crusty arches or get ruined. There’s a young lad in our village with a nice coupe thats been suitably ruined with styre 38 wheels, stretched tyres and slammed. The worst bit it that on the face of it, it’s not got crusty arches.
Yours looks a more loved car than my E46 was which cost me a fortune in cooling system repairs, it’s appetite for suspension components, corroded brake lines etc.
Yours looks a more loved car than my E46 was which cost me a fortune in cooling system repairs, it’s appetite for suspension components, corroded brake lines etc.
Yadizzle1 said:
Haha thanks! It's a really nice looking car imo and the spec is so lush compared to all the spartan cars I've been running around in. I would absolutely love to buy an M3 or an E39 M5 next! E90's are nice, I think I prefer the E90/E91 over the the E92/93, they keep a compact look and imo are far better proportioned than the coupes. The n52 engine is also quite good and you can't go wrong with 270hp!
Agreed; the E90/1 are the best looking versions. I wasn’t sold on them at first and much preferred the E46 which felt better made. However having owned an E46 than an E90 330, the later car was better built and seemed to have less inherent issues. The N52 is a peach too. I really liked my 330, not fast by modern standards but was a nice size and made a good noise. The F3x cars are massive in comparison.
Mr Tidy said:
Do you have M3 seats or M-Sport seats though - M3 seats have the M logo embossed in the headrest and AFAIK do have the adjustable bolsters.
Honestly I really do have M3 seats! They really don’t have adjustable bolsters and do have embossed head rests.I’ve had lots of E46s and have had standard seats, saloon sport seats, Coupe sport seats, electric saloon sports seats, manual se lumbar seats. I’m also a qualified BMW Technician, though no longer work in the trade. (I’m not flouncing or looking to argue-just to explain that I when I give advice on PH I try and make it clear, helpful and accurate-happy Sunday all-in particular those blessed with a 6 cylinder E46).
The most comfortable seat (IMO) of all E46 ones I had were Coupe alcantara.
This was my Coupe sports seat (rebuilt with a passenger seat base) in an auto Touring (before I converted it to manual):
Edited by helix402 on Sunday 9th June 06:04
Edited by helix402 on Sunday 9th June 06:22
helix402 said:
Honestly I really do have M3 seats! They really don’t have adjustable bolsters and do have embossed head rests.
I’ve had lots of E46s and have had standard seats, saloon sport seats, Coupe sport seats, electric saloon sports seats, manual se lumbar seats. I’m also a qualified BMW Technician, though no longer work in the trade. (I’m not flouncing or looking to argue-just to explain that I when I give advice on PH I try and make it clear, helpful and accurate-happy Sunday all-in particular those blessed with a 6 cylinder E46).
The most comfortable seat (IMO) of all E46 ones I had were Coupe alcantara.
This was my Coupe sports seat (rebuilt with a passenger seat base) in an auto Touring (before I converted it to manual):
Alcantara/Saddle brown leather seats would both be amazing. The M3 seats I've been offered have apparently got adjustable lumbar, electric adjustability with memory and heating as well as adjustable side bolstering (or so I've been told). I’ve had lots of E46s and have had standard seats, saloon sport seats, Coupe sport seats, electric saloon sports seats, manual se lumbar seats. I’m also a qualified BMW Technician, though no longer work in the trade. (I’m not flouncing or looking to argue-just to explain that I when I give advice on PH I try and make it clear, helpful and accurate-happy Sunday all-in particular those blessed with a 6 cylinder E46).
The most comfortable seat (IMO) of all E46 ones I had were Coupe alcantara.
This was my Coupe sports seat (rebuilt with a passenger seat base) in an auto Touring (before I converted it to manual):
Edited by helix402 on Sunday 9th June 06:04
Edited by helix402 on Sunday 9th June 06:22
Yadizzle1 said:
Alcantara/Saddle brown leather seats would both be amazing. The M3 seats I've been offered have apparently got adjustable lumbar, electric adjustability with memory and heating as well as adjustable side bolstering (or so I've been told).
I guess it may be an E46 M3 Seat option I’ve not heard of, I know E90s could have adj bolsters.Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff