E46 330ci project/progress - Coilovers on, New Rimz inside

[laurence_13]

looking very smart mate! loving those wheels...

[Midnightclub]

Cheers dude

[Eeyore]

Are these BBS Motorsport CHs?

[Midnightclub]

Albeit replicas, but yes BBS CH. Genuine ones don't come in the sizes I wanted and are worth more than the whole car

[Midnightclub]

Holy thread revival, right?

Still own this, few changes though..

OEM Xenons (hard to find in pre-facelift without being £*ape.99) - will eventually swap over my CCFL angel rings from my other headlights to get rid of the yellow sidelights.



After hearing from Paul13 about the improvement from his steering UJ change I decided to give it a go also, much better!

OEM rubber unit on the left, rebuilt UJ with upgraded metal bush on right




Parts wise though it hasn't really changed, new set of Eagle F1 A3's on the back (EF1 A2's from last time ended up lasting over 22k, pretty chuffed with that) and the usual servicing etc..

Something slightly more interesting however, I've spent a lot of time over christmas looking into ECU tuning on these cars (more specifically, these ECU's Siemans MS43 - covers the M54B22, 25 and 30). So the TLDR is that I can now map this myself, all of the tools needed are out there and I can change basically any map on the ECU.

This now makes any prospect of 'boosting' or any tuning really a fair whack cheaper.. For now though, I've tweaked the throttle pedal map as I was never a massive fan of the OEM throttle feel (drive-by-wire.. :/), flashed the map (whilst holding my breath..) with success and now have a much sharper throttle. Will be spending more time looking into different maps but that's all for now

[Paul_13]

I take it you had m sport suspension before putting the coil overs on?
So you have them spare?
How did you find them?

[Midnightclub]

Nah it was/is an SE so had what i assume is SE suspension unless a previous owner etc changed it. A bit rolly but other than that pretty good. Keeping them incase it comes to selling the car though.

Interested to see how the 6 feels after driving a car with coilovers for the past few years

[Midnightclub]

Got a new set of wings for this and got my dad to paint them for me, colour match is pretty much spot on! Makes it look muuuuuuch cleaner. Other than that it's just been general maintenance, replaced power steering hoses, fixed an oil leak etc.. New boots for the front as I discovered some canvas, PS4's are great! May be up for sale at some point in the near future, torn between a 46 M3 or an E92 335i..

[RA306]

Got a new set of wings for this and got my dad to paint them for me, colour match is pretty much spot on! Makes it look muuuuuuch cleaner. Other than that it's just been general maintenance, replaced power steering hoses, fixed an oil leak etc.. New boots for the front as I discovered some canvas, PS4's are great! May be up for sale at some point in the near future, torn between a 46 M3 or an E92 335i..

Get a M3 E46 they were in many eyes the ultimate M3, also it will appreciate.

[Midnightclub]

I've driven the M3, very similar to what i've got just more power.. driving a 335i tomorrow.

[Frosty]

I've driven the M3, very similar to what i've got just more power.. driving a 335i tomorrow.

Is that the 335i thats twin turbo?

[Midnightclub]

Yeah that's it, 3.0 twin turbo direct injection. 306 hp and about 300 lbft. Stage 1 map takes them to around 360 and there's plenty of bolt ons available

[welshpug]

if you can afford the maintenance on an M car go for it, especially as they wont be getting any cheaper, unless you put lots of miles on it.

an M will be quite different to a 330 unless you had a clubsport, especially when you start pushing on.

[Midnightclub]

Yeah i don't do that many miles so it's not an issue, but it will be my daily. The geometry on the rear is identical and i think only slightly different at the front, my current alignment is close to m3 factory settings, but you obviously can't go too mad on a test drive. My comparison was oem M suspension vs my hsd coilovers though

The 335 does have a lot more tuneability, I'll see how i feel in a few hours.

[Frosty]

Yeah that's it, 3.0 twin turbo direct injection. 306 hp and about 300 lbft. Stage 1 map takes them to around 360 and there's plenty of bolt ons available

Yeah we had one in work and mapped it then i fitted de-cat pipes to it and had it mapped again, around 390 bhp i think. Goes well and it pretty nice to drive. I like it as it doesn't standard out too much either.

[Ruan]

Manual 335i IMHO is much more a daily road car than the E46 M3... Don't get me wrong, I do love the E46 M3, has one of the most fantastic engines going, however I think as a daily proposition, the 335i is the better option. Also as above, servicing costs are pretty horrific on the M3.

They get a bad reputation in the US for unreliability as BMW underestimated how badly the shitty fuel out there will wreck the HPFP. Only fault I know of on them is dodgy wastegate actuators that rattle.

[Alan_M]

Nah it was/is an SE so had what i assume is SE suspension unless a previous owner etc changed it. A bit rolly but other than that pretty good. Keeping them incase it comes to selling the car though.

Interested to see how the 6 feels after driving a car with coilovers for the past few years

I think even the SE Coupe's had 'Sport' suspension (if you wanted SE suspension on a Coupe, you had to specify it when ordering), just not M Sport suspension. My 330 is a 2001 SE version and that has the Sport suspension, thicker bars etc as standard.

I've been fortunate enough to drive both a 335 and E46 M3 a few years ago. Pretty much the same dilemma as you are in I'm guessing. 335 is quick, probably just as quick as the M3 with a map and it's a very nice place to be, but it's not an M car. Don't think you can get it fully manual, yet with paddles. Weren't early 335s twin turbo, later on a single?

E46 M3 however is in another league for the drive it offers. Fast, comfortable & usable for everyday driving IMO, absolutely intoxicating on a Sunday morning blast and residuals are going up for good ones. Only thing is, it's an M car so servicing, parts etc are expensive. Be prepared to be bent over if it goes wrong.

Out of the two it would be the M3, but if your 330 is OK I'd keep that instead (Captain Sensible).

[Ruan]

Other thing imho to consider, it is an M car... That means it's a race derived engine, meaning valve lash adjustments as it's not even hydraulic lifters... It's stuff like that to me that makes it stand out as a driving proposition, but maybe not as a daily... You can get a 335i manual, just not a 335d manual. The latter is rare however, but worth it imho. The N54 is just such a belter, it's 90% of the S54 with none of the insane expenditure required to keep on the roads. Imho of course.

[Midnightclub]

Well i drove the 335i over the weekend and i like it a lot, first impressions probably more so than the M3 tbh. Seats are lovely, driving position is nice, wheel is smaller than mine which i like. Interior in general just feels newer. The torque is just miles ahead of even the M3, it starts early and pulls all the way up the rev range, still revs to 7k. The earlier 335's are twin turbo, later ones with the n55 are single turbo but the power delivery is very similar. Whilst i did like the M3 it just didn't feel different enough for buying a new shiney thing

I don't doubt that at the limit/hooning/track the M will be the better car, but my daily drive is mostly MW and dealing with traffic etc.. clutch on the 335 is much lighter than even the one on my 46. On paper the 335 manual is as quick as the 46 M3, both at 5.5 to 60 - obviously be even quicker with a map. Problem being is you can only give it so much on a test drive..

For what I want to spend, i can either get a low miles 335 (I'm talking 40-60k) or a 100k+ M3. Maintenance for both I'm not too worried about as it'll be me doing it, but you do get M tax just for stuff like discs, pads, wishbones etc.. other thing is the rear subframes are not cheap to repair and it's pretty much a guarantee it'll need to be done some time. I don't dislike my 330 by any means, i just normally get bored of a car after a year or two and I've owned it for 4 now and need a bit more power in my life

One i looked at had the wastegate rattle Ruan, AFAIK it doesn't cause any actual problems other than annoying noise. You're right about the valve adjustments though, they need to be checked every 30,000 which wouldn't be too much of an issue, i do between 5-7.5k a year but it'll cost ££ to get done. The N54 actually sounded awesome, much more noise and tone than i expected from an OEM turbo motor.. it can also be mapped with your phone, maps are $49 each too i believe

As a side note, some people in the states run silly power on stock internals.. like 700whp+ on e85

[partybish]

Nice pair of cars you've got there. To be honest I'd probably stick with the 330 but out of the two you're looking at I think I'd rather have an e92 335i. 99% of the time it'll be a more useable car for everyday with plenty of power and decent e46 M3s are getting expensive for good examples. An F30 335d is high on my want list if and when I get rid of my golf r - decent MPG, lots of comfort/toys and the mid range pick up is epic. My buddy got an F80 M3 on a lease deal and whilst it is pretty special, in my view if it's being used as a daily driver you need to be pretty amazing behind a wheel and take it on track to squeeze the benefit of the additional performance it offers over a 335. Most of the time I'm stuck in traffic or driving bumpy, potholed roads which is when I'd be wishing I'd not bothered with an M.

[Midnightclub]

Nice pair of cars you've got there.  To be honest I'd probably stick with the 330 but out of the two you're looking at I think I'd rather have an e92 335i.  99% of the time it'll be a more useable car for everyday with plenty of power and decent e46 M3s are getting expensive for good examples.  An F30 335d is high on my want list if and when I get rid of my golf r - decent MPG, lots of comfort/toys and the mid range pick up is epic.  My buddy got an F80 M3 on a lease deal and whilst it is pretty special, in my view if it's being used as a daily driver you need to be pretty amazing behind a wheel and take it on track to squeeze the benefit of the additional performance it offers over a 335.  Most of the time I'm stuck in traffic or driving bumpy, potholed roads which is when I'd be wishing I'd not bothered with an M.

Thanks mate. I think you're right, peak torque on the M doesn't happen til near enough 5k where as the 335 is already on peak torque from just after 2k - it would just be a lot more usable i think in a real world scenario. Interestingly the stock E92 suspension wasn't as comfy as i thought it might be, it wasn't bad by any means but it was firm i'd say - the M sport and the SE have the same suspension package too

[partybish]

The 335d I test drove had adaptive damping which I have on the R and it just gets left in 'comfort' mode until the opportunity presents itself to open it up a bit. Do the E9x models have that?

[Midnightclub]

The 335d I test drove had adaptive damping which I have on the R and it just gets left in 'comfort' mode until the opportunity presents itself to open it up a bit.  Do the E9x models have that?

I don't believe so.. maybe on the later models? Not the ones I've been looking at though.

[Ruan]

The wastegate issue usually is an annoying noise until the linkage wears enough that the actuator can't close the valve enough and you get persistent boost deviation below setpoint faults.

But yeah, it's not a huge issue, just an annoying noise. I'd be super wary of $49 maps though lol - those MSD80s are complex bits of kit and if someone has been in playing with the knock control, timing and boost control - it's gonna end up screwed.

[Midnightclub]

Don't worry, it's not some random map from bob down the road lol.. Check out (MHD Tuning) MHD Flasher N54 - I think the 'module' (I assume the cable?) costs $99 then its an extra $49 per map, they have various different ones for different octanes, ethanol etc..