'Oddjob' aka 2002 330i Touring
Discussion
Update time, has been a while since i've had to sort out anything on the car though having to deal with saying goodbye to an uncle for the final time last Friday, house buying shenangians and a heap of test work, things are finally calming down a bit.
House move is due soon so finally might have a garage soon
and another project thread on something I've had in storage for a while now and getting parts for.
As for the BMW, been having a few issues with the front brakes, and the last set of discs looked like this.
After some discussion with a friend who's regularly working on older BMWs, the likely culprit was the pistons sticking in the front brakes.
Thusly I've ordered up some parts this week and supplies to sort things out. New piston kit arrived today, hopefully I've got the right size.
Shall post more this weekend once the job's hopefully been completed. Meanwhile got a supercar experience last weekend so got to thrash a Aston Martin round Silverstone
House move is due soon so finally might have a garage soon
and another project thread on something I've had in storage for a while now and getting parts for.As for the BMW, been having a few issues with the front brakes, and the last set of discs looked like this.
After some discussion with a friend who's regularly working on older BMWs, the likely culprit was the pistons sticking in the front brakes.
Thusly I've ordered up some parts this week and supplies to sort things out. New piston kit arrived today, hopefully I've got the right size.
Shall post more this weekend once the job's hopefully been completed. Meanwhile got a supercar experience last weekend so got to thrash a Aston Martin round Silverstone
Edited by Sf_Manta on Tuesday 12th September 17:20
So the last week or so has been a bit of fun in trying to refresh the brake calipers. What started out as hopefully a routine refresh ended up being a complete replacement.
When stripping the caliper off the car, unfortunately one bleed nipple decided to sheer off despite my efforts.
After this, it ended up being a removeal job which proved quite difficult with the caliper seized on the mounting which got complicated when getting the brake line removed. I ended up stripping that too as well as the banjo
So i was left with the delema of how to resolve this. Some investigation into options involoveed the following, either getting a pair of 2nd hand replacements and waiting 2 weeks to get them referbished by Big Red, or given it was just the front right caliper being faulty purchasing a new one from a Porsche parts specialist which had a lead time of 3-5 days. It was either £850 or £1010 and no chance of return if i got it wrong.
Some double checking of the part numbers before I made the choice.
Given I needed the car back pronto.. and £200 difference I opted for the latter and got a new replacement, which turned up last Tuesday. Thankfully the research paid off and I was able to get the correct replacement.
I do plan to get another replacement for the left side and pull the old one off when i can afford to and rebuild that one. However this will have to wait till I've got the final pieces of paperwork for the house move as this is due to happen in the next few weeks, and I've got 2 weeks off work to move myself up to my new place. Once I've had some time to settle in, this should mean i can start a project i've had in the wings for a while and plan to do a youtube diary on it.
When stripping the caliper off the car, unfortunately one bleed nipple decided to sheer off despite my efforts.
After this, it ended up being a removeal job which proved quite difficult with the caliper seized on the mounting which got complicated when getting the brake line removed. I ended up stripping that too as well as the banjo
So i was left with the delema of how to resolve this. Some investigation into options involoveed the following, either getting a pair of 2nd hand replacements and waiting 2 weeks to get them referbished by Big Red, or given it was just the front right caliper being faulty purchasing a new one from a Porsche parts specialist which had a lead time of 3-5 days. It was either £850 or £1010 and no chance of return if i got it wrong.
Some double checking of the part numbers before I made the choice.
Given I needed the car back pronto.. and £200 difference I opted for the latter and got a new replacement, which turned up last Tuesday. Thankfully the research paid off and I was able to get the correct replacement.
I do plan to get another replacement for the left side and pull the old one off when i can afford to and rebuild that one. However this will have to wait till I've got the final pieces of paperwork for the house move as this is due to happen in the next few weeks, and I've got 2 weeks off work to move myself up to my new place. Once I've had some time to settle in, this should mean i can start a project i've had in the wings for a while and plan to do a youtube diary on it.
Those bleed nipples on the Porsche calipers can be a pain. I've been there, tried the usual efforts of heat and persuasion, but found that freeze spray was the thing that freed it off. That or it's because it was the last thing I tried...
You should still be able to get what's left of that bleed nipple out, it's definitely repairable. If the threads go with it then a helicoil will do the job.
You should still be able to get what's left of that bleed nipple out, it's definitely repairable. If the threads go with it then a helicoil will do the job.
Update of 2024.. now 10 years with this car as of the end of this year. which is crazy
Still, the car had been running pretty well, bar the LH headlight decided to stop functioning just before Christmas.
Given I'd already swapped out the bulb and ignitor for the xenon system, and i was having no life out of it, the 3rd part of the system being the ballast was the logical faulty part. Some checks online showed the price to be anything from £56 to over £400 with a complete headlight being the thick end of £986!
I last replaced the RH headlight about 8 years ago for less than half that price!
Still, a new ballast was ordered from Autodoc and landed a few days ago so today was fitting it.
Out came the headlight , swapped in the new ballast and dropped it back in. A quick test later and thankfully, it's all working.
Next big job on the BMW is a service, new wheel bearings, rear brake disc sheilds, front left caliper rebuild, headlight adjustment before the MOT is on the cards in May.
Still, the car had been running pretty well, bar the LH headlight decided to stop functioning just before Christmas.
Given I'd already swapped out the bulb and ignitor for the xenon system, and i was having no life out of it, the 3rd part of the system being the ballast was the logical faulty part. Some checks online showed the price to be anything from £56 to over £400
with a complete headlight being the thick end of £986! I last replaced the RH headlight about 8 years ago for less than half that price!
Still, a new ballast was ordered from Autodoc and landed a few days ago so today was fitting it.
Out came the headlight , swapped in the new ballast and dropped it back in. A quick test later and thankfully, it's all working.
Next big job on the BMW is a service, new wheel bearings, rear brake disc sheilds, front left caliper rebuild, headlight adjustment before the MOT is on the cards in May.
Sf_Manta said:
Update of 2024.. now 10 years with this car as of the end of this year. which is crazy
Still, the car had been running pretty well, bar the LH headlight decided to stop functioning just before Christmas.
Given I'd already swapped out the bulb and ignitor for the xenon system, and i was having no life out of it, the 3rd part of the system being the ballast was the logical faulty part. Some checks online showed the price to be anything from £56 to over £400 with a complete headlight being the thick end of £986!
I last replaced the RH headlight about 8 years ago for less than half that price!
Still, a new ballast was ordered from Autodoc and landed a few days ago so today was fitting it.
Out came the headlight , swapped in the new ballast and dropped it back in. A quick test later and thankfully, it's all working.
Next big job on the BMW is a service, new wheel bearings, rear brake disc sheilds, front left caliper rebuild, headlight adjustment before the MOT is on the cards in May.
That's hell of a length of ownership; the amount of work that's gone into the car as well Still, the car had been running pretty well, bar the LH headlight decided to stop functioning just before Christmas.
Given I'd already swapped out the bulb and ignitor for the xenon system, and i was having no life out of it, the 3rd part of the system being the ballast was the logical faulty part. Some checks online showed the price to be anything from £56 to over £400
with a complete headlight being the thick end of £986! I last replaced the RH headlight about 8 years ago for less than half that price!
Still, a new ballast was ordered from Autodoc and landed a few days ago so today was fitting it.
Out came the headlight , swapped in the new ballast and dropped it back in. A quick test later and thankfully, it's all working.
Next big job on the BMW is a service, new wheel bearings, rear brake disc sheilds, front left caliper rebuild, headlight adjustment before the MOT is on the cards in May.
Puts me to shame haha
d_a_n1979 said:
That's hell of a length of ownership; the amount of work that's gone into the car as well
Puts me to shame haha
Didn't think i'd keep the car this long, but It's evolved into something i genuinely enjoy to drive, and has proven time and again to be emensially practical. Puts me to shame haha
Sf_Manta said:
d_a_n1979 said:
That's hell of a length of ownership; the amount of work that's gone into the car as well
Puts me to shame haha
Didn't think i'd keep the car this long, but It's evolved into something i genuinely enjoy to drive, and has proven time and again to be emensially practical. Puts me to shame haha
Update time.. kinda?
Been gathering some parts for some work in April , specifically wheel bearings all need doing and a general service and MOT.
So sorting that next month as I'll be getting it to Carpetsoiler for him to work his magic.
As for lately, the car's been to Caffine and Machine a few times at the Bowl near Ampthill as it's not that far away for me. Been to the German night which is growing in popularity, and this tuesday just gone was a good one. Even had Taylor Hetherington of Taylor made cars and AutoAlex fame, drop by with his Z3 Supercharged 1.8.
Had a good chaff about cars, good food, and found out Taylor was a fan of my Touring. There was a brand new M3 Touring in a deep green (maybe a colour choice for the manta.. hmm) there as well and the owner admited my E46 sounded better than his car
Been gathering some parts for some work in April , specifically wheel bearings all need doing and a general service and MOT.
So sorting that next month as I'll be getting it to Carpetsoiler for him to work his magic.
As for lately, the car's been to Caffine and Machine a few times at the Bowl near Ampthill as it's not that far away for me. Been to the German night which is growing in popularity, and this tuesday just gone was a good one. Even had Taylor Hetherington of Taylor made cars and AutoAlex fame, drop by with his Z3 Supercharged 1.8.
Had a good chaff about cars, good food, and found out Taylor was a fan of my Touring. There was a brand new M3 Touring in a deep green (maybe a colour choice for the manta.. hmm) there as well and the owner admited my E46 sounded better than his car
Sf_Manta said:
Update time.. kinda?
Been gathering some parts for some work in April , specifically wheel bearings all need doing and a general service and MOT.
So sorting that next month as I'll be getting it to Carpetsoiler for him to work his magic.
As for lately, the car's been to Caffine and Machine a few times at the Bowl near Ampthill as it's not that far away for me. Been to the German night which is growing in popularity, and this tuesday just gone was a good one. Even had Taylor Hetherington of Taylor made cars and AutoAlex fame, drop by with his Z3 Supercharged 1.8.
Had a good chaff about cars, good food, and found out Taylor was a fan of my Touring. There was a brand new M3 Touring in a deep green (maybe a colour choice for the manta.. hmm) there as well and the owner admited my E46 sounded better than his car
It's a great car and should be admired... The M54 is a great sounding straight 6 too; more so when it's got a decent but subtle exhaust on itBeen gathering some parts for some work in April , specifically wheel bearings all need doing and a general service and MOT.
So sorting that next month as I'll be getting it to Carpetsoiler for him to work his magic.
As for lately, the car's been to Caffine and Machine a few times at the Bowl near Ampthill as it's not that far away for me. Been to the German night which is growing in popularity, and this tuesday just gone was a good one. Even had Taylor Hetherington of Taylor made cars and AutoAlex fame, drop by with his Z3 Supercharged 1.8.
Had a good chaff about cars, good food, and found out Taylor was a fan of my Touring. There was a brand new M3 Touring in a deep green (maybe a colour choice for the manta.. hmm) there as well and the owner admited my E46 sounded better than his car
Update time this week, I've been off work for the past week though mainly focusing on sorting the house out and knocking off a number of jobs that have been needed doing since i moved in.
One job on the BMW was fresh front tyres as the MOT's due next month and the camber had finally worn the fronts down on the corners. So a fresh set of PS5's went on for the trip end of May to Nords for the N24 and a few laps of the tourist evening after the race.
Car's going for a major service with Carpetsoiler , involving new wheel bearings, the front left caliper getting serviced, oil service and filters and having the MOT done. Hopefully some pictures to follow. I'd do the work myself but with the drive being gravel still, its not a safe surface to jack the car up on.
That's going to be solved this year after the nords trip.
One job on the BMW was fresh front tyres as the MOT's due next month and the camber had finally worn the fronts down on the corners. So a fresh set of PS5's went on for the trip end of May to Nords for the N24 and a few laps of the tourist evening after the race.
Car's going for a major service with Carpetsoiler , involving new wheel bearings, the front left caliper getting serviced, oil service and filters and having the MOT done. Hopefully some pictures to follow. I'd do the work myself but with the drive being gravel still, its not a safe surface to jack the car up on.
That's going to be solved this year after the nords trip.
Ok update time finally, MOT all done but man.. it was a rough one this year.
The car went up for a major service which included new wheel bearings all round, which started badly as I'd inadvently got the wrong bearings.. not a good start, but a deal was struck with Sam and he got ahold of SKF replacements in the correct size.
Arms were removed, old ones pressed out and new bearings pressed in, before they were put back on with a rebuild of the handbrake mech on both sides and sliders greased.
The camber arms were seized but did come loose with not much persuasion and re-greased ready for alignment with the front tie rods.
Before that though.. we found rust.. seems E46's have a habit of the floor bungs in the rear foot wheels holding water and results in the floor pan rusting out... So Sam had to get his fabrication guy in for some work. I've since painted and undersealed the areas up, so hopefully no issues for a few years. We also discovered someone's tried lifting the car on the floor pan putting some dents in it! I know it's not me or Sam, though that's annoying.
The car's since been string boxed and aligned. though one of the damper adjusters was found to be missing, and the other's stuck.
Given the KW's have been on the car since 2017, the adjuster knobs have just begun to disolve, but the dampers are fine.
A few calls to KW and parts were dispatched. So far 1's been replaced, the other side needs replacing but my wallet was decidedly well beaten up by the work so far.
I've also had to do a few jobs once the car came back including the painting of the welded parts and underselaing them. The front drop links were looking decidedly second hand , and the missing adjuster was replaced. Also picked up some new bungs for the missing one in the floor under the seat.
Only need to wait on the paint to cure then putting the interior back together once it cures. Also need to get new front brake sheilds and get those changed out those are looking very 2nd hand, get a new adjuster for the front left damper and change that out and then it should be good for my holiday out to Germany end of May.
I'd admit this car's been testing me lately and I had considered maybe getting it sorted out and then putting it up for sale, but it gives me a smile everytime I fire it up and I don't know what I'd replace it with or if it'd sell given it's quite a unique build and wouldn't appeal to most people.
The car went up for a major service which included new wheel bearings all round, which started badly as I'd inadvently got the wrong bearings.. not a good start, but a deal was struck with Sam and he got ahold of SKF replacements in the correct size.
Arms were removed, old ones pressed out and new bearings pressed in, before they were put back on with a rebuild of the handbrake mech on both sides and sliders greased.
The camber arms were seized but did come loose with not much persuasion and re-greased ready for alignment with the front tie rods.
Before that though.. we found rust.. seems E46's have a habit of the floor bungs in the rear foot wheels holding water and results in the floor pan rusting out... So Sam had to get his fabrication guy in for some work. I've since painted and undersealed the areas up, so hopefully no issues for a few years. We also discovered someone's tried lifting the car on the floor pan putting some dents in it! I know it's not me or Sam, though that's annoying.
The car's since been string boxed and aligned. though one of the damper adjusters was found to be missing, and the other's stuck.
Given the KW's have been on the car since 2017, the adjuster knobs have just begun to disolve, but the dampers are fine.
A few calls to KW and parts were dispatched. So far 1's been replaced, the other side needs replacing but my wallet was decidedly well beaten up by the work so far.
I've also had to do a few jobs once the car came back including the painting of the welded parts and underselaing them. The front drop links were looking decidedly second hand , and the missing adjuster was replaced. Also picked up some new bungs for the missing one in the floor under the seat.
Only need to wait on the paint to cure then putting the interior back together once it cures. Also need to get new front brake sheilds and get those changed out those are looking very 2nd hand, get a new adjuster for the front left damper and change that out and then it should be good for my holiday out to Germany end of May.
I'd admit this car's been testing me lately and I had considered maybe getting it sorted out and then putting it up for sale, but it gives me a smile everytime I fire it up and I don't know what I'd replace it with or if it'd sell given it's quite a unique build and wouldn't appeal to most people.
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