RACK - 330ci Convertible FL

[RACK]

New to this site, lurked a few days and then joined and got to say it's a very very good forum so far. Found of lots of info and very glad I came accross it.

Sooooooo, always been into cars, mainly been VAG but did have an E36 323i coupe a few years ago. Really did love the thing until someone reversed into it and wrote it off, was pretty gutted it was a sweet car. M50 manifold conversion, full twin pipe system, lowered, M3 clear light pack ect

I went back to VAG but now after a very brief spell in an Audi B6 S4 (4.2 V8) I needed to get something different. Looked at M3's but they weren't in my budget right now. Spotted this facelift 330ci convertible not far from me, so I sneaked out of work one morning and by the afternoon I drove back into work in the beema.

TBH the E46 drives very much like my E36 from what I can remember, very ballanced and nice power delievery. I really can't fault it and it does feel good to be back in a BMW.

Back to buying it, I got to the dealer and started looking around it. I got told it hadn't been driven for a while and the flat battery confirmed it. Booster pack on and it fired first time.................. BUT I heard a fair bit of ticking and a bit of a whine. Luckily I'd read a few guides and popped the bonnet to see the water pump pulley looking like it was doing a bit of a dance. Initial thoughts were "I'm gonna walk!" but I kept it running.

Went for a quick test drive and checked for the usual noises, clunks, bangs and rattles and it was all solid. Brakes were a bit rusted but again I knew it's just because it had been stood.

After about 15mins the ticking stopped, I guessed it was just due to the oil not getting round the engine for a while so didn't worry.

Test drive done, bit of chatting with the salesman and I stopped the hardtop roof and wind deflector that he'd taken away from the car. After a few more mins a deal was done and the paperwork was signed which saw me driving home with the hard top on and the deflector in the back.

So far I've done about 130miles in it and every time I drive it, I smile a bit more. Of course it's not as fast as the S4 but I'm not too fussed. I can lift the bonnet up on this and know that after fannying about with my old 323i that I can do a fair bit of stuff on this E46 myself and not have to worry. Lifting either of the bonnets on my previous S4's (I also had the twin turbo avant B5 version too) was enough to make you go back in the house and just thing "sod that!"

It's pretty spec'd too;

Full grey leather

18in MV2 wheels

Lowered (I'm pretty sure it is anyway)

OEM sat nav

Cd changer

Cruise control

Xenons

So far all I've done to it is add some LED side lights as my OCD can't cope with bright xenons and yellow sides. This has made a massive difference to how it looks at the front end.

Also while at work yesterday did the golf tee mod. This should have been a 5min job but after noticing the right side tail pipe was shiney as hell and the left was coked up I knee I was in for a challenge. 20mins later I had the bent flap sat on my works desk and the 330 now sounds and breathes a tad better!

As for future plans for it;

First things are to get it upto speed on the maintainence side of things. It's been on the long life plan from the look of the service history. Last oil change was at 62k and it's on nearly 81k now so the oil is going to be dropped next week adn some fresh fully synthetic put in. I don't like the idea of longlife servicing so I'll be swapping it every 8-10k.

It does state it had inspection 2 done at the last service and when I popped open the air filter last night I can belive it was done legit as it looks pretty new and clean. I'll be checking the plugs this weekend to see the state of them.

After running it this last few days and topping the oil up that's in it, there's zero noise from the engine and the waterpump pulley is now spinning steady as it should. It also looks like some new belts have been put on not so long ago.

Just now I've checked the disa valve but unplugging the electrical connection to it and when I plugged it back in I heard a very slight ticking. A repair kit will be ordered as soon as I've typed this.

I will be doing it as soon as this lot gets here too

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-CRANK-CCV-CASE-VALVE-HOSES-E46-320i-325i-330i-520i-525i-530i-E39-GERMAN-/390794336820?hash=item5afd285a34:m:mziqA1st9usXGZvkRmGsa0Q#ht_1032wt_958

(hopefully someone can confirm that's the right kit??

I really need to sort the stereo out as well. The sat nav works fine as I had the dvd in last night but my god it's OLD!

Being honest I'm not too fussed about it so might just take the whole lot out and sell it, the drivers door speaker doesn't work and from what I've read that could be a sign that the BM42 isn't working it's best.

The cd changer also isn't powering up, so I'm wanting ideally to just rip everything out, add a few nice new speakers and a new head unit to play my MP3's/iphone through. Although will give the whole thing a big check over soon to see what is needed with it.

I've seen that an upgrade can be done on the BM42 and if that's the case then a plan would be upgraded speakers, ditch the changer for an aux port that took usb connection and update the sat nav........ if any of that is possible??

I think that's about it for now, will add a few pics on the next post as they're on my phone and I'm typing this on my works pc so gimme a few mins

Thanks

[RACK]

Few pics

[RACK]

Been having more of a look over the car today. All seems to be running fine and dandy so leaving things like the ccv kit and vanos for now. It's booked in for an oil and filter change next week and a fresh set of ngk plugs will be dropped in too. Off to Liverpool in it next weekend so will be good to stretch its legs (I'm near Sheffield so it's a decent run).

Spoke to Baris about the sat nav and I'll be having another word once I've been paid as he's filled me in big time on what he can do and I'm more than happy with what he's offered.

Gave the car its first wash today too. Spotted a few little marks but got the T cut out and they've come out pretty well. All in all I'm well happy with it

[RichS]

Hey mate, nice choice of car! It doesn't look like it has been lowered to me - is it an m sport? It will say on the V5 or you can do a vin check online.. That will also give you the spec from the factory, including seeing if it has m sport suspension when built.

This is mine lowered with a 55/35 drop on an H&R cupkit, as the car already had m sport suspension this kit only lowered it about an inch or so more and I think it's perfect - no more massive gap at the front arch!!

[RichS]

Also, I'd stop using t-cut and start looking into a better paint regime. No need to go overboard but there are much better solutions to light swirls and marks.

[RACK]

I'll check the logbook tomorrow. I was used to my e36 bein a tad high so this seems lower lol

The T cut was all I had to hand today, didn't use a lot just a tiny bit to see how it went.

There's a few cracks in the laquer on the bonnet so will be getting a some paint correction/work done after the winter

Will also check out the lowering kit you mentioned. Looks a very good drop on yours

[RACK]

Dropped it off for the oil and filter doing today, was going to be plugs as well but they've not got to me yet.

Hoping the DISA upgrade kit is waiting when I get home too as should be able to do that tonight if it's not too late.

Checked on the logbook and it appears the car is a "330ci Sport", not really sure what this spec level means, as I only ever though there was "M Sport" and "Club Sport", excuse my ignorance, I've been more into VAG than BMW but I'm slowly learning. I'm guessing the "Sport" is better suspension and some bigger wheels, as it's got the MV2's on it?

Last couple of days I've been running some Redline SI-1 petrol treatment as the thing was stood a while, usually I'm a bit scepticle on these things but the car has been running a lot better with it in, MPG gone up slightly and is defo pulling harder. Will be even better after a fresh service. LAst one was at 66k (it's not on 80k) and it had full Service 2 too according to the book.

Speaking to a few specialists today about doing the CCV, usually I'd tackle this myself but it just looks a proper PITA so will leave it to the pro's.

The vanos seals I'll be tackling in a month or so, just for the sake of having my own piece of mind that they're done.

Noticed that the clear side repeaters weren't looking their best either so found some old black tint spray at home and gave them a couple of coats. Looks pretty ok to say it was very rushed by me.

They'll be replaced with some proper smoked ones at some point, along with some more pics of the car

[RichS]

Hey mate, good work getting on top of servicing/maintenance issues, it will pay dividends in the future. My car is the same as yours but every car is different in terms of packages and options so use this vin decoder to learn what the car was built with - it will clearly tell you if it had sports suspension from new which means stiffer and lower than an SE for instance, in fact I think all sports did but it's worth a check. And is interesting too!

You just need the last 7 characters of your vin for this: http://www.bmwvin.com

[RACK]

Hey mate, good work getting on top of servicing/maintenance issues, it will pay dividends in the future. My car is the same as yours but every car is different in terms of packages and options so use this vin decoder to learn what the car was built with - it will clearly tell you if it had sports suspension from new which means stiffer and lower than an SE for instance, in fact I think all sports did but it's worth a check. And is interesting too!

You just need the last 7 characters of your vin for this: http://www.bmwvin.com

Again, big thanks mate. Will give me something to do later that and see just what I have parked outside the house

Want to keep on top of things with the car, I usually love doing things myself or letting my friend sort them, he's an ex VAG master-tech so know's his stuff, but things like the CCV kit and PITA stuff I'd rather pay the little bit extra and give it to a specialist to save me the hassle, my mate having a go at me and calling me a VAG trator lol and knowing that the specialist has done it lots of times before.

The Vanos I'm not too worried about, I've been round hydraulic machines and maintainance for all of my working life and stripped a few cyclinders in my time so I reckon I can do that without too many problems.

Want this rain to hold off a few days next week so can get the hardtop off and really clean the soft top, as said in my other thread.

I'm enjoying having some pretty easy jobs to do and being able to do them as the S4 I had before this was just horrible to work on.

[RACK]

Oil and filter swapped on the car and all running smoothly. Plugs will be put in this weekend along with a new air filter and hopefully the Uprated DISA pin if it comes, i6 mailed yesterday to say the batch they had weren't the best so they're waiting for new ones to come in.

Should be getting this all done before a road trip to Liverpool for CREAM at Nation

Also spoke to a specialist in Doncaster about the CCV and pipes doing and been quoted a decent price so will be gettin that done soon. Although this morning there was hardly any steam/smoke out of the back. It maybe just needed a good run and oil swapping as it'd been stood a while??

I want to do the vanos seals but just don't have the time so they'll have to wait too lol

Quick snap took at asda this morning.

[RACK]

Had a few mins earlier and gave it a look over, the breather pipes on it look in decent nick. Since the service yesterday the steam/smoke out of the back seems to have gone (although it's been warmer), pulled the cam cover hose off and although a little bit of muck in it, there was no mayo at all. Poss a good sign.

I only do short trips in it so the 23.7mpg shown on the OBC is probably right, although I reckon it could be a little better once the new plugs have gone in. The rocker gasket looks and feels (on the edges) pretty new as well so I'm guessing when it went for inspection II 20k ago that it had a fair bit of cash spent on it. Which I like.

Vanos seals will be getting ordered anyway but might hold off on the CCV kit for now and see how the oil consumption goes. Although after owning a V8 S4 I can't see it being too bad, that hing was like a 2 stroke lol

[RACK]

Had a spare hour saturday, so waited for a break in the rain then ran straight outside and did the plugs (ngk ones), air and pollen filter.

Checked the old plugs over and looks like the engine is burning as it should, they'd been done about 20k again when the last stamp was done in the book (Inspec II) and even though they looked fine I still thought I'd swap them over as, well they had 20k on them.

As I was popping the coils back on the clouds opened up and I got a tad wet, but was only a few mins putting everthing back together.

After that it was time to pick my mate up and get on the way to Liverpool, there and back the car was faultless and ran sweet! Really am enjoying being back in a beema

[RichS]

Glad you're loving it! The 330 is just made for long blasts on the motorway, I love it! And since I had the H&R suspension kit fitted it's even more fun booting it around the countryside near me too:)

[RACK]

Defo going to look into suspension in the not too distant mate

Soooo, the disa repair kit came today from i6. Got nothing to really do at work so decided to crack on with it. 

Matter getting the disa out it was clear that it was knackered. The flap was moving all over and not even really connected to the actuator arm

40mins later, it's all uprated and back on the car. Not had chance to take it for a spin yet but seen as the flap was all over the place before I'm guessing there should be some difference to performance

 

[RACK]

Car is running so much better now. Has some bottom end power and pulls how it should. Prove the valve/flap was proper knackered

wonder how the change will be when I get the vanos seals done

[RACK]

Lower intake boot done this morning and cleaned the icv as well. Not too bad a job, apart from the jubilees being a pain to get off as awkward to get a screwdriver in. 

Took it steady and was about a couple of hours doing it as really took it steady. Also spent 25mins looking for a socket I dropped. Luckily I heard it hit the undertray so wasn't too worried, didn't manage to find it but if it's still in there after the shakedown I've just given it then fair play to it lol

 

glad I did the job as the lower boot was just starting to wear, also the little vac pipe that goes on the bottom of the F connector was as good as dust so replaced that with some vac pipe i had in the toolbox. Icv wasn't too dirty either. Good sign to go along with my disa not bein crudded up as I'm guessing this means the ccv system isn't gunked up either. 

Still well happy with the car and got the upper intake hose coming this week as that's showing some wear as well

 

[RACK]

Trying to add pics but they're too big off my phone. Will have to reduce them and try latet

[The_Judge_]

Trying to add pics but they're too big off my phone. Will have to reduce them and try latet

Upload the pics to Photobucket first then link to them in your reply

[RACK]

Think this might work with the pics (crosses fingers)

got the upper intake elbow coming this week, so that will soon be fitted 

also looking into having the resonator in the exhaust removed to give it a tad more rasp

[RACK]

Pic of my old 323i couple popped on FB this morning, last pic I ever got of it. Only fair I tried to recreate it with the new beema