The E46 325ti Appreciation Thread

[Mr Tidy]

I still miss mine too, and was/still am sorely tempted by that facelift 05 plate on AutoTrader - such a shame it has the Alcantara seats though.

But I think I'll persevere with my E90 330i - why oh why didn't BMW make a 330ti?

[anonymous-user]

Mr Tidy said:

I still miss mine too, and was/still am sorely tempted by that facelift 05 plate on AutoTrader - such a shame it has the Alcantara seats though.

But I think I'll persevere with my E90 330i - why oh why didn't BMW make a 330ti?

3.0 drops straight in

[Mr Tidy]

eezeh said:

3.0 drops straight in

I know, but an engine swap is way beyond my spannering ability!

[gregs656]

Mr Tidy said:

I still miss mine too, and was/still am sorely tempted by that facelift 05 plate on AutoTrader - such a shame it has the Alcantara seats though.

But I think I'll persevere with my E90 330i - why oh why didn't BMW make a 330ti?

Perfect spec for me that '05 one.

Lose the spoiler and it's a stunner.

[CDALY]

gregs656 said:

Perfect spec for me that '05 one.

Lose the spoiler and it's a stunner.

Hi Gregs656,

I was checking out that car too, one thing that stands out from the pictures to me is the rest of the car is shiny, bright red, except the rear bumper, spoiler and boot. That whole section looks dull/faded... What do you think?

[s m]

gregs656 said:

Mr Tidy said:

I still miss mine too, and was/still am sorely tempted by that facelift 05 plate on AutoTrader - such a shame it has the Alcantara seats though.

But I think I'll persevere with my E90 330i - why oh why didn't BMW make a 330ti?

Perfect spec for me that '05 one.

Lose the spoiler and it's a stunner.

That spoiler looks a bit like the one off a Mk4 Gsi Astra



I was having a fun drive in the other morning behind a Gsi on the brilliant local power station road and thought of that red ti on Autotrader!



As for the 330ti s, there are a few round here - go very well and one of the local breakers was turning them out

[JNIOW]

Just purchased a 2001 model to convert to a semi-daily / work advert / track car. Already has budget coilovers, and rear silencer delete. Just purchased a set of 7J wheels with 225/45/16 AD08R's on. Plan's include interior strip out, Porterfield brake pads and fluid change, Sparco seats, new intake filter upgrade, possible remap, and maybe 1/2 or full cage. May upload images if I can work out how to

Any tips / suggestions gratefully received.

Edited by JNIOW on Sunday 14th July 21:43

[JNIOW]

Has anyone fitted full harness belts to a 325ti ? Building a semi-daily / track car and pulled existing driver seat out over the weekend, and existing inner seat belt mount is on seat frame, outer belt mount is fine to attach to existing bolt location. Will be changing seat to more suitable track day seat, and these seat mounts won't have mounting point for inner lap belt. Any help / advice appreciated.

[Krikkit]

I suspect you'll need at least a half-cage to get a decent harness bar. You could make one with a bar running between the strut tops at the rear, but you'd have to double-check the angles are OK.

Slightly OT, but are there any thoughts on fitting a slightly lower final drive? I like the close ratio 5-speed, but it seems mad to be so highly geared.

[JakeT]

I'm surprised that you think it's high geared, since these have short gearing already. You'd need a medium case diff, an auto diff will be shorter, which should help you out.

[Krikkit]

Sorry, I got myself backwards there - at the moment I'm using 5th pottering around at 30mph, and 3 changes before 60mph.

Maybe I should leave it be.

[anonymous-user]

schroth make harnesses that utilise the rear seat belt attach points and the lap belt points.
called the schroth quick fit

[s m]

Krikkit said:

Sorry, I got myself backwards there - at the moment I'm using 5th pottering around at 30mph, and 3 changes before 60mph.

Maybe I should leave it be.

You should only need two changes to hit 60 unless short shifting
2nd tops out about 55

[anonymous-user]

Fuel gauge seems slow, very slow. Will not move on journeys but when i come back to it the next day the level has significantly dropped.
any ideas?

[Krikkit]

eezeh said:

Fuel gauge seems slow, very slow. Will not move on journeys but when i come back to it the next day the level has significantly dropped.
any ideas?

Assuming the needle drops when the dash is off is guess a sticky sender.

[Sardonicus]

Someone as probably ham-fisted fuel pump replacement in the past and damaged the fuel gauge float sweeping arm mechanism wouldnt be the 1st time I have seen this happen

[anonymous-user]

Krikkit said:

Assuming the needle drops when the dash is off is guess a sticky sender.

Had both senders out and seem to move fine, thats what i thought

Sardonicus said:

Someone as probably ham-fisted fuel pump replacement in the past and damaged the fuel gauge float sweeping arm mechanism wouldnt be the 1st time I have seen this happen

I would say that was me but the problem occurred before i pulled them out, pumps had never been out before, still sealed in. that being said I probably haven't made the situation any better.


Suppose new senders are on the cards then? Does anyone know if i can replace just the sender arm and circuit board without buying the whole lot?

[330ti]

Just a quick heads up. I’m going to be listing my 330ti sport on eBay soon. It’s a silver non sunroof sport model owned by my wife for nearly 4 years. A clean a ti as I’ve seen. I converted it to 3.0 a couple of years ago . Just rolled round 100k miles on resent trip to Germany. fault free fast fun road / club sport track car . Will come with rainsports on standard sport wheels and another set of freshly power coated wheels with new (1000 miles) AD08R’s .

I’ll let you all know when it’s listed , probably next week. Cheers all.

[mwggriffiths]

330ti said:

Just a quick heads up. I’m going to be listing my 330ti sport on eBay soon. It’s a silver non sunroof sport model owned by my wife for nearly 4 years. A clean a ti as I’ve seen. I converted it to 3.0 a couple of years ago . Just rolled round 100k miles on resent trip to Germany. fault free fast fun road / club sport track car . Will come with rainsports on standard sport wheels and another set of freshly power coated wheels with new (1000 miles) AD08R’s .

I’ll let you all know when it’s listed , probably next week. Cheers all.

Well that's bad timing because I've just put my 330Ti up on Facebook Marketplace (eBay can wait until tomorrow) - Competition for buyers of a very niche modified version of an already very niche car!

Sounds like mine is quite a bit scruffier and leggy-er than yours - I've got no idea what to ask for it so I've gone for £2000 which is way less than it owes me, but any feedback from anyone would be appreciated! Someone is asking 2.5k for a smashed up 3.0 swap 316Ti drift car on Facebook so it seemed like £2k could be under-selling it?

[Max M4X WW]

330ti said:

Just a quick heads up. I’m going to be listing my 330ti sport on eBay soon. It’s a silver non sunroof sport model owned by my wife for nearly 4 years. A clean a ti as I’ve seen. I converted it to 3.0 a couple of years ago . Just rolled round 100k miles on resent trip to Germany. fault free fast fun road / club sport track car . Will come with rainsports on standard sport wheels and another set of freshly power coated wheels with new (1000 miles) AD08R’s .

I’ll let you all know when it’s listed , probably next week. Cheers all.

A friend is after a 325ti, Ideally Sport, Ideally Facelift, but if it was a 3.0 this would be great! Can you let me know where you are in the world and when its on ebay please?

Naturally, if anyone else is thinking of selling please let me know.

Thanks