Discussion
Good afternoon all,
Thought I'd use this forum to keep a diary of my 2002 E46 325 Sport and to share to all that are interested.
Car was purchased August 2008 with 59K on the clock and since then I've been undertaking various maintenance projects (admittedly most of them pre-emptive) to bring the car back up to scratch. In response to the usual question/comment concerned with this particular car, I opted to but on condition. Initially setting out to buy a 330, after various viewings and couple of test-drives this one stood out as the straightest and most honest example. Plenty fast enough for me, and my first foray into BMW and RWD ownership.
List of items renewed/up rated as follows:
Full alloy wheel refurbishment shortly after purchase
4 new Avon ZZ3 tires (Good value, performance, and wearing well)
New Brembo grooved discs
New Redstuff Pads (utter crap now back to OEM)
New Febi/Billstein front wishbones complete with rear bushes and lollipop brackets
New OEM RTAB's
New OEM Drop links
Up rated metal impeller water pump
New Thermostat
New Serpentine and A/C belts
New Tensioners (main and A/C)
Replaced Gearbox oil
Blueflame CAT back system installed by Blueflame
New Rainbow front speakers (replacement for 1 blown original)
The car now drives very well, sounding more exciting when giving it the beans, without sacrificing comfort at motorway cruizing speed.
Hope you enjoy the (fairly poor quality) pictures and comment as you see fit!
Thought I'd use this forum to keep a diary of my 2002 E46 325 Sport and to share to all that are interested.
Car was purchased August 2008 with 59K on the clock and since then I've been undertaking various maintenance projects (admittedly most of them pre-emptive) to bring the car back up to scratch. In response to the usual question/comment concerned with this particular car, I opted to but on condition. Initially setting out to buy a 330, after various viewings and couple of test-drives this one stood out as the straightest and most honest example. Plenty fast enough for me, and my first foray into BMW and RWD ownership.
List of items renewed/up rated as follows:
Full alloy wheel refurbishment shortly after purchase
4 new Avon ZZ3 tires (Good value, performance, and wearing well)
New Brembo grooved discs
New Redstuff Pads (utter crap now back to OEM)
New Febi/Billstein front wishbones complete with rear bushes and lollipop brackets
New OEM RTAB's
New OEM Drop links
Up rated metal impeller water pump
New Thermostat
New Serpentine and A/C belts
New Tensioners (main and A/C)
Replaced Gearbox oil
Blueflame CAT back system installed by Blueflame
New Rainbow front speakers (replacement for 1 blown original)
The car now drives very well, sounding more exciting when giving it the beans, without sacrificing comfort at motorway cruizing speed.
Hope you enjoy the (fairly poor quality) pictures and comment as you see fit!
I've got those on mine, look great without being too big Nice car! I've got a 2003 325i sport, so have a similar list of pre-emptive/wishlist things that need doing at some point. I just got 4 F1 Asymmetrics fitted this morning, so one thing ticked off - but then found that the rear right coil spring needs replacing. It never ends.
Out of interest (as mine probably needs it doing), how difficult was fitting the metal impeller pump? I've also been thinking about moving to brembo discs as the fronts need replacing soon - do you find them noticeably better/different?
Out of interest (as mine probably needs it doing), how difficult was fitting the metal impeller pump? I've also been thinking about moving to brembo discs as the fronts need replacing soon - do you find them noticeably better/different?
Afternoon gents,
Thanks for the comments/questions...
Redstuff Pads - Where do I start!! 1st of all they sent me a pair of used rear pads. This lead to an interesting telephone conversation during which a young chap stuttered his way through a list of possible reasons as to how this could have happened??
On receipt of the new rears, they never sat properly and rattled around like hell whenever you hit so much as a fag paper. The fronts fitted well, however the underlying problem with the Red's was that unless you hammering the car all the time and really got some heat into them.. They moaned and groaned (even felt like grinding sometimes) to the point where enough was enough. Replaced with OEM and all is well.
Rainbow Speakers - Direct fit into existing gaps. Saves a shed load of pain and they sound terrific. What makes it even better is when they send you 2 sets and you get to recoup 50% of your outlay by selling them on!
Water Pump - Saves a lot of worrying over exploded crappy plastic ones, especially as the car was nearing 70K when I (+ watchful father) replaced them.
Surprisingly easy following DIY forum on another site. Worth undertaking whilst belts were off along with the thermostat.
Although no one has mentioned them, the exhaust replacement has been the favorite change I've made, really lovely low burble, which changes to a roar once over 4krpm. But the best pound for pound replacement was the wishbones. Totally transformed the handling and really tightened up the front of the car.
Cheers for reading!
Thanks for the comments/questions...
Redstuff Pads - Where do I start!! 1st of all they sent me a pair of used rear pads. This lead to an interesting telephone conversation during which a young chap stuttered his way through a list of possible reasons as to how this could have happened??
On receipt of the new rears, they never sat properly and rattled around like hell whenever you hit so much as a fag paper. The fronts fitted well, however the underlying problem with the Red's was that unless you hammering the car all the time and really got some heat into them.. They moaned and groaned (even felt like grinding sometimes) to the point where enough was enough. Replaced with OEM and all is well.
Rainbow Speakers - Direct fit into existing gaps. Saves a shed load of pain and they sound terrific. What makes it even better is when they send you 2 sets and you get to recoup 50% of your outlay by selling them on!
Water Pump - Saves a lot of worrying over exploded crappy plastic ones, especially as the car was nearing 70K when I (+ watchful father) replaced them.
Surprisingly easy following DIY forum on another site. Worth undertaking whilst belts were off along with the thermostat.
Although no one has mentioned them, the exhaust replacement has been the favorite change I've made, really lovely low burble, which changes to a roar once over 4krpm. But the best pound for pound replacement was the wishbones. Totally transformed the handling and really tightened up the front of the car.
Cheers for reading!
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