E46 330i Auto Sport Touring Daily

[pnd]

Interesting i find them too heavy and just less fun than an e30 the one i have rolled like hell till i put uprated bars on it which has improved things also i find the steering a bit too sharp at times.

[capri_rob]

The steering is super-sharp but I like it like that - a welcome change from the last few FWD turds I've had.

I dont drive it that hard to be honest - its perfect for what I need it for

[capri_rob]

Why the fook can't BMW make cars that don't collect mud behind the splashguards ?

5 Hours this afternoon with the fooker on axle stands and the jetwash on the go

Thankfully no corrosion at all - they seemed to have learned a thing or two about rust prevention since the E30 but there was about 1kg of compacted mud at the bottom of each inner wing behind the splashguard

Used the last of my waxoyl on it - also had the rear quarter paintwork re-done last week

Loving having such a posh motor as a daily - if I lose my job though it will have to go though - averaging 23mpg on the 11 miles a day I do

[e301988325i]

Morat and I have 330i tourings on LPG and ours are doing 22mpg on gas, got to be worth converting if you're investing in paintwork.

[Dan320is]

I'm now seriously having to look at these, how is the auto box?

[lyricalnut02]

very nice looking chariot

[DanThe]

For 11 miles a day I say its not even worth converting to LPG, if its any consolation Rob ive been using my chromie for work/home and a bit of running about lately, filled up this morning 20mpg
I do kick its f00k1ng head in though so its not that bad.
Ive not even seen this motor yet you going to be at santa pod?

[capri_rob]

Morat and I have 330i tourings on LPG and ours are doing 22mpg on gas, got to be worth converting if you're investing in paintwork.

The longest I have ever kept a daily is 2 Years - I've done the maths and with the likely cost of a proper conversion I wouldnt get the cost back in that time with the mileage I'm doing.

I'm now seriously having to look at these, how is the auto box?

Autobox is lovely - first one I've had and as most of what I do is round town its perfect. I have no doubt a manual one would be slightly quicker on flat-out accelleration but its plenty quick enough

For 11 miles a day I say its not even worth converting to LPG, if its any consolation Rob ive been using my chromie for work/home and a bit of running about lately, filled up this morning 20mpg
I do kick its f00k1ng head in though so its not that bad.
Ive not even seen this motor yet you going to be at santa pod?

Yes Dan - E30 is SORN'd now until the spring so I'll be at the Pod in it

[e301988325i]

Morat and I have 330i tourings on LPG and ours are doing 22mpg on gas, got to be worth converting if you're investing in paintwork.

The longest I have ever kept a daily is 2 Years - I've done the maths and with the likely cost of a proper conversion I wouldnt get the cost back in that time with the mileage I'm doing.

If you know you're only going to keep it for two years then it's not worth it, we intend to keep ours for 5years, although our mileage has dropped since we bought so break even is going backwards time wise. I thought given the ammount of work you're putting in youd be keeping it for longer. I think Miles paid £1600 for his conversion, and you'd realistically save 14p/mile.

The real point for us, is our holiday down to cornwall only cost us £60ish instead of £120ish in fuel so it makes going out that much cheaper when we've already paid out for the conversion.

Last week I replaced the nearside front caliper which was sticking, but only once driving, going to do the offside front as a preventative, ours has done 116k. This place on ebay was the cheapest by some way, with no hassle of service exchange. I think the MPG should go up now!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/330778930999? ... 1497.l2649

[capri_rob]

Thanks for the heads up - first time I've had the wheels off it Yesterday - the brakes are huge

The paintwork was just a blow over on one panel and wasnt expensive.

Not much to do now - going to change the stat and coolant before the winter as it takes a little longer to warm up than it should, I'm going to get the wheels refurbed and buy a boot liner and thats about it

[e301988325i]

just a warning, ours needed doing when we got it. the electronic thermostat is dealer only & around £85

[capri_rob]

I have it on good authority from Matt at ECP that he can get one for about £65 OEM quality

[Duke137]

Rob summer just got going, I was looking forward to seeing your car at Pod

[capri_rob]

Rob summer just got going, I was looking forward to seeing your car at Pod

Sorry Ferg but tax is fookin ridiculous money and I cant be arsed to tax it just for 1 weekend and then cash it in again - pop over any weekend though dude

[toby]

Congratulations on the new car. I loved driving the 330i. Such a great car for the money and the touring is just so handy to have.

One thing to watch for is the power steering. If the pump fails all the bits break up and go into the rack. The rack is huge money. I've seen a few on Autotrader that confess to having new pas pumps fitted. Maybe change the pas fluid sometime and check there's nothing suspicious in the fluid. If there is, change the pump before the rack gets ruined.

[e301988325i]

nice heads up toby, thanks. On the to do list of an evening this week.

[Dan320is]

If you need any parts try http://www.c3bmw.co.uk/. They're genuine parts but much cheaper, if you phone them Kirby and Simon are very helpful.

[capri_rob]

Cheers for the tips

Will check out the PAS fluid and will also check out C3

[toby]

nice heads up toby, thanks. On the to do list of an evening this week.

You are obviously a very efficient fellow

Steering rack is £2000 I believe!

[e301988325i]

nice heads up toby, thanks. On the to do list of an evening this week.

You are obviously a very efficient fellow

Steering rack is £2000 I believe!

this whole 'lifetime' fluid thing is just stupid, i've got atf dexron II here, as I bought loads when I was having trouble with my E46 rack in the E30. On the E46 the pas reservoir keeps getting oily arounnd the outside, a tell tale? Ps) C3 stock useful stuff like 25mm MC's.

[e301988325i]

Offside caliper changed, access to the rack unions looks relatively easy through the offside wheel arch with full right lock on, but the pit needs pumping so going to be tomorrow now.

[capri_rob]

Low oil light came on tonight

Done about 1000 miles since I got it - IIRC these donks are notorious for using around 1L per 1000 miles ?

Went to hellfrauds as it was the only place still open at nearly 8pm - the specified oil according to their guide was 5w30 fully synth - at £20.99 for 2 litres for the "BMW/Mercedes approved" stuff
But the 5w30 Fully Synth ford approved stuff £5 cheaper

Whats the betting that the stuff in the bottles is actually the same ?

[e30shed]

Ive got two E46's one being a 2001 330i auto saloon with 94k. Its a cracking drive, much nicer than my 320d, revvier and much faster, and I love an autobox with decent horsepower. Unfortunately, I'll be moving it on soon, as owning three BMW's and having a work car is pointless for me over winter!

[Dan320is]

Oil: http://www.castrol.com/castrol/sectionb ... Id=7073092

or

http://www.opieoils.co.uk/t-recommendat ... -bike.aspx

Fingers crossed the links work. They contradict each other though. My Brother uses Castrol Edge 0w30 in his M54. Maybe best check with Barry (bss325)

[e301988325i]

Low oil light came on tonight

1. Don't trust the light apart frorm on flat level ground from being parked up. i've overfilled mine because of the stupid thing.

2. Check the breather hose on the front ofthe head for blocking.

http://blog.bavauto.com/5434/bmw-m54-6- ... 525i-530i/

3. Don't use the Ford oil (although it's better than running out) but you can use the vauxhall stuff, compare the SAE grades on the bottles, if yours is a drinker then go to 5w(winter)-40.

[Morat]

Nice looking turd!

I do love the E46, we're hammering ours now and loving the LPG - but I do understand that if you're not keeping it long enough, it just doesn't make sense. As for handling they stick on corners like shit on velcro Ours is the pre-facelift 5 spd Mtech version on staggered 17s and yes, it's pretty harsh on rough roads but the grip is great and there's no roll to speak of. There's no way I'd entertain 18s on this car!

Ours now needs some TLC and is going in this week for an inspection 2, and a look at the parking sensors and replacement of the hedgehog resistor (cheap from the internetz).

The biggest pain is the rear window demist which is broken - BMW wanted £1200 fitted for a replacement!

Get used to the oil light. I'm a regular with Opie now and look out for his buy 4l get one free offers which come around on Castrol Edge often enough for me to usually take advantage. Mine is listed for 0/30 I think the later ones are 5/30 but tbh I've only checked mine. I do quite a few shortish journeys so I'd rather burn a bit more 0/30 and protect it at startup than save the oil. ymmv

Enjoy!

[Morat]

Oh, for tyres she's currently wearing a set of Kumho Ecsta Sport (KU31, I believe) which have done very well. Pilot Sport2 were superb but we burnt them out in 10k. At the time I thought it was my wife's driving (she uses the traction control light as confirmation that she's driving fast enough), but now I think it must have been due to the retard at the tyre place and his super duper 4 post laser alignment system. The blokes at the garage put the bolts back where they'd been sitting before and the tyres are lasting well.

[e301988325i]

Did the PAS tonight, had to drop the undertray to get a catch tray underneath, fluid looks fine, too good to be honest, must have been changed at some point, no signs of any metallic content. Bled through nice and easily, only had to add a drop once the engine was running after going lock to lock in the air a couple of times.

Washed the E30 waiting for the Mrs to get home, fell in love with it all over again!

[capri_rob]

Low oil light came on tonight

1. Don't trust the light apart frorm on flat level ground from being parked up. i've overfilled mine because of the stupid thing.

2. Check the breather hose on the front ofthe head for blocking.

http://blog.bavauto.com/5434/bmw-m54-6- ... 525i-530i/

3. Don't use the Ford oil (although it's better than running out) but you can use the vauxhall stuff, compare the SAE grades on the bottles, if yours is a drinker then go to 5w(winter)-40.

I checked it when I was on Halfords carpark which is dead flat and it was bang on the minimum mark so the sensor appears to work - did stump up for the proper BMW certified stuff but think I'll get some ordered from Opie anyway.

The breather system check/refresh is on the list

Oh, for tyres she's currently wearing a set of Kumho Ecsta Sport (KU31, I believe) which have done very well. Pilot Sport2 were superb but we burnt them out in 10k. At the time I thought it was my wife's driving (she uses the traction control light as confirmation that she's driving fast enough), but now I think it must have been due to the retard at the tyre place and his super duper 4 post laser alignment system. The blokes at the garage put the bolts back where they'd been sitting before and the tyres are lasting well.

Mines got Dunlops on the front and bridgestones on the back - it grips like a bastard - I get the feeling you would have to be really stupid to unstick it in the dry

[e301988325i]

Ours needed four tyres when we got it, T1r's have done 10K & have about 40% left.

[alpina123]

nice heads up toby, thanks. On the to do list of an evening this week.

You are obviously a very efficient fellow

Steering rack is £2000 I believe!

WHAT??? a second hand rack is £40/50 if the PAS pump has a flatback it will be fine if it is domed it will need changing at some point but when it goes it wont fook the rack

[DanThe]

When you want an oil change give me a shout Rob, I use the BMW rated 5W/30 and its a lot cheaper even with paying me a few quid labour

[alpina123]

nice car

[toby]

nice heads up toby, thanks. On the to do list of an evening this week.

You are obviously a very efficient fellow

Steering rack is £2000 I believe!

WHAT??? a second hand rack is £40/50 if the PAS pump has a flatback it will be fine if it is domed it will need changing at some point but when it goes it wont fook the rack

You may disagree with everything I've said but I've actually seen it happen and I offer the story to try to be helpful.

I'm not talking about changing anything - I'm talking about preventing having to do anything! It doesn't cost anything to check even if I'm wrong about all of it!

Of course I'm not talking about the price of a secondhand rack.

The car I knew had a knackered pump and rack at the same time. Perhaps it isn't as much as £2000 but on realoem it's listed at over $1200 so it's still pricey.

[alpina123]

so it wasnt 2grand then and what are you going to check? how are you going to find out when the pump goes (if it does)?