BMW E46 320i - M54B22 - Father and Son project
Discussion
My latest acquisition came around because I was driving home in my 330 and a neighbour who happened to be behind me pulled up and said "you don't want to buy another one of those do you"!! Famous last words and well the rest is history. The brief history of the car is that it's been sat for around 3 years, parked up due to an mot fail and his Mrs not being able to drive any longer.
I saw this as a great opportunity for some father and son bonding time so I sold it to my lad that we're going to work on the car between us and that it's actually our car to share. He was made up!!
About the car, it's an E46 320i M54 B22 so it's a 2.2 litre straight six. It sounds nice and has a little bit of poke so it'll do just fine. Looking around it it's going to need discs and pads all round, a right good wash and a service and a set of wheels and tyres (I already have these). The theme of the project is also going to be a budget one as I find that half the fun is doing the research and finding the parts for cheap
Here are some pictures:
Under all the moss and dirt I think there's a decent car hiding under there. The back seats look like they've never been sat in and the fronts aren't too bad, one of them is ripped but I'll just put a seat cover in. We be already made our first purchase for it and that's a set of wheels. I got the idea from a German guy on YouTube who runs a saloon with a set of 17" wheels from an X3. I found a set on 3bay for £80 and sourced some 225/45/17 tyres.
Total spend so far is as follows:
Car £295.95 (found 5p)
Fuel £7.50
Wheels £80
This new project does unfortunately mean that my 330 will be up for sale shortly but can't wait to get on with this with my lad!!
I saw this as a great opportunity for some father and son bonding time so I sold it to my lad that we're going to work on the car between us and that it's actually our car to share. He was made up!!
About the car, it's an E46 320i M54 B22 so it's a 2.2 litre straight six. It sounds nice and has a little bit of poke so it'll do just fine. Looking around it it's going to need discs and pads all round, a right good wash and a service and a set of wheels and tyres (I already have these). The theme of the project is also going to be a budget one as I find that half the fun is doing the research and finding the parts for cheap
Here are some pictures:
Under all the moss and dirt I think there's a decent car hiding under there. The back seats look like they've never been sat in and the fronts aren't too bad, one of them is ripped but I'll just put a seat cover in. We be already made our first purchase for it and that's a set of wheels. I got the idea from a German guy on YouTube who runs a saloon with a set of 17" wheels from an X3. I found a set on 3bay for £80 and sourced some 225/45/17 tyres.
Total spend so far is as follows:
Car £295.95 (found 5p)
Fuel £7.50
Wheels £80
This new project does unfortunately mean that my 330 will be up for sale shortly but can't wait to get on with this with my lad!!
The B22 definitely lacks the low down torque of the B30 but still feels a lovely engine and relatively nippy.
I stand corrected on the MOT history it never actually failed it seems it just expired in 2020. The story from the old owner was something along the lines of his wife became poorly sadly and couldn't drive it anymore.
I do like the style 68's but I had the tyres knocking about to go with the X3 wheels so I'll go with them for now I think and see how we get on.
I stand corrected on the MOT history it never actually failed it seems it just expired in 2020. The story from the old owner was something along the lines of his wife became poorly sadly and couldn't drive it anymore.
I do like the style 68's but I had the tyres knocking about to go with the X3 wheels so I'll go with them for now I think and see how we get on.
Thank you for the replies everybody.
Little update on the 320.
Me and my son had a great day on Saturday, it was time for the first wash. Sad I know but I really look forward to cleaning a car this dirty and I think someone may have said on the thread there is actually a decent car under there.
We didn't really use any products on it, sprayed some tfr on it before we jet washed it but just used the jet wash with the heat on and it did the trick nicely!!
A before shot for comparison
Putting the little lad to work, he did a great job!!
Then finally some finished pictures,
It's come up really well. There's a bit of lacquer peel in places but the wheel arches aren't crusty and the paintwork itself is really bright. Really pleased with it. Very proud of my lad too for doing such a good job and getting stuck in.
It's due a couple of airbag recalls so I've booked those into work and I'll do them myself. I'm going to have a good look underneath while it's on the ramp too and see what I need to add to the list of jobs/parts that we have going on.
We haven't even thought about tackling the interior or engine bay yet but that's all in good time!!
Little update on the 320.
Me and my son had a great day on Saturday, it was time for the first wash. Sad I know but I really look forward to cleaning a car this dirty and I think someone may have said on the thread there is actually a decent car under there.
We didn't really use any products on it, sprayed some tfr on it before we jet washed it but just used the jet wash with the heat on and it did the trick nicely!!
A before shot for comparison
Putting the little lad to work, he did a great job!!
Then finally some finished pictures,
It's come up really well. There's a bit of lacquer peel in places but the wheel arches aren't crusty and the paintwork itself is really bright. Really pleased with it. Very proud of my lad too for doing such a good job and getting stuck in.
It's due a couple of airbag recalls so I've booked those into work and I'll do them myself. I'm going to have a good look underneath while it's on the ramp too and see what I need to add to the list of jobs/parts that we have going on.
We haven't even thought about tackling the interior or engine bay yet but that's all in good time!!
I managed to get the car up on the ramp at work to have a good look underneath and see what I was dealing with. Initial impressions are it's really good, the sump gasket is weeping ever so slightly which is no problem. Both the control arms and bushes are brand new which is great. Brake pipes are in ok condition, they're ever so slightly crusty but nothing to worry about. The rear arches have started bubbling ever so slightly but it hasn't even reached the outer lip yet so some treatment should sort that. I did notice that the OSF caliper is seized so that wheel won't turn at all and both front window regs have failed. You can hear the motor moving something but it's all snapped cables in there. I also managed to put the new wheels on which I think look great!! Admittedly though they do look better in the flesh than on the pictures but I'll put a picture up anyway.
The shopping list for the car now looks something like this:
Coilovers
X 2 front window regs
OSF caliper
Rear light cluster (got for £5)
Oil with oil filter
Spark plugs
Cold air intake (already have one)
Number plates
M sport steering wheel
M sport gearknon
M sport front leather seats
Exhaust of some form
Its quite a big list but a lot of the things on there are luxury items that I may or may not get over time. We'll just have to see!!
The shopping list for the car now looks something like this:
Coilovers
X 2 front window regs
OSF caliper
Rear light cluster (got for £5)
Oil with oil filter
Spark plugs
Cold air intake (already have one)
Number plates
M sport steering wheel
M sport gearknon
M sport front leather seats
Exhaust of some form
Its quite a big list but a lot of the things on there are luxury items that I may or may not get over time. We'll just have to see!!
Welcome to E46 ownership! they're pretty good cars to work on though do check the following
- Cooling system needs to be checked, pipes and radiators do go bad after a while
- Oil consumption can be bad on M54s - look up the O2 Pilot mod
- Oil leaks usually found from Rocker cover gasket, Oil filter housing , sump gasket and rear main seal. First 2 can be done on the drive, the 2nd pair need a lift to get access ideally.
- DISA Valve - best to get the upgrade kit to avoid issues as these can drop a pin down the intake.
- Vanos seals - Vitron swap will permentley cure that.
- Vaccum leaks can crop up - usual failure point is the intake billows right by the throttle body, replacement is £10 from the dealer.
- Rust - Front wings and rear arches tend to go.
Edited by Sf_Manta on Friday 17th February 09:56
I've sold my 330 now so the 320 will be going on the road shortly so I had to address a few issues with the car before it could be used.
I ordered a bag of parts from a local motor factors;
First job to set about was replacing both the front calipers. The wheels couldn't be turned by hand and the brake pedal was just like pressing a brick so they desperately needed doing.
The calipers came undone quite easily, I was particularly worried about the 14mm hose which were tight but did come undone eventually.
After I changed the calipers I set about doing a brake fluid changed and I'm so glad I did. Probably the worst brake fluid I've ever seen to come out of a car!
It was completely black and obviously gadbt been changed in years!
Next I loved onto changing the oil. I collected the oil to check quantity and check for any swarf etc but all seemed ok so I cracked on with changing the oil. After I'd replaced the oil I noticed that the car runs a lot smoother now and quieter which is nice.
I ordered a bag of parts from a local motor factors;
First job to set about was replacing both the front calipers. The wheels couldn't be turned by hand and the brake pedal was just like pressing a brick so they desperately needed doing.
The calipers came undone quite easily, I was particularly worried about the 14mm hose which were tight but did come undone eventually.
After I changed the calipers I set about doing a brake fluid changed and I'm so glad I did. Probably the worst brake fluid I've ever seen to come out of a car!
It was completely black and obviously gadbt been changed in years!
Next I loved onto changing the oil. I collected the oil to check quantity and check for any swarf etc but all seemed ok so I cracked on with changing the oil. After I'd replaced the oil I noticed that the car runs a lot smoother now and quieter which is nice.
Next I turned my attention to the inside of the car. I still hadn't sorted this from the car being sat so I really needed to get stuck into it to get it right. I bought some AG interior shampoo from Amazon and a blast can and the shampoo is terrific stuff.
That's it for now really. I'm going to tax it on Thursday and put some miles on it and go from there. Plans have changed with the car a little bit though. Work have cancelled the staff car scheme that I'm on and see we need a family car relatively quickly so I think the 320 for now is going to be the family bus and I've been offered a TT for good money. It's a mk1 225 quattro in silver so watch this space.
That's it for now really. I'm going to tax it on Thursday and put some miles on it and go from there. Plans have changed with the car a little bit though. Work have cancelled the staff car scheme that I'm on and see we need a family car relatively quickly so I think the 320 for now is going to be the family bus and I've been offered a TT for good money. It's a mk1 225 quattro in silver so watch this space.
Andrew-b90y3 said:
I've sold my 330 now so the 320 will be going on the road shortly so I had to address a few issues with the car before it could be used.
I ordered a bag of parts from a local motor factors;
First job to set about was replacing both the front calipers. The wheels couldn't be turned by hand and the brake pedal was just like pressing a brick so they desperately needed doing.
The calipers came undone quite easily, I was particularly worried about the 14mm hose which were tight but did come undone eventually.
After I changed the calipers I set about doing a brake fluid changed and I'm so glad I did. Probably the worst brake fluid I've ever seen to come out of a car!
It was completely black and obviously gadbt been changed in years!
Next I loved onto changing the oil. I collected the oil to check quantity and check for any swarf etc but all seemed ok so I cracked on with changing the oil. After I'd replaced the oil I noticed that the car runs a lot smoother now and quieter which is nice.
This looks so much better on X3 wheels than I had imagined, though I love Style 68s, put those on my 330i Sport when I got it. I ordered a bag of parts from a local motor factors;
First job to set about was replacing both the front calipers. The wheels couldn't be turned by hand and the brake pedal was just like pressing a brick so they desperately needed doing.
The calipers came undone quite easily, I was particularly worried about the 14mm hose which were tight but did come undone eventually.
After I changed the calipers I set about doing a brake fluid changed and I'm so glad I did. Probably the worst brake fluid I've ever seen to come out of a car!
It was completely black and obviously gadbt been changed in years!
Next I loved onto changing the oil. I collected the oil to check quantity and check for any swarf etc but all seemed ok so I cracked on with changing the oil. After I'd replaced the oil I noticed that the car runs a lot smoother now and quieter which is nice.
A shame you have done the brakes though, I've had a set of boxed genuine BMW 330i discs and pads I didn't get round to fitting before mine sold.
I managed to get a little bit of work done on the 320 this weekend just gone so thought I'd share with you all. The main job was to fit this little box of goodies!
I looked at loads of coilover kits but for some reason pro sport seemed to keep coming back to me. They were only £196 delivered from Larkspeed so I know they won't be the best but they have height adjustability which I really need on an e46 because the rear is never level for some reason. (Seems to be loads of myths online about this) also even though they are cheap I do feel they drive better than a car on old struts and lowering springs.
Issues that I came across during fitting were that the old struts at the front were so long that I couldn't drop the hub down far enough to slide them out of it or drop it low enough with them in to clear the strut tower. In the end I used a spring compressor in situ (bit ropey) to give me the necessary clearance to whip the struts out.
Its not had a wash since it's been back on the road so don't judge me please. Ride heights are set at the height above and I think it looks well, it seems to have set the wheels off a lot more now too being a little lower. Ride heights if anyone's interested are:
Front 570mm (bottom lip of wheel to arch)
Rear 560mm (as above)
Bmws always seem to look and drive a lot better with the rear being a touch lower than the front, in my opinion anyway. Thoughts on the coilovers are stiff but nothing too ridiculous. Although my last car had gaz monos so bricks would probably be more forgiving than those. I would compare it too a standard modern m sport with being wheels and runflat on in terms of ride. I haven't drive it spiritdely yet so can't pass comment on what they're like in that regard.
Another little job I got done was to look into why the drivers window wouldn't move. When you press the switch a lot of banging and crunching occurred with no window moving. I figures because the car had been stood the cables will have rusted and snapped on the reg. I was correct. Old reg out,
Got the new reg in and found it quite a fiddly job to be honest. Also manages to fit the small M8 nuts on the wrong side of the retaining tab in the glass so as soon as I shut the door the glass dropped into the door... Doh! Whipped the doorcard back off, refixed the offending nuts and we were good to go.
Also fitted a new wheel speed sensor on the offside front to clear my dsc lights. They did clear but came back on briefly this week and went off with an ignition cycle so I'm sure that'll be right.
I looked at loads of coilover kits but for some reason pro sport seemed to keep coming back to me. They were only £196 delivered from Larkspeed so I know they won't be the best but they have height adjustability which I really need on an e46 because the rear is never level for some reason. (Seems to be loads of myths online about this) also even though they are cheap I do feel they drive better than a car on old struts and lowering springs.
Issues that I came across during fitting were that the old struts at the front were so long that I couldn't drop the hub down far enough to slide them out of it or drop it low enough with them in to clear the strut tower. In the end I used a spring compressor in situ (bit ropey) to give me the necessary clearance to whip the struts out.
Its not had a wash since it's been back on the road so don't judge me please. Ride heights are set at the height above and I think it looks well, it seems to have set the wheels off a lot more now too being a little lower. Ride heights if anyone's interested are:
Front 570mm (bottom lip of wheel to arch)
Rear 560mm (as above)
Bmws always seem to look and drive a lot better with the rear being a touch lower than the front, in my opinion anyway. Thoughts on the coilovers are stiff but nothing too ridiculous. Although my last car had gaz monos so bricks would probably be more forgiving than those. I would compare it too a standard modern m sport with being wheels and runflat on in terms of ride. I haven't drive it spiritdely yet so can't pass comment on what they're like in that regard.
Another little job I got done was to look into why the drivers window wouldn't move. When you press the switch a lot of banging and crunching occurred with no window moving. I figures because the car had been stood the cables will have rusted and snapped on the reg. I was correct. Old reg out,
Got the new reg in and found it quite a fiddly job to be honest. Also manages to fit the small M8 nuts on the wrong side of the retaining tab in the glass so as soon as I shut the door the glass dropped into the door... Doh! Whipped the doorcard back off, refixed the offending nuts and we were good to go.
Also fitted a new wheel speed sensor on the offside front to clear my dsc lights. They did clear but came back on briefly this week and went off with an ignition cycle so I'm sure that'll be right.
Small update on the B22 project.
I'm yet to do a proper wheel alignment on it but ive always had a very vague feeling from the steering wheel and the car tended to feel quite snatchy going over bumps etc. Usually on an e46 this can only mean one thing that the control arm bushes have either failed or are on their way out. Anyway I had a friend work the steering wheel backwards and forward while I eyed up under the car and the OS control arm was moving in the bush so that indicates a failed control arm bush.
On my 330 I fitted z4m control arm bushes into the brackets from the e46 so I set about doing the same with this. The bushes are only around £50 from a main dealer and the brackets are reusable.
I set about using the press at work to remove the old bushes from the brackets which left me with this.
I gave the brackets a bit of paint while they were off the car just to freshen them up a little bit.
Then all pressed in.
To get the orientation right you've got to match the little tabs on the brackets up to the arrows on the bushes.
As you can see from the pictures the bush was absolutely goosed that came off the car.
All buttoned up and done. The steering feel is night and day different now and I still haven't even aligned it yet. I would recommend these to anyone with an e46.
I'm yet to do a proper wheel alignment on it but ive always had a very vague feeling from the steering wheel and the car tended to feel quite snatchy going over bumps etc. Usually on an e46 this can only mean one thing that the control arm bushes have either failed or are on their way out. Anyway I had a friend work the steering wheel backwards and forward while I eyed up under the car and the OS control arm was moving in the bush so that indicates a failed control arm bush.
On my 330 I fitted z4m control arm bushes into the brackets from the e46 so I set about doing the same with this. The bushes are only around £50 from a main dealer and the brackets are reusable.
I set about using the press at work to remove the old bushes from the brackets which left me with this.
I gave the brackets a bit of paint while they were off the car just to freshen them up a little bit.
Then all pressed in.
To get the orientation right you've got to match the little tabs on the brackets up to the arrows on the bushes.
As you can see from the pictures the bush was absolutely goosed that came off the car.
All buttoned up and done. The steering feel is night and day different now and I still haven't even aligned it yet. I would recommend these to anyone with an e46.
Andrew-b90y3 said:
I managed to get a little bit of work done on the 320 this weekend just gone so thought I'd share with you all. The main job was to fit this little box of goodies!
I looked at loads of coilover kits but for some reason pro sport seemed to keep coming back to me. They were only £196 delivered from Larkspeed so I know they won't be the best but they have height adjustability which I really need on an e46 because the rear is never level for some reason. (Seems to be loads of myths online about this) also even though they are cheap I do feel they drive better than a car on old struts and lowering springs.
Issues that I came across during fitting were that the old struts at the front were so long that I couldn't drop the hub down far enough to slide them out of it or drop it low enough with them in to clear the strut tower. In the end I used a spring compressor in situ (bit ropey) to give me the necessary clearance to whip the struts out.
Thoughts on these coilovers? I've been on the fence about them because well....cheap. I'm running a set of really fI looked at loads of coilover kits but for some reason pro sport seemed to keep coming back to me. They were only £196 delivered from Larkspeed so I know they won't be the best but they have height adjustability which I really need on an e46 because the rear is never level for some reason. (Seems to be loads of myths online about this) also even though they are cheap I do feel they drive better than a car on old struts and lowering springs.
Issues that I came across during fitting were that the old struts at the front were so long that I couldn't drop the hub down far enough to slide them out of it or drop it low enough with them in to clear the strut tower. In the end I used a spring compressor in situ (bit ropey) to give me the necessary clearance to whip the struts out.
ked up Tein Streets on my MX-5 (the £500 single perch model) that I picked up for £90 on Facebook. However they ride really bad and were supposed to be a stop gap to replace the 20+ year old OEM ones that were shot.The car does the odd trip out but mostly gets trashed on the track, so got some concerns about the life of them but I'm wondering if they do happening to develop issues it would be within the 1 year warranty.
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff