Another E46...
Discussion
Appreciate there are plenty of E46's and even 330Ci's already with threads, I've never done one and I think it would be quite nice to document what I hope will become a long termer & project car.
Decided I wanted to free up some cash so despite loving my F31 330d it's gone and been replaced with a privately bought pre-LCI 330Ci Sport. 110k on the clock, dealer history to 95k, PO seemed an enthusiast and has done cooling system overhaul among other bits and bobs. Car is cosmetically very clean, some very minor bubbling on both offside arches. Drives wellish but does need a bit of tinkering. I paid quite a bit more than g3org3y so it's made me sad seeing his thread haha but equally there are people asking silly money for these cars. Time will tell.
Some good bits:
- Nearly new PS4s all round on 17" Style 68s (I actually prefer these to MV1s and happy with the additional sidewall)
- Some kind of braking upgrade - disks look huge on the rear and drilled all round, stops very well with good pedal feel (a weak point on the F31 I always felt)
- Interior in good nick with the exception of some scratching on the centre console. I have the original Business headunit but the unattractive Pioneer fitted is very practical as it has BT audio and handsfree which works well.
- HK audio, as we know not exactly reference quality but a good upgrade over std
- Xenons
Immediate issues to resolve, in rough order of importance:
- Steering has a vagueness or play in the first bit of movement. Suspect wishbones.
- Gear selector linkage is worn, came with replacement parts.
- Aftermarket straight pipe which is just too loud
- Slight issue on one headlamp, seems to cut out very intermittently, toggling the switch fixes it (ballast pack?)
- AC doesn't blow cold and blower motor pulses
Assuming it turns out to be solid overall, would like to consider the following:
- Back to stock exhaust with active flap, may consider resonator delete and cold air induction kit for sound quality over quantity
- CDV delete
- Apparently there's a throttle mapping change which can be made to give better response (any info?)
- I prefer pre-facelift looks but 6spd would be nice - seems it's possible to drop the later 'box in, may investigate if/when the clutch expires (does anyone have gearbox & final drive ratios for these cars? I have some but they are US - guess there wouldn't be any difference? Mostly thinking diff may be different if anything. Cor an LSD would be nice!)
- We shall see longer term - part of me quite likes the idea of tracking this but given the overall condition & originality (exhaust notwithstanding) I'm slightly in 2 minds
One slight spanner in the works is that last night I noticed the inside of the tailpipe is oily. I haven't noticed any smoke or smell and when I viewed the car I didn't get oil spots on my hand when the PO revved it (hot and cold) so not sure what's going on here or what I have missed. Hopefully the CCV is to blame... Thoughts/advice please!
Car is booked into Technosport next week for a service, wishbones and second opinion on overall mechanical condition. I will do bits and bobs myself but wanted to start with it going to someone I trust for a once over. Plus it preserves the history as the OBC is requesting a service
Decided I wanted to free up some cash so despite loving my F31 330d it's gone and been replaced with a privately bought pre-LCI 330Ci Sport. 110k on the clock, dealer history to 95k, PO seemed an enthusiast and has done cooling system overhaul among other bits and bobs. Car is cosmetically very clean, some very minor bubbling on both offside arches. Drives wellish but does need a bit of tinkering. I paid quite a bit more than g3org3y so it's made me sad seeing his thread haha but equally there are people asking silly money for these cars. Time will tell.
Some good bits:
- Nearly new PS4s all round on 17" Style 68s (I actually prefer these to MV1s and happy with the additional sidewall)
- Some kind of braking upgrade - disks look huge on the rear and drilled all round, stops very well with good pedal feel (a weak point on the F31 I always felt)
- Interior in good nick with the exception of some scratching on the centre console. I have the original Business headunit but the unattractive Pioneer fitted is very practical as it has BT audio and handsfree which works well.
- HK audio, as we know not exactly reference quality but a good upgrade over std
- Xenons
Immediate issues to resolve, in rough order of importance:
- Steering has a vagueness or play in the first bit of movement. Suspect wishbones.
- Gear selector linkage is worn, came with replacement parts.
- Aftermarket straight pipe which is just too loud
- Slight issue on one headlamp, seems to cut out very intermittently, toggling the switch fixes it (ballast pack?)
- AC doesn't blow cold and blower motor pulses
Assuming it turns out to be solid overall, would like to consider the following:
- Back to stock exhaust with active flap, may consider resonator delete and cold air induction kit for sound quality over quantity
- CDV delete
- Apparently there's a throttle mapping change which can be made to give better response (any info?)
- I prefer pre-facelift looks but 6spd would be nice - seems it's possible to drop the later 'box in, may investigate if/when the clutch expires (does anyone have gearbox & final drive ratios for these cars? I have some but they are US - guess there wouldn't be any difference? Mostly thinking diff may be different if anything. Cor an LSD would be nice!)
- We shall see longer term - part of me quite likes the idea of tracking this but given the overall condition & originality (exhaust notwithstanding) I'm slightly in 2 minds
One slight spanner in the works is that last night I noticed the inside of the tailpipe is oily. I haven't noticed any smoke or smell and when I viewed the car I didn't get oil spots on my hand when the PO revved it (hot and cold) so not sure what's going on here or what I have missed. Hopefully the CCV is to blame... Thoughts/advice please!
Car is booked into Technosport next week for a service, wishbones and second opinion on overall mechanical condition. I will do bits and bobs myself but wanted to start with it going to someone I trust for a once over. Plus it preserves the history as the OBC is requesting a service
Quite envious....!
Having owned 2 E36s: a family owned 1997 328 convertible auto that I drove to Switzerland,
followed by a 1998 318iS that I did several track days with and a trip to the Monaco Historic Weekend..
Really like your car, it seems to have all the right toys.
Just a thought... I seem to recall that the E46 coupes were prone to cracking where the rear subframe mountings are?
I think that this is more an M3 issue but it may be worth inspection.
I am sure that there are others on here that would know more about it.
Looking forward to your journey with your 'new' car.
Having owned 2 E36s: a family owned 1997 328 convertible auto that I drove to Switzerland,
followed by a 1998 318iS that I did several track days with and a trip to the Monaco Historic Weekend..
Really like your car, it seems to have all the right toys.
Just a thought... I seem to recall that the E46 coupes were prone to cracking where the rear subframe mountings are?
I think that this is more an M3 issue but it may be worth inspection.
I am sure that there are others on here that would know more about it.
Looking forward to your journey with your 'new' car.
Congrats bwk. Looks like a nice example. 
Yours looks quite a step up from mine to be fair. Mine was on 150k or so and gave me problems on the drive home from buying it!. Yours has much better spec, is sitting on PS4s (not Arrowspeed tyres), HK audio, xenons and from the photos looks like heated (sports) seats.
Get that rust attended to sooner rather than later. That's the thing that kills E46s (and E36s) rather than mechanical stuff.
bwk said:
Appreciate there are plenty of E46's and even 330Ci's already with threads, I've never done one and I think it would be quite nice to document what I hope will become a long termer & project car.
Decided I wanted to free up some cash so despite loving my F31 330d it's gone and been replaced with a privately bought pre-LCI 330Ci Sport. 110k on the clock, dealer history to 95k, PO seemed an enthusiast and has done cooling system overhaul among other bits and bobs. Car is cosmetically very clean, some very minor bubbling on both offside arches. Drives wellish but does need a bit of tinkering. I paid quite a bit more than g3org3y so it's made me sad seeing his thread haha but equally there are people asking silly money for these cars. Time will tell.
Can never have too many E46 330s on the forum. Decided I wanted to free up some cash so despite loving my F31 330d it's gone and been replaced with a privately bought pre-LCI 330Ci Sport. 110k on the clock, dealer history to 95k, PO seemed an enthusiast and has done cooling system overhaul among other bits and bobs. Car is cosmetically very clean, some very minor bubbling on both offside arches. Drives wellish but does need a bit of tinkering. I paid quite a bit more than g3org3y so it's made me sad seeing his thread haha but equally there are people asking silly money for these cars. Time will tell.
Yours looks quite a step up from mine to be fair. Mine was on 150k or so and gave me problems on the drive home from buying it!. Yours has much better spec, is sitting on PS4s (not Arrowspeed tyres), HK audio, xenons and from the photos looks like heated (sports) seats.
Get that rust attended to sooner rather than later. That's the thing that kills E46s (and E36s) rather than mechanical stuff.
Paul S4 said:
Quite envious....!
Having owned 2 E36s: a family owned 1997 328 convertible auto that I drove to Switzerland,
followed by a 1998 318iS that I did several track days with and a trip to the Monaco Historic Weekend..
Really like your car, it seems to have all the right toys.
Just a thought... I seem to recall that the E46 coupes were prone to cracking where the rear subframe mountings are?
I think that this is more an M3 issue but it may be worth inspection.
I am sure that there are others on here that would know more about it.
Looking forward to your journey with your 'new' car.
Thanks for the positive comments! Lovely pics, particularly like the Alpine 328! Do like an E36. Chucking my 3er pics below for fun, all pretty cool cars in their own way.Having owned 2 E36s: a family owned 1997 328 convertible auto that I drove to Switzerland,
followed by a 1998 318iS that I did several track days with and a trip to the Monaco Historic Weekend..
Really like your car, it seems to have all the right toys.
Just a thought... I seem to recall that the E46 coupes were prone to cracking where the rear subframe mountings are?
I think that this is more an M3 issue but it may be worth inspection.
I am sure that there are others on here that would know more about it.
Looking forward to your journey with your 'new' car.
Yeah subframe mounts are problematic on all the "high-powered" E46s I think. Can't hear it as far as I can tell so I guess whenever the rear suspension needs doing I'll get it reinforced?
F31 330xd (what a weapon of a car, will be missed for it's capability but ultimately a tool rather than something to love. Pic for the dirty cars thread
)
E91 325d (Probably my favourite thus far but I've only had the coupe a few days...)
E46 330Cic LCI (Not a good used purchase and felt too flexible for my liking, didn't last long. Still giving me problems as for some reason the image won't rotate - I give up!!)
|https://thumbsnap.com/3XxJxW4w[/url]E46 330d LCI (My first BMW, loved it - great spec and lovely cream interior)
[url][url]helix402 said:
Good choice. 68s are much better than MV1s. 6 speed swop needs different prop, gear linkage, diff, clutch, flywheel. (Got one ready to go into my 330d).
They're lovely aren't they! Followed and was impressed by your Touring thread when you first got it, will get back up to speed! g3org3y said:
Can never have too many E46 330s on the forum.
Yours looks quite a step up from mine to be fair. Mine was on 150k or so and gave me problems on the drive home from buying it!. Yours has much better spec, is sitting on PS4s (not Arrowspeed tyres), HK audio, xenons and from the photos looks like heated (sports) seats.
Get that rust attended to sooner rather than later. That's the thing that kills E46s (and E36s) rather than mechanical stuff.
We shall see - I think relative value will be determined once we find the cause of the oil in the exhaust! Yes I was thinking I should get the rear o/s bit sorted soonest, it's tiny atm on the surface at least. Neither incidence has broken the paint yet just bubbling. Will probably leave the wing until it annoys me cosmetically. Yours looks quite a step up from mine to be fair. Mine was on 150k or so and gave me problems on the drive home from buying it!. Yours has much better spec, is sitting on PS4s (not Arrowspeed tyres), HK audio, xenons and from the photos looks like heated (sports) seats.
Get that rust attended to sooner rather than later. That's the thing that kills E46s (and E36s) rather than mechanical stuff.
Any tips for bodyshops near London that will do a decent job on the rear are welcome, I gather it's more involved than is obvious due to the double skin.
bwk said:
g3org3y said:
Can never have too many E46 330s on the forum.
Yours looks quite a step up from mine to be fair. Mine was on 150k or so and gave me problems on the drive home from buying it!. Yours has much better spec, is sitting on PS4s (not Arrowspeed tyres), HK audio, xenons and from the photos looks like heated (sports) seats.
Get that rust attended to sooner rather than later. That's the thing that kills E46s (and E36s) rather than mechanical stuff.
We shall see - I think relative value will be determined once we find the cause of the oil in the exhaust! Yes I was thinking I should get the rear o/s bit sorted soonest, it's tiny atm on the surface at least. Neither incidence has broken the paint yet just bubbling. Will probably leave the wing until it annoys me cosmetically. Yours looks quite a step up from mine to be fair. Mine was on 150k or so and gave me problems on the drive home from buying it!. Yours has much better spec, is sitting on PS4s (not Arrowspeed tyres), HK audio, xenons and from the photos looks like heated (sports) seats.
Get that rust attended to sooner rather than later. That's the thing that kills E46s (and E36s) rather than mechanical stuff.
Any tips for bodyshops near London that will do a decent job on the rear are welcome, I gather it's more involved than is obvious due to the double skin.
Sf_Manta said:
I had mine restored by LA Paintworks, https://www.lapaintworks.co.uk/ Lee is very very good, and has / had a good crew behind him. I don't know if he's still in business given the current Covid19 crisis, but he did a stunning job on my car 2 years ago.
Thanks Manta, website looks good will give him a call in a couple of weeks. Had a bit of a faff this morning and managed to break something so that's good. (Main beam lamp connector whilst swapping to isolate bulb/ballast/ignitor issue with Xenons :doh: )
Inside the exhaust was not oily this morning which seems odd, I wouldn't have expected it to stop being sticky but it has. Oil level still at the high mark so whatever is causing the problem doesn't seem to be completely drinking the stuff yet. Coolant and cap look OK. Did have a little bit of suction removing the cap with engine running and a noticeable difference to the idle with it off so I suspect the CCV needs a refresh. Just deciding whether to DIY or have George sort it while it's in next week. Hopefully this will sort it. Fingered the tailpipe again after it came up to water temp and did have what seems like oil residue
Taking it out later so hopefully won't have a hydrolock issue on the A21!Anyone have any knowledge of error code 000043? Carly's description is "Car alarm: interior protection back / Window engine rear passenger blocked or mechanics stiff." Google not proving very helpful. May just have a look at the coding options to deactivate the sensor if that's the issue, the alarms on these are w
k from memory anyway. StuntmanMike said:
The rear windows won’t self shut and arnt one touch closing them, it’s not that it isn’t shut properly is it?
Owned a 330ci for ten years and the alarm was the one thing that didn’t go spazy on it.
Wow. That post was so badly wrote I’m not even going to edit it.Owned a 330ci for ten years and the alarm was the one thing that didn’t go spazy on it.
I will just marvel at its glory.
StuntmanMike said:
StuntmanMike said:
The rear windows won’t self shut and arnt one touch closing them, it’s not that it isn’t shut properly is it?
Owned a 330ci for ten years and the alarm was the one thing that didn’t go spazy on it.
Wow. That post was so badly wrote I’m not even going to edit it.Owned a 330ci for ten years and the alarm was the one thing that didn’t go spazy on it.
I will just marvel at its glory.
Could be that actually - I did notice that when I used comfort close to shut the front windows the quarterlight moved too - hadn't realised that would chuck a code. Will clear and rescan later, thanks for the tip
You mean to say you didn't have a bonnet sensor go bad? That one made my neighbours happy for a few days until I worked it out.
Had a trip to Luton this evening to pick this standard exhaust up for £40. Planning to open up the resonator and see if it’s possible to straight pipe it internally. So it will hopefully look like stock on the ramp but have a bit more growl. I’d like it to be refined but excitable when pushing on.
The current setup is standard to the resonator then straight piped to the tailpipes as 2-1-2. I haven’t checked If there’s a cat. It’s just too loud and boomy around town, although delicious on the right road.
The current setup is standard to the resonator then straight piped to the tailpipes as 2-1-2. I haven’t checked If there’s a cat. It’s just too loud and boomy around town, although delicious on the right road.
Thanks for posting OP - I'm always up for another BMW thread after 15 years of BMWs!
Your car looks great too, with very little wear on the driver's seat bolster on your M-Sport seats! I've always thought the E46 was the best looking 3 Series, just a shame that they seem to like to rust.
I hope you can get your apparent oil issue sorted fairly simply.
Your car looks great too, with very little wear on the driver's seat bolster on your M-Sport seats! I've always thought the E46 was the best looking 3 Series, just a shame that they seem to like to rust.
I hope you can get your apparent oil issue sorted fairly simply.
Edited by Mr Tidy on Wednesday 24th June 00:13
StuntmanMike said:
The rear windows won’t self shut and arnt one touch closing them, it’s not that it isn’t shut properly is it?
Owned a 330ci for ten years and the alarm was the one thing that didn’t go spazy on it.
This worked Owned a 330ci for ten years and the alarm was the one thing that didn’t go spazy on it.
Few more updates today. Been through the history properly now and looks like a couple of big ticket/common issues have been addressed fairly recently. I knew the PO had replaced most of the cooling system last year but it seems he also replaced the intake hoses (which commonly split) and the PPO the CCV system in 2018. DISA valve also looks to have been swapped in 2018. Happy days. No evidence of VANOS having attention though so I've been researching rebuild kits as I guess that's a sensible thing to look at doing soonish.
So I'm still mystifyed by the oil that was in the exhaust tailpipe. Has been clear ever since :dunno:
Speaking of exhausts, off to pick up a stock system to swap out the straight pipe which is just ASBO central. Going to have a go at the throttle position reset as it feels a bit laggy to me. If this doesn't help will unplug the MAF else see note on VANOS above. Also ordered a new gear knob as the old one is tatty and a cupholder for the centre console as the phone cradle isn't much use to me...
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