E46 330i Touring
Discussion
Court_S said:
Yeah, fast estates are cool. I’ve always wished that BMW had made an M3 touring (I know one is due but it’ll have those ugly grilles though).
Yeah, an E46 M3 Touring is cool looking thing (imaginations of that have been made).. A mate owns an E46 M3 Touring, but it is just the running gear/electrics, not the bodywork.Sf_Manta said:
Lovely car, keep it tidy and up to snuff on maintenance and keep the rust under control.
They're quite rare cars these days, especially the 330i versions with a manual as most came with autos.
Last time i checked with the BMW club, a GOOD condition 330i Touring was going for about £3000 back in 2018 if i recall. They're now gettting to that age where all the rough ones are now being parted out and the good ones are now increasing in value.
Yeah, as we looked earlier, possibly about 55-60 M-Sport 6 speeds left.. I can tell you I paid more than that for this one, and I was the head of a long queue by shooting a deposit over.They're quite rare cars these days, especially the 330i versions with a manual as most came with autos.
Last time i checked with the BMW club, a GOOD condition 330i Touring was going for about £3000 back in 2018 if i recall. They're now gettting to that age where all the rough ones are now being parted out and the good ones are now increasing in value.
Little update.. A house move and various other projects meant the 330i has been quiet.
I was donated an set of M3 ARBs.. I know the rear one doesn't fit, but I was lead to believe the front did.. So thought I'd give it a go! Another mate had some leftover M3 ARB Polybushes too, so potentially a free upgrade, and a chance to play with my new impact gun...
Cleaned up a bit of rust on the rollbar, some rust killer and a quick coat of random black paint to tidy up..
M3 (bottom) vs. 330i (top) - Different shape.. Hmm.. (2mm difference in diameter)
Removal of the old ARB created the first issue.. The driver's droplink top nut just spun on removal (damaged threads).. So ended up removing the old bar, fitting the new in place and having to leave it sat whilst the new Meyle HD droplinks arrived.
The sign of trouble.. Grinder out!
Perfect cut!
New droplinks fitted, steering lock checked and sure enough, the ARB fits.
Quick trip down the road and it feels tighter and like it uses the front end more.
Then we had the old ABS lights up on the dash.. Guessed (educated) at a rear sensor, so sensor ordered and fitted and sure enough. ABS all working again.
A driver's door rattle also solved with a new doorcard clip!
No "exciting" pics for these though..
Done a few longer trips in it recently and it has been brilliant tbh. Giving mid/high 30's mpg. Not bad for an old 3L 6 banger!
Decided to treat it to some LED side lights and boot lights, a bluetooth adapter and a wash. My new place is on a borehole with filtered water, which it transpires is superb for washing cars! Not a mark/smear in sight!
Longer term, I am looking to refresh all the suspension, a stereo upgrade and some new wheels! However, a few other projects need attention before then..
I was donated an set of M3 ARBs.. I know the rear one doesn't fit, but I was lead to believe the front did.. So thought I'd give it a go! Another mate had some leftover M3 ARB Polybushes too, so potentially a free upgrade, and a chance to play with my new impact gun...
Cleaned up a bit of rust on the rollbar, some rust killer and a quick coat of random black paint to tidy up..
M3 (bottom) vs. 330i (top) - Different shape.. Hmm.. (2mm difference in diameter)
Removal of the old ARB created the first issue.. The driver's droplink top nut just spun on removal (damaged threads).. So ended up removing the old bar, fitting the new in place and having to leave it sat whilst the new Meyle HD droplinks arrived.
The sign of trouble.. Grinder out!
Perfect cut!
New droplinks fitted, steering lock checked and sure enough, the ARB fits.
Quick trip down the road and it feels tighter and like it uses the front end more.
Then we had the old ABS lights up on the dash.. Guessed (educated) at a rear sensor, so sensor ordered and fitted and sure enough. ABS all working again.
A driver's door rattle also solved with a new doorcard clip!
No "exciting" pics for these though..
Done a few longer trips in it recently and it has been brilliant tbh. Giving mid/high 30's mpg. Not bad for an old 3L 6 banger!
Decided to treat it to some LED side lights and boot lights, a bluetooth adapter and a wash. My new place is on a borehole with filtered water, which it transpires is superb for washing cars! Not a mark/smear in sight!
Longer term, I am looking to refresh all the suspension, a stereo upgrade and some new wheels! However, a few other projects need attention before then..
helix402 said:
Jhonno said:
Does the rear bar fit a non M3 also? I have that one sat on the shelf..
The rear M3 bar doesn’t fit the non M3. Eibach make a 20mm rear bar. I preferred the non M3 Conv one.(You’d have to double check the rear bar sizes, I think I remember correctly)
Because no one has ever seen a side by side of a halogen and LED bulb before..
Much brighter in the dark!
New sidelights aren't much brighter, but I wasn't after them being really.. They are only sidelights and I never use them by themselves.
All finished pic.. Much cleaner look. Looks great with the LED fogs too.
Needs a new bonnet badge really, but not keen on the £40 odd for a new BMW one atm, and wary of cheaper knock offs quality and longevity.
Much brighter in the dark!
New sidelights aren't much brighter, but I wasn't after them being really.. They are only sidelights and I never use them by themselves.
All finished pic.. Much cleaner look. Looks great with the LED fogs too.
Needs a new bonnet badge really, but not keen on the £40 odd for a new BMW one atm, and wary of cheaper knock offs quality and longevity.
Silly little update thanks to helix402..
New bonnet badge!
Old
Quick clean up and "interesting" to note newer BMW badges are composite
Done! Much better..
I also bought a £15 bluetooth adapter harness from eBay.. It didn't work with my Business Tape headunit, so I grabbed the old Business CD unit I had kept from my old 320d years ago and it worked. However, the concept is nice, the reality is spawned by a psychopath. There is little to no room behind the headunit for the extra loom, 4hrs, skin, blood, tears and raised blood pressure, and many swear words has been spent repeatedly pulling the headunit in and out and retucking the loom so far with no success.. I didn't want to cut into the OE loom to do it, but I think I might junk the adapter loom and take an ignition switched power and earth from the existing loom. It is only suppose to be a temporary improvement until I am in a position to improve the OE stereo/headunit.
New bonnet badge!
Old
Quick clean up and "interesting" to note newer BMW badges are composite
Done! Much better..
I also bought a £15 bluetooth adapter harness from eBay.. It didn't work with my Business Tape headunit, so I grabbed the old Business CD unit I had kept from my old 320d years ago and it worked. However, the concept is nice, the reality is spawned by a psychopath. There is little to no room behind the headunit for the extra loom, 4hrs, skin, blood, tears and raised blood pressure, and many swear words has been spent repeatedly pulling the headunit in and out and retucking the loom so far with no success.. I didn't want to cut into the OE loom to do it, but I think I might junk the adapter loom and take an ignition switched power and earth from the existing loom. It is only suppose to be a temporary improvement until I am in a position to improve the OE stereo/headunit.
Court_S said:
Car looks great. The E46 is a very pretty thing.
It’s a amazing how much of a difference little details like badges can make.
Thanks.. It is! does freshen the front end nicely! It’s a amazing how much of a difference little details like badges can make.
helix402 said:
Looking good! I fitted an aux lead to the back of my E46 stereo. Plugged a Bluetooth receiver into it and then had hands free and Bluetooth music streaming.
Thanks again! Yeah, I could have done it that way in retrospect.. I could also have chopped the adapter up and hard wired it. I managed to finally fit it last night, just. My hands are torn up, and all I can see are the marks the headunit has made on the climate panel (I hadn't realised it was doing it).. So that will be replaced. It does work though, and sounds decent enough, clean sound. The standard system does lack punch though. To be addressed down the line. 
The photo seems to have made the scratches look worse than reality (I think because of it being low light), and highlighted I need to wipe the dash over after fitting the adapter..
Blood sweat and tears.. Hardly a life threatening injury but sore and in a place you keep knocking!
Would I do it again? Probably not, I'd just stick the CD unit in and go old skool until I can sort an Android headunit.
Court_S said:
There’s not I much room behind the head units is there? I’ve had my fair share of battles in the last year or so trying to find room for the extra wiring for screens.
BMW sound systems have been crap for so long now. Luckily my last few cars have had the HK upgrade or the BMW Hi-Fi which is alright.
None pretty much! It's not a fun job.. I'll let the wounds heal and reassess if it was worth it for a short term fix.BMW sound systems have been crap for so long now. Luckily my last few cars have had the HK upgrade or the BMW Hi-Fi which is alright.
To be fair, This has HK so amp/DSP etc and it sounds pretty good on the scale of older BMW systems, but it needs a sub first and foremost. My mate did a really decent setup on his M3 swapped E46 Touring, which I will use for inspiration to do a much cheaper version
Fuel filter also changed.. Not sure when it was last done, and they aren't expensive.
If you are going to do it, go armed with some new fuel line and some vacuum line. Mine also had the stupid fuel line jubilee clips with the tapered heads you can undo, but not do up (without a special tool I am guessing).
Fuel filter had a Gatekeeper I had to do battle with before starting the job!
Old vs new. Not sure it has been done in a long while.
I replaced the short fuel lines, and the vacuum line was perished (it's a filter/pressure regulator), so replaced that with some left over from doing the engine bay.
Fired up and it initially idled higher than normal, so in my mind something had changed.. Also did the reset the throttle pedal "Easter Egg" as it could be tricky to drive smoothly in traffic with 1st gear pullaway/change into 2nd. The revs would go, dip and then go again harder than you wanted. Combination of the fuel filter and the pedal and it seems to have vanished. Currently showing as averaging 33.2mpg now I am back on the short runs for a few weeks, but that is over the course of 400+ miles (with the longer runs). So there does seem to have been a real tangible improvement.
If you are going to do it, go armed with some new fuel line and some vacuum line. Mine also had the stupid fuel line jubilee clips with the tapered heads you can undo, but not do up (without a special tool I am guessing).
Fuel filter had a Gatekeeper I had to do battle with before starting the job!
Old vs new. Not sure it has been done in a long while.
I replaced the short fuel lines, and the vacuum line was perished (it's a filter/pressure regulator), so replaced that with some left over from doing the engine bay.
Fired up and it initially idled higher than normal, so in my mind something had changed.. Also did the reset the throttle pedal "Easter Egg" as it could be tricky to drive smoothly in traffic with 1st gear pullaway/change into 2nd. The revs would go, dip and then go again harder than you wanted. Combination of the fuel filter and the pedal and it seems to have vanished. Currently showing as averaging 33.2mpg now I am back on the short runs for a few weeks, but that is over the course of 400+ miles (with the longer runs). So there does seem to have been a real tangible improvement.
Still got this..
It's my main daily now after selling my Leaf, although I have got an MX5 NC I am using also currently (and luckily..) It's done a few trips around the country recently - Porsche at the Podium Newbury, Nottingham to collect an engine for the Mustang, and it has performed faultlessly, giving very decent MPG on those runs too.
I upgraded the headunit to an Android double DIN at the beginning of the year.. A brilliant upgrade, if only for the Sat Nav, never mind the sound quality/DSP etc.
There has been a rattling coming from the engine for a little while, which I've sort of being ignoring with blissful ignorance, being fairly certain it was the water pump. However, before the weather turns for winter, because I was sure the noise I was blanking out seemed to be getting a bit louder, and after listening to it with a screwdriver, I decided to just get it done.
Trim/fan pulled out the way
New waterpump - old one when it came out had lots of play/movement in the shaft.
Thermostat off, surface cleaned up. The old pump took a small amount of leverage to get off due to the o-ring.
All back on, old pump/thermostat. Tbf, I don't think there is anything wrong with the old 'stat, but whilst I am there and all that. Ironically the thermostat was the most expensive part.
Then here came the "thank god for the MX5 moment".. Just as I was finishing bleeding the system.
Oh well, gave me a chance to order a new lower hose which had gone soft and was bulging slightly whilst I wait for a new bleed screw to arrive. Disappointed I didn't keep the old one, off the old expansion tank
Old..
New..
Rest of the bleed screw removed. Thankfully.
Coolant topped back off, just waiting for the bleed screw to arrive to finish bleeding the system, then it's good to go again. New pump is silent, so a successful and not too expensive fix! Upper rad hose will need doing at some point too.. Plus I am currently collecting the bits for a full chassis refresh..
It's my main daily now after selling my Leaf, although I have got an MX5 NC I am using also currently (and luckily..) It's done a few trips around the country recently - Porsche at the Podium Newbury, Nottingham to collect an engine for the Mustang, and it has performed faultlessly, giving very decent MPG on those runs too.
I upgraded the headunit to an Android double DIN at the beginning of the year.. A brilliant upgrade, if only for the Sat Nav, never mind the sound quality/DSP etc.
There has been a rattling coming from the engine for a little while, which I've sort of being ignoring with blissful ignorance, being fairly certain it was the water pump. However, before the weather turns for winter, because I was sure the noise I was blanking out seemed to be getting a bit louder, and after listening to it with a screwdriver, I decided to just get it done.
Trim/fan pulled out the way
New waterpump - old one when it came out had lots of play/movement in the shaft.
Thermostat off, surface cleaned up. The old pump took a small amount of leverage to get off due to the o-ring.
All back on, old pump/thermostat. Tbf, I don't think there is anything wrong with the old 'stat, but whilst I am there and all that. Ironically the thermostat was the most expensive part.
Then here came the "thank god for the MX5 moment".. Just as I was finishing bleeding the system.
Oh well, gave me a chance to order a new lower hose which had gone soft and was bulging slightly whilst I wait for a new bleed screw to arrive. Disappointed I didn't keep the old one, off the old expansion tank
Old..
New..
Rest of the bleed screw removed. Thankfully.
Coolant topped back off, just waiting for the bleed screw to arrive to finish bleeding the system, then it's good to go again. New pump is silent, so a successful and not too expensive fix! Upper rad hose will need doing at some point too.. Plus I am currently collecting the bits for a full chassis refresh..
Edited by Jhonno on Sunday 13th August 20:28
Edited by Jhonno on Monday 14th August 09:47
Edited by Jhonno on Thursday 17th August 09:25
d_a_n1979 said:
Some good work done there pal... The M54 cooling systems are chocolate with age, so the fixes should last well now...
The E46 touring is such a good looking motor still... Best engine for it too
The E46 touring is such a good looking motor still... Best engine for it too
Sf_Manta said:
Good to see other people still keeping a few of these in decent condition and alive.
Definately a future classic.
Definately a future classic.
Court_S said:
Ah, the joys of the E46 cooling system.
My 325ti caused me a fair few headaches with the water pump, thermostat, cracked expansion tank and warped radiator.
Thanks! Trying to keep on top of it, preventative rather than waiting for failure. I think the top hose is the last piece of the cooling puzzle for an entire refresh now.My 325ti caused me a fair few headaches with the water pump, thermostat, cracked expansion tank and warped radiator.
Mr Tidy said:
My 325ti did exactly the same a few months after I bought it when the banana radiator started leaking. I had a complete refresh of the cooling system.
Gratuitous photo of my ti Sport with my nephew's 325i Sport Touring as they were both great cars.
Nice! Imola is a rare Touring colour! Gratuitous photo of my ti Sport with my nephew's 325i Sport Touring as they were both great cars.
geraintthomas said:
One of the prettiest BMW's in my eyes, and I really dislike BMW's. Yours is absolutely beautiful, and that grey is perfect!
Haha! Thanks.. It is one of my favourite all round cars I've owned.
IYKYK...
I was coming up to a week off work and was planning a few longer trips, Mustang parts to collect/grandparents to visit.. When I looked at my rear tyres and noticed they were wearing quicker than they should be.. Now I have been gathering parts as an when I saw good deals etc in prep, but it seems this was going to be brought forwards 6 months.. Yep. RCAB bushes. Now when I went underneath other various bushes looked in need whilst I was there and seeing as I was going to be paying for an alignment, I thought I may as well do the lot (stopping just short of dropping the subframe for now), including fitting the B12 kit I have sat here and the poly FCAB bushes, and new inner/outer tie rods.
Ignore the press cup, like f*£k would they press out (or any of them for that matter)! I snapped an 8.8 M12 bolt trying.. Drill, fire and chisel it was. As it stands, the rear upper arms have new bushes pressed in, new lower arms waiting to go on, but I have had to order a tool to remove the top ball joint in the hub as it refuses to budge. Bottom (rubber encapsulated) was melted and chiselled out. I've got new ball joints to go in top and bottom as per the M3 and I have gone poly RCAB with rubber arm bushes.
End of play yesterday, I noticed my rear brake flexi line had a tear in it, so new braided flexis being ordered, but that also means I will have to deal with the seized caliper nipples plus the usual fight with the flex/hard line connection.
Back at work now also, so won't get time on it until Saturday. Hopefully all the bits I have ordered will arrive in time to crack on again Saturday.
Had to collect Mustang parts in the Z4 and put off seeing my Grandparents until this is sorted.
TBC...
Had a parcel waiting for me after work Friday, and like a kid with a present at Christmas, I couldn't wait to play with it!
It's amazing how much easier some jobs are with the right tools..
Old bushes removed in minutes, with a satisfying crack when they finally moved.
Picked this up again on the Saturday after doing a caliper rebuild/bleed/handbrake adjustment/road test on my dad's E90 320d.. New ball joints back in, top and bottom, other than having to adjust the cup a couple of times, that was a breeze. Now came the point of reassembling all the rear arms onto the car. Poly bush pushed in easily on the RCAB position, greased up the sleeve and pressed that in with the bush puller and the cups reversed. The rest was as the Haynes manual would say.. Reassembly is the reverse of removal, with less swearing/grunting at stuck bolts/working out how to get access to various bolts.
I got it to the point of being able to put the wheels on, minus rear shocks, as I am waiting for Cotswolds to come back to me with a quote, the guy I e-mailed has been on holiday for 2 weeks. So I started on the front, which was a breeze really. FCAB lollypops pulled off by hand, strut pinch bolt was corroded and needed a long bar to get it going, but came out easy enough. Had much worse. Hubs then pretty much fell off the struts.
It was left at the end of yesterday, the reverse of how it has been sat for the last 10 days.. On axle stands at the front. Tonight I am hoping to tackle the tie rods and get the old bushes out the FCAB lollypops.. When my new brake lines arrive, I will then look at tackling the caliper bleed nipple situation, and when my Cotswolds parcel arrives I can put my front struts back on and finish the rear end. Then try and do a quick string alignment to get me to the garage and a proper Hunter alignment. I have drilled the locating pins on the front top mounts to get me a bit more camber also.
I am very intrigued as to how this will drive after all this.. I am also disappointed I haven't been able to drop the subframe, but money/time constraints say this will have to wait until next year.
It's amazing how much easier some jobs are with the right tools..
Old bushes removed in minutes, with a satisfying crack when they finally moved.
Picked this up again on the Saturday after doing a caliper rebuild/bleed/handbrake adjustment/road test on my dad's E90 320d.. New ball joints back in, top and bottom, other than having to adjust the cup a couple of times, that was a breeze. Now came the point of reassembling all the rear arms onto the car. Poly bush pushed in easily on the RCAB position, greased up the sleeve and pressed that in with the bush puller and the cups reversed. The rest was as the Haynes manual would say.. Reassembly is the reverse of removal, with less swearing/grunting at stuck bolts/working out how to get access to various bolts.
I got it to the point of being able to put the wheels on, minus rear shocks, as I am waiting for Cotswolds to come back to me with a quote, the guy I e-mailed has been on holiday for 2 weeks. So I started on the front, which was a breeze really. FCAB lollypops pulled off by hand, strut pinch bolt was corroded and needed a long bar to get it going, but came out easy enough. Had much worse. Hubs then pretty much fell off the struts.
It was left at the end of yesterday, the reverse of how it has been sat for the last 10 days.. On axle stands at the front. Tonight I am hoping to tackle the tie rods and get the old bushes out the FCAB lollypops.. When my new brake lines arrive, I will then look at tackling the caliper bleed nipple situation, and when my Cotswolds parcel arrives I can put my front struts back on and finish the rear end. Then try and do a quick string alignment to get me to the garage and a proper Hunter alignment. I have drilled the locating pins on the front top mounts to get me a bit more camber also.
I am very intrigued as to how this will drive after all this.. I am also disappointed I haven't been able to drop the subframe, but money/time constraints say this will have to wait until next year.
Edited by Jhonno on Monday 2nd October 11:23
I got a couple of hours on this last night, most of which was taken working out the best way to remove the FCAB bushes from the lollypops..
As you can see, I came up with an ingenious method using precision tools.. Aka fire, a grinder, a big hammer and a chisel..
Jobbed.
Whilst I was out, I quickly went and undid the tie rods from the hubs. I heated the nuts and they broke free and somehow neither ball joint spun! OS came all the way undone, NS got jammed at the top, so had to fire up the precision grinder and cut the thread off. Fixed.
I'm going be to slightly less Neanderthal for refitting.. I have the "fancy" Powerflex extra castor FCAB bushes with the aluminium outer section that you press into the lollypop. The aluminium section is currently in the freezer, I'll heat the lollypop and see where that gets me. Failing that, I'll bring them into work and use a press.
As you can see, I came up with an ingenious method using precision tools.. Aka fire, a grinder, a big hammer and a chisel..
Jobbed.
Whilst I was out, I quickly went and undid the tie rods from the hubs. I heated the nuts and they broke free and somehow neither ball joint spun! OS came all the way undone, NS got jammed at the top, so had to fire up the precision grinder and cut the thread off. Fixed.
I'm going be to slightly less Neanderthal for refitting.. I have the "fancy" Powerflex extra castor FCAB bushes with the aluminium outer section that you press into the lollypop. The aluminium section is currently in the freezer, I'll heat the lollypop and see where that gets me. Failing that, I'll bring them into work and use a press.
Court_S said:
Good stuff.
I’m going to do a full bushing refresh on the E91 in the spring; I’m not really looking forward to trying to get the old bushes out.
The extra camber from removing the locating pins has always made a good difference to my E8x/E9x cars.
Where you can, whole new arms are the answer! Not always particuarly expensive either I’m going to do a full bushing refresh on the E91 in the spring; I’m not really looking forward to trying to get the old bushes out.
The extra camber from removing the locating pins has always made a good difference to my E8x/E9x cars.
Failing that, the tool I used for the hub ball joints was just a £30 eBay jobby and it performed admirably! That's good to know! I don't need track day levels of front camber, but 0.5 deg extra would be nice. My Cerbera runs 2 degrees which seems to work well for fast road, although I don't envision being able to achieve that much.
My Cotswolds order is coming tomorrow, but I don't think I will manage to get it done for a (this) Saturday alignment.
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