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grantmacdee

Grant's E46 Compact

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Hey guys not been on here for a while.

I just purchased an E46 Compact 316ti for £200 from ebay and had the car delivered for a small fee, to my last place of work while I get it road legal for now.

I have gave the car a quick clean, changed the dead battery from a 570A to 600A & will be giving the car a service, sorting a misfire and sorting the wishbones and freshening up the rear brakes.

Photos (excuse the phone photos, I need to get my camera out)

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Plans

Once the car is road legal and can be used, I will maybe plod around in it for a little while but I am biting the bullet and going for a 330d manual conversion and ideally looking at buying a crashed 330d.

Get EVERYTHING swapped over in standard form and then start the messing around once everything is working correctly or issues are highlighted along the way.

The engine will not be completed in the garage the original photos were taken as it will take to long to leave there, it will be completed at a friends house.

Front end swap, looking at pre facelift coupe and to run amber units. Interior will be stripped also.

Not going in to to much details as plans are hard to stick by and it all depends on what turns up as a bargain and when.

Why? - I drive for Uber currently and I am bored of driving a mundane car that cannot be modified. So this is my project for the next year.  I was going to buy a 325ti but thought that would be to straight forward.

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I respect you for undertaking this, a 325ti would indeed be "too straightforward" :lol: and good on you for making sure its sorted first before you dump all your money on mods. Do you reckon you'll end up going for big power with the 330d or just play it by ear?

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On 01/01/2018 at 19:10, Benji83 said:

I respect you for undertaking this, a 325ti would indeed be "too straightforward" :lol: and good on you for making sure its sorted first before you dump all your money on mods. Do you reckon you'll end up going for big power with the 330d or just play it by ear?

Not to sure to be honest, depends how much I enjoy the car in standard form and also how much it will cost in the long run and if I feel it will be worth it. I can get quite bored of my cars but hopefully doing an engine change etc on this will promote keeping it longer term.

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02/01/2017

02/01/2018 :P

So i had an early start with work dropping a mate and couple of others to Gatwick for early doors, and picked up a job back to East London from Uber's designated waiting area. From there on I thought I would go spend a couple of hours doing a few bits on the compact and get the car on the ramp and see whats needed to get the car on the road cheaply as possible for now.

First things first was to get trims, plastics and covers off.

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Oil out.

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Some main dealer 5W30 (probably not the best oil but far better than the syrup that was in there and this won't be covering much miles at all) & a new oil filter later.

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Air filter swap.

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A friend at my old work place had a couple of spare coil packs laying around at home and brought a couple in for me to resolve the misfire, turns out the misfire was on cylinder 4, quick swap over of packs and the misfire has gone, for now at least anyway. Decided against changing the plugs.

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Power Steering Fluid was pretty gunk too, so with a suction tool I removed some old fluid from the tank, refilled and circulated in the system and syphoned until the new ATF was coming out a nice clear red.

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Few pictures now to just see the general condition of the 'underneath' of the car.

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I am going to get 4 x 225/50/16 part worn tyres as these are all shot.

The brake fluid needs changing desperately but the bleed nipples on the rear calipers were seized in so for now going to try and get some new nipples and hope thats all thats needed, sure I can pick up second hand units cheap enough if needed.

Started to run out of time as I was due to get ready to go back out to work for the evening.

I started to remove some interior in the last 5/10 minutes I stuck around. Rear bench, parcel shelf with compartment, rear boot carpet and sound proof foam, scissor jack & components, rotten spare wheel and wheel well.

Oh and tried to clean out the bonnet latches as my bonnet doesn't lock so these are probably going to need replacing as I can't seem to get the latches to work. Any advice on this will be appreciated.

Hopefully get some updates soon.

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10 hours ago, grantmacdee said:

Oh and seeing as this is E46 zone have a photo of my friend Nathans 46 that I took, still need to finish these photos but work was super busy Oct / Nov / Dec.

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Wowsers, can you even drive that?

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Looks like it's on air..

Will the prop shaft from the 330d fit the compact?

You might be better off buying a 330Cd (Facelift coupe) and taking all the bits off that. You'll end up with a facelift front end but at least it's all off 1 car.

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16 hours ago, The_Judge_ said:

Wowsers, can you even drive that?

Air ride allows it to go up and down.

15 hours ago, momo said:

Looks like it's on air..

Will the prop shaft from the 330d fit the compact?

You might be better off buying a 330Cd (Facelift coupe) and taking all the bits off that. You'll end up with a facelift front end but at least it's all off 1 car.

I will be looking for the facelift model as I want the 204 bhp and 6 speed manual. Although I will not be using that front end, will be an M Sport pre facelift. But I can always sell a few bits that are not needed.

Will be a case of stripping the car and use as much as possible, get some bushes removed and parts powdercoated ad then polybushed suspension wise. Propshaft shouldn't be an issue from the 330cd or could work with a prop from a 325ti maybe.

For a side track update, I was rear ended on the M4 last night by a VW Transporter in my Mondeo. Damage was not too bad, driver has already admitted liability but I am sore as heck today.

Video below Via Flickr

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Edited by grantmacdee
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On a more positive note, a set of wheels has come up for the compact that I have wanted for a while, since I had a BMW X1 in fact. I should have them in a few weeks.

18" & staggered. Although wheels was the last thing on my mind, I did't want to let them go.

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17/01/2018

Not too much of an update, today I got a couple bits done on the compact. I removed the last of the trim in the rear of the car, now just leaves the sound deadening on the metal which I will probably start next week. Drained some brake fluid from the ABS pump and refilled the system via a pressure pump and topped up the coolant system with some water.

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Can see from this rear show that the suspension is not level, it appear the O/S/R has collapsed but there is noise coming from the N/S/R. Luckily it will be replaced soon enough.

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So some of the stuff that was removed from the rear was rear seats & bench, parcel shelf, boot carpets, rear speakers, seatbelts & buckles, rear door cards, foam and sound deadening material, rear washer bottle and tubing & a shed load of dirt and stones. Horrible what can get underneath.

I have also labelled up some of the rear wiring that is now no longer needed, this is for the o/s/r & n/s/r speakers, 12v plug, wiring for the 6 cd changer (although this never came with that option), rear wiper motor power & also the hose for the jet. Hopefully I will get to removing this lot as I don't want it sitting around in the rear of the car, and so I don't forget which cable is which later down the line.

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Where the tube to fill the rear washer bottle was for now has been filled with a grommet, this is now another hole on the list to be welded.

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Couple interior shots also upfront.

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I have now also sourced from a friend a 330d saloon, 87k, facelift, 204 bhp, only downside which I am actually not to bothered about is the car is auto, but can be run semi automatic. The car comes on BC coilovers, has been remapped and swirl flaps removed. My friend looks after his car very well too. We have agreed to let me pay over a few instalments which I shall do soon and he wants to let the car go towards the summer which I am happy to wait for.

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You going to stick with the Auto gearbox?

Apparently finding a 6sp manual from the 330d is extremely difficult..

Side note - never seen the boot floor of a compact before! Didn't realise there's no spare wheel well! Do they not carry spares at all?

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1 hour ago, momo said:

You going to stick with the Auto gearbox?

Apparently finding a 6sp manual from the 330d is extremely difficult..

Side note - never seen the boot floor of a compact before! Didn't realise there's no spare wheel well! Do they not carry spares at all?

For now yes, I have heard very good reviews of the auto box for the car although manual would still be ideal. I will see what happens later down the line.

They do have a spare wheel, that was meant to go on my list of bits that were removed, it had a plastic tub under neath that dropped down, the wheel wasn't worth the risk of running anyway, corroded. Theres a hole in the boot floor now that needs welding were the handle that dropped the tub was in place.

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Update.

After a busy weekend heading to Telford to visit the Ultimate Dubs event to take some photos, I then headed up to my mate in the end towards Liverpool to collect my wheels.

Aluminium BBS RK

18 x 8.5J ET13
18 x 10J ET28

Will be fun getting these on.

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Will get them bolted on and get a photo of them on the car and then the car should be ready to move!

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Things have changed since I last updated this...

So I picked up a 320td black compact e46 around 6 weeeks ago from Birmingham and got it back to Essex with not too many issues.

Stripped most of the rear interior and it has sat around since while sourcing some parts.

I have now sourced

- Saloon pre facelift Alpina front bumper
- Saloon pre facelift wings (These need custom work along with original compact wings to make the front end swap work)
- Saloon pre facelift headlights

Just need the bonnet to complete the set but that is probably the easiest part.

Also E46 compact sport rear bumper and side skirts.

I have finally managed to source the running gear, I really wanted to hold out for this rather than jumping the gun and just getting auto and swapping it all around later. I missed out on a whole car crashed from Facebook which I was gutted about but have found a guy braking a car in Ipswich and have agreed a price with him for...

- 204bhp Engine
- 6 Speed manual Box
- Gear Selector
- ECU
- Loom
- Prop
- Driveshafts
- Diff
- Fuel pump & lines
- Front brake calipers & carriers
- Rad / Airbox etc etc.

There will no doubt be a few extra bits from him while there. But now the work can finally start and I will upload some photos.

Did't want to just upload photos of another e46 with a stripped rear interior.

Edited by grantmacdee
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On 1/5/2018 at 13:56, grantmacdee said:

Air ride allows it to go up and down.

I will be looking for the facelift model as I want the 204 bhp and 6 speed manual. Although I will not be using that front end, will be an M Sport pre facelift. But I can always sell a few bits that are not needed.

Will be a case of stripping the car and use as much as possible, get some bushes removed and parts powdercoated ad then polybushed suspension wise. Propshaft shouldn't be an issue from the 330cd or could work with a prop from a 325ti maybe.

For a side track update, I was rear ended on the M4 last night by a VW Transporter in my Mondeo. Damage was not too bad, driver has already admitted liability but I am sore as heck today.

Video below Via Flickr

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Glad ok, Looked suspiciously like one of those cash for crash vids! Car in front of you braked and then one hits you!! 

 

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Right I apologise in advance for the shocking phone photos, I will get the camera out soon enough!

So the 'new' compact.

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The Alpina saloon front bumper for the front end swap..

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One of the 2 saloon front wings..

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So it turned out I managed to pick the whole car up not just the parts, the guy didn't have time to strip everything I need and seeing as he needed the car gone ASAP he decided to call it quits and give the car to me, I even offered to let him sell his interior online and they could collect it from me but he said i was doing him a favour taking so much at once that it was fine for me to keep.

So I had to arrange a van and a trailer and luckily a mate pulled through after some messing around one the day we set off to Ipswich.

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So the car has had some money spent over the last few years, I went through some of the paperwork today, that including some power steering pipe work, clutch and dual mass, servicing and some other bits and pieces. The new clutch and dual mass will do me for now.

Bonuses include getting the set of BMW MV1 alloy wheels although I believe 1 is cracked so when possible I will get the tyres off and inspect, I will buy 1 or 2 to make up a set and use them to get the compact 'road ready' until I am ready to buy new wheels.

The car has also been remapped, this is no doubt what finished off the turbo and caused the core failure. But I think I will get the ECU flashed to make sure the car is running correctly and have it mapped in my own time by someone of my own choice.

The car came with a full leather interior including leather door cards so these will be for sale to return some £££.

This week the strip down begins on both cars, but I'm now in full time work so can't get down to the unit to help out as much as I would of hoped but I will get down there with the camera soon for updates!

My next few plans are

- Turbo rebuild / replacement
- Service items (Oil & Filter / Air Filter / Pollen filter / Fuel Filter)
- Maintenance items (Thermostat / Waterpump / Rad etc)
- EGR system delete & swirl flap removal (Bit concerned this hasn't been done at this mileage)
- Discs & brakes all round & braided lines.
- Wheels & tyres

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I saw a chap on Bookface on Hot Hatch Fans Group I'm on doing a similar project with a Compact, a 330i engine conversion into a 325ti with Coupe front on. He's got it basically done but it is on odd wheels and needs painting. 

It looks good though and gave me an idea what yours will look like.

Kirkynut 

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Iv done the 325ti swap to 184 330d from a saloon. You might not believe me but the compact is the saloon/touring chassis so the saloon will fit no bother. 

You will need to cut a couple of brackets off the subframe to get it to fit and the sparewheel wont fit when the subframe is in

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And you will basically have to bareshell the car to swap the wiring loom over, everything has to come out. 

 

The exhaust will fit aswel but you will need to shorten the backbox by about 10inch.

 

To save any warning lights on the dash, you will need to swap steering column or atleast the angle sensor, headlight switch control box thing, abs/dsc module, ecu, clocks, key and ignition, door lock and glovebox if you want the keys to match.

And if you leave the rear door plugs unplugged it doesnt register as having backdoors on the dash lights. 

One thing you will have to watch for is rewiring the rear lights as the saloon has lights in the bootlid so if you dont wire those up you get a dash fault. And also the rear fog is a 5v feed with the lights on and goes to a 22v for the fog light so your fog will be illuminated at a tail light all the time the lights are on then goes to a fog light when you press the button.

Rear wiper wont work either as the saloon didnt have one

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On 07/05/2020 at 21:49, craigyt said:

And you will basically have to bareshell the car to swap the wiring loom over, everything has to come out. 

 

The exhaust will fit aswel but you will need to shorten the backbox by about 10inch.

 

To save any warning lights on the dash, you will need to swap steering column or atleast the angle sensor, headlight switch control box thing, abs/dsc module, ecu, clocks, key and ignition, door lock and glovebox if you want the keys to match.

And if you leave the rear door plugs unplugged it doesnt register as having backdoors on the dash lights. 

One thing you will have to watch for is rewiring the rear lights as the saloon has lights in the bootlid so if you dont wire those up you get a dash fault. And also the rear fog is a 5v feed with the lights on and goes to a 22v for the fog light so your fog will be illuminated at a tail light all the time the lights are on then goes to a fog light when you press the button.

Rear wiper wont work either as the saloon didnt have one

Wow - I wish someone wrote everything down like that when I come up with an idea!

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