My E46 325i Build

[Inactive]

Hi All,

I have made a decision to start this thread because of some of the replies and PMs I have received.
I bought this 325i in December last year. Originally I bought it for my daughter (no you can not have pictures of her) but after doing some work on it and the performance increase I decided it may not be a good first car for her. i then thought I would sell it and had a few tire kickers with some really dumb remarks like it doesnt have a medical kit or the brand of tyres is not one of the bigger brands blah blah blah.
I then thought I would boost it. Having raced turbo cars in the past I thought I would do that but when I found out I would have to sacrifice my aircon I decided I would rather super charge it and do a few other mods. And yes I could buy a 330i and modify that or just buy a M3 but I have this car, it costs nothing to run and instead of spending another XX amount on a new car, i thought I would make this one into a fun toy. The target power is around the 250kw at the wheels mark.

This is the start of that project which will probably take me around a year or hopefully sooner to complete. I have already been speaking to some of the sponsors on this forum getting advice etc and who i will be supporting as much as possible.
Here is a picture of the car when I first saw it.....

 

[moranor@axis]

this will be awesome :rollsmile:

 

[Inactive]

I will update this thread as things happen but you will have to be patient. You are also welcome to offer advice and criticism and ask questions as it happens.

First steps which I have done already:
Fix all the typical faults that occur on a vehicle of this age. Some of it is preventative and some of it was necessary.

So far I have done:
Lower control arm bushes
3 window mechanisms
Aircon final stage resistor
Changed the tape radio for a BMW CD Radio
Water pump
Thermostat and housing
Coolant piping
Full service with all filters and plugs
Window tinting
Replace some of the faded plastic panels. (A pillar interior covers on order, bottom windscreen outside plastic cover replaced)
And some elbow grease to try and polish it but I would still like to get it professionally detailed at a later stage.

Here is what she looks like now. Still standard. Brownie points for anyone that comes up with a suitable name for her.

 

[Sabretooth tiger]

subscribed and excited:excited:

 

[Prev]

Quick Silver :rollsmile:

 

[Maniac469]

Wow.......loving your passion for the build....I'm excited myself...keep us posted.

 

[Taro325]

subscribed and excited:excited:

+1 :thumbs:

 

[Crash_Nemesis]

I think she should inherit the silver wolf title... as my 323i supercharged was called silver wolf.. now she's silver snail...

Pitty we did not meet before I took the supercharger out, you could have got a chance to see the difference in performance between your 325i vs the supercharged 323i, which I'm sure you know is also a 2.5 litre.

None the less, good luck with the build, and when we start moving the supercharger into my M3, you are welcome to come take a look and pick our brains for your build.

Good luck man:thumbs:

 

[hiltonfa]

Looking forward to the end result :thumbs:

 

[Inactive]

This weekend I did some cleaning up. Nothing too exciting, but here is what I did:

A few months ago I ordered some M emblems for the wheels as 3 were missing. Cost R36 including postage:



I also fitted a center arm rest although I need to replace the cup holder as the clips have been broken so it doesn't fit snugly. Cost R200 scrap yard:



I also removed the A pillar covers as they were a bit faded and wrinkled at the bottom. I have some on order from BMW Northcliff so hopefully they will arrive this week. Cost R839.20 each:



I also ordered some new interior carpets from BMW which will also arrive this week. cost: R631.91.

Next I need to visit Burgy for some BMW badges for the bonnet and boot lid as mine are looking a bit tatty. I am also looking at suspension options at the moment to improve the handling and look.

Another thing I am also looking at is performance options. One of the things I am seriously thinking about is buying a 330i motor (which I have found already) putting it on an engine stand at home and rebuilding it over the next X amount of time so that it can withstand high boost and possibly gas also although I do not want to build another drag queen..