Small update.
This car has been standing in the garage for faaaaar too long.
So this past week it went to Precision Wheel Alignment for both alignment and straightening. Car stayed over night while they worked on it, was erm new to me for this type of work but I know there was quite a bit of work.
I was there earlier the year to inquire about the damage and what parts I need to supply to make the job a success. Personally I suspected both lower and upper control arms having the car jacked up at home, however there were some doubts because the upper arm is big iron cast piece. How could it bend? The owner agreed with me it is best we replace both.
Many thanks to @evnmopwr helping me out on both.
According to Morne at Precision Wheel Alignment, both were indeed bent, the upper arm worse than the lower arm (the thin easily bendable arm). When both the provided upper arm and the one removed from the car was put next to each other, it was clear that the original was bent upwards by a couple for cm.
Replacing the arms (need to drop the whole rear assembly) resolved most of the alignment issues, however the toe was still out with the left rear wheel pointing right. This means, that the car would drive like a crab...sideways. After discussing with me, we agreed to also do straightening.
The result for me is, I can see the wheels at the rear now both point straight with the body of the car and also while driving I can see the car is driving as straight as I have ever seen a second hand e46 drive.
Totally stoked with the service, communication and result after using Precision Wheel Alignment. Will definitely recommend them as well! Thank you @AdiS !
After this car received 2 new tyres at the rear, rear left had a cm deep piece of rubber scraped out all around.
Also needed a new battery unfortunately, put in a brand new 658.
List of things I still need to take care of...
1. Service...it's been a while unfortunately
2. Left rear wheel bearing. Its make a horrible noise now.
3. Need to see what happened with the wiring at the back. Rear left cluster intermittently throw an error and then the LCM doesn't use it. Also the button for the boot doesn't work. I did however sort out the boot not easily closing, was just the 2 rubber plugs I had to adjust.
4. Replace wheel badges. 2 on the right went missing at Alpha Bodyworks (see in photo below).
5. Figure out how to sort out the medical aid kit. It was broken off at Alpha Bodyworks and also returned empty...
This is still however by far the best E46 330i I have ever driven. Smells like a new BMW inside. Still feels like the original luxury car from 2002...smoother than any other 330i I have driven (4 in total). Very happy I kept it in the end. I won't lie...there was a while I was really disappointed with the result of the accident.
Pic of the car back in the driveway
This car has been standing in the garage for faaaaar too long.
So this past week it went to Precision Wheel Alignment for both alignment and straightening. Car stayed over night while they worked on it, was erm new to me for this type of work but I know there was quite a bit of work.
I was there earlier the year to inquire about the damage and what parts I need to supply to make the job a success. Personally I suspected both lower and upper control arms having the car jacked up at home, however there were some doubts because the upper arm is big iron cast piece. How could it bend? The owner agreed with me it is best we replace both.
Many thanks to @evnmopwr helping me out on both.
According to Morne at Precision Wheel Alignment, both were indeed bent, the upper arm worse than the lower arm (the thin easily bendable arm). When both the provided upper arm and the one removed from the car was put next to each other, it was clear that the original was bent upwards by a couple for cm.
Replacing the arms (need to drop the whole rear assembly) resolved most of the alignment issues, however the toe was still out with the left rear wheel pointing right. This means, that the car would drive like a crab...sideways. After discussing with me, we agreed to also do straightening.
The result for me is, I can see the wheels at the rear now both point straight with the body of the car and also while driving I can see the car is driving as straight as I have ever seen a second hand e46 drive.
Totally stoked with the service, communication and result after using Precision Wheel Alignment. Will definitely recommend them as well! Thank you @AdiS !
After this car received 2 new tyres at the rear, rear left had a cm deep piece of rubber scraped out all around.
Also needed a new battery unfortunately, put in a brand new 658.
List of things I still need to take care of...
1. Service...it's been a while unfortunately
2. Left rear wheel bearing. Its make a horrible noise now.
3. Need to see what happened with the wiring at the back. Rear left cluster intermittently throw an error and then the LCM doesn't use it. Also the button for the boot doesn't work. I did however sort out the boot not easily closing, was just the 2 rubber plugs I had to adjust.
4. Replace wheel badges. 2 on the right went missing at Alpha Bodyworks (see in photo below).
5. Figure out how to sort out the medical aid kit. It was broken off at Alpha Bodyworks and also returned empty...
This is still however by far the best E46 330i I have ever driven. Smells like a new BMW inside. Still feels like the original luxury car from 2002...smoother than any other 330i I have driven (4 in total). Very happy I kept it in the end. I won't lie...there was a while I was really disappointed with the result of the accident.
Pic of the car back in the driveway
