What's up Evan! Fellow Dutchy here👋 Getting used to the shitty weather a bit?

I have a Touring myself, 328i so pre-facelift. Basically the same as the left one in the second picture but black. The subframe can crack, even on Tourings (some people say that it's less likely because Touring?)

Mine is a manual and I can see that there has been a crack repair before. There might very well be less stress on it with an auto like you said. Still something to check out tho.

So in a country where most people don't have a car, I have 3.

Fun fact: there is like 6 million MORE bikes than there are people here.

Always fun to see some Touring love, especially in my home country 🇳🇱

 

WHADUP! Thanks for the reply. Good to hear from a like minded Dutchy into our cars! The weather is less than desirable and as you put it "shitty", ha! BUT when the weather is nice it is super nice and wouldn't want to be anywhere else. I am in California for a few weeks so it's a nice reminder of how lucky I was to grow in weather like this. It's kinda unbelievable and now I understand why one might move here just for this weather.

You are stoked you have a manual. I will at some point do a 6 speed swap, but need to save up some mula first. How many KMs you got on the clock? You have an open dif or a LSD?

I will check out the rear subframe on a bridge sometime this Spring when I have more time and access in the shop. My 2002 is up first and I need to dial the suspension to have more even tire wear. I'm gobbling up tires like mad. My 02 has only been back on the road for a couple of years. Was in an accident in 2007 in San Francisco and it's taken a minute to get it back on the road...

Six million more bikes than people? That's wild. I guess I'll add into that mix with the bikes as I have 3. That's a fun fact that I'll be sharing.

Have you been to any pick and pull yards in Belgium or France? I've heard that there are still some around and even saw a couple last Oct in France. Didn't have time to stop but thinking about taking a couple of day mission to check it out.

 

Holy hell! You’ve really landed a beauty for sure. Time to sell the 320, easy decision. The ‘02 and the 330iT are forever cars, I would keep both if at all possible.

Love the photos, good luck with the decisions.

From what I’ve read, less stress = less RACP cracking. It is a b30 but having a torque converter likely reduces stress.

 

Thanks doood! Yeah thought about selling the 320, but I just did the brakes, alignment and put Eibachs on so will keep it around for a bit. It's also my daily, uses less fuel than the 330 and I can swap out my 330 when the weather is better as well as no salt. I've waited since I arrive in the Netherlands to find this 330 and no plans to get rid of any of my cars at the moment. I've had my 2002 since 2000 and it's turned into my mid life crisis.

Will be interesting to get my car up on the lift to see what the rear subframe mounts look like. I'm hoping not f'd.

Also just thought with my 320 I can always have a spare car for friends coming over and we can take two cars to the Nurburgring

Thanks for the reply!

 

How many KMs you got on the clock? You have an open dif or a LSD?

Just passed 300.000km's on mine. Still going strong!

For the diff it's just an open diff, might swap it in the future to an LSD but the only reason for that would be to be able to do a burnout XD
I daily drive it so I have no means of drifting or racing it, for now an open diff will do.

Have you been to any pick and pull yards in Belgium or France?

Nope haven't been. Would love to, not even because I need parts but just for the experience haha. Since BMW has it's OEM parts still widely available I just buy them online if I need any.

And you better keep that 2002 haha! Bummer to hear that it was in an accident. They're such fun cars and true classics. My dad has a few '02's (some 1602, some 2002 I believe) that he got for cheap when he worked in cars like 20 years ago. He's got a 2002 tii Touring in that rare orange color which we are restoring in the future. He's the main reason I'm into cars, especially BMW's. Great cars!

For now enjoy the weather over there!

 

My 320 has 352K, and my 330 has 306K. Solid. Fingers crossed we can irk out another 100K yeah!

It's raining, so not so different than the Netherlands. Hopefully a sunny day or two before I bounce. At least the weather in NL isn't as cold as last year eh?

 

Excellent purchase!

No idea about pick and pull yards in Belgium or France. Would like to hear more about those.

There is a nice and clean one in the south of the Netherlands. Venauto.nl regularly has e46’s but you better be quick. I’ve been a few times and these cars are picked clean within days or hours
There’s a few yards that specialize in BMW where you can get parts for decent prizes. But those are not really the pick and pull type

 

Excellent purchase!

No idea about pick and pull yards in Belgium or France. Would like to hear more about those.

There is a nice and clean one in the south of the Netherlands. Venauto.nl regularly has e46’s but you better be quick. I’ve been a few times and these cars are picked clean within days or hours
There’s a few yards that specialize in BMW where you can get parts for decent prizes. But those are not really the pick and pull type

I think I need to take a Saturday mission to find this place! Just check the maps and it's only an hour 20 from where I live. Dope. Thanks for sharing this!

 

pick & pull parts in Belgium: none whatsoever with E46's. I do have one contact who parts E46's on a regular base and probably has whatever part you might need. In NL there are some yards where they part E46's but like mentioned in the previous post, if the price is reasonable they are sold after a day.

sellers were being difficult for no reason or I was just too slow to contact.

No, that's just considered normal over here, car vendors are assholes, but that's another story which is too difficult to explain in English and might have a racist touch.

 

pick & pull parts in Belgium: none whatsoever with E46's. I do have one contact who parts E46's on a regular base and probably has whatever part you might need. In NL there are some yards where they part E46's but like mentioned in the previous post, if the price is reasonable they are sold after a day.


No, that's just considered normal over here, car vendors are assholes, but that's another story which is too difficult to explain in English and might have a racist touch.

Oh gotcha. Will need to start tracking down parts for a 6 speed conversion in the coming future.
As for the car dealers, the dude was as slimy as any car dealer, so par for the course I guess. I got my 330 so good enough!

 

Nice!

 

if you happen to come across a 330i 6 speed gearbox for cheap, give me a heads up. Wanting to do a 6 speed swap myself.