The E46 325ti Appreciation Thread

[Hil_lo]

Cheapstraitsix said:

Mine finally back on the road with all its new upgrades.

The 3.62 final drive on the M3 diff makes a notible difference on the acceleration.

I’m sure I’ve seen this in finchhampstead. Can’t be many white ones in berkshire.. let alone the UK.

[Deptford Draylons]

Is there an alternative to genuine BMW suspension springs ? I'm toying with the idea of replace dampers and springs on mine. The car is the Mtech ( or whatever its called ) pack car which means different dampers and springs if I'm correct ? Also, the various online ETKs don't list a part number for the springs, or am I missing something ?
I don't want anything lowered or harsher than stock, so Sachs dampers seem sensible value , but not sure on the springs. Any advice ?
Thanks

[helix402]

Go for Sachs springs. You won’t find part no’s for springs on realoem as springs are based on the spring table.

[Cheapstraitsix]

Hil_lo said:

Cheapstraitsix said:

Mine finally back on the road with all its new upgrades.

The 3.62 final drive on the M3 diff makes a notible difference on the acceleration.

I’m sure I’ve seen this in finchhampstead. Can’t be many white ones in berkshire.. let alone the UK.

Would indeed have been me
Don’t think there’s many compact sports round here full stop.
One exception - Keep seeing a clean facelift 325ti sport in black or blue with a private plate in forest park.

[andyjmak]

Cheapstraitsix said:

Mine finally back on the road with all its new upgrades.

The 3.62 final drive on the M3 diff makes a notible difference on the acceleration.

i'm fitting M3 diff to my compact at them moment how did you get propshaft to fit

M3 to short and 330 to long have read that you need to have propshaft shortened by 44mm

[Mr Tidy]

Cheapstraitsix said:

Would indeed have been me
Don’t think there’s many compact sports round here full stop.
One exception - Keep seeing a clean facelift 325ti sport in black or blue with a private plate in forest park.

I sold mine in February, but obviously our paths never crossed.

I had an Imola Red Sport Compact for just over 3 years and lived up the road in Sandhurst!

[Cheapstraitsix]

andyjmak said:

Cheapstraitsix said:

Mine finally back on the road with all its new upgrades.

The 3.62 final drive on the M3 diff makes a notible difference on the acceleration.

i'm fitting M3 diff to my compact at them moment how did you get propshaft to fit

M3 to short and 330 to long have read that you need to have propshaft shortened by 44mm

If 6 speed it bolts strait up as mine did.

If 5 speed either convert to 6 speed or a custom prop is required is what I’ve heard.

[Mr Tidy]

That sounds like a lot of work!

I replaced my E46 325ti with an E91 325i - 218 bhp instead of 192 bhp which is definitely better!

And I've still got my Z4 if I want to travel quicker.

Edited by Mr Tidy on Wednesday 9th May 02:01

[s m]

Hil_lo said:

Cheapstraitsix said:

Mine finally back on the road with all its new upgrades.

The 3.62 final drive on the M3 diff makes a notible difference on the acceleration.

I’m sure I’ve seen this in finchhampstead. Can’t be many white ones in berkshire.. let alone the UK.

I've looked at 25tis for years and I know of only 2 other white manual box ones with sunroof apart from Cheapstraitsix's car. Glen's car in Essex was a Cat D last year so not sure if that's back on the road now and there was another one up North

[Deptford Draylons]

Cheapstraitsix said:

If 6 speed it bolts strait up as mine did.

If 5 speed either convert to 6 speed or a custom prop is required is what I’ve heard.

An E46 M3 diff is a straight bolt in on a 6 speed car ? Oh now that's tempting..

[ethomas]

Deptford Draylons said:

An E46 M3 diff is a straight bolt in on a 6 speed car ? Oh now that's tempting..

You need the whole rear axle: subframe, driveshafts, propshaft, hubs, uprights, diff, trailing arms, brakes, ARB. Apart from the diff and bigger brakes, you also get more ball joints, fewer bushes, and a stiffer ARB, which improves handling a bit.

Look for someone selling the whole setup on eBay. I paid 400 for all of the above when I did it.

[Cheapstraitsix]

ethomas said:

Deptford Draylons said:

An E46 M3 diff is a straight bolt in on a 6 speed car ? Oh now that's tempting..

You need the whole rear axle: subframe, driveshafts, propshaft, hubs, uprights, diff, trailing arms, brakes, ARB. Apart from the diff and bigger brakes, you also get more ball joints, fewer bushes, and a stiffer ARB, which improves handling a bit.

Look for someone selling the whole setup on eBay. I paid 400 for all of the above when I did it.

£400 was an absolute steal! I ended up shopping all the bits separately for around £600.
The real expense was all the new BMW bolts at circa £250, then another £300 or so for all the powerflex black series and that cost is before even considering the brakes.

Ended up running new brake lines aswell as would be rude not to whist it’s all apart...so even at £400 it can easily turn into £2000 including brakes if you’re doing a proper job.

[ethomas]

Cheapstraitsix said:

£400 was an absolute steal! I ended up shopping all the bits separately for around £600.
The real expense was all the new BMW bolts at circa £250, then another £300 or so for all the powerflex black series and that cost is before even considering the brakes.

Ended up running new brake lines aswell as would be rude not to whist it’s all apart...so even at £400 it can easily turn into £2000 including brakes if you’re doing a proper job.

I know what you mean, I fitted porsche calipers and new rear discs, replaced every bolt, bush, and ball joint, and fitted turner ARBs when I did mine. I never totalled up how much it all cost

[daniel-5zjw7]

eezeh said:

The AUX cable plugs into the slot next to the cd changer rather than instead-of.
What radio do you currently have fitted?
My 2003 car came with a business radio cassette & cd changer, none of the cassette players are compatible with AUX.

Not long swapped the radio out for an alpine business cd that is compatible with aux inputs imported from the states.

I have the BMW business CD head unit, AUX is now fitted as you guys said alongside the cd changer too which is cool :-) got the aux connector in the ashtray which even with the male lead leaves enough room to leave it connected/fold the lead up and close the ashtray door when not in use.

I also picked up a Blaupunkt 10" XLB 250 powered sub for it which is awesome, its rounded out the sound really nicely and has transformed the stereo overall. The best bit was the built in amp has high level input so is wired off the rear speaker wires plus doesn't need a remote signal cable as it can pick up on pulses from the high level input, so only needed a live, earth and connecting to rear speakers to get going, which of course is all done in the boot so a doddle and neat!

[daniel-5zjw7]

eezeh said:

My rear left suspension is knocking, had it up in the air and nothing was loose. Any ideas?

The dust cover on the strut came off really easily and there looks to be corrosion on the top of the shaft with material flaking off. Will throw a picture up later.
What struts are you lot running? Don't want to pay bmw prices. Who is the OE supplier?

Interesting as I'm chasing a knock on mine also from the rear left atm.. I've already replaced the shocks and top mounts, I got a set including Meyle shocks, HD top mounts, bump stops/dust covers off ebay (£80) and then using realOEM purchased the other little washers/cups/bolts (about £20 worth) from my main dealer so I could build up the new shocks completely off the car, then just switched the whole units over. You need the cup and washer that goes below the top mount anyway as these rust to the shock so not a bad way of doing it.

I've also replaced my rear trailing arm bushes with powerflex (purple) bushes.. and still have the knock so I'm thinking Helix's suggestion of the hub balljoints is next on the list.

My knock is occurring generally at low speeds when turning (in/out of junctions etc), it's usually fine under general driving/higher speeds but I do get it now and again and also on spirited drives on b roads the odd corner will get a reaction..

[anonymous-user]

I only hear the rattling when driving around normal roads at up to 40mph as even the normal roads around here are bumpy.

Sounds like something is not connected but from what I've seen, everything is solid.

Will get the rear end in the air again and have another look at the weekend.

[Sardonicus]

Those arm spherical joints need a good wheel at the 6 0'clock position heavy rocking motion or you wont find the play this includes later post E46 models IMO half hearted wont do st

[daniel-5zjw7]

Thought I'd stick up a quick pic of mine on its new wheels, these are E92 SE wheels but I think they suit the compact well, they're also a nice little upgrade :-)

still 17s and running my tyres from the original wheels so 225/45 front 245/40 rear, they are still staggered but instead of 7.5" front/8.5" rear as per the originals they're 8" front 8.5" rear.

The are also ET34 on the front and ET37 on the back, so 38mm increased track on the front (inc the slightly wider wheel) and 28mm on the back, they fill the arches nicely and feel like they've had a positive effect on the handling.

[anonymous-user]

Thanks, will have a look and give it a proper shake

daniel-5zjw7 said:

Thought I'd stick up a quick pic of mine on its new wheels

Wheels look smart! Interested in seeing compacts with some more OEM wheels from different generations!

[Mr Tidy]

OK, so here is a photo of my 325ti Sport on 17" OEM Style 97s next to my nephew's 325i Sport Touring on 18" Style 135Ms (or MV2s):-



We do like Imola Red!

Edited by Mr Tidy on Saturday 12th May 01:51