Another silver BMW - 2005 330i Touring

[JakeT]

Court_S said:

Good stuff.

I have the fun of the valve cover gasket and eccentric shaft sensor to look forward to on Thursday. The garage is cleaned / tidied so I don’t need to do it in the drive.

I need to change the rear callipers in her 125i because I’m 99% sure one is sticking slightly. I’ve been given some beardy new ones from another forum member which just need painting because they’re currently Phoenix yellow.

Good plan. I’m sure it takes quite a while knowing what the N52 is like to work on. Why do people always paint calipers yellow?

CB 987 said:

Great update, how are you getting on with the fresher Birds suspension kit?

Do you fancy selling it back to me?! Joking aside, I’m currently on the look out for something similar to run and then keep for a while. I’ve just sold my F31 as we now need a larger family car. I have been craving something with 6 cylinders and a manual gearbox to run alongside the new family car.

Current favourites are an E81/E82 130i (always fancied trying one), another E91 330i/335i or another decent E46 330i touring (quite a challenge!)… just to make it difficult I’d much prefer a manual!

Cheers.

It feels just as good, and fresh as it should do. The knock on the front is gone, and the rear is more composed as the rear dampers had over 100,000 miles on them. I still have the bits I took off, I keep meaning to get Bilstein UK to refresh them now they birds aren’t doing the E90 kits anymore.

Ive just slimmed the fleet, and sold my E46 325ti, too! How was it selling the D3? Sometimes ALPINAs can be a bit of a pain to sell.

130is are great. I found one for a mate late last year. LE, with cruise, heated seats, logic7 and CIC nav retrofitted. Had the Bilstein B12 kit on it too, and it’s a really nice little thing.

[Court_S]

JakeT said:

Court_S said:

Good stuff.

I have the fun of the valve cover gasket and eccentric shaft sensor to look forward to on Thursday. The garage is cleaned / tidied so I don’t need to do it in the drive.

I need to change the rear callipers in her 125i because I’m 99% sure one is sticking slightly. I’ve been given some beardy new ones from another forum member which just need painting because they’re currently Phoenix yellow.

Good plan. I’m sure it takes quite a while knowing what the N52 is like to work on. Why do people always paint calipers yellow?

CB 987 said:

Great update, how are you getting on with the fresher Birds suspension kit?

Do you fancy selling it back to me?! Joking aside, I’m currently on the look out for something similar to run and then keep for a while. I’ve just sold my F31 as we now need a larger family car. I have been craving something with 6 cylinders and a manual gearbox to run alongside the new family car.

Current favourites are an E81/E82 130i (always fancied trying one), another E91 330i/335i or another decent E46 330i touring (quite a challenge!)… just to make it difficult I’d much prefer a manual!

Cheers.

It feels just as good, and fresh as it should do. The knock on the front is gone, and the rear is more composed as the rear dampers had over 100,000 miles on them. I still have the bits I took off, I keep meaning to get Bilstein UK to refresh them now they birds aren’t doing the E90 kits anymore.

Ive just slimmed the fleet, and sold my E46 325ti, too! How was it selling the D3? Sometimes ALPINAs can be a bit of a pain to sell.

130is are great. I found one for a mate late last year. LE, with cruise, heated seats, logic7 and CIC nav retrofitted. Had the Bilstein B12 kit on it too, and it’s a really nice little thing.

In their defence, the callipers where painted to match the BMW Performance front callipers. I’ll get them painted silver soon enough,

Another vote for the 130; I really like mine. They’re a lot of fun and quite an underrated little car….having come from an auto M140i, I really enjoy having a manual again. The Birds suspension on mine seems to be very good.

[CB 987]

JakeT said:

Court_S said:

Good stuff.

I have the fun of the valve cover gasket and eccentric shaft sensor to look forward to on Thursday. The garage is cleaned / tidied so I don’t need to do it in the drive.

I need to change the rear callipers in her 125i because I’m 99% sure one is sticking slightly. I’ve been given some beardy new ones from another forum member which just need painting because they’re currently Phoenix yellow.

Good plan. I’m sure it takes quite a while knowing what the N52 is like to work on. Why do people always paint calipers yellow?

CB 987 said:

Great update, how are you getting on with the fresher Birds suspension kit?

Do you fancy selling it back to me?! Joking aside, I’m currently on the look out for something similar to run and then keep for a while. I’ve just sold my F31 as we now need a larger family car. I have been craving something with 6 cylinders and a manual gearbox to run alongside the new family car.

Current favourites are an E81/E82 130i (always fancied trying one), another E91 330i/335i or another decent E46 330i touring (quite a challenge!)… just to make it difficult I’d much prefer a manual!

Cheers.

It feels just as good, and fresh as it should do. The knock on the front is gone, and the rear is more composed as the rear dampers had over 100,000 miles on them. I still have the bits I took off, I keep meaning to get Bilstein UK to refresh them now they birds aren’t doing the E90 kits anymore.

Ive just slimmed the fleet, and sold my E46 325ti, too! How was it selling the D3? Sometimes ALPINAs can be a bit of a pain to sell.

130is are great. I found one for a mate late last year. LE, with cruise, heated seats, logic7 and CIC nav retrofitted. Had the Bilstein B12 kit on it too, and it’s a really nice little thing.

The D3 actually sold really quickly, I think being a touring always helps. The market is just bonkers currently, which made my purchasing dilemma a challenge, but then it’s all relative. I actually achieved marginally more for the Alpina than I paid nearly 3 years and 25k miles ago, so no complaints.

As of today I’m back in an E91 for a bit, it’s a LCI N54 335i, sadly not a manual, but with approx. 20 manual LCI cars, it was always going to be a challenge! I actually like the auto more than I anticipated. It’s done just under 100k, Le Mans blue with a few extras, sadly no xenons. I might even start a quick build thread as I plan to tidy a few bits up, nothing major. Decent history with some of the common E91/N54 problems addressed already, it was under BMW warranty until 2018/2019. I need to stop myself looking at Bilstein kits now!

Cheers

[helix402]

CB 987 said:

The D3 actually sold really quickly, I think being a touring always helps. The market is just bonkers currently, which made my purchasing dilemma a challenge, but then it’s all relative. I actually achieved marginally more for the Alpina than I paid nearly 3 years and 25k miles ago, so no complaints.

As of today I’m back in an E91 for a bit, it’s a LCI N54 335i, sadly not a manual, but with approx. 20 manual LCI cars, it was always going to be a challenge! I actually like the auto more than I anticipated. It’s done just under 100k, Le Mans blue with a few extras, sadly no xenons. I might even start a quick build thread as I plan to tidy a few bits up, nothing major. Decent history with some of the common E91/N54 problems addressed already, it was under BMW warranty until 2018/2019. I need to stop myself looking at Bilstein kits now!

Cheers

Afraid you need a Bilstein kit (or Birds). See my 335d thread for inspiration.

[JakeT]

CB 987 said:

The D3 actually sold really quickly, I think being a touring always helps. The market is just bonkers currently, which made my purchasing dilemma a challenge, but then it’s all relative. I actually achieved marginally more for the Alpina than I paid nearly 3 years and 25k miles ago, so no complaints.

As of today I’m back in an E91 for a bit, it’s a LCI N54 335i, sadly not a manual, but with approx. 20 manual LCI cars, it was always going to be a challenge! I actually like the auto more than I anticipated. It’s done just under 100k, Le Mans blue with a few extras, sadly no xenons. I might even start a quick build thread as I plan to tidy a few bits up, nothing major. Decent history with some of the common E91/N54 problems addressed already, it was under BMW warranty until 2018/2019. I need to stop myself looking at Bilstein kits now!

Cheers

Oh, excellent. How does it seem back in an older one? I really like the ZF 6HP, I think they have the right balance of speed of changes and the slush that makes an automatic good.

That’s no surprise, the market really is silly. But no depreciation in three years with the way things have gone on diesel is excellent.

[JakeT]

helix402 said:

Afraid you need a Bilstein kit (or Birds). See my 335d thread for inspiration.

He knows. He’s the previous owner of my car which was Birds’d the whole time he had it.

[OTB]

Your work on your E91 is a great read, nice feeling when a lot of the work is done yourself. Ive just picked up a 330i Manual in Le Mans blue and absolutely love it. 150k miles and no knocks or bangs but the birds kit is tempting!

Oil cooler and filter housing needs to be done soon - is it relatively easy DIY? And also a leak from the pipes on the bottom right of the engine bay - assuming power steering related?

[JakeT]

Glad to hear.

The Birds kit is excellent, even though very costly. The oil filter and cooler gaskets aren’t all that difficult, and can be done leaving the manifold on fortunately.

I’ve been a little lazy in updating this thread recently. Service time came and went. Oil, pollen, air filter, and a new thermostat were fitted. Lovely picture of some parts in the boot is below. As usual, the electric pump makes bleeding and leak checking so easy, one of the best features of it.



Mileage is up to 179,500 miles now.

[JakeT]

A large trip, this time

N.b In order to keep this post from taking up too much space on your display, I've spoiler'd the pictures of lots of places.

I recently moved jobs, and due to the job that I am moving in to, needing background checks that could take over a month, I ended up having some time between jobs. With this in mind, the good lady and I decided to do one of the things we love most (stop it), go on a big European trip. We'd planned to do something similar in 2020, but we needn't talk about what happened there.

With this in mind, we booked everything quite last minute after a bit of a faff with the passport office, however compared to many I got off lucky. Our route was as follows:

• West Berkshire
• Liege
• Stuttgart
• Munich
• Innsbruck
• Konstanz
• Lucerne
• Freiburg
• Nancy
• Luxembourg
• Ghent
• West Berks

I last did any real work on the car in March, so gave it a good wash and checkover, pre trip. This consisted of:

An umweltplakette (German emission sticker. Needed for lots of cities now)

Checks of the various key fluids, and a poke under the bonnet to make sure there's been no new leaks

A check of the A/C system (even though it's on all year round)

A diagnostic run, to be sure there were no codes that would cause trouble


Putting all of the rammel needed in the boot. This namely consisted of the spare wheel kit, excellent little Wera tool kit, spare coolant, gloves, and cleaning supplies. The lack of spare provisions on these cars does make me sad. It encroaches on boot space a lot, but such is life.

Packed up, we managed to still pull the luggage cover over. I'm quite anal about this, to keep things away from prying eyes, and to keep us safe should the unthinkable happen.

With this being the Saturday, I finished work on the Tuesday and we went on the Wednesday. Starting mileage:

First stop was the chunnel, obviously. Did you even use the tunnel if you didn't take a picture?

From there we had a quick stop in northern Belgium (Oostende) before heading onwards to Liege, our first stop.
Oostende:

Liege is a lovely city, too. We chose it as a second to one of our favourites, Spa. Liege still has some great places to eat, architecture, and has the River Meuse flowing through it. It also has a very impressive set of steps, which I am not sure the camera conveyed very well. In 28 degrees, it was quite a walk up there. Nice view from the top, though.
Liege Pictures:

Resting underground after the first leg



It doesn't look that steep here...

No, it really is! Nice view though.


We only stayed a night, and then moved onwards, to Stuttgart. The scenery in Southern Belgium is great, and very hilly. The E42 takes a great route, and once you're in Germany, and see the best sign ever, you know what time it is. :biggrin:
Once in Stuttgart, we explored generally, had some dinner, and got caught in a huge thunderstorm. For those that don't know, on the continent there's really some magnificent shows in the sky. I did get totally drenched though. We also visited a museum. I know that they're the enemy of this thread, but I can't help but admire.
MB Museum pictures:

We started off staying next to some football team. Not that I knew.

Getting close, something feels off...

Something old, so I've been told


One for the barge thread

Complete with the requisite paraphernalia


Old commercials - Which I am strangely fond of

A combo of dreams

A working C Klasse

One of my all time favourite F1 safety cars

Where the boss sat (Who's that weirdo?)

The hall of motorsport




Stuttgart was also just a night stop, with us wanting to cover miles to get further south quickly. The drive on to Munich was fine, albeit a lot of traffic. My main memories of driving in Germany is the sublime and frustrating. Yes, you can go as fast as your car will go, but the chance to do so is getting rarer and rarer. The main things are road works, and traffic. An early morning run on a Sunday in summer is what you really need if you're going to do some proper speeds. With that over, and some more lovely scenery (and a spot of speeding) we found ourselves in Munich. One of my favourite cities. We just had to stop by the museum of the builder of the namesake of the thread, and did a lot of exploring. We also spent a lot of time in Biergartens. I'm back for Oktoberfest, so got the practice in.

Munich and BMW Museum pictures:





A piston and the engine that carried us here, one of BMWs best.


And another of BMWs best, that's also in the garage at home! They had an M20 and M30 in the engine room, too.









An ALPINA B3 on seasonal plates. Just lovely.

Could it be? The option UK buyers missed out on? Yes! The elusive 6 speed manual!





We stayed in Munich for three days, and took in various sites the city had. Then, it was off to Austria. More specifically, Innsbruck. On the way there, we stopped off at the Neuschwanstein. It's a fairytale castle in the foothills of The Alps, just inside of Germany. Some great views, and it's a tough walk up to the castle. Worth it though. You can take the bus if you don't fancy the walk, too.

Pictures of and from the Neuschwanstein:












This led us into Austria and Innsbruck, where we stayed for a few days. The aparthotel we were in had great views of the Alps, and the old town of Innsbruck, over the river. Suitably this is called the Inn.

Innsbruck pictures ahoy!







From there, we visited Konstanz. This is on the shores of Lake Constance (Bodensee to the Germans), which is where the German, Austrian, and Swiss borders meet. This was our highlight of the trip, and I would absolutely recommend visitng. Lots of Germans visit here on holiday too, and we were here for Ascension, which is a public holiday in Germany. On the way there, we stopped in Liechtenstein. They have a castle. It was closed.

Piccies of Liechtenstein and Konstanz
Nice views. Shame they weren't having visitors.



Konstanz





A two tone Volvo I enjoyed more than I should have

The Bodensee Steak. Delicious!

Followed by the amusing looking spaghetti ice cream



Following on from this, we headed into Switzerland, our stop being Lucerne. Switzerland is gorgeous, and jolly expensive! I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.
















I wasn't planning on subjecting the good lady to any more car related activities, but there happened to be the Swiss Classics World on near our hotel, so it would have been rude not to go! Some really fantastic classics there, and the admission price was worth it. Of course, I did take some pictures of the various cars I can't afford.





















Post Switzerland, we hopped back into Germany, where at the border I spent the MOST I have ever spent on fuel in my life. 98RON super? EUR2.57 per litre. I did not fill the tanks. Just a splash and fast dash. Freiburg is where we stopped next, for a night. In the heart of The Black Forest, it's a very quaint town/city, and has some great views. This was another hit, and I'd like some more time to visit the area next time we do such a trip.
You know the deal, pictures are right here







Post Freiburg, it was a hop into France, for a couple of days in Nancy. Nancy didn't wow us as much as the other areas, so much so I took just the one picture. The grand square is a UNESCO site, I believe.


After Nancy, we visited another tax haven. This time, in the form of Luxembourg. It's a nice place, in the same way Switzerland is. Also the same is the incredibly steep prices!


Some sort of posh car event, happening far below us

We did see the Grand Duke of Luxembourg. He's too important for number plates, just a crown on his Audi A8.




This leads us on to one of our favourite places, and our final stop. Ghent. A lovely old city, with lots of things to do as a tourist. It's also close enough to the tunnel for an easy weekend trip, for those so inclined. At this point in the trip we were savouring the experience, and wanting to not come home. Always the sign of a good holiday, in my eyes.





Someone decided a wave was a good ideas as it was being taken...




Which brings us to... The final day, coming home. The obligatory tunnel pic was taken...



And, our final ending mileage, and scores on the doors.




The car really was the unsung hero of this trip. 140MPH in 35 degree heat, and lots of time spent between 100-120 smashing some miles in comfort and style. No work performed beforehand, and nothing to even suggest it wouldn't complete the trip. We used roughly 1/2 of a litre of oil, but I can accept that with over 180,000 miles covered now, and the stick I gave it over quite a few miles. it continues to impress, and be as faithful as one could want a car to be. This car has now covered 45,000 miles with me in three years now, and I don't want it to go any time soon. I know that I could save money on fuel with something else, and go faster, but I can't do that to an old friend now. This one will see its days out with me, with regular exercise.

It needs another wash and hoover now, too.

[Mr Tidy]

That looks like a great trip - thanks for posting the details.

For the first time in ages I did a decent trip in my 330i a few weeks ago and it made realise what a great all-rounder it is. Plus it must have many miles left in it as it's only done 118K!

[bobiwine]

I enjoyed reading your trip report. Some beautiful spots you visited and it’s reassuring to hear the car performed solidly.

[CB 987]

A great update thanks for sharing, I always wanted to take this car around Europe, but we never managed it.

[mercedeslimos]

I'd love to take one of my cars on a big euro trip, but the distance I am from the continent means flying and renting are definitely far cheaper unfortunately!

[roadie]

What an incredible number of pictures! Trip looks fantastic and glad to see the car behaved too.

[JakeT]

Thank you all for the nice comments. Appreciate it.

The car was incredibly solid. That said I should hope so the amount of time, effort, and hard earned I’ve put into it now.

[JakeT]

Since the summer trip, nothing exciting has happened. MOT has been, and we’re legal for another year. 13,000 miles covered. I’ll take that, as I work from home.

Recently, one headlight washed has been sticking out, and annoying me. Obviously that just won’t do. A used one on eBay is £20 vs £86 for a new one from BMW. Used it was.

Before:

Firstly, the washer nozzle and cover came off. They clip in, nice and easily.

Followed by a little clean…

Then, up in the air, off with the wheel and out with the front arch liner. One screw snapped.

I tried to clamp the hose with the Croydon socket set, but that didn’t work.

Old part out (from 2005), new one in.

Ignition on, sidelights on and check…


Success! Cleaning the old one still wouldn’t let it retract. One of those (very) minor niggles sorted.

Nearly at the magic 186,000 miles. 300,000km.

[B'stard Child]

JakeT said:

I tried to clamp the hose with the Croydon socket set, but that didn’t work.

Old part out (from 2005), new one in.

Ignition on, sidelights on and check…


Success! Cleaning the old one still wouldn’t let it retract. One of those (very) minor niggles sorted.

Nearly at the magic 186,000 miles. 300,000km.

Why did you need to clamp the hose?

I've never heard anyone use the expresion Croydon socket set for mole grips - I guess it's a local expression

Good work anyway - if it's fitted it needs to work properly

[JakeT]

I clamped the hose, as it leaked a good bit of fluid out. I wants to keep the garage floor semi clean.

I don’t even live near Croydon. They’re also known as the adjustable nut fkers to some too.

Absolutely. I kind of like them too. Reminds me of old cavaliers and the ‘pecking order’. ‘It has headlight washers? Oh my god it’s a CDI or an SRI’.

[Mr Tidy]

I lived in Sutton for a while so only a few miles from Croydon, but I've never heard them called that before! I grew up calling them Mole Grips.

ETA I'm pretty sure my 1992 Cavalier SRi had headlamp wash and wipe - my 1991 Sierra GLSi definitely did! I wonder that happened to the wiper part?

Edited by Mr Tidy on Sunday 9th October 22:26

[JakeT]

An enjoyable trip to Belgium was had. Partly for some R&R and Spa activities, and partly to start stocking up on good things for Christmas.

Scores on the doors. Very agreeable economy this trip. The only time I’ve done a comfortable 500+ miles before needing to fill up:


2022, outside Franchimont castle:


2019, with an old friend. (Sniff)