sjbglobal

I'm wanting to change the tranny fluid in my 2001 330i, and it seems like Penrite ATF FS has been recommended in past forum threads. It's currently $45 for 4L with Repcos 25% off, or $162 for 20L. Anyone able to get better prices, or keen to go halves on a 20L tub? Also, the bentley manual claims the ZF tranny in the 330i has a capacity of 8.7L including the torque converter, if I got 9L would I have enough? Planning on doing a full change through the cooler hose. edit: anywhere that has the tranny filter + gasket for less than v1vehicleparts ($48)? Cheers!

Yeah definitely keen to swap or paint the trim. The tan is growing on me, but I might change some of it to black, probably headliner/pillars since they need redoing anyway (although black headliner does make a car feel smaller) maybe door cards/center console as well. Depends how brave I feel with vinyl paint or what I can find at pickapart haha.

I bought it for 3600, fairly happy with it as I found full service/inspection history (mostly at the dealer) going back to 2001 in the glovebox and most of the common issues have been addressed, cooling system and ccv done in 2015, ac evaporator done this year, spark plugs/brakes/tires all done in the last few years as well etc. Might do a progress thread in the showroom section, probably not much interest in a non-M but I plan to do some work on the interior to make it a bit nicer.

It's lovely to drive, panel and paint is great, everything works. Only work needed that I could see was half the headliner is gone and the FCABs were both pretty loose (tie rods too maybe, hard to tell if all the movement is from the bushings). There's also a decent oil leak which I think is the oil filter housing gasket, the vcg looked like it had been done. The interior has some wear but some leather reconditioner would probably freshen it up nicely. Seems like its been well looked after, had a bunch of receipts at the dealer going back to 2008. How hard is a headliner to diy? I've heard it's usually 5-600 to get it done properly, is that right? My wife found the msport seats a bit hard, and it seems like all the msports in our price range have probably been thrashed or have issues. So I think I'm happy with this, just need to factor in work needed to the price.

@qube @zero @Sammo what do you guys think this is worth? It's been serviced regularly apparently, going to view it today, not sold on the interior but I guess we'll see. https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/listing/2871637119?bof=4GDbglre Be interesting to see what this goes for as well https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/listing/2872315518?bof=g5pXJcTt

Dang, so you didn't think there was anything catastrophically wrong with it? just saw he's trying to get 1k for the bumpers and lights. Why on earth didn't he just fix it up, assuming the rough idle wasn't anything major it could have had the issues sorted for well under 500. It seemed to drive ok

Probably, just seemed like an odd place in the project to sell, it's not a very attractive buy at the moment. I should have scanned it to see what the misfires were but the panel and paint put me off anyway

Yeah I was pretty disappointed, if it was tidy it could have been a good find

So I viewed this yesterday https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/825572324668334 and realised its the one that overheated and sold on Trademe for 1k in stonefields a few months back. I viewed it yesterday and the seller has done the disa, water pump, radiator and expansion tank. Issues I could see: valve cover and ofhg are very leaky, front passenger window regulator is stuffed, electric mirrors don't work, car has both fans missing, external temp sensor and coolant sensor is faulty, brake pad light is on, and it has quite a rough idle/stumble even when warm. Panel and paint is pretty rough, there's lots of little dents and scratches that don't show in the pics. He said the lowest he'd take is 2.5k. It kind of seems like he's selling it half way through fixing it which makes me think he's found something bad with it (maybe the headgasket is bad and the head bolts are stripped or something), he had the engine out of an e36 when I was there so he knows what he's doing. Anyway hopefully this helps someone

Heh, the seller finally got bored of trying to get 10k for this https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/listing/2844195790?bof=omhNHwal

Yeah I was wondering about that, seems like you'd be at the mercy of finding an exact module part match at a wreckers. I know a 325i will be more peppy than my 323i (+20hp), but just wondering if I'd wish I'd gone for a 3 litre further down the track ? To be fair I don't track or race or anything like that and have hardly ever felt like the 323 needed more horsies

Yeah I'm not too sure about the green but it does look pretty tidy. Thoughts on this one? It closes in 12 hours and it's only up to 1250. Not my first choice but if it goes for like 2k or something it could be a fun do up. https://www.trademe.co.nz/2820307602 How much would you expect an abs/asc module to cost? Also I've seen places in the US that make whole new genuine leather seat covers like lseat, would definitely make the interior look better. Think it has the msport multifunction wheel. https://www.lseat.com/products/1998-2004-bmw-e46-coupe-sedan-sport-custom-real-leather-seat-covers-front.html

Seems super expensive. They have a nice blue (manual I think) 330ci clubsport, estimated landing price is 8900nzd https://www.sbtjapan.com/dealers-cars/bmw/3-series/DZC2868 215kms though

Man that's so tidy. Wonder if it's had the cooling system/suspension done? If it been serviced regularly at the dealer you'd assume they would pick stuff up. He says he's been offered 9k for it too. Does that seem a little steep for an auto? Be interesting to see what it goes for. https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/listing/2826267739?bof=MgoMoVBk This 325i msport is pretty tempting as well

That's dumb, why didn't they just list it with a reserve lol. The seller didn't seem to realise how likely it was the engine was cooked

Out of curiosity, did you end up looking at the black one? It goes in 12 hours https://www.trademe.co.nz/2812324467

Damn that imola red one looks so good ? Is there any way to set up new listing alerts on facebook like you can with TM? I keep forgetting to check on there

Yeah I think I saw that on auto insider last week, really nice, love that interior color. A manual is definitely outside my budget sadly ... and you'll probably think I'm nuts but most of my driving is around Auckland so an auto makes the most sense anyway. As long as it's the msport package with the multifunction wheel and isn't silver I'm happy haha

It'll be interesting to see what this msport goes for, shame about the seats and the color (why did BMW make so many silver e46 lol). ABS issue as well which shouldn't be too hard to fix https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/330i/listing/2820307602?bof=hChttH3D

I'm at uni still so my budget is only around 4k unfortunately. Obviously not expecting a meticulously maintained one for that and I'm happy diy-ing mechanical maintenance over time as needed. I might be able to stretch the budget a bit depending on what maintenance has been done. Gutted I missed that blue msport on TM, the guy sold it Ah well there's always more That purple one is epic, bit out of my budget sadly haha

There's the lure of potentially getting a great deal if its fine.... but also it could be completely stuffed. I don't want to waste $$ to get it checked out and find it's kaput so I'm gonna pass. Yeah I'm gonna wait for a tidy msport 330 to pop up, seems like a good buyers market at the moment. Should I post in the want to buy section?

Not sure, here's my conversation with the seller. Maybe a mechanic checked it and said it was ok? Don't know why she says it needs to be checked again in that case. Is a compression test and coolant/oil inspection enough to rule out engine damage from overheating? Or could the block be warped and issues crop up a few years down the track?

Oh so I asked the seller specifically about the overheat and that's what she said, sounds like it actually died from overheating, then she pulled over, then it 'worked again' so she drove it to a mechanic. How easy are the engines to come by? Definitely a bit out of my league but I'd love to do an engine swap one day. Nice! yeah you've done pretty much exactly my plan. I just want a solid daily driver I can enjoy for the next 5 years or so... preferably one that doesn't have dents and half the clear coat coming off like my current 323i ? Is it worth keeping an eye on fb marketplace and turners, or is forums/TM the best places to find them?

This looks nice https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/330i/listing/2812324467 .... if it weren't for the fact that the coolant leaked out and it overheated until "the engine stopped so we pulled over, but then it worked again so drove it to the repairer" -verbatim quote from the seller. Yikes. That has to be some serious damage