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Read the WELCOME ALL BMWFANATICS post.
My Alpine White E46 330i Sport
- Thread starter KPM3_30
- Start date
SubLoaded said:KPM_330 said:
I also wanna race
Your own fault you have the fastest car from the group.. If you car was stock, we'd go have a run now.. :roflol:
Let me do Stage 2 on the diesel and then we see.. :fencelook: No point running the NA 330i against your FI 520d Stage 2+.
KPM_330 said:SubLoaded said:KPM_330 said:
I also wanna race
Your own fault you have the fastest car from the group.. If you car was stock, we'd go have a run now.. :roflol:
Let me do Stage 2 on the diesel and then we see.. :fencelook: No point running the NA 330i against your FI 520d Stage 2+.
You better make sharp before the injectors get changed and meth goes in :roflol:
KPM_330 said:A few days before being parked off,I was on the way to work and made my mileage milestone of 260k, which also means a service was due.. :tiptoe:
Given the lack of mileage I now do with the car, my oil services intervals will be done according to time and not mileage.. I have also decided it would be fitting to cut my mileage milestones to 5k intervals..
Onto my milestone, after a whole 11 months.. :rollsmile:
RAArmstrong
///Member
11 months... 5000km.
Meanwhile in my world I did that this month with my car :roflol:
Epic milestone still though! Just goes to show what these cars are capable of.
Meanwhile in my world I did that this month with my car :roflol:
Epic milestone still though! Just goes to show what these cars are capable of.
Yeah 5k om 11 months is ridiculous... As Divs would sayRAArmstrong said:
GQ reportimg for duty
Riaad said:
@Riaad, a pleasant change from the norm, no doubt.. :roflol:
Time to sort my suspension bits out, shocks vs. coilovers - GO..
RAArmstrong said:
@RAArmstrong, Jhb can't be compared to Dbn.. Everything in Jhb is "30 mins away", I hired a car over last weekend and I barely went anywhere, yet I covered almost 250km.. :fencelook:
This car did the daily grind from Pinetown to Umhlanga for 5 years, that's pretty much how the mileage shot up from 170k when I purchased.
Riaad
Events Organiser
KPM_330 said:
Good idea creating a separate thread for this topic:thumbs:
https://www.bmwfanatics.co.za/showthread.php?tid=91926
And so, today marks exactly 6 years since my first thread on the forum to introduce my 330i and what is easily, the car that is nearest and dearest to me. My love affair with BMW began way back when I lived vicariously through my brother, as I had still been in school/university. The feelings only really intensified when I took ownership of my first BMW. The silhouette of the E46 always drew me in and when I had driven the 330i for the first time, feeling that rear wheel drive propelling the car and the sonorous big six powerplant up front, my mind was made up... So the search began and then concluded with me, taking this car from my brother after he had only ‘owned’ it for a few weeks. More on this, on the first page of the thread.
Hard to believe that its been 6 years already, I still remember attending the first BMW Birthday meet at Lugz, back when the car was factory stock. I have so many memories with this car and the ownership experience has been an amazing journey overall. It is part of the reason I can’t bring myself to sell it, I probably sound like a stuck record but there really is no other car at the price point (and sometimes more) that bring me the same amount of joy. I love the raw feel and engine note that it still provides, which seems to be devoid in most newer cars. Having owned an N54, which is hailed as a driving enthusiast’s car, I found myself grabbing the keys to the M54 more often than I had imagined... Not because it was faster, or did everything better than the E90, but purely because the sense of theatre from this driving enthusiast’s POV is greater in the E46.. :tiptoe:
I can guarantee that any other car would’ve been changed by now, but I would describe myself as sentimental fool when it comes to this particular car. It performed faultlessly as my daily for 5 years, whilst providing decent shove and pretty fair fuel economy, all whilst leaving me with a grin on my face after a drive. Having done mods that I personally desired over the course of ownership, I can confidently say that this car has been my canvas for motoring nirvana and I am glad for having had the experience (although my bank balance and SO would beg to differ). As with most E46’s, there is almost always something that needs doing or the other… That being said, I have no regrets and would do it all over again, perhaps I would do some mods earlier than others, haha. Thoroughly enjoyed using it on a few runs last year and looking forward to using it more in the new year, post my latest labour of love.
Most forumites would know that I have been planning a suspension refresh for some time now and I have started acquiring parts over the course of the last few weeks. Over the holidays I had picked up the Koni Orange STRT’s, HnR Sport springs and some front & rear Strut Bars. I just need to get the rest of the bits and hopefully fitted before Q1 comes to a close. I had always kept to 12k service intervals since purchase, but as the car aged, I dropped down to 10k intervals. With the current state of affairs, even this interval has been halved... I had the car treated to a major service after a paltry 5k in mileage since the last service, which was a year ago. I suspect that changing the plugs has had a positive difference to the performance, as the car feels a bit peppier after the service.. :smilebounce:
One of the other things that I had always wanted to do was have the car chipped/remapped, but I had concerns since the car was my daily driver... Now that the car sits in the basement for 6 days out of 7, I had no excuse and had the car flashed a few weeks ago by Xcede Tuning. My biggest regret was not having this done sooner, whilst the difference may not be considered night and day, for anyone that has owned their 330i for a period of time, the difference is most definitely noticeable. Gone is that characteristic torque dip and laziness to rev, which was my biggest bugbear with the 330i. The car feels eager to reach the upper echelons of the rev range and feels a lot smoother, not to mention the pops and bangs are MUCH more pronounced. I have only covered a few hundred kilometers so far, so there may still be some further adaptation that needs to take place.
Used the car this morning on the old route from Pinetown to Umhlanga, just for nostalgia sake and enjoyed the feeling of a bit more shove on the M4, really does pick up to higher speeds quite a bit better than stock. I know I am overdue for a sound/video clip and will hopefully get around to it soon, for now some pics after a recent polish:
2020:
VS.
2014:
Hard to believe that its been 6 years already, I still remember attending the first BMW Birthday meet at Lugz, back when the car was factory stock. I have so many memories with this car and the ownership experience has been an amazing journey overall. It is part of the reason I can’t bring myself to sell it, I probably sound like a stuck record but there really is no other car at the price point (and sometimes more) that bring me the same amount of joy. I love the raw feel and engine note that it still provides, which seems to be devoid in most newer cars. Having owned an N54, which is hailed as a driving enthusiast’s car, I found myself grabbing the keys to the M54 more often than I had imagined... Not because it was faster, or did everything better than the E90, but purely because the sense of theatre from this driving enthusiast’s POV is greater in the E46.. :tiptoe:
I can guarantee that any other car would’ve been changed by now, but I would describe myself as sentimental fool when it comes to this particular car. It performed faultlessly as my daily for 5 years, whilst providing decent shove and pretty fair fuel economy, all whilst leaving me with a grin on my face after a drive. Having done mods that I personally desired over the course of ownership, I can confidently say that this car has been my canvas for motoring nirvana and I am glad for having had the experience (although my bank balance and SO would beg to differ). As with most E46’s, there is almost always something that needs doing or the other… That being said, I have no regrets and would do it all over again, perhaps I would do some mods earlier than others, haha. Thoroughly enjoyed using it on a few runs last year and looking forward to using it more in the new year, post my latest labour of love.
Most forumites would know that I have been planning a suspension refresh for some time now and I have started acquiring parts over the course of the last few weeks. Over the holidays I had picked up the Koni Orange STRT’s, HnR Sport springs and some front & rear Strut Bars. I just need to get the rest of the bits and hopefully fitted before Q1 comes to a close. I had always kept to 12k service intervals since purchase, but as the car aged, I dropped down to 10k intervals. With the current state of affairs, even this interval has been halved... I had the car treated to a major service after a paltry 5k in mileage since the last service, which was a year ago. I suspect that changing the plugs has had a positive difference to the performance, as the car feels a bit peppier after the service.. :smilebounce:
One of the other things that I had always wanted to do was have the car chipped/remapped, but I had concerns since the car was my daily driver... Now that the car sits in the basement for 6 days out of 7, I had no excuse and had the car flashed a few weeks ago by Xcede Tuning. My biggest regret was not having this done sooner, whilst the difference may not be considered night and day, for anyone that has owned their 330i for a period of time, the difference is most definitely noticeable. Gone is that characteristic torque dip and laziness to rev, which was my biggest bugbear with the 330i. The car feels eager to reach the upper echelons of the rev range and feels a lot smoother, not to mention the pops and bangs are MUCH more pronounced. I have only covered a few hundred kilometers so far, so there may still be some further adaptation that needs to take place.
Used the car this morning on the old route from Pinetown to Umhlanga, just for nostalgia sake and enjoyed the feeling of a bit more shove on the M4, really does pick up to higher speeds quite a bit better than stock. I know I am overdue for a sound/video clip and will hopefully get around to it soon, for now some pics after a recent polish:
2020:
VS.
2014:
