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Read the WELCOME ALL BMWFANATICS post.
Nirvash - E46 323ci coupe - Alpine White
- Thread starter nirvash
- Start date
nirvash
Well-known member
SylisM said:
thank you
i am planning on doing lights at some stage next year, not only for the look but also because i have bad night vision and the e46 lights arnt the best to start of with
would love to do a HID conversion
got my wheels fitted today, and i really like how they look, the style is very simple and subtle, suite the car very well, they just need to be spaced right with some spacers, will be doing that as soon as i can afford to, especially going from the e39 fitment style 42's which sit straight flush in line with the fenders. then also and h&r drop soon after that
i thought 8j et46 would sit a bit more flush, the fronts are not bad, but the rears theres huge gap, i guess its also the look because they arnt staggered
going to wash the car tomorrow or friday then take some nice pics,
will also start with some of the red interior parts tomorrow
here are some pics
nirvash
Well-known member
hi all,
some updates on my car:
still enjoying it very much, 162 000kms now
-i installed the red m3 interior myself, used all the old body panel clips so there are a few tiny rattles and squeaks, super annoying, so going to get new clips at some point and redo it:blueCry:
the car is dirty inside and out at the moment but will take some pics of it soon,
much nicer then the dull grey, but now with the red, black and grey carpet/dash it is quite visually busy inside,
will sort out the dash carpet and other grey plastic bits some day and get them in black,
still very happy with it and it goes nicely with the white, still cant believe what i paid for the interior
-next up i bought some wheel spacers from Moranor Axis to get my style 109 wheels sitting right, 30mm DRA bolt to hub spacers for the rear, and 15mm Axis spacers and extended bolts for the front
-no pics of the spacers fitted because the day i got them i decided that im going to repaint and refurbish my wheels, myself
times are tough and i didnt feel like paying someone else to do it,
also i wanted to learn myself,
i think the colour will suite the car nicely and once the car is lower will look great
below is a pic of the colour and my first wheel i sprayed,
almost finished, just got one more to do,
using rattle cans not a spray gun
Rust-Oleum FTW
-last on the list is to get 330i disks to match the 330i axles, calipers, textar pads, Hel braided hoses thats i got for the car a while back, and get it all fitted, hopefully soon
-then also a cooling system refresh after the above is done
some updates on my car:
still enjoying it very much, 162 000kms now
-i installed the red m3 interior myself, used all the old body panel clips so there are a few tiny rattles and squeaks, super annoying, so going to get new clips at some point and redo it:blueCry:
the car is dirty inside and out at the moment but will take some pics of it soon,
much nicer then the dull grey, but now with the red, black and grey carpet/dash it is quite visually busy inside,
will sort out the dash carpet and other grey plastic bits some day and get them in black,
still very happy with it and it goes nicely with the white, still cant believe what i paid for the interior
-next up i bought some wheel spacers from Moranor Axis to get my style 109 wheels sitting right, 30mm DRA bolt to hub spacers for the rear, and 15mm Axis spacers and extended bolts for the front
-no pics of the spacers fitted because the day i got them i decided that im going to repaint and refurbish my wheels, myself
times are tough and i didnt feel like paying someone else to do it,
also i wanted to learn myself,
i think the colour will suite the car nicely and once the car is lower will look great
below is a pic of the colour and my first wheel i sprayed,
almost finished, just got one more to do,
using rattle cans not a spray gun
Rust-Oleum FTW
-last on the list is to get 330i disks to match the 330i axles, calipers, textar pads, Hel braided hoses thats i got for the car a while back, and get it all fitted, hopefully soon
-then also a cooling system refresh after the above is done
nirvash
Well-known member
hey all,
small update,
i have my newly sprayed (by myself) wheel on the car now with the spacers on that i got from Moranor, had them on for about a month, got some rubbing at the rear:blueCry:
i cant understand it, the style 42's i had on rubbed a little in the front, with the new spacers my current wheels should be 10mm narrower then my old setup, but they rub much more now in the rear...:hammerhead: old wheels, 8j et 20 F 9j et 26 rear, 225/45/17 all round, new setup 8j et 46 all round, 15mm spacers front 30mm rear....:hammerhead:
i really like the colour,
i painted them with Rust Oleum
anyhow, will take some nice pics soon
small update,
i have my newly sprayed (by myself) wheel on the car now with the spacers on that i got from Moranor, had them on for about a month, got some rubbing at the rear:blueCry:
i cant understand it, the style 42's i had on rubbed a little in the front, with the new spacers my current wheels should be 10mm narrower then my old setup, but they rub much more now in the rear...:hammerhead: old wheels, 8j et 20 F 9j et 26 rear, 225/45/17 all round, new setup 8j et 46 all round, 15mm spacers front 30mm rear....:hammerhead:
i really like the colour,
i painted them with Rust Oleum
anyhow, will take some nice pics soon
sash
///Member
Looks good, i like it
I think the difference might that on the 9 j you had more stretch which meant the thread of the tyre sat more inward toward the the suspension, but with new wheel, there's less stretch.
I had a similar conundrum when I had 8.5 j with 275 width tyres, it touched enough to annoy me, when I changed to 265 tyres, problem sorted. I then went to a 9j wheel , more aggressive offset, essentially 10mm further out and left me where I was with the 8.5j, 275 setup, this time with the same 265 tyre, not a days issue
I think the difference might that on the 9 j you had more stretch which meant the thread of the tyre sat more inward toward the the suspension, but with new wheel, there's less stretch.
I had a similar conundrum when I had 8.5 j with 275 width tyres, it touched enough to annoy me, when I changed to 265 tyres, problem sorted. I then went to a 9j wheel , more aggressive offset, essentially 10mm further out and left me where I was with the 8.5j, 275 setup, this time with the same 265 tyre, not a days issue
nirvash
Well-known member
sash said:
that could very well be it! didnt even think of that with the tyre being less stretched:hammerhead:
thanks for your insight,
@Gizmo,
thanks, ya i know what you mean with the jdm style, the colour and style of the wheels both add to that,
yes been wanting to do the window trim black for ages now, also a tint,
i first need to get a passenger side window trim piece cause mine has a very small buckle/dent in it, its the pice that sits on/along the door at the bottom of the window if anyone knows of one
can wait to get the 330i brakes on the car, mine are in need of a change..
michael.joseph
Active member
Coming along very nicely
:clapper:
:clapper:
Sabretooth tiger
///Member
Looks good bud, although a set of CSL reps will look even better. :clapper:
nirvash
Well-known member
so here is an update,
been quite a while since my last one,
firstly, some maintenance was done:
cooling system overhaul
new radiator
new radiator hoses
new expansion tank
new thermostat
new water pump
then i also finally got my e46 330i brakes installed,
330i calipers all round
textar pads
hel braided lines
febi disks if im not mistaken
they brakes are such a huge improvement of the stock 323ci brakes, there is plenty of stopping force now, just if my car was fast enough to make use of it all...:hammerhead:
they also fill the 17inch wheels perfectly
very happy
then,
i started working on my self made csl boot, ive got further with it and its looking quite good, but i just need to take some new photos
(definitely easier to just buy one but its a fun project)
i then did a number plate holder delete as well
a while ago i did the imola interior, door panels, rear quarter panels, back seats and front seats. there was too much contrast with the grey, red and black, and since i wasnt going to go through the effort of a full black interior swap to compliment the imola parts, i decided to change back to the grey door panels and quarter panels with just the red seats front and rear, it looks much better then with the black and red panels in my opinion.
lastly, i have decided to go white with the wheels instead of the bronze, very interested to see how it comes out
the car is filthy at the moment, cape town water crisis and all, so as a result ive also let the interior cleanliness go a bit as i cant wash my car, i plan on giving it a good clean soon though with some collected water, and give the interior a good clean, its actually embarrassing at the moment, and with the effort ive put in with the other stuff it just really needs a good clean now,
im really enjoying the car, the auto is nice for traffic, but im really missing a manual:blueCry: i think im going to keep this car for a while, daily it for a while longer and then maybe turn it into a bit of a weekend toy:rollsmile: and get something cheap and economical to daily, times are just tough right now though. thoughts down the line are maybe a manual conversion, and a m52b28tu or m54b20 swap, maybe forced induction, maybe just crazy engine conversion (any thoughts?), who knows...
im always surprised that with the age and following these cars have, that there are almost no cost effective power solutions, it always seems like no matter what i research the answer is always trade up to m3... but that aside as thats a debate thats gone on forever, and i am not going to get an M, what options are there really, more specifically locally here?
also suspension overhaul as soon as i can afford,
more (cleaner) updates to follow soon,
been quite a while since my last one,
firstly, some maintenance was done:
cooling system overhaul
new radiator
new radiator hoses
new expansion tank
new thermostat
new water pump
then i also finally got my e46 330i brakes installed,
330i calipers all round
textar pads
hel braided lines
febi disks if im not mistaken
they brakes are such a huge improvement of the stock 323ci brakes, there is plenty of stopping force now, just if my car was fast enough to make use of it all...:hammerhead:
they also fill the 17inch wheels perfectly
very happy
then,
i started working on my self made csl boot, ive got further with it and its looking quite good, but i just need to take some new photos
(definitely easier to just buy one but its a fun project)
i then did a number plate holder delete as well
a while ago i did the imola interior, door panels, rear quarter panels, back seats and front seats. there was too much contrast with the grey, red and black, and since i wasnt going to go through the effort of a full black interior swap to compliment the imola parts, i decided to change back to the grey door panels and quarter panels with just the red seats front and rear, it looks much better then with the black and red panels in my opinion.
lastly, i have decided to go white with the wheels instead of the bronze, very interested to see how it comes out
the car is filthy at the moment, cape town water crisis and all, so as a result ive also let the interior cleanliness go a bit as i cant wash my car, i plan on giving it a good clean soon though with some collected water, and give the interior a good clean, its actually embarrassing at the moment, and with the effort ive put in with the other stuff it just really needs a good clean now,
im really enjoying the car, the auto is nice for traffic, but im really missing a manual:blueCry: i think im going to keep this car for a while, daily it for a while longer and then maybe turn it into a bit of a weekend toy:rollsmile: and get something cheap and economical to daily, times are just tough right now though. thoughts down the line are maybe a manual conversion, and a m52b28tu or m54b20 swap, maybe forced induction, maybe just crazy engine conversion (any thoughts?), who knows...
im always surprised that with the age and following these cars have, that there are almost no cost effective power solutions, it always seems like no matter what i research the answer is always trade up to m3... but that aside as thats a debate thats gone on forever, and i am not going to get an M, what options are there really, more specifically locally here?
also suspension overhaul as soon as i can afford,
more (cleaner) updates to follow soon,
nirvash
Well-known member
AshG108 said:
thanks!
i must say that ive always been a fan of the style 32's, e46s look so great with them like you mention,
alsy in the e39 staggered fitment with a bit of like and aggressive fitment on the e46 it looks so great, but the e36/e46 fitment ones also look super dope.
dont know if these are the pictures you are referring to but it makes me drool and fall in love the the e46 to,
and i love that aero kit, wish i could find it in S.A....
cant someone find me one of those aero kit spoilers locally pleeeeeaaase!!?!?!
nirvash
Well-known member
momo1 said:
i love black or space grey with tan, looks great, white and red does go very nicely together as well. i was basically just looking for some e46 m3 seats and found that imola interior at a great price so bought everything, the grey and red isnt the best but not bad at all, i like it, and much better then the very "dull" pure grey interior. like mentioned i think it looks much better now without the red/black door panels.
i do plan on doing something about the wood trim, i wanted to buy the m cube trim that @blueshirt is selling, but only the front pieces will work, not even the gear shift surround, so had to pass on it sadly
:thumbdo:
AshG108
///Member
bro, here you go....go get em!!!
https://www.bmwfanatics.co.za/showthread.php?tid=82086
OEM style 32 in 17 inch...
there we go bro: https://www.bmwfanatics.co.za/showthread.php?tid=82086
https://www.bmwfanatics.co.za/showthread.php?tid=82086
OEM style 32 in 17 inch...
there we go bro: https://www.bmwfanatics.co.za/showthread.php?tid=82086
