My 2003 BMW 330ci
Discussion
Hi everyone, I've lurked here for a long time so here is my car. It's a manual 2003 BMW 330ci Sport (as I think msport is facelift and later!)
I've had it 10 years or so now including an 18 month stint of being SORN. I bought it for £3,250 in 2013 or 2014 on 80k and it's now at 125k most of which was four years of commuting on the M27.
The first half of its life with me was quite expensive trying to keep it in good (but not showroom) condition but the second half of it's life, post SORN, was... well actually that's still quite expensive trying to keep it in good condition but I am not a fresh out of university Graduate any more so I can aim a little higher as it were. I've had the wheel refurbed and the front wings replaced, thinking of putting an android head unit in it, maybe a steering wheel refurb and a probably fake replacement gearknob.
Whilst I've got used to e46 foibles like the oil consumption and the handbrake being rubbish and needing fixing fairly regularly and the constant battle with rust, it is now starting to show it's age with the rubber window seals cracking and the sills rusting a bit on the outside (I am not brave enough to take the skirts off) so it might be moved on in the next year or so (possibly replaced with a 300ZX - I don't need a commuting car at all now).
It's also got a more pressing issue of a whirring coming from the rear passenger wheel at motorway speeds. It's intermittent (more off than on) and will falter as it goes over bumps on the motorway. A bearing issue maybe?
I've had it 10 years or so now including an 18 month stint of being SORN. I bought it for £3,250 in 2013 or 2014 on 80k and it's now at 125k most of which was four years of commuting on the M27.
The first half of its life with me was quite expensive trying to keep it in good (but not showroom) condition but the second half of it's life, post SORN, was... well actually that's still quite expensive trying to keep it in good condition but I am not a fresh out of university Graduate any more so I can aim a little higher as it were. I've had the wheel refurbed and the front wings replaced, thinking of putting an android head unit in it, maybe a steering wheel refurb and a probably fake replacement gearknob.
Whilst I've got used to e46 foibles like the oil consumption and the handbrake being rubbish and needing fixing fairly regularly and the constant battle with rust, it is now starting to show it's age with the rubber window seals cracking and the sills rusting a bit on the outside (I am not brave enough to take the skirts off) so it might be moved on in the next year or so (possibly replaced with a 300ZX - I don't need a commuting car at all now).
It's also got a more pressing issue of a whirring coming from the rear passenger wheel at motorway speeds. It's intermittent (more off than on) and will falter as it goes over bumps on the motorway. A bearing issue maybe?
Lovely car, and interesting right up, ironically had mine almost as long at 9 years.
2 suggestions on the oil consumption, swap to a 5w40 from Millers if you're using castrol, give it a good thrashing on ocasion as its usually the oil control rings being gummed up. Check when the CCV was last swapped to as this clogging up tends to increase it and do the 'O2Pilot' mod by running a vaccum line from the back of the intake manifold to the CCV.
Found doing this keeps my oil consumption down to much more sensiable levels.
2 suggestions on the oil consumption, swap to a 5w40 from Millers if you're using castrol, give it a good thrashing on ocasion as its usually the oil control rings being gummed up. Check when the CCV was last swapped to as this clogging up tends to increase it and do the 'O2Pilot' mod by running a vaccum line from the back of the intake manifold to the CCV.
Found doing this keeps my oil consumption down to much more sensiable levels.
Doesn't really require an Android head unit to bring it up to date. I had an E46 last year (and loved it) and I fitted a Pioneer head unit with bluetooth, USB and AUX connectivity. It looked reasonable in the dashboard. Not quite OEM but good enough not to be offensive.
If you want sat nav get a good phone holder from brodit.co.uk and make sure your phone is well secured to the dash. I've done this in my e90 and it's perfect. I used a camera mount instead of a phone holder so it's completely solid. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/165579218283
I tried replacing the gear knob with a cheap one but it turns out BMW 'weighted' the original gear knob and that has an effect on the shifting feel. So I refurbished the leather on the original and fitted it back as it was much better.
As with any old car... rust can be a problem... but it can be fixed as well. So think about whether you really want to spend many thousands on a replacement car or would you like to keep the old one. Financially speaking it's the same difference / potentially saving money depending how much it costs to have the rust dealt with.
New cars have a lot of things about them which are horrible. It's been discussed a lot on here in various threads about having to use a touch screen to change the a/c temp for instance.
For me the sweet spot was some time during the naughties. I have three cars from that era at the moment.
If you want sat nav get a good phone holder from brodit.co.uk and make sure your phone is well secured to the dash. I've done this in my e90 and it's perfect. I used a camera mount instead of a phone holder so it's completely solid. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/165579218283
I tried replacing the gear knob with a cheap one but it turns out BMW 'weighted' the original gear knob and that has an effect on the shifting feel. So I refurbished the leather on the original and fitted it back as it was much better.
As with any old car... rust can be a problem... but it can be fixed as well. So think about whether you really want to spend many thousands on a replacement car or would you like to keep the old one. Financially speaking it's the same difference / potentially saving money depending how much it costs to have the rust dealt with.
New cars have a lot of things about them which are horrible. It's been discussed a lot on here in various threads about having to use a touch screen to change the a/c temp for instance.
For me the sweet spot was some time during the naughties. I have three cars from that era at the moment.
Edited by ingenieur on Monday 5th June 08:48
ingenieur said:
If you want sat nav get a good phone holder from brodit.co.uk and make sure your phone is well secured to the dash. I've done this in my e90 and it's perfect. I used a camera mount instead of a phone holder so it's completely solid. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/165579218283
I've got one of them, be it they came in LHD but the mount alows you to angle it any direction so makes no difference https://www.brodit.co.uk/brodit/vehicles/BMW/3%2Ds...Sf_Manta said:
ingenieur said:
If you want sat nav get a good phone holder from brodit.co.uk and make sure your phone is well secured to the dash. I've done this in my e90 and it's perfect. I used a camera mount instead of a phone holder so it's completely solid. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/165579218283
I've got one of them, be it they came in LHD but the mount alows you to angle it any direction so makes no difference https://www.brodit.co.uk/brodit/vehicles/BMW/3%2Ds...Here's mine. Obviously I had to use a different phone for the photo.
The brodit bracket is solid, clamped to the fascia rather than the vents and it is positioned perfectly for me to be able to be able to press the touch screen when I have pulled into a layby, switched off the car, locked the keys in a box and dropped the box into the ocean. I have the Android touch screen stereo which also does sat nav but it is harder to reach compared with the phone.
I'd honestly get a quote or two to deal with the rust.
Friend of mine found a place on ebay? i think that can do brand new front wings for £90 a side delivered fully painted in the correct code.
The match on his Saphire black coupe was actually spot on.
Usual place though is the rear arches and sills, but it's probably worth getting the work done as they're now begining to appricate in price given E36's have shot up.
Friend of mine found a place on ebay? i think that can do brand new front wings for £90 a side delivered fully painted in the correct code.
The match on his Saphire black coupe was actually spot on.
Usual place though is the rear arches and sills, but it's probably worth getting the work done as they're now begining to appricate in price given E36's have shot up.
ingenieur said:
Doesn't really require an Android head unit to bring it up to date. I had an E46 last year (and loved it) and I fitted a Pioneer head unit with bluetooth, USB and AUX connectivity. It looked reasonable in the dashboard. Not quite OEM but good enough not to be offensive.
I'd disagree.. Having driven i-Drive cars etc, the biggest thing the E46 lacks is that built in maps/calls/bluetooth etc. I installed an Android in mine and it just brings it bang up to date, beyond a singe din and phone holder, which was my previous setup. Hands free voice control is brilliant, and the unit is decent, built in DSP etc. An excellent upgrade. Nice E46 OP, the values of particularly a manual 330i are on the up, so worth a dig at the rust and sort. New front wings are about £100 painted off eBay.
Jhonno said:
ingenieur said:
Doesn't really require an Android head unit to bring it up to date. I had an E46 last year (and loved it) and I fitted a Pioneer head unit with bluetooth, USB and AUX connectivity. It looked reasonable in the dashboard. Not quite OEM but good enough not to be offensive.
I'd disagree.. Having driven i-Drive cars etc, the biggest thing the E46 lacks is that built in maps/calls/bluetooth etc. I installed an Android in mine and it just brings it bang up to date, beyond a singe din and phone holder, which was my previous setup. Hands free voice control is brilliant, and the unit is decent, built in DSP etc. An excellent upgrade. Nice E46 OP, the values of particularly a manual 330i are on the up, so worth a dig at the rust and sort. New front wings are about £100 painted off eBay.
Court_S said:
Jhonno said:
ingenieur said:
Doesn't really require an Android head unit to bring it up to date. I had an E46 last year (and loved it) and I fitted a Pioneer head unit with bluetooth, USB and AUX connectivity. It looked reasonable in the dashboard. Not quite OEM but good enough not to be offensive.
I'd disagree.. Having driven i-Drive cars etc, the biggest thing the E46 lacks is that built in maps/calls/bluetooth etc. I installed an Android in mine and it just brings it bang up to date, beyond a singe din and phone holder, which was my previous setup. Hands free voice control is brilliant, and the unit is decent, built in DSP etc. An excellent upgrade. Nice E46 OP, the values of particularly a manual 330i are on the up, so worth a dig at the rust and sort. New front wings are about £100 painted off eBay.
I'd be sceptical about colour matched body panels by post! Not sure how they'd really get the colour right with an old car. But depends on the panel, might not be possible to see subtle differences in tone depending where it is on the car.
That's a lovely thing. Unless I'm wrong, it's a prefacelift isn't it? Is it a 5spd?
I had a pair of 330 Sport coupes as London cars, both autos because it made more sense for sitting in traffic and I felt like the box suited the laid-back nature of car much better than the manual. Mine both had rusty front wings - I swapped out the wings on my silver car for pre-painted pattern parts, and the fit and colour match was rubbish. The silver car had rust on the rear wings that ultimately killed it, and resulted in me selling it to a Lithuanian chap who probably broke it. Values were rock bottom then, and I couldn't shift it for £1500 at 105k miles.
Really good ones seem to have shot up in value recently, and the average condition autos that I bought for £2k seem to be nonexistent. Your challenge with pondering rust fixing is obviously the mileage - you're probably limited with the future value on this basis, sadly. That said, a good E46 is a wonderful thing, and I may yet own another.
They are the sweet spot for BMW quality and tech improvements, without the tech being too complex or intrusive, and the ergonomics are absolutely perfect for me. The HK system sounded great to my luddite ears too.
If you wanted a cheap and simple solution for bluetooth, something like this would work. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/385639642522
It replaces your CD Changer input on the back of the headunit, and and gives great bluetooth streaming and handsfree. There are a few different versions available, depending on the model and age of your headunit. Worth checking before you buy. Should take 20min or so to fit, and there are loads of guides online.
I had a pair of 330 Sport coupes as London cars, both autos because it made more sense for sitting in traffic and I felt like the box suited the laid-back nature of car much better than the manual. Mine both had rusty front wings - I swapped out the wings on my silver car for pre-painted pattern parts, and the fit and colour match was rubbish. The silver car had rust on the rear wings that ultimately killed it, and resulted in me selling it to a Lithuanian chap who probably broke it. Values were rock bottom then, and I couldn't shift it for £1500 at 105k miles.
Really good ones seem to have shot up in value recently, and the average condition autos that I bought for £2k seem to be nonexistent. Your challenge with pondering rust fixing is obviously the mileage - you're probably limited with the future value on this basis, sadly. That said, a good E46 is a wonderful thing, and I may yet own another.
They are the sweet spot for BMW quality and tech improvements, without the tech being too complex or intrusive, and the ergonomics are absolutely perfect for me. The HK system sounded great to my luddite ears too.
If you wanted a cheap and simple solution for bluetooth, something like this would work. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/385639642522
It replaces your CD Changer input on the back of the headunit, and and gives great bluetooth streaming and handsfree. There are a few different versions available, depending on the model and age of your headunit. Worth checking before you buy. Should take 20min or so to fit, and there are loads of guides online.
Thanks for the comments everyone. Yes, the front wings were replaced (ebay reproductions that I got painted Orient Blue) in the last year but it's the rust on the sills as well as two new patches - one on the A-pillar and one just starting on the driver side rear wheel arch annoyingly. The paint in general is what I'd call "average for its age", the crap photo really hides it all! The colour match between the wings and door is OK to poor. Here is a better (worse) picture as the OP picture is oddly over saturated or something...
I guess a rust free 330ci manual is getting near £5k so I would probably get back the cost of dealing with the rust - is there anything preventative that can be done whilst the windscreen is out dealing with the A pillar rust?
It's the 5 speed pre-facelift
Thanks for the head unit / audio suggestions, I'm tempted to down the bluetooth aux dongle / 6CD replacement route as an unobtrusive option...
Do all of you E46 owners out there have electrical gremlins too? For instance the dipping door mirror won't come back up so I've disabled that (i.e. set the adjuster switch to that side so it doesn't dip). Also can't get the cruise control to work, does the car definitely have it if it's on the steering wheel (yes I've owned the car since 2012 - I found the early pictures when I bought it - without knowing if I am meant to have cruise control...)
I guess a rust free 330ci manual is getting near £5k so I would probably get back the cost of dealing with the rust - is there anything preventative that can be done whilst the windscreen is out dealing with the A pillar rust?
It's the 5 speed pre-facelift
Thanks for the head unit / audio suggestions, I'm tempted to down the bluetooth aux dongle / 6CD replacement route as an unobtrusive option...
Do all of you E46 owners out there have electrical gremlins too? For instance the dipping door mirror won't come back up so I've disabled that (i.e. set the adjuster switch to that side so it doesn't dip). Also can't get the cruise control to work, does the car definitely have it if it's on the steering wheel (yes I've owned the car since 2012 - I found the early pictures when I bought it - without knowing if I am meant to have cruise control...)
ingenieur said:
Court_S said:
Jhonno said:
ingenieur said:
Doesn't really require an Android head unit to bring it up to date. I had an E46 last year (and loved it) and I fitted a Pioneer head unit with bluetooth, USB and AUX connectivity. It looked reasonable in the dashboard. Not quite OEM but good enough not to be offensive.
I'd disagree.. Having driven i-Drive cars etc, the biggest thing the E46 lacks is that built in maps/calls/bluetooth etc. I installed an Android in mine and it just brings it bang up to date, beyond a singe din and phone holder, which was my previous setup. Hands free voice control is brilliant, and the unit is decent, built in DSP etc. An excellent upgrade. Nice E46 OP, the values of particularly a manual 330i are on the up, so worth a dig at the rust and sort. New front wings are about £100 painted off eBay.
I'd be sceptical about colour matched body panels by post! Not sure how they'd really get the colour right with an old car. But depends on the panel, might not be possible to see subtle differences in tone depending where it is on the car.
The wing mirror thing may mean your driver's side mirror is broken. If you're lucky it's one of the common wiring patterns and will be easy enough to replace. Alternatively just unplug the passenger mirror and it becomes manual. I spent months trying to find a replacement ribbon mirror for one of mine and about a week after I'd fitted it someone bent it back in a car park and I decided manual mirrors are fine.
I really like the E46s. I wanted one just from the looks when they first came out, so I have two E46 330Ci convertibles, which seemed like a perfectly sensible thing to do three years ago, and happily they're great cars, if a bit high maintenance at 20+ years old, which is only to be expected. I've finally got one of them tidy enough to put it up for sale so I can get on with sorting the other one.
I really like the E46s. I wanted one just from the looks when they first came out, so I have two E46 330Ci convertibles, which seemed like a perfectly sensible thing to do three years ago, and happily they're great cars, if a bit high maintenance at 20+ years old, which is only to be expected. I've finally got one of them tidy enough to put it up for sale so I can get on with sorting the other one.
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