The E46 325ti Appreciation Thread
Discussion
Sardonicus said:
My experience of BMW brake binding/dragging is corrosion of the caliper body itself pre fluid seal and dirt/dust boot trapping/jamming the piston rather than piston corrosion itself 
although in severe circumstances piston corrosion is also the cause of the binding brake 
Surely the caliper body shouldn't be corroding already? It can't have been changed that long ago.. although in severe circumstances piston corrosion is also the cause of the binding brake 
there was no dirt behind the piston seal and the fluid was fairly clean.. JakeT said:
Have you checked the flexi? I'm sure you know they can fail internally and fail to relieve pressure, and cause the caliper to 'stick'.
Apologies for spamming the thread everyone 
Yeah the flexis were replaced just before I bought it earlier this year
i motored the front right abs pump so will drive it for a week or so and report back
Eta: got both fronts up in the air and definitely an audible dragging on the rh wheel whilst left is much less pronounced
Edited by anonymous-user on Saturday 29th December 13:14
Pretty sure mine have never been silent when raising a wheel and spinning either before or after I changed both calipers/discs/pads.. pads are wearing fine though and no other symtoms of binding so all OK as far as I'm concerned.
Walked right past another 325ti in Ipswich yesterday, I think the first one I've seen on the road in over a year of having mine! Black facelift manual with sunroof and tan leather
Walked right past another 325ti in Ipswich yesterday, I think the first one I've seen on the road in over a year of having mine! Black facelift manual with sunroof and tan leather
Facelift Sport model here for £2250 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-E46-325Ti-M-Sport-C...
f:0
I still keep an eye on the market since mine got written off last year, I will probably buy another one at some stage.
f:0I still keep an eye on the market since mine got written off last year, I will probably buy another one at some stage.
G'day from NZ - just picked up an '03 facelift/LCI as a second car; and to try a little beginner-level tinkering. Has done 190km (which is about 120 miles for most of you), and drives pretty well, aside from a bit of on-centre numbness in the steering which I'll look into.
Not a fan of the wooden trim so will either paint, wrap, or swap out to the aluminium look which my old e91 had. Will also look to upgrade the steering wheel to something thicker, and the alloys to something a little nicer - though keen to remain factory. Suggestions/advice appreciated! The only other thing is to replace the tailpipes... oh, and the obligatory BMW cooling system refresh
Spec wise it's got sports seats and suspension which is brilliant - some of the euro cars that were sold new here were pretty pov(erty) spec and most of the few 325ti's I've seen have been the same.
Was looking for a 330i (or an e39 540i - don't laugh) originally but have always wanted one of these but they're as scarce as rocking-horse doo-doo down here as when new they were priced far to close to a ci/sedan for most people with any common sense to want to buy one. This one is NZ new (we get a lot of Japanese imports here) with a couple of private owners and in pretty good nick for it's age/miles/price... so once I drove it, it was only going to end one way!
(Apologies about the orientation of the photos - nfi why that's happening).
![](https://thumbsnap.com/t/4BUvfaYs.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="https://thumbsnap.com/iGxz4NUy" Target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[img]https://thumbsnap.com/t/iGxz4NUy.jpg)
Not a fan of the wooden trim so will either paint, wrap, or swap out to the aluminium look which my old e91 had. Will also look to upgrade the steering wheel to something thicker, and the alloys to something a little nicer - though keen to remain factory. Suggestions/advice appreciated! The only other thing is to replace the tailpipes... oh, and the obligatory BMW cooling system refresh
Spec wise it's got sports seats and suspension which is brilliant - some of the euro cars that were sold new here were pretty pov(erty) spec and most of the few 325ti's I've seen have been the same.
Was looking for a 330i (or an e39 540i - don't laugh) originally but have always wanted one of these but they're as scarce as rocking-horse doo-doo down here as when new they were priced far to close to a ci/sedan for most people with any common sense to want to buy one. This one is NZ new (we get a lot of Japanese imports here) with a couple of private owners and in pretty good nick for it's age/miles/price... so once I drove it, it was only going to end one way!
(Apologies about the orientation of the photos - nfi why that's happening).
There was a 53 plate facelift Sport on AutoTrader a week or so ago for less than £2K, but it's gone now (maybe just as well)!
I hesitated slightly because it was more than I got for my Imola pre-facelift in February, but had done more miles. My only concern with the ebay one would be the tow-bar!
Style 32s are also reckoned to be pretty light, so long as they are genuine E46 ones in 8J front and 8.5J rear 18" sizes (they were fitted to other BMWs in different sizes).
I've got 1 front one (it's a long story)! But I think they look great!
I hesitated slightly because it was more than I got for my Imola pre-facelift in February, but had done more miles. My only concern with the ebay one would be the tow-bar!
Style 32s are also reckoned to be pretty light, so long as they are genuine E46 ones in 8J front and 8.5J rear 18" sizes (they were fitted to other BMWs in different sizes).
I've got 1 front one (it's a long story)! But I think they look great!
Weighing up my options for a tyre / wheel change, have a track day booked for march and would like to put some good rubber on beforehand i reckon, however my linglongs seem to be lasting an awful long time and would like to wear them down fully.
Before I get a wheel refurb I also need 1 new rear wheel (i think) as its been welded in the past.
Does anyone have a set of sport wheels kicking around? If not and I do decide to go ahead with the tyre change ill probably end up selling the old ones part worn.
Ref brakes: haven't noticed anything sticking since the rebuild of the caliper but time will tell.
Before I get a wheel refurb I also need 1 new rear wheel (i think) as its been welded in the past.
Does anyone have a set of sport wheels kicking around? If not and I do decide to go ahead with the tyre change ill probably end up selling the old ones part worn.
Ref brakes: haven't noticed anything sticking since the rebuild of the caliper but time will tell.
Hi all,
I could do with some assistance in valuing my 330ti as it will be for sale come April, as the opportunity to buy my realistic dream car (E46 M3) has come up and I can't justify keeping them both. So what do you think my Compact car would be worth?
330Ti’s seem particularly hard to value as they don’t come up all that often and tend to hang around a bit waiting for the right buyer when they do come up.
This car has been my daily for nearly 2 years, and it’s been the best, most dependable and most enjoyable daily I’ve had, and has wanted for nothing in that time (as you can see from spec below).
Spec:
2002 325ti Sport Compact (genuine, with all the bumpers etc)
154k (plenty more come sale time)
Fresh 12 month MOT come April
Will need an Inspection service before April, this will be done prior to sale.
Exterior:
A very good 3 metre car, once you get to within 1 metre you start to notice issues
Titanium Silver
Glass Sunroof
Split in the front bumper which has been repaired but is ugly - could do with painting properly.
Signs of a respray in the past
Passenger A Post laquer peel
Facelift tail lights
Interior:
Black leather, fair-to-good condition for the age / mileage.
Standard bar upgraded BMW CD53 Stereo with Aux-In and USB charge ports in the glovebox.
Suspension & Brakes:
In past two years its had:
Refurbished 330i calipers, new Brembo discs and pads front and rear (inc trailing arms at the back so the handbrake works properly).
New TRW front lower control arms.
New BMW OEM Z4M offset front lower control arm bushes (increased castor for greater straight line stability and turn-in feel).
Refurbished 330i trailing arms inc wheel bearings, both rear ball joints and powerflex black series rear trailing arm bushes, painted with POR 15.
Rear subframe painted with POR 15, billet aluminium subframe bushes (to prevent boot floor cracking), new Lemforder diff bushes (x3).
Wheels & Tyres:
Comes on 4x Style 97 Sport Compact rear wheels (8.5J) and 245/40 R17 Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 3s
If the price was right I could also include a set of 4 Style 97 front wheels (7.5J) and 225/45 R17 Goodyear Ultragrip Performance Gen1 winter tyres.
Engine & Driveline:
In March 2018 at 137k I swapped the original 2.5 litre M54 for a 3.0 out of a 330i Saloon Automatic (had 122k on removal, so the engine has 15k less than the shell).
Rebuild VANOS, with besian systems bits
Upgraded DISA valve with metal screw replacing the failure-prone pin and clip
New oil filter housing, sump and rocker cover gaskets (no leaks!)
Completely new coolant system (water pump, radiator hoses & thermostat in 2017, radiator and expansion tank in 2018)
Serviced every 6k miles since 2017
M20 Single Mass flywheel conversion with new clutch (done with the engine swap)
5 Speed Manual
545i short shifter and new bushes
Clubsport gearknob
The biggest issue with the car: Oil consumption is ~1 litre per 1000 miles, however that’s actually not bad for these things!
A few photos on my instagram (@mwggriffiths), but I'll obviously take a proper detailed set when I'm actually ready to sell.
Cheers
Matt
I could do with some assistance in valuing my 330ti as it will be for sale come April, as the opportunity to buy my realistic dream car (E46 M3) has come up and I can't justify keeping them both. So what do you think my Compact car would be worth?
330Ti’s seem particularly hard to value as they don’t come up all that often and tend to hang around a bit waiting for the right buyer when they do come up.
This car has been my daily for nearly 2 years, and it’s been the best, most dependable and most enjoyable daily I’ve had, and has wanted for nothing in that time (as you can see from spec below).
Spec:
2002 325ti Sport Compact (genuine, with all the bumpers etc)
154k (plenty more come sale time)
Fresh 12 month MOT come April
Will need an Inspection service before April, this will be done prior to sale.
Exterior:
A very good 3 metre car, once you get to within 1 metre you start to notice issues
Titanium Silver
Glass Sunroof
Split in the front bumper which has been repaired but is ugly - could do with painting properly.
Signs of a respray in the past
Passenger A Post laquer peel
Facelift tail lights
Interior:
Black leather, fair-to-good condition for the age / mileage.
Standard bar upgraded BMW CD53 Stereo with Aux-In and USB charge ports in the glovebox.
Suspension & Brakes:
In past two years its had:
Refurbished 330i calipers, new Brembo discs and pads front and rear (inc trailing arms at the back so the handbrake works properly).
New TRW front lower control arms.
New BMW OEM Z4M offset front lower control arm bushes (increased castor for greater straight line stability and turn-in feel).
Refurbished 330i trailing arms inc wheel bearings, both rear ball joints and powerflex black series rear trailing arm bushes, painted with POR 15.
Rear subframe painted with POR 15, billet aluminium subframe bushes (to prevent boot floor cracking), new Lemforder diff bushes (x3).
Wheels & Tyres:
Comes on 4x Style 97 Sport Compact rear wheels (8.5J) and 245/40 R17 Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 3s
If the price was right I could also include a set of 4 Style 97 front wheels (7.5J) and 225/45 R17 Goodyear Ultragrip Performance Gen1 winter tyres.
Engine & Driveline:
In March 2018 at 137k I swapped the original 2.5 litre M54 for a 3.0 out of a 330i Saloon Automatic (had 122k on removal, so the engine has 15k less than the shell).
Rebuild VANOS, with besian systems bits
Upgraded DISA valve with metal screw replacing the failure-prone pin and clip
New oil filter housing, sump and rocker cover gaskets (no leaks!)
Completely new coolant system (water pump, radiator hoses & thermostat in 2017, radiator and expansion tank in 2018)
Serviced every 6k miles since 2017
M20 Single Mass flywheel conversion with new clutch (done with the engine swap)
5 Speed Manual
545i short shifter and new bushes
Clubsport gearknob
The biggest issue with the car: Oil consumption is ~1 litre per 1000 miles, however that’s actually not bad for these things!
A few photos on my instagram (@mwggriffiths), but I'll obviously take a proper detailed set when I'm actually ready to sell.
Cheers
Matt
helix402 said:
If possible avoid XLs, for the simple reason that the car was not designed for them.
Cheers helix added non XLs to my basket!Looking to buy a single style 97m alloy if anyone has a spare? to replace one someone has welded in the past, can collect if not too far from hampshire
Mr Tidy said:
There was a 53 plate facelift Sport on AutoTrader a week or so ago for less than £2K, but it's gone now (maybe just as well)!
I hesitated slightly because it was more than I got for my Imola pre-facelift in February, but had done more miles. My only concern with the ebay one would be the tow-bar!
Style 32s are also reckoned to be pretty light, so long as they are genuine E46 ones in 8J front and 8.5J rear 18" sizes (they were fitted to other BMWs in different sizes).
I've got 1 front one (it's a long story)! But I think they look great!
I wonder if the seller would part with the tow bar seperately I hesitated slightly because it was more than I got for my Imola pre-facelift in February, but had done more miles. My only concern with the ebay one would be the tow-bar!
Style 32s are also reckoned to be pretty light, so long as they are genuine E46 ones in 8J front and 8.5J rear 18" sizes (they were fitted to other BMWs in different sizes).
I've got 1 front one (it's a long story)! But I think they look great!
I could be in the market for one possibly, I do a lot mountain bike riding which takes me across much of the UK & currently run a saris bones 2 bike rack for transporting both mine & my sons bikes, this fits hand to glove on my 120i but not sure yet on my 325ti I tried a dummy run with very minimal movement which was a positive i guess, does anyone else have a recommended bike rack without the official bmw being mentioned? I understand with that one I will need to cut my bumper which I'm very reluctant to do on my facelift 325ti as you can all probably understand! Any help or advice greatly appreciated.Gassing Station | BMW General | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff