Ashtray: BMW E46 330CI Thread.

[Split_Pin]

Bus was early so hot footed it to Preston Station and I can get the earlier train. Means my BK at Lancaster Services will hopefully be attainable an hour earlier.

[Split_Pin]

And hame.

7 miles drive to Croy Station

11 miles on the train to Glasgow

191 miles on the Megabus. Brand new Volvo 9700 coach, cheap and cheerful inside but very fast and smooth. Driver had her foot to the floor out of Glasgow and all the way to Southwaite for a driver change. A little more sedate after that but arrived 5 minutes early.

Which meant my bombing it a mile down the Fishergate in Preston was not in vain to catch the train to Colne.

The lovely Class 156 was bang on time but it was over 10 stops on the journey and the train was suffering from truly Biblical wheelslip on the wet and lightly used lines. The driver was really struggling and as soon as we got traction, it was time for the next stop. Well done on their tenacity, the Cummins NTE certainly got its ring kicked in.

The 330 is a different car now. Before, the box was strained, held gears uncomfortably long, take off was jerky and delayed and it wouldn't lock up on motorways. And of course went into limp mode (stays in 4th) after 10 minutes. The car was also quite slow.

Now, it's smooth, changes up gears quickly around town and uses the torque of the lazy 330. On the motorway it's now very relaxed, the box locks up and importantly, cruise works again. It was a long drive home, the roads were busy and wet but it was a pleasure to drive.

36.5mpg achieved, not bad for a big old petrol.

Let's hope it continues this way.

Many , many thanks to @NorthernMonkey for taking on the job which by all accounts was not an easy one. Nobody in Central Scotland was interested!

[Split_Pin]

A well deserved wash.

Just the usual drop of coolant on the drive to let me know it's still a BMW. I dont think Ive met anyone whose had one that doesn't leak!

[MrGTI6]

Really pleased to see you've got it sorted. 

[Matty]

37 minutes ago, Split_Pin said:

A well deserved wash.

Just the usual drop of coolant on the drive to let me know it's still a BMW. I dont think Ive met anyone whose had one that doesn't leak!

Mine once didn't leak a drop for a month. Once.

[Peter C]

1 hour ago, Split_Pin said:

 I dont think Ive met anyone whose had one that doesn't leak!

Mine didn’t leak a drop of coolant in 2.5 years. 😎 

But it made up for it in oil leaks.

[Split_Pin]

2 minutes ago, Peter C said:

Mine didn’t leak a drop of coolant in 2.5 years. 😎 

But it made up for it in oil leaks.

Thankfully no oil leaks on mine which is why I'm constantly checking the level as I'm convinced there's none in it 😅

[JakeT]

Great news! The auto is good in a 330, especially with the throttle lag. My parents had a 330i auto touring from new. It was an early one on an X plate. From new to 130,000 miles, September 2000 to July 2011.

 

My 325ti, 328ci, and 330d all needed the odd top up of coolant. In spite of replacing the ENTIRE system on the 328. What a sod. Well done on keeping it, and getting changing gears properly. With a borked box these cars feel completely shit.

[cort16]

Glad you got it all sorted it was a bit of a journey . 

[DVee8]

No2 sons E93 needed a top up last week, no1 F22 hasn't needed a drop in the 13 months he's owned it.

[Supernaut]

My now 189k mile E36 is surprisingly very fluid tight.

 

[Frantically taps wooden table]

[SiC]

I put about half a litre of water into my E90 last week. 

Pretty sure it's going to ping up add a litre of oil soon too. 

 

[Tayne]

My e46 330 had a coolant bottle which had a tiny split at the seam which only opened up when very hot and leaked a tiny amount of coolant, it took a long time to find that one.

I also had to replace a radiator which had started to bulge at the bottom owing to repeated heat cycles of the plastic.

[straightSix]

My E83 X3 was coolant tight until I had the audacity to change the main thermostat and I've been chasing leaks ever since 

[Split_Pin]

I forgot I didn't fully update the bit about the standard head unit. So the car was sitting while up on the ramp for a few days and then some more while a couple of gaskets were awaited and the battery drain is definitely gone now.

I gave away the head unit for free to an old Vauxhall pal who now has a few E46s, faults disclosed. He's now fitted that and knows to remove fuse 7!

Meanwhile I closed up the fusebox and the Proclaimers CD which has moved with me from car to car after being found in my first green Cavalier bought from here way back in 2021, can be moved back to the glovebox 😅

 

[Popsicle]

Great stuff and well done on getting it fixed, its nice to have a win every now and then, particularly when it looked game over for it and theres not many folk wanting to take the job on.

[Dobloseven]

Great news.Well done everybody!The 2002 325ci auto we bought for 300 quid two years ago continues to keep on keeping on and since he sold the Civic,is now his only car.The one in the background was recently bought by the lad over the road.It's another 325ci auto,but with leather and a sunroof.It's in very good condition and sounds lovely.

[Split_Pin]

That's brilliant, daily driver FTW. A lot of folk in the E46 pages seem to put theirs away for winter but I have no intention of doing that!

[Split_Pin]

I have been putting some miles on this recently and it is a joy to drive now it's got a decent gear change!

Someone also pointed out it has a pre facelift bonnet - who knew.

Correct bonnet with wider kidneys and different profile around the headlights.

...and mine. I actually prefer it but one of my old Vauxhall buddies is into these and also breaks them for a living. He has a silver bonnet waiting for me, just got to work out transport.

[Matty]

I'm glad this worked out for you. Loved mine but unfortunately it wasn't a fit one. These m54 6s seem very variable. My ultra high mileage 530i manual was a proper hotrod and went like stink. My 330ci clubsport always felt a bit flat in comparison even though it was a lighter lower mileage pampered car.

Still a stunning piece of design and the convertible is the high point of the model range. Literally no bad angles.

[SiC]

12 hours ago, Matty said:

My 330ci clubsport always felt a bit flat in comparison even though it was a lighter lower mileage pampered car.

Apparently the Vanos seals failing can make a big difference to performance. Likewise MAF often fail without giving codes. Then intake leaks really affect performance and there is so many places they can leak in the intake system.

A second hand MAF on my 2.2 Z4 has bought a fair bit of power back and I probably should do the VANOS seals sometime.

[Split_Pin]

I haven't used this in a good while, it's been tucked up in my garage.

An old Vauxhall pal had a bonnet for me, in colour and free as I'd given him the Android unit a few months ago. 

The plan was just to swap it over at his garage. 4 12mm bolts and a few pipes eh? Well yes and no:

As you can see, how the fuck are you supposed to thread that loom back through? There's no join anywhere, it all just goes into the main loom so pulling it through the void is the only way. So we patched that as his garage is very busy and I didn't  want to take up too much of his time. He's going to drop it off for fuel money at the weekend and I can fuck about with it at my leisure in my garage with no time limits.

I also got a washer bottle for nowt out of a 320d he was scrapping. Unfortunately it wasn't a posh model like mine with Xenons and washers so the tank didn't have the 2nd hole for the high pressure pump for the lamp washers.

On inspection though, it looks like the original tank on mine is fine and it's been leaking at the pump seal.

So I took both out, cleaned them and put red rubber grease around the seal. If it still leaks I'll drill a hole on the new tank to accept the 2nd pump.

I'm looking forward to getting the new bonnet 😀

It's driving very well, no issues at all. I'm having a bit of trouble getting past how much it's kicked my ass though. I totalled up the cost of the gearbox replacement and it came in at a cool £950.  I'm also wanting another Saab and for what I could get for this (the same as I paid for it) I could get quite a nice one.....

I should really keep this for a while at least though I suppose.

 

[Split_Pin]

My free-ish bonnet was delivered yesterday so I didn't fuck about getting it fitted.

I roped in Mrs_Pin.

Old one off:

Replacement on

Came with new black grilles and the bonnets had a recent respray. It's also the right one for the car.

The old loom was still attached so I cable tied the car's loom to it and pulled it through. Worked a treat.

Thankfully I had the presence of mind to remove those new grilles before trying to close it as it stuck firmly shut.

I got a T30 bit in the end of a shifter..

..and managed to reach in and loosen the sprung latch on the passenger side, shove it with a screwdriver and it popped open. Quite a lot of fucking about there.

Still got to adjust it all up properly and change over the sound deadening, fit the new badge that came with the car, then we're good. I'm proper pleased with this as bonnets in ebay are about £150 or thereabouts.

Next is to sort out the bumper, I'll just wait for a nicer condition one to pop up.

[Split_Pin]

I haven't driven this in a while so I reversed it out of the garage and washed the new bonnet as it was dusty from storage. 

Way better.

The new badge sets it off as well.

Black grilles are not what I would have chosen but they are nearly new and also free so on they went.

Still not 100% got over the arse-kicking this thing gave me but we'll see.

[SiC]

7 hours ago, Split_Pin said:

Still not 100% got over the arse-kicking this thing gave me but we'll see.

Standard BMW ownership experience 🫣

My 330i stands me in nearly the same on what I paid for it by the time I've bought a transmission fluid and seal kit. 

[Split_Pin]

1 minute ago, SiC said:

transmission fluid and seal kit. 

That cost me almost as much as the gearbox itself 😂  But you can't skip on that side of things.

[Split_Pin]

Another part of the puzzle arrived today, a new rear ashtray roller shutter.

The one on the car had fallen to bits:

3d printed replacement arrived, £12.99 posted from ebay.

Not as good quality as the original, no chrome insert in the handle and it doesnt open but for the money, its way better than a big hole with smashed up plastic in it!

I went for grey rather than the original black.

Looks OK!

Just a good machine polish of the paint and a new fog light to go.

This project is nearly done I think. I'm stopping short of refurbishing the wheels as that would be quite an outlay, considering what I've spent so far. Up to date list of what I have done since 31st July.

Oil, filter, air and cabin

Aux belt tensioner

Viscous fan clutch

Oil pressure switch

OSR brake caliper

Replacement gearbox and torque converter from a lower mileage car. Full fluid change and new filter.

Replacement bonnet with one that was recently resprayed, brand new grilles and BMW badge.

New rear ashtray cover.

I had it out the other day and it really is great to drive, sounds fantastic as well.

[Jazoli]

Looks like you are getting there, I’m sure the cup holder is not the original one either as it’s a different colour, are you planning to do anything with the exhaust to quiet it down at all? I did think of replacing the back box so the flaps would work but didn’t obviously.

[Split_Pin]

I think the cup holders are 3d printed, I find them really useful on longer journeys.

I quite like the sound of the exhaust, if it was a 4 cylinder engine I'd definitely do something about it though.