Benji
Well-known member
The wheels on the bus go round and round. Indeed they do, but of more relevance, a Fanatics built car was sold to a Fanatic and then on to me, also fanatical.
Allow me to introduce my new daily, a car I actually enjoy driving, a tool to lessen the tediousness of morning traffic and to easily dispense with the Honda Jazz drivers while providing a modicum of practicality. Ladies and gentlemen, be upstanding for my half a million kilometer E46 330i 6-speed manual Touring. Hopefully its reliable.
This should look familiar to the older Fanatics, this car was built by Gizmo, enjoyed by GConry and now it is my turn...
Gizmo thread: https://www.bmwfanatics.co.za/showthread.php?tid=79058
gconry thread: https://www.bmwfanatics.co.za/threads/2002-330it-tiag-by-gizmo-diary.80805/
It only required the smallest hint from Gareth for me to be on the blower to strike a deal for this car in September 2023. He was an absolute legend to get the car serviced and to sort out some running issues before I could collect the car in December 2023. Some long months indeed.
So after 3 months of ownership and 3 weeks of driving, I am really happy with my purchase. The car feels very planted on the road, is quiet and refined, does not have any rattles, squeaks or knocks and has a pretty decent turn of speed when required. The M54b30 is torquey at low revs, the gearbox precise and ideally suited to the 3.15 original diff that is still in the car. The M6 seats are quite simply fantastic and are the best chairs my derrière has had the pleasure of occupying. The touring has so far proved to be very practical, swallowing 4 people and their holiday luggage, carrying building supplies and fetching car parts. Fuel and oil consumption are also not too bad at this point considering that it is currently not running 100%. I am really enjoying owning a car in which I do not really care for parking lot accidents and messy passengers.
To say that this is an upgrade over my Corsa Ute would be doing it a disservice.
This was me getting to know the outer extremities of the fuel tank on the way home. Averaged about 9.5L/100km at an average speed of 150 fairly loaded up.
The good:
Its a Touring
Drivetrain feels good
Its a 330i
Its a 6 speed manual
That straight 6 sound - feels like coming home every time
All round comfort and refinement
Tinted windows
General interior condition
It is halfway to a 2-tone interior
E90 M3 gearknob
Those seats, oh god, those seats
The E46 chassis - steering feedback, neutral handling - simply sublime
Everything works
Did I mention it is a Touring?
The bad:
MAF is faulty
Steering wheel needs to be recovered
The interior needs a good detail and treatment
A noisy ancillary pulley
Dead key fobs
The dodgy bonnet paint and one or 2 rust spots
Brakes all round are just about dead
The first thing I did when I got the car home was to test its practicality:
Next up was to meet up with its builder, Warren. What a legendary dude he is, he let me test his spare MAF and gave me tons of advice and tips on E46 ownership. Oh, he also just so happened to have a 330i exhaust, front brake calipers and rear subframe for me
He very kindly and quickly installed the 330 exhaust which sounds awesome! Perfect deep rumble at low revs and perfect quiet volume when cruising and the nice chrome tips. Next step was to pick up a set of Style 68s:
The hardest challenge with this car will be to not get carried away again. To this end, the plans are:
Source a MAF
Sort out the key fobs
Replace noisy ancillary pulley
330i brake system
Style 68s
Android radio and spare-wheel subwoofer
General tidy up, detail and treatment of the interior
Complete the 2-tone interior
Maybe try out different interior trims, not sure I like this fake plastic carbon fibre trim - is it wrong that I'm leaning towards the wood?
Refurbish the steering wheel
Clear indicator lenses
M-tech 1 front bumper and M-sport skirts and rear bumper (challenging it seems)
Black window trims
Sort out the paintwork
New windscreen
Maybe a Viper exhaust manifold
Maybe an LSD conversion
This is not me getting carried away...
Allow me to introduce my new daily, a car I actually enjoy driving, a tool to lessen the tediousness of morning traffic and to easily dispense with the Honda Jazz drivers while providing a modicum of practicality. Ladies and gentlemen, be upstanding for my half a million kilometer E46 330i 6-speed manual Touring. Hopefully its reliable.
This should look familiar to the older Fanatics, this car was built by Gizmo, enjoyed by GConry and now it is my turn...
Gizmo thread: https://www.bmwfanatics.co.za/showthread.php?tid=79058
gconry thread: https://www.bmwfanatics.co.za/threads/2002-330it-tiag-by-gizmo-diary.80805/
It only required the smallest hint from Gareth for me to be on the blower to strike a deal for this car in September 2023. He was an absolute legend to get the car serviced and to sort out some running issues before I could collect the car in December 2023. Some long months indeed.
So after 3 months of ownership and 3 weeks of driving, I am really happy with my purchase. The car feels very planted on the road, is quiet and refined, does not have any rattles, squeaks or knocks and has a pretty decent turn of speed when required. The M54b30 is torquey at low revs, the gearbox precise and ideally suited to the 3.15 original diff that is still in the car. The M6 seats are quite simply fantastic and are the best chairs my derrière has had the pleasure of occupying. The touring has so far proved to be very practical, swallowing 4 people and their holiday luggage, carrying building supplies and fetching car parts. Fuel and oil consumption are also not too bad at this point considering that it is currently not running 100%. I am really enjoying owning a car in which I do not really care for parking lot accidents and messy passengers.
To say that this is an upgrade over my Corsa Ute would be doing it a disservice.
This was me getting to know the outer extremities of the fuel tank on the way home. Averaged about 9.5L/100km at an average speed of 150 fairly loaded up.
The good:
Its a Touring
Drivetrain feels good
Its a 330i
Its a 6 speed manual
That straight 6 sound - feels like coming home every time
All round comfort and refinement
Tinted windows
General interior condition
It is halfway to a 2-tone interior
E90 M3 gearknob
Those seats, oh god, those seats
The E46 chassis - steering feedback, neutral handling - simply sublime
Everything works
Did I mention it is a Touring?
The bad:
MAF is faulty
Steering wheel needs to be recovered
The interior needs a good detail and treatment
A noisy ancillary pulley
Dead key fobs
The dodgy bonnet paint and one or 2 rust spots
Brakes all round are just about dead
The first thing I did when I got the car home was to test its practicality:
Next up was to meet up with its builder, Warren. What a legendary dude he is, he let me test his spare MAF and gave me tons of advice and tips on E46 ownership. Oh, he also just so happened to have a 330i exhaust, front brake calipers and rear subframe for me
He very kindly and quickly installed the 330 exhaust which sounds awesome! Perfect deep rumble at low revs and perfect quiet volume when cruising and the nice chrome tips. Next step was to pick up a set of Style 68s:The hardest challenge with this car will be to not get carried away again. To this end, the plans are:
Source a MAF
Sort out the key fobs
Replace noisy ancillary pulley
330i brake system
Style 68s
Android radio and spare-wheel subwoofer
General tidy up, detail and treatment of the interior
Complete the 2-tone interior
Maybe try out different interior trims, not sure I like this fake plastic carbon fibre trim - is it wrong that I'm leaning towards the wood?
Refurbish the steering wheel
Clear indicator lenses
M-tech 1 front bumper and M-sport skirts and rear bumper (challenging it seems)
Black window trims
Sort out the paintwork
New windscreen
Maybe a Viper exhaust manifold
Maybe an LSD conversion
This is not me getting carried away...
