BMW 325ti

cokebottles

cokebottles

cokebottles

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12 Aug 2003
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North London
Hi guys.

I'm looking at buying one of these over the next few months. I do not need ANY help with my decision on which car, this is fixed.

I also have a pretty good knowledge of what to look for, service intervals, to check, and the difference between equipment levels. I have stumbled across a couple of grey areas however which in the scheme of things are not high priority, but I would like to have a "full" understanding of the car before going to see any. Here are my random unknowns:


1) Facelift/LCI

As far as I'm aware the E46 Compact did not receive a facelift. However I have noticed on later (after 2003ish) cars, the rear light clusters are coloured red, as opposed to the not so cool "lexus style" clear light clusters before this...

I have seen an advert or two listing 6 speed manual gearboxes. Are these erroneous listings, or does anyone know if there was a 6 speed manual box used in later models??

2) Xenons/Bi-Xenons

Are there any visual indications when looking at the headlight units of these cars, as to whether or not they have factory xenon lights? If there are projectors, does this mean there are definitely xenons behind them? Do headlight washer-jets have anything to do with this?


If anyone also has any other golden nuggets of information regarding the 325ti, please feel free to share.:D

(p.s. "don't buy it, its ****" doesn't count as a golden nugget of information :p)
 
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Xenons must have washer jets, and I'd imagine that the factory HID headlights are projector lenses yes. They certainly are on the saloon/touring/coupe/convertible, but I've never seen a compact with HIDs so can't tell you for certain.

As far as I'm aware, the facelift did bring in a 6-speed box on the 325Ti, or at least made it an option. Later 325Ti's were certainly available with a 6-speed as I've seen a fair few with them.
 
having driven both boxes attached to the 3.0 lump in coupes and saloons

i dont think the 6 speed box is particularly necessary. the 5 speed is slick shifting, and the engine is plenty torquey enough that i never really miss the 6th cog (i bought a 5 speed)
 
paradigm said:
Xenons must have washer jets, and I'd imagine that the factory HID headlights are projector lenses yes. They certainly are on the saloon/touring/coupe/convertible, but I've never seen a compact with HIDs so can't tell you for certain.
Click to expand...

The thing is though he asked if projectors means it definitely has HIDs, which isn't the case on all e46s. I'm not sure about the Compact though. But I thought I'd better say don't assume it has HIDs if it has projectors, maybe ask on bmwland or somewhere.
 
Wicksta said:
The thing is though he asked if projectors means it definitely has HIDs, which isn't the case on all e46s.
Click to expand...

Is it not? I've never seen factory fitted HIDs on anything other than projector lenses. Obviously I don't claim to be able to state that as fact, but I've never seen reflector HIDs on a factory fit BMW HID system.
 
paradigm said:
Is it not? I've never seen factory fitted HIDs on anything other than projector lenses. Obviously I don't claim to be able to state that as fact, but I've never seen reflector HIDs on a factory fit BMW HID system.
Click to expand...

Facelift coupes have projectors on halogen models, I know that much as a guy at work has a 318ci with them! :)

So I guess convertibles do as well, not sure about Compacts though but worth checking.
 
Ah so its not that HIDs came with reflectors, but normal lighting came with projectors in some cases.

So all HIDs = Projectors

But Projectors don't 100% mean HIDs.
 
Yea, this is what I was worried about. I know there are reflector and projector based headlight assemblies for the E46 compact. I got confused when I saw a picture of a compact with projectors, but no washer jets; meaning no factory xenons at least.

It's a muddle and I've never had a car with xenons before, and it's something I would like to look out for, Id hate to get "duped" though by someone who would say anything to sell their car.

Thanks again for the info guys!
 
Easiest way to tell then is to lift the bonnet and look at the rear of the light cluster.

HIDs have to have "high voltage" stickering.
 
paradigm said:
Easiest way to tell then is to lift the bonnet and look at the rear of the light cluster.

HIDs have to have "high voltage" stickering.
Click to expand...

How is that easier than just looking at the dashboard and finding if there is a switch blank instead of the headlight aim adjuster? You dont even need to lift the bonnet, factory HID cars have a blank, non HID cars have a knurled wheel for adjusting the height manually.
 
Compact facelift changes - March 2003:

- New side sills
- Red rear light cluster (rather than clear)
- Widened boot grab handle
- 6 speed gearbox
 
NickXX said:
Compact facelift changes - March 2003:

- New side sills
- Red rear light cluster (rather than clear)
- Widened boot grab handle
- 6 speed gearbox
Click to expand...

I have seen numerous 2003-"03 reg" cars still with the clear rear lights, this puzzles me.

Also, the new side sills? I have just looked through numerous ads for both SE and Msport kits, and cannot notice the difference; do you know of anywhere that illustrates the difference?

Thanks.
 
Pre-facelift:
bmwe46compactrear200801.jpg


Facelift:
bmwe46compactrear200711.jpg


Excuse the wheels in the top picture - not UK spec, but the rest of the car would be the same.

The 03 plate pre-facelifts will be down to late registrations. My M3 was built in August but registered in November for instance.
 
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Cars with Xenons have projectors, those without don't. Fairly easy to spot on the Compact.

Glad to see someone else likes them. Unloved, and as such, nice and cheap :)
Get an M Sport though, the SE looks pap.
 
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