The E46 325ti Appreciation Thread
Discussion
Good news! After months of racking my head trying to find this rattling coming from the rear left suspension.. I think i've finally found it! 
The rear caliper outer retaining spring clip is loose which means the outer assembly and pad rattle around unless brakes are applied. Just need to give it a bit of a bend and hopefully that should sort it.
The rear caliper outer retaining spring clip is loose which means the outer assembly and pad rattle around unless brakes are applied. Just need to give it a bit of a bend and hopefully that should sort it.
MrT8064 said:
Hmm nothing obvious shows up as an option when searching the VIN, though a standard feature is apparently: S321A Exterior Parts In Vehicle Color, so could be that!
Mine has that but with black plastic rubbing strips 
A sad end for a great car that did around 10 trackdays in just over a year from memory.
I hear what your saying about putting it back to standard and letting someone else have a go, however I binned the standard rear end due to space.
Also factor in my time of putting it all back together and it would sell for around £500-£750 and would any one thank them for spending £££ on welding an old compact?
It’s unfortunate il admit but it’s worth more in bits.
Cheapstraitsix said:
A sad end for a great car that did around 10 trackdays in just over a year from memory.
I hear what your saying about putting it back to standard and letting someone else have a go, however I binned the standard rear end due to space.
Also factor in my time of putting it all back together and it would sell for around £500-£750 and would any one thank them for spending £££ on welding an old compact?
It’s unfortunate il admit but it’s worth more in bits.
Cheapstraitsix said:
eezeh said:
Cheapstraitsix said:
Unfortunately breaking due to terminal rust I recently found.
That really is a shame! Good job I didn't buy it off you after I enquired when it was for sale on facebook 
Where abouts was the rust that you found?
I may very well be interested in the xenons and powerfold mirrors with associated parts. Will have to do a bit of research into whether I need the door modules or not, is the car memory or non memory? Will get back to you!
It was all hidden unfortunately.
The N/s/r sill (cill?) was toast and the front antiroll bar mount is shot.
All repairable but I’ve had it a while now and had my fun.
If I was that way inclined I could have just put the side skirt back on and flogged it
Hil_lo said:
Thinking of selling my FL sport guys if anyone’s interested. I’m not in a massive hurry, but need to maximise my mpg by the winter for job change.
Pm if interested. Stacks of receipts since owned, full service history prior to that.
Few niggles but a lovely car.
First ever post I know..Pm if interested. Stacks of receipts since owned, full service history prior to that.
Few niggles but a lovely car.
I've been following this thread for a while now and on the proper hunt for a 325. I would be interested in getting the details about this so clicked on your name to pm but says user doesn't permit emails? Or is there another way to pm?
Got one.
My search wasn't long or laboured but I did have to wait a while from first agreeing to buy it to actually collecting it.
Today I collected a velvet blue 6 speed 325ti from Bognor Regis. A friend with a leaden foot and an early start saw us on the beach near the pickup point an hour ahead of schedule. The journey from Wiltshire to Bognor Regis took exactly 1.5h.
To pass the time we chucked some pebbles on Climping beach as the warm morning sun burned off the maritime haze, revealing a lifeless battery of wind turbines. The soundtrack to our very serene and relaxing morning was the clack of the flint pebbles we threw, the slosh flap of an alsatian and its owner as they swam and played fetch and the scrunch of a dozen horses being paraded along the beach.
The father of the seller who was graciously administrating the transaction shrugged off some fairly fresh jet-lag and met us just before 0900. Having read this thread from top to tail, I felt able to at least look for the main nasties....
Did it have rust? No. Did it have oil? Yes (lower of the max and min marks but, yes nonetheless). Did it have mayonnaise under the oil cap? No (brown, hardish oil fume crust bit no mayo). Did it look superficially as described? Yes and then some - polished exhaust pipes no less. It started, the windows, blowers, mirrors and all but one of the lights worked (as promised). It ran well from stone cold and had a good even idle. It didn't clatter or bang or judder.
Test drive time. Initial impressions were that the 18's would have to go in time - too much texture to today's roads; the more sidewall the better. The clutch was a bit odd (expected this with the CDV). It doesn't seem like a car in which to make a quick or smooth getaway, but, once under way it is smooth (ignoring the skinny tyres).
The test drive, kindly narrated by the vendor's Pa, took in a local castle, a local cathedral, Ford prison and came with the added luxury of having to wait for 3 trains to cross in front of us as we sat chatting about broken bones and the perils of motorbikes. The car didn't put a foot wrong and when room allowed, it pulled well and sounded grand.
We returned and I stalled it trying to reverse - I've driven tons of stuff but the combination of CDV and electronic throttle control is going to take some getting used to (or removal). The paperwork was done, money changed hands and off we slunk to sit in traffic after a full tank of fuel was purchased.
By the time we were on roads I know really well (a4) , the traffic had abated enough to allow for some leg stretching whilst making sure there were still enough motorists to overtake. The 6 cyl is very naturally aspirated if that makes sense... The more you wring it's neck, the more it comes alive and the better it feels. It sticks and steers well, the brakes are OK and it doesn't make bad noises when being pressed. It isn't fast but it is brisk enough to get told off and has enough poke for overtakes. It is very smooth to drive and as I get more used to it and lean on it a bit more, perhaps I'll find it is faster and more nimble than I currently think.
Nothing went wrong on the way home and as we stopped, it began to rain - no complaints as our corner of the world is quite arid atm. Have run a couple of errands in it today and it is a nice little local hack. I look forward to using the peculiar parcel-shelf/bum-bag affair for holding, well... 'things'.
Hopefully money well spent. A nice, easy transaction and a good start to ownership. As I gel with the car, I'll let you know what it gets up to and how it's treated.
Cheers to Greg and his dad. Pics to follow.
F
My search wasn't long or laboured but I did have to wait a while from first agreeing to buy it to actually collecting it.
Today I collected a velvet blue 6 speed 325ti from Bognor Regis. A friend with a leaden foot and an early start saw us on the beach near the pickup point an hour ahead of schedule. The journey from Wiltshire to Bognor Regis took exactly 1.5h.
To pass the time we chucked some pebbles on Climping beach as the warm morning sun burned off the maritime haze, revealing a lifeless battery of wind turbines. The soundtrack to our very serene and relaxing morning was the clack of the flint pebbles we threw, the slosh flap of an alsatian and its owner as they swam and played fetch and the scrunch of a dozen horses being paraded along the beach.
The father of the seller who was graciously administrating the transaction shrugged off some fairly fresh jet-lag and met us just before 0900. Having read this thread from top to tail, I felt able to at least look for the main nasties....
Did it have rust? No. Did it have oil? Yes (lower of the max and min marks but, yes nonetheless). Did it have mayonnaise under the oil cap? No (brown, hardish oil fume crust bit no mayo). Did it look superficially as described? Yes and then some - polished exhaust pipes no less. It started, the windows, blowers, mirrors and all but one of the lights worked (as promised). It ran well from stone cold and had a good even idle. It didn't clatter or bang or judder.
Test drive time. Initial impressions were that the 18's would have to go in time - too much texture to today's roads; the more sidewall the better. The clutch was a bit odd (expected this with the CDV). It doesn't seem like a car in which to make a quick or smooth getaway, but, once under way it is smooth (ignoring the skinny tyres).
The test drive, kindly narrated by the vendor's Pa, took in a local castle, a local cathedral, Ford prison and came with the added luxury of having to wait for 3 trains to cross in front of us as we sat chatting about broken bones and the perils of motorbikes. The car didn't put a foot wrong and when room allowed, it pulled well and sounded grand.
We returned and I stalled it trying to reverse - I've driven tons of stuff but the combination of CDV and electronic throttle control is going to take some getting used to (or removal). The paperwork was done, money changed hands and off we slunk to sit in traffic after a full tank of fuel was purchased.
By the time we were on roads I know really well (a4) , the traffic had abated enough to allow for some leg stretching whilst making sure there were still enough motorists to overtake. The 6 cyl is very naturally aspirated if that makes sense... The more you wring it's neck, the more it comes alive and the better it feels. It sticks and steers well, the brakes are OK and it doesn't make bad noises when being pressed. It isn't fast but it is brisk enough to get told off and has enough poke for overtakes. It is very smooth to drive and as I get more used to it and lean on it a bit more, perhaps I'll find it is faster and more nimble than I currently think.
Nothing went wrong on the way home and as we stopped, it began to rain - no complaints as our corner of the world is quite arid atm. Have run a couple of errands in it today and it is a nice little local hack. I look forward to using the peculiar parcel-shelf/bum-bag affair for holding, well... 'things'.
Hopefully money well spent. A nice, easy transaction and a good start to ownership. As I gel with the car, I'll let you know what it gets up to and how it's treated.
Cheers to Greg and his dad. Pics to follow.
F
MrT8064 said:
Yesterday I joined the 325ti club.
I have been vaguely following the 325ti market for the last few months, mainly as a result of reading this forum, but have not been able to justify owning another not particularly economical car. My current daily is a w140 merc and my fun car is an M52'd E30. As my milage has increased over the past few months, I started down the route of looking for something cheaper to run. Nothing really took my fancy. I don't like diesels and feeble petrols aren't too much fun on the open road.
A few days I spotted this on Autotrader, and bought it yesterday. It's a nearly-200k mile example, running on LPG, so nicely fills my desire to have one of these and something cheaper to run – also it was a bit of a bargain. It's got a few niggles (hedgehog resister needs replacing, dodgy remote locking, window switch slightly dodgy) and some of the bodywork is a bit scruffy. But generally it seems to be pretty good. It runs well on both petrol and gas, though it does seem to hesitate slightly at lower RPMs on gas.
So far i'm impressed by the way it drives. The only other E46 i've owned has been a miserable 318i, which left me feeling utterly cold!
I'm looking forward to giving it a good blast around the lanes once the sunshine returns!
what mpg you getting with the lpg, and how much you pay for the carI have been vaguely following the 325ti market for the last few months, mainly as a result of reading this forum, but have not been able to justify owning another not particularly economical car. My current daily is a w140 merc and my fun car is an M52'd E30. As my milage has increased over the past few months, I started down the route of looking for something cheaper to run. Nothing really took my fancy. I don't like diesels and feeble petrols aren't too much fun on the open road.
A few days I spotted this on Autotrader, and bought it yesterday. It's a nearly-200k mile example, running on LPG, so nicely fills my desire to have one of these and something cheaper to run – also it was a bit of a bargain. It's got a few niggles (hedgehog resister needs replacing, dodgy remote locking, window switch slightly dodgy) and some of the bodywork is a bit scruffy. But generally it seems to be pretty good. It runs well on both petrol and gas, though it does seem to hesitate slightly at lower RPMs on gas.
So far i'm impressed by the way it drives. The only other E46 i've owned has been a miserable 318i, which left me feeling utterly cold!
I'm looking forward to giving it a good blast around the lanes once the sunshine returns!
eezeh said:
Foeux said:
We returned and I stalled it trying to reverse - I've driven tons of stuff but the combination of CDV and electronic throttle control is going to take some getting used to (or removal).
lots of revs!For which i expect the throttle is largely to blame, I also have a general issue with the responsiveness of the throttle, Turner Motorsport do a module that plugs into the back of the pedal and gives 36 throttle settings, I'd be keen to try one to see if it can get somewhere close to the feel and response of a throttle cable.
eezeh said:
daniel-5zjw7 said:
Nice work so far on this one 
Ref CCV unfortunately this isnt always a fix, in some cases I've read of peoples consumption getting worse after fitting a new one!
I'm interested in the catch can set up also but not seen much feedback from anyone running this way for any period of time.
The other thing I've seen is people running 5-40 instead of 5-30 with a liqui moly additive with apparently good results in terms of much lower consumption.
For me mine had a new ccv before I got it as well as rocker cover gasket and I did the oil filter housing gasket (two well known oil leak areas - its not just burning it you need to look at!) and have Castrol 5-30 in it, I top it up monthly but as the oil is cheap enough from euros I dont mind too much, though will give the 5-40/liqui moly a go next time I service it.
I seem to have been quite lucky in that respect as I seem to only require a top up every 6k miles or so. Ie, half way through service intervals.Ref CCV unfortunately this isnt always a fix, in some cases I've read of peoples consumption getting worse after fitting a new one!
I'm interested in the catch can set up also but not seen much feedback from anyone running this way for any period of time.
The other thing I've seen is people running 5-40 instead of 5-30 with a liqui moly additive with apparently good results in terms of much lower consumption.
For me mine had a new ccv before I got it as well as rocker cover gasket and I did the oil filter housing gasket (two well known oil leak areas - its not just burning it you need to look at!) and have Castrol 5-30 in it, I top it up monthly but as the oil is cheap enough from euros I dont mind too much, though will give the 5-40/liqui moly a go next time I service it.
One thing I have seen is people in the states using an M56 rocker cover from SULEV vehicles where the CCV is binned and instead is all done internal to the rocker cover.
Not quite sure on the costs of importing one but it is reported to solve all oil consumption problems by those who have it installed.
daniel-5zjw7 said:
This is deffo a combo of both.. I have a HEL braided clutch line and removed the CDV, this is an absolute must do mod as makes a big difference generally 8(imo should be combined with a clubsport gearnob), but in terms of pulling away its still not as easy as it should be!
For which i expect the throttle is largely to blame, I also have a general issue with the responsiveness of the throttle, Turner Motorsport do a module that plugs into the back of the pedal and gives 36 throttle settings, I'd be keen to try one to see if it can get somewhere close to the feel and response of a throttle cable.
I was debating gearing up to do a CDV delete at my next service but am unsure on the downsides to deleting the CDV. Suppose I may as well do braided clutch line whilst im down there but its not long had new brake fluid/clutch fluid.For which i expect the throttle is largely to blame, I also have a general issue with the responsiveness of the throttle, Turner Motorsport do a module that plugs into the back of the pedal and gives 36 throttle settings, I'd be keen to try one to see if it can get somewhere close to the feel and response of a throttle cable.
ethomas said:
daniel-5zjw7 said:
Ref CCV unfortunately this isnt always a fix, in some cases I've read of peoples consumption getting worse after fitting a new one!
I'm interested in the catch can set up also but not seen much feedback from anyone running this way for any period of time.
I ran a catch can (mishimoto one) without a CCV, for about a year. It went from using a lot of oil (even with brand new CCV), to pretty much none. I would definitely recommend it.I'm interested in the catch can set up also but not seen much feedback from anyone running this way for any period of time.
how easy was it to fit? Do you have any pics of where you located it?eezeh said:
I was debating gearing up to do a CDV delete at my next service but am unsure on the downsides to deleting the CDV. Suppose I may as well do braided clutch line whilst im down there but its not long had new brake fluid/clutch fluid.
Has to be done no downsides in my experience, only benefits! Yep do the braided line too as the existing line will be past its best if its anything like mine.Easy job too, crimp the existing hose, undo cdv end, remove cdv, prepare new line and block cdv end, whip the old line off and quickly put new line in its place, then whip whatever you used to block the new line cdv end and tighten it up. Theres a good guide somewhere. You'll lose very little fluid and bleeding the clutch is a piece of cake.
Foeux, it sounds like you had a grand day out!
I had the CDV removed from mine and there was no downside!
There is a procedure to reset the drive-by-wire accelerator, which I used to do on mine every couple of weeks and that helped.
Changing the gearbox oil also made a big difference, but given that Greg was on here it may have been done already.
The storage bin in the rear parcel shelf is a great feature - I really don't know why nobody else has done that. I was really p*ssed off that my 1 Series didn't have it!
I hope you do enjoy yours - it's one of those cars that seems to be at it's best when you grab it by the scruff of it's neck.
I had the CDV removed from mine and there was no downside!
There is a procedure to reset the drive-by-wire accelerator, which I used to do on mine every couple of weeks and that helped.
Changing the gearbox oil also made a big difference, but given that Greg was on here it may have been done already.
The storage bin in the rear parcel shelf is a great feature - I really don't know why nobody else has done that. I was really p*ssed off that my 1 Series didn't have it!
I hope you do enjoy yours - it's one of those cars that seems to be at it's best when you grab it by the scruff of it's neck.
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