E46 330D sensibly daily thread
Discussion
First proper post on here really guys, gonna be using it to document my 330d 204bhp 6 speed (was auto) in silbergrau metallic.
Being an E46 breaker, I see a lot of these cars and naturally I wanted a nice example. This popped up on the usual market place shady add with high miles (212k) but vgc and clearly largely looked after. I took the plunge.
Naturally upon collection in February, the snow started falling as soon as I handed the wedge over.
Managed to get back after the m6 went Pete Tong some time later.
Naturally it had a few niggles but nothing that put me off too much. A questionable map, cats, egr and general car largely un-tampered with. Something I don’t see all too often.
Few weeks of a spirited 24 year old behind the wheel and a lot of miles and the box started going. I believe it was already on its second so naturally I banged a GS53-6DZ in.
Also done at this time was e60 530 clutch, a good cond used dual mass from one of my many breakers, engine out and gaskets done and general clean up.
As per usual nothings quite straightforward with cars and after many weeks of head scratching and a few mates who are good with dealer software it turns out the ecu and ews had come out of alignment.
Big engine clean on
Engine back installed.
Manual made all the difference, it was a bit of a pain in the arse getting everything working but once you've done one, it all makes Sense, oh and routing the clutch line without pulling the dash is maximum fun I can tell you that…
Will do another post with what came next.
Also just realised this should be in readers cars, if one of the mods could move this that would be loverly. Cheers.
Being an E46 breaker, I see a lot of these cars and naturally I wanted a nice example. This popped up on the usual market place shady add with high miles (212k) but vgc and clearly largely looked after. I took the plunge.
Naturally upon collection in February, the snow started falling as soon as I handed the wedge over.
Managed to get back after the m6 went Pete Tong some time later.
Naturally it had a few niggles but nothing that put me off too much. A questionable map, cats, egr and general car largely un-tampered with. Something I don’t see all too often.
Few weeks of a spirited 24 year old behind the wheel and a lot of miles and the box started going. I believe it was already on its second so naturally I banged a GS53-6DZ in.
Also done at this time was e60 530 clutch, a good cond used dual mass from one of my many breakers, engine out and gaskets done and general clean up.
As per usual nothings quite straightforward with cars and after many weeks of head scratching and a few mates who are good with dealer software it turns out the ecu and ews had come out of alignment.
Big engine clean on
Engine back installed.
Manual made all the difference, it was a bit of a pain in the arse getting everything working but once you've done one, it all makes Sense, oh and routing the clutch line without pulling the dash is maximum fun I can tell you that…
Will do another post with what came next.
Also just realised this should be in readers cars, if one of the mods could move this that would be loverly. Cheers.
Edited by Santacruzjack on Tuesday 24th August 23:51
Following with interest.
You said you see a lot of these so maybe you’re qualified to answer - I’ve been fancying one for ages but really not if it’s going to need something replaced every couple of weeks. Spending £100 here and there and having to hunt for parts from breakers and take the time to fit them (or arrange a mechanic if I can’t be arsed) is really dragging on me these days. Let alone if it is several hundred quid a time.
Is it possible to get one that will hang together or are they all pretty tired at this age?
Is it worth spending more on one or is that just kidding yourself and falling for a good advert?
You said you see a lot of these so maybe you’re qualified to answer - I’ve been fancying one for ages but really not if it’s going to need something replaced every couple of weeks. Spending £100 here and there and having to hunt for parts from breakers and take the time to fit them (or arrange a mechanic if I can’t be arsed) is really dragging on me these days. Let alone if it is several hundred quid a time.
Is it possible to get one that will hang together or are they all pretty tired at this age?
Is it worth spending more on one or is that just kidding yourself and falling for a good advert?
helix402 said:
Look forward to the updates. I did a manual swop on one, the key to the clutch pipe is to bend it a bit to get it to fit, then re bend to correct shape in situ. You can also buy a flexi pipe to replace the hard line.
I found that out! Still took a bit and cut the carpet back under dash where not visible. Once I get a proper clutch I reckon I’m gonna go for a hel line! Even months on I really need to get it coded, running a manual map now though but still gets confused and occasionally raises revs 500 between gears.
Venturist said:
Following with interest.
You said you see a lot of these so maybe you’re qualified to answer - I’ve been fancying one for ages but really not if it’s going to need something replaced every couple of weeks. Spending £100 here and there and having to hunt for parts from breakers and take the time to fit them (or arrange a mechanic if I can’t be arsed) is really dragging on me these days. Let alone if it is several hundred quid a time.
Is it possible to get one that will hang together or are they all pretty tired at this age?
Is it worth spending more on one or is that just kidding yourself and falling for a good advert?
To be fully honest, I do see good ones but generally I aren’t looking for mint examples or cars without fault- though they do come my way occasionally. What I would say is I’d way rather have a well maintained, high miler than a poorly maintained low miler. Broke some M57N cars on 100k clearly owned by people who hadn’t cared for it and they’ve had all sorts of issues. I’ve also broke them on 300k where everything’s faultless. You said you see a lot of these so maybe you’re qualified to answer - I’ve been fancying one for ages but really not if it’s going to need something replaced every couple of weeks. Spending £100 here and there and having to hunt for parts from breakers and take the time to fit them (or arrange a mechanic if I can’t be arsed) is really dragging on me these days. Let alone if it is several hundred quid a time.
Is it possible to get one that will hang together or are they all pretty tired at this age?
Is it worth spending more on one or is that just kidding yourself and falling for a good advert?
Often I get people wanting parts and constantly getting frustrated why they have to spend money to keep them running, it’s in the name really innit being a 3l 20 year old Bmw diesel ya know
This is not to say don’t go for one though, I literally don’t want any other car at this point being fully honest.
So after doing 4-5k I decided E90 330D Turbo setup was what I was going to do for the next phase of this daily, turned build.
Also obtained am exact twin of mine
Also the biggest dirtiest intercooler from FMIC measuring 600x300x100. £160 shipped to my door, it offered far more than any of the others and heard nothing but good things from these guys.
I’d been running an airtec one which came in on a breaker but it wasn’t up to the job and managed to sell it for more than this one came in at.
My turbo went over to midlands turbo for a full hybrid setup, should be good for 350 they told me.
The turbo is a drop in replacement but you have to remove the aircon components, which I was planning to do anyway. Compressor never worked!
Direnza alloy rad mounted up also, silicone and hard pipes where I can.
The rad required the original plastic mounts to be chopped up a bit, also a plate to be tigged into the bottom as for some reason despite saying it’s manual only, it seems it’s in actual fact auto only.
My good friend welded me up a neat 3 inch v band type system going to 2.5 behind the box.
Will grab some pics of this while on the ramp.
We also had to make oil feeds and drains in order to make things all work together.
I waited 6 weeks for a map, only to fall at the last hurdle about 4am the night/ morning before. So then followed a further 2 months wait only to get to the point above about 3 days before.
Luckily managed to pull it off!
Of course, the only man for the job was Glen and GKR tuning.
Naturally, with my car starting life as an auto, it’s now got a electric actuated turbo on it, he did the swap over and got everything talking. Installed a base map on it and it made 230bhp straight out the gate.
Not bad for a wagon now on 216k!
After a few hours of wizardry and a couple of test drives, we made 303bhp and 675nm! Seriously not messin around now at that!
Not as much as I wanted but man, the drive home made for some major grins!
helix402 said:
Good result. I had a modified one that despite a new DMF and 530d clutch couldn’t cope with over 600Nm of torque. (DMF vibrated)
Haha! Same story, plan is to go ttv racing setup once this leaves me somewhere! Will do another post when I get chance of what I’m up to now.
Full back end refresh, powerflex, lsd…. Money pit begins.
Any coilover recommendations?
I’m thinking bc.
Santacruzjack said:
Haha! Same story, plan is to go ttv racing setup once this leaves me somewhere!
Will do another post when I get chance of what I’m up to now.
Full back end refresh, powerflex, lsd…. Money pit begins.
Any coilover recommendations?
I’m thinking bc.
I’ve never used coil overs, my old 330d threads list what I did to the suspension. I found B6/8 dampers worked well with Eibach or H and R springs. M3 Conv 27mm front arb and a 19 or 20mm rear bar.Will do another post when I get chance of what I’m up to now.
Full back end refresh, powerflex, lsd…. Money pit begins.
Any coilover recommendations?
I’m thinking bc.
helix402 said:
I’ve never used coil overs, my old 330d threads list what I did to the suspension. I found B6/8 dampers worked well with Eibach or H and R springs. M3 Conv 27mm front arb and a 19 or 20mm rear bar.
Definitely keep hearing about them! Not interested in going lower than it is to be honest but just getting a better ride. Definitely wanting to go the ring and a few other tracks ideally down the line so that’s going to have a bearing on it. I’ve got some eibach bars to stick on eventually.
So things have really been getting out of hand, as I say I see a lot of these but never really gone to this length with one. As I say, I’m fully self taught and 18 months ago I didn’t know how to hold a ratchet. Just got a lot of mates in industry.
Some of the pile of stuff for next phase
Tasteful 184 in for breaking….
Bushing burner!
Naturally these were shagged, like everything else.
Got a full back end out of stock to build up.
Bagged a ZF 008 LSD with 45/15%
Need to swap ratio and we’re in! Can’t wait to try this. Gonna be a while though.
Caliper built, looking so much better.
Started tearing the back end out, and things are getting worse
My job is seriously Filthy at best of times but this takes the biscuit
Gonna have to do some cutting. Ran through every scenario. Get a shell, fix, etc etc many times but think I’m gonna stick with it. Better the devil you know, most of the rot I’ve found has been hidden by the seam sealer. Often see the same issues even on lower mile cars. I’d be kicking myself if I bought a 316 tourer with 65k on and it was the same. Better just doing the graft surely?
Mine had some pretty scabby bits, thankfully only one area needed sorting when i had the underside of mine refreshed. Now waiting for the engine build to conclude and running in / mapping can commence.
Looking good so far, and with the right bits, they handle well. I like the idea with the differential, where'd that come out of?
Looking good so far, and with the right bits, they handle well. I like the idea with the differential, where'd that come out of?
helix402 said:
Good work. B6/8s give a better ride quality at the front as they have internal bump stops.
I did similar rust repairs to my old 330d. Your pics remind me that while I am often fed up with my 335d (currently made itself a single turbo), at least it’s not rusty!
Mega. Will check them out 100%. With all this gonna be a little while I think though. I did similar rust repairs to my old 330d. Your pics remind me that while I am often fed up with my 335d (currently made itself a single turbo), at least it’s not rusty!
Haha, what’s it done? Not good! To be honest the 330 is all I want, going to look at an e30 but genuinely wouldn’t want owt else to be fair.
Saga continues.
Any rust treatment recommendations? And new seam sealer?
Gonna seam weld everything while here, been told a blow touch over seams is a good idea to burn the remainder out. Any other tips? All a big leaning process!
Thanks a lot!
Santacruzjack said:
Mega. Will check them out 100%. With all this gonna be a little while I think though.
Haha, what’s it done? Not good! To be honest the 330 is all I want, going to look at an e30 but genuinely wouldn’t want owt else to be fair.
Saga continues.
Any rust treatment recommendations? And new seam sealer?
Gonna seam weld everything while here, been told a blow touch over seams is a good idea to burn the remainder out. Any other tips? All a big leaning process!
Thanks a lot!
Would suggest get some Etch primer on it first, seam seal where needed afterwards. then a lick of paint, 3M stone chip or Raptor paint I've heard good things from. I had mine coated with Mercasol underseal out back and the front wing insides were treeated with Raptor bed paintHaha, what’s it done? Not good! To be honest the 330 is all I want, going to look at an e30 but genuinely wouldn’t want owt else to be fair.
Saga continues.
Any rust treatment recommendations? And new seam sealer?
Gonna seam weld everything while here, been told a blow touch over seams is a good idea to burn the remainder out. Any other tips? All a big leaning process!
Thanks a lot!
https://www.raptorcoatings.com/uk/en-uk/home
https://www.amazon.co.uk/3M-Underbody-Coating-Pain...
https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Mercasol-3-Aerosol-600m...
Only issue is finding a supplier.. given it's in Germany...
Sf_Manta said:
Mine had some pretty scabby bits, thankfully only one area needed sorting when i had the underside of mine refreshed. Now waiting for the engine build to conclude and running in / mapping can commence.
Looking good so far, and with the right bits, they handle well. I like the idea with the differential, where'd that come out of?
Ace! What power you hoping for? Looking good so far, and with the right bits, they handle well. I like the idea with the differential, where'd that come out of?
Sorry missed this message. I believe a newer m car, built by a guy called Dino Gomez I think.
Cheers for the recommendations. I’ll likely go that route.
Found a few more holes. Getting a bit scared now to be honest.
Santacruzjack said:
Sf_Manta said:
Mine had some pretty scabby bits, thankfully only one area needed sorting when i had the underside of mine refreshed. Now waiting for the engine build to conclude and running in / mapping can commence.
Looking good so far, and with the right bits, they handle well. I like the idea with the differential, where'd that come out of?
Ace! What power you hoping for? Looking good so far, and with the right bits, they handle well. I like the idea with the differential, where'd that come out of?
Sorry missed this message. I believe a newer m car, built by a guy called Dino Gomez I think.
Cheers for the recommendations. I’ll likely go that route.
Found a few more holes. Getting a bit scared now to be honest.
Power wise, hoping around 265-280bhp.. we will know in a few weeks -, full project thread here: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&... if you have an hour to burn
Santacruzjack said:
Mega. Will check them out 100%. With all this gonna be a little while I think though.
Haha, what’s it done? Not good! To be honest the 330 is all I want, going to look at an e30 but genuinely wouldn’t want owt else to be fair.
Saga continues.
Any rust treatment recommendations? And new seam sealer?
Gonna seam weld everything while here, been told a blow touch over seams is a good idea to burn the remainder out. Any other tips? All a big leaning process!
Thanks a lot!
I tend to use Wurth products as that’s we used when I worked at a main dealer many years ago. If you want some inspiration my old silver 330d thread has an underside and arch repair documented. Re 335d power loss I think it’s an electronic/vacuum problem and will update thread when all the parts to hopefully fix it arrive.Haha, what’s it done? Not good! To be honest the 330 is all I want, going to look at an e30 but genuinely wouldn’t want owt else to be fair.
Saga continues.
Any rust treatment recommendations? And new seam sealer?
Gonna seam weld everything while here, been told a blow touch over seams is a good idea to burn the remainder out. Any other tips? All a big leaning process!
Thanks a lot!
Cheers dude. Delayed reply as business very busy at moment.
Big chop out
New back in, mostly done, just gotta get some more product before sealing it up.
Started cutting drivers side out, much worse… still scouting about for a shell.
Started prodding again and found this, major demotivating. Is it worth it? It’ll never be right etc etc etc, trouble is finding a touring that isn’t totally shot, or s
t. Not so easy.
So while I either find a shell or fix this properly I’ve bought a new daily for my currently other daily….
160k, gkr map, straight through etc.
Fast Car, very surprised how good it handles on big side walls and square 17s.
Anyways, ten days In I’m driving it with some confidence again. I do some miles getting, viewing cars, delivering parts etc.
Hang on a min….
So tore the bugger… ordered cheap polybushings this time, plate kit for the others going on, always the same innit!
Couldn’t have come at a worse time! Anyways, good practice I suppose.
Also it’s starting to appear like I have a boot floor repair section at work 🤣
Trying to keep my chin up….
Big chop out
New back in, mostly done, just gotta get some more product before sealing it up.
Started cutting drivers side out, much worse… still scouting about for a shell.
Started prodding again and found this, major demotivating. Is it worth it? It’ll never be right etc etc etc, trouble is finding a touring that isn’t totally shot, or s
t. Not so easy. So while I either find a shell or fix this properly I’ve bought a new daily for my currently other daily….
160k, gkr map, straight through etc.
Fast Car, very surprised how good it handles on big side walls and square 17s.
Anyways, ten days In I’m driving it with some confidence again. I do some miles getting, viewing cars, delivering parts etc.
Hang on a min….
So tore the bugger… ordered cheap polybushings this time, plate kit for the others going on, always the same innit!
Couldn’t have come at a worse time! Anyways, good practice I suppose.
Also it’s starting to appear like I have a boot floor repair section at work 🤣
Trying to keep my chin up….
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