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Ashley_r84

My Velvet Blue Clubsport project.

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Hi all.

I've been meaning to start this project thread for months but one thing or another has prevented me from doing so, mainly me being too lazy to do so[emoji1]

Before I start on about my Clubby I'll give you a brief introduction of me.

My name is Ashley and I am currently living near Caerphilly in south Wales (someone has to I suppose).

I have a long history of cars, I get bored very easily and inevitably change my cars too soon. I have mainly owned warm/hot hatches but have always craved an e46.

Some of my previous cars include

An 06 clio 197 that I owned for 6 months.

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Another clio 197 R27 that I had for 12 months.

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An Abarth Grande Punto EsseEsse that I regret selling.

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And the Abarth 500 EsseEsse that the Clubsport is replacing.

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There have been a hell of a lot more but these few stand out in think.

So I always wanted an e46 and it was inevitably an m3 that I craved for years, unfortunately insurance and running costs prevented me from taking the plunge on one and so I found myself drawn to the Clubsport.

Yes it has the spoiler that some love and some hate, I happen to quite like it luckily. And the wheels, I was a fan of them initially however with the state of my wheels currently I have changed my mind on these.

I was lucky enough to find a very good (in my opinion) example less than 30mm from my house in Cardiff and shot down there bought it straight away.

The car was totally original, velvet blue (stunning colour when clean) and very low miles at 43,000!!!

Yes the service history was a little low but I was willing to take the plunge.

Here is how she sat on the day I picked her up...

bmw-e46-3-series-98-06-330ci-clubsport-S

I fell in love.

My original plan was to keep her totally standard and just try to bring it back to a mint example. Oh how things change!

Upon collection I went straight to my mechanic and gave her an oil & filter change for peace of mind really and replaced the viscous fan coupling.

In October the front drivers side brake calipers siezed and so this forced into buying 2 new brake calipers, again I replaced the good caliper at the same time for that peace of mind.

I also had the front rear ARB bushes replaced with powerflex bushes at this time. I will get all bushes replaced eventually but these were needed first.

In January I got so fed up with my music skipping every time I drove over anything larger than a grain of sand and purchased/fitted an Eonon dvd head unit. Not a bad bit of kit for the money BUT I won't be buying another.

In February I fitted new drop links and top mounts up front in a bid to cure the wandering feeling I am currently experiencing.....this didn't work, so the search for a cure goes on.

And then last week my water pump failed so I replaced this, both belts and tensioners/idlers at the same time.

Luckily these are all items that I was expecting to be replacing anyway, it was just a matter of time really.

So after spending most of the past 6 months scouring this great forum for advice I have decided that I don't want to keep my car standard. That would just be boring, wouldn't it??

My plans now on no particular order are -

Sort wandering steering feel and slight knock.

Inspection 2 service.

Front/bumpers and a few slight scuffs resprayed.

Change suspension....either bilstein dampers and eibach springs or hsd coilovers.

19" csl reps.

Possible exhaust system, I don't want loud and chav though so this may not happen.

Steering wheel retrim.

Fix drivers seat bolster and treat the leather interior.

Clubsport front splitters.

And this list will almost certainly increase in size as I go along. I will update accordingly.

So onto today, I had a day off work so thought I would give her a quick clean. I don't have the time, knowledge or skills to do a complete detail so I just washed and demon shined the outside and vacuumed inside.

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This is how she sits before my list of mods takes effect.

Thanks for taking the time to read my post.

Ash

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Looks nice and clean that mate, strange how it doesn't have front splitters, I thought they all did, unless they have been taken off by a PO.

Nice bit of work done so far and that's a good list for the future too.

Don't tell anyone but i actually quite like the spoiler too :thumbsup:

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Looks nice and clean mate although I wouldn't have expected the faults you've described on such low mileage, is it HPI clear & do the MOT mileage readings stack up?

Edited by bungers
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Cheers guys.

4 wheel alignment is on my list, forgot to add that one. I was planning on getting it done when I get the springs etc fitted.....Tbh I didn't even think about getting it done before. That will be my next step then

Yeah all mileage matches up and hpi came back good also.

I just put it down to its age if I'm honest, hopefully no more issues will arise:-)

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Cheers guys, I fell in love with this as soon as I saw it. The colour in my opinion is the best on these, I used to like estoril blue but they are everywhere and this is just 'different' from the crowd I feel.

Daz your car is amazing mate, if this can look anything near what yours does then I'll be extremely happy!

Planning on keeping this long term and probably will get a runaround for the winter months. Should allow me to keep this smart for the warmer weather.

The only other thing letting her down is the auto box, I love it because it's just a proper cruiser but I do miss the feel of a manual.

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Hi. With regard to the wandering. I had the same problem when I bought mine last year. I noticed the car just moved about on the road. I had everything checked over and everything was spot on. Then my mate (who works at a BMW garage) said that tyres usually have a 5 year life and if the car has not been driven much the rubber can harden so the tyres don't flex over over things like they should. The guy had only averaged 4k a year since he bought it so the tyres were very old. I put a new set of boots on and it was perfect.

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Peebee that's not a bad shout, thanks for the suggestion.

I'm not sure how long these tyres have been on but they have plenty of tread, when I change the wheels I'll be getting new rubber so time will tell....I would change them now but as I'm going down the 19" route I think I'll just be throwing away money.

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Good intro mate, you've bagged something rare there it looks like a nice example. I've never actually seen a velvet blue CS on the road, only at shows. In only in Newport so might see it on my travels one day. Enjoy.

Cheers mate.

I used to be round Newport a lot, where abouts are you?

I've only seen one more velvet blue on the road myself and that wasn't a CS so it must be quite rare. Been told there were only around 100 CS sold in this colour:-)

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Quick question for anyone in the know really.

I'm looking at eibach springs now, I can obviously find the springs for a 330ci but they all seem to be for manual boxes only? Anyone know which ones will work with the auto box?

I assume it's due to the weight difference but not sure.

Cheers

Ash

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So I've done very little to the car over the past few months....paying for my holidays hit the bank balance! But now I have sold my 2nd car I have a little more money in the bank so it's time to spend it;-)

I have just ordered my new wheels, I'm looking for lowering springs now....I was originally thinking coilovers but after speaking with daz I found I can get the look I want with springs. I have been advised that eibach sportline I think are the ones to go for as they give the best drop, problem is I have an auto box and it says that these are not compatible with the 330ci auto? Not sure if that's down to the extra weight or not. Can anyone she'd some light on this for me?

I've now seen h&r offer the same drop and there is no mention of an issue with the auto box so seems I will be ordering these later:-)

Couple of other little things to get done but they can wait a few weeks. Wheels are a must.

Cheers

Sent from my D6603 using Tapatalk

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So I've done very little to the car over the past few months....paying for my holidays hit the bank balance! But now I have sold my 2nd car I have a little more money in the bank so it's time to spend it;-)

I have just ordered my new wheels, I'm looking for lowering springs now....I was originally thinking coilovers but after speaking with daz I found I can get the look I want with springs. I have been advised that eibach sportline I think are the ones to go for as they give the best drop, problem is I have an auto box and it says that these are not compatible with the 330ci auto? Not sure if that's down to the extra weight or not. Can anyone she'd some light on this for me?

I've now seen h&r offer the same drop and there is no mention of an issue with the auto box so seems I will be ordering these later:-)

Couple of other little things to get done but they can wait a few weeks. Wheels are a must.

Cheers

Sent from my D6603 using Tapatalk

Absolutely no idea why the springs would be in compatible with an Auto. There wouldn't be that much of a weight increase surely?

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So I've done very little to the car over the past few months....paying for my holidays hit the bank balance! But now I have sold my 2nd car I have a little more money in the bank so it's time to spend it;-)

I have just ordered my new wheels, I'm looking for lowering springs now....I was originally thinking coilovers but after speaking with daz I found I can get the look I want with springs. I have been advised that eibach sportline I think are the ones to go for as they give the best drop, problem is I have an auto box and it says that these are not compatible with the 330ci auto? Not sure if that's down to the extra weight or not. Can anyone she'd some light on this for me?

I've now seen h&r offer the same drop and there is no mention of an issue with the auto box so seems I will be ordering these later:-)

Couple of other little things to get done but they can wait a few weeks. Wheels are a must.

Cheers

Sent from my D6603 using Tapatalk

Absolutely no idea why the springs would be in compatible with an Auto. There wouldn't be that much of a weight increase surely?

you'd be suprised Ben, i had eibach pro kit on my old vert & parked next to a pro kitted 'auto vert, there was a very noticable difference. THey do fit the Auto Ashley, but they sit a bit lower, which is no bad thing ;)

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So I've done very little to the car over the past few months....paying for my holidays hit the bank balance! But now I have sold my 2nd car I have a little more money in the bank so it's time to spend it;-)

I have just ordered my new wheels, I'm looking for lowering springs now....I was originally thinking coilovers but after speaking with daz I found I can get the look I want with springs. I have been advised that eibach sportline I think are the ones to go for as they give the best drop, problem is I have an auto box and it says that these are not compatible with the 330ci auto? Not sure if that's down to the extra weight or not. Can anyone she'd some light on this for me?

I've now seen h&r offer the same drop and there is no mention of an issue with the auto box so seems I will be ordering these later:-)

Couple of other little things to get done but they can wait a few weeks. Wheels are a must.

Cheers

Sent from my D6603 using Tapatalk

Absolutely no idea why the springs would be in compatible with an Auto. There wouldn't be that much of a weight increase surely?

you'd be suprised Ben, i had eibach pro kit on my old vert & parked next to a pro kitted 'auto vert, there was a very noticable difference. THey do fit the Auto Ashley, but they sit a bit lower, which is no bad thing ;)

Awesome news.

That's what I was hoping, can't beat a little more lows;-) would I have any issues with rubbing?

I've just ordered the same wheels as you have Jay.

Originally went for the m359 wheels but Chris at cmwheels rang back and said they had them packaged wrong, different wheels in the box unfortunately but these were available and they look amazing on yours.

Sent from my D6603 using Tapatalk

Edited by Ashley_r84
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