'Oddjob' aka 2002 330i Touring

[Sf_Manta]

Well, after a good few years running my old E30 325i (See : http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a... ), it's gotten to the point where I'm just not able to keep repairing the car every weekend (or so it feels) with niggling faults. It's had it's moments, and a decent daily driver, including driving all the way to Germany in it (including a run up to 120mph indicated on the autobahns) but times move on and given the new job has gone permanent.. I've finally gotten around to treating myself to something a tad faster.. modern.. and hopefully less rust problems, or just a few minor spots that can be easily resolved with treatment and some touch ups.

I present 'Oddjob' since the last 3 digits on the number plate are 'OBJ' a 2002 330i E46 Estate, with the Msport pack and lots of goodies, I paid a bit over the glasses recommended price, but with the mileage it had and the history to back up the figures, it was a no brainer.







Old and new tourings, soon to be only the new one as the old one will be cleaned and sorted out for sale over Christmas.


Yes that is the genuine mileage! I couldn't believe it till i saw the paperwork.



And already the tweeks have begun... The car drives nicely but having been so used to the Z3 shift setup in my E30, I'll be sorting the same conversion on the E46 as it's just FAR too long for my liking, it's akin to rowing a boat through the gears.

First up a Storm Motorwerks weighted gear knob. Made from billet Aluminium and with a titanium coating.

Edited by Sf_Manta on Monday 2nd January 16:17

[LanceRS]

Very nice, I shall be following this one with interest.

[AlmostUseful]

Might be the perspective but that E30 looks like a toy car compared to the E46!

[Sf_Manta]

Partially the prospective, but it's actually interesting to see how much bigger cars are these days.

This is why car parks feel smaller, the spaces haven't changed, the cars have just gotten FAR bigger.

[MC Bodge]

Nice car and quite appealing.

What are the likely risks (of major expense) when buying a car like this 330i, other than typical older car things.

[g3org3y]

Very nice, congrats

I bought a Storm gearknob for my old 328 years ago. Was a lovely bit of kit, very nicely finished and added a decent weight to the shift. Unfortunately it was FREEZING in cold weather.

[philmots]

Looks nice, xenons too

[JakeT]

Thumbs up. Love E46 tourings. Shortly after the 330i came out my dad had one with every option on it. Haven't seen a prefacelft car with a spec like it since. I still think they're rapid cars and look great. Plus the M54 is bulletproof. His 330i had 140k on it when it went in 2011 and still embarrassed hot hatches.

[Richair]

Very nice and a timely thread for me as I've started looking for a new daily and I think my mind is made up on one of these; exactly the same spec/colour combo as yours would be nice! I have a 328i se touring for a while and it seemed to do everything very nicely indeed, although I would have proffered a sport so this time around nothing less will do.

Did it take you long to find it as there doesn't seem to be many around? But then again choice always seems limited at this time of year...

I have a slight niggily thought that an Impreza WRX wagon could be slightly more entertaining though, or maybe not. I've not decided yet.

Nice e30 by the way- I'm in a similar predicament to you in that I currently run a nice golf mk2 GTI as a daily but feel I should probably grow up a bit and replace it with something newer, booooo.

R

[Stevenr]

Lovely looking thing that,well done.

[DaveyBoyWonder]

Really nice. I really miss my E91 330i to the point if we need a runabout to stop putting miles on our T5 camper, an E46 version might be a pretty good option.

[RichardM5]

Looks very nice, manual too. I had an 02 reg 330i Touring manual, very nice car so long as you don't expect the 'Touring' to be an estate, more like a large hatch back. Superb engine.

[Sf_Manta]

Richair said:

Very nice and a timely thread for me as I've started looking for a new daily and I think my mind is made up on one of these; exactly the same spec/colour combo as yours would be nice! I have a 328i se touring for a while and it seemed to do everything very nicely indeed, although I would have proffered a sport so this time around nothing less will do.

Did it take you long to find it as there doesn't seem to be many around? But then again choice always seems limited at this time of year...

I have a slight niggily thought that an Impreza WRX wagon could be slightly more entertaining though, or maybe not. I've not decided yet.

Nice e30 by the way- I'm in a similar predicament to you in that I currently run a nice golf mk2 GTI as a daily but feel I should probably grow up a bit and replace it with something newer, booooo.

R

It took me ages to find a good one, pretty much had given up since all i'd seen was in astronomical mileage, and had been looking at Audi S3s and S4s and having bad luck in finding a good one. This came up, went up and looked at it, there's a few minor niggles to be sorted, found there's water getting into the passenger foot well, though this apparently is due to a seal failing inside the door , easy fix once you get the interior panel off (Job for over my xmas break) and a CD changer that needs a good clean.

The E30 has been a great daily driver, but what with my job eating up more time and needing to visit clients and such soon, I couldn't keep bouncing around in a 24 year old car as I'm racking up more miles these days.

[benny.c]

Great cars these and yours looks to be in super condition. I so wish that BMW had released an M version of the E46 touring though. I had an Imola Red one for a while and it was a joy to own.

[VEA]

Looks nice.

I had an Oxford Green with red leather interior. Similar mileage to yours too. Auto though (which I have to say I thought it suited).

[RichardM5]

Mine was Oxford Green 2 as well. I'll try and dig out a picture of, it was replaced with a 330d touring, slightly more economical, not as much fun!

[VEA]

Gratuitous interior shot for 'dat' red.

Was a lot less in your face in real life.

[Stoatman]

Nice , I was so close to buying one of these. Then the stupid internet scared me too much about rear beam issues I backed away. Was too far away to have a good luck under on a whim, and is not always easy to see

[g3org3y]

Sf_Manta said:

The E30 has been a great daily driver, but what with my job eating up more time and needing to visit clients and such soon, I couldn't keep bouncing around in a 24 year old car as I'm racking up more miles these days.

I know what you mean. To be honest, it's a testament to the quality and durability of the E30 how many are used as daily drivers even now.

[Sf_Manta]

Well, after a week on the road, the car was filthy.. I don't have a picture, but it was going from the normal blue to brown. So cleaning time.



Already need to get a few things to sort, for one no matts.. which I thought were in the car. The CD changer needs pulling out and a good clean, hopefully this should get it working again, if not then it's staying out. Also found the cause of the wet floor.. not the seal, but a bottle of screen wash that the cap came loose and emptied it's contents on the carpets, had to mop that up.

And picked up my new shorter shifter, it's from a E60 545i and has shortened the shift by about 30%. It's not mega short (Z4M is the one for that but needs more work to get it to fit) but it's a very noticeably shorter shift, much more precise.



This is the old shifter, but the new part number's on the bag, you'll need the bush at the bottom too if you decide to do this change, total cost is around £60 for both parts.



And with the Motorwerk's knob on it's a very nice and distinct selector now. Next up is the CD Changer cleaning and install to hopefully get it working proper, followed by the CDV delete.

Edited by Sf_Manta on Sunday 21st December 18:22