BMW 330ci

[AMH82]

Washed our 330 Monday night, so thought I'd nip out and take a few pics


BMW 330ci by Hallsy01, on Flickr


BMW 330ci by Hallsy01, on Flickr


BMW 330ci by Hallsy01, on Flickr


BMW 330ci by Hallsy01, on Flickr


BMW 330ci by Hallsy01, on Flickr


BMW 330ci by Hallsy01, on Flickr


BMW 330ci by Hallsy01, on Flickr

Shiny, shiny

[Another Fluffer]

Really like that

[scotty02uk]

what do you clean your car with?, can never get mine to look that shiny

[soad]

Fook me, that looks spotless! Good effort
Must have spend hours polishing

[PaulB81]

Wow thats shiney!! I cleaned mine the other day and it was not half as clean as that.

Good work (and nice photography too, love the post-proccessing)

[AMH82]

Another Fluffer said:

Really like that

Thanks!

scotty02uk said:

what do you clean your car with?, can never get mine to look that shiny

Cleaned it that time with Duragloss 901 and then went over with Meguiars Last Touch after drying. I've not chance to machine polish the paint yet, but it is pretty good with only minor swirling. A couple of weeks ago the whole car was washed, clayed, washed then glazed with Chemical Guys EZ-Creme Glaze (nice product this, adds wetness & gloss to the paint, also a good base for wax), then waxed with Collinite 476S. The processing of the photo's and late low light probably add to the shine though

soad said:

Fook me, that looks spotless! Good effort
Must have spend hours polishing

See above, lol!! Not yet, but when I machine polish it, then yeah!

PaulB81 said:

Wow thats shiney!! I cleaned mine the other day and it was not half as clean as that.

Good work (and nice photography too, love the post-proccessing)

Thanks, my car photography has felt a little flat lately so nice to have positive comments

[RallyeS1]

The Photos are stunning. What Camera are you using? How do you get shots like that? The car aint to shabby either!

[mwstewart]

Very nice, and good shots. Someone was very keen to get the facelift look at the rear!

[ambuletz]

Love it, want it. Give it to me now! (the car that is). Much nicer then parading around in a 5-7 year old fiesta for similar price.

[AMH82]

RallyeS1 - They were taken on a Canon 20D with Canon 50mm f/1.8 lens. Post processed in Lightroom 3.

I'm no expert at taking pics of cars, I've gone out a few times to take pictures of my cars and not been happy with the results. From my experience, the best times to take them are in good light, either early morning or late at night. Midday, high sun is not very flattering.

A CPL (polariser) helps. Taking pics of the car is good to show the car off, but to get a nice 'picture' it's worth considering your background and thinking of the whole image. Different angles, detail shots, etc keep things creative.

The pictures I posted recently of my 850R were a bit off really, midday sun, boring backdrop and boring compositions. I tried a bit harder with these, but am still lacking a good location really. I wanted an industrial setting, but they were all locked up!!

Mwstewart - They are indeed LED rear lights, smoked ones, think they're a nice subtle mod. Still have the original clear/red rear clusters in the loft.

[mwstewart]

AMH82 said:

Mwstewart - They are indeed LED rear lights, smoked ones, think they're a nice subtle mod. Still have the original clear/red rear clusters in the loft.

It also has a facelift tailgate

[AMH82]

What makes you say that? I wasn't aware there was any difference between pre & post facelift coupe tailgates?

[AMH82]

Just had a look at some pics of a facelift & pre-facelift coupe, bootlid looks the same to me?

Ours has a lip spoiler, but I thought that was a Sport thing?

[mwstewart]

Pre-Facelift:


Facelift:


Notice the shape of the trim above the number plate?

[AMH82]

Sneaky!!

Maybe a PO replaced the bootlid, or just the bit of trim even!.

[mwstewart]

It's a different boot entirely, it's an improvement IMO. The LED's look good also.

[AMH82]

Learn something new every day!!

So what else is different about the facelift bootlid? I had a little read around, and see that some people have fitted facelift handles (or at least tried) to pre-face boots, but the lock mech is different.

Maybe it had a rear ender, showed up OK on history check though. If it has any work it's been done well as I tend to be a bit picky with stuff like that, lol!!

[ambuletz]

you're holding back on us AMH. I notice a lovely MX-5 on BBS rims (my ideal car+ wheels);)

[varsas]

Very nice looking car.

I'm (hoping) to get one of these as my next daily hack. What's it like? My main worry is that they are a bit heavy and lumbering, more of a comfortable express then a sports saloon. Is that true?

[AMH82]

ambuletz - I know, I'll post them up in another thread, haven't taken any pics lately, I need to tax it and get it out of the garage!!

varsas - just the opposite in my experience, ours feels very light, responsive, reasonably firm ride. The first year (or two, I can't remember exactly) of the 330 BMW boosted the PAS which makes the feeling feel very eager & quick, a little too quick for me, but you get used to it. I think 2001 on they slowed it a little again. Throttle repsonse is also pretty sharp (as long as Vanos is working well, seals can wear and cause errtaic operation), as are the brakes. The ones with Sport suspension (was an option on SE models I believe) handle OK for an 'executive' coupe.

Not the drivers car that my Eunos is, but then it feels considerably sharper than my 850R (until she gets on boost!), which I still consider to feel like a car of half it's mass.

The e46 is a nice car, just find a well kept one, 325 or 330 a preference, coupe a preference again.