Mike's Old Man Car - BMW E46 320d

[MiniMike20]

General Update:

Now that I knew the suspension was good and I was happy I shot through to Tiger Wheel & Tyre in Willowbridge and meet up with Jeanre, a fellow BMW fanatic for wheel rotation, fresh balancing and alignment. His branch is the only branch I take my and my clients vehicles to.

Onto the Alignment lift we go…

Ooooh *** Marelise – No wonder it was a little bit of a handful.

And done – Finally happy with my ride height, my level, my new suspension, my tyres, my handling and my beautiful BMW E46. Parked up with a clients Campovolo Grey Abarth, I was feeling nostalgic as I owned one like this too.

 

[MiniMike20]

Audio Update – Because E46 Radio’s suck

My car has the BMW Business sound system in it which is basically 2x Tweeters, 2x Front Door Speakers and 2x Parcel Shelf Speakers. Made out of the shittiest paper BMW could find, in 1997, and muddier than my BMW X1 after a day off road I needed to do something.

A mate was selling an amp and sub combo and I decided this was a must have. It is no secret that a lot of bass can make a rubbish sound system go from muddy to acceptable and as I was playing music via Apple Music through a Bluetooth FM thing I basically just wanted to feel something, and the bass.

Not being one to meddle (although I know how) I negotiated a rate for the Sub and Amp that included installation and while I prepped house for my client upstairs, my mate played with the BMW downstairs.

He decided to tap the audio feed from the rear parcel shelf speakers:

By my instruction I asked him to remove the CD storage part of the CD shuttle, cut the back open and mount the Amp in there:

Look how nicely the did the cabling:

And the end result with the amp nicely hidden behind the CD Changer flap.

Obviously, this kind of “mod” is not for everyone. I personally do not love the taxi style overly abusive bass that a 12 inch sub can make. From the get go I played with the Audio and determined that it was best to leave the Head Unit on:

1 fade to the rear
1 level above mid on bass
1 level below full on treble

… And let the sub which is on like 20% gain just do the in-fill. This resulted in a non-taxi-ish sound but did improve the overall volume and sound output of the factory headunit. Knowing its all neatly hidden (and I plan to make the sub smaller and in a smaller enclosure too) I feel that this was a great way to mod up a sound system.

Its still rubbish, but now its rubbish with a lot more bass! As I spend most of my day in the car, this was a nice way to make it a little bit more enjoyable to listen to music.

 

[MiniMike20]

Oh and a massive update.... New Tow Bar and Connector Covers!

And Tape behind the number plate for certain taxi bass reasons.

 

[MiniMike20]

Photo Update – Because I really love this car

In the last 10 years I have owned 28 cars. Ranging from Volvo’s, to many MINI’s, to BMW to Audi and Fiats and Abarths and some cars were new, some were Smart Cars, some were cars bought at highs and others at lows.

This car waltzed in where I least expected it to – And damn its crept into my heart.

So to close my updates… Some random pictures.

Family Gatherings with the Italian's - Mums 500 by Diesel and my Brothers Alfa 147 T Spark:

Sunsets after hectic days:

Running into good mates at Builders Warehouse:

Collecting a gay cowboy hat after a night out...

Matching with another BMW who also has a gay cowboy hat...

Early morning cups of coffee with friends:

Finding a place to sit and regain my composure after a hard difficult day on site:

Finding peace among the roses (and blasting them with soot on the way in):

Enjoying the beauty of Cape Town:

Taking notes from the Swedes, diesel to diesel:

Struggling to decide between my true love (MINI) and my E46:

Admiring beauty:

Fitting in absolutely fine in the places only the latest will do:

Sharing parking spaces with mates:

And more so than anything else - Getting the job done without a single hesitation and looking great while at it:

Thank you for reading.

 

[Regal]

Your content is M539restoration grade! Love it

 

[MiniMike20]

Thanks for the likes and comment.

Im thinking of making the wheels and window trim dark anthracite - Worried the wheels will look small.

 

[modocrat]

Slap on a set of MTech-2 bumpers and wheels 😜

 

[MiniMike20]

Random little update. She is officially on 215 000km - And going strong as hell.

I decided to chuck in a Liqui Moly Diesel System cleaner a few weeks ago which took a few weeks to run out with a full tank - Within 100km of the cleaner being in the tank the car started smoking black quite a bit more than it used to.... It also started feeling silky silky smooth and quieter. Its always puffed a little bit, being old and straight piped but this was like a 30-40% increase.

Being a touch OCD I have checked any possible linked relation to increased black smoke (vacuum leaks, boost pipes, sweat on the cooler etc) and found absolutely nothing wrong with the car - It hauls along, it sounds good but its sooting its arse up nicely and everyone is telling me its supposed to, and I have the Polo TDI Club as a reference to what soot could look like on a healthy diesel (shit tons of it) but its driving me mad that something may be wrong.

Going to check the MAF and do a temp disconnection of the EGR to be sure but if neither makes it soot less I can only assume I had blocked injectors and Liqui Moly's R230.00 for their system cleaner is the best product in the world because its fuelling and its flowing.

Frankly, it drives like a 2020 model, just increasingly embarrassing watching Porsche Cayenne's disappear in a cloud of black knowing the dude in the car behind is probably looking at my car thinking "shame he cant afford to maintain that".

 

[ngoako7]

You found yourself a hidden gem and have brought out all it's glory. A mate of mine once owned a 318i LCI e46 in our early 20s and this brings fond memories. Really great cars.

 

[MiniMike20]

Thank you.

Found the problem, it was the MAF.

Unplugged it and its not smoked (bar the expected full load soot chuck) since. Consumption back down to 5L/100km from 7 where its been for a while now.

Will order a new MAF this week and fit it.

 

[MiniMike20]

Well its been a hectic 3 months with the E46.

The smoking turned out to be two things - A blown Boost Pipe and a Faulty EGR. New pipe was made up and EGR was unplugged and it runs clean as a whistle now.

Then it broke down - That was a R4500 Diesel Pump and Filter that failed.

Then it broken down again, on the lift getting a suspension noise diagnosed.....

That then cost me all New Pulleys and Tensioners and Belt and because it was already there.... Front Discs and Pads, Rear Pads, Sensors and Front Wheel Bearings and because it was all apart anyway I did Tie Rods as well.

Then it broke down again because the vibration dampener split in two and re-ate all the belts.

Then I decided **** that I want to know what the knocking noise on the rear suspension is so it went in again and 2-3cm of play was found on the rear CV's (you can turn the disc left and right 2-3cm without the output shaft moving)... Then we found that the CV, Wheel Bearing and Hub were all seized together and that it needed new rubber.

That is the current situation. Trailing Arm bushes, control arm bushes and Ball Joints are all on order this morning for delivery but the bloody hub will not split apart. The mechanics have soaked it, heated it, cooled it, took a 10 ton press to it, the fucking assembly WILL NOT MOVE.

If they cannot come right with a bigger press today I will be on the hunt for a used rear axle to fit the new parts to as we are on day 4 of trying to get these components apart. If all else fails they may be able to cut it out but honestly I am past caring, they must call me when its done.

Its pissing with rain in CPT and I have a waterproof suit for the bike, so it is what it is. I had an offer of R100k for it two weeks ago and given I rarely use it anymore because of the bike (and my fiance got a 2023 model company car) I am actually not sure why I have it around anymore, except that its exceptionally neat and basically every major wear item has been replaced.

We wont talk about how much this has all cost.

 

[Swiegie]

Just keep faith buddy...

Our 2005 BMW 318i and my 2013 120d Coupe went through the same stages where it needed a lot of TLC.

If you are replacing the parts with OEM ones, then the car will be ready for another 150 000km.

On the diesel, I replaced the vibration dampener with all pulleys and belts at 100 000km as preventative maintenance.

Fix her nicely, she is a beauty.

T

 

[MiniMike20]

Just keep faith buddy...

Our 2005 BMW 318i and my 2013 120d Coupe went through the same stages where it needed a lot of TLC.

If you are replacing the parts with OEM ones, then the car will be ready for another 150 000km.

On the diesel, I replaced the vibration dampener with all pulleys and belts at 100 000km as preventative maintenance.

Fix her nicely, she is a beauty.

T

I think that is the frustrating part. When I bought it I did all the belts and pulleys and tensioners (1 year and 25 000km ago) but clearly the dampener has been dying a VERY slow death.

Anyway, is what it is. I have so many nice things lined up for the car so thats a positive.

 

[M3boi]

Hey Mike, this has been a great read! Such a well-written thread, well done.

I remember you telling me how much you love this thing and will never sell it, hope that is still the case!

 

[MiniMike20]

Hey Mike, this has been a great read! Such a well-written thread, well done.

I remember you telling me how much you love this thing and will never sell it, hope that is still the case!

Hey Jason!

Yeah look it is a machine - When I eventually get a chance I will bring this thread up to date, there is another 2 pages of content to share at least.

For now, I have given the car to my Mum as of 3 months ago who is equally besotted with it - The only time I see it is when she visits and mostly when I make it work with a trailer on the back. It just keeps going, sees 800km+ per tank despite traffic cos she drives like a granny and it has been quite well behaved of late.

 

[MiniMike20]

Soooooo.... There is about R70k worth of work that's been done to this car that's missing here and the long and short is the vehicle now lives with my Mom, in JHB, who adores it and manages to constantly get 4L/100km out of it.

I went down a bit of a rabbit-hole with it early this year, and then continued to suffer as a result of part failures and issues that are specific to BMW fitment vs bad workmanship (IE unintentional issues as a result of the workshop not knowing better) which did mean finding a new BMW specific mechanic and then rectifying a few things.

Its on 245 000km now I think, due its 4th service with me in 2000km and towed a fully loaded 4 meter trailer on Saturday - It is honestly, the best car I have ever owned, all round.

 

[MiniMike20]

Feb 2023

The car had starting smoking black and was down on power. Equally it had started leaving quite the nasty oil splatter on the underside of the bonnet.

This turned out to be a blown boost pipe - As neither Goldwagen or BMW had stock I found a pipe, proper clamps and made it work:

Seeing as I was in there, I also replaced the MAF with a new unit.

 

[MiniMike20]

Feb 2023

Given the boost leak issues and new MAF and that I had already redone the vacuum lines I was on a bit of a mission to find every possible vacuum leak on the car - And while changing the MAF noted that the rubber gasket on the turbo inlet was looking a bit sorry for itself.

BMW seemed to be the only place to get it so grabbed one from BMW Constantia and swapped it out.

By this point I was quite satisfied that I had found every single potential leak and the car was and continues to drive like a dream.

 

[MiniMike20]

April 2023

Being a working car the 320d was seeing a lot of hard labour which meant it was starting to look a bit tatty and this was driving me mad. The boot was especially a mess so I stripped it out:

And gave it a proper deep clean...

Unfortunately not all of the marks would come out but over-all it was a much better and cleaner result and it gave me the opportunity to replace broken clips and ensure that everything belonged and was where it belonged.

 

[MiniMike20]

March 2023

I had an itch to replace the wheels on the E46. The 16s were on their way out and needed tyres and I felt that if I was going to spend money on tyres I would rather buy 17s. I also wanted to make the car look a little bit more classy and stumbled upon these at a scrap dealer.

April 2023

Originally the end goal with the wheels was to make them anthracite - They were dropped off at the wheel shop along with a friends S Class for both cars wheels to be done the same colour.... Instead mine were done silver.... The finish was however top class and I knew the supplier had struggled with two of the wheels constantly reacting and I felt too bad to make them redo them so my classy girl got even more classy.

July 2023

Not wanting to spend much money on tyres and having fitted Vitours to many cars and heard good things I went and had tyres fitted.

August 2023

I only got around to fitting the wheels in August and then immediately wished I had not bothered.

The car had a very obvious backward rake in terms of suspension height. It didnt matter where you parked it or how - I had the car at three suspension shops who told me every part fitted to it was correct, was the correct height and then I realised after going through my parts lists and invoices that the front shocks were 6 cylinder spec. I then got the suspension height settings from BMW for the E46 and found that the nose was sitting spot on in height but the rear was way off.

Keep in mind, I have had this backward rake issue for a while and even replaced the rear spring pads with thicker OEM pads to try correct it - The only thing it could be was that the springs had collapsed... So again, back on the phone to the scrap dealer who had a set of non M sport standard rears and for R800 he said bring the car around lets fit them and see....

Beyond being a bit 4x4ish.... Voila, it worked.

He then pointed out to me that the passenger side rear drop link was snapped.... This is a Febi part that was less than 5000km old...

So went and bought another set.....