E46 330i Touring

[Jhonno]

helix402 said:

Jhonno said:

Cheers man.. I try..

I didn't find it particularly hard with the manifold gasket on.. I started with trying to take it off, but went with leaving it in the end.

If the car has done longer journeys in a warmer climate that will help massively!

Cars and repairs are looking good. Re the Ccv kit there is a choice of normal or cold climate version. You have the cold version, which reduces the likelihood of condensation build up in the winter.

I did wonder if it was a cold climate version.. It wasn't advertised as such. Don't think it is a bad thing though, could stop it happening in future!

[Jhonno]

Small update..

I sold my brilliant E61 530d and bought...


















A Leaf! To cover most of the daily duties, sharing with the missus, mostly to save some money..

The 330i has been in regular use.. It's had a pair of new rears, Goodyear Assymetric 5's, however I swapped to a 235/40 from a 255/35 which was a great choice! The car feels much better to drive and visually you probably wouldn't even notice.

I have bought new bushes to rebuild the gear linkage, but so far they sit in the kitchen still..

End of last week I left work and it dropped a cylinder.. I limped it home and as I pulled into my drive the misfire cleared.. However I stuck the laptop on it and it gave a cylinder 4 misfire fault.



In a moment of parts cannon I ordered a set of plugs, and got a coil into my local ECP..

However, I went out, swapped the coil to No.1 and cleared the code and the misfire didn't return.. However seeing as I had already ordered the plugs I fitted them when they arrived..



Old plugs - Nothing too exciting looking other than a damp plug, which was on 5.



Quick go down the road and you have to love the placebo effect, obviously it felt sharper and smoother..

Other than that, MOT due next month and returning around 30mpg.. Do really enjoy driving it. With the Leaf for most daily duties though, I do feel it is a waste I don't have a V8 "2nd" daily!

Edited by Jhonno on Wednesday 15th December 20:05

[Court_S]

That looks like a lovely example. I like the E46 and love a touring, so it’s a great combo especially one with a manual gearbox and a good spec.

I really wanted an E91 ages ago and again this year but lots are dogs having been work horses or have a woeful spec.

[Jhonno]

Court_S said:

That looks like a lovely example. I like the E46 and love a touring, so it’s a great combo especially one with a manual gearbox and a good spec.

I really wanted an E91 ages ago and again this year but lots are dogs having been work horses or have a woeful spec.

They have reached an age when a lot have died at the hands of abuse of various forms.. Don't see many manual 330i Tourings for sale. Nevermind 6 speed M-Sports with a nice spec.

E91's are terrible for spec often! Shame as great cars, but, I don't find them as good/fun to drive as an E46.

[Court_S]

Jhonno said:

They have reached an age when a lot have died at the hands of abuse of various forms.. Don't see many manual 330i Tourings for sale. Nevermind 6 speed M-Sports with a nice spec.

E91's are terrible for spec often! Shame as great cars, but, I don't find them as good/fun to drive as an E46.

Yeah, I guess they’ve fallen into the cheap car territory so people are unwilling to spend a chunk of cash on sorting stuff like the wings out which is a shame. There’s a lad in my village who keeps buying and killing them; he’s killed a facelift 325 coupe and pre face lift 330 in imola red. I think the 325 died after drifting / being silly because one morning it was covered in dents one side and had various bits of trim hanging off it, the red 330 was crusty as.

I’m a big fan of the E9x cars but my god there’s sone badly spec’d cars out there which is why I ended up in a 130 Le.

[edusa]

If you arent a member i can recommend E46fanatics as there is loads of information on the E46 and they have a touring section too.

[Sf_Manta]

Doing some digging around on 'How many left' to get an idea how many E46 Tourings with manuals are left around that originally hit the road.

https://www.howmanyleft.co.uk/vehicle/bmw_330_i_se... - Seems there's only 28 left of SE versions and 39 off Sorned

https://www.howmanyleft.co.uk/vehicle/bmw_330_i_sp... 148 on the road and 43 sorned.

Looks like in total it's not even 200 cars, so quite an exclusive club to be in

[Jhonno]

Sf_Manta said:

Doing some digging around on 'How many left' to get an idea how many E46 Tourings with manuals are left around that originally hit the road.

https://www.howmanyleft.co.uk/vehicle/bmw_330_i_se... - Seems there's only 28 left of SE versions and 39 off Sorned

https://www.howmanyleft.co.uk/vehicle/bmw_330_i_sp... 148 on the road and 43 sorned.

Looks like in total it's not even 200 cars, so quite an exclusive club to be in

If you break that down further.. There is 88 2003-2006 330i M-Sport Tourings.. So considering 2003 is a crossover year for the 6 speed could be looking at around 55-60 330i M-Sport Tourings with a 6 speed left.

[smn159]

Sf_Manta said:

Doing some digging around on 'How many left' to get an idea how many E46 Tourings with manuals are left around that originally hit the road.

https://www.howmanyleft.co.uk/vehicle/bmw_330_i_se... - Seems there's only 28 left of SE versions and 39 off Sorned

https://www.howmanyleft.co.uk/vehicle/bmw_330_i_sp... 148 on the road and 43 sorned.

Looks like in total it's not even 200 cars, so quite an exclusive club to be in

Still got mine!

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

[Jhonno]

Inspired by reminding myself I had a linkage rebuild kit sitting waiting.. I set about getting on with it..

My floppy shifter issue..

https://imgur.com/1bkI4Dq

So I set about removing the lever from inside the car, and disconnecting it from underneath..

Can be done just removing the gearbox mount, albeit a little fiddly..

Once removed..



The other end of the issue..

https://imgur.com/hStlZyM

Wear on the socket



Bushes removed from the gearbox end of the arm



I bought poly bushes for to replace the rubber bushes, but they need a little more effort to press in the standard ones!



All done..



I'd like to say refitting was the reverse of removal, and to an extent it was.. However, the 2nd linkage pin into the box was a nightmare.. For some reason it seemed to have a minor, undetectable to anything you could try and feel it with misalignment on the inner ear, and 4hrs of swearing later I gave up for night.. A moment of inspiration for the morning and I knocked a little off the edge of the chamfer on the end of the pin and it went straight in (no effect on the function, it still has full engagement and contact.



Mounts all bolted back up and I have a transformed shift, nice and tight and direct.

https://imgur.com/wPupHqT

[Jhonno]

Obligatory look at me I washed the car pics..

Switching between this and the Leaf for daily duties.. Do really appreciate the experience of the relatively powerful 6 cylinder/manual/rwd/light-ish/hydraulic steering combination, especially coming from the Leaf.. But it is something that you can't really buy these days.. It is great fun to wind up the M54 and make some quicker progress, and the E46 chassis is great.

Did you even wash your car if you don't take a snow foam shot?

[d_a_n1979]

Great looking touring

[Jhonno]

d_a_n1979 said:

Great looking touring

Cheers.. The E46 has aged well I think! Especially in M-Sport flavour.

[BSSBMW]

Just found this thread and read through it Dan. A nice find and looks to be responding nicely to treatment!

[Court_S]

Jhonno said:

Cheers.. The E46 has aged well I think! Especially in M-Sport flavour.

I actually think the touring is my favourite variant these days.

[d_a_n1979]

Jhonno said:

d_a_n1979 said:

Great looking touring

Cheers.. The E46 has aged well I think! Especially in M-Sport flavour.

Agree; the E46 M-Sport and E39 Sport tourings, IMO, are the best looking out of the lot of them.

I do like the F11 touring, but for classic lines etc, the E46s and E39s are unbeatable

[helix402]

Having owned 3 series since the E36 I agree that the E46 is great. A Retropower E46 Touring, maybe with an M2 engine would be great.

[Jhonno]

BSSBMW said:

Just found this thread and read through it Dan. A nice find and looks to be responding nicely to treatment!

Cheers Barry.. A rolling refurb. If it ends up half as good as your efforts it will be doing well!

Court_S said:

I actually think the touring is my favourite variant these days.

I generally prefer Tourings in general.. Love a fast estate!

d_a_n1979 said:

Agree; the E46 M-Sport and E39 Sport tourings, IMO, are the best looking out of the lot of them.

I do like the F11 touring, but for classic lines etc, the E46s and E39s are unbeatable

Yeah! I would agree..

helix402 said:

Having owned 3 series since the E36 I agree that the E46 is great. A Retropower E46 Touring, maybe with an M2 engine would be great.

Yeah that would be a great build.. Don't give me ideas!

[alistair267]

Lovely car, and I had a near-identical 6 speed manual version which I still miss, some 4.5 years after selling it. I'm now in an E61 550i, which is a fantastic car but I miss hustling the 330 along.

Pic of mine:

[Court_S]

Jhonno said:

BSSBMW said:

Just found this thread and read through it Dan. A nice find and looks to be responding nicely to treatment!

Cheers Barry.. A rolling refurb. If it ends up half as good as your efforts it will be doing well!

Court_S said:

I actually think the touring is my favourite variant these days.

I generally prefer Tourings in general.. Love a fast estate!

d_a_n1979 said:

Agree; the E46 M-Sport and E39 Sport tourings, IMO, are the best looking out of the lot of them.

I do like the F11 touring, but for classic lines etc, the E46s and E39s are unbeatable

Yeah! I would agree..

helix402 said:

Having owned 3 series since the E36 I agree that the E46 is great. A Retropower E46 Touring, maybe with an M2 engine would be great.

Yeah that would be a great build.. Don't give me ideas!

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).