BMW E46 330ci Sport
Discussion
Morning all.
My name is Jim and I have been on this forum for number of years now, posting topics and responding here and there, being constantly amused by the various threads and PH responses to said threads. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else!
I have only a short history of previous cars, neither of which were anything special, although one of them was to me, but after you, the collective have voiced your views, the one that was more special to me maybe perhaps be a bit marmite to others, but the previous sheds were nothing note worthy of creating a new topic about, except for the Golf GTI (the marmite car), which I believe I may have made a topic about, but having been over 4 years ago, that'll probably be long gone.
I passed my test just over ten years ago, having being in 6th form and having a part time job that barley covered the expenses of fixing my flat tyres on my shove iron, I didn't own a car for a few years. Alas, my Dad sold his BMW E34 due to him working abroad and it barley getting used (insurance for myself on that at the time was laughable) and he bought an old shed of a MK1 Ford Mondeo that I was to be insured on. Reliable, boring and to a young lad that hadn't driven anything since his learner car, it felt pretty damn quick, especially in comparison to my friends driving around in their mum's punto's.
Having hit a patch of black ice going to see my then girl friend I had introduced the car to a tree, ten foot down a ditch on a single track country road. Needless to say I had to purchase another car quickly to replace it with, and being still on a part time wage and in education, £400 is all I could muster up having had beer taxes removed from my savings every week.
It was replaced by a 1995 Peugeot 405 GLX. It was immaculate in every single way and with 64k on the clocks it had plenty of life left in here. Infact we kept that for 5 and a half years, 4 of which I shared with my Dad before he bought a E46 323i saloon. The end of it's life came around when the clutch went, and with the cost of a new one against the value of the car it wasn't worth replacing. Sentimental values I do miss it, it was slow but oh so comfy.
That was then replaced by another Mondeo but MK2 guise which I kept for a couple of years until that clutch went also.
All inbetween owning the Peugeot and the second Mondeo, I had bought a 1990 MK2 GTI 8 Valve.
The Golf:
Any how moving on to present day. I was in the market for a new car. I don't have a massive amount of disposable income but I still wanted something nice, that I could look back at having locked it and smile.
After my Dad having his first BMW, the E34 520i se and now on his second E46 323i se I just fell in love with them. The sound, the build quality etc and I had to have one.
I spent months looking for one, researching the common issues with them, making compromises on condition/spec for my budget and ringing, emailing and viewing to only be disappointed and angered to how many bloody liars there are out there. "Immaculate" "rust free" are the two phrases that I think some sellers perhaps think they mean other things. I know they're common for rust on the inside bottom arch on the rear where they meet the sill, and on the front arches, so finding one without this rot, for my price range was pretty difficult. My main criteria for one was; Had to be the sport/msport, had to be rust free on the arches and had to have a black interior.
I was shown one by a friend. It was a 53 plate face lift 330ci Sport down in Luton. The advert was well written, and having phoned the guy, who turned out to be a trader, seemed to be pretty genuine and up front and honest with the car. He explained that it had a trio of small dints on the off side arch from a shopping trolly, the seat bolster had come away at the seam (common issue) and it had the usual stone chips.
I went down to view the car, keeping expectations low. I didn't expect a mint example but I also didn't want something that was falling apart.
To cut a long story short, I bought the car as it was as described, few little issues he overlooked and off I went happy.
Upon the first week of having it. A few common issues arose on it. The interior fabric seals around the doors started to sag, the rear pop out window seal has a tear so letting in a little amount of water (only in heavy rain) and more alarmingly a rattle had appeared under the hood. First thought was the Vanos unit... great.. but having done a bit of ear to engine and research on the owners club, I put it down to a knakkard disa valve, yet again a common issue on M54 engines.
BMW wanted £240 plus Vat for the part, which I delined and was informed by a member of e46 zone that I can get a repair kit for £60 and it solves the issue once and for all. The rattle is caused by a metal pin on the inlet side coming loose, stopping the butterfly paddle from functioning and also if the pin dropped in the engine, well it would have been game over. I got the kit, and repaired it. (I can reply with video/pics if required). Unfortunately after refitting, the noise continued, bugger! The day after, I had a battery light illuminate on my car, after checks of the charging of the battery the alternator was goosed. I had this changed and along with restoring the power, saving the battery the noise had stopped, damaged bearings in the alternator were the cause!
I love the car. It is an auto, bit odd to get used to but its a wafter. Has plenty of low down torque and it is as smooth as silk. Have a wonderful HK sound system, people have slated it but for a factory fit it seems pretty good. Very comfy despite the fairly stiff suspension but it's such a joy to drive.
I have a few bits I want to do to her cosmetically and I shall be happy;
- New front discs and pads
- Sort the sagging door trim
- Get the seat repaired
- Get the wheels refurbished
Sorry for the long speech, I get carried away. Here are a couple of photos:
My name is Jim and I have been on this forum for number of years now, posting topics and responding here and there, being constantly amused by the various threads and PH responses to said threads. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else!
I have only a short history of previous cars, neither of which were anything special, although one of them was to me, but after you, the collective have voiced your views, the one that was more special to me maybe perhaps be a bit marmite to others, but the previous sheds were nothing note worthy of creating a new topic about, except for the Golf GTI (the marmite car), which I believe I may have made a topic about, but having been over 4 years ago, that'll probably be long gone.
I passed my test just over ten years ago, having being in 6th form and having a part time job that barley covered the expenses of fixing my flat tyres on my shove iron, I didn't own a car for a few years. Alas, my Dad sold his BMW E34 due to him working abroad and it barley getting used (insurance for myself on that at the time was laughable) and he bought an old shed of a MK1 Ford Mondeo that I was to be insured on. Reliable, boring and to a young lad that hadn't driven anything since his learner car, it felt pretty damn quick, especially in comparison to my friends driving around in their mum's punto's.
Having hit a patch of black ice going to see my then girl friend I had introduced the car to a tree, ten foot down a ditch on a single track country road. Needless to say I had to purchase another car quickly to replace it with, and being still on a part time wage and in education, £400 is all I could muster up having had beer taxes removed from my savings every week.
It was replaced by a 1995 Peugeot 405 GLX. It was immaculate in every single way and with 64k on the clocks it had plenty of life left in here. Infact we kept that for 5 and a half years, 4 of which I shared with my Dad before he bought a E46 323i saloon. The end of it's life came around when the clutch went, and with the cost of a new one against the value of the car it wasn't worth replacing. Sentimental values I do miss it, it was slow but oh so comfy.
That was then replaced by another Mondeo but MK2 guise which I kept for a couple of years until that clutch went also.
All inbetween owning the Peugeot and the second Mondeo, I had bought a 1990 MK2 GTI 8 Valve.
The Golf:
Any how moving on to present day. I was in the market for a new car. I don't have a massive amount of disposable income but I still wanted something nice, that I could look back at having locked it and smile.
After my Dad having his first BMW, the E34 520i se and now on his second E46 323i se I just fell in love with them. The sound, the build quality etc and I had to have one.
I spent months looking for one, researching the common issues with them, making compromises on condition/spec for my budget and ringing, emailing and viewing to only be disappointed and angered to how many bloody liars there are out there. "Immaculate" "rust free" are the two phrases that I think some sellers perhaps think they mean other things. I know they're common for rust on the inside bottom arch on the rear where they meet the sill, and on the front arches, so finding one without this rot, for my price range was pretty difficult. My main criteria for one was; Had to be the sport/msport, had to be rust free on the arches and had to have a black interior.
I was shown one by a friend. It was a 53 plate face lift 330ci Sport down in Luton. The advert was well written, and having phoned the guy, who turned out to be a trader, seemed to be pretty genuine and up front and honest with the car. He explained that it had a trio of small dints on the off side arch from a shopping trolly, the seat bolster had come away at the seam (common issue) and it had the usual stone chips.
I went down to view the car, keeping expectations low. I didn't expect a mint example but I also didn't want something that was falling apart.
To cut a long story short, I bought the car as it was as described, few little issues he overlooked and off I went happy.
Upon the first week of having it. A few common issues arose on it. The interior fabric seals around the doors started to sag, the rear pop out window seal has a tear so letting in a little amount of water (only in heavy rain) and more alarmingly a rattle had appeared under the hood. First thought was the Vanos unit... great.. but having done a bit of ear to engine and research on the owners club, I put it down to a knakkard disa valve, yet again a common issue on M54 engines.
BMW wanted £240 plus Vat for the part, which I delined and was informed by a member of e46 zone that I can get a repair kit for £60 and it solves the issue once and for all. The rattle is caused by a metal pin on the inlet side coming loose, stopping the butterfly paddle from functioning and also if the pin dropped in the engine, well it would have been game over. I got the kit, and repaired it. (I can reply with video/pics if required). Unfortunately after refitting, the noise continued, bugger! The day after, I had a battery light illuminate on my car, after checks of the charging of the battery the alternator was goosed. I had this changed and along with restoring the power, saving the battery the noise had stopped, damaged bearings in the alternator were the cause!
I love the car. It is an auto, bit odd to get used to but its a wafter. Has plenty of low down torque and it is as smooth as silk. Have a wonderful HK sound system, people have slated it but for a factory fit it seems pretty good. Very comfy despite the fairly stiff suspension but it's such a joy to drive.
I have a few bits I want to do to her cosmetically and I shall be happy;
- New front discs and pads
- Sort the sagging door trim
- Get the seat repaired
- Get the wheels refurbished
Sorry for the long speech, I get carried away. Here are a couple of photos:
I had a leggy 
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