The E46 325ti Appreciation Thread

[shogun001]

Have fancied one of these for a while but clean ones are in short supply.

There is a black one with red leather down in Luton which apparently has been up for sale for a while however might be a bit overpriced?

If anyone has a good one for sale can you please point me in their direction? Budget up to 2.5k on the limit. Don't mind buying one cheaper and refurbing suspension etc. 👍

[Krikkit]

shogun001 said:

There is a black one with red leather down in Luton which apparently has been up for sale for a while however might be a bit overpriced?

I think it definitely is - it's clearly had some money spent on it, wearing M3 wheels which have been refurbed etc, but as to how it drives you'd have to try it and see. But at that money I'd expect it to be almost perfect, not with a peely rear trim strip around the boot.

It's been up on AT since about September that I can remember, clearly not going anywhere, but I'd guess they're the type of place that won't take a healthy offer on it.

Given how easy they are to work with I'd probably buy a cheaper one then do a bit of restorative maintenance.

ETA: If you like silver, this one looks pretty good: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/164278619231

Nothing shocking in the MOT history, would benefit from new wheels, get rid of the plate and the boot handle painting.

Edited by Krikkit on Wednesday 8th July 09:48

[s m]

Krikkit said:

shogun001 said:

There is a black one with red leather down in Luton which apparently has been up for sale for a while however might be a bit overpriced?

I think it definitely is - it's clearly had some money spent on it, wearing M3 wheels which have been refurbed etc, but as to how it drives you'd have to try it and see. But at that money I'd expect it to be almost perfect, not with a peely rear trim strip around the boot.

It's been up on AT since about September that I can remember, clearly not going anywhere, but I'd guess they're the type of place that won't take a healthy offer on it.

Given how easy they are to work with I'd probably buy a cheaper one then do a bit of restorative maintenance.

ETA: If you like silver, this one looks pretty good: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/164278619231

Nothing shocking in the MOT history, would benefit from new wheels, get rid of the plate and the boot handle painting.

Edited by Krikkit on Wednesday 8th July 09:48

The black one is an auto too
Have to agree with poster greenarrow above and Autocar on that front

[shogun001]

Krikkit said:

shogun001 said:

There is a black one with red leather down in Luton which apparently has been up for sale for a while however might be a bit overpriced?

I think it definitely is - it's clearly had some money spent on it, wearing M3 wheels which have been refurbed etc, but as to how it drives you'd have to try it and see. But at that money I'd expect it to be almost perfect, not with a peely rear trim strip around the boot.

It's been up on AT since about September that I can remember, clearly not going anywhere, but I'd guess they're the type of place that won't take a healthy offer on it.

Given how easy they are to work with I'd probably buy a cheaper one then do a bit of restorative maintenance.

ETA: If you like silver, this one looks pretty good: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/164278619231

Nothing shocking in the MOT history, would benefit from new wheels, get rid of the plate and the boot handle painting.

Edited by Krikkit on Wednesday 8th July 09:48

I never noticed the peeling on that piece of trim. I had sent them a message but had no reply so obviously not in a rush to sell.

I've messaged the chap with the silver one. Would leave me with a load of money to get it how I want it, it's just the 6 hour round trip to view which is a pain. I suppose hopefully I'll only have to make the trip once. I'm guessing that the handbrake on these are shoes inside the disc the same as the e92?

[shogun001]

I don't know whether I should be concerned...

32miles in 3 months and he's only had it 2 and a bit months.

[s m]

shogun001 said:

I never noticed the peeling on that piece of trim. I had sent them a message but had no reply so obviously not in a rush to sell.

I've messaged the chap with the silver one. Would leave me with a load of money to get it how I want it, it's just the 6 hour round trip to view which is a pain. I suppose hopefully I'll only have to make the trip once. I'm guessing that the handbrake on these are shoes inside the disc the same as the e92?

Yes, worth checking the tin backplates everything handbrake-wise mounts on aren’t too rusty either
Common problem on E36 and E46

[Krikkit]

shogun001 said:

I don't know whether I should be concerned...

32miles in 3 months and he's only had it 2 and a bit months.

Could be that they were furloughed which has turned into redundancy, then the first thing to go is the spare/fun car.

[sportinghatstand]

Hi Guys.. I am about to put my 325 Ti up for sale - its a 2001 car .118k, manual, silver, red leather seats and red dashboard, sitting on staggered 19in alloys pretty comprehensive service history (BMW main dealer to 2016m indi since then) - i even have all of the tax discs from 2003.. its been mostly garaged for its entire life as a result the paintwork etc are in pretty good condition, does have a couple of cosmetic issues but nothing major... it was an ex demo car that an employee bought, sold it to his father who then sold it to me.. I need to shift it on fairly quickly to make way for its replacement.. any ideas on what a fair price to get it shifted would be? i have really enjoyed owning it and am only selling it as i need space for its replacement..

Edited by sportinghatstand on Saturday 11th July 15:04

[chillbill]

Them sounds : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClPT_Iasrx0

Also, a recent review in German (can be translated into English): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=La3fY31xxYI

[shogun001]

Krikkit said:

Could be that they were furloughed which has turned into redundancy, then the first thing to go is the spare/fun car.

Well I've agreed a price after my friend who was in the area sent me a load of close up photos. Now to sort out transporting it. A bit tentative as it's the first vehicle I've purchased where I hadn't seen it first.

[shogun001]

sportinghatstand said:

Hi Guys.. I am about to put my 325 Ti up for sale - its a 2001 car .118k, manual, silver, red leather seats and red dashboard, sitting on staggered 19in alloys pretty comprehensive service history (BMW main dealer to 2016m indi since then) - i even have all of the tax discs from 2003.. its been mostly garaged for its entire life as a result the paintwork etc are in pretty good condition, does have a couple of cosmetic issues but nothing major... it was an ex demo car that an employee bought, sold it to his father who then sold it to me.. I need to shift it on fairly quickly to make way for its replacement.. any ideas on what a fair price to get it shifted would be? i have really enjoyed owning it and am only selling it as i need space for its replacement..

Edited by sportinghatstand on Saturday 11th July 15:04

Send me a PM and I'll let you know what I've agreed for a car very similar to yours.. 👍

[anonymous-user]

Looking at replacing my suspension, what is the preferred choice?
Bilsteins vs koni

The b12 pro kit looks rather tempting?

Also after an e46 m3 strut brace and fittings if anyone has one?

[MrT8064]

Did a little autotest in mine last night.
Brilliant fun, but painfully slow - now I’m looking at LSDs!

https://youtu.be/F56hnzqs01A

[Krikkit]

shogun001 said:

Krikkit said:

Could be that they were furloughed which has turned into redundancy, then the first thing to go is the spare/fun car.

Well I've agreed a price after my friend who was in the area sent me a load of close up photos. Now to sort out transporting it. A bit tentative as it's the first vehicle I've purchased where I hadn't seen it first.

Congrats, I'm sure it'll be fine!

[anonymous-user]

theres a very tidy looking 325ti sport for sale on ebay at the moment!

[Muzzman]

I was hoping someone could advise me on wheel size for the E46 Compact I'm building for track, it will have 330i brake setup.

I'm looking to purchase a square setup, probably these as 7.6kg per wheel.

https://www.demon-tweeks.com/uk/2forge-zf1-alloy-w...

I was looking for 8.5 width square setup but they seem to be like rocking horse sh!t.

If I was to buy 17x8 square setup what offset would I need?

At 8.5 apparently it's ET40

Thanks

[Mr Tidy]

Well you'll obviously need at least 17s for the 330i front brakes, and 8.5J square sets are rare because BMW never seemed to use them!

My 325ti was a Sport so it had staggered Style 97 7.5Jx17 ET 47 fronts and 8.5Jx17 ET50 rears as standard.

Based on that I can't see why 8.5J ET40 wouldn't fit but this site might be worth visiting:- https://www.willtheyfit.com/?width=215&aspect=...

[greenarrow]

eezeh said:

theres a very tidy looking 325ti sport for sale on ebay at the moment!

darn, this car is really close to me, on the south coast, but I am not a fan of modified cars as a rule, unless they look completely standard! I don't think this one would go down well with the wife who generally hates BMWs and especially lowered and modified ones.....that said, she did enjoy driving an E46 330i i brought home on a test drive about 11 years ago - but then proceeded to spot some rust blisters on one of the arches and said "non".

[Krikkit]

greenarrow said:

eezeh said:

theres a very tidy looking 325ti sport for sale on ebay at the moment!

darn, this car is really close to me, on the south coast, but I am not a fan of modified cars as a rule, unless they look completely standard! I don't think this one would go down well with the wife who generally hates BMWs and especially lowered and modified ones.....that said, she did enjoy driving an E46 330i i brought home on a test drive about 11 years ago - but then proceeded to spot some rust blisters on one of the arches and said "non".

Yeah... It's not too far gone from standard, but coilovers always put me off... It'd be a few quid to sort that with standard, and a wheel refurb needed, and an unknown amount of paintwork.

Off-topic, anyone know how easy it is to fit the M-sport skirts to an SE? I think they'd look good, as I'm not a fan of the overbite front bumper, but it does need a little something on the sides.

[helix402]

Sport skirts are a straight easy swop onto an SE.