geeks E46 330 touring wagon of invisibility!
Discussion
Having been in the rather unusual situation of having a car worth more than I owed on it recently I decided to say goodbye to the Abarth, COVID and a job change meant I was going to be doing nowhere near the mileage I used to and it was hard to justify having a car on the monthlies that wasn't really being used. So a deal with WBAC was done and the Abarth after 13,000 miles of ownership has gone. I was gutted to see it go, really loved the little thing but it was the grown up thing to do.
With that in mind something was still needed to replace it as I cannot use Mrs geeks car for work stuff on the few trips here and there I will still need to do. As luck would have it a friends dad was selling his E46 330 Touring, a car I was vaguely familiar with from when he used to use it to transport his race gear about the country. A quick chat confirmed it was the car I thought it was and it indeed has been as well looked after as I remembered. With that in mind we loaded the dogs into the car and set off on the 2 hours or so to go and have a poke around, once I arrived it was pretty clear I was taking it home, happy with the test drive a deal was done and off I set for home.
Once home as always its time to have a proper look and see what's what.. So what do we have?
E46 BMW 330 Touring
Xenons
Style 32's
Titan silver paint
Shadowline trim with Carbon trim panels
Climate Control
Cruise Control
Tape Deck and CD Changer
2 x keys
Black leather seats
Full Service History
MOT until March 2022
139,000 odd miles under its belt
Now, some pictures..
The money shot!
Bodywork needs some TLC, the bumper needs a paint and it has the usual E46 crust developing but overall for an almost 20 year old car, it's lovely. It drives "like a new car" I can attribute this to it having been babied, everything it has needed has been done and even the stuff it hasn't needed has been done too. The suspension is tight, the steering good and the gearbox, telepathic, snappy and responsive, these are words you wouldn't use when describing it. Adequate I think is the description but it suits the car and the type of driving that it will be used for so really I have no complaints. I love it, the straight 6 is a wonderful thing and makes that noise we all know and love, being a silver estate means it's totally invisible not once have I had someone try and "race me" it just cruises around without fuss and thumps down dual carriageways at pace without any bother.
With that in mind something was still needed to replace it as I cannot use Mrs geeks car for work stuff on the few trips here and there I will still need to do. As luck would have it a friends dad was selling his E46 330 Touring, a car I was vaguely familiar with from when he used to use it to transport his race gear about the country. A quick chat confirmed it was the car I thought it was and it indeed has been as well looked after as I remembered. With that in mind we loaded the dogs into the car and set off on the 2 hours or so to go and have a poke around, once I arrived it was pretty clear I was taking it home, happy with the test drive a deal was done and off I set for home.
Once home as always its time to have a proper look and see what's what.. So what do we have?
E46 BMW 330 Touring
Xenons
Style 32's
Titan silver paint
Shadowline trim with Carbon trim panels
Climate Control
Cruise Control
Tape Deck and CD Changer
2 x keys
Black leather seats
Full Service History
MOT until March 2022
139,000 odd miles under its belt
Now, some pictures..
The money shot!
Bodywork needs some TLC, the bumper needs a paint and it has the usual E46 crust developing but overall for an almost 20 year old car, it's lovely. It drives "like a new car" I can attribute this to it having been babied, everything it has needed has been done and even the stuff it hasn't needed has been done too. The suspension is tight, the steering good and the gearbox, telepathic, snappy and responsive, these are words you wouldn't use when describing it. Adequate I think is the description but it suits the car and the type of driving that it will be used for so really I have no complaints. I love it, the straight 6 is a wonderful thing and makes that noise we all know and love, being a silver estate means it's totally invisible not once have I had someone try and "race me" it just cruises around without fuss and thumps down dual carriageways at pace without any bother.
Edited by geeks on Friday 20th August 12:30
Having run around for a couple of weeks doing "estate car things" such as tip runs, moving big items and generally enjoying it, it was time to address some niggles. First though a picture of an estate car doing what estate cars do, a tip run!
On from that to the niggles, first up brake judder, when braking gently all seemed fine, when braking hard or from speed there was quite the judder through the steering wheel, a quick chat with Clive from CB Autoservices (a quick plug for him here: https://www.cbautoservices.co.uk/) confirmed my suspicion of pad pickup on the discs. The rear pads were low too so a full set of pads was ordered along with replacement front discs. Inspection of the old ones confirmed our theory, see much pickup!
Those rear pads that needed a swap:
Sadly I don't have pictures of shiny new brakes fitted to the car but I am sure you can all use your imaginations for that.
Next niggle, it had a couple of times stalled when reversing on a gradient and once when moving from P to D on a set of lights to pull away, I also noticed the engine wasnt really pulling as it should especially low down. A quick plug in to my trust Bluetooth code reader and Torque Pro Android app confirmed a sensor fault for the inlet camshaft sensor. A new BMW sensor was ordered and the next day while waiting for it to arrive I was returning from Wickes (having bought some long lengths of timber, more estate car things) it decided to stall halfway round a roundabout, the first I knew of this the steering had gone heavy I looked down to see the rev counter on the stop, s
t! Fortunately I was able to get it into neutral and restarted while still turning right without power steering, coasting and not causing a massive accident, a PH driving god if ever you saw one people! With the sensors arrival I fitted it that evening keen to avoid the same sphincter worrying situation from the day before, I don't have pictures of this either as it was late when I changed it and it took only 5 minutes to swap out. I can however report that it did indeed resolve the issue and it now fires off the line as you would expect and no more stalling.
On from that to the niggles, first up brake judder, when braking gently all seemed fine, when braking hard or from speed there was quite the judder through the steering wheel, a quick chat with Clive from CB Autoservices (a quick plug for him here: https://www.cbautoservices.co.uk/) confirmed my suspicion of pad pickup on the discs. The rear pads were low too so a full set of pads was ordered along with replacement front discs. Inspection of the old ones confirmed our theory, see much pickup!
Those rear pads that needed a swap:
Sadly I don't have pictures of shiny new brakes fitted to the car but I am sure you can all use your imaginations for that.
Next niggle, it had a couple of times stalled when reversing on a gradient and once when moving from P to D on a set of lights to pull away, I also noticed the engine wasnt really pulling as it should especially low down. A quick plug in to my trust Bluetooth code reader and Torque Pro Android app confirmed a sensor fault for the inlet camshaft sensor. A new BMW sensor was ordered and the next day while waiting for it to arrive I was returning from Wickes (having bought some long lengths of timber, more estate car things) it decided to stall halfway round a roundabout, the first I knew of this the steering had gone heavy I looked down to see the rev counter on the stop, s
t! Fortunately I was able to get it into neutral and restarted while still turning right without power steering, coasting and not causing a massive accident, a PH driving god if ever you saw one people! With the sensors arrival I fitted it that evening keen to avoid the same sphincter worrying situation from the day before, I don't have pictures of this either as it was late when I changed it and it took only 5 minutes to swap out. I can however report that it did indeed resolve the issue and it now fires off the line as you would expect and no more stalling.Thanks for the comments guys, much appreciated, @SF_mantra, watched your thread from the beginning. Am I correct in thinking you are local to me (MK)?
Back to the car at hand took it down to Newbury and back today from MK. On the return leg....
Bugger, fking cars! It was still driving fine and with no code reader on me I figured I would carry on to home.
Once home it was time to work out what was the cause of our new found illumination. A quick code read later and we have....
Cock! Having just changed the inlet sensor I guess it follows the exhaust one would fail shortly there after... However the P0174 code.. that's going to be trickier to trace, chances are I have an air leak somewhere, wisdom would suggest that I have disturbed a pipe that was already brittle when I removed the airbox etc to change the inlet cam sensor. So, now we have to chase it down, it's all an adventure I suppose
Back to the car at hand took it down to Newbury and back today from MK. On the return leg....
Bugger, f
king cars! It was still driving fine and with no code reader on me I figured I would carry on to home. Once home it was time to work out what was the cause of our new found illumination. A quick code read later and we have....
Cock! Having just changed the inlet sensor I guess it follows the exhaust one would fail shortly there after... However the P0174 code.. that's going to be trickier to trace, chances are I have an air leak somewhere, wisdom would suggest that I have disturbed a pipe that was already brittle when I removed the airbox etc to change the inlet cam sensor. So, now we have to chase it down, it's all an adventure I suppose
Cheers chaps. I shall persevere. Mrs geeks did look at me looking at RealOEM earlier and asked “is this car going to become a money pit?” I have assured her it’s possible 
Some bits ordered this evening. I shall order intake boot tomorrow and DISA rebuild kit as I read a few horror stories about them. Might organise a vanos rebuild kit too eventually but it seems ok for now so I’ll leave it be for the time being but it’s on the list.
I have assured her it’s possible Some bits ordered this evening. I shall order intake boot tomorrow and DISA rebuild kit as I read a few horror stories about them. Might organise a vanos rebuild kit too eventually but it seems ok for now so I’ll leave it be for the time being but it’s on the list.
Edited by geeks on Sunday 22 August 19:27
d_a_n1979 said:
geeks said:
Disassembled airbox today, both boots look fine, no aging or discernible cracks but I have ordered replacements. Took the DISA valve out and it looks almost new, I will have a flick through the history and see if it has had a replacement
Did you check the vac lines and also the intake part of the boot where it connects to the TB? They crack/perish and sometimes it's hard to seeNew bits have arrived in the post today, it's like a mini Christmas, upper intake boot, rear passenger window regulator as that crapped itself a couple of weeks into ownership and also the exhaust cam sensor, the lower intake boot should be here by the weekend as well so guess what I will doing this weekend? @SF_Manta, if you have nothing better to be doing on Sunday, please feel free to come over make appreciative noises, nose at what I could be doing better and drink my coffee you are more than welcome
ETA - It will be Sunday I just remember Mrs geeks has a hospital appointment on Saturday
ETA - It will be Sunday I just remember Mrs geeks has a hospital appointment on Saturday
Edited by geeks on Wednesday 25th August 13:17
d_a_n1979 said:
geeks said:
New bits have arrived in the post today, it's like a mini Christmas, upper intake boot, rear passenger window regulator as that crapped itself a couple of weeks into ownership and also the exhaust cam sensor, the lower intake boot should be here by the weekend as well so guess what I will doing this weekend? @SF_Manta, if you have nothing better to be doing on Sunday, please feel free to come over make appreciative noises, nose at what I could be doing better and drink my coffee you are more than welcome
ETA - It will be Sunday I just remember Mrs geeks has a hospital appointment on Saturday
Sounds like a busy weekend ahead ETA - It will be Sunday I just remember Mrs geeks has a hospital appointment on Saturday
Edited by geeks on Wednesday 25th August 13:17
Well the lower intake boot has just arrived and stuff for a service should arrive tomorrow.
Sf_Manta said:
I've got my BIL's BBQ on Saturday, so likely can make my way over with my laptop and cable Sunday afternoon and some tools. PM me a postcode and contact number, i should be able to trundle over and lend a hand.
You have PM sir!Edited by Sf_Manta on Wednesday 25th August 16:32
Massively overdue update.
First things first, big thanks to SF_Manta for popping over back last year and assisting with the fitting of the intake boots and the use of INPA.
Other than the service, replacing the rear passenger window mech its all been pretty easy going. However there has been a persistent vibration that I hadn't been able to nail down, not doing a great deal of mileage at the moment and its never really been a massive issue.
Popped the car over the BMW the other day (according to the history the first time its been to a main dealer in 15 odd years) for it's airbag recalls. They did a health check too while they were at it. Turns out both rear top mounts are goosed but also it would appear I have two buckled wheels on the drivers side. Bit irksome as when looking into this a while back it felt wheel related so I had them balanced, nothing was mentioned about this but it pretty clear now that's where its coming from.
New top mounts ordered and off to a wheel place later to get the buckled wheels looked at to see how much to repair, they appear to be only little out of shape so hopefully not a massive bill. I did contemplate picking up another pair but didn't realise how expensive style 32's had become!
First things first, big thanks to SF_Manta for popping over back last year and assisting with the fitting of the intake boots and the use of INPA.
Other than the service, replacing the rear passenger window mech its all been pretty easy going. However there has been a persistent vibration that I hadn't been able to nail down, not doing a great deal of mileage at the moment and its never really been a massive issue.
Popped the car over the BMW the other day (according to the history the first time its been to a main dealer in 15 odd years) for it's airbag recalls. They did a health check too while they were at it. Turns out both rear top mounts are goosed but also it would appear I have two buckled wheels on the drivers side. Bit irksome as when looking into this a while back it felt wheel related so I had them balanced, nothing was mentioned about this but it pretty clear now that's where its coming from.
New top mounts ordered and off to a wheel place later to get the buckled wheels looked at to see how much to repair, they appear to be only little out of shape so hopefully not a massive bill. I did contemplate picking up another pair but didn't realise how expensive style 32's had become!
The 330 continues to do its thing and do it well. With that in mind I finally got around to sorting those top mounts out. They were pretty well gone, the drivers side one pretty much fell apart once I took it out! Good news is the vibrations I was getting seem to have all but stopped now and the rear feels planted!
Some pics for your "regardé!"
Some pics for your "regardé!"
Court_S said:
That's lovely, I really like the E46 touring, especially on those wheels. Sounds like it hasn't been too much of a pain to run.
How is it for rust?
Yeah in terms of rust its the usual spots, rear arches and sills, fortunately at the moment it isn't too terrible but something that will need work eventually.How is it for rust?
Sf_Manta said:
Of note, i'll be doing the 02Pilot Mod to mine soon to resolve some oil consumption issues.
It's a pretty easy mod in just running a vaccum line from one of the blanked ports on the intake to the blanked off port on the CCV. Why BMW didn't do this i don't know but it apparently resolves the consumption issues completely or 95% of the way there.
Hmm just looked into this, let me know how you get on, mine isn't massively thirsty on oil but it does get through a little for sure.It's a pretty easy mod in just running a vaccum line from one of the blanked ports on the intake to the blanked off port on the CCV. Why BMW didn't do this i don't know but it apparently resolves the consumption issues completely or 95% of the way there.
The 330 has been plodding along doing its thing just fine for a while now. Until yesterday, returning from a run out it felt like what I can only really describe as clutch slip. Bugger. Its clearly got an issue with the box of the torque converter, in either case I am at a loss as to what to do next. Its a job I could do myself (box out on one of these isn't the end of the world, 2 out of 4 spanners in terms of difficulty I reckon it is as always just a time thing) but even then its a case of getting the box rebuilt or a recon box installed plus whatever on the torque converter. Plus its coming up to MOT time and also it still needs the body work stuff doing. All in all I am not sure if I should spend the money and the time or just move her on as is and see what the next owner fancies. Decisions, decisions....
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