The E46 325ti Appreciation Thread
Discussion
HugoFastmann said:
Hil_lo said:
Does anyone have a set of standard rear springs they want to get rid off?
I do. I'm heading away for the weekend but if you still need them next week let me know. They've only done about 2k miles.Andrew Kettle said:
@ethomas
I upgraded to a 135i and to be honest I struggled to sell my 325ti, I bought it for 2.2k on 90k and let it go for 300 less @ 105k and that was after I did the vanos, vcg, disa, brake lines, discs pads, and ofh gasket. I think that the difficulty with these cars is that they only attract people in the know, if you've got time to sell it you will get a good price but serious buyers who know what they are worth are few and far between.
How are you getting on with the 135i? I just took my car for a blast around the Bristol, Cheddar, Wells triangle, and I am having second thoughts about selling now I upgraded to a 135i and to be honest I struggled to sell my 325ti, I bought it for 2.2k on 90k and let it go for 300 less @ 105k and that was after I did the vanos, vcg, disa, brake lines, discs pads, and ofh gasket. I think that the difficulty with these cars is that they only attract people in the know, if you've got time to sell it you will get a good price but serious buyers who know what they are worth are few and far between.
Edited by Andrew Kettle on Saturday 13th May 23:44
It is such a nicely set up car.Joining the show and tell with mine. 325ti M sport. Cost me a few quid of late (gm5failure and a failed and very stuck o2 sensor) but otherwise doing fine. Like others here I chose the compact over other BMWs due to it not looking like the others, but also for its carrying abilities. I drove an e36 a few years before seeing this one and didnt hesitate on buying the e46 when I saw it. I am one of those who prefers the look of the compact to its e46 brethren. A few changes from standard, black badges, 18 inch mv1s, black kidney grilles, red facelift taillights in place of the lexus type it was built with. Also replaced indicator bulbs to do away with the egg yolk look. Final tweak being a cup holder in place of the slide cover in the centre console. The fact its a leadfoot and not a manual was a boon to me, I didnt want a manual, the tiptronic (or is it steptronic? I always forget which company calls it what) gets a fair amount of use. I love driving this car as much as when I bought it and the 40 thousand miles its done with me at the wheel have fair flown by.
Hil_lo said:
Sorry I too was away, recently back. How much do you want? Where you based? Cheers.
Send me a pm and we can discuss. They're pretty much brand new but just taking up space in my garage, so I'm not after a lot! I'm based in the New Forest but happy to post if need be. Cheapstraitsix said:
Was sitting around bored at work so decided to chuck the compact on the weighbridge.
Bit heavier than I thought, however good weight distribution across the axels.
This was with no driver and a full tank of fuel.
And with driver
Which one is axle 1, and which is axle 2? Front and rear in that order?? Pretty good weight distribution really. Bit heavier than I thought, however good weight distribution across the axels.
This was with no driver and a full tank of fuel.
And with driver
Hi everyone.
Bit of a long time lurker on here but I just discovered this thread and wanted to share my recently acquired 325ti! I won't bore you all with too many details as I'm sure you all know what you're looking at but its an early 5-speed car finished in Individual Velvet Blue. Just over 135k on the clock and I've owned it since the beginning of March. I always felt the Compacts were such an underrated car and this is my second (had an E36 316i about six years ago). Lovely linear power delivery and a properly balanced chassis make the car so much more exploitable on the road than my previous Stage 2 Golf Turbo and the Audi S3 I had before that. I haven't really done a proper road trip in it yet so that is on the list for the summer but loving the car so far. I have had to replace the expansion tank (like all E46's) and next week I'm changing the CCV and a Lambda sensor (ditto). But apart from that it feels like a quality bit of kit. I would also like to change the wheels in time either back to the Style 42's the car should have or possibly BBS LM's for an OEM+ vibe.
Here's a quick photo - incidentally does anyone know how many RHD 325ti's were sold in Velvet Blue? I'm a bit sad and I have managed to dig up seven different chassis no's (six manuals and an auto) all 2001 cars. Any more info would be much appreciated. Cheers.
Bit of a long time lurker on here but I just discovered this thread and wanted to share my recently acquired 325ti! I won't bore you all with too many details as I'm sure you all know what you're looking at but its an early 5-speed car finished in Individual Velvet Blue. Just over 135k on the clock and I've owned it since the beginning of March. I always felt the Compacts were such an underrated car and this is my second (had an E36 316i about six years ago). Lovely linear power delivery and a properly balanced chassis make the car so much more exploitable on the road than my previous Stage 2 Golf Turbo and the Audi S3 I had before that. I haven't really done a proper road trip in it yet so that is on the list for the summer but loving the car so far. I have had to replace the expansion tank (like all E46's) and next week I'm changing the CCV and a Lambda sensor (ditto). But apart from that it feels like a quality bit of kit. I would also like to change the wheels in time either back to the Style 42's the car should have or possibly BBS LM's for an OEM+ vibe.
Here's a quick photo - incidentally does anyone know how many RHD 325ti's were sold in Velvet Blue? I'm a bit sad and I have managed to dig up seven different chassis no's (six manuals and an auto) all 2001 cars. Any more info would be much appreciated. Cheers.
Not sure if anyone is interested but spotted an 02 reg 325ti at a local trader I was doing some work for. It's a 1 owner car with service history and 52k miles. I don't think he advertised on AT or any other national site, just locally. I took a photo for those who are interested;
I could post contact details if needed. He's asking £2249.
PS I've no relationship with the trader. Just thought the car looked interesting so asked a couple of questions.
I could post contact details if needed. He's asking £2249.
PS I've no relationship with the trader. Just thought the car looked interesting so asked a couple of questions.
Just wanted to invite you guys to Wales in July. Ideal place to stretch the legs on a 325ti.
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
e21Mark said:
Just wanted to invite you guys to Wales in July. Ideal place to stretch the legs on a 325ti.
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Ah damn, I think I am away that weekend. If it turns out I am not then I will definitely come along.https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Incidentally, has anyone changed their engine mounts? I think my engine and gearbox mounts are the only rubber part left on the car that I have not changed. It looks like an easy enough job, but what are the symptoms of failed mounts? Is it a fair assumption that the originals are dead by now?
Cheers,
Ed
ethomas said:
Incidentally, has anyone changed their engine mounts? I think my engine and gearbox mounts are the only rubber part left on the car that I have not changed. It looks like an easy enough job, but what are the symptoms of failed mounts? Is it a fair assumption that the originals are dead by now?
Most BMW engine mounts, including those on the 325TI, are hydramounts - they use an oil inside them to reduce resonances and damp the vibration across the mount. If your mounts look like they're covered in oil but you can't tell where from they've probably torn and have leaked their oil out. The clearest way to tell is if you gently jack up on the sump and watch for movement in the mounts - a little bit of movement vertically with plenty of resistance is good (probably less than 20mm), if it easily lifts over that then your mounts have failed. Same test applies to the gearbox mounts, although they're plain rubber.If they've failed, replacing them will absolutely transform turn in response of the car.
As for your replacement options you could go polybush (if you hate yourself and your car), you could go for a fail-safe Vibra-Technics style mount (only recommended for full time track cars), you could replace them standard rubber mounts from an M50 engined E34 (I did this on my 328i using some Febi parts - they didn't last a single lap of the ring until they'd failed!), or you can do it "properly" and go for the BMW hydramount, although that won't be a cheap solution! Lemforder will have been the OE supplier so have a look in the ZF group parts catalogue, find the Lemforder P/N and stick that into eBay.
This is a failed engine mount:
My 150k E30 had one that'd failed, my E36 Compact with 192k had both failed (possibly due to the semi slicks I was running it on at the time increasing the load on things like the mounts), my 198k E36 328i had one that'd failed, however my 7 Series was fine when I got it, and the 325Ti seems to be too!
mwggriffiths said:
Most BMW engine mounts, including those on the 325TI, are hydramounts - they use an oil inside them to reduce resonances and damp the vibration across the mount. If your mounts look like they're covered in oil but you can't tell where from they've probably torn and have leaked their oil out. The clearest way to tell is if you gently jack up on the sump and watch for movement in the mounts - a little bit of movement vertically with plenty of resistance is good (probably less than 20mm), if it easily lifts over that then your mounts have failed. Same test applies to the gearbox mounts, although they're plain rubber.
If they've failed, replacing them will absolutely transform turn in response of the car.
As for your replacement options you could go polybush (if you hate yourself and your car), you could go for a fail-safe Vibra-Technics style mount (only recommended for full time track cars), you could replace them standard rubber mounts from an M50 engined E34 (I did this on my 328i using some Febi parts - they didn't last a single lap of the ring until they'd failed!), or you can do it "properly" and go for the BMW hydramount, although that won't be a cheap solution! Lemforder will have been the OE supplier so have a look in the ZF group parts catalogue, find the Lemforder P/N and stick that into eBay.
Thanks, this is great information If they've failed, replacing them will absolutely transform turn in response of the car.
As for your replacement options you could go polybush (if you hate yourself and your car), you could go for a fail-safe Vibra-Technics style mount (only recommended for full time track cars), you could replace them standard rubber mounts from an M50 engined E34 (I did this on my 328i using some Febi parts - they didn't last a single lap of the ring until they'd failed!), or you can do it "properly" and go for the BMW hydramount, although that won't be a cheap solution! Lemforder will have been the OE supplier so have a look in the ZF group parts catalogue, find the Lemforder P/N and stick that into eBay.
I will take a look next time I am at the oily end of my car. I found CarParts4Less sell E46 M3 mounts for less than £100 for the pair, for a name brand (Corteco). Sounds like poly mounts and vibra-technics are not an option, but perhaps an M3 mount is a nice fast road option.
I thought I'd introduce my car to the experts.... Before asking for some advice 
About a month ago I bought a 2002 pre-facelift 325Ti Sport from an ex-colleague for what I still consider to be a bit of a steal. I’ve had 4 E36s now, and although this is my first E46 I’m pretty confident I know what I’m getting myself in for! In its favour it has already had quite a few bits done to it – Z3 1.9 short shifter (more on this in a moment), polybushed LCA and RTABs, Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2’s, facelift rear lights etc. In the “cons” box were an airbag light (passenger seatbelt tensioner), slightly rusty driver’s door, pretty horrific oil consumption (1L/500miles) and what I’m fairly certain is a Vanos issue.
But hey, it was £550 and had a 12 months MOT!
I then committed to a week-long thrash to get it ready for our annual Nürburgring weekend (mostly just standard 300mm Brembo brake discs, Mintex 1155/1144 pads, braided lines and a CCV kit and a full coolant system overall). We made it there and back and I had fun chasing a mate on his Fireblade (yes he was lifting significantly, no I won’t pretend otherwise):
Above: Making friends, Below: Making enemies
https://youtu.be/hQqq2rptxvs
Now I’m back, I’m working down my list of “things I need to fix” in order to make it a dependable daily.
I’ve got some Vanos seals coming from Besian Systems in the USA, I’m hoping to fit them next weekend and that that’ll alleviate my kangarooing at idle, general lack of low down torque and feeling of sluggishness. It seems to pass all the DIS Vanos tests, and doesn’t throw any error codes, but tellingly pulling the power to the intake Vanos solenoid makes absolutely no difference to the low end torque and subjectively improves the drivability – hinting that the Vanos isn’t functioning quite as it should.
Gear Shift Linkages:
The other annoyance, and the main reason for this post, is the annoying gearlever slop present with my Z3 1.9 shifter. When new they’re awesome – I’ve got one in my E30 and another in my E36 328i, but this one felt tired so I ordered the ‘standard’ set of BMW shifter slop parts (#4, #7, #12 below, and made #2 on the lathe from Delrin). Unfortunately when I stripped the car down I encountered a couple of issues. The first was that all the parts I’d bought looked quite fresh! It turned out the source of the play was the shift lever itself (#5), and the second was that part #2, listed as a round bush, wasn’t round!
That’s an important fact for anyone doing a gearbox linkage refresh – you need an oval type bush (#25117507695 usually fitted to the ZF 5spd gearboxes such as my E36 328i), not the round version as normally found on all the Getrag boxes (including all other Compacts!). The reason for that appears to be the unique 325Ti shifting arm (#1 in the diagram) uses the oval bush. Why? No idea but it does! The part number on my shifting arm matches the 325Ti exclusive part so it’s not like that was replaced when the Z3 shifter was installed. Whatever the reason RealOEM and the BMW parts system are wrong in this instance!
The bigger problem is the shift lever itself – if you look at the diagram you’ll note two points about the 325Ti shift lever 1) its cranked above the pivot point 2) it’s got a weird bulge part way up. That bulge is actually a rubber isolator – the lower part of the rod and the top half aren’t connected – there’s this rubber bush in between (presumably for some sort of NVH benefit). Anyway mine had partially de-bonded from the rubber and was allowing a small amount of play. Now the obvious solution would be to buy another Z3 1.9 shifter from BMW but they’re not cranked, unlike all the E46 shifters, and that means 4th gear looks like neutral and 3rd is about as far away as it was with the original shifter! So I should just go with a 325Ti shifter right? Except that part is NLA! The superseded part is apparently the same part as the BMW Performance part for a 330i 6spd (#25117528881)?
So has anyone fitted the BMW Performance Shifter? Has anyone got any photos of the original 325Ti part? Has anyone replaced their 325Ti part with a Z3 1.9 part? Any info would be useful at this point!
As for the oil consumption? Well I’ve got eBay saved searches out for M54B30 engines or suitable donors….
About a month ago I bought a 2002 pre-facelift 325Ti Sport from an ex-colleague for what I still consider to be a bit of a steal. I’ve had 4 E36s now, and although this is my first E46 I’m pretty confident I know what I’m getting myself in for! In its favour it has already had quite a few bits done to it – Z3 1.9 short shifter (more on this in a moment), polybushed LCA and RTABs, Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2’s, facelift rear lights etc. In the “cons” box were an airbag light (passenger seatbelt tensioner), slightly rusty driver’s door, pretty horrific oil consumption (1L/500miles) and what I’m fairly certain is a Vanos issue.
But hey, it was £550 and had a 12 months MOT!
I then committed to a week-long thrash to get it ready for our annual Nürburgring weekend (mostly just standard 300mm Brembo brake discs, Mintex 1155/1144 pads, braided lines and a CCV kit and a full coolant system overall). We made it there and back and I had fun chasing a mate on his Fireblade (yes he was lifting significantly, no I won’t pretend otherwise):
Above: Making friends, Below: Making enemies
https://youtu.be/hQqq2rptxvs
Now I’m back, I’m working down my list of “things I need to fix” in order to make it a dependable daily.
I’ve got some Vanos seals coming from Besian Systems in the USA, I’m hoping to fit them next weekend and that that’ll alleviate my kangarooing at idle, general lack of low down torque and feeling of sluggishness. It seems to pass all the DIS Vanos tests, and doesn’t throw any error codes, but tellingly pulling the power to the intake Vanos solenoid makes absolutely no difference to the low end torque and subjectively improves the drivability – hinting that the Vanos isn’t functioning quite as it should.
Gear Shift Linkages:
The other annoyance, and the main reason for this post, is the annoying gearlever slop present with my Z3 1.9 shifter. When new they’re awesome – I’ve got one in my E30 and another in my E36 328i, but this one felt tired so I ordered the ‘standard’ set of BMW shifter slop parts (#4, #7, #12 below, and made #2 on the lathe from Delrin). Unfortunately when I stripped the car down I encountered a couple of issues. The first was that all the parts I’d bought looked quite fresh! It turned out the source of the play was the shift lever itself (#5), and the second was that part #2, listed as a round bush, wasn’t round!
That’s an important fact for anyone doing a gearbox linkage refresh – you need an oval type bush (#25117507695 usually fitted to the ZF 5spd gearboxes such as my E36 328i), not the round version as normally found on all the Getrag boxes (including all other Compacts!). The reason for that appears to be the unique 325Ti shifting arm (#1 in the diagram) uses the oval bush. Why? No idea but it does! The part number on my shifting arm matches the 325Ti exclusive part so it’s not like that was replaced when the Z3 shifter was installed. Whatever the reason RealOEM and the BMW parts system are wrong in this instance!
The bigger problem is the shift lever itself – if you look at the diagram you’ll note two points about the 325Ti shift lever 1) its cranked above the pivot point 2) it’s got a weird bulge part way up. That bulge is actually a rubber isolator – the lower part of the rod and the top half aren’t connected – there’s this rubber bush in between (presumably for some sort of NVH benefit). Anyway mine had partially de-bonded from the rubber and was allowing a small amount of play. Now the obvious solution would be to buy another Z3 1.9 shifter from BMW but they’re not cranked, unlike all the E46 shifters, and that means 4th gear looks like neutral and 3rd is about as far away as it was with the original shifter! So I should just go with a 325Ti shifter right? Except that part is NLA! The superseded part is apparently the same part as the BMW Performance part for a 330i 6spd (#25117528881)?
So has anyone fitted the BMW Performance Shifter? Has anyone got any photos of the original 325Ti part? Has anyone replaced their 325Ti part with a Z3 1.9 part? Any info would be useful at this point!
As for the oil consumption? Well I’ve got eBay saved searches out for M54B30 engines or suitable donors….
ethomas said:
Thanks, this is great information I will take a look next time I am at the oily end of my car. I found CarParts4Less sell E46 M3 mounts for less than £100 for the pair, for a name brand (Corteco). Sounds like poly mounts and vibra-technics are not an option, but perhaps an M3 mount is a nice fast road option.
The E46 M3 mounts should fit, but I'm not sure for certain! I've dealth with Trelleborg, who are Corteco's sister company, before through work but I've never fitted any of their parts to my car so I can't vouch for the quality. I've had a look and Lemforder parts (# 10453 02) are available on eBay for £44 each, delivered. I will take a look next time I am at the oily end of my car. I found CarParts4Less sell E46 M3 mounts for less than £100 for the pair, for a name brand (Corteco). Sounds like poly mounts and vibra-technics are not an option, but perhaps an M3 mount is a nice fast road option.mwggriffiths said:
The bigger problem is the shift lever itself – if you look at the diagram you’ll note two points about the 325Ti shift lever 1) its cranked above the pivot point 2) it’s got a weird bulge part way up. That bulge is actually a rubber isolator – the lower part of the rod and the top half aren’t connected – there’s this rubber bush in between (presumably for some sort of NVH benefit). Anyway mine had partially de-bonded from the rubber and was allowing a small amount of play. Now the obvious solution would be to buy another Z3 1.9 shifter from BMW but they’re not cranked, unlike all the E46 shifters, and that means 4th gear looks like neutral and 3rd is about as far away as it was with the original shifter! So I should just go with a 325Ti shifter right? Except that part is NLA! The superseded part is apparently the same part as the BMW Performance part for a 330i 6spd (#25117528881)?
So has anyone fitted the BMW Performance Shifter? Has anyone got any photos of the original 325Ti part? Has anyone replaced their 325Ti part with a Z3 1.9 part? Any info would be useful at this point!
As for the oil consumption? Well I’ve got eBay saved searches out for M54B30 engines or suitable donors….
I replace mind with the 330i performance part, but mine is a six speed, and that is the recommended part number for my engine So has anyone fitted the BMW Performance Shifter? Has anyone got any photos of the original 325Ti part? Has anyone replaced their 325Ti part with a Z3 1.9 part? Any info would be useful at this point!
As for the oil consumption? Well I’ve got eBay saved searches out for M54B30 engines or suitable donors….
According to Leebman24 (my favourite source of parts by far), the standard part is still available for the 5 speed, it is 57 euros with forum discount (plus postage from Germany):
https://www.leebmann24.de/bmw-ersatzteile/view/btd...
There are a lot of gotchas with BMW gearsticks. I first ordered the part everyone uses to make a short shift in an M3, which is from an E60 545. This ended up moving the gearshift forward and to the right, enough that it wouldn't comfortably reach 5th any more. It seems that there are a lot of different ways that shifters can align. If you were happy with the position of the stick with a Z3 shifter, then go for one of those, but probably stock is your best bet.
As for oil consumption, the only thing that fixed mine (and it 100% fixed it) was replacing the breather system with a closed loop catch can. Nothing else made any difference.
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