First time BMW owner (and loving it)

[TonesR17]

Hey Guys,
Took delivery of my very first BMW a little more than a week ago, and boy, what a car. It is a 2004 E46 330i manual with a little over 153 000km's on the clock. Was able to get a sort of a job history on the car from a BMW specialist in my area that previously worked on the car and is glad to know that some of the crucial elements known to fail on these cars have already been attended to in the last year.

Looking forward to spending a lot more time with this car as I think that I might be getting addicted to that in-line 6 sound!

Any advice on these cars or references to people on this forum that knows their way around them will be highly appreciated

 

[AndreX]

Welcome and beautiful car:bravo:

 

[that_guy_Ettiene]

Welcome!

Awesome car you've got there.
Any preventive maintenance and/or upgrades planned?

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[TonesR17]

Welcome!

Awesome car you've got there.
Any preventive maintenance and/or upgrades planned?

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Thanks!!!
The expansion tank was replaced last year March. The car is due for an oil service in around 4000km's. Will use this opportunity to have the car thoroughly inspected to see exactly where I am.

As far as upgrades are concerned: I am actually one who appreciates the OEM look of a car, other wise any additions to looks will have to be very low key. I will definitely consider removing the catalytic converter (not sure if it has 1 or 2) and then also I would be open to swops for the wheels as I would much rather go for the stock BMW style 119 17's.

Please do feel free if you have any info or advise you can share w.r.t upgrades!

 

[that_guy_Ettiene]

Yeah don't mess with the car too much, they are almost perfect as daily cars.

I'm doing poly bushes, coilovers and strut bars front and rear and maybe exhaust as upgrades on mine.

Maybe check your shock towers front and rear for damage and order some reinforcement plates.

Have a look at my thread for my 330i.



Oh, these cars have catalytic converters in the headers as well as secondary cats downstream



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[Gizmo]

As a first time BMW owner you couldn't have made a better choice of car, welcome to the club!:bravo:

Was my wife's first BMW too. She still misses that car.

 

[cOlDFuSiOn]

Welcome! Very nice 330i you have there! All the best enjoy! :bravo:

 

[ZaynM]

Congrats on a great car, and welcome to the Forum!

 

[maleven-GP]

Nice and clean.. Congrats

 

[corp]

Nice car. Looks very neat. I am impressed how good these can still look if one finds a clean example.


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[Gizmo]

Nice car. Looks very neat. I am impressed how good these can still look if one finds a clean example.


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Agreed. Grey is like the second hardest E46 interior to keep clean, beige being the worst.

 

[michael.joseph]

Welcome and congrats man.

She looks to be in a really good condition. And those wheels suite the e46 surprisingly well.

Many safe miles ahead

:thumbs:

 

[TonesR17]

I managed to walk into the previous owner by chance today. We had n quick chat and is pleased to share that he also only had good stories to share about the car.

Let's just say that the claim of these cars being the first non-M BMW's to be limited to 250km/h is true!

The longer I own it, the more I am lovin it!!!!

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[SylisM]

Congrats and welcome to the forum mate.
Your car is looking pretty good, may you have many safe and trouble free jams with her.

 

[///Avi]

Congrats!:bravo:

 

[Shuaib1]

Welcome & Congrats, car looks good :bravo:

 

[KPM3_30]

Lovely choice for a first BMW! I agree that the style 119's would look great, actually my favourite factory wheel on the exclusive pack.. Have a look at the cooling system, the DISA valve and gaskets (tappet cover, oil filter housing, etc). Best mod in my opinion is a branch and full free-flow system, the other option would be to get rid of the cats and fit a resonator, if you aren't a fan of the raspy tone (think e46 M3, at high rev).

Congrats on a fine specimen.. Very clean car! Is this the same one from Automark Toyota?

 

[Tjoppies]

wow!!!

what a find! :bravo:

 

[TonesR17]

Lovely choice for a first BMW! I agree that the style 119's would look great, actually my favourite factory wheel on the exclusive pack.. Have a look at the cooling system, the DISA valve and gaskets (tappet cover, oil filter housing, etc). Best mod in my opinion is a branch and full free-flow system, the other option would be to get rid of the cats and fit a resonator, if you aren't a fan of the raspy tone (think e46 M3, at high rev).

Congrats on a fine specimen.. Very clean car! Is this the same one from Automark Toyota?

Thanks for the advice, much appreciated. Yes, bought it at Vaal Toyota Sasolburg.

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[yush1]

Great example of a well looked after car. These motors are know to be quite reliable as well and they sound fantastic, especially on start-up. All the best :bravo: