The E46 325ti Appreciation Thread

[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 my 330Ti went, at asking, to the first guy who came to see it. Sounds like £2000 was under selling it a bit!

I've pointed the guys who wanted to see it on Saturday and Sunday to this thread and your car.

[gizlaroc]

330ti said:

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

Rough price you're after?

[330ti]

mwggriffiths said:

I've pointed the guys who wanted to see it on Saturday and Sunday to this thread and your car.

Cheers for that I’m still a little unsure if to sell or not. I saw yours on eBay and it looked pretty good and near identical spec to mine. Thought it would sell quick ! What you replacing it with ? You have to spend big money for a better car !

[330ti]

gizlaroc said:

Rough price you're after?

If / when I’m selling I’ll let you know on here but I’d say £3k with both sets of wheels as the refurbed / ad08r set are near new and cost me around a grand alone. I’m going to see now I get on with my other car on track Thursday. Cheers

[mwggriffiths]

330ti said:

Cheers for that I’m still a little unsure if to sell or not. I saw yours on eBay and it looked pretty good and near identical spec to mine. Thought it would sell quick ! What you replacing it with ? You have to spend big money for a better car !

Tell me about it! I couldn't replace the mix of daily / van / track day toy with a single vehicle for any amount of money so I've gone for an E46 M3 (because I like E46s with big engines) and an i3 (because I like 'ugly' BMWs apparently ).

In fact it sold so quickly I'm now house-bound until the i3 gets delivered on Sunday

[PaulGT3]

I am just about to do the 330 swap myself as I have a 75k mile 330i auto donor car which after a few months testing doesn't seem to use a drop of oil which is a massive bonus as my 150k 325ti uses a litre per 1000 miles even with PCV catch can mod and all usual seals replaced.

I was under the impression I would need the 330 gearbox, clutch and prop setup.however I noticed the above 330ti ebay listing stating it used the original 325ti gearbox and just used an e30 325i flywheel and clutch. Can you tell me more? Can I use the 325ti DMF and clutch with my 330i engine and 325ti gearbox? Or do I need this e30 setup for it to work? Is the e30 setup cheaper/better? It would be a great bonus to not have to buy a 330 gearbox setup etc so I'm glad I saw this listing.

[helix402]

I haven’t done the swop but my educated guess is that you could use the 325 clutch and dmf. They may even be the same parts as the 330, you could check via realoem website.

[PaulGT3]

Realoem shows the flywheel as being the same (240mm) for both 325ti and 330i. However the clutch for the 325ti is listed as 228mm and the clutch for the 330i as 240mm. I'm guessing the 330i clutch cannot be used with the smaller 325ti gearbox.

[mwggriffiths]

PaulGT3 said:

I am just about to do the 330 swap myself as I have a 75k mile 330i auto donor car which after a few months testing doesn't seem to use a drop of oil which is a massive bonus as my 150k 325ti uses a litre per 1000 miles even with PCV catch can mod and all usual seals replaced.

I was under the impression I would need the 330 gearbox, clutch and prop setup.however I noticed the above 330ti ebay listing stating it used the original 325ti gearbox and just used an e30 325i flywheel and clutch. Can you tell me more? Can I use the 325ti DMF and clutch with my 330i engine and 325ti gearbox? Or do I need this e30 setup for it to work? Is the e30 setup cheaper/better? It would be a great bonus to not have to buy a 330 gearbox setup etc so I'm glad I saw this listing.

My 2nd 330i donor (don't ask...) was an auto too so this is directly applicable:

Cheapest and simplest solution: Fit the 325Ti DMF, clutch & gearbox to the M54B30. i.e. everything rear of the crankshaft is carry over 325Ti. This works regardless of if you're a 5 or 6 speed Compact, regardless of whether the donor was auto or manual. It's pretty much the only solution for a 6 speed (see below). Simple, cheap bolts right up.

If your DMF or clutch is knackered, or you want to reduce inertia (~5kg reduced rotating mass) you can go down the E30 325i setup but you need to machine the flywheel (6mm I think but it's been 18 months) on the NON friction face to clear the M54 block, then skim the friction face and balance, then fit a full E30 325i clutch kit and release bearing and then either a 5 speed Getrag (325i) or ZF (330i) gearbox. You'll also need a E30 325i starter motor. This'll run you to +£300 by the time you've bought all the bits and done all the machining. This will only work on a 5 speed car as the 5 speed input shaft has a spigot bearing in the crank (like the E30), whereas the 6 speed is in the DMF so there'd be no way of supporting the 6 speed gearbox input shaft with an E30 flywheel. This is not a requirement of the conversion.

Re: different clutch sizes you're correct that 325i's used a 228mm clutch and Getrag 5 speed, whereas the 328i & 330i used a 240mm clutch and ZF 5 speed with a higher torque capacity. My car did 8 trackdays on semi slick tyres and 23k miles on that 228mm E30 clutch and Getrag box in 18 months with no issues - they're more than capable of dealing with the abuse (as long as you're not planning on towing at GVW ).

I also put an E30 325i flywheel into my E36 328i 4 years ago (hence i know it works with both the Getrag AND ZF 5 speeds - because I've done both).

[PaulGT3]

This is great information thanks and gives me something to think about. I'm pretty sure my DMF is fine but I was going to replace the clutch as a matter of course as it has over 150k on it.

Is the lightened flywheel something you would recommend? I won't be doing any track days with the car.

[330ti]

PaulGT3 said:

This is great information thanks and gives me something to think about. I'm pretty sure my DMF is fine but I was going to replace the clutch as a matter of course as it has over 150k on it.

Is the lightened flywheel something you would recommend? I won't be doing any track days with the car.

If your going to buy a new clutch you might as well buy a 330 clutch which will work with your standard dmf, or better still use a pre 1997 528i 240mm clutch because they are not self adjusting so easier to fit and last longer and are under £100 for a LUK one .

[330ti]

PaulGT3 said:

I am just about to do the 330 swap myself as I have a 75k mile 330i auto donor car which after a few months testing doesn't seem to use a drop of oil which is a massive bonus as my 150k 325ti uses a litre per 1000 miles even with PCV catch can mod and all usual seals replaced.

I was under the impression I would need the 330 gearbox, clutch and prop setup.however I noticed the above 330ti ebay listing stating it used the original 325ti gearbox and just used an e30 325i flywheel and clutch. Can you tell me more? Can I use the 325ti DMF and clutch with my 330i engine and 325ti gearbox? Or do I need this e30 setup for it to work? Is the e30 setup cheaper/better? It would be a great bonus to not have to buy a 330 gearbox setup etc so I'm glad I saw this listing.

Also a engine out of a auto car will need a spigot bearing tapped into the crank as they are not fitted on auto engines

[PaulGT3]

330ti said:

If your going to buy a new clutch you might as well buy a 330 clutch which will work with your standard dmf, or better still use a pre 1997 528i 240mm clutch because they are not self adjusting so easier to fit and last longer and are under £100 for a LUK one .

Thanks so the 330 (or -97 528i) clutch will be fine with the getrag 325ti gearbox?

And yes I am aware of the bearing that needs to be tapped into the crank.

[330ti]

Yes all clutches fit all gearboxes

[anonymous-user]

Hi guys im after a couple bits and pieces, anyone know where best to buy them new or used in good nick?
2x rear shocks & springs
Rear brake hard lines
Right fuel sender

Cheers

[Max M4X WW]

A few pics from Brands the other evening..

[ethomas]

eezeh said:

Hi guys im after a couple bits and pieces, anyone know where best to buy them new or used in good nick?
2x rear shocks & springs
Rear brake hard lines
Right fuel sender

Cheers

CarParts4Less for shocks & springs. Try a decent breaker for the hard lines and sender, Quarry Motors usually have everything and are pretty decent.

Edit: Get the Sachs branded stuff from CP4Less, the rest is trash.

Edited by ethomas on Sunday 1st September 07:32

[helix402]

I’d make your own new hard brake lines. It’s easy enough. Or get your local motor factor to do it.

[anonymous-user]

ethomas said:

eezeh said:

Hi guys im after a couple bits and pieces, anyone know where best to buy them new or used in good nick?
2x rear shocks & springs
Rear brake hard lines
Right fuel sender

Cheers

CarParts4Less for shocks & springs. Try a decent breaker for the hard lines and sender, Quarry Motors usually have everything and are pretty decent.

Edit: Get the Sachs branded stuff from CP4Less, the rest is trash.

Edited by ethomas on Sunday 1st September 07:32

Thanks! i forgot to add i also need new rear top mounts (meyle hd?) and diff output shaft seals

[helix402]

eezeh said:

Thanks! i forgot to add i also need new rear top mounts (meyle hd?) and diff output shaft seals

I found Meyle top mounts are very poor quality and don’t last. The best standard ones are genuine BMW. Even they don’t last very long. I recommend Bimmertune ones.

Re diff output shaft seals I have a pair of brand new BMW ones which may fit your car. If you’d like to send me a PM with the last seven digits of your chassis no I can check.