storeys66

Does anyone know how much power and torque the auto gearbox in a facelifted E46 330i M-Sport saloon could safely take? My car's completely standard at the moment, but I'm toying with the idea of a tuned M3 CSL (S54) engine and rear axle conversion.

Right, I've seen a couple of other people do it abroad and I think it's time to try it on home turf... No, not that. I'm talking about an E46 saloon M3 conversion. I currently have a facelift E46 330i M-Sport auto saloon and I really fancy switching M3 CSL running gear into it, but keeping the outside as standard as possible, making it a brilliant sleeper (but maybe with a custom 332i badge on the back to let the connoisseurs know what's underneath). I live in the Bristol area and was wondering whether there's a BMW specialist in the area who might be prepared to get involved with a project like this? I'm not a mechanic, but I'd love to be involved and do as much as I can myself. However, I don't have the space or the gear, nor the expertise. Related to this, is it possible to convert an auto to a manual or SMG? I understand that the SMG is just a manual gearbox, but with a special module added on instead of a clutch pedal, etc. Cheers.

Evening all. So, all 4 tyres on my E46 are going to need changing soon. As a subscriber of EVO, I see that the Continental Sport Contact 5 won the annual tyre test. However, I understand that BMW recommend Michelin Pilot Sports. Anyone got any experience of either of these tyres? I can get them both in the right sizes (225/40Y18 and 255/35Y18) and they'll both be around £600 fitted for the full set of 4. Cheers.

Yeah, in fairness it did look like a truly monumental amount of work went into it, especially for the body. The rest see,ed to be a pretty straightforward swap (running gear and interior). As for the cost, I suspect that having a perfectly good M3 coupe at your disposal helps keep part costs down (if you overlook the cost of buying it in the first place). Still, I bet it probably cost more to convert then buying a decent used M3 CSL... I'd still probably say it was worth it ough, as it's pretty much unique. I've seen a few pics floating around the net of a silver E46 Ms estate that's claimed to be a genuine BMW prototype... Not sure how accurate that is, but it looks factory finish and it would make sense that BMW at least carried out a feasibility study to see what changes would need to be made for the saloon and estate body.

Massive thanks to you all for the possible problems... The testing of brake disc temperatures after a quick run suggested it was a sticking caliper on the front off-side. I took it down to my local independent specialist, Sam at Autobase Bristol, and it did indeed turn out to be a sticking front off-side brake caliper. The wheels were out of alignment too, which probably didn't help matters. It's all fixed now and runs like it should. The only remaining niggle is that the steering wheel is still not straight when the car's pointing dead ahead. If anything, it now seems even more off centre... I can probably live with that though.

Hey Ceri. Welcome to the club! Lovely looking car you've got there. I've alwayd loved those split 5-spoke alloys. There's definitely some added cool about the 7 following James Bond's use of one...

Am finding out that maintaining older BMW's as "the ultimate driving machine" can be something of a labour of love, not to mention a little on the pricey side... Still, I'm still saying it's worth it to hear that straight six growl and experience the bomb-proof build quality.

Anyone else noticed how the facelifted E46 coupe tail lights look pretty similar to the Ministry of Sound logo?

Hey Dan. Cheers for that. I've got it booked in at my local independent specialist (not paying £108 for BMW to spend 45 mins pondering what it could be) on Thurs. Hopefully they'll be able to check all of the callipers and bushes when it's up on the ramps. I'll keep people posted about what it turns out to be. Hopefully not an imbalanced prop-shaft (another potential diagnosis)!

So I've seen a few photos online of a conversion that a forum user called JeppeJ carried out where he purchased a 2-door M3 and a 4-door 318i ES in order to make a 4-door M3. He used all of the M3 parts where possible, with the exception of new M3 rear wings and a carbon M3 CSL bootlid. The conversion looked spectacular at the end, like a genuine BMW E46 M3 saloon! Does anyone know whether it's possible to buy the body parts for a stock looking M3 conversion for the E46 saloon? It looked like the hardest parts of the conversion were the front and rear wings, as well as the rear tail light surrounds and mounts. I really quite fancy creating an E46 M3 saloon, perhaps even to CSL spec... ;)

Evening all, I've had my 2003 330i M-Sport auto saloon for over a month now and have covered a little under 1000 miles in it. Everything's brilliant on it, apart from a pretty worrying problem... At speeds between 40mph and 60mph, there's a judder / shaking through the steering that gets worse. In fact, it gets so bad that the whole car starts shaking quite severely :wacko:. I appreciate that there are hundreds of possible causes for this, including sticking brake callipers, wheels being off balance, worn control arm bushes, dodgy wheel alignment, etc. One thing I have noticed is that the nearside rear tyre pressure decreases more noticeably than it should, but that when the pressure is lower, the shaking is much less noticeable. The shaking goes away almost completely at speeds over 60mph, although I can feel a much higher frequency vibration through the steering wheel at around 85mph (where permitted, of course). Does anyone have any bright ideas for things I should look to eliminate before starting on the journey of replacing my entire suspension setup bit by bit? I've already had the wheels balanced :huh:... Cheers all, Sam

Sorry Stu, just seen from your website that you do 4-wheel alignment... Very smart website too I should say!

Hi Stu. Thanks for coming back to me on this one. It's much appreciated. What sort of availability have you got and can you do 4-wheel alignment?

I contacted my local BMW / MINI dealer this morning (d*ck Lovett, Bristol) to see about getting my car booked in for a diagnostic check to try and figure out what's wrong with the parking sensors and what's causing the very pronounced wobble through the steering wheel at motorway speeds and under heavy braking (not the wheels or tyres as I just had them checked)... They want £108 for 45mins diagnostic time, but this would go up if it takes longer to assess!! They're also booked up for the next week. So, do any of you friendly and knowledgable people know what might be causing really pronounced wobbles of the steering wheel ocassionally at motorway speeds and under heavy braking? Like I say, the wheels have just been balanced and the tyres all put to the correct pressure. My non-technical diagnosis would be something like suspension arms, suspension bushes, warped brake discs, wheel bearings, wheel hubs, etc... I don't really want to drive it too much, as it was really disconcerting today.

Cheers for the replies guys. Thankfully the headunit decided to spit the CD out of its own accord. No idea why it would suddenly work after a whole evening of trying and failing... Still, at least I know to approach it with caution now!

So, I merrily loaded an old (non-MP3) CD into the stereo today only to find out that it was knackered (kept skipping). So, I went to eject and nothing comes out, although the stereo went back to the radio. I can go back to playing (or trying to play) the CD, but every time I try to eject it just whirs a little like it's trying to eject and then gives up. Is it because the CD was old and scratched? I played a couple of much newer CDs in it recently and they ejected just fine. I've seen a few threads on t'interweb about this and it seems to be fairly common. However, there doesn't seem to be a consistent way of dealing with it... Any ideas comrades?

Yeah, those 123d's are rapid. Since picking up my car from the garage last night, I've only averaged 18mpg... eek. There are a few niggles that I've got with mine, but then it's an 11 year old car. The rear parking sensors don't work; the wheels feel well out of balance (it's in Kwik-Fit as I type); the oil warning light comes on for a moment after all other warning lights come on when I first turn the engine on, then it goes off; the rear boot lid struts make a groaning noise; and the spare wheel's missing... Still, it goes like stink, has an awesome stereo and is sooo easy to drive. I'll get some pics uploaded once I've given it a proper polish. The garage I bought it from cleaned it, but obviously did a bit of a rushed job, or used less than premium products. I've got an Autoglym set just waiting to get involved!

The sensors are in the plastic strip on the facelifted M-sport bumper, so hopefully no painting required. On another note, was having a spare wheel an optional extra? Mine has a spare wheel well in the boot, but nothing there... I understand the space save for the 330i was a 17" when the rest of the range had a 16". Urban myth?

Cheers Mark. I'll give that a try in the morning. Are they expensive / easy to replace? I've not had a car with parking sensors before...

Welcome! I'm fresh to the BMW club too, having come from a 2007 MINI Cooper S to my new chariot, a 2003 330i M-Sport. They're impressive beasts. Just need to exercise some self-restraint with my right foot now!

So I finally picked up my new toy this evening and am mightily impressed. However, it seems the rear parking sensors don't work... When I engage reverse (it's an automatic), there's a solid beep at first and then nothing. I tested it against a flat fence panel and there are no beeps as it approached (got to within a few inches and still nothing). Is this an easy fix, assuming there's a fault? I'm guessing that the solid beep at the start means there's a fault somewhere in the system. Any help would be much appreciated.

Awesome pics James. My favourites are where it's parked in front of the puddle and where you've photoshopped the engine through the bonnet. How'd you do that out of interest? I've got a Canon EOS 550D and want to get into taking some more moody pics of cars...

Same. I'm only 28, but can hardly wait to pick up my E46 330i M-Sport saloon early next week (only my 5th ever car). As a devoted petrol-head, I always get excited about a new purchase, whether it's me, the other half, or even just someone in the family or a friend. It's a big moment and should be savoured. Very jealous of the new 335d. That's an awesome vehicle and you've chosent the best options and colour conbination by the look of it! Have fun putting some sports cars to shame with that! My favourite David-vs-Goliath moment so far in my car history was my R56 MINI Cooper S thrashing an Audi A5 2.0T S-line and a Honda Civic Type-R.

I'm hoping an automatic 330i would achieve better than that... My daily commute's a combination of A-road, motorway and city driving. My last car (R56 MINI Cooper S) averaged just over 35mpg all said and done, so as long as I can stay near 30mpg that'll be okay.

Afternoon All. I'll be picking up my E46 330i M-Sport auto early next week, but in the meantime am looking at ways of modernising its infotainment systems... It has the Business CD headunit with a CD autochanger in the boot. It also has the Harmon Kardon speaker upgrade and steering-wheel controls. Do any of you know which of the various iPod interfaces work best; which will be easiest to install; and which is the best value for money? I had a Ford Focus a while back with the Connects2 iPod system and that worked really well (through the CD changer socket on the headunit). Any guidance would be gratefully received, as this is my first proper BMW (having just sold my R56 MINI Cooper S). Cheers, Sam