I've been driving a 90,000-mile, 21-year-old BMW 330Ci (E46) for several weeks thanks to online auction website eBay, which owns it.
The company paid just under £9000 for it and spent a few grand giving it a few modifications to bring it more up-to-date inside – and now I’ve given it a few more.
I wanted to give it a suspension refresh and stiffen the body without turning it into a harsh road racer. I buy quite a lot of parts from eBay already, and I'm not just saying this because this car belongs to the company.
I've got a couple of old cars and a motorbike stored in the 'My Garage' section of its website, which is near-essential because it limits searches to parts that will fit a specific vehicle from an otherwise overwhelming number of results.
So I added the 330Ci to my garage too. It's also useful because you know parts will fit and you can send them back for a refund if they don't.
I opted for a bush rebuild kit (£140) for the rear suspension and new bushes for the front (which all seemingly included control arms - £292), plus a brace for the rear struts (£103) that will sit across the boot, and one for the front struts (E81).
I haven't felt a massive problem with the BMW's traction but I do like a limited-slip differential so opted for one (£649) and thought/hoped that lot combined would tighten the handling without spoiling the ride.
The car has at some point had a decent exhaust put on it, which is a little boomy, so I thought a big air filter kit (£206) might add some induction noise to balance it. And then I opted for a new steering wheel (Alcantara-finished-£319).
Seven parts, then, for £1790, and to fit them I booked an appointment with a delightful man called Derek Drinkwater, an American-car specialist whose garage does a lot of telly work and who recently recreated Cadillac's 'Le Monstre' Le Mans racer and then toured around the US in it, pulling a tiny caravan. Also: very serious garage envy.
Join the debate
Add your comment
It sounds like the balance has shifted slightly toward the front. You could try placing some adjustable weight in the rear (like in the trunk) to tweak the front-to-rear distribution, then fine-tune things further with your suspension setup.
It sounds like the balance has shifted slightly toward the front. You could try placing some adjustable weight in the rear (like in the trunk) to tweak the front-to-rear distribution, then fine-tune things further with your suspension setup.
geometry dash lite