Tinuva's facelifted Alpine White E46 330i

[KPM3_30]

Looking good bud!

I see you opted for Style 359's (1M/M3 rep), instead of the Style 127's (CSL rep)... I was in the same boat as you when deciding on the wheel change and opted for Style 127, due to it being period correct.

That being said, I have changed back to the Style 44's and I am loving the car more than ever now. I will not be changing the wheels again.

Will be selling my CSL reps in the near future, just waiting for another set to arrive for the x35i.

 

[Gizmo]

I think I like the original wheels more. The new wheels are missing something, concave.

I like them as well, but I have to get them repaired, 3 of the 5 wheels are buckled from the previous owners driving through potholes in Durban :blueCry:

They are really tough wheels so once fixed they will be perfect again.

 

[Tinuva]

Car reached it's first big milestone in September 2017 when me and the wife went on a road trip to the Franschhoek Uncorked festival. Was a beautiful time of the year driving through the town and also enjoying the 330i at the same time. Apart from the long trip down from Durban, this was probably the longest trip since buying the car.


Just before:

Switchover: (note, the emergency lights are on which is why both arrows green)

 

[Nobz330i]

Wow this is impressive... I'm Shocked more because of the age of the car.

 

[Tinuva]

Wow this is impressive... I'm Shocked more because of the age of the car.

You are not the onlye one. But, this car did less than 10'000km in the first 5 years of it's life, then for the next 10 years it went from 10'000 to 75'000 +-.

With me alone, it did more than 10'000 already in a few months. I drive a lot!

 

[Nobz330i]

Hahaha I see wow.

 

[AshleyCyster]

I think I like the original wheels more. The new wheels are missing something, concave.

I like them as well, but I have to get them repaired, 3 of the 5 wheels are buckled from the previous owners driving through potholes in Durban :blueCry:

Hi really like your 330i, bought one recently as well...new to the car scene....also would pike to repair my wheels. Can u please refer me to a place? Thanks

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[Tinuva]

I think I like the original wheels more. The new wheels are missing something, concave.

I like them as well, but I have to get them repaired, 3 of the 5 wheels are buckled from the previous owners driving through potholes in Durban :blueCry:

Hi really like your 330i, bought one recently as well...new to the car scene....also would pike to repair my wheels. Can u please refer me to a place? Thanks

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Depends on where you located. I have had some suggestions for Cape Town, I drove down my 330i from Durban to Cape Town.

 

[AshleyCyster]

I think I like the original wheels more. The new wheels are missing something, concave.

I like them as well, but I have to get them repaired, 3 of the 5 wheels are buckled from the previous owners driving through potholes in Durban :blueCry:

Hi really like your 330i, bought one recently as well...new to the car scene....also would pike to repair my wheels. Can u please refer me to a place? Thanks

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Depends on where you located. I have had some suggestions for Cape Town, I drove down my 330i from Durban to Cape Town.

Located here in Cape Town

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[Bmw.wp]

Wheelworx they did some good work on my white elipsoids. :thumbs:

 

[AshleyCyster]

Wheelworx they did some good work on my white elipsoids. :thumbs:

Thank you

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[Tinuva]

So its time I add some updates here. Starting with what happened in November 2017.

Booked the car in at Garage808 to replace the Rear Diff Bush with a polyurethanethe one, and also the clutch input cylinder with one that support the clutch switch. Car drives much better after these 2 minor (for me at least :smilebounce: - doubt the rear diff is easy diy). Super happy with the result.

Since I didn't do this work, here are random photos of joining the fanatics breakfast run 26 November 2017.

(yes 2 of us lost the group and then waited here to rejoin)

Then I made a minor change, by changing the rear number plate lights to LED versions. The new cold white light look fit with the rest of the lights on the car, where the front lights are cold white being xenon, but also the spots are cold white.

Before:

After:

Then early December I changed the radio and the climate control panel in the car. The issues I had was this:
- Radio -> Volume knob was worn. Tried to replace it with one from another cd front loader here that I took out of the 318 which had 1 channel blown. Eventually I couldn't get the knob off the tape radio, but seeing as both were philips, looked the same, I ended up moving the amp board from the tape radio on to the cd frontloader and added that to the car.
- Climate control -> When reading errors, there was an error about the left footwell flap motor. Reading up said it is rare that this happen. When I replaced the IHKA unit, to a newer one, the errors changed, but those I cleared by coding the module to my vehicle, as it seemed to have come out of a diesel E46.

Radio open:

Climate Control Units:

After the fact:

 

[Miltonian]

beautiful car ! :bravo::bravo:

 

[Tinuva]

And the worst happened just now

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[Leon]

:blueCry:

 

[Jeremy.d]

Damn. I was not expecting to see this when I clicked on the thread.
Sorry bru:dunnoanymore:

 

[Ebo]

:blueCry: oh nooit, gutted for your part buddy.

 

[Tinuva]

Thank you guys.

Good news is, both drivers are 100% fine, including the children in the other car.

Bad news is, car now has 1st accident on 104700km mileage. Had to bend the body out a bit to allow the wheel to turn freely, then drove her home like that.

Aircon decided not to work at all, so hot drive back at 3-4pm.
Cooling system went into overdrive, the electric fan went to 100%. The needle stayed in the middle, and with the temp gauge mode I would have known if there was an issue. When I stopped at home, the needle was actually slightly below the middle, so probably at 83-85 degrees.

So I think it looks like
bonnet
a whole new mtech1 bumper, probably wont find one,
whole xenon light enclosure,
side panel and the inside plastic is broken

Need to still assess the wipe water bottle and the other parts inbetween, really hope the radiator and other parts near the light for cooling system didn't get hurt, but there were no fluids under my car at the scene, only the other car.

Will decide what I do after I have done all the paper work at police station, insurance ect.

 

[AdiS]

My worst nightmare! So sorry to hear!


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[individj]

sorry to see this..glad you guys are fine....my 330i had less damage and was written off. 160 000km on the clock. You could buy it back for cheap though