New Member from Portland, OR

[dpark]

Hello all,

New member here from the Pacific NW, specifically Portland, OR.

Original owner of a 2004 330i E46 with the following
- Silver Grey metallic paint
- Black leather
- Cold Weather package
- ZHP Performance package
- Glass moonroof
- Rain sensor
- Xenon headlights
- HK sound system

Currently has 118K miles on it and it is bone-stock. The only change is the steering wheel, and that was to replace the Alcantara steering wheel with a leather-wrapped steering wheel while the car was still under warranty. Still has original rims, shocks, springs etc. No accidents (knock on wood), only a few dings, always garaged.

I have decided to make this my "keeper" car and realize that some things will need to be replaced over the next few years so I have started to spend some time on discussion boards to figure out what I need to do to keep my E46 running like a champ.

Regards,

dpark

[san]

Welcome!


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[BMWCurves]

Welcome aboard from a fellow Portlander (but I am living in DC for the year)! You'll hopefully find this forum to be one of the best. Tons of resources and people are very willing to help.

As for maintenance and such, I'd whole heartedly suggest refreshing your suspension at that mileage if they're all original components currently. The factory Sachs shocks/struts only last about 50k miles. I have a decent suspension refresh thread that a few other members have used to positive result. Link below:

http://www.zhpmafia.com/forums/showthread.php?16182-Help-with-Suspension-Refresh-at-50k-miles-10-years

If you're considering changing wheels because the factory style 135s, despite their gorgeous good looks, weight too damn much (50+ pounds with tires), you might consider an aftermarket wheel. A common option is APEX. You can read a decent discussion in this thread here about size, offset, and unsprung weight here:

http://www.zhpmafia.com/forums/showthread.php?16922-Apex-ARC8-17-quot-vs-18-quot-Offset-and-Tire-Size-Questions

I didn't see too much in the way of maintenance, but if you follow this link there's a relatively extensive list of common maintenance items to consider:

http://www.zhpmafia.com/forums/showthread.php?19210-New-from-Anniston-Al&p=509419#post509419

Again, welcome aboard! I'm guessing I've probably seen your car around, you might have seen mine.

[johnrando]

Welcome!

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[danewilson77]

Welcome

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[fredo]

Welcome. We don't see too many original owners in here. Pls post pics when possible.

[johnrando]

I can only name 3 OGs on here for sure, but there are likely a few more.

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[dpark]

Thanks for the warm welcome.

Sounds like there is plenty to keep me busy on refreshing my 330i. Doing the headlights first, then going to add the bluetooth receiver (finally) so I can use the steering wheel controls for phone calls. My switch to the iPhone 7 and the loss of the headphone jack is driving me to finally do this one.

Then I need to decide on suspension or the dreaded cooling system fix. I am surprised that I have not had that failure yet (knock on wood) and my car is 12+ years old and 118k miles. My suspension actually feels pretty good still but I could just be used to the degraded performance. But I still don't have any "bounce" when going over speed bumps. The cars still dampens those bumps well.

Regards,

dpark

[Oli77]

Welcome to the forum.

About your shocks, check for the presence of oil around the outside of the body of the shock. That is a tell tell sign that they are done with (seal leak).

[Cadeez]

P-Town represent! Haha, sorry I get all excited for more locals, it seems like it's just Curves and I out here. Welcome to the club dpark, would love to see some pics. Your car sounds very similar to my old ZHP. Also, whereabouts in PDX are you located?