Bork factor 9. Possibly. 330ci content

[AdamIndy]

With my old ST170 Focus getting a bit tired, I thought now was the time to change it. I don't like spending thousands buying cars, it's pointless for me and the miles I do.

Criteria was it needed to be comfortable, petrol, not horrendous on fuel, reliable and bigger than the focus due to needing to cart around my bike trackday stuff.

I looked at Subaru legacys, volvo's, saabs, bmw saloons etc but none of which floated my boat. With an estate car making more and more sense to me I decided to buy a big engined, possible high bork factor, thirsty coupe, as you do!

Spotted online last night, a few messages between myself and the seller and a deal was done. A quick phone call to my dad saying I need a lift and we set off on a 230 mile round trip this morning.

We arrive at the sellers house, a German man answers the door wearing BMW trainers. After a quick chat, he is a BMW fanatic. It was raining so he offered me an umbrella, M/// umbrella no less. A very nice guy and seemingly up front with the few small issues with the car(more on this later). Get to the car and it has a flat battery. That's a good start! a quick jump start and we're away.

On the plus side there has been pretty much no expense spared(other than on batteries it seems ). I have a stack of paperwork like I've never seen before. Everything has been done at bmw or at a BMW specialist including the all important gearbox service completed at BMW last year. Also a receipt for having the arches replaced/repaired and painted in October 17. £780!

A quick test drive, an offer of £100(£400 total) off to replace to battery and some free jump leads and I'm on my way. I'm a fussy person but the car is pretty much faultless. It genuinely drives like a car that's done a fraction of its 130,000 miles. I was pretty happy considering it cost not an awful lot more than shed money.

Now onto the problems. The battery, an easy fix. Next up is a little more serious but not enough to put me off. The abs, tc and caution lights are on. I'm pretty sure it's just an abs sensor/ring damaged. This will take a bit of investigation to sort but I'm confident I can sort that without too many problems. Lastly, it had the wheel alignment done a few weeks ago, it must have been done by stevie wonder as although it drives perfectly straight, the steering wheel is on the cock. This will do my head in so needs to be sorted asap!

I have found various new BMW badges in the boot so I'm excited to do some excavation of the car and see what treasures are hiding in there.

Only one picture so far as it was pissing down and I don't like getting wet!



Plans are to remove the coloured grille things(they really are gash), fix the couple of issues then just drive and enjoy it!

I shall update the thread tomorrow with whatever I find buried in there!

[daemon]

Looks like a stunning buy for the money.

I doubt you'll ever lose money on that.

How are the front wings? They are prone to rot along the wheel arch...

[S.H.A.D.O.]

I've just looked round the back - there's an 'M' badge on the boot lid lol

Seriously nice car, is it a manual, good luck with it and look forward to the updates.

[AdamIndy]

daemon said:

Looks like a stunning buy for the money.

I doubt you'll ever lose money on that.

How are the front wings? They are prone to rot along the wheel arch...

Indeed. It is amazing how much car we can get these days for not much money. A little patience and haggling can see huge bargains!

I see it as almost depreciation free to be honest. Most others I looked at were asking £3k upwards. Even if I get my money back in a couple of years I'll be happy.

The arches and entire car is 100% rust free. One front wing was replaced due to tin worm the others were sandblasted, treated and repaired properly(a £780 invoice). The paintwork seems unbelievably good. I will be able to tell better once it's dry.

[AdamIndy]

S.H.A.D.O. said:

I've just looked round the back - there's an 'M' badge on the boot lid lol

Seriously nice car, is it a manual, good luck with it and look forward to the updates.

Oh yes I forgot about that. It will be removed and burned to death! Though you do have me wondering, how the hell did you know that?

No, it's auto. I would have liked a manual but it doesn't really matter too much to me. Wafting about letting the car do its own thing is quite pleasing me at the moment!

Thanks, let's hope it's not bad, only time will tell!

[rallycross]

These have always looked very nice in black, last of the good looking BMW's before they got bloated and ugly.
We bought one exactly like this it in 2004 /or 2005, paid £20,000 - which sounds crazy now.

The auto ones are a bit crap mpg really suffers but in manual form they are good, especially the facelift 6 speed models.
The sports suspension with the 18" alloys is dreadful (especially at the rear).

Most of them are rust buckets now, wheel arches, bonnet and boot lids, bottom of wings and sills into arches all rot.

Threads that mention the word bork should be deleted and members banned for using such a stupid term.

[Koolkat969]

AdamIndy said:

With my old ST170 Focus getting a bit tired, I thought now was the time to change it. I don't like spending thousands buying cars, it's pointless for me and the miles I do.

Criteria was it needed to be comfortable, petrol, not horrendous on fuel, reliable and bigger than the focus due to needing to cart around my bike trackday stuff.

I looked at Subaru legacys, volvo's, saabs, bmw saloons etc but none of which floated my boat. With an estate car making more and more sense to me I decided to buy a big engined, possible high bork factor, thirsty coupe, as you do!

Spotted online last night, a few messages between myself and the seller and a deal was done. A quick phone call to my dad saying I need a lift and we set off on a 230 mile round trip this morning.

We arrive at the sellers house, a German man answers the door wearing BMW trainers. After a quick chat, he is a BMW fanatic. It was raining so he offered me an umbrella, M/// umbrella no less. A very nice guy and seemingly up front with the few small issues with the car(more on this later). Get to the car and it has a flat battery. That's a good start! a quick jump start and we're away.

On the plus side there has been pretty much no expense spared(other than on batteries it seems ). I have a stack of paperwork like I've never seen before. Everything has been done at bmw or at a BMW specialist including the all important gearbox service completed at BMW last year. Also a receipt for having the arches replaced/repaired and painted in October 17. £780!

A quick test drive, an offer of £100(£400 total) off to replace to battery and some free jump leads and I'm on my way. I'm a fussy person but the car is pretty much faultless. It genuinely drives like a car that's done a fraction of its 130,000 miles. I was pretty happy considering it cost not an awful lot more than shed money.

Now onto the problems. The battery, an easy fix. Next up is a little more serious but not enough to put me off. The abs, tc and caution lights are on. I'm pretty sure it's just an abs sensor/ring damaged. This will take a bit of investigation to sort but I'm confident I can sort that without too many problems. Lastly, it had the wheel alignment done a few weeks ago, it must have been done by stevie wonder as although it drives perfectly straight, the steering wheel is on the cock. This will do my head in so needs to be sorted asap!

I have found various new BMW badges in the boot so I'm excited to do some excavation of the car and see what treasures are hiding in there.

Only one picture so far as it was pissing down and I don't like getting wet!



Plans are to remove the coloured grille things(they really are gash), fix the couple of issues then just drive and enjoy it!

I shall update the thread tomorrow with whatever I find buried in there!

Nice purchase. Great everyday cars and they sound great especially if you do what's called the "golf tee mod". It keeps the exhaust flap open at all times.
Regarding the abs/brake fault, it sounds similar to the fault I had and it was an easy fix. Didn't fix it myself but done by BMW specialist ETA near brands hatch. I had the abs light permanently on together with the brake warning light. ETA said it was the tyre wheel sensor which was at fault after doing the diagnostics. He cleaned it and it's been OK since.

[AdamIndy]

rallycross said:

These have always looked very nice in black, last of the good looking BMW's before they got bloated and ugly.
We bought one exactly like this it in 2004 /or 2005, paid £20,000 - which sounds crazy now.

The auto ones are a bit crap mpg really suffers but in manual form they are good, especially the facelift 6 speed models.
The sports suspension with the 18" alloys is dreadful (especially at the rear).

Most of them are rust buckets now, wheel arches, bonnet and boot lids, bottom of wings and sills into arches all rot.

Threads that mention the word bork should be deleted and members banned for using such a stupid term.

I agree, the E46 is, to me at least, the best looking 3 series. This car was the best part of £32k when new.



The suspension is absolutely fine, coming from an ST170 it feels like a Rolls Royce!

And yes, anyone who uses the word bork should be banned.

[AdamIndy]

Koolkat969 said:

Nice purchase. Great everyday cars and they sound great especially if you do what's called the "golf tee mod". It keeps the exhaust flap open at all times.
Regarding the abs/brake fault, it sounds similar to the fault I had and it was an easy fix. Didn't fix it myself but done by BMW specialist ETA near brands hatch. I had the abs light permanently on together with the brake warning light. ETA said it was the tyre wheel sensor which was at fault after doing the diagnostics. He cleaned it and it's been OK since.

Thanks.

I didn't even know it had an exhaust flap to be honest so I am more than willing to give the golf tee mod a go!

Hearing about your abs fault is good news to me. That was going to be my first thing to try. I will strip all of the sensors out and clean them when I get chance and go from there. I will get the diagnostics onto it and see what it says too.

[Mr Tidy]

Lovely car OP - a manual straight 6 petrol E46 is so much car for the money!

Mind you I'm biased as I've had a 325ti Sport Compact for over 3 years now.

I would have loved those grilles of yours, but according to "realoem" the Compact ones aren't the same as the Coupe. (But if anyone knows different please let me know and I'll do a deal with the OP).

I got the Compact because it is supposed to be my practical car, and the hatch has proved useful for things like buying winter tyres! I know it isn't as good looking, but it's way cheaper - just a shame they never did a 330ti version. But at least it doesn't have the exhaust flap, so doesn't need the mod!

I've spent a fair bit on a cooling system refresh and replacing a PAS pipe over and above routine servicing, but it's probably still worth near enough what I paid for it so overall it's been great!

I hope you enjoy your 330Ci as much as I've enjoyed my 325ti!

[Benjijames28]

That is one nice car, hope it serves you well. I too have gone off spending huge money on cars. I was 8k on debt to drive around a lovely 6 year old 5 series, on top of the loan and drive line warranty it was costing me a fortune in minor wear and tear maintenance, suspension arms were on the cards in near future. Either way I come to my senses and sold it while i could get a good price.

Will defo buy another BMW, but it will be cash.

[to3m]

You paid £400 for this?! That sounds like great value, maybe even better than that. My insurers gave me £1800 as trade-in value for my (rather average) 51 plate 330d, after some tt wrecked it by driving into it, and I felt pretty pleased with that. There were no warning lights on mine though

I did have lots of problems with rust, but it seems to be inevitable on these cars.

Is it black or is it green?

[Phunk]

Don’t bother with the golf tee mod if it’s an auto.

I had a 330ci Auto and I quickly changed it back as it would just drone.

Average MPG was 19 around town, however a 3000 mile blat around Europe including doing 158 (gps) on the autobahn took it up to 30 mpg average

[Sammo123]

My Brother has one of these and loves it. I don't want to burst your bubble on the ABS light but the sensors aren't normally the problem. The ABS units on these tend to pack up reasonably frequently which will set all those lights off. Thankfully you don't need to replace it but you will need to remove it and have it rebuilt. Get it plugged in and see what fault codes you have first of course, but I would honestly be surprised if it ends up being just a sensor.

[Prinny]

AdamIndy said:

Plans are to remove the coloured grille things(they really are gash)

Good. A sure-fire certainty of a stereotypical aggressive “BMW-wker” in my experience. I won’t have them on either of mine, ever.

Front plate looks like it’s non-approved too? (I’m not anal about that stuff, but it just adds to the visual indicators...)

Other than that, sounds like you’ve got a cracking deal! Good luck, and hopefully the ABS is nothing more than requiring having your ring cleaned.

[AdamIndy]

Sammo123 said:

My Brother has one of these and loves it. I don't want to burst your bubble on the ABS light but the sensors aren't normally the problem. The ABS units on these tend to pack up reasonably frequently which will set all those lights off. Thankfully you don't need to replace it but you will need to remove it and have it rebuilt. Get it plugged in and see what fault codes you have first of course, but I would honestly be surprised if it ends up being just a sensor.

Im being realistic, I hope it's just a sensor but if not I will sort it. I'm lucky enough to be able to do anything it needs myself so I only have parts prices to worry about rather than dealing with labour rates too.

It does need sorting as the traction control isn't working!

[AdamIndy]

Mr Tidy said:

Lovely car OP - a manual straight 6 petrol E46 is so much car for the money!

Mind you I'm biased as I've had a 325ti Sport Compact for over 3 years now.

I would have loved those grilles of yours, but according to "realoem" the Compact ones aren't the same as the Coupe. (But if anyone knows different please let me know and I'll do a deal with the OP).

I got the Compact because it is supposed to be my practical car, and the hatch has proved useful for things like buying winter tyres! I know it isn't as good looking, but it's way cheaper - just a shame they never did a 330ti version. But at least it doesn't have the exhaust flap, so doesn't need the mod!

I've spent a fair bit on a cooling system refresh and replacing a PAS pipe over and above routine servicing, but it's probably still worth near enough what I paid for it so overall it's been great!

I hope you enjoy your 330Ci as much as I've enjoyed my 325ti!

Cheers mate, I've done about 100 miles so far and love it already! It sounds lovely and drives very well. Even after 130k there are no rattles. Testament to BMW build quality I suppose.

I will be changing the grilles in the next couple of weeks so if you want them, stay in touch and you can have them.

Benjijames28 said:

That is one nice car, hope it serves you well. I too have gone off spending huge money on cars. I was 8k on debt to drive around a lovely 6 year old 5 series, on top of the loan and drive line warranty it was costing me a fortune in minor wear and tear maintenance, suspension arms were on the cards in near future. Either way I come to my senses and sold it while i could get a good price.

Will defo buy another BMW, but it will be cash.

Thanks mate.

I think it's the right move personally. Getting into debt for a car to me is just not worth it. Personally, I'd rather own a £500 than than be in debt. I don't like financial worries personally but each to their own!

to3m said:

You paid £400 for this?! That sounds like great value, maybe even better than that. My insurers gave me £1800 as trade-in value for my (rather average) 51 plate 330d, after some tt wrecked it by driving into it, and I felt pretty pleased with that. There were no warning lights on mine though

I did have lots of problems with rust, but it seems to be inevitable on these cars.

Is it black or is it green?

Hell no! I wish it was £400! I got £400 off the asking price. I did pay less than your insurers paid though.

It is sapphire black I think. I'm not too clued up with the names of the colours.

Thankfully the rust has been taken care of, hopefully it won't come back for some time either!

Phunk said:

Don’t bother with the golf tee mod if it’s an auto.

I had a 330ci Auto and I quickly changed it back as it would just drone.

Average MPG was 19 around town, however a 3000 mile blat around Europe including doing 158 (gps) on the autobahn took it up to 30 mpg average

I will have to try it, even if it's only once! I assume it's easy to reverse if it does do my head in.

I'm prepared for savage fuel economy but for the miles I do it doesn't really matter to be honest. I averaged 28mpg(on the obc) over 100miles of town, motorway and country roads. I can live with that. I think!

[AdamIndy]

Prinny said:

Good. A sure-fire certainty of a stereotypical aggressive “BMW-wker” in my experience. I won’t have them on either of mine, ever.

Front plate looks like it’s non-approved too? (I’m not anal about that stuff, but it just adds to the visual indicators...)

Other than that, sounds like you’ve got a cracking deal! Good luck, and hopefully the ABS is nothing more than requiring having your ring cleaned.

No I don't like them either, that and the M badge on the boot, I could post a video of it being set alight if you like!

The plates will be going too. As well as the M/// surrounds.

Thanks I could also do a video of my ring being cleaned if need be!

[Prinny]

Phone. so brief...

• Yes Please!
• Good
• Mind Bleach!

[Jimmy Recard]

Nice car OP. I'll have to look out for a bargain one of these.

Is it possible that the fault lights have been kicked up by a failing/drained battery?

Glad to hear you're changing the coloured grille slats, the M badge and the plates. They're all chav ste.

I laughed out loud reading about the BMW trainers! I would feel like a tit wearing something like that