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Read the WELCOME ALL BMWFANATICS post.
My E46 330ci Build
- Thread starter rtayob
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Stripped out the whole Centre console. Was filthy under. Don’t think was ever cleaned. Not Even a little bit
After scrubbing, washing shampooing. Using tooth brushes, cloths, even ear buds to get to the hard places, I got it nice and clean.
Can’t seem to find the pics of the Centre console itself, there was like sticky sticky brown stuff inside with coins and other junk stuck solid on it. Took the whole console for a few good long baths and scrubs. Used earbuds again to remove the muck. Then Used acetone to strip the pealing and scratched Rubberizing off. Was thinking of plasti dipping it. But then went with a few coats of Matt black paint with a couple coats of clear lacquer over it.
Will post pics if I find it.
Oh and an additional cost that I forgot to add to my list of increasing costs. dropped 2 iPhones in the bucket while washing the Centre console. From my top pocket. IPhone 6s and IPhone 5s. Within an hour of each other. Clumsy, I know. Still so sad about that. 6s now an expensive ornament.
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Trimming on dash, steering wheel and gear cover were scratched and in terrible condition. So removed them, cleaned, sanded and resprayed silver with a clear coat.
Missing some pics though of the dash after I removed the trimmings. Was filthy as well. Cleaned and polished the dash with vinyl cleaner.
After my home DIY spray job. Not perfect. But much better then it was. But I got some vinyl carbon fibre in white / silver that I’m thinking of wrapping all the trimmings in. Not sure. What you guys think ?
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rtayob said:
I am a bit confused. Did your 330ci come with these trim panels in plastic and painted silver?
In my white 330i they came in as aluminum trim panels. In the other it came in actual wood. The 318i I sold had plastic trim panels.
This now makes me wonder if the car had to be ordered with the aluminum or wood as an extra over the plastic.
ps. Looks a lot better now !
[/quote]
I am a bit confused. Did your 330ci come with these trim panels in plastic and painted silver?
In my white 330i they came in as aluminum trim panels. In the other it came in actual wood. The 318i I sold had plastic trim panels.
This now makes me wonder if the car had to be ordered with the aluminum or wood as an extra over the plastic.
ps. Looks a lot better now !
[/quote]
It came in plastic. Even my brothers 330i also plastic. And my wife’s 318i also plastic if I’m not mistake. I think you might be right about it’s coming as an additional extra that you had to order.
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I am a bit confused. Did your 330ci come with these trim panels in plastic and painted silver?
In my white 330i they came in as aluminum trim panels. In the other it came in actual wood. The 318i I sold had plastic trim panels.
This now makes me wonder if the car had to be ordered with the aluminum or wood as an extra over the plastic.
ps. Looks a lot better now !
[/quote]
It came in plastic. Even my brothers 330i also plastic. And my wife’s 318i also plastic if I’m not mistake. I think you might be right about it’s coming as an additional extra that you had to order.
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Replacement keys and Receiver.
Old update. and story.
So after shaking on the deal, we meet at the bank the next day to arrange the payment and take ownership of the car. After everthing concluded, i am walking toward the CI and pressing the unlock button, car does not lock. Told the seller, he tells me it doesnt work. Told him he never told me about that, he apologises. My own fault for not checking before the payment. But what could i do. Deal was done. I started doing home work, took it a key guy. He tested another key. Nothing, said the GM5 module needs to be replaced. So started hunting for one of those. Hard to come by. Found a place in the states that reconditions them. So before I went the GM5 route, I decided to try and replace the receiver. On the verts, the receiver is in the rear view mirror. Managed to find a replacement mirror at Beemow. And low and behold, it worked on another remote. But MY acutual key, still not working. So stripped the key and found the battery connector that soldered onto the board is broken. I ordered a new rechargable battery from RS Components and found a shop that could re solder the battery on. It worked, only thing is because of the re solder, the board could not fit anymore. I kept that one away just incase and had 2 new keys made for the car. Now the keys are hundred percent.
Old Key repaired
Brand spanking new key.
And the other new key is with car with Gizmo.
Old update. and story.
So after shaking on the deal, we meet at the bank the next day to arrange the payment and take ownership of the car. After everthing concluded, i am walking toward the CI and pressing the unlock button, car does not lock. Told the seller, he tells me it doesnt work. Told him he never told me about that, he apologises. My own fault for not checking before the payment. But what could i do. Deal was done. I started doing home work, took it a key guy. He tested another key. Nothing, said the GM5 module needs to be replaced. So started hunting for one of those. Hard to come by. Found a place in the states that reconditions them. So before I went the GM5 route, I decided to try and replace the receiver. On the verts, the receiver is in the rear view mirror. Managed to find a replacement mirror at Beemow. And low and behold, it worked on another remote. But MY acutual key, still not working. So stripped the key and found the battery connector that soldered onto the board is broken. I ordered a new rechargable battery from RS Components and found a shop that could re solder the battery on. It worked, only thing is because of the re solder, the board could not fit anymore. I kept that one away just incase and had 2 new keys made for the car. Now the keys are hundred percent.
Old Key repaired
Brand spanking new key.
And the other new key is with car with Gizmo.
applehero said:
Thanks man. I got it somewhere here in my mess. Need to look for it and pop it on.
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And 23 months later I found the hens tooth
Delivered to me today. The correct mirror with the correct connectors. And looks like Bmw upgraded the flat ribbon cable to a thick ribbon with the same connectors.
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MSLVIN003 said:
Good guess. You spot on. But I think I passed the 80% mark now. The cost don’t creep up, they hit you smack in the face.
I wonder if I’ll ever get my costs back if I decide to sell the car. Hopefully won’t have to sell, after all the time and money spent but just a thought.
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My brother convinced me with the same thing. Said it will be an investment and the price on these things will only increase in time as the facelift ones are a classic and will be hard to find.
So hopefully once it’s back from gizmo, with all repairs and future maintenance being done one time, I can start enjoying it
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So hopefully once it’s back from gizmo, with all repairs and future maintenance being done one time, I can start enjoying it
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rtayob said:My brother convinced me with the same thing. Said it will be an investment and the price on these things will only increase in time as the facelift ones are a classic and will be hard to find.
So hopefully once it’s back from gizmo, with all repairs and future maintenance being done one time, I can start enjoying it
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It's not a classic nor a investment.
It's very much a hum drum BMW cabrio with a nice engine and a automatic transmission, produced in the 10000's. Calling it a investment is not wise. It's a nice car, not a investment. People seem to confuse the two.
A investment would be a manual in a sought after individual color with low millage, but again there is the M3 and that is the investment one but again only one that is not shagged.
While the car is still at Gizmo have him look at the battery tray. Lots of places break the bolt/rod that retains the battery.
Given the general neglect the car has suffered how is the roof systems? Operating smoothly and reasonably silent? Did you do any from of PPI on the car or just saw the add paid the money and then figured out you pulled a Hoovie?
But don't feel bad if all it cost you is 140k to buy and fix you are 100s. You could have purchased one for 140 and still had to drop another 40-50k in it.
MSLVIN003 said:
That’s sound like a top idea. Might be awhile though, I think it’s a still awhile to go. But will keep you posted. I think what I might do is take my E46 318i to him and pick up the 330ci once everything is done.
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Rotinaj said:rtayob said:My brother convinced me with the same thing. Said it will be an investment and the price on these things will only increase in time as the facelift ones are a classic and will be hard to find.
So hopefully once it’s back from gizmo, with all repairs and future maintenance being done one time, I can start enjoying it
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It's not a classic nor a investment.
It's very much a hum drum BMW cabrio with a nice engine and a automatic transmission, produced in the 10000's. Calling it a investment is not wise. It's a nice car, not a investment. People seem to confuse the two.
A investment would be a manual in a sought after individual color with low millage, but again there is the M3 and that is the investment one but again only one that is not shagged.
While the car is still at Gizmo have him look at the battery tray. Lots of places break the bolt/rod that retains the battery.
Given the general neglect the car has suffered how is the roof systems? Operating smoothly and reasonably silent? Did you do any from of PPI on the car or just saw the add paid the money and then figured out you pulled a Hoovie?
But don't feel bad if all it cost you is 140k to buy and fix you are 100s. You could have purchased one for 140 and still had to drop another 40-50k in it.
I guess you right. Just hoping that if I do end up in a situation, which i hope not to, then at least I can get my cost back.
The cloth roof is 100 %. Works perfectly. Haven’t had any issues with it. The hard top I bought separately. Hood lining sagging abit on some parts of the hard top.
Was my first car purchase that I did on my own. Lesson learnt. Saw the advert, called the guy, went to see the car and test drove it. Seller told me about the 1 or 2 problems that the car has and believed him. And then figured out later how work the car actually needed. Maybe he was aware of them or maybe he wasn’t. So for now I’ll just give him the benefit. But it was really school fees, I leaned more about an E46 with the car then what I learned in my whole life.
Thanks man. I’m trying to console myself with the same words, what if I ended up buying a more expensive one and still ended spending on it. so hoping that once all done the car will be 100%. And can enjoy it for a long time to come.
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Don't leave the roof folded for extended periods of time, it screws the canvas completely. (IE hardtop is not to left on indefinitely).
The glass window, no matter what the shop says if that gets busted you will need a new canvas. BMW you are gonna pay 70k plus Ebay will get you a top for 20k.
Don't let any ass fiddle with the hydraulics on the roof.
The little motor that operates the latch comes in two forms. One that has broken and one that has been replaced. When you hear a odd clicking/skipping gear noise it's that. 3K from the dealers, DIY swap.
The glass window, no matter what the shop says if that gets busted you will need a new canvas. BMW you are gonna pay 70k plus Ebay will get you a top for 20k.
Don't let any ass fiddle with the hydraulics on the roof.
The little motor that operates the latch comes in two forms. One that has broken and one that has been replaced. When you hear a odd clicking/skipping gear noise it's that. 3K from the dealers, DIY swap.
Rotinaj said:
Thanks for the heads up. Would like to build a harness one day for the hard top. But that’s in the long long term future. For now will leave it on garage floor.
The problem also with keeping the canvas folded in the boot is that you loose a fair amount of boot space so I prefer the soft top Plus I think the soft top looks better
Ouch. That’s a lot man. Hope I never need to replace it.
So far haven’t had any need for someone to work on the hydraulics, but will defiantly keep it mind to have it done properly if need be.
So far no clicking / skipping gear noise that I can recall. But nice info to keep on hand as well.
Any advice on maintenance for the roof that should now and then ?
More progress with pictures.
Diff seals replaced both sides and re installed in the car with a diff oil top up as the oil was still clean, just needed a top up.
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