Joined
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307 Posts
WIP
Showing my e46 for the first time in a few years. I've always been too critical of my own stuff. Never even had a forum avatar before today. But the past few weeks have been pretty rewarding compared to 4 years of mostly maintenance so I'm feeling finally ready to start this build thread I've always wanted to do.
My goal here has always been OEM+ and to closely resemble and perform like a ZHP or better. I like M3s don't get me wrong but damnit they should have made a sedan. I'm still undecided on keeping it auto or just buying a true 6 speed ZHP in the future.
January 2016, 1 month after purchase
It was sold as a 2002 330i ZPP auto on chrome style 38s at BMW of Corona. I bought it off the original owner at 63k in Dec 2015. It was my reachable dream car at 22 years old. She didn't drive it very much or far and always garaged it. 99% handwashed. I remember her driving her son and I to the skatepark in it and I'd be talking to her the whole time about it. This was the second TiSilv e46 I fell in love with another friend had a 323i standard. I had to buy it. I showed her the cash before she could even start to type a craigslist ad.
Sounds perfect right? Well her only son beat the car up a quite a bit. Everything from his bike hitting the rocker, his dog scratching a small section on the roof, him head butting the upper rear quarter and leaving small dents, him backing into the hood AFTER I had bought it from his mom, broken sunroof. He's a simple guy, wasn't a mech or an enthusiast. Decent driver. The both of them just didn't care much.
Luckily, BMW of Corona and Irvine did. The interior was still in nice shape, the wheels were going anyways, the tint could be removed, the sagging bumper replaced, coolant system was ready to go, etc. I found a diamond in the rough and am thankful for it every day there is no way as a just graduated business student I could afford a car payment right now. She upgraded to a new 430i and her son took me on the craziest yet sketchy residential 5 minute sprint of my life to date in it. Haven't seen him since.
Premium package, smoking package, folding rear+passthru, wood trim. Xenons. Harmon Kardon. With everything happening right now (COVID19, riots, graduating) I finally had the time to really get into the exterior and interior.
Photo taken July 2020
Sneak peek at its current state - still a lot to get done but I've never been so happy with it.
Enter; the bane of my existence and part of the reason I'm shy to share. I've stared at that rust square under the left tailight for 5 years. The PO told me back in 2007 she had a small dent there, and a mobile rust mechanic (??) told her that he could fix it. Apparently it rusted out a few years later. It hasnt grown much since I bought the car. When changing the tailights in seemed the growth was not catastrophic. But its the first thing I think of when I think of when thinking of working on the appearance of my car. I really shouldn't be bummed because its the only piece of rust on this California car, but I feel as if this is the only thing truly out of the scope of fixing myself without the in-person guidance of someone or just taking it to a professional. I learned to wrench in 2011 on my e28 (fuck I miss that car) and wish I practiced on that as there was plenty of rust.
Thanks for reading. I'm thankful for this forum and its members, youtubers like 50's kid, shoplifetv, bullshitkornr, etc. and my buddy who sold me my e28 then taught me how to change my oil back in 2011.
I'm going to be updating this thread with pics of the interior and engine bay, etc. Nothing special but I figure I have to show it all haha. I'll also be updating the thread with a full maintenance and upgrade list with some before and after pics.
Feel free to comment absolutely anything you want or message me if you'd like.
Showing my e46 for the first time in a few years. I've always been too critical of my own stuff. Never even had a forum avatar before today. But the past few weeks have been pretty rewarding compared to 4 years of mostly maintenance so I'm feeling finally ready to start this build thread I've always wanted to do.
My goal here has always been OEM+ and to closely resemble and perform like a ZHP or better. I like M3s don't get me wrong but damnit they should have made a sedan. I'm still undecided on keeping it auto or just buying a true 6 speed ZHP in the future.
January 2016, 1 month after purchase
It was sold as a 2002 330i ZPP auto on chrome style 38s at BMW of Corona. I bought it off the original owner at 63k in Dec 2015. It was my reachable dream car at 22 years old. She didn't drive it very much or far and always garaged it. 99% handwashed. I remember her driving her son and I to the skatepark in it and I'd be talking to her the whole time about it. This was the second TiSilv e46 I fell in love with another friend had a 323i standard. I had to buy it. I showed her the cash before she could even start to type a craigslist ad.
Sounds perfect right? Well her only son beat the car up a quite a bit. Everything from his bike hitting the rocker, his dog scratching a small section on the roof, him head butting the upper rear quarter and leaving small dents, him backing into the hood AFTER I had bought it from his mom, broken sunroof. He's a simple guy, wasn't a mech or an enthusiast. Decent driver. The both of them just didn't care much.
Luckily, BMW of Corona and Irvine did. The interior was still in nice shape, the wheels were going anyways, the tint could be removed, the sagging bumper replaced, coolant system was ready to go, etc. I found a diamond in the rough and am thankful for it every day there is no way as a just graduated business student I could afford a car payment right now. She upgraded to a new 430i and her son took me on the craziest yet sketchy residential 5 minute sprint of my life to date in it. Haven't seen him since.
Premium package, smoking package, folding rear+passthru, wood trim. Xenons. Harmon Kardon. With everything happening right now (COVID19, riots, graduating) I finally had the time to really get into the exterior and interior.
Photo taken July 2020
Sneak peek at its current state - still a lot to get done but I've never been so happy with it.
Enter; the bane of my existence and part of the reason I'm shy to share. I've stared at that rust square under the left tailight for 5 years. The PO told me back in 2007 she had a small dent there, and a mobile rust mechanic (??) told her that he could fix it. Apparently it rusted out a few years later. It hasnt grown much since I bought the car. When changing the tailights in seemed the growth was not catastrophic. But its the first thing I think of when I think of when thinking of working on the appearance of my car. I really shouldn't be bummed because its the only piece of rust on this California car, but I feel as if this is the only thing truly out of the scope of fixing myself without the in-person guidance of someone or just taking it to a professional. I learned to wrench in 2011 on my e28 (fuck I miss that car) and wish I practiced on that as there was plenty of rust.
Thanks for reading. I'm thankful for this forum and its members, youtubers like 50's kid, shoplifetv, bullshitkornr, etc. and my buddy who sold me my e28 then taught me how to change my oil back in 2011.
I'm going to be updating this thread with pics of the interior and engine bay, etc. Nothing special but I figure I have to show it all haha. I'll also be updating the thread with a full maintenance and upgrade list with some before and after pics.
Feel free to comment absolutely anything you want or message me if you'd like.