My BMW E46 330i Sport

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Right, little update, car has had it's oil service, mechanic also flushed the engine too, removing any carbon deposits, must say it feels all the better for it. Finally replaced that broken mirror with a new part I got for half price, and the handling issue may have been found. He reckons when the trailing arms were replaced in the rear before I got it they never bothered to sort the geometry out. He says there appears to be a reasonable amount of toe in which will give it that unstable feel I've been on about, so when that's done should be perfect. I've decided to stick with the car too. Had an epiphany on the way home from Goodwood last week.

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Max M4X WW said:

Was the flushing thing like they did on Wheeler Dealers? I forget which car but they made it run on an aerosol (not petrol) with the help of a fancy machine?

Umm don't think it was that, some flush and protect treatment thing, I'll ask him next time I speak to him.

Synchromesh said:

petrolveins said:

I've decided to stick with the car too. Had an epiphany on the way home from Goodwood last week.

Damn. Was hoping it would appear in the classifieds some time soon . I need to change to Volvo for something RWD and N/A

You are the second person this week I've found out was secretly hoping to buy it off me. Thing is while it costs me a lot, and I'm sure there are other cars that are cheaper and more fun, I know what I've got is a damn good example of a rare car. I'd regret selling it. Every time I get back into it it makes me smile. I'd be a fool to get rid of it. Though when I do you'll be first to know.

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jonnydm said:

The 330 looks great. Such competent all rounders for the money, I'm on my second one. Both of mine have been Coupes, I don't really need the extra doors although I would have preferred one. One downside of the ci is the massive heavy doors.

I looked at two Coupes, one had a dodgy xenon headlight, and on both the window drop mechanisms on the doors sounded really tired. That and I couldn't get a facelift coupe with low miles for the same price as a facelift saloon which IMO looks much better.

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ajb85 said:

Only just noticed this thread. Nice car. Here's my contribution; buy some household wire wool! BM chrome tail pipe tips respond really well to it.

Got mine valeted at work by the Merc guys a while ago, they find toilet cleaner works wonders on exhausts, mine were black until they cleaned them, looked fantastic, sort of black and brown again now

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BorkFactor said:

Am I correct in thinking you did the "golf tee" mod on your car - jamming the flap in one of the exhausts open? If so, how difficult was it?

Planning to do it on mine

On mine it was much more difficult, the flap had seized shut on mine, so I wanted it open to I could run through both pipes. Took a lot of time with a chisel, screwdriver and a hammer, but when I stopped fannying about and just smacked it good and hard the whole flap came off completely. Massive difference at 1500-2000rpm, it is really deep and bassy, just bellows and sounds brilliant, have had rear passengers moan a bit though. The upside is that on the motorway in 6th gear you are above those engine speeds so doesn't drone. But I would definitely do it, pops and spits a little when hot.

You have a 328i right? Pretty sure just the 325 and 330 had the flap, may be wrong though.

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BorkFactor said:

I can confirm that mine does indeed have one - just checked! Looked up the pipe when the car was idling and sure enough - the one on the right was shut off. Turned the car off and looked again, and I saw it open! When the car is off, the flap is open.

Need to jam it open now

In that case, locate the vacuum hose above the flap and just pull it off, and plug it with a screw or golf tee and tuck it somewhere out of the way.

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Got the wheel alignment done today, now all the wheels are pointing the right way, actually all very good, just 3 areas needed some minor adjustment, and on the drive home I could feel the difference immediately. Very pleased, also finally replaced that broken parking sensor with a used one off eBay, so for once everything on the car actually works at the moment, touch wood that it will stay that way. I'm now looking into exhaust modification, and possible remap. Also toying with the idea of an LSD, but for the money I could buy a shed Volvo and have a lot more fun, so just having a think at the moment, and enjoying the car as it is.

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Just back from holiday, the one where I was meant to road trip in the BMW to Dubrovnik, instead for various reasons and nothing to do with the car Easy Jet took me instead. Gutted I didn't drive would have been the most epic drive. But getting into the car after a week away was heaven. Sadly I am no longer a teenager, and with that this morning I had to renew my insurance. Without going into a massive rant, I am never using Admiral again, after they wanted 70% extra on last years quote. Yes 70% more! I found a great price with Direct Line instead. £1500, very chuffed with that, almost half of what the crooks at Admiral wanted.

Anyway to the car, I've had a few ideas buzzing around my head for a while, things like spacers for the wheels, dropping the car a bit, a little cosmetic work, with things like the grille and lights. Top of my list though is to get the steering wheel re-trimmed in Alcantara to match the seats. A mate had his 1-Series done recently and I think it would really look fab in the car. More updates to follow...

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I'll expand... you are probably mostly aware about the silly bh that drove into the side of my car, admitted fault and I had a witness to agree. Knowing it was expensive I went through insurance rather than get her mates Dad do a bodge fix. Anyway I tell Admiral who listen and ask lots of questions then basically don't want to know, because it's non-fault there is no gain to them so sent me packing with some utterly useless accident claims management company who bumbled around making mistakes and generally fooling about. Cut to the chase my car got fixed, got a nice Scirocco for the week blah blah blah. Then just wonder if that non-fault accident will have affected my premium. I put it down just as it is, and they want £800 extra! That was with the discount of me being a year older with another year NCB. Still curious I try a the same quote but say it was my fault the accident, the premium is £300 LESS than if it hadn't been my fault. They claim that now I am much more likely to be involved in an accident because I had positioned my car in a position to be hit!!!??? I told them about 2 weeks ago I would not be renewing with a bunch of crooks.

Fast forward to today, I phone them to get them to send me my proof of NCB to be told the policy is being automatically renewed on the 1st August, pretty much lost it at this point. bds were trying to charge me £2700 for the next 10months! I had told them twice I was cancelling. Grovelling apology etc, but I will never ever use them again, and would recommend everyone else do the same.

Sorry if that breaks any name and shame rules Mods, and I hope it's at least slightly coherent, been at the bevvys this eve.

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Waugh-terfall said:

How do these 'Bonus Accelerator' policies work? They give you another years no claimed 2months early, but do other insurers accept that, even though technically after say 2 terms you've 'only' actually got 20months NCB, if that makes any sense.

I think Elephant have gone mental tbh, they wanted a couple of hundred more than last year last month, I renewed elsewhere for a whisker over £500. Down £230 on last year (hooray 21 + 2yrs NCB).

I've done that twice now, 2 10month policies and 2 full years NCB, Direct Line are happy to accept it. Hahaha you may be 21, but remember what you drive.

I'm currently attempting to work out how best to insure a second car

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Max M4X WW said:

james_gt3rs said:

petrolveins said:

I am never using Admiral again, after they wanted 70% extra on last years quote.

Damn I'm with Admiral hope they don't pull that stunt on me... Did your circumstances change in any way? (apart from presumably more NCB!)

Usually the renewal is stupid, go on confused and get a good quote with Bell/Admiral then ring up and give them the reference and they will match it. Done it 4-5 times now.

That was how I got the premium that was 70% more. Made up a new name and went and got a quote directly with them. As of Midnight I will no longer be with them, and as of one minute I shall be with Direct Line.

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Clivey said:

Oh...?

EDIT: As for the alcantara / suede steering wheel idea: I imagine it would look fantastic but my concern would be that it wears extremely quickly and would look tatty in no time...a bit like the seat bolsters on our car (another thing that irks me - but I keep having to tell myself that it's not worth spending £'000s on a 320i when what I really want is a 330ci).

Edited by Clivey on Tuesday 31st July 11:20

Well my seats are in good nick, just a little bobbly which I can fix very quickly. I just don't like the leather wheel, gaiters and armrest, because nothing else is leather, would prefer alcantara, and I want a little yellow 12 O'Clock marker too a la GT3 Style.

Second car, just want a second car, something different I can mess about about with, just different from the BMW, not sure what yet, looking at 850s and 190Es.

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Clivey said:

Hmmm...though they are similar in that they're all big saloons (or an estate). Why not something light and with 2 seats for a bit of contrast? Just food for thought...

Why? Insurance is why. MX-5s seem to have got pricey without me noticing. I'm also a sucker for the big Swede and German cars.

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Oi Waugh! Ger'off! Just can't help but hijack threads with your photos can you?

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nickdrinkwater said:

Albany Assistance? Similar thing happened to me...

That'd be them.

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Just found out I have in fact got another years NCB than I realised, so a nice refund from Direct Line, I now pay a measly £1300 for my car insurance. Bargain.

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Clivey said:

How the hell can you, as a young driver, forget how many years NCB you have? That's the difference between insurance being affordable and being mercilessly bent over!

Stedman said:

You don't know me very well do you?

Richard does...


On another random note, was passenger in my car for the first time after a few too many cocktails the other night, I swear the ride is even better in the back, was very very comfortable to be driven around in, and my god it feels very quick from the back seat.

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Been a while since I updated this, so here goes...

I've ticked past 80,000 miles now, meaning I've done over 10,000 miles in the beast. The last 1,000 of that were done up in North Yorkshire, had a family wedding, and since Dad's insurers have done a U-turn on being able to insure under 21s on 'performance cars' (not sure that a 530d counts but I digress) I talked the family into taking my car, and then mum couldn't choose one outfit so the the roofbox had to come too. But my goodness the roads were fantastic, I had last months evo with me and it just so happened to have 3 routes across the North Yorkshire Moors as the Great Drives that month. The cottage we were staying in was in the village that one of them started, so one 4:30am start resulted in a lot of fun. I love my car so much, it was so suited to these roads, roofbox was noticeable though especially at higher speeds, was like a giant airbrake. Oh well still had so much fun.

As for costs, so far just been more fuel and oil. Oh and I have been moaning about a rattle from under the car, turned out to be pinking and has been cured by using Shell V-Power, quite common apparently. Was less happy to find a very small spot of rust in the rear arch, but having been recommended an excellent chap off here he talked me out of getting it repaired. Purely cosmetic he said, and for the money not worth doing as I'm probably not keeping the car more than 2 years more. Good news that as I have an ever growing list of things to do.... Pretty much at the top is a new exhaust system, I recently discovered the car has 2 silencers and a whopping 4 catalytic converters, and it really doesn't show off that engine enough. I'm looking at cat-back Eisenmann systems, with a view later to replacing the cats and exhaust manifold with much better free flowing ones and just 2 sport cats. Coilovers are also on my list, the suspension is a bit tired and the car needs to go lower. After all that a remap might be on the cards, and in the meantime I'm looking at doing various cosmetic bits, things like more alcantara in the interior and a few other bits and bobs.

Next big thing is for the brake service happening next week. In the meantime here are some photos from Yorkshire.


330i on the Moors by tlynchie, on Flickr


330i on the Moors by tlynchie, on Flickr


330i on the Moors by tlynchie, on Flickr

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Synchromesh said:

Stop it. Stop it with that prose and those photos. The last thing I need right now is a 330i shaped hole in my wallet...

Do it! I live in Brighton Mon-Fri, essentially London by the sea, and I drive from the centre to Uni everyday and then home to work at the weekends to afford to. I love it. Love my weekend commute too, time it well and it's much faster cross country than on the motorway, though I often see 20mpg at the end, but gosh is it rewarding.

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Cemesis said:

Don't leave the rust, get it fixed. It can spread quickly and I've seen it go from bad to very bad in a matter of months.

I don't think the 330i has 4 cats as both the E39 M5 and E46 M3 only have two. Rather than spending lots of an exhaust and coilovers (which would certainly make the car too hard to drive on the roads where I live), I'd consider an E46 M3 instead. Much faster and tighter than the 330i.

Well I've spoken to two experts and they say I'm fine for a good while on the rust front, and I'll be getting adjustable coilovers, been doing lots of research into them as I want some comfort still. Also I'm too young to insure a E46 M3, and I've never actually liked them that much, except the CSL, so plan is keep this 2 years or so and get an E39 M5.

Oh and on the cat sitatuation, I've tracked em down with part diagrams and then laid eyes on them myself, the exhuast manifold is in two bits, each for 3 cylinder and each has a cat itself, then under the car there are 2 more cats next to each other for each pipe, followed by a mid-silencer and then the rear back box.