The E46 325ti Appreciation Thread
Discussion
danp said:
Still enjoying ours, tho' the OH tends to drive it more than me - need to fix that!
Thought this one looked quite strong money for an early car, tho' it does look like a very nice one - anyone on here?
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...
I viewed the autotrader one before the one I actually bought, bit disappointing tbh rust bubbles on the front wings, advertised as showroom but not as clean as it looks with lots of scuffs and a broken cd changer. Drove nice mind and it broke traction more easily on the 205's if that's your sort of thing Thought this one looked quite strong money for an early car, tho' it does look like a very nice one - anyone on here?
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...
Talking of narrower tyres, mines on staggered 18's but with 225's all round, drives nice still and grips well in this weather on fresh ish rainsports, I'm feeling some 17's and 205/50s for a bit more playfulness... Any idea what bmw wheels fit in the correct or near enough offset? Fancy some style 68's but they appear to all be staggered too and too wide for 205's. Think 16's would look a but lost on a sport.
petrolinveins said:
It definitely is faster alright, pulls very nice in 3rd and 4th the higher you rev it. This it's a case of a knackered puma with blowy exhaust and tired suspension bushes all round feeling and sounding quicker than it actually is
I think the lack of weight helps it feel quick accelerating up to town speeds as well where as the beemer is much quicker from 30 up to nsl. I'm yet to check the intake hose and for fault codes though. Will one of those android phone ODB cables and an app suffice, and is there any one in particular, or am I better off with a laptop?
What's the life expectancy if the vanos seals? Assuming they'll be semi shot by now, doesn't feel too lacking in low down torque but got caught a couple of times and needed to change down when I though it should pull around 1750-2k rpm.
Another question regarding the stereo, I have the bmw business cassette head unit with the 6 cd changer in the boot, what's the best option for getting an aux in in the car? Mines on a 52 plate, haven't checked the vin to see if it's pre or post 09/02 build which apparently matters. I know on the later cd head units they have an aux and you just need to buy an adapter but unsure on mine as it's tape. Heard you can splice into the cd changer and run a cable from there but I've been confused by the online guides and the mish mash of different stereo set ups e46's seem to have.
Glad you're enjoying her I think the lack of weight helps it feel quick accelerating up to town speeds as well where as the beemer is much quicker from 30 up to nsl. I'm yet to check the intake hose and for fault codes though. Will one of those android phone ODB cables and an app suffice, and is there any one in particular, or am I better off with a laptop? What's the life expectancy if the vanos seals? Assuming they'll be semi shot by now, doesn't feel too lacking in low down torque but got caught a couple of times and needed to change down when I though it should pull around 1750-2k rpm.
Another question regarding the stereo, I have the bmw business cassette head unit with the 6 cd changer in the boot, what's the best option for getting an aux in in the car? Mines on a 52 plate, haven't checked the vin to see if it's pre or post 09/02 build which apparently matters. I know on the later cd head units they have an aux and you just need to buy an adapter but unsure on mine as it's tape. Heard you can splice into the cd changer and run a cable from there but I've been confused by the online guides and the mish mash of different stereo set ups e46's seem to have.
petrolinveins said:
I viewed the autotrader one before the one I actually bought, bit disappointing tbh rust bubbles on the front wings, advertised as showroom but not as clean as it looks with lots of scuffs and a broken cd changer. Drove nice mind and it broke traction more easily on the 205's if that's your sort of thing
Talking of narrower tyres, mines on staggered 18's but with 225's all round, drives nice still and grips well in this weather on fresh ish rainsports, I'm feeling some 17's and 205/50s for a bit more playfulness... Any idea what bmw wheels fit in the correct or near enough offset? Fancy some style 68's but they appear to all be staggered too and too wide for 205's. Think 16's would look a but lost on a sport.
For info, back in the early part of the last decade, Autocar ran a 320td Compact as a long-termer and the OE wheel tyre setup was 205/50 x17 on 7x17 " Radialspoke Style 73 - as belowTalking of narrower tyres, mines on staggered 18's but with 225's all round, drives nice still and grips well in this weather on fresh ish rainsports, I'm feeling some 17's and 205/50s for a bit more playfulness... Any idea what bmw wheels fit in the correct or near enough offset? Fancy some style 68's but they appear to all be staggered too and too wide for 205's. Think 16's would look a but lost on a sport.
Also the early 125i Coupes in non sport used the Style 256 5 spoke in the same offset and 7x17 size to run a 205/50x17 tyre ( I prefer those to the radial spokes )
E.T.A. these aren't mine and I have nothing to do with but here are a set for around £200
https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/172786090310
Edited by s m on Wednesday 13th September 20:09
s m said:
For info, back in the early part of the last decade, Autocar ran a 320td Compact as a long-termer and the OE wheel tyre setup was 205/50 x17 on 7x17 " Radialspoke Style 73
To be honest I doubt the standard set-up for a 320td would have been 17s - the 325ti in SE trim only had 16s!
I had an 04 plate 320td in Jan 2005 that came with optional style 98s (square set-up of 7J X 17 IIRC). Original tyres were 205/50 x 17, but I put 225/45s on the back - they were cheaper anyway!
Standard wheels on Sport models seem to have been staggered 97Ms - 7.5J x 17 fronts with 225/45 tyres and 8.5J rears with 245/40s like this:-
Mr Tidy said:
s m said:
For info, back in the early part of the last decade, Autocar ran a 320td Compact as a long-termer and the OE wheel tyre setup was 205/50 x17 on 7x17 " Radialspoke Style 73
To be honest I doubt the standard set-up for a 320td would have been 17s - the 325ti in SE trim only had 16s!
I had an 04 plate 320td in Jan 2005 that came with optional style 98s (square set-up of 7J X 17 IIRC). Original tyres were 205/50 x 17, but I put 225/45s on the back - they were cheaper anyway!
Standard wheels on Sport models seem to have been staggered 97Ms - 7.5J x 17 fronts with 225/45 tyres and 8.5J rears with 245/40s like this:-
Ok, badly worded - I should've said it came on the 73s as an optional OEM wheel from new
Regardless, the point I was making was that a 7x17 with 205/50 was ok for the 320td and later 125i Coupe ( as stated it's listed as an approved figment in the door jamb )
Also worth bearing in mind, most of the initial test of the 325ti were done on a 16" wheel with a 205/55 tyre all round
They got very favourable reviews on that setup - just these days the wider range of performance tyres only tend to be available in bigger sizes, 17/18" up
Edited by s m on Thursday 14th September 08:07
I bought a set of Style 136 wheels with Michelin Energy tyres for £50 while my MV1s were off being powdercoated. Turn in was a little less crisp, but it felt much more chuckable and compliant. Shame that they look a bit crap! The main reason I am keeping the set of MV1s on it is because it was ordered with them. Not to mention they're my favourite E46 wheel. Even if they are a little cheese like.
Mot time for my one this month....gulp.
Rears were budgets and getting light on tred so purchased a pair of AD80R not really getting on with the NS2-R so hopefully these will be an improvement.
Also Needs a new windscreen as it's been battered on track, gutted as it means I loose all my medals of honour in sticker form.
Hopefully won't be any hidden surprises when I send it in as a lot of the brakes and suspension is fresh.
Oddly it ran out of fuel this week resulting in the above, stated it had 70miles due and 1/4 of a tank at time of leaving me stranded, fuel gauge has been fine since
I'm currently fortunate to have 2 M3's aswell as the compact as well as other cars for daily use.
One of them is currently wearing £1000 worth of st-xta coilovers, what's the general consensus of them fitting the compact, would i need to swap wishbones etc.?
The sensible thing to do would be to sell the compact and track the grey M3 but I'm quite fond on the little thing.
Rears were budgets and getting light on tred so purchased a pair of AD80R not really getting on with the NS2-R so hopefully these will be an improvement.
Also Needs a new windscreen as it's been battered on track, gutted as it means I loose all my medals of honour in sticker form.
Hopefully won't be any hidden surprises when I send it in as a lot of the brakes and suspension is fresh.
Oddly it ran out of fuel this week resulting in the above, stated it had 70miles due and 1/4 of a tank at time of leaving me stranded, fuel gauge has been fine since
I'm currently fortunate to have 2 M3's aswell as the compact as well as other cars for daily use.
One of them is currently wearing £1000 worth of st-xta coilovers, what's the general consensus of them fitting the compact, would i need to swap wishbones etc.?
The sensible thing to do would be to sell the compact and track the grey M3 but I'm quite fond on the little thing.
Thinking of getting back into one of these again so if I any one is thinking of selling let me know. I picked my last one up about three years ago no problem at all, they seem to harder to come by now and the prices are all over the place. Not too fussed on spec as long as car has been well looked after and is a manual.
Cheapstraitsix said:
Exactly the info I was after.
Cheers.
Agreed, its a straight swap - I've got M3 XTAs on mine! I never even fitted the stock springs because I decided I knew better Cheers.
The difference between M3 and non-M comes in the depth of the rubber top mount - the top mount must be matched to the damper (M with M, non M with non M), however in the case of the XTAs (and others supplied with adjustable top mounts) it doesn't make a difference!
mwggriffiths said:
Agreed, its a straight swap - I've got M3 XTAs on mine! I never even fitted the stock springs because I decided I knew better
The difference between M3 and non-M comes in the depth of the rubber top mount - the top mount must be matched to the damper (M with M, non M with non M), however in the case of the XTAs (and others supplied with adjustable top mounts) it doesn't make a difference!
What settings are you running?The difference between M3 and non-M comes in the depth of the rubber top mount - the top mount must be matched to the damper (M with M, non M with non M), however in the case of the XTAs (and others supplied with adjustable top mounts) it doesn't make a difference!
Fitted them on the M3 with the out the box settings and was quite impressed.
Have you done any track work with them?
What's the verdict fitted to the compact?
Cheapstraitsix said:
What settings are you running?
Fitted them on the M3 with the out the box settings and was quite impressed.
Have you done any track work with them?
What's the verdict fitted to the compact?
I'm running 6kg/mm front linear springs (down from 80Nm/mm), 12kg/mm rear springs (up from an initially very soft progressive rate rear spring), which is as close as possible to getting sensible (2Hz), matched F/R ride frequencies. Ideally you'd have a slightly higher rear ride frequency, but these were off the shelf spring rates. Ride heights set to the mid point of the ST spec to keep bump steer sensible. It's running all the camber possible on XTA top mounts at the front, all the possible camber on the camber bolts at the back 0 toe front and rear. As for the damper settings now I'm home I'm running the fronts full soft and the rear on 2 clicks from soft, at the Nurburgring last week I was running 3 clicks front, 6 clicks from full soft rear.Fitted them on the M3 with the out the box settings and was quite impressed.
Have you done any track work with them?
What's the verdict fitted to the compact?
I don't think this setup has increased the peak cornering grip available much over my old Bilstien B4 / Unknown Lowering Springs, but its eliminated the understeer caused by the soft aftermarket rear springs and given me a massive boost in confidence! Those combined to give an 18sec improvement at the Nurburgring last week over July this year, everything else being the same!
For the first time since buying the Ti in May, it's felt rear driven with these spring rates. Before, even with the tracking a 0 toe all round, it just used to mildly understeer everywhere even with a 245 square setup! (I should point out I've never driven a Ti on stock springs to compare, which I expect will be softer at the front than the lowering springs but a similar rate on the back, so shouldn't understeer as badly as the lowering springs did.)
Overall, massively confidence inspiring, wet or dry, much firmer (but higher quality) damping than the BCs on my E36.... But i've got no idea what they're like out of the box
stepmeek said:
Thinking of getting back into one of these again so if I any one is thinking of selling let me know. I picked my last one up about three years ago no problem at all, they seem to harder to come by now and the prices are all over the place. Not too fussed on spec as long as car has been well looked after and is a manual.
I keep thinking about selling mine, If you need any more info let me know, and there's lots of info on my profile about it.It's got a nice spec for one of these, too.
One of these going through Copart York on the 29th.
2003 325Ti in Velvet blue (individual), 100'000 miles, MOT until June next year. It's a cat C but damage looks light - wing, bumper and a wheel if it's not in the boot. Probably £150-200 repair with luck. £20 for a wing, 40 quid for a bumper, £100 to paint both.
It's a 5 speed with cloth trim.
I've got my 300 quid bid in already.
2003 325Ti in Velvet blue (individual), 100'000 miles, MOT until June next year. It's a cat C but damage looks light - wing, bumper and a wheel if it's not in the boot. Probably £150-200 repair with luck. £20 for a wing, 40 quid for a bumper, £100 to paint both.
It's a 5 speed with cloth trim.
I've got my 300 quid bid in already.
[quote=iSore]One of these going through Copart York on the 29th.
2003 325Ti in Velvet blue (individual), 100'000 miles, MOT until June next year. It's a cat C but damage looks light - wing, bumper and a wheel if it's not in the boot. Probably £150-200 repair with luck. £20 for a wing, 40 quid for a bumper, £100 to paint both.
It's a 5 speed with cloth trim.
I've got my 300 quid bid in already.
Looks like a bargain!
That would make a great track-day toy - but you maybe shouldn't have posted until you got it!
I hope you do BTW.
2003 325Ti in Velvet blue (individual), 100'000 miles, MOT until June next year. It's a cat C but damage looks light - wing, bumper and a wheel if it's not in the boot. Probably £150-200 repair with luck. £20 for a wing, 40 quid for a bumper, £100 to paint both.
It's a 5 speed with cloth trim.
I've got my 300 quid bid in already.
Looks like a bargain!
That would make a great track-day toy - but you maybe shouldn't have posted until you got it!
I hope you do BTW.
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