325ti Advice wanted

[garyk007]

Hi everyone

As the owner of 4 BMW's I think I know what "Sheer driving pleasure" is.

As I get older I wanted to tackle a rebuild.

My car of choice an e46 M3, but my wallets choice is a 325ti.
I love the shape and straight 6 motor.

I was hoping I could gain some advice on where to pickup parts in SA for BMW's

Paying BMW dealer pricing will kill off my project before I start.

To be honest I am really at the start as I am still looking for a 325ti in JHB as the base of my project car.

I was thinking of a 318ti and swapping the motor, but for a first project I think that might be a bit much.

Would love to hear every ones advice and insights.

Also if anyone knows of a 325ti going please shout.

Gary

 

[Nikhil]

Why dont you find a rolling Ti chassis and do a swap with M3 running gear? Was a white one around a few years ago with that setup, sleeper of note

 

[garyk007]

To be honest I enjoy watching sleeper videos on youtube, but my personal preference is to restore a car to its original or as close to original condition as possible.

Plenty of 318ti around but not many 325ti, well not in JHB anyway, seems like most of the 325ti are in CT

Not much of a help during lockdown

 

[individj]

buy a rough 325ti with high mileage or stuffed motor and pop a 330i engine in it....restore it as a 330ti with sport kit and OEM 19" wheels. Thats what i would do.....my personal opinion.....if you want to buy something to fix up to factory and not a //M then maybe do a an E46 330ci

 

[gumpertapolloss]

The 325ti basically has all the normal e46 parts as sedans and touring models, so parts can be sourced at Goldwagen, Imcomex, Midas etc.....

Body parts is the difficult part.

Try and look for one that doesn't need any body parts and needs some general mechanical maintenance. Rear trailing arm bushes, diff bushes and gearbox bushes as a well known failure point on the compact models. Shock mounts as well. Apart from that, it is usual E46 maintenance and they do drive really well once all the small bits are sorted.

Sent from my VOG-L09 using Tapatalk

 

[garyk007]

Any advice on buying a 318ti, and swapping the engine for a 325 or 330i

Is it simply a swap, or is the gearbox and bell housing and diff completely different between the two?

Also what involved from a registration point of view with regards to an engine swap with the licensing department?

 

[individj]

Any advice on buying a 318ti, and swapping the engine for a 325 or 330i

Is it simply a swap, or is the gearbox and bell housing and diff completely different between the two?

Also what involved from a registration point of view with regards to an engine swap with the licensing department?

my advice was a 325ti as a base so you can swap the engine in..318 needs everything. 
you update it with police clearance on new engine

---

but listen...if you're not really familiar with doing this its going to take ages and cost a lot....maybe just buy a car that needs a refresh...no engine swaps etc...just fix it up.

 

[garyk007]

Yes that was the plan, but 325ti seem to be rare in Gauteng. Plenty in KZN and CT

Guess I will keep looking

Just wondering is there a way of checking if a vehicle is stolen without having to go to SAPS?

Doubt I will find a car of this age and value at a dealer, so I need to make sure I am not buying a stolen car.

 

[TBP88]

The typical rule is to build something you can't buy.

So I'd say that for the expense/mission of swapping a 318ti to a 325ti you'd be better off just buying a 325ti and spending dosh refreshing it and making it clean.

Or get a rough 318ti and swap an m54b30 or S54 or something special in to make it unique, and not just a frankenstein of what BMW already made.