BMW 330D E46 - My new car
Discussion
It's my first time posting in here. A couple of weeks ago I decided that I needed to sell my motorbike. It wasn't practical just having that, plus at 6ft 4 it wasn't very comfortable for longer rides. The plan was to get a car with the money I got from it and in the future get another bike. This has now changed after a crash in my mums car. I doubt I'll get on a bike again (kept thinking what if it was the bike I was on). Anyway, thats another thread.
I've had a couple of E39s over the years and did fancy another one, but came across the E46 in my searching. Bit of searching and I decided I wanted one.
The ones local to me were sheds. With short MOTs and needing a lot of work doing to them. Of course being on PH I had to go for the 330D.
I found one in Surrey I was going to have a look at. But the more I spoke to the dealer the more wary I was. The final straw was him saying it was a cat C write off. Not the end of the world, but I can get one that isn't a cat C for the same price give or take. Plus he kept not giving me the VRM to check the MOT history but it would come with 12 months...call me cynical but he just has a friend with a MOT garage who would pass it.
Bit more searching on Facebook/eBay/GumTree I found a couple not too far away, one was a manual and one was a auto. I figured I could possibly see both in the same day and go from there.
At the same time someone saw a post on here and sent me a email saying they are selling their E46 330D M Sport Touring. They weren't too far away. Got sent a photo, checked the MOT history and decided it was worth the drive up. Arranged to go up today.
Got there a little early and it was on the drive. Had a look around and it looked good. Step dad was going to test drive it as he is insured via his. Alex turned up, gave us the keys and went to get the paperwork. Said we could take it for a drive (I don't think I could ever be that trusting!). Decided pretty much straight away I was going to buy it so sorted the insurance out myself (£700 a year hurts...) and took it for a short drive.
It has 175,000 miles but doesn't feel like it. Fair bit of work carried out recently and looks amazing. No rust and considering the age in great condition.
Sorted the money out and did the V5 stuff and I'm now the owner of it. Load of paperwork with it as well which is good to see!
I love it already. The 60 odd miles back home were comfy and relaxing. The only thing I've found I dislike so far is the wing mirrors, they seem to have a huge blind spot.
It also doesn't have a AUX input, which after only listening to Spotify in my own car and the works van for the last year was horrible...but its a simple fix and part has been ordered already.
I didn't go too mad on the way home and got 56MPG...considering my E39 was getting less than 20MPG around town and 30MPG on a good motorway run...
So far I'm over the moon with it. No idea how long I'm going to keep it for (I normally get bored of cars within 6 months or so) but I'm sure it will be a while.
Only one photo at the moment, which doesn't do it justice.
I've had a couple of E39s over the years and did fancy another one, but came across the E46 in my searching. Bit of searching and I decided I wanted one.
The ones local to me were sheds. With short MOTs and needing a lot of work doing to them. Of course being on PH I had to go for the 330D.
I found one in Surrey I was going to have a look at. But the more I spoke to the dealer the more wary I was. The final straw was him saying it was a cat C write off. Not the end of the world, but I can get one that isn't a cat C for the same price give or take. Plus he kept not giving me the VRM to check the MOT history but it would come with 12 months...call me cynical but he just has a friend with a MOT garage who would pass it.
Bit more searching on Facebook/eBay/GumTree I found a couple not too far away, one was a manual and one was a auto. I figured I could possibly see both in the same day and go from there.
At the same time someone saw a post on here and sent me a email saying they are selling their E46 330D M Sport Touring. They weren't too far away. Got sent a photo, checked the MOT history and decided it was worth the drive up. Arranged to go up today.
Got there a little early and it was on the drive. Had a look around and it looked good. Step dad was going to test drive it as he is insured via his. Alex turned up, gave us the keys and went to get the paperwork. Said we could take it for a drive (I don't think I could ever be that trusting!). Decided pretty much straight away I was going to buy it so sorted the insurance out myself (£700 a year hurts...) and took it for a short drive.
It has 175,000 miles but doesn't feel like it. Fair bit of work carried out recently and looks amazing. No rust and considering the age in great condition.
Sorted the money out and did the V5 stuff and I'm now the owner of it. Load of paperwork with it as well which is good to see!
I love it already. The 60 odd miles back home were comfy and relaxing. The only thing I've found I dislike so far is the wing mirrors, they seem to have a huge blind spot.
It also doesn't have a AUX input, which after only listening to Spotify in my own car and the works van for the last year was horrible...but its a simple fix and part has been ordered already.
I didn't go too mad on the way home and got 56MPG...considering my E39 was getting less than 20MPG around town and 30MPG on a good motorway run...
So far I'm over the moon with it. No idea how long I'm going to keep it for (I normally get bored of cars within 6 months or so) but I'm sure it will be a while.
Only one photo at the moment, which doesn't do it justice.
eezeh said:
Nice! Would be interesting to feel the difference between the 6 cylinder petrols vs the diesels.
How are you integrating AUX input into your car?
It's been a while since I've driven a petrol one, so a bit hard to comment on. How are you integrating AUX input into your car?
Basically remove the CD player, stick the AUX input in the back and find somewhere for it to pop out of. I've just seen it might only be a certain type of CD player. Not sure if I've got that one or not...but the kit was only £8 or so. We shall see.
aaron_2000 said:
Best shape 3 Series IMO, 175k is nothing to blink at if maintained well. Great buy
I'm not going to lie, I wasn't too keen on the Touring version to begin with, but it grew on me. Now I prefer it over the saloon. Mileage doesn't bother me. My step dad has a E39 520D on 200k+ and its still going strong. LosingGrip said:
It's been a while since I've driven a petrol one, so a bit hard to comment on.
Basically remove the CD player, stick the AUX input in the back and find somewhere for it to pop out of. I've just seen it might only be a certain type of CD player. Not sure if I've got that one or not...but the kit was only £8 or so. We shall see.
Ah, It doesn't work with my casette player. On the lookout for an alpine cd player so I can use aux.Basically remove the CD player, stick the AUX input in the back and find somewhere for it to pop out of. I've just seen it might only be a certain type of CD player. Not sure if I've got that one or not...but the kit was only £8 or so. We shall see.
I think that engine will have swirl flaps, if you feel under the inlet manifold you should be able to touch the six little levers and the connecting rod from the actuator at the back. If they are still there I would remove them, they have a history of breaking and doing awful damage to the motor. There are plenty of good quality aluminium blanking plate kits on ebay but you will need to check the size yours needs, there are two. It will still sail through the MOT emission test and apart from a tiny flat spot for the first two minutes from cold is exactly the same to drive.
Mike-tf3n0 said:
I think that engine will have swirl flaps, if you feel under the inlet manifold you should be able to touch the six little levers and the connecting rod from the actuator at the back. If they are still there I would remove them, they have a history of breaking and doing awful damage to the motor. There are plenty of good quality aluminium blanking plate kits on ebay but you will need to check the size yours needs, there are two. It will still sail through the MOT emission test and apart from a tiny flat spot for the first two minutes from cold is exactly the same to drive.
Correct, and agreed on doing the blanking plate kit for the swirl flaps. Better to loose a little bit of performance than having these drop into the engine.Few things to check out would be the lolipop (front) and RTA (rear) bushes as these tend to get tired and cause the car to tramline, both easy fixes at home with polybushes which don't affect NVH but do give a much improved feel along with removing the need to replace them.
Check the bottom of the radiator too, if it's bowing, time for a replacement.
Rear arches and front wings can get rusty, given this was the first BMW gen with water based paint, but otherwise they tend to be decent cars.
Running my 330i Petrol and got a project thread on it myself.. though mine is not quite so stock nowadays, but proves with some choice parts, these can be both practical and fun
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&... some of the pictures are broken thanks to Photobucket, I'm still working through to transfer to imgur.
LosingGrip said:
eezeh said:
Nice! Would be interesting to feel the difference between the 6 cylinder petrols vs the diesels.
How are you integrating AUX input into your car?
It's been a while since I've driven a petrol one, so a bit hard to comment on. How are you integrating AUX input into your car?
Basically remove the CD player, stick the AUX input in the back and find somewhere for it to pop out of. I've just seen it might only be a certain type of CD player. Not sure if I've got that one or not...but the kit was only £8 or so. We shall see.
However, what you will find is that there will be a fair degree of interference, so I recommend getting a ground-loop isolator.
I use this one (tucked away under the dash), and it's great: https://www.amazon.co.uk/AUKEY-Ground-Loop-Noise-I...
LosingGrip said:
eezeh said:
Ah, It doesn't work with my casette player. On the lookout for an alpine cd player so I can use aux.
Google says it needs to be the business CD player if that helps at all .Sf_Manta said:
Correct, and agreed on doing the blanking plate kit for the swirl flaps. Better to loose a little bit of performance than having these drop into the engine.
Few things to check out would be the lolipop (front) and RTA (rear) bushes as these tend to get tired and cause the car to tramline, both easy fixes at home with polybushes which don't affect NVH but do give a much improved feel along with removing the need to replace them.
Check the bottom of the radiator too, if it's bowing, time for a replacement.
Rear arches and front wings can get rusty, given this was the first BMW gen with water based paint, but otherwise they tend to be decent cars.
Running my 330i Petrol and got a project thread on it myself.. though mine is not quite so stock nowadays, but proves with some choice parts, these can be both practical and fun
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&... some of the pictures are broken thanks to Photobucket, I'm still working through to transfer to imgur.
Thanks for that, I'll look into the flaps etc. Few things to check out would be the lolipop (front) and RTA (rear) bushes as these tend to get tired and cause the car to tramline, both easy fixes at home with polybushes which don't affect NVH but do give a much improved feel along with removing the need to replace them.
Check the bottom of the radiator too, if it's bowing, time for a replacement.
Rear arches and front wings can get rusty, given this was the first BMW gen with water based paint, but otherwise they tend to be decent cars.
Running my 330i Petrol and got a project thread on it myself.. though mine is not quite so stock nowadays, but proves with some choice parts, these can be both practical and fun
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&... some of the pictures are broken thanks to Photobucket, I'm still working through to transfer to imgur.
Rust wise, there isn't any or maybe a tiny bit of bubbling on on the offside rear arch, but it really is a tiny amount that I didn't notice until it was pointed out.
Took it for a bit of a drive today. 50 miles down some of my favourite roads. I think I'm going to keep it for a while. Still returned 45+mpg and I wasn't being too kind!
Couple of bits that need doing. The boot doesn't open as the switch is broken on it. Can open it via touching the two wires together, and works opening the glass part but just something to make life easier.
Couple of bits that need doing. The boot doesn't open as the switch is broken on it. Can open it via touching the two wires together, and works opening the glass part but just something to make life easier.
I ended up doing about 6,500 miles a year in mine. With no DPF it didn't seem to mind the short trips, but I did end up deliberately taking it for a longer run every couple of months to try to avoid the inevitable caked-on exhaust soot getting caked on too hard.
Great car and I always liked it. I'd still be driving it if some chump hadn't crashed into it last year
(What I did by way of AUX input for mine: buy one of those tape adapter to headphone jack things. Put tape in player, plug jack into phone, done. Eventually my brother took pity on me and gave me an old stereo with a port for a USB stick - this was overall an improvement in terms of UX, but something of a hassle to fit, and the radio didn't work. And of course, being non-OEM the fascia also didn't quite look right afterwards.)
Great car and I always liked it. I'd still be driving it if some chump hadn't crashed into it last year
(What I did by way of AUX input for mine: buy one of those tape adapter to headphone jack things. Put tape in player, plug jack into phone, done. Eventually my brother took pity on me and gave me an old stereo with a port for a USB stick - this was overall an improvement in terms of UX, but something of a hassle to fit, and the radio didn't work. And of course, being non-OEM the fascia also didn't quite look right afterwards.)
Glad you are enjoying your 330d Touring OP. 
There was a facelift in 2003, but I'm not sure if yours is pre- or post-facelift. IIRC the 330d got 204 bhp instead of 184 bhp and a 6-speed gearbox for the manual models.
As well as radiators bowing expansion tanks eventually split so it's worth keeping an eye on that too.
The Tourings have really grown on me, especially since 2016 when I had to find one for my nephew as he had become a dad! Got him a tidy 54 plate 325i Sport Touring in Imola Red with full leather as he doesn't really do enough miles to justify a diesel, and he loves it as it's very similar to the 325ti Compact he didn't really want to sell!
In fact I liked them so much I bought an E91 325i a month ago! I really like it, but there never seem to be too many Tourings for sale, and those that are advertised seem to sell really quickly.
But then we know why don't we.
There was a facelift in 2003, but I'm not sure if yours is pre- or post-facelift. IIRC the 330d got 204 bhp instead of 184 bhp and a 6-speed gearbox for the manual models.
As well as radiators bowing expansion tanks eventually split so it's worth keeping an eye on that too.
The Tourings have really grown on me, especially since 2016 when I had to find one for my nephew as he had become a dad! Got him a tidy 54 plate 325i Sport Touring in Imola Red with full leather as he doesn't really do enough miles to justify a diesel, and he loves it as it's very similar to the 325ti Compact he didn't really want to sell!
In fact I liked them so much I bought an E91 325i a month ago! I really like it, but there never seem to be too many Tourings for sale, and those that are advertised seem to sell really quickly.
But then we know why don't we.
Mr Tidy said:
Glad you are enjoying your 330d Touring OP.
There was a facelift in 2003, but I'm not sure if yours is pre- or post-facelift. IIRC the 330d got 204 bhp instead of 184 bhp and a 6-speed gearbox for the manual models.
As well as radiators bowing expansion tanks eventually split so it's worth keeping an eye on that too.
The Tourings have really grown on me, especially since 2016 when I had to find one for my nephew as he had become a dad! Got him a tidy 54 plate 325i Sport Touring in Imola Red with full leather as he doesn't really do enough miles to justify a diesel, and he loves it as it's very similar to the 325ti Compact he didn't really want to sell!
In fact I liked them so much I bought an E91 325i a month ago! I really like it, but there never seem to be too many Tourings for sale, and those that are advertised seem to sell really quickly.
But then we know why don't we.
Its the post face-lift by the sounds of it if its 204BHP six gear speed. There was a facelift in 2003, but I'm not sure if yours is pre- or post-facelift. IIRC the 330d got 204 bhp instead of 184 bhp and a 6-speed gearbox for the manual models.
As well as radiators bowing expansion tanks eventually split so it's worth keeping an eye on that too.
The Tourings have really grown on me, especially since 2016 when I had to find one for my nephew as he had become a dad! Got him a tidy 54 plate 325i Sport Touring in Imola Red with full leather as he doesn't really do enough miles to justify a diesel, and he loves it as it's very similar to the 325ti Compact he didn't really want to sell!
In fact I liked them so much I bought an E91 325i a month ago! I really like it, but there never seem to be too many Tourings for sale, and those that are advertised seem to sell really quickly.
But then we know why don't we.
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