Long story shorter.
I am the lucky recipient of this. As my all time automotive hero and masochist would say "i brought the cheapest running driving clean title xxx" would say expect there are a few that were slightly cheaper but i would guess they are even more shagged. And as per Daddy hoovie there is some good and there is some bad. So lets deal with the bad first.
The previous owners (plural here since the last roadworthy was but September 2020) were utter butchers. The car has a aftermarket immobilizer and anti hijack system hacked into the loom because either the key got butchered or one of the modules died out, then lets not forget the radio and it's suspect wiring.
Most of the clips holding the doorcards on are missing or crushed not to mention well after nearly 20 years the glue holding the well plastic onto the card has let go so you only have precious few bits where you can clip the doorcard onto the car. Most of the drivers door bolts were missing and still are, and the window rail is buggered drivers side and so is the window switch for the drivers side. Cruise control is inoperative and hell i see some more suspect wiring for the fog lamps. The battery retainer bracket is also gone. The left rear window seal is utterly buggered and so is the front windscreen cowl.
Powersteering pump is well rubbish and i suspect there is some rack issues or balljoint/bushes as well and i think i need a set of new springs front and back as the car is definitely sitting a bit lower than it should and then the usual M54 oil leaks. The rear wiper motor is either very broken or been removed since there is no resistance on the arm.
Front end was in a minor impact as the bumper beading should be titan grey but it's black and the lower trim pieces/front fender liners are missing probably a ditch at a angle that ripped a few things off as the foglights and main lights all show similar aging
Good points
The gearbox is as i remember from every single E46, clutch is still fairly light and progressive, the motor is smooth and no signs of headgasket failure, the cooling system still says BMW on most parts that would definitely have failed by now. Brakes are still positive and bite early and hard.
This car is honestly just a sad case of when a really nice car ends up in the hands of a hack. The 6x9 hackjob in the rear parcel shelf, the utter destruction to the wiring and then all things holy where they hacked into the rear side panels to install some rubbish speakers and good luck finding those cloth trim pieces.
So first thing was send the car to BMW for it's long list of overdue recalls. Booked it in and gave them two weeks, dropped the car off on a Friday and as i remember from BMW. Nope none of the recall parts in stock, all back order from Germany 2/3 weeks wait. Great! Airbag issues but hey ,fuck keeping it on hand. Unlike Benz that well no part is more than 5 days wait even odd little things that gets flown in from Germany like say a rubber boot liner for a Station wagon model that has been off the market for about 10 years. So waiting for them to call me when it's ready to go back.
In the meantime i decided lets rip the interior apart to see the horrors that await.
Other than the unimaginable amount of filth there thankfully was not much more surprises other than someone has in the past tried to do something with the fuel pump as i found the big retaining ring lose and the 4 nuts in the armrest, refitted those. Also removed as much of the stereo system install as possible.
Before
During
And after
So now waiting for BMW to call before i continue with more work.
Following needs to be done.
Fix the valve cover gasket, drain the oil/filters and try to see how much i can desludge and varnish the motor.
PS pump and front suspension and probably the rollers and belts.
Fix the wiring hackjobs firstly for the stereo and then we i will deal with trying to revive the original key/alarm etc bring the CC back to life.
Have the bumper repainted and replace the missing covers and trim.
Replace the drivers side window rail.
See if i can find some replacement matching blue doorcards/rear seat trim (that is gonna be a tough ask)
Replace the Centre armrest as it's furbar and left rear window rubbers and drivers cowling.
Replace the front tyres.
So now it's the fun part of trying to source where possible used bits and pieces like the window rail and window switch (coupe or 325Ti only), the fender linters, arm rest etc etc. Set myself a budget 64k all in.
I am the lucky recipient of this. As my all time automotive hero and masochist would say "i brought the cheapest running driving clean title xxx" would say expect there are a few that were slightly cheaper but i would guess they are even more shagged. And as per Daddy hoovie there is some good and there is some bad. So lets deal with the bad first.
The previous owners (plural here since the last roadworthy was but September 2020) were utter butchers. The car has a aftermarket immobilizer and anti hijack system hacked into the loom because either the key got butchered or one of the modules died out, then lets not forget the radio and it's suspect wiring.
Most of the clips holding the doorcards on are missing or crushed not to mention well after nearly 20 years the glue holding the well plastic onto the card has let go so you only have precious few bits where you can clip the doorcard onto the car. Most of the drivers door bolts were missing and still are, and the window rail is buggered drivers side and so is the window switch for the drivers side. Cruise control is inoperative and hell i see some more suspect wiring for the fog lamps. The battery retainer bracket is also gone. The left rear window seal is utterly buggered and so is the front windscreen cowl.
Powersteering pump is well rubbish and i suspect there is some rack issues or balljoint/bushes as well and i think i need a set of new springs front and back as the car is definitely sitting a bit lower than it should and then the usual M54 oil leaks. The rear wiper motor is either very broken or been removed since there is no resistance on the arm.
Front end was in a minor impact as the bumper beading should be titan grey but it's black and the lower trim pieces/front fender liners are missing probably a ditch at a angle that ripped a few things off as the foglights and main lights all show similar aging
Good points
The gearbox is as i remember from every single E46, clutch is still fairly light and progressive, the motor is smooth and no signs of headgasket failure, the cooling system still says BMW on most parts that would definitely have failed by now. Brakes are still positive and bite early and hard.
This car is honestly just a sad case of when a really nice car ends up in the hands of a hack. The 6x9 hackjob in the rear parcel shelf, the utter destruction to the wiring and then all things holy where they hacked into the rear side panels to install some rubbish speakers and good luck finding those cloth trim pieces.
So first thing was send the car to BMW for it's long list of overdue recalls. Booked it in and gave them two weeks, dropped the car off on a Friday and as i remember from BMW. Nope none of the recall parts in stock, all back order from Germany 2/3 weeks wait. Great! Airbag issues but hey ,fuck keeping it on hand. Unlike Benz that well no part is more than 5 days wait even odd little things that gets flown in from Germany like say a rubber boot liner for a Station wagon model that has been off the market for about 10 years. So waiting for them to call me when it's ready to go back.
In the meantime i decided lets rip the interior apart to see the horrors that await.
Other than the unimaginable amount of filth there thankfully was not much more surprises other than someone has in the past tried to do something with the fuel pump as i found the big retaining ring lose and the 4 nuts in the armrest, refitted those. Also removed as much of the stereo system install as possible.
Before
During
And after
So now waiting for BMW to call before i continue with more work.
Following needs to be done.
Fix the valve cover gasket, drain the oil/filters and try to see how much i can desludge and varnish the motor.
PS pump and front suspension and probably the rollers and belts.
Fix the wiring hackjobs firstly for the stereo and then we i will deal with trying to revive the original key/alarm etc bring the CC back to life.
Have the bumper repainted and replace the missing covers and trim.
Replace the drivers side window rail.
See if i can find some replacement matching blue doorcards/rear seat trim (that is gonna be a tough ask)
Replace the Centre armrest as it's furbar and left rear window rubbers and drivers cowling.
Replace the front tyres.
So now it's the fun part of trying to source where possible used bits and pieces like the window rail and window switch (coupe or 325Ti only), the fender linters, arm rest etc etc. Set myself a budget 64k all in.
