Diary of a petrol-head

[Tom_blogs]

Hi all,

I thought I would start a thread to share all the things I get up to as a petrol-head from maintenance & modifications, to car shows and track days. I'm hoping to use this as a hub to share my experiences as well as for guidance and recommendations on anything car related.

I'm 21 years old and the current 'fleet' is:
Daily driver- 2004 BMW E46 330ci (6-speed manual) in mystic blue
Weekend Toy/Project- 1992 Mazda MX-5 (NA 1.6) in mariner blue

Hope to follow up soon with the upcoming events and progress I make but for now i'll upload a brief update on the cars so far.


MX5 & 8 series by Tom Nash, on Flickr

IMG_20200120_155351__01 by Tom Nash, on Flickr

[LordHaveMurci]

What a great combo!

[Tom_blogs]

Following up with the initial post i'll share some background to the cars starting with the BMW E46:

BMW E46 330ci
After driving a friends Z4 2.5si (N52 engine) i really fell for the BMW straight six engine. I therefore went on the hunt for a BMW and was searching between a 130i/125i and after looking at what seemed like a well kept example of a 125i coupe turned out to have a huge oil leak with oil puddled on top of the oil filter housing. Unsure of how long the oil leak had been left like that and if the car had been run low on oil i continued the search. This is when the E46 330ci came up for sale, i decided to go and look at it (more to confirm the 1 series is the car I was after) and ended up buying it due to falling for it as well as full BMW service history and two previous owners from new which is becoming rare on E46.

I know the achilles heel to the E46 is the cooling system and upon inspection I noticed a few bits and pieces which needed doing, mainly the radiator had 'sagged' at the bottom. Luckily I negotiated these into the purchase price as just a few days into ownership the coolant light come on and upon inspection the radiator had cracked at the bottom where the plastic meets the core. I therefore sourced a fitted a new radiator. I thought this a good time to replace the coolant expansion tank which is notorious for cracking on the E46. I purchased one from euro car parts and the expansion tank would just not seal onto the coolant hoses. I should have been alarmed when I had to return the first expansion tank as it was covered in dried coolant as if someone had fitted it before. I guess you get what you pay for with their products but I was disappointed as I bought what was supposed to be the 'premium' expansion tank. Therefore with the new radiator fitted and no other way to turn but reinstall the original expansion tank to get the car going the original was refitted to the car. I will monitor this closely as I am amazed that it hasn't cracked with the car being on 125,000 miles but it still has all original BMW manufacture dates back to 2003.

I have also taken on one of the cars weaknesses in the DISA valve. I bought the X8r aluminium repair kit to replace the plastic DISA valve which was rattling and I didnt want the pin to drop out the bottom of the valve and into the intake. The kit seemed to be good with easy and clear instructions meaning the job was complete in 30 minuites start to finish. The only part I was a little unsure of was the replacement O-ring. The new O-ring was smaller than the factory O-ring and was clearly installed in a different place in X8r instructions when compared to the original O-ring from factory. Similar rebuild kits on the market replaced the factory O-ring. I therefore decided to keep the original factory O-ring in place for the time being until a vacuum leaks occurs.

IMG_20200116_145847 by Tom Nash, on Flickr

IMG_20200116_152736 by Tom Nash, on Flickr
The original plastic DISA valve disasembled. It is held in only by a small pin at the end which pretty much fell out with ease once I got a small flat head screwdriver to it.

IMG_20200116_152624 by Tom Nash, on Flickr
The DISA valve rebuilt with X8R kit. This time secured in place with a screw through the entire body of the valve to prevent risk of it falling into the intake manifold.

With the car back and running I have since carried out an oil service as well as new differential oil. I have some more maintenance to undertake such as a full service (spark plugs, fuel filter etc.). A power steering hose which is weeping fluid and electric wing mirrors to repair. However, for now I have given the car a well needed polish using meguires ultimate compound first followed by autoglym super resin polish both of which seemed to work well.

IMG_20200208_163355 by Tom Nash, on Flickr

IMG_20200208_163414 by Tom Nash, on Flickr
The mystic blue paint work shining before storm Dennis arrived

If there are any E46 owners reading this any recommendations for the car would be great. I'm well aware of the BMW oil leaks and the cars ability to chew through suspension bushes but any suggestions for bushes to replace as well as aftermarket exhaust suggestions would be much appreciated.

[Tom_blogs]

LordHaveMurci said:

What a great combo!

Thanks! Interested to see what combos other people are currently running or have been in the past

[aust240378]

Hi Tom and Welcome,

I agree good combo!

I used to run a 330ci and a 320d touring:-




Now I run a Vectra as a daily and Fiat coupe as a weekend car:-




The auto gearbox went on the 330ci, and the touring was written off by a drunken idiot, I miss them both especially the 330ci.

These are the things i had done under my 3 year ownership of the 330ci:-

Oil and Filter + Friends Service
Coolant System Refresh(Expansion Bottle, Radiator, Top Radiator Hose, Bottom Radiator Hose , Oil Coolant Shroud, Anti Freeze Coolant )
MOT + 2 Tyres
New Thermostat and Coolant
Oil and Filter + Friends Service + 6 NGK Spark plugs
Air conditioning Regas
Front Tracking
Disa Valve Replacement
Heater Resistor (Hedgehog)
Auto Transmission fluid and filter replaced
Battery
Oil and Filter
MOT + 2 Tyres
Oil Pressure Switch
Vicous Fan Coupling
Spark plugs X6 Maf Sensor
Air conditioning Regas
New Meyle engine breather kit / Engine Breather Valve, hoses and throttle body seal plus new oil filter
New Power Steering Pump
New Front lower arm and bushes.
New Fuel Pump
Front Brake Pads
Rear Brake Pads
Oil and filter change
Idler Pulley replacement
Two Front Tyres
Screen wash tank removal filter and clean
MOT
Oil and Filter

I would have loved a 6 speed manual, I may yet get another one

[Tom_blogs]

aust240378 said:

Hi Tom and Welcome,

I agree good combo!

I used to run a 330ci and a 320d touring:-




Now I run a Vectra as a daily and Fiat coupe as a weekend car:-




The auto gearbox went on the 330ci, and the touring was written off by a drunken idiot, I miss them both especially the 330ci.

These are the things i had done under my 3 year ownership of the 330ci:-

Oil and Filter + Friends Service
Coolant System Refresh(Expansion Bottle, Radiator, Top Radiator Hose, Bottom Radiator Hose , Oil Coolant Shroud, Anti Freeze Coolant )
MOT + 2 Tyres
New Thermostat and Coolant
Oil and Filter + Friends Service + 6 NGK Spark plugs
Air conditioning Regas
Front Tracking
Disa Valve Replacement
Heater Resistor (Hedgehog)
Auto Transmission fluid and filter replaced
Battery
Oil and Filter
MOT + 2 Tyres
Oil Pressure Switch
Vicous Fan Coupling
Spark plugs X6 Maf Sensor
Air conditioning Regas
New Meyle engine breather kit / Engine Breather Valve, hoses and throttle body seal plus new oil filter
New Power Steering Pump
New Front lower arm and bushes.
New Fuel Pump
Front Brake Pads
Rear Brake Pads
Oil and filter change
Idler Pulley replacement
Two Front Tyres
Screen wash tank removal filter and clean
MOT
Oil and Filter

I would have loved a 6 speed manual, I may yet get another one

Thanks for the reply you really did undertake a lot of maintenance on the 330ci. I will look into the meyle breather kit as I have heard the cars can suffer vacuum leaks especially around the CCV system. The e46 is from an era where I belive the manual gearbox was still the better choice over the auto (technically less so much today with the 8 speed zf autos that are so commonly used). The 6 speed definitely commands a price premium over the pre-facelift 5 speed but i did manage 38mpg on a motorway run the other day. The E46 is fitted with a clutch delay valve which slows the clutch engagement and is apparently make shifts easier however, coming from the brilliant 5 speed manual in the MX-5 the BMW manual box certainly lacks some engagement with the delay valve and can make parallel parking a bit of a pain as it is easy to stall.
The fiat coupe is awsome in yellow! Its great to see less common cars like these with the 5 cylinder engines. I learnt to drive in my Dads vectra 1.9cdti. He loved the car and owned it many years with well over 200k miles reliably covered. He only sold it to purchase a van for work and I could see he really was sad to let it go.

[bolidemichael]

The Mystic Blue looks great and good job on the polishing, it's come out very nicely indeed.

[Tom_blogs]

Thought i'll finish today's post with the MX5. I am a bit late to add this to the thread as I have owned it since November 2018 but ill give an overview of the work I have undertaken in the last year and where the MX5 has taken me so far.

When looking to purchase an MX5 I was considering either an NA or NB. Originally a friend offered me his 1.8 NBFL however after it failed it MOT on rust I decided to look else where. The hunt took almost a year as I decided I wanted to find an NA in mariner blue which was in need of TLC but not a complete restoration. This limited me to the 115bhp 1.6 engine on models between 1989-1993 and I wanted to avoid a very early engine with the 'short nose crank' issues (MX5 owners will know). In the end I found this example which is very typical of an MX5 having 7 previous owners and very limited service historty. However, it met my criteria and was a Japanese import (known as the Eunos rather than MX5) which had a rust repair in the past on the off-side and with original rear arch on the near side with minimal rust (famous last words),

Screenshot_20190528-214027 1 by Tom Nash, on Flickr

The MX5 at east wittering beach not long after I bought it

I started with some TLC of the mechanical with a service which included
- Oil & oil filter change
- Fuel filter
- Coolant flush and replacement
- Spark plugs
The HT leads had been replaced previously and looked in good condition so I have kept them on the car.

I then focused on the brakes in which the front discs and pads were changed along with a brake fluid flush. I took the opportunity to fit 1.8 engine brake pad carriers with work with the 1.6 calipers. This allowed me to fit the larger discs and pads to the car as were installed by Mazda when the 1.8 engine was released in 1994. This was a low cost upgrade and following some research I decided to use OEM discs with roddisons pads from bofi racing. The set up certainly has improved on road but the real test hopefully will be on a track-day later this year. The only issue I found here was removing the old brake discs as they had seized in place. After numerous technical taps with a mallet around the disc to shock it off in the end I had to resort to applying a little heat around the disc hub to free it off. I was concerned of damaging the wheel bearing etc. with heat but the disc was seized solid and I wouldn't be surprised if it was original. I have recently ordered the conversion kit for the rear brakes and some stainless steel braided brake lines to fit over the next few weeks.

IMG_20190507_081837 1 by Tom Nash, on Flickr

The old rusty brake disc

IMG_20190503_171148 1 by Tom Nash, on Flickr

Larger 1.8 disc and pads fitted to the car.

The next step was to uplift some of the cosmetics with the car. This started with the door to glass weatherstrip which had perished. I replaced it with an IL Motorsport part which was pricey at £75 but really uplifted the look of the car.

IMG_20181202_085306 by Tom Nash, on Flickr

Old perished weather strip

IMG_20190506_163119 by Tom Nash, on Flickr

IL moptorsport weather strip. Expensive but a doddle to replace (10 min job) and really lifts the look of the car.

I then sand blasted the windscreen wiper holder and repainted with some black rust proof paint. Again a small touch which made a big difference.
IMG_20190822_073037 1 by Tom Nash, on Flickr

IMG_20190822_162817 1 by Tom Nash, on Flickr

The car came fitted with a cheap and nasty flat-bottom momo steering wheel which wasnt to my taste. I therefore changed replaced it with a brand new Nardi Gara steering wheel which is lovely. This was an easy job made difficult by the last owner as they had stripped some of the allen-key head bolts which held the wheel in place. I therefore drilled and removed the bolts to fit the new steering wheel. Long story short a small piece of swarf got stuck in the horn terminal which caused the horn to sound when i turned hard left! After some head scratching a stripping the hub back the single piece of swarf was removed and the horn works fine now.

IMG_20190528_174040 1 by Tom Nash, on Flickr

The old momo replica

IMG_20190602_194430 1 by Tom Nash, on Flickr

IMG_20190602_194423 1 by Tom Nash, on Flickr

The new genuine Nardi Gara steering wheel.

The final touch I wanted to make was to fit some Enkei RP01 which was fitted to a later MX5 special addition (the arizona I believe). I found a second hand set on ebay for £150n in need of a refurb. I therefore thought it to be a good idea to refurb the wheels myself with no real idea of what I was doing. After a little help from youtube and some Amazon alloy wheel paint and lacquor the wheels were refurbished. This is a really rewarding task but is time consuming if you do not have a sand blaster or acid dipping to hand to strip the old paint. It also takes practise getting the filler to look good over damaged parts of the alloy due to curbing.

IMG_20190406_124826 by Tom Nash, on Flickr

Before

IMG_20190408_103838 by Tom Nash, on Flickr

IMG_20190418_162450 1 by Tom Nash, on Flickr

During

IMG_20190509_173847 1 by Tom Nash, on Flickr

After

Going off the MX5 topic I also attempted an alloy wheel refurb on my old Astra to prep it for sale. This time I didnt remove the tyre and used an electric sander to remove old paint which was faster and quicker than sand blasting surprisingly.

IMG_20190806_103246 by Tom Nash, on Flickr

Alloy 2 by Tom Nash, on Flickr

Before and after on the Astra alloys. Not bad for a second attempt at home in the garage i thought.

Other points to note were.
- Replacement of 'decat' pipe fitted by last owner with a new catalytic converter. The decat sounded nice and gave better throttle response but it used to make the car smell really bad and the smell of fumes every time I stopped at traffic lights with the roof down was enough for me to fit a cat.
- Wing mirror sheered off in my hand while trying to adjust due to rusty fittings. Made a repair with whatever fittings I had to hand and covered in copper slip to try and prevent further rust. (Later found there is a repair kit on ebay with new spring however, my fix was free and so far it has lasted)
IMG_20181227_073011 1 by Tom Nash, on Flickr
IMG_20190107_123254 by Tom Nash, on Flickr
The broken wing mirror and my repair (is it a bodge if it works??)

So with the MX5 maintenance up to date so far I have plenty of plans for further maintenance in the next month to prep for the upcoming MOT as well as plans for a cambelt and waterpump change along with a few more modifications to lift the aesthetic of the car.

Just to add a few highlights in 2019 for the MX5 was the trip to ace cafe MX5 meet, the owners club national rally at the british motor museum in warwick. Hopefully 2020 will bring my first track-day and a trip to north wales with a lap of the nurburgring a long term goal for this car.

IMG_20190721_184523 by Tom Nash, on Flickr

IMG_20190915_110929 by Tom Nash, on Flickr

The MX5 owners club national rally 2019

[Tom_blogs]

bolidemichael said:

The Mystic Blue looks great and good job on the polishing, it's come out very nicely indeed.

Thanks I haven't really seen many mystic blue E46 on my search. Topaz blue seems to be more common. I must say it really is a lovely colour in the sunlight.

[bolidemichael]

Tom_blogs said:

bolidemichael said:

The Mystic Blue looks great and good job on the polishing, it's come out very nicely indeed.

Thanks I haven't really seen many mystic blue E46 on my search. Topaz blue seems to be more common. I must say it really is a lovely colour in the sunlight.

Yes, it looks as though it's ready to 'pop'

[Andrew-b90y3]

Fellow E46 330ci owner here



Main things on these are:

Rocker cover gasket - will probably leak in the offside rear corner onto the exhaust manifold.

Sump gasket - will just leak

Oil filter housing gasket - these leak and blow down the block etc so you’ll probably think it’s the sump gasket.

Front control arm bushes - I replaced mine with solid castle offset z4m bushes and the difference in drive was night and day!

Rear trailing arm bushes - again difference when these are changed is night and day!

Yours is a lovely looking example!

Enjoy!

[Tom_blogs]

Andrew-b90y3 said:

Fellow E46 330ci owner here



Main things on these are:

Rocker cover gasket - will probably leak in the offside rear corner onto the exhaust manifold.

Sump gasket - will just leak

Oil filter housing gasket - these leak and blow down the block etc so you’ll probably think it’s the sump gasket.

Front control arm bushes - I replaced mine with solid castle offset z4m bushes and the difference in drive was night and day!

Rear trailing arm bushes - again difference when these are changed is night and day!

Yours is a lovely looking example!

Enjoy!

Thanks for the advise. How did you find the 330ci on track? did you make any mods (brakes,suspension etc.) Would deffinatly like to see how it compares on track compared to the MX5

[aust240378]

Tom_blogs said:

Thanks for the reply you really did undertake a lot of maintenance on the 330ci. I will look into the meyle breather kit as I have heard the cars can suffer vacuum leaks especially around the CCV system. The e46 is from an era where I belive the manual gearbox was still the better choice over the auto (technically less so much today with the 8 speed zf autos that are so commonly used). The 6 speed definitely commands a price premium over the pre-facelift 5 speed but i did manage 38mpg on a motorway run the other day. The E46 is fitted with a clutch delay valve which slows the clutch engagement and is apparently make shifts easier however, coming from the brilliant 5 speed manual in the MX-5 the BMW manual box certainly lacks some engagement with the delay valve and can make parallel parking a bit of a pain as it is easy to stall.
The fiat coupe is awsome in yellow! Its great to see less common cars like these with the 5 cylinder engines. I learnt to drive in my Dads vectra 1.9cdti. He loved the car and owned it many years with well over 200k miles reliably covered. He only sold it to purchase a van for work and I could see he really was sad to let it go.

Thanks, yellow is my favourite colour for the Fiat,
My 320d touring had the clutch delay valve removed by the previous owner, it made the gear changes quicker.

hmmmm 38mpg, don't tell me that It will sway me back into the ownership even quicker! The auto would only do 29mpg combined. I had been using it for my 95 mile a day commute but it was just too expensive. If I could get 400 miles per tank I could justify it

[Andrew-b90y3]

Tom_blogs said:

Andrew-b90y3 said:

Fellow E46 330ci owner here



Main things on these are:

Rocker cover gasket - will probably leak in the offside rear corner onto the exhaust manifold.

Sump gasket - will just leak

Oil filter housing gasket - these leak and blow down the block etc so you’ll probably think it’s the sump gasket.

Front control arm bushes - I replaced mine with solid castle offset z4m bushes and the difference in drive was night and day!

Rear trailing arm bushes - again difference when these are changed is night and day!

Yours is a lovely looking example!

Enjoy!

Thanks for the advise. How did you find the 330ci on track? did you make any mods (brakes,suspension etc.) Would deffinatly like to see how it compares on track compared to the MX5

You’re welcome!

Tbh I found it awesome on track, just to give you a very brief idea of setup I’ve got the following on it,

Gaz 330 challenge monotube coilover’s
Gaz adjustable top mounts
Front and rear strut braces
Z4 solid castor mounts
Michelin PSS’s
Pagid RS29
Braided lines
-3 camber up front
-2 camber rear
Rear end strip
Corbeau clubsport x 2

The best way to describe the setup I’ve got is that the car just feels really stable, even at high speed it doesn’t really get out of shape much.

Down sides to it are that it still feels heavy, it’s not as noisy as I’d like it to be but I’ve got an exhaust waiting to be fitted, other than that it’s all good!

[cerb4.5lee]

A very nice 2 car combo.

I love the fact that they are both Blue as well.

Enjoy.

[pstruck]

As has been said already this is a great pair. I have owned and enjoyed both in the past.

Just found this old pic of my blue 330 back in 2008. It is a cracking colour and shines up a treat.

[Mr Tidy]

A lovely pairing OP.

My 1st ever BMW was a 2004 Mystic Blue E46 Compact in 2005, but business mileage meant it was a 320td.

Some years later with no business use I realised the error of my ways when I got an Imola Red E46 Compact 325ti!

But straight 6 petrol BMWs can be addictive - since then I've had an E91 325i, E90 330i and three E86 Z4 Coupes.

Love the colour of your MX5 by the way - enjoy.

[ahas]

Great write up OP.

The list is helpful as I too am running my way down sorting my 04 330ci.
I had rad sag, so opted to do full coolant system change, I too bought a premium ET, it was a Hella Behr one and I just had constant leaks. The hoses just don't seat 100%. Its only when I looked to revert to my old ET I noticed it was an original BMW one with a 2013 date stamp so just stuck that back on. Since then touch wood it's been ok.

My to do list.
-Heater Matrix is leaking I'm certain, smelly cabin, with small loss of coolant after a few weeks.
-My electric fan is not functioning!
-I have an oil leak somewhere, I'm afraid to admit it's from the sump gasket but at the moment just keeping her topped up.
- I only blow hot air in cabin, but again top down in summer is fine, and in winter the heat is welcomed!

Other than that all good! Just very thirsty!!

I have an auto which I enjoy, the 6sp manual is cracking, as my brother had one which I used to drive. But this is more for cruising! And not a bad 'sleeper car' at that.

[Tom_blogs]

aust240378 said:

Thanks, yellow is my favourite colour for the Fiat,
My 320d touring had the clutch delay valve removed by the previous owner, it made the gear changes quicker.

hmmmm 38mpg, don't tell me that It will sway me back into the ownership even quicker! The auto would only do 29mpg combined. I had been using it for my 95 mile a day commute but it was just too expensive. If I could get 400 miles per tank I could justify it

That 38mpg did drop right off once I was off the motorway. The car defiantly is thirsty when I spent a week doing motorway driving for work I could just scrape 400miles from the tank. However, normally I struggle to get more than 300-330 miles from a tank averaging between 24-27 mpg. The car is lovely on a run out when you can open the engine up a bit but around town on the daily 30mph road slog I find it sluggish at times and very thirsty.

[Tom_blogs]

Andrew-b90y3 said:

You’re welcome!

Tbh I found it awesome on track, just to give you a very brief idea of setup I’ve got the following on it,

Gaz 330 challenge monotube coilover’s
Gaz adjustable top mounts
Front and rear strut braces
Z4 solid castor mounts
Michelin PSS’s
Pagid RS29
Braided lines
-3 camber up front
-2 camber rear
Rear end strip
Corbeau clubsport x 2

The best way to describe the setup I’ve got is that the car just feels really stable, even at high speed it doesn’t really get out of shape much.

Down sides to it are that it still feels heavy, it’s not as noisy as I’d like it to be but I’ve got an exhaust waiting to be fitted, other than that it’s all good!

I can agree with you with the car being quiet and heavy (especially compared to the <1tonne mx5). I am currently looking at exhaust options. Ideally a bolt on exhaust would be preferable as I would like to be able to return the car to stock if needed. Any recommendations on an exhaust setup would be great