The new daily - E46 330i Touring

[Benji]

send pics.

As requested

 

[individj]

hahaha well lets hope your wiring was amazing or else

 

[Benji]

The "new" engine oil consumption seems to have subsided a bit, consuming 1L over 4000km. I am hoping the rings will loosen up some more. This motor sounds very smooth and quiet, much better than the previous one.

I replaced the frankly rubbish Dynaudio subwoofer for a JBL Basspro Hub, the difference is amazing. I think the audio is pretty much where it needs to be now. I might still build a proper enclosure for the front speakers since they lack warmth and mid bass.

Unfortunately the sub is now sitting in an opening as wide as a Tijuana hookers' you-know-what


And the ever-resourceful @JosephGrobler grabbed an opportunity to do an impromptu photoshoot of the touring. He went as far as "fixing" my rear bumper, thank you dude!



View attachment DSC07951.jpg



As you can see, Joseph knows his way around a camera

 

[FILV]

Its looking so good @Benji

 

[Sabretooth tiger]

Stunning

 

[Mytfine]

on the power steering, try bleeding it a few times more, once is not enough.

 

[JosephGrobler]

This car is just so photogenic, and even better looking in person!

 

[Benji]

Not too much to report on the E46, except for it developing a weird humming noise from the rear at highway speeds...not sure if it is a wheel bearing, prop imbalance or something in the diff working on a spectacular failure. Waiting with bated breath.

The car has also developed a catastrophic but also intermittent battery drain. This is the type of battery drain one would not even wish on ones worst enemies. After killing a battery and some half hearted diagnostics, unplugging fuses etc, I have resolved to fitting a battery cutoff switch which has saved me on 3 separate occasions. It isolates the battery when it reaches 12V. R300 well spent I'd say.



The suspension is feeling increasingly more baggy, soon to be resolved by this box of goodies that just arrived:


Meanwhile, daily duties are being carried out with diligence. Low key flex after a nice special at Checkers:



Did have a nice effect on the ride height tho...




If all my other cars would just behave for a change, 2026 will be the year of the touring. To do:

• Suspension refresh
• Something with the diff
• Sort out the paint (windscreen surround and bumpers)
• New windscreen while doing paint
• Get rid of the horrid exhaust rasp - hoping a twin resonator "rasp delete" kit similar to what they do on the E46 M3 will work
• Headliner
• Replace projectors
• Replace tired trims and lights, thanks @FISAACS , absolute legend
• Refurbish wheels and get rid of the runflats
• Replace boot emblem
• Replace interior trims like broken boot floor handle, cupholder covers etc
• Replace malfunctioning wing mirror adjuster button
• Replace relays in GM5 module (central locking works very intermittently)
• Maybe do something about the sound system which really is quite terrible, but I am out of ideas on how to fix it
• Maybe solve the battery drain - I do have a new FSR which I'll throw at it for now

Holy crap, that list is quite a bit longer than what could be considered ideal. Best get to it then

 

[evnmopwr]

Not too much to report on the E46, except for it developing a weird humming noise from the rear at highway speeds...not sure if it is a wheel bearing, prop imbalance or something in the diff working on a spectacular failure. Waiting with bated breath.

The car has also developed a catastrophic but also intermittent battery drain. This is the type of battery drain one would not even wish on ones worst enemies. After killing a battery and some half hearted diagnostics, unplugging fuses etc, I have resolved to fitting a battery cutoff switch which has saved me on 3 separate occasions. It isolates the battery when it reaches 12V. R300 well spent I'd say.

View attachment 32548

The suspension is feeling increasingly more baggy, soon to be resolved by this box of goodies that just arrived:
View attachment 32552

Meanwhile, daily duties are being carried out with diligence. Low key flex after a nice special at Checkers:

View attachment 32549

Did have a nice effect on the ride height tho...

View attachment 32550
View attachment 32551

If all my other cars would just behave for a change, 2026 will be the year of the touring. To do:

• Suspension refresh
• Something with the diff
• Sort out the paint (windscreen surround and bumpers)
• New windscreen while doing paint
• Get rid of the horrid exhaust rasp - hoping a twin resonator "rasp delete" kit similar to what they do on the E46 M3 will work
• Headliner
• Replace projectors
• Replace tired trims and lights, thanks @FISAACS , absolute legend
• Refurbish wheels and get rid of the runflats
• Replace boot emblem
• Replace interior trims like broken boot floor handle, cupholder covers etc
• Replace malfunctioning wing mirror adjuster button
• Replace relays in GM5 module (central locking works very intermittently)
• Maybe do something about the sound system which really is quite terrible, but I am out of ideas on how to fix it
• Maybe solve the battery drain - I do have a new FSR which I'll throw at it for now

Holy crap, that list is quite a bit longer than what could be considered ideal. Best get to it then

323ci i had had a battery drain issue.
Mine turned out to be the FSU resister (Hedghog)
Good luck with Hunting that issue as i understand there are a number of other Things that could be the problem.

Humming noises, i also HATE!

Mine has a Humm since doing the 330i swop.
In the process i replaced the DIFF and the sideshafts, GUIBO Centreshaft bearing ...

Its only on Load... pop into Neutral while at any of below speeds and its gone
its heard when you hit 60km/h then goes away
Comes back at 80km/h then goes away
Then its back at 180km/h
over the years, its never gotten worse and i could never figure it out.

only thing left would be the Rear left Trailing Arm bearing as it was from the accident damaged Donor (Rear right was bent so i had to buy a new one.
OR
Was told could be the gearbox Output shaft bearing (the Only on load makes me think its this

WHats the symptoms you have?

 

[Benji]

323ci i had had a battery drain issue.
Mine turned out to be the FSU resister (Hedghog)
Good luck with Hunting that issue as i understand there are a number of other Things that could be the problem.

Humming noises, i also HATE!

Mine has a Humm since doing the 330i swop.
In the process i replaced the DIFF and the sideshafts, GUIBO Centreshaft bearing ...

Its only on Load... pop into Neutral while at any of below speeds and its gone
its heard when you hit 60km/h then goes away
Comes back at 80km/h then goes away
Then its back at 180km/h
over the years, its never gotten worse and i could never figure it out.

only thing left would be the Rear left Trailing Arm bearing as it was from the accident damaged Donor (Rear right was bent so i had to buy a new one.
OR
Was told could be the gearbox Output shaft bearing (the Only on load makes me think its this

WHats the symptoms you have?

I have a new Behr FSR/FSU/hedgehog, will fit it over the weekend and monitor. Just find it weird that it wont drain the battery when I lock the car

Only on load suggests something on the flywheel - gearbox side... Also, only humming at certain speeds suggests an imbalance, a wheel bearing would always humm...

Mine started humming after I replaced the motor...but at the same time, I had to remove my prop when I replaced my clutch etc. Mine hums from about 100kph to about 140, I havent quite tried taking it much faster than that. It feels different to a prop imbalance - just dealt with that on the E39. A prop imbalance is almost a shudder that you can feel and hear. The humming I am getting is cyclical and is something you hear rather than feel which makes me lean toward a bad bearing somewhere

 

[evnmopwr]

I have a new Behr FSR/FSU/hedgehog, will fit it over the weekend and monitor. Just find it weird that it wont drain the battery when I lock the car

Only on load suggests something on the flywheel - gearbox side... Also, only humming at certain speeds suggests an imbalance, a wheel bearing would always humm...

Mine started humming after I replaced the motor...but at the same time, I had to remove my prop when I replaced my clutch etc. Mine hums from about 100kph to about 140, I havent quite tried taking it much faster than that. It feels different to a prop imbalance - just dealt with that on the E39. A prop imbalance is almost a shudder that you can feel and hear. The humming I am getting is cyclical and is something you hear rather than feel which makes me lean toward a bad bearing somewhere

Ahhh ok. yours then sounds simpler than mine. Strange that the noise never got anyworse on mine. Its been like this Since the swop was done.
Yeah cause the Prop on mine was Balanced by DriveShaft center when i done centre bearing, i did not want to do it on the floor. So had them Remove,Balance and fit

I do have New Flywheel/ClutchKit which i bought as Spares when i had everything Apart. I never installed as the Flywheel and clutch on the car still looked Excellent.

But will get things Looked into this year to try and resolve it

 

[Benji]

Ahhh ok. yours then sounds simpler than mine. Strange that the noise never got anyworse on mine. Its been like this Since the swop was done.
Yeah cause the Prop on mine was Balanced by DriveShaft center when i done centre bearing, i did not want to do it on the floor. So had them Remove,Balance and fit

I do have New Flywheel/ClutchKit which i bought as Spares when i had everything Apart. I never installed as the Flywheel and clutch on the car still looked Excellent.

But will get things Looked into this year to try and resolve it

It may be worth double checking the prop balancing...BMW props are apparently difficult to balance....I had a "reputable" shop try balance my E39 twice and still had a hum. Recently took it to another shop who said it was 35g out (should be under 7g) and the hum is gone now

Why did you need to balance the prop? Should never go out of balance unless you took it apart for the centre support and didnt assemble it the way it came apart?

 

[evnmopwr]

It may be worth double checking the prop balancing...BMW props are apparently difficult to balance....I had a "reputable" shop try balance my E39 twice and still had a hum. Recently took it to another shop who said it was 35g out (should be under 7g) and the hum is gone now

Why did you need to balance the prop? Should never go out of balance unless you took it apart for the centre support and didnt assemble it the way it came apart?

Donor Car had Suspension damage. Was a Fellow forum members Coworkers car (his Forum Name was StraightSix if i recall). He put me up on the deal. (I initially just wanted the front bumper. LMAO!)
Went sideways over a pavement But engine mounts were done for and Gearbox Mount bracket was cracked

So i had everything on the running gear checked out/Replaced when i done the swop.
When the swop was done, I heard the Hum but did not worry about it... Once the centre bearing was Shot, I took to Driveshaft Centre and told him about the hum and took on test drive. So we agreed to balance the Prop as that was the only item not seen to