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Thread: My 2002 E46 Touring Daily Driver Build

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
    Location
    JHB South Africa
    Posts
    1,632
    My Cars
    E46 330iT E36 328i

    My 2002 E46 Touring Daily Driver Build

    Hi guys, just want to show you what I bought on recently. Its a manual 2002 325iT Titan Silver with black interior, I originally bought it just for it's black interior so I could swap my grey interior out on my alpine touring. Well, after digging a little deeper this car is too nice not to keep as a spare/daily runaround.

    The car belonged to a customer who wanted some service items attended to, he gave me the story/history on the car that he was the 3rd owner and bought the car with 124 000km on the clock in 2007, in the time he owned it he put on 290 000km purely long distance driving (verified by his fuel log book), its accident free and has full service history, has all the spare keys, books and the complete tool kit which has never been used. Besides the high mileage this car is in great shape, in need of a bonnet clearcoat and some maintenance but overall a great car. It was only after I gave the car an underside/chassis clean that I started to like what I saw. The owner had been in 2 minds about spending decent money maintaining her or using that money to buy another E46 with lower mileage. I convinced him to buy another E46 and made a silly offer on the touring, a couple days went by and he phoned me to let me know he accepted my offer. Paid him an hour later and the deal was done.

    When the car arrived.



























    [hr]









    [hr]
















    Found the source of the oil leak, common issue, my fix is hydraulic hose.




    Replaced steering boots.


    Threw on my e36 wheels and took the car for roadworthy.




    Got some tyres for a set of 7Jx16 Style 42's that I had lying around.





    [hr]
    I then removed all stickers and 325 badge and begun to strip the interior, my other touring waiting for black interior.










    Am considering taking this 2.5i out and replacing with 3.0i.

    [hr]
    Soldiered on late into Friday night stripping and cleaning 2 touring interiors. The silver touring interior swap is complete as of last night.

    Finally finding out the order in which to strip out the boot area I took advantage of the situation and installed new rear shocks/mounts.






    Black dash out.


    Vacuumed as much dirt/dust as I could before I installed the grey interior.


    Finished product. Im using the original passenger seat and a driver's M3 seat and centre armrest until I find suitable replacements.








    Boot area all clean, still need the plastic part that fits over the battery, previous owner says he has it in his garage.


    - - - Updated - - -

    I picked up a cheap 2nd hand oem fender lining with temp sensor. Gave it a karcher spray off and installed it quick. There was not much left of the old one.





    I had to replace the general control module to fix an intermittent power issue to the driver's window. Budler Motorsport were the only guys that had a general module specifically for the touring. Thank you Boetie.


    I changed the spare wheel to match the rest of the wheels on the car.


    I got hold of a E46 sedan boot board strap/hook and retrofitted it to the touring, why the tourings never had them to begin with is beyond me.


    Moved the black M-cubed trim over to the white touring and reinstalled the wood trim set until I find another trim set I like. Not a fan of the wood so its only temporary.


    In the "daily driver" parking space.


    His and hers.


    My white touring now parks on the other side of my garage.


    - - - Updated - - -

    update: Took the car for a drive to get up to temp, came back and did a compression test to see the cylinder compression numbers before I pull the motor. All satisfactory.


    Plugs look even burning and rather new.


    Spent the afternoon removing the M54B25 engine. Gave the engine bay another once over with the karcher.






    2.5lt out.


    3.0lt to be cleaned and prepared.




    - - - Updated - - -

    The M54B30 is ready for installation. I cleaned up the motor and I have replaced the front main seal, rear main seal, sump gasket, oil filter housing gasket, injector seals, intake and exhaust manifold gaskets, tappet cover gasket and a new OEM thermostat.
    Tomorrow I install the motor.









    Motor is in! E90 spd installed too. Should be running tomorrow sometime.











    - - - Updated - - -

    New oem oil filter being primed with Liqui Moly 5w40.


    Cams also being primed with fresh oil.




    New tappet cover gasket installed, engine is running!


    Now to finish the 6spd conversion. Im using an E90 320i 6spd box but I need to swap the output flange to the e46 325i one.




    E46 325i getrag 5spd.


    Gearbox output flanges for comparison. E46 330i left, E46 325i middle, E90 320i right.


    Shift lever is E46 330d, shifter support and rod is E90 325i.


    Temporary exhaust to not frighten the neighborhood while testing.


    Gearbox shifts really smooth, shifter is short and precise and feels great. Im taking the e46 325i propshaft in tomorrow for shortening and balancing and get the car back onto the road by tomorrow afternoon. The engine is running on 325i software and MAF for now, on the hunt for a 330i MAF and then upgrade the software to 330i.

    - - - Updated - - -

    Here is a comparison between the E46 330d shifter and the E90 325i shifter.


    While waiting for the propshaft, I decided to drop the rear subframe to check the condition of the mounting points, all is well.




    Instead of refitting the 414 000km rear suspension, I decided to install my 100 000km rear suspension left over from my white touring build.








    - - - Updated - - -

    I did a brake fluid flush this morning.








    New air filter.


    Propshaft came back, installed it right away.


    - - - Updated - - -

    Forgot to upload these last night. I used new exhaust gaskets when I fitted my white touring's exhaust which has nice looking exhaust tips.


    Propshaft fitted.


    Diff oil changed. Old oil smelt bad.




    Couple shots in an empty parking lot.








    Fuel consumption so far, not bad.


    Lastly, I picked up some Liqui Moly injector cleaner which I will use on my next full tank of fuel. I also picked up a 6spd light up gear knob from a E92 M3 and an E46 gear surround for cheap, I will stick the gear knob/leather boot to the E46 surround to make my own "E46 M3 gear knob".


    - - - Updated - - -

    Finished up with the gear knob.








    Plugged into ash tray light plug.






    Took the car to TWT for alignment.





    There was a M3 with a remus backbox next to me, sounded good!


    Fitted a 330i cluster face (silver rings) to the original cluster and added a working CD shuttle that was gathering dust.





    Last edited by shogun; 04-21-2019 at 10:49 AM.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    NorCal
    Posts
    1,481
    My Cars
    e39
    Very fast progress, in the right direction. Enjoyed watching the car go from tired to proper.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    Texas
    Posts
    803
    My Cars
    98 M3/4, 02 525
    man, that is awesome !
    Where are you hurting?

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
    Location
    JHB South Africa
    Posts
    1,632
    My Cars
    E46 330iT E36 328i
    Thanks for the compliments. It's funny, this is the first car I have owned where I said from the beginning that it will stay stock, it turned out being the fastest build I have ever done. I have only owned her 4 weeks now, lol.

    I picked up a M sport steering wheel from a scrapyard today, it's in average/fair condition and needs a proper cleaning! Tomorrow the car goes to the agents for the two front airbag recalls. Now that's timing!




  5. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
    Location
    JHB South Africa
    Posts
    1,632
    My Cars
    E46 330iT E36 328i
    On Sunday morning I changed out the harmonic damper and the belt tensioner pulley, old one was making a noise.






    Took a drive on the highway afterwards. Reset the lt/100km when I got on the highway and did a 45km trip to my brother, cruise control set to 130km/h, took this photo as I got off the highway.


    Sunday evening was the first time I had driven this car at night on the highway, the halogen headlights are no good at all so I decided to install E46 OEM bi-xenon headlight internals into my halogen light housings. Literally a night and day difference in light focus and output.





  6. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
    Location
    JHB South Africa
    Posts
    1,632
    My Cars
    E46 330iT E36 328i
    Did some hunting today, scored a decent M-cubed trim set, 330i MAF and two original rear carpets with clips. I am happy to find two decent rear carpets because I now have a complete set of oem black carpets and clips to replace the ugly aftermarket rubber ones.



    Stripping down.


    Comparison 3.0i vs 2.5i.


    Every now and then there is a puff of smoke on cold startup, bought a new OEM crank case vent valve to fix it.


    Busy on the car now swapping parts in, trim as in 5min after getting home from the scrapyard lol. Space is tight replacing ccvv. :/

    - - - Updated - - -

    As I suspected, the CCVV had failed. Evidence of oil in the vacuum chamber, the whole vacuum rail and all the lines. All got cleaned out using prepsol and boiling water.




    MAF installed and buttoned up.


    Ran diagnostics to check if MAF is good, its good!


    Only fault is the recurring LCM mismatch due to previous owner replacing light control module.


    One last pic of the interior with the new trim.


    Took the car for a drive after finishing up, no puff of smoke on startup, yay!
    The car pulls way harder throughout the rev range with the 3.0i MAF. Im sure the fuel consumption is going to go up now because the car is so much more fun to drive with the extra power. The 205's on the back are crying!

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Apr 2019
    Location
    South Africa, Pretoria
    Posts
    2
    My Cars
    None, yet
    @Gizmo330iT

    I made an account just to comment on the incredibly Sexy e46 Msport in stunning white in this photo:
    Is she still around?




    I hope to soon join my friends in owning an msport E46 3 series (pref. White or Estoril blue in individual, all black interior). They are lovely cars and when well maintained won't give you any issues, not to mention they are fun!

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Peoria, AZ
    Posts
    7,696
    My Cars
    03 zhp, 97 e36m3, 04 zhp
    Cool progress!
    So the 3.0 intake and MAF are being used with 2.5 ECU without any issues?

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
    Location
    JHB South Africa
    Posts
    1,632
    My Cars
    E46 330iT E36 328i
    Hi, yes I still have my touring. Shes a little different now.

    - - - Updated - - -





    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by Mless5 View Post
    Cool progress!
    So the 3.0 intake and MAF are being used with 2.5 ECU without any issues?
    Correct.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Apr 2019
    Location
    South Africa, Pretoria
    Posts
    2
    My Cars
    None, yet
    I am loving the rims and the projector headlights! Is the park distance control a custom fit since only the back has it? I am also loving the white lip/diffusers with the colour coded trim (that is normally black except for the CI models).

    I am currently looking for a E46 Individual in either Estoril blue, ruby red or scarab green, with the 18 inch rims. White also looks frikken good!



    I might be in love with Ruby red xD

    Here is scarab green:


    I once saw a thread on another forum where someone took a friend's 330d with a broken autobox and did a manual swap with a 320d gearbox. The guy was also named gizmo.

    Might you be this great Gizmo? @Gizmo330iT

    By the way I just have to say your car is in stunning condition...

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Peoria, AZ
    Posts
    7,696
    My Cars
    03 zhp, 97 e36m3, 04 zhp
    Quote Originally Posted by Gizmo330iT View Post

    Correct.
    Do you have to reset adaptations or do any other software work to benefit from the upgrade?

    That touring truly is STUNNING! What side mirrors are those?

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
    Location
    JHB South Africa
    Posts
    1,632
    My Cars
    E46 330iT E36 328i
    Rear PDC is factory fitted. Don't be hung up on colour, buy the best example you can and for pete's sake don't buy a 318i!
    You mention Nick's Alpine white 330d that I manual swapped, it's just one of the many auto-manual conversions I have done over the years. Done a bunch of 325i touring to 330i touring conversions but I still wish to build a 330d touring one day as the South African market only got the e46 318i and 325i touring models.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
    Location
    JHB South Africa
    Posts
    1,632
    My Cars
    E46 330iT E36 328i
    Quote Originally Posted by Mless5 View Post
    Do you have to reset adaptations or do any other software work to benefit from the upgrade?

    That touring truly is STUNNING! What side mirrors are those?
    330i software is flashed onto the 325i DME to make it a 330i DME. The 325i DME (with 2.5i software) has no problem with a 3.0i engine and 330i MAF fitted, you however don't get the full 170kw until you flash the DME with 330i software.

    Those mirrors are from E87/E90 which I retrofitted to my E46, all working, not an easy task at all and not something Im willing to repeat.

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Peoria, AZ
    Posts
    7,696
    My Cars
    03 zhp, 97 e36m3, 04 zhp
    Thank you!

    Quote Originally Posted by Gizmo330iT View Post
    330i software is flashed onto the 325i DME to make it a 330i DME. The 325i DME (with 2.5i software) has no problem with a 3.0i engine and 330i MAF fitted, you however don't get the full 170kw until you flash the DME with 330i software.

    Those mirrors are from E87/E90 which I retrofitted to my E46, all working, not an easy task at all and not something Im willing to repeat.

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