The E46 325ti Appreciation Thread

[Mgd_uk]

330ti said:

Just stripped out seats and replaced for sparco's. Plus no spare wheel. A m3 is obviously quicker if they get onto the straits at the same speed but I've backed off to let them past and then they normally then hold you up till the next strait.
What other mods has yours got ? How does it compare on track with other common track cars like Clio's ?

Similar to mine, I have the rear interiro stripped out completely, and the front just replaced with 2 Bimarco's with full carpets/dash/plastics etc.

For mods, I have HSD monopros, Kaaz 1.5way LSD and 330i front and rear brakes. I used to own a clio 172 track car, the 330ti is slightly faster, but more fun and I am learning to drive RWD on the track gives me more confidence when driving my road car on a bit.

I really enjoy tracking the E46, out on sunday weather permitting.

[330ti]

Mgd_uk said:

330ti said:

Just stripped out seats and replaced for sparco's. Plus no spare wheel. A m3 is obviously quicker if they get onto the straits at the same speed but I've backed off to let them past and then they normally then hold you up till the next strait.
What other mods has yours got ? How does it compare on track with other common track cars like Clio's ?

Similar to mine, I have the rear interiro stripped out completely, and the front just replaced with 2 Bimarco's with full carpets/dash/plastics etc.

For mods, I have HSD monopros, Kaaz 1.5way LSD and 330i front and rear brakes. I used to own a clio 172 track car, the 330ti is slightly faster, but more fun and I am learning to drive RWD on the track gives me more confidence when driving my road car on a bit.

I really enjoy tracking the E46, out on sunday weather permitting.

You've got a nice set up there, much more focused then my one. Clio 172/182 are a good reference point because there are lots on track. My 330ti and e36 328ti easily get by these so so should yours. I'm old so grew up with RWD and love it so can't imagine why people enjoy fwd on track. I know they can be fast but under steer ain't no fun oversteer is ! Stick with the RWD for track fun

[CaptainMorgan]

Got out on the track for the first time in my Compact yesterday at Donington (thanks to Matt for the heads up earlier in the thread £100 for the day was too cheap to miss!).

I'll save the detail for another thread but it was great fun, held it's own against much more expensive, more powerful motors and most important of all for me, took me bouncing it off the limiter and thrashing it all day in it's stride, using no oil, coolant or even overheating the brakes (much).

A couple of pointers for the guys who have a bit more experience tracking them. Weight loss? Whats cheap and easy to dump some weight, I ran it in full road trip yesterday but come April I'll have a new daily so can start binning some weight out of it.

Secondly, tyres? I need some decent rubber, they were 100% the weakest link yesterday. I have style 44s on, I was thinking of getting a second set eventually and running a set of wet tyres and a set of dry tyres (road legal) on each set. I think they're 225/45/17 at the moment, any recommendations?

[Cheapstraitsix]

CaptainMorgan said:

A couple of pointers for the guys who have a bit more experience tracking them. Weight loss? Whats cheap and easy to dump some weight, I ran it in full road trip yesterday but come April I'll have a new daily so can start binning some weight out of it.

Secondly, tyres? I need some decent rubber, they were 100% the weakest link yesterday. I have style 44s on, I was thinking of getting a second set eventually and running a set of wet tyres and a set of dry tyres (road legal) on each set. I think they're 225/45/17 at the moment, any recommendations?

I ditched the rears and passenger seat and ran just a drivers seat for my last trackday, could defiantly tell the difference, hence my latest purchase of a recaro.
Front seats weigh a ton!

I at first went with nankang NS2-R track tyres but they were crap and overheated in my experience.
I now run AD08-R 235F/245R and have nothing but praise, an added bonus is a chap on Facebook does them for £80/£90 a corner.

Nankang AR-1 have great reviews but are useless if it’s wet from what I hear.

[Mgd_uk]

Cheapstraitsix said:

I ditched the rears and passenger seat and ran just a drivers seat for my last trackday, could defiantly tell the difference, hence my latest purchase of a recaro.
Front seats weigh a ton!

I at first went with nankang NS2-R track tyres but they were crap and overheated in my experience.
I now run AD08-R 235F/245R and have nothing but praise, an added bonus is a chap on Facebook does them for £80/£90 a corner.

Nankang AR-1 have great reviews but are useless if it’s wet from what I hear.

can you send me details on the AD08's ?

I just fitted a new set of NS2-R's only a few days ago to try out

[Cheapstraitsix]

Mgd_uk said:

can you send me details on the AD08's ?

I just fitted a new set of NS2-R's only a few days ago to try out

It’s obviously personal preference you may be fine with them.
I just found the grip dropped off when they got hot no matter what pressure I ran.
To give you an idea, I ran the suspension at the same settings and was actually getting the car to skip on the AD08 as it had so much grip and had to re-adjust the settings accordingly. This didn’t occur once on the nankangs.
Just search Ben Patey on Facebook for the AD08 he sells tons of them.

[e30m3Mark]

Cheapstraitsix said:

Nankang AR-1 have great reviews but are useless if it’s wet from what I hear.

I've yet to get out on track (which is obviously where the real test will be) but have done a hundred or so road miles and they're much better (in the wet) than I'd been expecting. Certainly as good as 888's were. Early signs are very promising although it's a shame there's no choice of compound available.

Edited by e30m3Mark on Wednesday 31st January 13:56

[Mgd_uk]

Cheapstraitsix said:

It’s obviously personal preference you may be fine with them.
I just found the grip dropped off when they got hot no matter what pressure I ran.
To give you an idea, I ran the suspension at the same settings and was actually getting the car to skip on the AD08 as it had so much grip and had to re-adjust the settings accordingly. This didn’t occur once on the nankangs.
Just search Ben Patey on Facebook for the AD08 he sells tons of them.

Thank you!

[CaptainMorgan]

Cheapstraitsix said:

I ditched the rears and passenger seat and ran just a drivers seat for my last trackday, could defiantly tell the difference, hence my latest purchase of a recaro.
Front seats weigh a ton!

I at first went with nankang NS2-R track tyres but they were crap and overheated in my experience.
I now run AD08-R 235F/245R and have nothing but praise, an added bonus is a chap on Facebook does them for £80/£90 a corner.

Nankang AR-1 have great reviews but are useless if it’s wet from what I hear.

I'll have a look, at the tyres my mate was pointing me towards to AD08s too.

I'm too fat for buckets at the moment but I'll certainly bin the rears off next time. I considered other wheels to lose some weight but tbh it's suppose to be a cheap track car, spending £1k on wheels isnt the idea really, at least not just yet.

Decent tyres and a bit of weight loss should be plenty to keep me entertained, for this year at least.

[HugoFastmann]

Hi everyone, I'll be putting my beloved 325ti Sport up for sale in a month or so. Will be with brand new grooved/dimpled front discs and Brembo pads and reconditioned front calipers. The car is high spec, low mileage, and very well looked after with some tasty OEM and aftermarket upgrades.

Basic spec as follows:

- 2002 BMW 325ti Sport
- Full M package
- Black Sapphire Metallic
- Montana Grey leather (sports seats)
- Carbon Cube interior trim
- Multi-function M steering wheel
- Power rear windows
- Auto air-con
- 90,500 miles
- 2 owners
- 5 spd manual

OEM+ upgrades:

- E60 545i short shift kit (shifter, bearing)
- Facelift tail lights

Aftermarket upgrades:

- Cades Tora 18x8/18x9 Hyper Silver alloys
- Dunlop Sport Maxx RT tyres all round
- H&R Sport Cup Kit suspension
- Mishimoto silicone intake boot
- BMC panel filter
- Strongflex polybushes (RTAB's, rear top mounts, rear anti-roll bars, front control arms)
- SMD LED angel eyes
- Smoked side indicators
- Alpine CD/Aux/USB head unit

Deletes:

- CDV
- Rear wiper
- 6-disc stacker

Overall she's in pretty decent condition for her age. I'm looking for offers, but bare in mind the wheels/tyres/suspension alone cost over £2k, don't be expecting a dirt cheap bargain. PM for more info or photos.

EDIT: Link to my thread on here with pics and info: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=&t=1668697

Edited by HugoFastmann on Thursday 1st February 16:46

Edited by HugoFastmann on Thursday 1st February 16:48

[anonymous-user]

What sort of petrol are you guys using? Car currently has a tank of standard 95ron in, I read that the car performs a lot better with premium in it and you get a little bit more range. Is it definitely worth the extra cost or does the price per mile really not differ?

Cheers.

[CaptainMorgan]

Just picked up a set of style 44 wheels with decent winter tyres for £135. Should do me alright for the rest of winter/spring then get them refurbished and some fresh AD08s

[HugoFastmann]

eezeh said:

What sort of petrol are you guys using? Car currently has a tank of standard 95ron in, I read that the car performs a lot better with premium in it and you get a little bit more range. Is it definitely worth the extra cost or does the price per mile really not differ?

Cheers.

I've always run mine on 98 and get 420-460 miles out of a tank. Definitely performs like a dream on the higher octane imo.

[FredClogs]

Smiley faced radiator fixed, my car only has 77k on it but it had been done before judging by the odd collection of screws and washers used to fix the plastic bits and fan shroud.

Underneath the expansion tank is a bit of plastic air scoop which i had to remove to get to the bottom hose, it runs air up to the alternator, it seems to have been fixed with bodge tape at some point, anyone any idea of a name or part number?

[s m]

FredClogs said:

Smiley faced radiator fixed, my car only has 77k on it but it had been done before judging by the odd collection of screws and washers used to fix the plastic bits and fan shroud.

Underneath the expansion tank is a bit of plastic air scoop which i had to remove to get to the bottom hose, it runs air up to the alternator, it seems to have been fixed with bodge tape at some point, anyone any idea of a name or part number?

.

Looks like it's the lower alternator cooling pipe that has split

The part to the left of the sticky tape is the upper part ( 12311432465 )

The lower part that is taped, can you make out any numbers on it - you often find you get all or a portion of the BMW part number stamped in the plastic
It could be one of these three below

12311712932

12311706643

12317503969

[anonymous-user]

Ref finding part numbers! Have a look at realoem.com select your car and have a look through the part diagrams.
How I've found part numbers for a few bits I need

[Mr Tidy]

HugoFastmann said:

I've always run mine on 98 and get 420-460 miles out of a tank. Definitely performs like a dream on the higher octane imo.

I've always got that sort of mileage from a tank in mine, even when I was using 95 RON.

But after my BMW Indy told me all the straight 6 BMWs run better on 98 I've been using that. I haven't noticed any improvement in economy, but it does seem to drive slightly better!

[FredClogs]

^ thanks for the part numbers fellas.

[JakeT]

Mr Tidy said:

HugoFastmann said:

I've always run mine on 98 and get 420-460 miles out of a tank. Definitely performs like a dream on the higher octane imo.

I've always got that sort of mileage from a tank in mine, even when I was using 95 RON.

But after my BMW Indy told me all the straight 6 BMWs run better on 98 I've been using that. I haven't noticed any improvement in economy, but it does seem to drive slightly better!

I run supermarket slurry in mine with the odd tank of super to keep everything clean. When doing 25k/yr in it I didn't want to spend the extra on super! I usually get 470-490 miles out of a tank. When on 16' wheels 550 miles to a tank is doable.

[PaulGT3]

Into its 16th year of solid service, the hedgehog finally died.



Got it out fairly easily with a slim torx driver and a sony z5 compact wedged to see where the hidden screw was.