Not convinced - e46 coupe
Discussion
So i had a e91 touring 330d - loved it.
The touring was a bit small, so got a octavia estate vrs - gave this to the wife, love it!
Went out and got a e46 330i coupe, one owner and 40k on the clock... and im not sure... it tramlines, and therefore doesnt feel as planted as my old (newer) touring i used to own.
Read such good things about the e46 coupes, even replaced the front bushes which has improved things alot and fixed the interior window trim. Tyres are all good (new falkens).
So far i have done 300 miles and it is not the ultimate driving experience
Im hoping it grows on me like all my friends who own these and say you get used to it and end up loving it.
The touring was a bit small, so got a octavia estate vrs - gave this to the wife, love it!
Went out and got a e46 330i coupe, one owner and 40k on the clock... and im not sure... it tramlines, and therefore doesnt feel as planted as my old (newer) touring i used to own.
Read such good things about the e46 coupes, even replaced the front bushes which has improved things alot and fixed the interior window trim. Tyres are all good (new falkens).So far i have done 300 miles and it is not the ultimate driving experience
Im hoping it grows on me like all my friends who own these and say you get used to it and end up loving it. Has it got run flat tyres on it? My 320d has these and I've driven a mate's car fitted with non run flats which felt better (mines a company/lease car so I have to live with it). If you're running very low profile tyres on larger alloys this won't help either (though they look better of course).
is it a manual? m sport? mine is both but an SE spec auto would be much better as a comfy cruiser with abit of poke rather than a 'sporty' coupe.might be worth taking it to an indy garage to give it a good once over as things like suspension etc on these are worth keeping an eye on, i see you replaced the front bushes but the rest may need doing and did you use powerflex?
i had the wishbone mounts and rear shock mounts and gaskets done on mine(powerflex) and it was like a different car
look into the left exhaust pipe, there is a valve than may well have rusted shut. if so release it and leave in the fully open position. should sound nicer and may even release a few bhp
overall im very happy with mine, generally aware im in a 1.5 tonne coupe and not some lightweight buzzing hatch but still very capable when conditions allow you to push on
i had the wishbone mounts and rear shock mounts and gaskets done on mine(powerflex) and it was like a different car
look into the left exhaust pipe, there is a valve than may well have rusted shut. if so release it and leave in the fully open position. should sound nicer and may even release a few bhp
overall im very happy with mine, generally aware im in a 1.5 tonne coupe and not some lightweight buzzing hatch but still very capable when conditions allow you to push on
It's an m sport manual, has non run flats on the car. Bushes replaced were for standard ones, I may look into getting powerflex or meyle hd fitted if after a week or so I'm still not convinced.
Meyle appear to do ameboid wishbone kit, arb etc for about £200 on the bay.
Pretty gutted that I just paid 150 getting the bushes done
Meyle appear to do ameboid wishbone kit, arb etc for about £200 on the bay.
Pretty gutted that I just paid 150 getting the bushes done
Bit of info here regarding 330i tyres and tramlining: http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Me mum's 320Cd used to tramline like a b
h slowing for roundabouts, only had 27k on it at the time as well. Turns out her front control arms were shot, replaced these and it behaved much better. Still wasn't ideal, and my current 330d Saloon has none of the same problems.
Didn't all the coupes have the M-Sport suspension as standard?
h slowing for roundabouts, only had 27k on it at the time as well. Turns out her front control arms were shot, replaced these and it behaved much better. Still wasn't ideal, and my current 330d Saloon has none of the same problems. Didn't all the coupes have the M-Sport suspension as standard?
two things to note:
1) If the Falkens are not a winter tyre compound then the rubber will have been pretty hard in the recent low temperatures which will make them handle like s.
2) Believe it or not, you need to give them longer than 300 miles to fully settle and bed in on the car. I've run Goodyear Eagle F1's on My E36 328i over the last 5 years (DS3's originally and now asymmetrical's), and they've never felt fully settled until at least 500 miles have passed.
1) If the Falkens are not a winter tyre compound then the rubber will have been pretty hard in the recent low temperatures which will make them handle like s
.2) Believe it or not, you need to give them longer than 300 miles to fully settle and bed in on the car. I've run Goodyear Eagle F1's on My E36 328i over the last 5 years (DS3's originally and now asymmetrical's), and they've never felt fully settled until at least 500 miles have passed.
So a little update.
Been driving it around and have noticed that on a main carriage way it is actually very good. On a single road with heavy traffic (ruts) it handles very badly!!!
Went out for a very spirited drive last night (naughty) but it was quiet so went on two different roads and got up to the same speed. Needless to say on the rutty road at high speed the car felt unsettled. On the carriage way it was great and drove straight and true.
All the E46 owners i have spoken to have said they are like a train on rails and you can sometimes be along for the ride if the road is rutty LOL
I may still change the wishbones/ball joints for peace of mind but for now i will see if i get used to it.
Been driving it around and have noticed that on a main carriage way it is actually very good. On a single road with heavy traffic (ruts) it handles very badly!!!
Went out for a very spirited drive last night (naughty) but it was quiet so went on two different roads and got up to the same speed. Needless to say on the rutty road at high speed the car felt unsettled. On the carriage way it was great and drove straight and true.
All the E46 owners i have spoken to have said they are like a train on rails and you can sometimes be along for the ride if the road is rutty LOL
I may still change the wishbones/ball joints for peace of mind but for now i will see if i get used to it.
SBN said:
Been driving it around and have noticed that on a main carriage way it is actually very good. On a single road with heavy traffic (ruts) it handles very badly!!!
Mine (330Ci) is running on Falken tyres (front) and Khumo (rear). Falken I thought were probably OK, but Khumo I've never heard of, so is probably a very cheap brand! Despite the rears having plenty of life left in them (nowhere near the wear bars), its ridiculously easy to provoke traction control with a spirited get-away.Like you, at 70 on the motorway it rides just fine (in a dead straight line), but it can be quite fidgety on worn A-roads. I've only had mine a few weeks, so I booked it in to our local specialist the other day to get it checked over. Came back with a completely clean bill of health - nothing needs replacing at the moment (other than perhaps a slow acting oil level warning sensor, but I already knew about that). So I wonder in my case if it is the combination of two brands of budget tyres? I bought it as a motorway cruiser, so it doesn't bother me that much. Just a little bit annoying though.
I would say it is probably a tyre related issue, the Falkens could just be really bad for tramlining. Also, I would not swap from OE bushes to some aftermarket ones, what's to say it will get better? OE bushes are designed to deflect and basically calm the car down, your car sounds like added twitchiness is the last thing you need.
Do you have standard wheel and tyre size? Sometimes aftermarket wheels have incorrect offset and that really can cause tramlining.
I have driven a lot of BMW 3 series and the only one that tramlined badly had incorrect offset wheels.
Do you have standard wheel and tyre size? Sometimes aftermarket wheels have incorrect offset and that really can cause tramlining.
I have driven a lot of BMW 3 series and the only one that tramlined badly had incorrect offset wheels.
SBN said:
So a little update.
Been driving it around and have noticed that on a main carriage way it is actually very good. On a single road with heavy traffic (ruts) it handles very badly!!!
Went out for a very spirited drive last night (naughty) but it was quiet so went on two different roads and got up to the same speed. Needless to say on the rutty road at high speed the car felt unsettled. On the carriage way it was great and drove straight and true.
All the E46 owners i have spoken to have said they are like a train on rails and you can sometimes be along for the ride if the road is rutty LOL
I may still change the wishbones/ball joints for peace of mind but for now i will see if i get used to it.
the ride in coupe m sport models is very hard, and it will almost be nervous on most country/b roads. some people will argue that they are not geared up for the 'bad uk roads'Been driving it around and have noticed that on a main carriage way it is actually very good. On a single road with heavy traffic (ruts) it handles very badly!!!
Went out for a very spirited drive last night (naughty) but it was quiet so went on two different roads and got up to the same speed. Needless to say on the rutty road at high speed the car felt unsettled. On the carriage way it was great and drove straight and true.
All the E46 owners i have spoken to have said they are like a train on rails and you can sometimes be along for the ride if the road is rutty LOL
I may still change the wishbones/ball joints for peace of mind but for now i will see if i get used to it.
found out first hand after getting the powerflex bushes done on mine, chuffed to bits with its handling i turned right onto another road where the car skipped over a catseye that i didnt even know was there and hadnt felt in any other car let alone caused a car to skip!
find a known,fast,smooth main a road near you late at night/early morning and you will suprised just how quickly you can cover ground
the same can not be said for a bumpy/pot hole'd local b road...
stevesuk said:
Mine (330Ci) is running on Falken tyres (front) and Khumo (rear). Falken I thought were probably OK, but Khumo I've never heard of, so is probably a very cheap brand! Despite the rears having plenty of life left in them (nowhere near the wear bars), its ridiculously easy to provoke traction control with a spirited get-away.
Like you, at 70 on the motorway it rides just fine (in a dead straight line), but it can be quite fidgety on worn A-roads. I've only had mine a few weeks, so I booked it in to our local specialist the other day to get it checked over. Came back with a completely clean bill of health - nothing needs replacing at the moment (other than perhaps a slow acting oil level warning sensor, but I already knew about that). So I wonder in my case if it is the combination of two brands of budget tyres? I bought it as a motorway cruiser, so it doesn't bother me that much. Just a little bit annoying though.
That is exactly what happens to these when you mix tyres front and rear. Like you, at 70 on the motorway it rides just fine (in a dead straight line), but it can be quite fidgety on worn A-roads. I've only had mine a few weeks, so I booked it in to our local specialist the other day to get it checked over. Came back with a completely clean bill of health - nothing needs replacing at the moment (other than perhaps a slow acting oil level warning sensor, but I already knew about that). So I wonder in my case if it is the combination of two brands of budget tyres? I bought it as a motorway cruiser, so it doesn't bother me that much. Just a little bit annoying though.
If you have KU31's on the rear and FK452's on the front I would go with new fronts as I think they are a much better tyre than the Falken.
SBN said:
So a little update.
Been driving it around and have noticed that on a main carriage way it is actually very good. On a single road with heavy traffic (ruts) it handles very badly!!!
Went out for a very spirited drive last night (naughty) but it was quiet so went on two different roads and got up to the same speed. Needless to say on the rutty road at high speed the car felt unsettled. On the carriage way it was great and drove straight and true.
All the E46 owners i have spoken to have said they are like a train on rails and you can sometimes be along for the ride if the road is rutty LOL
I may still change the wishbones/ball joints for peace of mind but for now i will see if i get used to it.
cracked rear springs?Been driving it around and have noticed that on a main carriage way it is actually very good. On a single road with heavy traffic (ruts) it handles very badly!!!
Went out for a very spirited drive last night (naughty) but it was quiet so went on two different roads and got up to the same speed. Needless to say on the rutty road at high speed the car felt unsettled. On the carriage way it was great and drove straight and true.
All the E46 owners i have spoken to have said they are like a train on rails and you can sometimes be along for the ride if the road is rutty LOL
I may still change the wishbones/ball joints for peace of mind but for now i will see if i get used to it.
I have an E46 M Sport 330Ci.
Firstly I have had Falken FK452s in the past, and whilst quite a grippy tyre for the cost, they have soft sidewalls and in my opinion with a heavy 3ltr lump on top of them, would not perform well.
I have Vredestein Ultrac Sessanta all round on mine, second set, and the third time I have bought them and I have to say, grip is very good and mine occasionally tramlines but only a little I would say and seems to be on adverse camber. I find the car performs best on B roads, although I tend to respect the car and will stay clear of potholed backroads and stick to roads they know are more civilised, if I can use that word in this context. (And yes I know there isn't a road in the UK that isn't potholed but you get what I mean hopefully
)
I had Powerflex bushes on the front wishbones on mine at about 55K and it was like a new car. Replacing with standard ones is IMHO a waste of time. 2 specialist BMW garages have told me a similar story that they tend to need replacing after circa 50K.
PS. I had mine fitted for £120, so £150 seems a little steep to me, unless it was at a dealer! Bushes cost around 3 quid to buy in when a chassis so I find it criminal how much delaers charge, but that's the game and we all just accept that!
Anyway, hope you get yours sorted - I am actually selling mine as I want a 5 series as I am doing more miles than ever. Cruising up and down the m/way and A roads in the region is not what my car was made for, it much prefers having its lungs stretched on windier and less busy B roads, and sometimes I can get frustrated driving it this way.
One more thing, I know that my next car just won't give me the same smooth burble that mine has. I will miss that!!
Firstly I have had Falken FK452s in the past, and whilst quite a grippy tyre for the cost, they have soft sidewalls and in my opinion with a heavy 3ltr lump on top of them, would not perform well.
I have Vredestein Ultrac Sessanta all round on mine, second set, and the third time I have bought them and I have to say, grip is very good and mine occasionally tramlines but only a little I would say and seems to be on adverse camber. I find the car performs best on B roads, although I tend to respect the car and will stay clear of potholed backroads and stick to roads they know are more civilised, if I can use that word in this context. (And yes I know there isn't a road in the UK that isn't potholed but you get what I mean hopefully
)I had Powerflex bushes on the front wishbones on mine at about 55K and it was like a new car. Replacing with standard ones is IMHO a waste of time. 2 specialist BMW garages have told me a similar story that they tend to need replacing after circa 50K.
PS. I had mine fitted for £120, so £150 seems a little steep to me, unless it was at a dealer! Bushes cost around 3 quid to buy in when a chassis so I find it criminal how much delaers charge, but that's the game and we all just accept that!
Anyway, hope you get yours sorted - I am actually selling mine as I want a 5 series as I am doing more miles than ever. Cruising up and down the m/way and A roads in the region is not what my car was made for, it much prefers having its lungs stretched on windier and less busy B roads, and sometimes I can get frustrated driving it this way.
One more thing, I know that my next car just won't give me the same smooth burble that mine has. I will miss that!!
anonymous said:
[redacted]
That's good to know. Perhaps I might be tempted in the future then. They are cheaper than most 'performance' brands and when I had them on my Focus they were excellent, but that weighed nothing like wha the Beemner does so that's where the camparison couldn't be made. Thinking about it, even if the tyre was softer, that should in theory reduce the probability of tramlining???
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