BMW E46 330d SE Touring

[helix402]

New osr tyre, Conti, hopefully it’ll last longer than 8k miles the Eagle F1 lasted:

[helix402]

doppelganger said:

I've really enjoyed reading through all 26 pages. Very interesting and informative. Keep it up!

Glad you enjoyed it. Here’s today’s mileage:



Only recent change has been a new pair of front wiper blades, I use gen BMW flat blades as I find they work best and last the longest.

[helix402]

Big news. Osf abs sensor failed. After reading a thread on oe ABS sensors (I normally fit ATE) I decided to live life on the edge and fit a Chinese sensor. It cost £11 and works.

The securing bolt snapped. As usual. I think there’s only 1 factory ABS sensor left on the car now.

[helix402]

More osf news. Osf caliper started to seize. It was last replaced in 2014 at 109k miles. Now at 171k. I got a bargain from eBay, a Mintex recon caliper for £35. I never quite trust the brand new Chinese ones you can buy.
I put a new brake hose on too, at less than £7 for a Corteco I think it was a wise move.



All bled with ATE SL6.

[helix402]

Jhonno said:

Same caliper was gone on mine, I got a B-Stock re-manufactured caliper for £29. Made no sense attempting to rebuild at that price.

Exactly.

[helix402]

My tailgate badge was a tad worn so I decided I needed a new one. A new one is £40 ish, too much. I realised that a new wheel centre badge was £8 and the same size. Simply remove the old badge and stick on with handy double sided tape that comes on the new wheel badge.

New part:



Fitted:



Tailgate doesn’t really look that orange peely-looks like an F31 paint job in the pic!

[helix402]

Glad you’ve enjoyed it. You need 4x 33306852895, ball joints, trailing arm bushes 2x 33326770817.

[helix402]

dab330DE46 said:

Thank you, i was totatly wrong then lol. Glad I plucked up the courage to ask. Another question if you dont mind, how do you get on with the tints? I have been holding off doing it as I was worried it would cut light to the interior and make it a little dark.

I’m pleased with the tinted windows. I’d say the only downside is that vision out of the tailgate window is reduced at night, no problems with interior darkness in the daytime.

[helix402]

Today’s update:

Cluster failed. Complete deadness, cost £162.50 to repair by Cartronix. It should return tomorrow.

I cleaned it today:

[helix402]

68s are the best! Glad you enjoyed the thread.

[helix402]

Cluster fixed and refitted:



Good service. Posted it Fri, arrived with repairer Mon. Back in the car today.

[helix402]

doppelganger said:

Looking good.

I'm sure I remember reading that you've fitted a decat pipe...but can't find which page that was on...
Any noticeable benefit or downside? Noisier? What make is it?

Edited by doppelganger on Wednesday 17th February 18:18

The car has the 2nd cat but not the 1st. Afraid I can’t remember the make of the decat pipe. It was a stainless one from eBay, I think I paid £60. It’s well made. Re pros and cons-on a standard or mildly tuned car I don’t think the de cat has any worth apart from making gearbox removal easier due to more space.
It does make the exhaust fumes smell worse at idle. On a more heavily tuned car it is of more value as allows the car to give more power and torque if mapped without the cat.

[helix402]

As mentioned in another thread my neighbour drove into my car again:



Both n/s doors dented and scratched. Last repair after a similar incident was around £600 (new mouldings, repair and respray). Paid for promptly by my neighbour.


I decided I’d rather sort it quickly this time and save my neighbour some money. Polished the rear door-90% scratch free-very small dent left. Used front door. (New mouldings in order). £200 this time. My neighbour says he is stopping driving (again).

Used door collected:







Fitted:



Rear wheel doesn’t have +ve camber, it’s the angle of the pic. Car needs a clean now and used door is in good nick but needs a polish.

Not a bad turn around, damaged on Sun. Fixed Weds.

[helix402]

Annoying, but at least it wasn’t a car park hit n run. On a +ve note I zeroed the trip mpg for the 52 mile round trip to pick the door up:





Not bad for a 19 year old BMW with 255bhp and 600Nm torque.

[helix402]

Bodywork fixed. New n/s/f door, n/s/r polished, new door mouldings:

[helix402]

New osr top mount (uprated PU one from Bimmertune), bump stop and shroud.

Only one pic of the old bump stop:



I couldn’t face doing the n/s, job for another day. If anyone is doing the job, torque for rear damper lower bolt is 100Nm-in normal position (I.e car on the ground). If you want standard ish top mounts M3 Conv ones are the strongest, they still don’t last long-hence why I fit PU ones.

[helix402]

New n/s/r bump stop, top mount (PU as all non PU ones don’t last long on the E46) and Z3 reinforcement plate today:







Plus I picked up some used B8s for my next car (no four is on order). They came with B12 kit Eibach springs. I don’t want a lowered car so these have been sold.



I was quite pleased to only spend 1 hour on the job. It’s a pain on a touring.

[helix402]

Full service parts and new front pads and discs ready to go on before sale:

[helix402]

therusterman said:

Any ideas for a planned replacement?

E92 335d, there’s a thread on it already!

[helix402]

Volvolover said:

Whats happened to this then if theres a replacement? :-(

Still going strong. I have no need to replace it, just the correct 335d has come along. In an ideal world I’d keep it as values as rising. It will be sale in due course.