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dooge

Imola Red 330cd M sport - Project Denzil - polished and clean!

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Hey all,

After having a 320cd for a few years I decided I wanted more power. It had to be a facelift M sport coupe for the more powerful engine, manual, dark coloured leather interior and fully loaded. I looked at several that were described as 'great condition' that were rough as rats with rotten archs, poor service history and high miles. Then this Imola Red 330cd came up and I was sold. One trip to Oxford, a bit of haggling and I got it for just under £5k. 93k on the clock, new tyres, discs, pads and shocks all round. BMW dealer service history too. Bodywork is clean of rust and other than a very stone chipped front it just needs a good cleanup. Electric leather seats are a bit worn on the bolsters, the previous owner was a larger chap but interior overall is relatively clean. MV2s are in great condition for age. The car was unmodified except for AC Schnitzer Aluminium pedals.

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Instantly I loved it but came up with a list to replace parts and get it mechanically sound:

-Both thermostats - Done

-Air filter and cabin filter - Done

-Wiper blades - Done

-Oil and coolant change and service - Done

-Swirl flap removal - Done

-EGR clean - Done

-Rear topmounts and reinforcement plates - Done

-Front topmounts

I also have a list to fix:

-Electric mirrors dont work but reverse tilt works, suspected loose connection.

-Headlight washers dont work.

-Inside of the offside headlight the internals wobble around.

-Drivers side window randomly drops and raises when opening the door - Sorted

Modifications are going to be done over time, nothing substantial at the moment but focusing more on how it drives:

-CDV removal.

-Supersport lowering cups, by dropping the front Ive noticed it sharpens up the wandering suspension a bit.

-Bilstein B4 shocks all round, the original shocks are crashy, soft and poorly damped.

-Powerflex wishbones and rear trailing arm bushes.

-LED number plate bulbs.

-Pressed plates.

-Pipercross panel filter - Fitted

-Ecotune decat, maybe full exhaust as its great for the price.

-Full EGR delete including removing the EFR cooler and fitting an exhaust manifold blank and silicone caps for coolant hoses.

-Remap.

-Black kidney grills.

-Possibly an M3 black nappa leather interior later.

I also wanted to give it a damn good clean, de-tar, polish and wax as it was filthy! I am in the process of swapping the silver carbon cube (will be up for sale soon) to my old refurbed carbon cube.

I have also swapped a few things over from old car including rear LED tail lights (recently new from BMW) boot carpet and linings, boot trays, rear seat base, Storm Motorworx gear knob and silver front indicator bulbs.

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More to come!

Edited by dooge
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Looking great... Nice motor... going to follow this as I have just got a facelift 330CD too...

With similar issues.. I.e. mirrors don't move except tilt in reverse an only passenger side heated mirror works.. car doesn't get up to temp, thermostats.. etc..

Enjoy... Great cars aren't they.. !!!

Lol

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Looking great... Nice motor... going to follow this as I have just got a facelift 330CD too...

With similar issues.. I.e. mirrors don't move except tilt in reverse an only passenger side heated mirror works.. car doesn't get up to temp, thermostats.. etc..

Enjoy... Great cars aren't they.. !!!

Lol

Random! Despite it not running right at all it does go very well!

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Nice mate imola red comes up lush with good polishing

I bet they do, I am going to try Zymol first and then some Collinite 476 and see how it comes up. My dad has a rotary polisher and I did my black Bora years ago which came up really nice.

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That will a future event once the weather cools down and clouds over. I also want to get it mechanically sound first. Its going in to a local indie garage to have the main thermostat replaced, oil, oil filter and coolant change and swirl flaps blanked very soon. Also a new cabin filter, EGR thermostat and Pipercross air filter will be fitted.

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dont want to dampen the parade,but can i ask why you are fitting an aftermarket panel filter,no gains to be had,unless going ic-bigger injectors ,turbo etc

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Mainly because its renewable. A decent OEM equivalent on eBay was £25ish, the Pipercross one was £46. I had one on my 320cd for 26k and had no issues, cleaned it a few times.

i pay £5 delivered from e bay,same seller sells the pollen filter for £5,do you want a link

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Mainly because its renewable. A decent OEM equivalent on eBay was £25ish, the Pipercross one was £46. I had one on my 320cd for 26k and had no issues, cleaned it a few times.

i pay £5 delivered from e bay,same seller sells the pollen filter for £5,do you want a link

Thanks but Ive already bought it. Ill consider sending it back when I get it :)

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A little more progress... I fitted most of the carbon cube trim, just door grabs to sort. Tomorrow I am swapping them, sorting out the none working mirrors (hopefully) cleaning the engine bay and cleaning all the windows inside and out. Its getting there :)

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Edited by dooge
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Lots of progress today! Sore from bending over the engine bay but worth it.

I replaced the drivers side door grab with the recently refurbed carbon cube one and got the doorcard sitting properly. I still have the passenger one to finish. I managed to get the mirrors temporarily working and then they stopped. Not sure what the problem is, both fuses (31 and 57) are fine and I tryed wobbling the wiring and testing connections. I am going to buy a new switch and see if that works.

However, mine is a blue backed single connection and I cant seem to find one on eBay.

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Then I decided to tackle the swirl flaps. I have done these on my old 320cd and it was a pig of a job, mainly because of the daft electrical connections and springclips underneath the manifold. I had a new cabin filter and Pipercross air filter to fit so I decided Id give it a go. The engine bay was dirty so gave it a bit of a clean and also fitted M3 strut caps which tidy the engine bay up.

Before:b4c7qr.jpg

After:j7gi1z.jpg

The actual procedure was relatively easy, 2 electrical connections which are easy to get to on the manifold and one slightly more fiddly underneath. Made sure I labelled all the injector connections and kept everything safe.

Looks like a mess!

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The swirl flaps were the larger 33mm ones which all looked solid. Good to see at 93k but didnt want to take the chance. They were very grubby.

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Next up is changing the amber indicators for silver and replacing the other door grab :)

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Thats the badger! Not sure why they are in America or if a non blue one will work. May see how much a dealer will charge for one but dont want to spend megabucks if its not the cause of the issue.

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Fairly sure I've still got one, I'll take a look tomorrow night: http://www.e46zone.com/forum/topic/59232-fs-various-e46-parts/

Are your mirrors ribbon or cable connections as I've got some ribbon mirrors & the wiring loom from an M3 mirror too?

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Fairly sure I've still got one, I'll take a look tomorrow night: http://www.e46zone.com/forum/topic/59232-fs-various-e46-parts/

Are your mirrors ribbon or cable connections as I've got some ribbon mirrors & the wiring loom from an M3 mirror too?

They are cable connection so the M3 mirrors are out of the equation without a lot of rewiring.

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I have had the car into ATS to check tracking, alignment and wheel balancing. They have found a few more things to add to the list of have to sort :(

Droplinks are knackered (easy enough job) and the steering rack is leaking which means a reconditioned rack. Does anyone know anywhere decent or recommended that supplies them?

On the plus side I have a new mirror switch on its way, courtesy of Bungers! :)

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Dooge this looks lovely mate! I've just got a silver grey 330cd and I've owned an imola one also. Unsure which colour I prefer atm but probably red!

If you get to the bottom of the window going all the way down when you open the door then back up when you close it let me know as mine does the same lol.

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Dooge this looks lovely mate! I've just got a silver grey 330cd and I've owned an imola one also. Unsure which colour I prefer atm but probably red!

If you get to the bottom of the window going all the way down when you open the door then back up when you close it let me know as mine does the same lol.

Thanks bud! Ive had a Titan Silver 320cd before, I suspect Imola Red will take a little more looking after. I thought the fault was linked to my dodgy mirror switch as after removing the switch (which didnt work anyway) and leaving the cable loose the annoying tilt reverse stopped and the window stopped dropping.

Until today, where it did it twice randomly. Its linked to opening the door so I am wondering if it is a bad earth? I may end up buying a new window switch to see if that does anything.

Have you got a build thread up for yours yet?

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