BMW E46 Compact 330Ti Build

[Eagle 1662]

Built by @BM WORLD

Looks fine to me. Hatchbacks can only go so far in the looks dept.

[Harper 547]

1 hour ago, Vass said:

Here's one for inspiration, built by HellBM some years ago if I'm not mistaken. Looks all sorts of wrong though..

https://www.trademe.co.nz/4316428545

They had a series of videos on this build on youtube as well. Can dig it up if that'd be of any help. 

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.

Edited September 10, 2023 by Harper

[Vass 830]

1 hour ago, Eagle said:

Built by @BM WORLD

Looks fine to me. Hatchbacks can only go so far in the looks dept.

Yeah my bad, keep getting them mixed up.

Somehow doesn't look right with the sedan front end, the front and rear just don't match. Actually prefer the bug eyes to go with the shorter rear.

41 minutes ago, Harper said:

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.

Yeah hard to price it I imagine. A lot of work has gone in no doubt but $15k seems a bit optimistic given that you can pick up a manual coupe for roughly the same money.

Happened to sit at the lights next to a near identical white 316ti Msport today. Did look pretty sharp, apart from the sagging front bumper. Actually tempted to buy it if I ever see it come up for sale 😁

[Harper 547]

54 minutes ago, Vass said:

Yeah hard to price it I imagine. A lot of work has gone in no doubt but $15k seems a bit optimistic given that you can pick up a manual coupe for roughly the same money.

Happened to sit at the lights next to a near identical white 316ti Msport today. Did look pretty sharp, apart from the sagging front bumper. Actually tempted to buy it if I ever see it come up for sale 😁

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.

Edited September 10, 2023 by Harper

[Vass 830]

8 hours ago, Harper said:

...not to mention without the subframe RACP issues... Compact master race.

Is that so? Or just not as well documented due to lower popularity and lack of 3L+ engines from factory?

[Harper 547]

1 hour ago, Vass said:

Is that so? Or just not as well documented due to lower popularity and lack of 3L+ engines from factory?

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. 

Edited September 10, 2023 by Harper

[Eagle 1662]

13 hours ago, Vass said:

Yeah hard to price it I imagine. A lot of work has gone in no doubt but $15k seems a bit optimistic given that you can pick up a manual coupe for roughly the same money.

Yeah assuming Brent sold it for 8k asking it does seem overpriced at 15k. He doesn't appear to have done any substantial work himself based on description (apart from getting a cert)

Edited September 11, 2023 by Eagle

[Harper 547]

24 minutes ago, Eagle said:

Yeah assuming Brent sold it for 8k asking it does seem overpriced at 15k. He doesn't appear to have done any substantial work himself based on description (apart from getting a cert)

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.

[Eagle 1662]

If it had suspension refresh and had all the common preventative engine stuff etc done then 15k isnt unreasonable to me

You don't see them around that much compared to the E36 compacts. Not sold for very long i suppose and the N42\N46 + E46 expenses\issues probably didnt help keep them on the road. The E36 compacts are the polar opposite and why ive kept mine for 3 years and counting.

[Vass 830]

Must be something in the air... A factory manual 325ti? Get out of here. NZ new too. That front lip looks pretty sus tho.

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/compact/listing/4321158011?bof=6OvHNJsC

[KwS 2425]

1 hour ago, Vass said:

Must be something in the air... A factory manual 325ti? Get out of here. NZ new too. That front lip looks pretty sus tho.

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/compact/listing/4321158011?bof=6OvHNJsC

Thats pretty darn cheap, but man they look average without the Motorsport bodykit.

[Harper 547]

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.

Edited September 12, 2023 by Harper

[Eagle 1662]

5 hours ago, Vass said:

Must be something in the air... A factory manual 325ti?

Much better buy than 330ti though. Throw a few k at it and it should be a decent car.

[Harper 547]

43 minutes ago, Eagle said:

Much better buy than 330ti though. Throw a few k at it and it should be a decent car.

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.

Edited September 13, 2023 by Harper

[Eagle 1662]

Yeah if doing to proper B30 conversion then its not quite as appealing. I reckon it would go well enough as is and not worth the expense of doing it. 

[Harper 547]

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.

[M3AN 4016]

4 hours ago, Harper said:

I saw this a few days ago, but this is a 330ti that Ray built, maybe there really is something in the air...

I remember that little beastie, real fun.

[Harper 547]

1 hour ago, M3AN said:

I remember that little beastie, real fun.

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

[Vass 830]

Sorry to keep hijacking your thread, but bloody hell what is going on!? Another one, and this time with a 3L already in it... but with a Getrag behind it by the sounds of it.

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/listing/4324282721?utm_source=tmm-savedsearch&utm_medium=email&bof=bpQ8jCuP

[Harper 547]

25 minutes ago, Vass said:

Sorry to keep hijacking your thread, but bloody hell what is going on!? Another one, and this time with a 3L already in it... but with a Getrag behind it by the sounds of it.

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/listing/4324282721?utm_source=tmm-savedsearch&utm_medium=email&bof=bpQ8jCuP

Jesus.. This might not be as exclusive of a club as I thought hahaha. I've been thinking about building one of these for ~2 years and when I finally start, 5 of them show up for sale

Yeah sounds like a 325ti with the B30 dropped in, no 330 brakes and gretrag box. Still, probably a very quick fun car for 5K, they all seem a bit rough though. Looking forward to making mine into the tidiest example in the best spec

Edited September 14, 2023 by Harper

[Harper 547]

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/listing/4334873286?archive=1&bof=uBQICzci

Gutted I missed this. Would have loved to have taken the orange laser cloth alcantara interior out of it, super rare, especially in compact format.

[Vass 830]

On 9/21/2023 at 2:47 PM, Harper said:

Gutted I missed this. Would have loved to have taken the orange laser cloth alcantara interior out of it, super rare, especially in compact format.

She back! Front seats look standard alcantara though with a rip in the usual place.

https://www.trademe.co.nz/4336896479

[Harper 547]

3 hours ago, Vass said:

She back! Front seats look standard alcantara though with a rip in the usual place.

https://www.trademe.co.nz/4336896479

I think it is the orange interior still, it's quite subtle, the rear seat definitely is.

If it was in Auckland I would buy it and swap interiors. I don't know if I can bring myself to go get it since it's in Welly.

[Eagle 1662]

Is the rear sway bar the same profile as a regular E46?. Looking at part numbers they list the same diameter for sport and non sport bars with different numbers. 

Has your car been lowered, looks like it to me?. According to the build sheet you dont have any sport suspension options, seem common to have these with sport seats but nothing else. I see Eibach make compact specific springs and you'd always change dampers.

Not sure how common manual ones are but id put a M44 in one if i could get it cheap enough  

[Harper 547]

18 minutes ago, Eagle said:

Is the rear sway bar the same profile as a regular E46?. Looking at part numbers they list the same diameter for sport and non sport bars with different numbers. 

Has your car been lowered, looks like it to me?. According to the build sheet you dont have any sport suspension options, seem common to have these with sport seats but nothing else. I see Eibach make compact specific springs and you'd always change dampers.

Not sure how common manual ones are but id put a M44 in one if i could get it cheap enough  

Rear sway bar is compact specific. I have an oem 26.5mm front sway bar specific to the 325ti ready to go on when I do the swap.

My car does have the sport suspension option S338, it's on factory sport springs and shocks. I'll put some Bilstein b6s in it eventually since the shocks are a bit tired.

You do see manual ones come up every so often for pretty cheap but I imagine swapping an M44 is pretty involved, wiring is totally different. N42>M54 is pretty straight forward as long as it's ms43... I hope 

Edited September 23, 2023 by Harper