E46 330i

[cOlDFuSiOn]

Welcome Bud, coolest intro thread I have seen in a while! :smilebounce:

Damn nice car you have there, all the best! :bravo:

 

[BeemerFanatic]

Welcome, what an awesome color, and great DIY :thumbs:

 

[eearle]

I think the first mod should be a cat delete and golf tee mod.:fencelook:

 

[Divio]

Awesome Post & 330! :smilebounce:

 

[Yuben]

I think the first mod should be a cat delete and golf tee mod.:fencelook:

Golf tee mod yes - easy and cost free
Cat delete- not so easy - the car has 4 cats, 2 are easy to remove under the handbrake, but the other other are on the exhaust manifold and requires new headers if you wanna do it properly. No pint just removing the middle cats and leaving the other 2....

 

[eearle]

I know there are 4 cats, I simply used a 328i exhaust manifold to remove the front two, rear two have freeflow silencers in their place.

 

[Yuben]

I know there are 4 cats, I simply used a 328i exhaust manifold to remove the front two, rear two have freeflow silencers in their place.

I did the exact same, but it is a costly mod and difficult to source 328 headers.

@kyle is busy trying to restore this car by sorting out the major issue first.

IMO, the cat delete is more of a luxury and not a priority:thumbs:

 

[eearle]

Thats funny, I found 328i manifolds in alot of scrapyards and cheap too R500-700 average for a set.

Another option would be viper/tnt manifold instead of the 328i ones but they around double the price and need more work to make them fit correctly.

 

[Kyle]

Thanks guys, really appreciate the kind words raise:

I will definitely add the cooling system refresh as a priority!

Mods will come, but yeah I'd rather fix what's broken first. I'm not a fan of cutting out cats and joining pipes... So I'd rather do a full system the proper way. That being said, I kinda like the fact that the car isn't loud and in your face... Hmm, we'll see.

 

[AdiS]

Thanks guys, really appreciate the kind words raise:

I will definitely add the cooling system refresh as a priority!

Mods will come, but yeah I'd rather fix what's broken first. I'm not a fan of cutting out cats and joining pipes... So I'd rather do a full system the proper way. That being said, I kinda like the fact that the car isn't loud and in your face... Hmm, we'll see.

I think your priorities are correct - maintenance and preventative maintenance. The standard exhaust is really nice, and it's not always easy to make the car sound better. Louder, sure, but not always nicer.

 

[Tinuva]

Thanks guys, really appreciate the kind words raise:

I will definitely add the cooling system refresh as a priority!

Mods will come, but yeah I'd rather fix what's broken first. I'm not a fan of cutting out cats and joining pipes... So I'd rather do a full system the proper way. That being said, I kinda like the fact that the car isn't loud and in your face... Hmm, we'll see.

I think your priorities are correct - maintenance and preventative maintenance. The standard exhaust is really nice, and it's not always easy to make the car sound better. Louder, sure, but not always nicer.

I agree, the golf t mod by itself is the only change that's good, also easy to revert back.

Sent from my MI 5 using Tapatalk

 

[Kyle]

Hi Guys, been a while!

The last few months have been crazy with the arrival of my first born and Ramadhan :smilebounce:

Nothing much has been done on the #3DirtyI, just a few small touches really...

Moving on to some lighting (Work in progress)

Accurate representation of me trying to drive at night currently

Opted to refresh the tired halogen bulbs with LEDs.

First up... Number plate lights, I chose the LED panel option rather than the usual LED bulb in OEM holder, looks much brighter and just a cleaner option to me really....

Before :

Panel up close :

After :

Also changed the interior boot lights (This time I just replaced the halogen bulbs with LEDs)

Parks also got some love

And lastly for now, fogs

Have something cool planned for the headlights which will be posted soon (Hopefully[maybe])

Gave the interior another clean, I really need to sort out the horrible "soft touch" areas soon...

And a random peekaboo

I really need to get my hands on some new fogs and indicators... But she's starting to look much younger... Just waiting on some supplies this week and hopefully will get a chance in the weekend to sort out the headlights.

Thanks for looking! :ty:

 

[PLV]

Loving it! Great stuff Kyle!

Lol - your accurate representation of you driving at night reminds me a lot of my old Z3...

:roflol:

P.S. Congrats on your newborn and belated Eid!

 

[Kyle]

Loving it! Great stuff Kyle!

Lol - your accurate representation of you driving at night reminds me a lot of my old Z3...

:roflol:

P.S. Congrats on your newborn and belated Eid!

Thanks!

 

[Bmw.wp]

And lastly for now, fogs

Have something cool planned for the headlights which will be posted soon (Hopefully[maybe])

Hi Kyle

Love what you doing man keep up the good work. Tell me what type of Led Bulb did you use for the Fogs please. Did i see correctly the Fan type Led Bulb.?

I'm considering a stronger bulb for my Fogs, don't want to Hid my fogs because is think i'll blind oncoming traffic.

Thanks

 

[Kyle]

Hi Kyle

Love what you doing man keep up the good work. Tell me what type of Led Bulb did you use for the Fogs please. Did i see correctly the Fan type Led Bulb.?

I'm considering a stronger bulb for my Fogs, don't want to Hid my fogs because is think i'll blind oncoming traffic.

Thanks

Thanks dude!

They are indeed the fan type... I like that they look like the newer cars in that regard.

I think they're 9006, you can get them from Jabsport for R450 a set.

 

[graan13]

Awesome car, nice find and nice spec! Aegen blue is a really spectacular colour and is epic when clean and polished!!

:bravo::bravo::bravo:

 

[Kyle]

Awesome car, nice find and nice spec! Aegen blue is a really spectacular colour and is epic when clean and polished!!

:bravo::bravo::bravo:

Thanks bud! I'm hoping I get a chance to detail her soon... For now I just try to keep her clean :fencelook:

---

So continuing from my previous update, it was time to sort out the tired looking headlights.... They really can add years to an otherwise clean looking car.

Before:

Removed the headlights and separated the lenses to assess the current condition

Sanded them with the Rupes and some 3M cutting pads (1200 / 1500 / 2000 / 3000) and polished with Gyeon Primer, sealed with GTechniq C1.

Result

Insides were still in great condition..

And then it was time for some fun!

Decided to replace the fogs while I was at it... because...

Wasn't really happy with the finish on the aftermarket surrounds, so they got a coat of matte black for the OEM look.

Before

After

Also replaced the indicators while I was at it, followed by a well deserved bath... Now for the afters :tiptoe:

 

[Riaad]

:drool::drool::drool: really need to get me one of these 330i's :blowheart:

 

[RickyM]

:bravo: