Soldato
Yes, I know, it's another E46 M3 on Overclockers Motor's forum - it's about as original as a *INSERT RELEVANT CLARKSONISM HERE". I wasn't going to make this thread originally as I thought there are lots of little BMW slash M3 threads and people would moan. Then I remembered that I didn't care, and wanted to keep a little diary of my ownership.
Anyway, my story is that I bought an E46 330ci as a bit of a stop gap car May 2014, when I sold my 335i as I had had it for a while, it cost a lot to keep running and needed the proceeds from the sale to fund my new house. The 330CI was a lovely little run about car and just reminded me that really lovely cars don't need to cost a fortune. I bought it for £3400 from some rich guy in Surrey and he had spent £3000 on it just a few thousands miles previously doing all sorts to it. I later sold it for a tidy profit.
Anyway, I had found myself looking at E46 M3's on various websites for a few months and decided that I would hold out until May 2015 time to start looking seriously and going out and actually viewing them. I’d always fancied an E46 M3, and considered one before I bought my E92 335i. I was pulled towards the 335i due to it being newer, easier to find a good one, having more up to date tech and because of scared stories about the running costs of an M3. Anyway, my promise to not go out and view any cars until May didn’t last long.
I saw a beautiful Estoril blue with every option I think BMW offered on it, but when I called up, I found out it had just been sold. I was disappointed, but kept looking when I happened to see a nice 2004 Silver Grey one advertised at a small independent trader. I went in, initially very sceptically as you should do when viewing an 11 year old M3, but quickly found out from the salesman (who was very good tbf) that it had 2 owners (with the first owner having it for 9 years), with 4 Conti M3 tyres, an interior in excellent condition, with all the options I was looking for. Also, most importantly, it had had it’s subframe replaced at great expense at Dick Lovett BMW only 12 months previously. All sounded good – so I set up a viewing.
On the way down there I called several of the garages the car had had work done at to confirm what was done etc. I also wanted confirmation from the dealer where the car had had it’s subframe replaced that this in fact had happened – and what a palarva. Dick Lovett Bristol were the rudest and most unhelpful dealership I think I’ve ever spoken to. They refused to confirm anything and cited the Data Protection Act (I lol’d too), I then spoke to the “service manager” who came out fighting and was verbally aggressive on the phone. I then tried calling BMW UK customer services, who, although very helpful and polite, weren’t able to confirm this and only dealers within the “Dick Lovett” umbrella would know this stuff. So I figured I’d just start calling Dick Lovett’s until I spoke to a service advisor from a different branch who was very helpful, and confirmed the car had been to their Bristol dealer for the subframe repair. Super.
On viewing the car, all was in order. The front discs were worn and needed changing, but we built this into the deal and I walked away with the car at a price I was very happy about.
The car is a 2004 Silver Grey/Black nappa interior, 93k miles, 2 owners, FSH, SatNav/TV/Bluetooth, heated seats and just been serviced by a BMW specialist. This fitted my requirements to an absolute tee. The car is utterly fantastic, I love it. I know I love it, because I’m doing daft things like cleaning the engine bay in the pitch black and freezing cold, just because. The noise, the character, the looks and the handling of the thing is just a cut above what I’ve had previously. I love the little bits on it that differentiate it from other cars, that just make it feel more special. My aim for this car is to restore it to be as OEM as physically possible and to feel like it did when it came out of the factory.
Anyway, the car did have a few minor issues which I discovered after I bought it, as listed below:
- Xenon bulb flickering
- Front brake discs worn
- No floor mats
- Bluetooth incompatible with newer Android phones
- CD Changer not working/being recognised
- Sat nav disc out of date
- Light scuffing/small amounts of corrosion on the wheels
- All wheel arches have some (albeit very very small) rust on them
- Gear knob worn
- Wheel centre caps destroyed
Now, the good news is that none of this was too bad.
Xenon bulb – I just bought a new Osram Xenarc bulb from Powerbulbs for the bargain price of £29. Was looking at eBay and aftermarket bulbs but quickly decided there are too many fake/crap bulbs out there and £29 was a very good price. This was fitted quite easily – some people struggle because they have fat hands, but I reckon I could change a Xenon bulb on an E46 in around 3-4 minutes now.
Front brake discs – I managed to find Genuine BMW front M3 discs for the bargain price of £240 from a dealer doing a special offer on them. Also got the front pads for £77 extra. Not bad at all! These are in the shed waiting to be fitted.
Floor mats – I was only looking for Genuine BMW floor mats. Aftermarket mats, no matter how many times the seller puts up “OMG BEST QUALITY EVER SUPER LUXURY” on the advert, are well known for wearing prematurely and look crap. I was lucky that I managed to find a set of Genuine mats from a 2004 E46 touring model, which fit perfectly, and after hitting them hard with a hoover, interior cleaner and a stiff brush, came up a right treat.
Bluetooth issue – Now this was the toughest part to source. After Android 4.1, Google switched the Bluetooth profile to something else which meant it was no longer compatible with Bluetooth in earlier cars, including the E46. Even though mine was a 2004 model, it still wasn't compatible, with it connecting and disconnecting after a few seconds. There are 13 generations of BT modules for these cars and finding a 13th Gen one is near impossible as these were in certain cars that were still in production in 2007, which were based on the older platforms. My car had a Gen 5 module in. Anyway, long story short, I discovered that R53 (i think?) Mini’s had the same type of BT module and managed to get one from a 2006 (Gen 8 module) car for £125 from a big Mini breaker. This was plug and play and worked! I sold my old one for £65 so £60 cost to change is excellent.
CD Changer – Now the nav unit wasn’t even recognising the CD changer, it was invisible to it. There was no noise when trying to eject the magazine etc so I took it out, discovered there was a fuse on the back of the changer, which proved to be blown. £1.79 later I installed a new 3A fuse and it burst into life.
Sat Nav disc – There’s a guy on M3 cutters selling new nav discs with postcode function for £10. Bargain.
Wheels – These are original and never been refurbed. The factory finish has done brilliantly if it’s lasted 11 years and only has a very small amount of corrosion. Unfortunately, because they are wizards in factories, this would be almost impossible to do again. Most people who get them diamond coated/mirror polished get them corroding within 12-24months. I happened to find a company called FAWheels who provide a refurb service for M3 wheels, who diamond cut them but powdercoat them so they look almost identical to OEM alloys – and they do an exchange service, costing £396 including the switching of tyres etc. I’ll get this done soon I reckon. Link: http://www.fawheels.co.uk/exchange....msport-genuine-diamond-cut-alloys-detail.html
Wheel arches/rust – I took it to BMW Colchester who found rust on all the arches, and both sills where the sill meets the front wing. They submitted a 12 year corrosion warranty request to BMW UK which was approved, with the exception of the passenger arch, which had had paint before (fair enough), front passenger wing (no idea why?) and sill. I’ve written about it in another thread, but the long and short of it is that they came up with various excuses about the sill and front passenger arch – so I sent them an email and they decided they now will do the front passenger arch, but still won’t do the sill. Got it booked in on the 16th March for the entire drivers side to be painted and the front wing/door of the passengers side. I figured that was not bad and I’d just get the other tiny bits of rust done elsewhere at a fraction of the price.
Gear knob – Fitted a ZHP weighted gear knob, and had to buy a new gaiter from “topgaiters” on eBay at the same time. Looks and feels great.
Centre caps - As with all of the older BMW centre caps which weren't domed and had stickers, they eventually started bubbling and looked horrible, so ordered some centre caps from Amazon which claimed to be Genuine BMW items.... for £15. Now, I've bought enough car parts online to know when something smells like BS, and with the genuine items costing £35, these clearly weren't genuine items. However, I figured if I received them and they were not genuine, I'd be able to get a refund without issue. They arrived, had BMW stamps on them, looked brilliant and fitted completely snugly. I emailed the seller to enquire if they were indeed Genuine and he issued me with a refund for some reason! Nevermind. Just have to see how long they last, and when I get the wheels refurbed I may just get new genuine caps then.
Plans for the future
- In the shed I have this little pile of things which is getting bigger on a weekly basis. So far, I have a full set of Sachs M3 shocks/struts. New Lemforder top mounts. New Genuine brake discs and pads. 4.5 litres of BMW coolant. New Bosch AL headlight lenses. New Genuine flat Evo wiper blades. New MTF LT-2 gearbox fluid.
- Although the car has had FSH, it doesn't appear to have benefitted from the enhanced servicing that E46 M3's need (valve clearances/gearbox fluid/diff fluid and seals/coolant). So my plan is to through it into my friendly BMW specialist to get a full Insp II done and to fit the parts listed above I can't do.
- Will also order a new steering wheel from Royal Steering Wheels when the car comes back from the paintshop to freshen that up.
Anyway, I’ve rabbited on enough, and since I don't have a super duper camera, here are some rubbish photos. If you want good photos of an E46 M3 in various artistic positions and locations, feel free to email mrk:
Anyway, my story is that I bought an E46 330ci as a bit of a stop gap car May 2014, when I sold my 335i as I had had it for a while, it cost a lot to keep running and needed the proceeds from the sale to fund my new house. The 330CI was a lovely little run about car and just reminded me that really lovely cars don't need to cost a fortune. I bought it for £3400 from some rich guy in Surrey and he had spent £3000 on it just a few thousands miles previously doing all sorts to it. I later sold it for a tidy profit.
Anyway, I had found myself looking at E46 M3's on various websites for a few months and decided that I would hold out until May 2015 time to start looking seriously and going out and actually viewing them. I’d always fancied an E46 M3, and considered one before I bought my E92 335i. I was pulled towards the 335i due to it being newer, easier to find a good one, having more up to date tech and because of scared stories about the running costs of an M3. Anyway, my promise to not go out and view any cars until May didn’t last long.
I saw a beautiful Estoril blue with every option I think BMW offered on it, but when I called up, I found out it had just been sold. I was disappointed, but kept looking when I happened to see a nice 2004 Silver Grey one advertised at a small independent trader. I went in, initially very sceptically as you should do when viewing an 11 year old M3, but quickly found out from the salesman (who was very good tbf) that it had 2 owners (with the first owner having it for 9 years), with 4 Conti M3 tyres, an interior in excellent condition, with all the options I was looking for. Also, most importantly, it had had it’s subframe replaced at great expense at Dick Lovett BMW only 12 months previously. All sounded good – so I set up a viewing.
On the way down there I called several of the garages the car had had work done at to confirm what was done etc. I also wanted confirmation from the dealer where the car had had it’s subframe replaced that this in fact had happened – and what a palarva. Dick Lovett Bristol were the rudest and most unhelpful dealership I think I’ve ever spoken to. They refused to confirm anything and cited the Data Protection Act (I lol’d too), I then spoke to the “service manager” who came out fighting and was verbally aggressive on the phone. I then tried calling BMW UK customer services, who, although very helpful and polite, weren’t able to confirm this and only dealers within the “Dick Lovett” umbrella would know this stuff. So I figured I’d just start calling Dick Lovett’s until I spoke to a service advisor from a different branch who was very helpful, and confirmed the car had been to their Bristol dealer for the subframe repair. Super.
On viewing the car, all was in order. The front discs were worn and needed changing, but we built this into the deal and I walked away with the car at a price I was very happy about.
The car is a 2004 Silver Grey/Black nappa interior, 93k miles, 2 owners, FSH, SatNav/TV/Bluetooth, heated seats and just been serviced by a BMW specialist. This fitted my requirements to an absolute tee. The car is utterly fantastic, I love it. I know I love it, because I’m doing daft things like cleaning the engine bay in the pitch black and freezing cold, just because. The noise, the character, the looks and the handling of the thing is just a cut above what I’ve had previously. I love the little bits on it that differentiate it from other cars, that just make it feel more special. My aim for this car is to restore it to be as OEM as physically possible and to feel like it did when it came out of the factory.
Anyway, the car did have a few minor issues which I discovered after I bought it, as listed below:
- Xenon bulb flickering
- Front brake discs worn
- No floor mats
- Bluetooth incompatible with newer Android phones
- CD Changer not working/being recognised
- Sat nav disc out of date
- Light scuffing/small amounts of corrosion on the wheels
- All wheel arches have some (albeit very very small) rust on them
- Gear knob worn
- Wheel centre caps destroyed
Now, the good news is that none of this was too bad.
Xenon bulb – I just bought a new Osram Xenarc bulb from Powerbulbs for the bargain price of £29. Was looking at eBay and aftermarket bulbs but quickly decided there are too many fake/crap bulbs out there and £29 was a very good price. This was fitted quite easily – some people struggle because they have fat hands, but I reckon I could change a Xenon bulb on an E46 in around 3-4 minutes now.
Front brake discs – I managed to find Genuine BMW front M3 discs for the bargain price of £240 from a dealer doing a special offer on them. Also got the front pads for £77 extra. Not bad at all! These are in the shed waiting to be fitted.
Floor mats – I was only looking for Genuine BMW floor mats. Aftermarket mats, no matter how many times the seller puts up “OMG BEST QUALITY EVER SUPER LUXURY” on the advert, are well known for wearing prematurely and look crap. I was lucky that I managed to find a set of Genuine mats from a 2004 E46 touring model, which fit perfectly, and after hitting them hard with a hoover, interior cleaner and a stiff brush, came up a right treat.
Bluetooth issue – Now this was the toughest part to source. After Android 4.1, Google switched the Bluetooth profile to something else which meant it was no longer compatible with Bluetooth in earlier cars, including the E46. Even though mine was a 2004 model, it still wasn't compatible, with it connecting and disconnecting after a few seconds. There are 13 generations of BT modules for these cars and finding a 13th Gen one is near impossible as these were in certain cars that were still in production in 2007, which were based on the older platforms. My car had a Gen 5 module in. Anyway, long story short, I discovered that R53 (i think?) Mini’s had the same type of BT module and managed to get one from a 2006 (Gen 8 module) car for £125 from a big Mini breaker. This was plug and play and worked! I sold my old one for £65 so £60 cost to change is excellent.
CD Changer – Now the nav unit wasn’t even recognising the CD changer, it was invisible to it. There was no noise when trying to eject the magazine etc so I took it out, discovered there was a fuse on the back of the changer, which proved to be blown. £1.79 later I installed a new 3A fuse and it burst into life.
Sat Nav disc – There’s a guy on M3 cutters selling new nav discs with postcode function for £10. Bargain.
Wheels – These are original and never been refurbed. The factory finish has done brilliantly if it’s lasted 11 years and only has a very small amount of corrosion. Unfortunately, because they are wizards in factories, this would be almost impossible to do again. Most people who get them diamond coated/mirror polished get them corroding within 12-24months. I happened to find a company called FAWheels who provide a refurb service for M3 wheels, who diamond cut them but powdercoat them so they look almost identical to OEM alloys – and they do an exchange service, costing £396 including the switching of tyres etc. I’ll get this done soon I reckon. Link: http://www.fawheels.co.uk/exchange....msport-genuine-diamond-cut-alloys-detail.html
Wheel arches/rust – I took it to BMW Colchester who found rust on all the arches, and both sills where the sill meets the front wing. They submitted a 12 year corrosion warranty request to BMW UK which was approved, with the exception of the passenger arch, which had had paint before (fair enough), front passenger wing (no idea why?) and sill. I’ve written about it in another thread, but the long and short of it is that they came up with various excuses about the sill and front passenger arch – so I sent them an email and they decided they now will do the front passenger arch, but still won’t do the sill. Got it booked in on the 16th March for the entire drivers side to be painted and the front wing/door of the passengers side. I figured that was not bad and I’d just get the other tiny bits of rust done elsewhere at a fraction of the price.
Gear knob – Fitted a ZHP weighted gear knob, and had to buy a new gaiter from “topgaiters” on eBay at the same time. Looks and feels great.
Centre caps - As with all of the older BMW centre caps which weren't domed and had stickers, they eventually started bubbling and looked horrible, so ordered some centre caps from Amazon which claimed to be Genuine BMW items.... for £15. Now, I've bought enough car parts online to know when something smells like BS, and with the genuine items costing £35, these clearly weren't genuine items. However, I figured if I received them and they were not genuine, I'd be able to get a refund without issue. They arrived, had BMW stamps on them, looked brilliant and fitted completely snugly. I emailed the seller to enquire if they were indeed Genuine and he issued me with a refund for some reason! Nevermind. Just have to see how long they last, and when I get the wheels refurbed I may just get new genuine caps then.
Plans for the future
- In the shed I have this little pile of things which is getting bigger on a weekly basis. So far, I have a full set of Sachs M3 shocks/struts. New Lemforder top mounts. New Genuine brake discs and pads. 4.5 litres of BMW coolant. New Bosch AL headlight lenses. New Genuine flat Evo wiper blades. New MTF LT-2 gearbox fluid.
- Although the car has had FSH, it doesn't appear to have benefitted from the enhanced servicing that E46 M3's need (valve clearances/gearbox fluid/diff fluid and seals/coolant). So my plan is to through it into my friendly BMW specialist to get a full Insp II done and to fit the parts listed above I can't do.
- Will also order a new steering wheel from Royal Steering Wheels when the car comes back from the paintshop to freshen that up.
Anyway, I’ve rabbited on enough, and since I don't have a super duper camera, here are some rubbish photos. If you want good photos of an E46 M3 in various artistic positions and locations, feel free to email mrk:
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