My BMW E46 330i Sport

[petrolveins]

Should also say it will be present at the next PHSS in Luton, unsure if the roof bars will or not.

Funny to think I'll be turning 21 just before then, and I got the E46 when I was 19, time sure does fly.

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The Crack Fox said:

Wow ! Sounds like you've spent a fortune on it !

It's not that bad really, well it is, but compared to others on here it isn't. Touch wood nothing has gone wrong with the car as such.
New lights all round were £300 or so, coilovers and fitting came to around £900. That's all been in the last 2 months oh and it had the big Inspection II too.
So that's what about £1500 in 2 months. Not good, but all a one off thing.

[petrolveins]

TIme for a photo update, I won't mention the suspected leaking Valve Cover Gasket resulting in burning oil and the sight of smoke coming out of the bonnet ... should be cheap to fix though.

I haven't really put any proper photos up with the amber lights. As you hopefully know my aim with the car has been to get it to look like an USDM (American Spec) ZHP, their equivalent of our Sport model. I was 21 this month and my best mate got me the icing on the cake for the look of the car.... custom California plates, over the moon with them, shame I can't keep them on all the time!

Here are some quick photos from this evening...


E46 330i ZHP by tlynchie, on Flickr


E46 330i ZHP by tlynchie, on Flickr


E46 330i ZHP by tlynchie, on Flickr

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melvster said:

I like the US look you have gone for, what does Plod think of your number plates ?

Oh they love them, especially when they are only shown off the public highway.

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Thanks for the comments guys.

Little update, had my first sort of breakdown recently... had noticed a smell like burning oil coming from the car, and while I was driving to work I noticed what looked like steam/smoke coming out the side of the bonnet. Pulled over, and popped it open but couldn't then see any smoke, smelt of oil. Turned out to be the valve cover gasket leaking oil onto the exhaust manifold, simple cheap fix. While it was in with my mechanic he also noticed my rear tyres were totally bald on the very inner edge, the reason being the bushes were buggered. Waiting on him to get the bill together. In the meantime I'm back on the old 18 inch wheels. The ride is noticeably harsher and the handing less fluid. Just can't decide whether to buy tyres for the 17s seeing as I'm looking at new wheels later on..

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BullyB said:

no disrespect here - I'm always surprised however when people don't notice their tyres wearing down.

Love the car, it looks really cool. I have the 330i Touring.

I know! I was embarrassed I hadn't spotted it, but to be fair looking at them from behind it was hard to see, 3 weeks ago they were fine, some slightly shot bushes and a lot of roundabouts without DSC saw that change pretty quick.

Thanks, I'd have loved a Touring, but I'm not really a fan of the rear lights, shame because it would be much more practical than mine.

Luca Brasi said:

Love the ZHP look, where did you get the ambers?

Combination of places, rears came off Euro Car Parts, there are a few early SE facelifts over here that came with them.

Had to order the front and sides from Germany through my Dealership.

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Trtj said:

Nice bimmer being used properly. How much is your insurance? Please dont put stty black grilles on it, so chavesque!

Why did you decide to bail on the Eng degree out of interest?

Insurance was a battle this year, just renewed actually. Elephant/Admiral were totally useless, their mod cover is a joke, and accused me of lying about a claim with them. So they came out at over £900, that was for a 10 month policy, mod cover was upto £400 only, and I've had a friend find out the hard way they don't cover at all in a write off situation.

Gave Adrian Flux a call, last year when I was 20 they couldn't cover me. This year, all my mods declared, 3 points for speeding, 12 month policy, mods covered like for like... £775. Pretty chuffed with that.

As for Uni, the short version of the long story, is I always hated the course, always stuggled with the maths, then was diagnosed with Dyscalculia (number dyslexia) which confirmed finally it was the wrong thing for me. Now though i've got myself a nice job working for a company who credit themselves as making the first car.

[petrolveins]

Not updated in ages....

I'm selling the car. Not sure where to start really, they aren't worth what I hoped. Trying to work out if I should get the Coilovers off and back on stock suspension to sell it, or sell it as is.

Any advice would be great, and anyone interested please drop me a message.

Advert will be up in the coming week.

If you are asking why... I've had my time with it, loved it, but its time to move on. Also I now work in a role for a rival car brand where driving a BMW really isn't good PR.

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LanceRS said:

Nice car, glad you have enjoyed it. As far as selling it goes, you might find a wider audience with the standard bits, as you say they are not worth what they once were. Someone is going to get a lot of car for the money.

Thats what sickens me, frankly it's a far better car than when I bought it 2 years ago, yet it's not worth even half the value.

[petrolveins]

Well the BMW is sold. The temporary winter replacement is here. http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

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Clivey said:

If I hadn't just bought the Discovery, I probably would have bought that!

What do you eventually hope to end-up in?

Got an E350 Diesel Coupe on order, and hoping to add a TVR to the fleet for my 22nd Birthday.

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Clivey said:

petrolveins said:

...and hoping to add a TVR to the fleet

A man after my own heart. For me though, a house was necessary first!

I'm calling the TVR my 'house deposit' scheme, buy the best one I can then in the next 3/4 years sell it to fund the deposit. Once I have a house I won't be able to do it for years so while I'm young at home I figured why not.