zilvia

PM sent.

So after digging deep the problem may not be a easy fix, the previous owner was very good on maintenance on the car but I get the feeling this no FM signal was put in the too hard too expensive bucket. The car came factory with built in TV tuner, cell phone and earlier dynavin (without nav), was probably pretty advance for its time back in 2001. I started to look into the boot where all the box's and wiring go to, in total there was 5 controller box's !!!, TV tuner, cell phone unit, CD stacker/player, radio unit, and amp with around 100 plus wires to go with it. The actual brains of the radio is in the boot and the headunit is more of a dumb terminal with the TV unit providing display output the the headunit and radio from the radio box unit. My first through was to replace the head unit with a BMW CD business unit, keep it factory, but that's no easy task. The radio unit in the boot has a very similar connector to a normal BMW head unit but different, it does have an aerial connection and when I unplug it i lose AM radio so I'm thinking the antenna system is ok and the BWM radio unit is faulty, ebay these units go for $250 plus USD so it's a no go really. Not sure on what to do next, does anyone know a good stereo installer in the Christchurch area or someone who might know how the units work ?

So after 7 month looking for a E46 330CI I found one, few issues one being no FM reception on the factory Dynanav, probably one of the first generating unit's which uses the rear window with wires running around it for reception and a amplifier unit in the left C pillar. I do get AM signal and the keyless works, I checked all the connectors are seated ok. All the posts on forums point to this site http://blog.bavauto.com/10056/bmw-poor-radio-reception-am-and-fm-e46-3-series-and-other-models/ but my connectors look fine. Forums also talk about tints, I do have side window tints and after looking at my rear windows I'm pretty sure I have a rear tinted window but it's very light, also it almost looks factory as the tint contours the rear window perfectly. What do you guys think ? Be disappointed if I rip off the tint and I still don't have any reception.

Sorry thread hijack.Where did you order them from ? Pelican Parts has them cheap but shipping alone is $200 to NZ, total is $300 USD landed for a 330i

BUMP. The wait is over and worth it !!! You may have seen a red M-Sport 2002 e46 on Trademe over the last few weeks, well it's now mine. Traveled up to Auckland and drove it back down to ChCh last weekend. Also managed to sell my Mazda 6, I used to live in Auckland, had the Mazda listed on Trademe for 6 months and didn't receive any phone call or messages, then I moved to Christchurch in January and was sold within 3 weeks. The car has been well looked after, I think it has been garaged its whole life as there is zero UV fade on the exterior trim, almost looks factory new. Few things need doing, AC doesn't work so hopefully a regas and not a major leak, don't think the waterpump and thermostat has been done(115,000km atm). It's got a old factory Dynavin with BMW cellphone !! but the radio doesn't work so may replace with factory business CD unit or a avin or eonon unit, unless I can fix the radio.It's NZ new and well spec'ed, rain senor, packing senors, halogen lights, Dynavin. No real modifcation plans really, maybe black grills and front csl splitters, LED tail lights would be nice but would have to be OEM, not a fan of aftermarket. I think the red is the best colour for the e46, so many silver ones around so I'm happy with that, all and all I waited about 6-7 months and was worth the wait and glad I didn't rush in to something. Better pic's to come.

Yeah just looking at it now, not sure what's going on.

Number plate is MIZBMW

Just looking at the pictures the owner sent, I'm pretty sure it has the cream interior which I hate and could never live with. So adding it up cream interior non msport it's just to much work and money to get it how I would like it so I'm going to pass on this one I think, sounds a little crazy but I would rather have a Msport auto over a cream interior non msport.

Update: So a person looking at my Mazda 6 Trademe ad saw that I put a bid in on a e46 last week and sent me an email saying they are selling their 2004 black e46 manual with 140000km for $12k on Trademe next week, but it's a non msport They sent through some pictures, it's a nice car but looks abit meh, realistically to add msport bodykit and other add on's would be $2000+ easy. Thoughts guys ?

I took the black SSG for a test drive, in auto mode it was like a sluggish autobox, wasn't overly impressed but made up for it in the manual mode.

Hi Guys Unfortunately my first post isn't the "New Member Introductions" as I'm playing the waiting game for a e46 330Ci to come up, wanting a black,manual, facelight, low km's so I maybe waiting a while. Just wanted to ask a few questions thou I'm sure this has come up in various threads is the Auto to manual conversions and number of manual 330ci in NZ, I have being looking for about 2-3 months now and haven't seen any 330ci manuals so I'm starting to question how long I'm going to wait. There is the option of Auto to manual which I did on my e36 which was pretty simple but looking at forums the e46 is more involved and I start to think about resale value if I wanted to sell. There is a black 330ci on trademe at the moment but its over priced and is SSG gearbox which puts me off it. So, is there many 330Ci manual in NZ ? Is the Auto to manual on a e46 worth it in NZ ? Thoughts on the SSG gearbox ? Loads of stories of problems with these, then again if you look for issues with any car you will find horror stories on the internet. Also any tips on selling a car in Auckland ? My Mazda 6 is the cheapest, lowest Km's on trademe but nothing, not one call or email. Never had a problems selling my cars in Christchurch, always within a few weeks.