2001 BMW 320ci convertible - fine Cyprus motoring
Discussion
Hi everyone,
I rarely post on here, usually to defend much-hated square Maseratis, but I figured I'd put a thread up for my return to interesting stuff*.
I'm 35, with two young kids and a non-car-loving partner, we all moved to Cyprus (from France) about a year ago and for three to six years. Before having kids, I started my driving career with a mk1 Twingo on loan from my parents but I gave it back when I purchased my first car in 2011, a very reasonable tatty 1964 Ford Cortina mk1 (pre-Airflow).
After two years and about 35,000km in that, I sold it to Germany because I'd bought a 1977 Alfa Romeo Giulia Nuova Super, blu ollandese with yellow headlights. It was very cool but I marred our relationship another year later by also acquiring a 1989 Maserati 222, of famed Biturbo lineage. I paid 1800€ for that privilege, so you can imagine how exquisite its general state was!
In 2015 I found myself needing an actually reasonable car, so I bought a ropey Forester to smoke around in, litterally as it had head gasket issues.
In 2017 I sold the Maser, for a profit of around 1000€ (if you don't count the loss of probably 4 to 7000 in parts and hassle). Also sold the Forester, then I had a kid and realised I wouldn't have time for stupid cars for a while and sold the Giulia.
Then I had a stint with a three-door Alfa Romeo 147 that was in a terrible way thanks to its previous owner, fought that for a while before giving up.
For the past three years we've been using a 2020 VW T6.1 California Beach, the one that doesn't have the whole kitchen sink thrown at it (again, litterally), but is more of a compromise towards daily usability but still sleeps four. You can see that one here:
And you can also see quite well my latest purchase, which will be the subject of subsequent ramblings:
OK, it's just a lowly 320ci, with a mere 174hp, and it weighs around 1520kg with fluids. OK, there are probably better driver's cars out there but this is still incredibly cool! My uncle had an E36 325i saloon when I was a kid and I remember that very fondly, he sadly sold it shortly before I started my automotive path to financial ruin.
My plans for the car are basically to make it as nice and useable as I can, I think I found a very good base for that as it was with its previous owner for 20 years. The roof works without weird noises, so do the A/C, the cruise control, the electric seats, the engine, etc. It has 121,000 miles which isn't that much for this era of BMW it seems. If possible I'll keep it forever, it's a sweet compromise between passion and reason and works perfectly for my personal circumstances.
Issues:
- the suspension is vague and groans and creaks,
- the power-assisted steering sometimes gives weird pulses (probably low oil level),
- there are oil leaks everywhere, it is apparently slowly losing coolant,
- the tyres are shockingly dead (typical Cyprus trait) and I hate the wheels,
- many plastics have reached the end of their structural life,
- the propshat rubber donut is making sweet clonking noises,
- the roof could do with some care before it dries out,
- the driver's window rattles against the rear one,
- the airbag light is on
- the windscreen surround seal is dead, and the plastic shelf under the wipers too.
I paid 3100€ for it, which is an absolute steal I reckon. There are lots of these E46s in Cyprus, most of them gently hurdling towards the scrapyard, but this one should be quite easy to put right.
The most pressing issues will be to change the wheels: I'm looking for a set of Style 109s from a first-gen 2.0d X3, as I've always loved them but no ones else does it seems:
I *need* advice for a good OBD scanner, I don't mind spending a little on it but I realistically need a lot a functionality with the roof and whatnot.
I've gone on for too long already, I shall now let this thread drown itself in a sea of brand-new Porsche discussions interspersed with beautiful restorations, I would very much appreciate advice as the worst part of the purchase is needing lots of info.
Cheers!
Clément
I rarely post on here, usually to defend much-hated square Maseratis, but I figured I'd put a thread up for my return to interesting stuff*.
I'm 35, with two young kids and a non-car-loving partner, we all moved to Cyprus (from France) about a year ago and for three to six years. Before having kids, I started my driving career with a mk1 Twingo on loan from my parents but I gave it back when I purchased my first car in 2011, a very reasonable tatty 1964 Ford Cortina mk1 (pre-Airflow).
After two years and about 35,000km in that, I sold it to Germany because I'd bought a 1977 Alfa Romeo Giulia Nuova Super, blu ollandese with yellow headlights. It was very cool but I marred our relationship another year later by also acquiring a 1989 Maserati 222, of famed Biturbo lineage. I paid 1800€ for that privilege, so you can imagine how exquisite its general state was!
In 2015 I found myself needing an actually reasonable car, so I bought a ropey Forester to smoke around in, litterally as it had head gasket issues.
In 2017 I sold the Maser, for a profit of around 1000€ (if you don't count the loss of probably 4 to 7000 in parts and hassle). Also sold the Forester, then I had a kid and realised I wouldn't have time for stupid cars for a while and sold the Giulia.
Then I had a stint with a three-door Alfa Romeo 147 that was in a terrible way thanks to its previous owner, fought that for a while before giving up.
For the past three years we've been using a 2020 VW T6.1 California Beach, the one that doesn't have the whole kitchen sink thrown at it (again, litterally), but is more of a compromise towards daily usability but still sleeps four. You can see that one here:
And you can also see quite well my latest purchase, which will be the subject of subsequent ramblings:
OK, it's just a lowly 320ci, with a mere 174hp, and it weighs around 1520kg with fluids. OK, there are probably better driver's cars out there but this is still incredibly cool! My uncle had an E36 325i saloon when I was a kid and I remember that very fondly, he sadly sold it shortly before I started my automotive path to financial ruin.
My plans for the car are basically to make it as nice and useable as I can, I think I found a very good base for that as it was with its previous owner for 20 years. The roof works without weird noises, so do the A/C, the cruise control, the electric seats, the engine, etc. It has 121,000 miles which isn't that much for this era of BMW it seems. If possible I'll keep it forever, it's a sweet compromise between passion and reason and works perfectly for my personal circumstances.
Issues:
- the suspension is vague and groans and creaks,
- the power-assisted steering sometimes gives weird pulses (probably low oil level),
- there are oil leaks everywhere, it is apparently slowly losing coolant,
- the tyres are shockingly dead (typical Cyprus trait) and I hate the wheels,
- many plastics have reached the end of their structural life,
- the propshat rubber donut is making sweet clonking noises,
- the roof could do with some care before it dries out,
- the driver's window rattles against the rear one,
- the airbag light is on
- the windscreen surround seal is dead, and the plastic shelf under the wipers too.
I paid 3100€ for it, which is an absolute steal I reckon. There are lots of these E46s in Cyprus, most of them gently hurdling towards the scrapyard, but this one should be quite easy to put right.
The most pressing issues will be to change the wheels: I'm looking for a set of Style 109s from a first-gen 2.0d X3, as I've always loved them but no ones else does it seems:
I *need* advice for a good OBD scanner, I don't mind spending a little on it but I realistically need a lot a functionality with the roof and whatnot.
I've gone on for too long already, I shall now let this thread drown itself in a sea of brand-new Porsche discussions interspersed with beautiful restorations, I would very much appreciate advice as the worst part of the purchase is needing lots of info.
Cheers!
Clément
- If you don't think an all-alloy straight-six petrol engine with double overhead camshafts and variable valve timing paired with a manual gearbox in a good-looking rear-wheel drive convertible, I'm truly sorry for you.
Edited by tihouss on Wednesday 20th November 14:46
Hi Clement.
That looks like it has the makings of a great car, but like most of Europe prices seem very high in Cyprus.
I bought an 80K mile manual E46 325ti Compact for just under £2,000 in 2014, and loved it. But it was getting crusty underneath and I moved on and have had a manual E90 330i for over 5 years now, so I can appreciate your love of a straight 6 RWD BMW.
That looks like it has the makings of a great car, but like most of Europe prices seem very high in Cyprus.
I bought an 80K mile manual E46 325ti Compact for just under £2,000 in 2014, and loved it. But it was getting crusty underneath and I moved on and have had a manual E90 330i for over 5 years now, so I can appreciate your love of a straight 6 RWD BMW.
If the drivers door window just needs adjusting you can do it from outside instead of taking all the interior panel off. Pop the colour coded door moulding off, wind the window down and there are 2 large holes so you can access the bolts on the mechanism.
If you decide to do from inside you will need a female Torx socket to loosen the mech and it is reverse thread from inside.
If you decide to do from inside you will need a female Torx socket to loosen the mech and it is reverse thread from inside.
Thanks for the tip, I'll have to try that!
Maybe 3000€ is a lot in the UK but I think UK prices in general are artificially low due to rust problems. In my eyes a car with so many nice features shouldn't cost as little as I paid for it, especially when it's cheap to run and reliable! I can't see them getting any cheaper.
Maybe 3000€ is a lot in the UK but I think UK prices in general are artificially low due to rust problems. In my eyes a car with so many nice features shouldn't cost as little as I paid for it, especially when it's cheap to run and reliable! I can't see them getting any cheaper.
Time for two pairs of Style 109's.
Yes please.
I found today that my radiator is about to burst into oblivion, and these days my roof doesn't think it works even when it does. It stows the soft top away smoothly, latch the lid then doesn't turn off the roof process telltale light! A week ago it didn't want to latch said cover, I think something might be wrong with either the hall sensors in that area or the wiring.
I found a VERY useful PDF online, that is an official BMW document detailing the inner workings of the roof system. Combined with realOEM I've never had cheap classic motoring so easy!
Yes please.
I found today that my radiator is about to burst into oblivion, and these days my roof doesn't think it works even when it does. It stows the soft top away smoothly, latch the lid then doesn't turn off the roof process telltale light! A week ago it didn't want to latch said cover, I think something might be wrong with either the hall sensors in that area or the wiring.
I found a VERY useful PDF online, that is an official BMW document detailing the inner workings of the roof system. Combined with realOEM I've never had cheap classic motoring so easy!
Edited by tihouss on Wednesday 20th November 14:44
A friend has bought a cabrio e46 330i and had some roof problems and my autel AP200 OBD2 scanner was incredibly useful for checking the roof operation. In the end the lack of functionality turned out to be the boot luggage shell thing not being engaged!
Anyway these are cool cars even in lowely 20i guise - still a lovely straight six motor!
Anyway these are cool cars even in lowely 20i guise - still a lovely straight six motor!
Thank you for that diag reference, this helps a lot! If I'm honest I think the roof is what's going to use diagnostics the most, it works quite logically but asking the computer what it sees is going to save me lots of time and effort.
Apparently we now have developed an exhausted leak, gently chugging away like a locomotive.
Apparently we now have developed an exhausted leak, gently chugging away like a locomotive.
Weirdly enough, it is so far intermittent! It's not a constant prrrrt sound, more of a 'ch-ch-ch-ch' that depends on the rpm so I'm thinking of a manifold leak.
I'll see when I have a minute to look at it, at least on an M54 the exhaust nuts aren't likely to be corroded with the cam cover gasket leaks!
I'll see when I have a minute to look at it, at least on an M54 the exhaust nuts aren't likely to be corroded with the cam cover gasket leaks!
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