Harper

Gives me hope for mine, it does seem like a good recipe for a rapid daily-able shopping trolly.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1704924903360560/ I saw this a few days ago, but this is a 330ti that Ray built, maybe there really is something in the air... Original sale thread here: If it sold for that asking that's a very good deal, if it wasn't in palmy and I didn't already have a donor car and trans on the way I probably would have got it myself just for the parts. Seems like the seller wasn't very clued in on what it was.

Not to mention if you did want to turn it into a 330ti at some point, very easy swap. Drop the engine in and flash the ECU with the 3.0 software and boom. Still left with the smaller brakes, driveshaft, axles and shitty getrag box though 😕 but at $5k it does seem like good buying.

Wow, that's a rare beast, NZ new too, can't be many factory manual 325ti's in NZ. But yep ugly as in stock trim. Last 325ti I saw for sale was an auto that was dereg and sold for 1k on fb marketplace a while back.

There's a slot at the top of them that you can fit a pry bar or big flat head screwdriver into and pry them out. They'll usually break on removal.

I'll be in the 12-15k range all said and done once mine is built, but I haven't really been penny pinching and don't mind paying a bit more for lower mileage/good condition/OE parts etc since I'm building the car to keep. Not to mention little details start to add up fast. Might be worth 15k to the right person if they didn't have the capability to build their own but very niche being a compact. I wonder how many 330ti's there are in NZ, I know Ray has built a couple. Must be <10, maybe even <5? In a way it is fairly cheap for a unique car you're unlikely to see another of on the road.

No, the RACP design is actually quite different given it is shortened and raised to accommodate the spare wheel well. My understanding is the front mounts can still see some cracking and are similar to that of the coupe/sedan. In the rear while all other E46 chassis dip up and down, the back half of the hatch is flat so there’s no stress concentrations as the cross section is almost constant between the chassis rails. But overall because of this the entire panel is a lot more rigidly mounted and RACP failure is much less common even with higher HP drivetrains so long as the subframe bushings aren't shot. All that info is from a conversation with Cayn at CMP Auto Engineering who IMO is one of the best informed when it comes to E46 RACP stuff I may still reinforce the front mounts at some point and put chassis rail plates in to bulletproof it, but given it'll be a stock power street driven car it should be fairly safe from total failure the way other E46s are prone to.

Smaller, lighter, quicker, better steering, and more practical than a coupe not to mention without the subframe RACP issues... Compact master race. White is their best colour imo, I really do think they are underrated. I always thought they were unique looking in a good way but having owned mine for a couple months now I genuinely think it's cool looking, especially with the 216M wheels. It'll only get better as I tidy up the exterior, plan to paint match the bumper strips, get facelift tail lights, maybe some spacers front and rear. I can't wait to start the project.

Yeah saw that this morning, very coincidental timing. I've watched brents videos a few times over now as inspiration. I'll definitely be leaving the compact front end on it, I love the quirky/ugly bug eyes. Surprised it's not listed as a 330i instead of a 316, would have figured it would get more interest that way but interesting to see what it ends up selling for.

Yep whole drivetrain was swapped. Not sure why it was done that way but I guess the silver top engine is a bit nicer than the later one and the MSV70 ecu is more tunable. mileage on the donor engine was almost exactly the same as the original.

Just listed mine, open to offers: https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/130i/listing/4316273265

I thought that as I was posting the photos, but it is much worse in the flesh. Body is really rough, paint peeling on almost every panel and dents everywhere, Interior is beat, suspension is very tired, tamper dot on the dash (I think from the LCM being replaced since the mileage is genuine). But it has had some nice bits replaced on it in 2022 that I'll use, battery, radiator, belts/tensioners, ac condenser and a few other bits. I wanted something running well to begin with so I'm not chasing issues at the other end and the engine on this feels pretty strong to me. I did also just get it for cheap 15 minutes away from where I live so I figured I'd jump on it I have a huge list of parts that I'll refresh while the motors out, vcg, sump gasket and oil pump nut safety wire, vanos seals, DISA valve rebuild, engine mounts, intake pipes, coolant hoses and pipes, CCV bits, dipstick orings, rms, thermostat and waterpump, probably a bunch that I forgot to mention. The chain guides I considered as well but IIRC that requires disturbing the timing and I don't have the timing tools so I'll probably leave all that as is. Not sure whether I will bother doing the rod bearings since M54s aren't really known for eating them like the S54 but I'll probably check them when the engine is out and decide then. I'll keep the old style coils for now but not opposed to swapping them, whats the benefit to changing to the new style?

Donor acquired, 01 330i 145,xxxkms. If anyone wants any parts from the 330 that I'm not using feel free to message me. Now to make some space and list my 130 for sale.

I noticed that as well. Very strange, first NZ registration too. "I hate ANZ"?

Interior is minty except for a tear in the driver side bolster, like you say not uncommon with the alcantara seats. I specifically wanted this interior though, I'm a sucker for cloth interiors, especially alcantara, and I love that it shares the same fabric as the CSL. Fortunately my neighbour is an automotive upholsterer so I'll get him to make one good set out of two by swapping the good offside bolsters onto the others and rebuild the foam and what not while the covers are off. Your old E46 was gorgeous, if I can get this anywhere near as clean I'll be very happy.

Definitely possible. Those kinds of things I'll adjust to taste once the cars built and running. I think it should be fine given the ZF 5 speed has near identical ratios as the getrag 420G in my M3 (just missing the overdrive gear obviously) and that has an even higher ratio diff than the auto 330 and I have no issues driving that. I'll be retaining the DMF as well since I don't believe the NVH tradeoffs on a single mass are worth it for a road car.

If she lives out near Silverdale this might be hers. As far as compacts go it's been very well looked after, wouldn't be surprised if it's had some money spent on it. Has a few small issues, wiper jets not working and lock cylinder in the door is broken. But both pretty easy fixes. She listed it cheap and had half a dozen people who said they'd buy it if the sale to me fell through, she couldn't believe the interest there was in it. I'm very glad I happened to be browsing fb marketplace the night she listed it otherwise I would have certainly missed out.

If it was a lightweight cool revvy 4 cylinder I'd probably just manual swap it and rebuild the motor. As it is, the n42 is leaky, oily and sad and I won't feel bad about gutting it. The 3L M54 with the auto 330 diff should make this thing feel pretty lively I think.

Same wheelbase. Suspension pickup points are all the same except for the rear subframe which is different, but the medium case diff still fits in the compact subframe. More or less everything should bolt up like factory, they did make a 325ti after all. The exhaust and a couple bits in the EVAP and fuel system are 325ti specific but I've already sourced those and I think most people just splice and join the lines and make something work anyway, custom exhaust etc. Few differences going 4cyl to 6cyl obviously but should be easy enough with a donor car... I hope

I love the fugly If only, I'd already have a perfect donor car. Far more involved swap I'd imagine. From what I can tell N42>M54 should be reasonably straight forward. Ironically I'm selling the 130i to make space for the closest thing there would be to it's predecessor.

Before I saw this one for sale I don't think I've ever even seen another white one on the road. I'm definitely in the minority but I actually think they look cool once they have the msport bumpers and skirts on them, but the colour is what really makes it. From what I can gather from the NZTA fleet info there are 10 white compacts in NZ, all 318 autos.

I have dreamed about building a 330Ti for years as a more daily alternative to my E46 M3. Ever since I bought my first E46 I have always loved the compact and have quietly planned a project like this but most NZ compacts are shopping trolly spec and aren't worth building into something special. I have almost bought a few different compacts over the past year or two with this project in mind but the timing was never right and I really wanted a unique spec... When this 318Ti came up for sale in this spec I bought it within hours of it being listed and picked it up the next day, perfect base to become my dream 330Ti. No, the front end is not going to get changed, I love the bug eyes. Rare in alpine white, alcantara laser cloth interior, black m cube trim, no sunroof, factory xenons (rare on NZ compacts), all the msport kit, I put the style 216Ms on it but they'll get new tyres. It will get all of the 330 bits, brakes, diff, axles, along with the engine and a ZF 5 speed gearbox. Not sure how much of the process I will document since I'm looking forward to enjoying the build and having something to tinker on in the evenings again but I'll try take some photos along the way and post them up. The day after I bought the compact I got a fortune cookie with some dumplings and this was the note inside. Seems to be a good omen from the universe.

I bought a full set with tyres for $500.

I think I'm about to take on an e46 330ti compact project and manual swapping with a ZF 5 speed at the same time. Pricing it all up sometimes makes the eyes water. It's definitely the details that add up.

No harder to convert a 130i than an e46 or an e90, process is the same. The coding and wiring is straight forward and with a full kit everything just bolts up. I'm about to sell my manual converted 130i. Will be interesting what it ends up selling for.