New owner, 2005 330/6 ZHP

[Ajcanadian]

Hello, my name is AJ and I have been very active over at the E39 area and at the E36 area on the forums. I've had plenty of BMWs in the past but recently I was on the hunt for a daily driver that wouldn't break the bank but was cool. This daily driver would be replacing my 1999 BMW 540/6. The choice was simple either an e36 M3 or a e46 330/6 ZHP. Nowadays even for 7k finding an e36 m3 that's not a complete shi* bucket is hard. So the choice was simple a ZHP. I looked for months. I scorched the forums, facebook marketplace, and craigslist for the right one.

Finally, I found my car on CL for sale. It looked pretty promising from pictures. To add it up, the person who I got it from was the second owner of the vehicle that owned it for 10 years. He had a fat stack of service history (which he took, but I am in the process of getting it back). I messaged the guy about the car and kept on talking to him but kept the thought of this car in the back burner. Mostly because I was looking for something in a cool color. But I finally gave up and thought I should give this car a chance. I called up the BMW independent that had maintained the car for the past 10 years and they walked me through every single repair that was done on my car. Needless, to say it was mechanically up-to date.

I ended up driving 2.5 hours to meet the seller. Honestly, upfront the car needed some love cosmetically. It's a driver. But there's nothing that cannot be fixed. I'm extremely luck that the car isn't a rust bucket. The car spent a few years in Tennessee and then Cincinnati. So, it's in really good shape compared to the other cars that I have seen up here.

After driving the car, I completely fell in love. The car drove really well. I knew I had to have it after the drive. I knew this was the one that needed my touch. Mechanically it was well up to date but cosmetically it just needed my touch. I ended up striking a deal with the seller. I ended up paying a little over my comfort zone but it is a ZHP and it's really well kept. So I think, it was worth it.

Anyways now onto the car. It is a 2005 production car. It's painted in Sterling Silver Metallic with the black leather interior which I prefer over the Alcantara. Flame suit is on. The car has the cubic trim as well. I ended up getting 3 diamond keys with the car and style 66 rims with blizzaks. The car has about 150k miles. The leather is close to flawless. It's still soft and only the driver seat seems to have wear. As far as options:-
* Performance Package
* Cold weather Package
* Premium Package
* Navigation+ Harmon Kardon sound
*Xenon headlights

The car has been really well kept. I am really impressed. The person I got it from was also a BMW enthusiast and an aero nautical engineer. So he was super picky on how the car drove. This guy got alignments done everytime the car had the summer rims swapped to the winter setups. He even had the brake fluid replaced every time the brakes were done. Something, you really don't see or hear about. It's got a cooling system refresh, control arms,LCB,steering endlinks, ccv, and a lot other stuff. The only thing that upset me was when I checked for the coolant I found old green coolant. Now it has been replaced with new coolant. Off to some pictures now.

[RobertDenali]

Congratulations! They are fun cars. I have a Titan-silver ZHP which is a tremendous amount of fun to drive.

Can you post a few pictures of your ZHP?

[Ajcanadian]

Congratulations! They are fun cars. I have a Titan-silver ZHP which is a tremendous amount of fun to drive.

Can you post a few pictures of your ZHP?

Here are some pictures. I meant to upload them but for some reason they did not upload.

IMG-20190618-WA0026.jpg

That picture was taken right after I purchased the car.



IMG-20190618-WA0054.jpg

This picture was taken right after I got home after a 2.5 hr drive home. Put about 150 miles on it that day. After I got home I wet sanded the headlights and polished them because they were gross. I know I can get lenses but this was a temporary solution.

IMG-20190619-WA0061.jpg

The cockpit of this car has been by far the best cockpit of a car I've ever had. I've had a few other E46s & E36 M3s, multiple E39 530s & 540/6, and a 740iL. The steering wheel doesn't look beat up at all and is very nice. As you can see the navigation unit is missing a few pixels and is also missing the GPS CD. Anyone know how to get it on the cheap end and not buying the CDs new. Also, any idea where the GPS CD goes?

IMG-20190619-WA0047.jpg

Day 2 into E46 ownership. I find out there's been green coolant used in the car. Ewww, I am very skeptical if the independent did this because I highly doubt it. In the local Ohio groupchat, people said the Indy would never use green coolant. They swore that the indy would never do such a thing. It could have probably been done as a complementary service when the car went in for new tires. I'm not sure how this happened. I ended up draining all the coolant from the freeze plug underneath the expansion tank. Didn't do one from the block. I also ended up cleaning the under tray.

[RobertDenali]

Very nice! That is a great looking ZHP. I believe the nav CD goes in the trunk on the left side. Check eBay for a disc and get that green coolant out of there ASAP!

[Ajcanadian]

Very nice! That is a great looking ZHP. I believe the nav CD goes in the trunk on the left side. Check eBay for a disc and get that green coolant out of there ASAP!

Yes sir the green old coolant was gone. I will check that very soon. Currently in the process of fixing some headliner sag.

[RobertDenali]

Good! Post some more pictures when you can..

I just performed a 155k maintenance on my ZHP which means I replaced a lot of stuff!

[Ajcanadian]

What did you end up replacing? Mine looks like it's had a lot of work done and a lot of the common stuff replaced for example: ccv, vanos pressure line, valve cover gasket, oil filter housing gasket, thermostat, some hoses, radiator, control arms, control arm bushings, etc. I planned on throwing in a new expansion tank and waterpump at 155,000 miles

[RobertDenali]

Yes to all of what you listed however some parts at earlier miles.

I also replaced the following:

The dipstick oil ring at the oil pan, MAF, intake gaskets, brake booster lines, 2 vacuum plugs on and behind the intake manifold drivers side, headlights (had ZKWs), all boots from MAF to throttle body, cleaned ICV and TB, SS brake lines, Diff bushings, KONI FSD shocks plus all associated hardware, all pulleys replaced with ECSTuning metal pulleys, stewart waterpump, plastic coolant lines under intake, remaining coolant system, and DISA valve.

[Ajcanadian]

Yes to all of what you listed however some parts at earlier miles.

I also replaced the following:

The dipstick oil ring at the oil pan, MAF, intake gaskets, brake booster lines, 2 vacuum plugs on and behind the intake manifold drivers side, headlights (had ZKWs), all boots from MAF to throttle body, cleaned ICV and TB, SS brake lines, Diff bushings, KONI FSD shocks plus all associated hardware, all pulleys replaced with ECSTuning metal pulleys, stewart waterpump, plastic coolant lines under intake, remaining coolant system, and DISA valve.

Ah, that's a lot of work. How do you like the Konis so far compared to stock? One thing that's bothering me a lot is the ride height of my car. It doesn't help when all my friends are lowered with solo-werk coilovers. I'm planning on getting either OE struts and pair them with h&r springs or get konis. My car also had all the pulleys replaced. I do plan on doing the rear diff bushings and a lot of other things aswell. Any pictures of your car? Here's some that I took today.

Ended up cleaning the rims with some degreaser. Didn't work as well as I was hoping to. I'm going to have to pull the rims off one of these days.

Also ended up gluing the middle part of the fabric that covers the torx bolts in the A pillar. That fabric was really bothersome on the way back home after I bought the car.

I am indeed missing the Cd for the nav unit. Gonna see if I can get a used one for cheap just for the heck of it instead of burning one into a CD.

I hit the headlights with some clear coat and they look hell of a better now after I sanded them. Next project is to fix the bumper sag. I doubt i can do anything about it. Might have to take it into a body shop

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[RobertDenali]

Looks great! Stock shocks are crap. If you are not going to track the car then for sure koni fsd or now they are upgraded to koni actives. They are extremely great. Go read about koni fsd.

[Ajcanadian]

After reading, I do plan on putting koni fsd shocks with h&r springs or eibach springs for perfect fitment. After riding on a car with solowerks coilovers, I can tell I'd rather spend the extra and get koni fsds

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[jfrantz]

Hey AJ! Congrats on the beautiful car. I am a fellow Perrysburger too. I've got a silver '02 330i with an H&R cup kit. Perhaps I'll see you around town.

-Jeff

[RobertDenali]

I have Koni FSDs with stock springs. The ride height is perfect!

[Ajcanadian]

Hey AJ! Congrats on the beautiful car. I am a fellow Perrysburger too. I've got a silver '02 330i with an H&R cup kit. Perhaps I'll see you around town.

-Jeff

Hi Jeff, thanks a lot. That's super cool that there's another fellow forum member here. I'd love to meet up and show you my car and look at yours. Yes, I would also love to see you around town. I've also got two friends that drive 2 e46 coupes. An Alpine white one and a facelifted 325i jet black coupe

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[Ajcanadian]

Any pictures of your ride height? I don't want to slam it on it's nuts. But I also want it somewhat los

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[Ajcanadian]

Had some collinite 845 laying around at home. Went and applied it really quick. Paint pops a little more now. But I still have to claybar it, cut, and polish it. IMG_20190627_171054.jpg

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[RobertDenali]

Nice!

The ZHP is looking great!


Here is a photo of mine at the Porsche dealer.

[Ajcanadian]

Nice!

The ZHP is looking great!


Here is a photo of mine at the Porsche dealer.

Thanks a lot Robert! Yours looks great as well. The ride height with the koni fsd and stock springs do look perfect. I just bought tons of stuff for my car, so I'll be posting about them shortly. Now I'm going to have to do some research into seeing what header bolts right up on the zhps. Friend of mine is running AA and I've read mixed reviews about bimmerbrakes gen III headerss


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[RobertDenali]

Thanks. I am all stock except for a Dinan strut bar, M6 seats, koni fsds and SS brake lines. So I don’t have experience with aftermarket headers.

Thinking of supercharging the ZHP eventually however I have other cars that needs parts... so after that work is done I might stage 2 the car.

[Ajcanadian]

Thanks. I am all stock except for a Dinan strut bar, M6 seats, koni fsds and SS brake lines. So I don’t have experience with aftermarket headers.

Thinking of supercharging the ZHP eventually however I have other cars that needs parts... so after that work is done I might stage 2 the car.

I gotcha. I'm passing on the idea with headers for now. Should be getting a muffler and rear resonator delete. My friends e46 325i had the same setup and I liked it quite a lot. Gives quite the grunt and definetly is easy to live with. I've been looking at the h&r sport cup kit. Most likely will go with them

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[RobertDenali]

I would go to zhpmafia.com and see if they have any info on that setup with Konis.

[Ajcanadian]

I would go to zhpmafia.com and see if they have any info on that setup with Konis.

Thanks a lot good sir! Really appreciate it

Ended up doing a little headlight restoration on a friend's e46

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[RobertDenali]

Looks good. What product did you use to seal up the lenses?

[Ajcanadian]

Looks good. What product did you use to seal up the lenses?

Ended up using some clear coat. On some good news for today. I got all the service history of the car. It was maintained at the bmw specialist down in cinncinati and totals up to 17k+. I also scored a nice rear mirror at the junkyard today. I do plan on refinishing the dimming mirror but not now

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[RobertDenali]

Thats good news. My car yards here used to be full of e46s however that has all dried up. I did get a lot of spare parts before they dried up.

Get those spare parts cheap while you can!

I changed out all of my interior by swapping in parts from the yard cars. My interior is now probably not what was delivered by BMW to the customer market however might have been order-able with the exception of my front M6 seats.