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StuBeeDoo

StuBeeDoo's 330d - updated from time to time

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It's a 330d SE 3.0 6-speed with a few goodies. Grey Montana electric sport leather, sunroof, satnav, style 96s. 105k miles and full history. Someone's put cheap, nasty, angel eyes in but they'll be coming out ASAP - I've already got replacement bulbholders. I had originally planned to ditch the satnav in favour of my Sony DAB/MP3 unit but now I'm not so sure......

 

Ideally I would have rather had a touring, but I got messed about on a couple then this one came up not far from home and - apart from lacking boot space - it ticked all but one of my boxes. So I decided that I'd have a go at living with it as we don't actually need the extra room on a daily basis anymore.

 

We're off to the Isle of Skye for a week on Saturday and I have to say I'm looking forward to it a lot more now than I was when I thought we'd be going in the E30. Wor Lass seems to prefer it to the E30 as a passenger, so that's a plus!

 

Once I get the V5C in my name, I'll be transferring my personal plate from the E30.

Edited by StuBeeDoo
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^^ Thank you. :) The colour was a long way down my list of favourites, but it's growing on me. At least it isn't black or silver - they were right at the bottom!

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A couple of lads at work seem to think it might have been lowered. What do you think? The Dude who sold it to me didn't mention anything about that, although he did say (without me asking the question) that it's been de-flapped. :D

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Thanks for the positive comments. :thumbup:

Regarding the suspension;- the back-end might not be so low soon. I discovered today that one of the coils is broken. Somewhat hastily I ordered a pair of standard springs......... If they do jack the rear, I'll get them changed ASAP for Sport ones. Am I right in thinking that the Sport rides something like 25mm lower??

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Thanks for the positive comments. :thumbup:

Regarding the suspension;- the back-end might not be so low soon. I discovered today that one of the coils is broken. Somewhat hastily I ordered a pair of standard springs......... If they do jack the rear, I'll get them changed ASAP for Sport ones. Am I right in thinking that the Sport rides something like 25mm lower??

Should have just ordered some Eibach Pro springs?

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Looks a nice colour and those wheels work well too :)

Thanks for the positive comments. :thumbup:

Regarding the suspension;- the back-end might not be so low soon. I discovered today that one of the coils is broken. Somewhat hastily I ordered a pair of standard springs......... If they do jack the rear, I'll get them changed ASAP for Sport ones. Am I right in thinking that the Sport rides something like 25mm lower??

I was going to say the back looks a bit lower - can tell from the difference in arch gap. Would it be worth considering some new/uprated dampers at the same time? At that mileage I suspect they will be a bit tired, while the snapped spring will have taken more life out of the rears too... if it were me I would be giving them a little overhaul/refresh - lowering springs on old dampers would IMHO not be a great idea, especially dampers that have been stressed further by a broken spring, just IMO but I would change dampers too while you're at it.

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^^^ The Dude who sold it to me said it's recently had rear shocks. I didn't look too hard at them when I noticed the broken spring TBH. Sound advice, though, Keano. The new standard springs will be here in a few days, and I'll have a good look at all the existing stuff before I start replacing.

I got a shock this afternoon, when I was trawling Google images. It seems my car was on the press fleet. It's the subject of a road test http://www.carenthusiast.com/reviews/article/146/-/2003-BMW-3+Series/330d+saloon.html'>here. I think I'll be printing that off and putting it in the history file. The test is dated 4 months after the car was registered.

Edited by StuBeeDoo
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So, 12 days after buying the car, I made it do this........ Twice. :)

July13holidayday7022_zpsd4ff1c59.jpg

The Pass of the Cattle, from Lochcarron to Applecross (actually, we went right down to Toscaig Pier) and back again.

Yep! Less than a week after buying the car we took it on holiday to Skye And Lochalsh. 1400 miles in 7 days. Averaged 48.5mpg without even trying. To say I'm impressed would be an understatement. :) Mind, the OBC is a bit optimistic - I saw 70.5mpg on it at one point! :wacko: At that point it had actually done 50.9mpg.

Now I just need to fit poly wishbone bushes, new rear springs, a pair of tyres and cross everything for the MOT next Saturday.

Edited by StuBeeDoo
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Regarding the suspension;- the back-end might not be so low soon. I discovered today that one of the coils is broken. Somewhat hastily I ordered a pair of standard springs......... If they do jack the rear, I'll get them changed ASAP for Sport ones.

I've now fitted the replacement springs. The car may be slightly higher at the rear now, but I'm happy with it. A bonus is that since I've replaced the springs, the dull thud I got changing gear - which I thought was sh***ed diff or subframe bushes - seems to have gone. :D

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Now I just need to fit poly wishbone bushes, new rear springs, a pair of tyres and cross everything for the MOT next Saturday.

All done, and MOT passed. Just one minor advisory on the front-rear brake pipe. :)

I've been wanting to upgrade the I.C.E for MP3 and DAB capability. I found http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-6-DISC-CD-RW-MP3-CHANGER-3-5-SERIES-E46-E39-NO-RESERVE-/330958642743?_trksid=p2047675.l2557&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEWNX%3AIT&nma=true&si=PfBajxIx35d2CBOi0BbaMfmfNpQ%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc'>this a couple of days ago, and as I had funds in my PayPal account it would have been rude not to. :D Now I just need to sort the DAB, but that can wait - maybe Wor Lass can sort me out with something for Christmas.............?

Now I've got the V5, it's off to the local DVLA office on Monday to get my plate transferred from the E30 onto the E46.

Edited by StuBeeDoo
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I've finally got 'round to taking the engine cover off and confirming that the swirl flaps have indeed been removed. :) While I was at it, I checked the breather filter. It's a loo roll type, but it still looks fairly healthy, so I'm not in too much of a rush to replace it with a vortex - next month will do. The air filter and cabin filter don't look too special, considering the car is supposed to have had an Inspection 1 11 months ago, so I'll change all the filters and the oil at the same time (I was going to do an oil change anyway).

Still no photos with my personal plate on, I haven't got 'round to washing the car yet. :rolleyes:

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So, I've had the car nearly a year now. :) I'm still as happy with it and I've already put 11.5k on it.

 

I never planned on doing anything much to it, but I had always intended to fit mudflaps and I finally got 'round to doing the fronts last week. I had already dechromed it at the beginning of this year, which was something else I had wanted to do.

 

The Style 96s it came with wouldn't have been my first choice of wheel, although they do seem to suit the car IMO. I had been on the look-out for a set of 119s from day one, having looked at a few cars with them while looking for a car last year, but you know how it is - you can never find stuff when you want it. :)

 

A couple of weeks ago, a set of E9x 157s came up on eBay with 3 good, matching, Contis on. In the ad the wheels looked good, but one had slight kerb rash. I eventually won them for £245. When I got them, it was clear that they had had a DIY refurb - although they could still use a professional one. TBH it was a better job than I could have done and they were in far better condition than the 96s.

 

So, here are the latest pics (not a brilliant location, my usual one has been redeveloped).................

 

Edited by StuBeeDoo
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