The E46 325ti Appreciation Thread

[anonymous-user]

JakeT said:

For 1, my E46 coupe did it. I just never shut the door with the window all the way down.

You can replace the handles separately to the door card, too. They are held in with one Torx in the back of the unit. They're compact specific though.

I think a mate has a pair sitting around somewhere. I'll ask if he has them and when this lockdown business is done I'll give them to you. I know we cross paths near the Winall roundabout every so often.

The whole handle assembly as pictured?

You will catch me at the winall tesco filling station a minimum of once a week, sometimes twice

s m said:

My driver’s window rattled slightly for years If window was part open

Recently the winder mechanism expired ( cable frayed ) so I had to replace it

No rattles now with window down

thank you, i will look at replacing the cable in that case.

[JakeT]

Ah sorry, that was my mistake. I thought you meant the handle to open the door. The door pull is moulded to part of the card I believe. Some may have painted them but I am not sure I would.

I do still occasionally see you coming the other way to me! I also stop at the Tesco fairly regularly for fuel too. or the Shell if I'm feeling flush.

[Krikkit]

PaulGT3 said:

First photo showing just after they were fitted (still had standard suspension at this point) and the second photo showing it overloaded and very dirty after driving round the pyrenees for a fortnight.

Thanks that looks great actually. Did you use any spacers?

With a 205 section tyre that sounds ideal, might swap.

[Touring442]

eezeh said:

I think I may have sorted my icv limp mode issue plaguing me, the maf sensor!

Quite common, and it has a habit of neither showing any fault codes nor bringing on the EML. You just get all manner lot running and driving problems as well as ABS/ASC lights coming on.

[Max M4X WW]

Krikkit said:

PaulGT3 said:

First photo showing just after they were fitted (still had standard suspension at this point) and the second photo showing it overloaded and very dirty after driving round the pyrenees for a fortnight.

Thanks that looks great actually. Did you use any spacers?

With a 205 section tyre that sounds ideal, might swap.

Are these ET40? I run the following which are 16x7" and ET20. Be interested if anyone knows of any other 16/17" BMW wheels which are the same weight or lighter and also ET20. (I think these are 8kg each and seemed to be the lightest I could find using online specs)

[PaulGT3]

Krikkit said:

Thanks that looks great actually. Did you use any spacers?

With a 205 section tyre that sounds ideal, might swap.

No they are a direct £46 fitment being 7" wide and ET40. You can get Michelin PS4 for about 60 quid a corner when Costco have their offers on. They are also 8kg so pretty light for an OEM wheel and I got a set of barely used ones for about 150 quid on ebay. The car rides great with them on in standard form, it's only since fitting the 330i engine thats made me think about going back up a size.

[Krikkit]

Thanks, I'm really considering them now, they look great and lighter = better always imho.

It's whether I swap to them or refurb my 16" style 32's really...

Max M4X WW said:

Are these ET40? I run the following which are 16x7" and ET20. Be interested if anyone knows of any other 16/17" BMW wheels which are the same weight or lighter and also ET20. (I think these are 8kg each and seemed to be the lightest I could find using online specs)

They are indeed ET40, according to what I can find anyway...

[PaulGT3]

There is also Style 390s which are a kind of similar design and weight from the F30 3 series and these are ET31.

[Zener]

Touring442 said:

Quite common, and it has a habit of neither showing any fault codes nor bringing on the EML. You just get all manner lot running and driving problems as well as ABS/ASC lights coming on.

This ^ on auto's it may or may not also flag transmission fault codes but will upset shift points and general transmission behavior always best to study MAF scaling via Live-data if you have the equipment IME

[Mr Tidy]

BMW also offered staggered 18" Style 32s on E46s that seem to be quite popular with E85/86 (non M) Z4 owners, as they are apparently lighter than any of the MV2 or other options.

They are 8J ET47 fronts and 8.5J ET50 rears.

[Krikkit]

Mr Tidy said:

BMW also offered staggered 18" Style 32s on E46s that seem to be quite popular with E85/86 (non M) Z4 owners, as they are apparently lighter than any of the MV2 or other options.

They are 8J ET47 fronts and 8.5J ET50 rears.

And there's 17" 32's as well, in a variety of widths.

[rokomah]

Hello, new user here from Slovenia. Here is my LHD 2002 325ti



model: e46/5 325ti
mileage: 365k km (about 228k miles)
color: Pistaziengrün Metallic – 468
upholstery: Standardleder/schwarz – N6SW
production date: 8.2.2002

basic equipment:
226 Sports Suspension Settings
255 Sports Leather Steering Wheel
321 Exterior Parts in Body Color
347 Titan. Line Exterior
520 Foglights
548 Speedomenter With Kilometer Reading
550 On-board Computer
832 Battery In Luggage Compartment
851 Language Version German

optional extras:
210 Dynamic Stability Control (DSC)
249 Multi-function For Steering Wheel
262 Head Airbag
279 Lt/aly Wheels Star Spoke 45
302 Alarm System
315 Rear Windscreen Wiper
340 Protector Stripes In Black
403 Glass Roof, Electric
423 Floor Mats, Velour
428 Warning Triangle
481 Sport Seats F Driver/front Passenger
494 Seat Heating F Driver/front Passenger
508 Park Distance Control (PDC)
534 Automatic Air Conditioning
606 Navigation System Business
632 Compl Prep. Bmw Cellular Phone (motorola)
672 Cd Changer Bmw For 6 Cds
785 White Direction Indicator Lights
801 Germany Version
936 Request Bmw Mobile Phone On Delivery
937 Request Cd-rom On Delivery



I've had the car for about 2 years now. It's mainly stock apart from a few upgrades. Suspension was swapped from an e46 m3 and the front struts were rotated, which resulted in -2.3°camber on the front wheels. Camber on the rear wheels was adjusted to -1.4°.
I installed m sport steering wheel and the performance shifter knob (bad idea, I'm going back to stock soon as it's too short for my taste although I do like the shorter throws).
I installed a 1.5way limited slip differential with the stock gear ratio 3.23:1 which really transformed the car. The rear end has more grip now and it's much more controllable when going sideways.
A few months ago I replaced the driver seat with a Recaro Pole Position because I wanted more support in the corners + the stock seat was too high for me even on the lowest setting. Although the original seat wasn't that bad considering the mileage. There were a few cracks but no tears, even on the critical spots. I used pci sidemounts instead of the recaro ones which enabled me to sit almost 10 cm (about 4inches) lower than the stock position.



winter wheels are Style 32 17inch from an e90 (ET34)



summer wheels are BBS RK 011 18inch. I dont like their looks, but at least they're light.





interior

[rokomah]

Aaand here is a video of the car going sideways:

https://youtu.be/QkFqX4Kkxr0

[chillbill]

Nicee! Why the change to M3 suspension, old springs-dampers were shot? The LSD is a custom item?

[Touring442]

Pistachio green was such a great colour. With the 1 Series becoming little more than an expensive Focus, time will be kind to the E46 Compact.

[rokomah]

I think the suspension was changed because the old one was worn out but I'm not 100% sure, because this was done by the previous owner. But I'm glad he did that because the ride is firmer and there is a lot less floating when driving fast. All the other upgrades were done by me.
The differential is a custom built one yes. It was done by RacingDiffs from Serbia. I wasn't sure who to pick for the upgrade since there is little companies that ship out complete units ready for install.
Internals look like this:



They put them in the 188k housing. All I had to do was add some 90w140 oil, some friction modifier and install it on the car.

[chillbill]

rokomah said:

The differential is a custom built one yes. It was done by RacingDiffs from Serbia.

Oh, thanks, bookmarked.

PaulGT3 said:

Is this the same by any chance? https://www.instagram.com/p/B-prkCYAJjb/

[PaulGT3]

chillbill said:

Is this the same by any chance? https://www.instagram.com/p/B-prkCYAJjb/

Nope not mine, looks near identical though! Pre-facelift imola sport with facelift rear lights and those wheels, looks lowered too.

[PaulGT3]

Also all these photos are a bit unfair on imola red. Here is a quick snap I took of it in the sun the other day.

[Mr Tidy]

I was thrilled when I found my Imola Compact - it's a fantastic colour IMO. I still miss it!

When my nephew became a Dad he soon discovered his facelift Black Sapphire Compact wasn't much use for a child seat in the rear, so I found him an Imola Touring.

Love this photo of them together!