BMW E46 330d M-Sport Touring Manual (Anyone recognise her?)

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Satisfying...

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That’s a serious thread you’ve got going on there!!!

What is it about the old E46 Touring that’s so addictive though??? Why are we so compelled to throw such time, effort & money on relentlessly improving them like this???

I’m hooked on mine. Just love it. The E46 represents the 3 series sweet spot to me in terms of styling. In coupe and saloon form as well touring. I can’t put my finger on it but they just have something over the others in my opinion...

First impressions of the power flex bushes are pretty positive. Can’t wait to get the ARB bushes done too.

Hopefully further updates will follow pretty soon...

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In addition to these little jobs - I also recently thought I’d use some of the spare time that lockdown gave us to experiment with my bodywork restoration skills...

My front bumper has had a scuff and some cracked lacquer low down on the off side corner ever since I bought it. Having watched several YouTube guides to repairing such marks (and also having watched a professional do a similar repair in a body shop) I thought I would be reasonably well equipped to give it a go...

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I tried to spend as much time as possible on getting the prep right. Getting the surfaces as smooth as possible and masking every edge as precisely as you can is supposed to be absolutely key...

I think in hindsight I didn’t flat the primer with wet & dry as much as I should have though... It felt like I was doing it for a fair old while, and it ‘looked’ to me to be perfectly flat & smooth - but once I put the colour & lacquer on it I realised that it wasn’t quite perfect...

I think I did a decent job of layering the coats so that the colour coverage was spot on, and I’m really pleased with the glossy finish created by the lacquer.

All in all a vast improvement, but I know I can improve next time...

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Definitely not perfect - but it’s certainly presentable enough and I’m pleased with the knowledge I’ve gained from having a bash at it myself.

A couple of days later I treated her to a wash and a coating with some ceramic detailer stuff I bought during one of my many lockdown boredom impulse purchase moments!!!

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First impressions are that it’s hydrophobic properties are pretty decent as the water beads really nicely...

Was easy to put on too...

To my untrained eye it also gives it a decent shine as well - but I’m not especially picky with ‘detailing’ type stuff.

Sure beats buffing wax on & off though...

This could be the future for lazy folks like me!!!

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I doft my cap to you sir...

My best (ever) time was a 9:44 BTG in a standard E36 M3 3.0 Coupe.

I haven’t been for years though. One of the guys I usually go with decided to take his Fireblade instead of his M3 and ended up in the local hospital with a broken & dislocated hip.

The wives & girlfriends haven’t been so keen for us to go again since then.

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If I were to do it again I would DEFINITELY remove the bumper!!!

I started off with the intention of it being a small touch up job but it ended up being a respray of about 80% of the whole bumper. Whoops.

You live and learn I suppose

Will probably whip the bumper off when I respray the remaining 20% (since it now looks dull & grey by comparison!!!)

Doh!

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A few other little jobs taken care of now too...

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