330ci Clubsport

[Jw Vw]

Lovely colour!

[taylor86]

Hi there lovely car, i have a pre face lift 330 and love it too.
the "golf tee mod" is just the removal of a small rubber pipe which connects to the tail pipes which controls a flap in the pipe that opens above a certain revs, you then stick a golf tee in it once it's removed.
Mine has stuck open by itself so I never did the mod and I certainly notice a deeper tone below 4k rpm and I do like the noise particularly with the windows down, the only time it is boomy is on the motorway cruising.
Where did you get your Tyres from and for how much may i ask? as I am looking for the same for mine. Message me if your prefer and/or want to know anything about these cars as I have done a lot of research into their faults/fixes mods etc.

[Matthew_Eames]

As said you can just remove the pipe and plug it (with a golf tee....hence the name) but it's just as easy, and neater to disconnect the solenoid which takes 10 mins and saves getting dirty...

Basically you have 2 exhaust paths, a silenced (left hand pipe) and unsilenced (right hand) and the flap shuts the right hand side off whilst at idle and low speed to make the car more refined, yet give the pedal a prod and it get's louder....same thing they have on the Astons .etc

Mine is a strange one! Stuck open, but is fully plumbed in.... the system works when tested on diagnostic software but not under normal conditions so I can only presume that it's been turned off in the ECU somehow....most people love how it sounds without the flap shutting but it pisses me off so I want to get it to work, needs to go to a specialist I think ££££

Sods law!

[Ruskie]

I will investigating my exhaust next chance I get.

I got my Tyres from click on Tyres, £35 a corner cheaper than anywhere else.

[taylor86]

Cheers ruskie I will look into that.

Matthew your flap is merely stuck open by soot within the pipe itself. if you give it a poke with a screw driver and some wd40 it will loosen up. I cannot remember which way it rotates so you will have ti research that in case you force it the wrong way. It is not a electronic ecu affair so don't go taking it to a mechanics and paying for it!

[Matthew_Eames]

taylor86 said:

Cheers ruskie I will look into that.

Matthew your flap is merely stuck open by soot within the pipe itself. if you give it a poke with a screw driver and some wd40 it will loosen up. I cannot remember which way it rotates so you will have ti research that in case you force it the wrong way. It is not a electronic ecu affair so don't go taking it to a mechanics and paying for it!

I wish it was just soot. The flap will not shut normally, here is what I have checked:

1. Flap is free to move...Check
2. Vacuum going to solenoid...Check
3. Voltage going to connector...Check
4. Continuity from solenoid connector to ECU (switched earth system)...Check
5. Solenoid is working...Check (put new one in)
6. Flap shuts when you connect both vaccim pipes together...Check (currently taped together and running quiet like this)
7. OBD software performs system check and the flap shuts which means the ECU Is able to switch the system without problem.

The only avenues to go down now are that it's been told not to work via a setting (can't change myself) or the system thinks there is no vaccum when there is (if there is a sensor in the accumulator perhaps)

It's baffled me, BMW and 1 specialist so far, no answers anywhere as all people want is to switch the system off rather than get it working. Car has Hartge suspension so it's possible it's been to birds and had the ECU or settings played with but I'm not sure.

Any help would be great. Everything checks out and it should work, but it doesn't!

[RicksAlfas]

philmots said:

Only negative, i just can't get on with the wheels... but that's completely subjective!

Standard Sport wheels were available as a no cost option from new.
I only know because my Dad chose them as he felt the normal ones were too "boy racer".

He also swapped the wing for a standard Sport lip.

[philmots]

I never knew that, thanks.. Would of been my choice too!

Lovely cars though.

[Bolognese]

Nice!

I was thinking about getting one of these to save on fuel and insurance.

As posted above, not really a fan of the wheels or the spoiler. The normal 330's look more eligant but I suppose the clubsport is special and should stand out a bit.

[vsonix]

Very nice!

I actually say keep the half leather - unless you go the whole hog and get heated seats, full leather is too cold in winter, and also scorching hot sweaty-back hell in the height of summer. Half-leather is the best of both worlds on a sporty car.

[vsonix]

daveco said:

aponting389 said:

Slightly off-topic, but what did they change with the facelift, apart from the front lights shape?

The rear lights were changed to l.e.d.'s

The front and rear bumpers were also changed. I think in 2002 (before the facelift arrived) the steering rack was made sharper, and from owning old shape and new shape they improved a few other suspension components also. There were also a few electrical niggles they took care of and the door handle issue prevalent on pre '03 models was sorted.
Also, the exhaust note is far deeper on facelift 6 cylinder models compared to prefacelift; I drove both pre and post facelift 330ci's and the post 330 has a much deeper thrum at idle. The 6 speed box doesn't improve the driving experience, in fact it takes away from it slightly; though that is my opinion.

also there were a few engine changes across the 3 lineup - the 318 got a significant HP upgrade, they introduced a 325i in place of 323 and 328 etc etc.

[ichbintk]

Wow! Loads more interest than I was expecting. Thanks everyone for your kind words.
At the moment it's still waiting on a service (booked in for Tuesday) and the tyres haven't been changed (although I should be able to get some tomorrow). When it goes in on Tuesday I'm also having a 'Powerflow' backbox fitted (Dad picked it up ages ago for a fraction of what it would cost new). The guy said it isn't too loud, just a bit deeper. Am I right in thinking that Powerflow exhausts are custom made? I was looking earlier and it seems that you can specify how you want it built.
In terms of driving.....I haven't done any! I'm not going to drive it until the service and tyres are done but it's horrible having to walk past it every morning on the way to work (especially because I'm still driving the Golf!)
When the weather improves a bit I'm going to spend a few hours cleaning it up (even went to Halfords to get sandpaper and spray paint to clean up the rusty wheel bolts!) and then I'll try to take some better pictures.
Cheers,
Tom

[magnum555]

Excellent choice of car i have had a couple of E46's watch out for the thermostat they tend to die.

[Ash-GT]

nice car but i would think so as i have a pre facelift clubsport

[Chessers]

Had one of these back in 2003 in Estoril blue. It used to get far more attention than the M3 I had after. Congrats on the purchase

[ichbintk]

Hi everyone,
It's in the garage today for service, new tyre and new exhaust. Hopefully I'll have it back ASAP because I can't wait to drive it. Having it parked on the driveway for a week and a bit has been torture! My next day off is Friday so I'm planning to spend the day making it shiny (as well as other niggly bits, such as spraying the wheel nuts - they all have horrible orange surface rust appearing!). I'll try to post pics up once that's all done but I've only got my phone camera and it's not the best (stupid iPhone!).
Hopefully I'll get the wheels refurbished sometime soon too. I've been thinking about the leather seats - I'm not going to bother unless I come across something that's either in very good condition or very cheap (although ideally it would be a combination of both!).
Thanks for all the positive comments. I'm chuffed to bits with this car. It's taken me years to save up the money for it so I suppose that makes ownership a bit more special. I'll update this thread as I go.
Cheers,
Tom

[Smooth Smith]

Very nice. I had a Clubsport in Estoril which I kept for a few yrs. It was faultless & is the best car I've owned. The wheels & spoiler are not to everyones taste but I liked them & they make it what it is. Remove these & it just looks like every other Sport model. It received a lot of positive comments too. Kept mine standard apart from matt black kidney grills which I think suit it.

I kept mine for a while as a weekend
car when I got a new company car but
sold it when a friend wanted to buy it. Replaced it with a Tuscan now though.

[ichbintk]

Finally got the chance to give my car a clean yesterday. 4 hours later it and it looked like this...

[daveco]

ichbintk said:

Finally got the chance to give my car a clean yesterday. 4 hours later it and it looked like this...

Lovely stuff. I'd remove the spoiler and change the alloys but it still looks great anyhow.