Bawb's E46 330i M-Sport

[BillyBob]

Thanks AdiS

Good call man. Free Ice Cream for you!

Yeah, she was low on oil when I got her, but no damage done luckily. I'm having the dealer replace the oil level sensor and do an oil change - then I'll just keep a close eye on it.

Yes, I know about the cooling issue... The expansion bottle has been recently replaced, but I'll have someone give the car a full once-over next week and check components like water pump, radiator, hoses, etc.. in the meantime, I'm also watching the temp gauge like a hawk for any signs of getting warm.

There's a noisy tensioner on the serpentine belt which I'll also have them check and replace if necessary while it's back at the dealer.

Must say, I'm loving the car.. she's sitting on 9.5L / 100km in the last 400km of mixed cycle driving (with the odd bit of heavy throttle included) - and does a steady 7L / 100km at an indicated 130, so I'm well impressed with the engine and MAF / VANOS / O2 sensors still being up to spec.

I'm pretty sure fuel economy will improve slightly once I've done the headers + decat.

Bawb

 

[AdiS]

Thanks AdiS

Good call man. Free Ice Cream for you!

Yeah, she was low on oil when I got her, but no damage done luckily. I'm having the dealer replace the oil level sensor and do an oil change - then I'll just keep a close eye on it.

Yes, I know about the cooling issue... The expansion bottle has been recently replaced, but I'll have someone give the car a full once-over next week and check components like water pump, radiator, hoses, etc.. in the meantime, I'm also watching the temp gauge like a hawk for any signs of getting warm.

There's a noisy tensioner on the serpentine belt which I'll also have them check and replace if necessary while it's back at the dealer.

Must say, I'm loving the car.. she's sitting on 9.5L / 100km in the last 400km of mixed cycle driving (with the odd bit of heavy throttle included) - and does a steady 7L / 100km at an indicated 130, so I'm well impressed with the engine and MAF / VANOS / O2 sensors still being up to spec.

I'm pretty sure fuel economy will improve slightly once I've done the headers + decat.

Bawb

Good stuff, sounds like you have done your homework. The serpentine belt and pulleys can probably be done a lot cheaper if you get the parts from Goldwagen/third party compared to teh dealer. The job isn't too difficult.

Those consumption figures are good, your car is definitely not burning any excess fuel.

I'd be very interested to hear what route you go with your exhaust.

 

[Kish2604]

on the topic of the belts, i bought and replaced both serpentine and a/c belt from goldwagon yest for R200 inc vat.. they were continental branded belts and looked good quality..

 

[AdiS]

on the topic of the belts, i bought and replaced both serpentine and a/c belt from goldwagon yest for R200 inc vat.. they were continental branded belts and looked good quality..

Yea i just did my serpentine belt - Goodyear gatorback for R120 from midas. OEM was R480.

 

[L~C~G]

she's sitting on 9.5L / 100km in the last 400km of mixed cycle driving (with the odd bit of heavy throttle included) - and does a steady 7L / 100km at an indicated 130, so I'm well impressed with the engine and MAF / VANOS / O2 sensors still being up to spec.

Bawb

Let us know what figure you get when you fill the tank. The OBC on a BMW is the biggest optimist in the world :thumbs:

Great buy though!!! :inlove:

 

[BillyBob]

Let us know what figure you get when you fill the tank. The OBC on a BMW is the biggest optimist in the world :thumbs:

Great buy though!!! :inlove:

Thanks man..

OBC seems to be just about spot-on... Based on the fuel I've put in thus far.. And what's left in the tank. Never had an issue with an inaccurate OBC on the M5 either... It clocked 9.9L / 100 km on some extended highway driving, and I got 706 km before filling up 69 and a bit liters. Same goes for E46 M3's I've driven.

The only thing that can appear off on the OBC in my experience is the range calculation... It averages your consumption in the last 20-30 km for a figure, which means it reacts slowly to a recalculation (which can vary wildly) if you suddenly change your driving style or go from highway to stop-start traffic.

 

[Bavs108]

Nice car:thumbs: Same colour as mine:rollsmile: I also just had my main belt changed about 2 weeks back. Went with an OEM belt from the dealer which cost about R350. Also did the CDV delete mod. I found it made quite a difference to the feel of the clutch and just makes it feel more responsive. I also don't get that jerk when changing from 1st to 2nd anymore. Definitely worth doing it:thumbs:

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Those consumption figures sound about right. Are you at the coast or altitude?

 

[AcidBurn]

on the topic of the belts, i bought and replaced both serpentine and a/c belt from goldwagon yest for R200 inc vat.. they were continental branded belts and looked good quality..

wow thats is disturbing news to me man, i bought a freaking serpentine belts for nearly R500 from SMG and this includes a discount and to top it of its also a continental belt

im sad/mad now

so you got the right stuff bro:thumbs:

only problem i noted in CT is Goldwagen here dont stock alot of BMW parts:thumbdo:

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Lovely purchase there Billybob, congrats, may you have many trouble free mileage and a sh*t load of fun:rollsmile::thumbs:

 

[Kish2604]

That's good news to hear agents supplying conti belts... Sorry you got ripped of for the parts price...:thumbdo:

Btw, many happy Kms with your car Bawb..

 

[Bavs108]

I paid R350 for my belt with discount from the agent. I don't recall seeing any conti branding on the belt although it had bmw stamped all over it. We are talking about the main belt that drives the alternator, water pump and power steering pump right?:fencelook:

 

[AdiS]

I paid R350 for my belt with discount from the agent. I don't recall seeing any conti branding on the belt although it had bmw stamped all over it. We are talking about the main belt that drives the alternator, water pump and power steering pump right?:fencelook:

Yea I'm fairly certain the OEM serpentine belt is not conti..

 

[AcidBurn]

I paid R350 for my belt with discount from the agent. I don't recall seeing any conti branding on the belt although it had bmw stamped all over it. We are talking about the main belt that drives the alternator, water pump and power steering pump right?:fencelook:

Yea I'm fairly certain the OEM serpentine belt is not conti..

oh sorry then i am mistaken, my bad:sorry:

 

[Andy1GP]

I see your car now Bawb! If the car has some sort of service history then you shouldn't worry too much about the mileage. I had one with 330k km on and compression was still tip top and with it's 5 speed still managed to hit the top speed limiter. (This is what the new owner tells me) No smoke, no oil consumption nothing.

Very impressive motors. Congrats!

 

[BillyBob]

Thank you kindly Andy..

 

[BillyBob]

So, a bit of an update on the the car (sooner than I'd thought)

Told a mate of mine on Friday that I was looking for a set of 18/19-inch rims for the 330i, and he made a quick call to a mate - long story short, two hours later, the car was wearing a new sets of wheels, and I was suitably impressed.

While I'm not generally a fan of all-black wheels, I'm somewhat amazed at how well the matte black picks up with the car's colour and black trim.

8.5J's all round, with an ET38 offset - means that they're not too aggressive for the Sedan - the 265/30/19's in the back do however rub up against a section of the rear bumper liner that protrudes slightly when the car's loaded up and the suspension compresses heavily over a bump..

I'm thinking I'll keep the 265's on, roll the arches, tuck in the offending bit of liner (only in the right rear arch, funnily enough), and see how it goes... the rears still have very good life on them, so it'd be a bit of a waste having to pull them off and shell out cash to put on narrower tyres.

When the 265's have cried uncle, I'll replace them with 235/35/19's, same as in the front, so I can do wear-level rotation in future.

As for the rims, I'll touch up the chips on the dishes, but I'm toying with the idea of having the dishes polished, or refurbed in shadow chrome...

Thoughts?

 

[Gizmo]

Sorry but they are ugly and cheap looking, rather go back to your stock wheels or get some OEM 18's. Also black wheels don't suit your car at all.:thumbdo:

 

[zaleonardz]

Im afraid I need to agree with Gizmo.

I would do them in a traditional silver, and they would suit the part much better.

 

[AdiS]

Respectfully, I prefer the originals. The OEM individual 18s are your best option if you want bigger than the standard 17s


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[Yuben]

Although the black wheel is unusual, the cars color requires a silver wheel.
:sorry:

 

[Gizmo]