The E46 325ti Appreciation Thread

[anonymous-user]

josh-cg608 said:

Ive just brought a 2003 msport 6 speed with the m54b30 conversion. Ecu had a map and also mishimoto induction kit. Mechanically solid with recent new brakes, clutch, full cooling system and a few other bits. Bodywork isn't ideal so ive got it booked in for both bumpers to be spray and a few bits touched in. And could do with some wet sanding in places. Interior is also fairly clean just after a centre console and both inner door grab handles for dis colouring and scratching. If anyone is breaking a msport and has any interior parts drop me a pm. Finally wheels are booked in monday for refurb and have a fresh set of mich ps4's ready to go on. Hopefuuly over the next year should be brought back up to scratch. Will try and update pics as i go along.

Hi there, I replaced my centre console a while back with a genuine one from bmw for £44, far better than attempting a plasti dip re finish
On the subject of inner door grab handles, you can't replace them, you'd need the whole door card assembly. What I did find works well is applying some gtechniq c4.

[josh-cg608]

eezeh said:

Hi there, I replaced my centre console a while back with a genuine one from bmw for £44, far better than attempting a plasti dip re finish
On the subject of inner door grab handles, you can't replace them, you'd need the whole door card assembly. What I did find works well is applying some gtechniq c4.

Hi thanks for the reply. Oh really thats not bad at all! I have this afternoon gave all interior surfaces and leather a good clean and its looking aloy better not i think alot of it was grime. Yeah i stumbled across the post about c4 luckily i already have some at home so will be giving it a go.

[Muzzman]

Krikkit said:

Just to weigh in on the tyre/wheel debate - I'd start by making sure you can find a track tyre that's affordable in the right size. It's surprising how they vary by profile/width. Once you've found a popular size you can get the wheels to fit.

With the absolute grip not being critical (not being a race car) it might be worth going for a narrowish 17" wheel where you can get plenty of wheels and tyres to suit.

Sorry missed this reply.

So it looks like 225/45/17 Nangkang NS2Rs are a good price. £80 a tyre.

Does this mean I should run 7.5J all round, is this a bit narrow at the rear?

I think the other alternative is to up it to 8J and run 235/40/17 at £90 a tyre

Edited by Muzzman on Sunday 13th September 08:11

[josh-cg608]

Just after some advice and to pick peoples brains, i gave the car a good run yesterday and all was fine apart from a couple of times once warm as i came to stop there was a vibration from engine and sounded like a misfire but not eml, i cant access a code reader until tomorrow just wondering if anyone has experienced this. Im thinkin maybe a coil onit was out? And plugs? Or maybe a vaccum leak, ccv valve or intake boots etc. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Misfee wouldnt last long then clear then all was fine

Edited by josh-cg608 on Sunday 13th September 08:59

[Krikkit]

Muzzman said:

Krikkit said:

Just to weigh in on the tyre/wheel debate - I'd start by making sure you can find a track tyre that's affordable in the right size. It's surprising how they vary by profile/width. Once you've found a popular size you can get the wheels to fit.

With the absolute grip not being critical (not being a race car) it might be worth going for a narrowish 17" wheel where you can get plenty of wheels and tyres to suit.

Sorry missed this reply.

So it looks like 225/45/17 Nangkang NS2Rs are a good price. £80 a tyre.

Does this mean I should run 7.5J all round, is this a bit narrow at the rear?

I think the other alternative is to up it to 8J and run 235/40/17 at £90 a tyre

I'd probably go for the staggered style 97 type wheels which are 7.5 and 8.5 with those sizes, or track wheels I'd go 7.5 and 8J as you've suggested. Sounds like a good compromise.

[chillbill]

E46 M3 Style 67s on.

[Krikkit]

That looks belting, even with the underbite M-sport bumper (Sorry)

Have you any spacers on the back, or is that the natural width & offset?

[MRyan99]

Hi all,

thought I’d revive this old thread after it was what persuaded me to pick up a 325ti as my weekend toy. This is my 2003 6 speed Sport. It’s got everything except the upgraded sound system, Xenons(which I’m adding soon) and the sunroof. I absolutely love it. Only thing I’ve done so far is add the Xtrons oem look Nav so I have all the modern amenities, colour coded the side strips, got rid of the horrible back wiper and the horrible mirrors for some M3 style ones specific to the compacts as I think it compliments the curvy sport bumpers much better than the horrible rectangular ones. (My other weekend toy making an appearance in the last image there too)

[anonymous-user]

Looks very nice! Did you just rub back the side strips and have them sprayed?
Also mind taking a photo of how you've blanked where the wiper went? cheers

[chillbill]

Krikkit said:

Have you any spacers on the back, or is that the natural width & offset?

Thanks. Style 67-s are 18x8 ET47 and 18x9 ET26. So no spacer in the back, would need some 15mm-s for the front...

MRyan99 said:

Love the red interior and do agree in that the M-Sport bumpers make it a lot more visually cohesive. Does the Xtrons stereo work with the steering wheel controls out of the box?

[330ti]

Muzzman said:

Krikkit said:

Just to weigh in on the tyre/wheel debate - I'd start by making sure you can find a track tyre that's affordable in the right size. It's surprising how they vary by profile/width. Once you've found a popular size you can get the wheels to fit.

With the absolute grip not being critical (not being a race car) it might be worth going for a narrowish 17" wheel where you can get plenty of wheels and tyres to suit.

Sorry missed this reply.

So it looks like 225/45/17 Nangkang NS2Rs are a good price. £80 a tyre.

Does this mean I should run 7.5J all round, is this a bit narrow at the rear?

I think the other alternative is to up it to 8J and run 235/40/17 at £90 a tyre

Edited by Muzzman on Sunday 13th September 08:11

There is a nice set of sport wheels with Yokohama ad08r tyres available on a popular auction site 😉

[Krikkit]

MRyan99 said:

Hi all,

thought I’d revive this old thread after it was what persuaded me to pick up a 325ti as my weekend toy. This is my 2003 6 speed Sport. It’s got everything except the upgraded sound system, Xenons(which I’m adding soon) and the sunroof. I absolutely love it. Only thing I’ve done so far is add the Xtrons oem look Nav so I have all the modern amenities, colour coded the side strips, got rid of the horrible back wiper and the horrible mirrors for some M3 style ones specific to the compacts as I think it compliments the curvy sport bumpers much better than the horrible rectangular ones. (My other weekend toy making an appearance in the last image there too)

Lovely, would also be interested in the de-wiper info!

[dubster2007]

MRyan99 said:

Hi all,

thought I’d revive this old thread after it was what persuaded me to pick up a 325ti as my weekend toy. This is my 2003 6 speed Sport. It’s got everything except the upgraded sound system, Xenons(which I’m adding soon) and the sunroof. I absolutely love it. Only thing I’ve done so far is add the Xtrons oem look Nav so I have all the modern amenities, colour coded the side strips, got rid of the horrible back wiper and the horrible mirrors for some M3 style ones specific to the compacts as I think it compliments the curvy sport bumpers much better than the horrible rectangular ones. (My other weekend toy making an appearance in the last image there too)

Nice! but not a big fan of red on red and the mirrors aren't my cup of tea, prefer the standard ones but you cant go wrong with a shiny red car

[Muzzman]

A mate of mine has kindly let me have a set of Style 22 wheels for a very reasonable price to go on the track with.




They are 7.5J square setup. I've used willtheyfit.com and it appears that with the change in rear ET from 50 to 41 and a reduction in width it gives me 20mm more clearance for my coilovers, i'm thinking of using 235/45/17 tyres all round.

My concern really is that for track maybe this setup isn't wide enough at the rear, i've read that you should really go up to 9" all round for track, any thoughts?

[Krikkit]

I think decent 235 tyres will handle the power just fine. Style 22's will look rad on it too.

[Muzzman]

Krikkit said:

I think decent 235 tyres will handle the power just fine. Style 22's will look rad on it too.

It's got a m54b30 conversion but not too much more power than standard. I was thinking of going for Nangkang NS2R's

[Muzzman]

If anyone has any red m sport bumpers lying around I could be interested

[330ti]

225/45/17 tyres ideal with that rim size 235 would be oversize and cause to much sidewall flex and you would probably be even better off with 215’s . I tried 9” square set up and soon went back to standard 7.5 front 8.5 rear which work so much better. 9” square was ok’ish on the track but horrific tramlining on the road . Hope this helps.

[330ti]

Also have tried ns2r tyres and in fact still use them on my other track car a 328ti e36 . They are pretty good in the dry but bordering on lethal in the wet so you’d would need two sets off wheels / tyres . ad08r’s work well wet or dry.

[Krikkit]

330ti said:

ad08r’s work well wet or dry.

Another vote for them - I've had them a couple of times now and they never cease to amaze. Brilliant road and normal track tyre with great feel. Obviously not a last-10th kind of tyre, but for most folks that doesn't matter.