New car - e46, few questions!

soundb0y

soundb0y

soundb0y

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Joined
19 Mar 2009
Posts
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Location
Hereford
Evening all,

Following on from a thread a few weeks back I now have a new (to me car)

It's a 2000 bmw e46 323ci with 100k miles on the clock and FSH.

bimmer.jpg


Please excuse the quality of the photo, it was taken on a phone and then uploaded onto facebook and I lost the original.

After an mg zs 120+ that had the gasket off more than on I am very happy with it. I've been driving it around about two weeks and haven't had any issues yet. Also I'm loving the 2.5 engine.

Anyway I have a few questions I've been meaning to ask here and if anyone can help I would be very greatful.

Firstly, ICE:

I've looked at a few different options but think I have decided to go for an aftermarket headunit with an amp and a sub while keeping the standard speakers (I've read a few places that they are actually prety good after replacing the standard HU)

- HU: Bit of a dilema here, I hate the look of the off center fascias so was thinking about ordering one of the Hualigan units. Does anyone have any experience with these? I haven't found many people with a first hand experience. LINK

I think the looks are great and it sounds ideal, but if the sound quality is going to be as bad or worse as the oem stereo I would just go for a single din alpine unit instead, providing I could find one of the center aligned facias as seen HERE. Does anyone know where I can get one in the UK?

Also if I went double din I would need a fascia for relocating the air con controls if I am correct? Again where is the best place to get these?

-Sub & Amp: I've just won a custom build stealth box for the boot which will fit a 10" sub. Can anyone reccomend me a decent speaker to fit and an amp? I'm no audiophile but don't want to be purchasing ripspeed kit or anything like that.
Also are these cars difficult to wire up and hide all the cables?

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Secondly, Leather & Bodywork:

As to be expected in a 10 year old car the leather is not perfect anymore, while it still looks in great condition there are a few spots on the driver and passenger seats that have faded so would be looking to get a refurb kit from ebay. Does anyone have experience or can reccomend a decent one? The leather is black.

There are a few small scratches on the body work but nothing I am overly concerned about but it has got me thinking about a machine polisher. I have recently started trading a few cars with my father part time so this could be quite usefull for doing them up also..... you guessed it, reccomendations?

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Thirdly, niggles:

-The driver side wiper is very screachy and annoying, does this sound like a case of just getting some new rubber for it?

-I can't seem to get the odometer to reset. The manual shows it's done simplty by pushing the left button on the dash but it doesn't seem to have any effect. Is there any knack to it or does it sound bust? Strange thing is after I picked it up it was only ready 150 miles or something after the trip home.

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Thanks for looking and I appreciate any replies! Sorry for the mammoth post...
 
Gliptone liquid leather scuffmaster kit for the leather, then you want the conditioner and cleaner.

An expert on the music will be along soon :)
 
You must have had to replace wiper blade before, surely?

Odometer sounds like a duff button - most only go to 999 or 9999 miles then go around again, hence it only being on 150.

Gliptone for the leather, seconded
 
No experience with that particular head unit but I have been after one like that for almost a year now and nothing has come up, they all seem to be cheaply made and have an audio output worse than the stock HU. Still, this one could be good...

Speaker wise, replacing the speakers is down to personal preference, see how it sounds with just a new HU, then add the amp & sub, then replace the speakers if you still aren't happy. Sub wise I always recommend Vibe, to quote a friend "[they] make my eyeballs wobble"

Wiper issue sounds like it's the rubber.

Odometer should be working as you say, just simply press the left button... never had an issue but I can't remember if I do it with the car on or off so maybe try different scenarios, if that doesn't work then it's probably the button, it saying 150 could just be the recycle as it doesn't go past 1000, it hits 999 and then restarts.

Can't help on the rest, sorry.
 
Another vote for the gliptone stuff, but it wont fix every blemish, so post up some pics and we can have a look.

As for ice the general concensus is the Chinese units are pretty crud when it comes to SQ, personally i'd be getting a new modern pioneer/jvc/alpine unit, SQ is more important to me than how a BMW purist will percieve the non oem stereo in your dash! you listen to the radio not look at it!
 
DiamondMark said:
Gliptone liquid leather scuffmaster kit for the leather, then you want the conditioner and cleaner.

An expert on the music will be along soon :)
Click to expand...

Thanks I'll check it out now.

chrisgt said:
Out of interest - how much did that cost?
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£2800 with 4 alloy refurbs and a new wing mirror.

iaind said:
You must have had to replace wiper blade before, surely?

Odometer sounds like a duff button - most only go to 999 or 9999 miles then go around again, hence it only being on 150.

Gliptone for the leather, seconded
Click to expand...

Yeah I have replaced a wiper before but wasn't sure if it was just the rubber which makes it sound so horrific. TBH I haven't had a look yet just thought I would throw it in with the rest of the questions.



NVP said:
No experience with that particular head unit...
Speaker wise, replacing the speakers is down to personal preference, see how it sounds with just a new HU, then add the amp & sub, then replace the speakers if you still aren't happy. Sub wise I always recommend Vibe, to quote a friend "[they] make my eyeballs wobble"
Click to expand...

From what I have read I've heard good things but they seem very rare in the UK at the mo. due to stocking issues from china or something. A few guys on some bmw forums seem to rate them. I don't think they are the same league as those units for £200 quid someone linked from ebay a while ago. Another unit I was looking at was the dynavin which is slightly more expensive.

I've already ordered the sub box and will be getting a speaker for it this week, I'm sure replacing the HU won't give me the bass levels im after.

wohoo said:
Another vote for the gliptone stuff, but it wont fix every blemish, so post up some pics and we can have a look.
Click to expand...

I will try and take some pics of the leather tomorrow, dying in bed with man flu right now :(



Cheers for the responses!
 
iaind said:
Apart from the 2 or 3 better cars in the range?
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There was only one car in the 3 Series range which was better than the 323Ci when it was available. It was a car that rendered the 323i completely pointless, however, given it offered more performance for zero additional running costs, but the 323Ci remained only one below the top of the range.
 
Of course the colour is the lighting.

Given that im only 22 with 0 years NCD it was basically a choice between the 323ci or a 318. I think I made the right choice.
 
The quotes I was getting for a 325 were all at least £500 more for some reason. Hopefully after a year or two and I have built up some discounts I can buy one with a bigger engine.

I have just started working after uni and this was at the higher range of my budget but I am glad I went for it.
 
[TW]Fox;17517578 said:
I bought mine at 22 and the 328Ci was easily insurable, as was the 530i I eventually chose :confused:
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soundb0y said:
The quotes I was getting for a 325 were all at least £500 more for some reason. Hopefully after a year or two and I have built up some discounts I can buy one with a bigger engine.

I have just started working after uni and this was at the higher range of my budget but I am glad I went for it.
Click to expand...

I'm 22 next month, 4 NCB and a 323 was £900 fully comp to insure with Elephant, 325 was £1150 and 328 was £1000. 328 > 323?
 
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