The following warnings occurred:
Warning [2] Undefined property: MyLanguage::$archive_pages - Line: 2 - File: printthread.php(287) : eval()'d code PHP 8.2.28 (Linux)
File Line Function
/inc/class_error.php 153 errorHandler->error
/printthread.php(287) : eval()'d code 2 errorHandler->error_callback
/printthread.php 287 eval
/printthread.php 117 printthread_multipage



Madison Motorsports
The Blue Phoenix - E46 325i - Printable Version

+- Madison Motorsports (https://forum.mmsports.org)
+-- Forum: Technical (https://forum.mmsports.org/forumdisplay.php?fid=4)
+--- Forum: Member's Projects (https://forum.mmsports.org/forumdisplay.php?fid=12)
+--- Thread: The Blue Phoenix - E46 325i (/showthread.php?tid=11117)

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21

Re: The Blue Phoenix - E46 325i - Senor_Taylor - 01-14-2016

Hmm, well we'll see when I can find time, it'll probably have to be in the summer right at the beginning. Hopefully I can talk them into letting a 20 year old have a swagtastic loaner car.

Re: The Blue Phoenix - E46 325i - SlimKlim - 01-14-2016

Not a snowball's chance in hell you'll get a loaner on a no-pay recall for a 15 year old car they didn't sell you. I bet you can get away with fondling an M4's nether regions when no one is looking though.

Re: The Blue Phoenix - E46 325i - RawrImAMonster - 01-14-2016

Yeah I didn't get a loaner on my 135i, but they will chauffeur you around Charlottesville for free. I just had them take me to a restaurant while I was waiting on the battery cable recall.

Re: The Blue Phoenix - E46 325i - SlimKlim - 01-14-2016

I couldn't get VW to give me a loaner during my first oil change/checkup so I loitered around until I talked a salesman into letting me take a performance package car for a joyride. Big Grin

Re: The Blue Phoenix - E46 325i - Senor_Taylor - 01-14-2016

"Hello, I'm a poor college student, I've had 4 cars in the last 3 years, and I'm here to get a free recall on my $3000 bottom tier 3 series, can I test drive that M5 over there?"

Re: The Blue Phoenix - E46 325i - Senor_Taylor - 01-14-2016

... $10 and 30 minutes later, I now have a functioning door lock. The amount of relief I feel right now is amazing. Now I don't have to worry about the key fob dying, and I have 4 functioning keys instead of just 1.

I ordered this part from Amazon:
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CAX5A6Y?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00">http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CAX ... ge_o00_s00</a><!-- m -->

All you have to do is open the door, pop off a little cover, and back out one 5mm allen bolt. Then you take a screwdriver and push the lock cylinder out.

I took it inside and immediate you could see that multiple parts had shattered. I followed this video to fix it:

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9-u37zVc-Y">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9-u37zVc-Y</a><!-- m -->

The hardest part was getting the spring seated correctly because my nice pliers are over at Matt's house. After some fidgeting and fighting, it all clicked into place. I only reused 2 parts. The very bottom piece, which didn't fit, and the little pin to hold the retaining clip on. I figured the BMW one is better.

BEHOLD!!!!!!!

[Image: oHJBw0V.jpg]

[Image: rAjdqRD.jpg]

[Image: zKzmauX.jpg]

[Image: JMpinf4.jpg]

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BAiCjK0r5kM/">https://www.instagram.com/p/BAiCjK0r5kM/</a><!-- m -->

Re: The Blue Phoenix - E46 325i - SlimKlim - 01-14-2016

Yeap, shit looks broke. Nice work. :thumbup:

I should get around to fixing my door handle eventually I guess. I haven't rolled the window all the way up since November...

Re: The Blue Phoenix - E46 325i - Jake - 01-14-2016

Huh, that's really neat. Nicely done!

Very interesting how easy it is to remove the lock cylinder. The E36 requires you remove the entire door handle assembly, and insert the key to get the tumbler out. It's a giant pain and is the exact reason why I haven't swapped the good lock cylinder to my new door on the M3.

Re: The Blue Phoenix - E46 325i - Senor_Taylor - 01-14-2016

Yeah, BMWs may be odd in some things they do, but you can really see where the engineers put some thought into some of the things they do. I've never seen a door lock cylinder like this and I'm very appreciative of the quick fix. I honestly think I've fixed all of the minor issues so far.

Sam Spicer used to some hardcore cleaner Dan told him about and got all of the black out of one of the rear seats, so I'll use some on the rest of the seats.

I guess next will be some mods. I might order the same lip spoiler Sam Schaidhammer has. It looks pretty slick. Overall, I'm pleased with the progress of the car.

I've been bitten by the BMW bug, but I won't go too far since it's just a high mileage 325i.

Re: The Blue Phoenix - E46 325i - rherold9 - 01-14-2016

Senor_Taylor Wrote:I've been bitten by the BMW bug, but I won't go too far since it's just a high mileage 325i.

I mean there is worse. Modding a shitbox econo car and trying to make it a track car. So, I'd mod it. Get a simple koni-eibach suspension and some decent tires and it would be a lot of fun

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

Re: The Blue Phoenix - E46 325i - Senor_Taylor - 01-14-2016

rherold9 Wrote:
Senor_Taylor Wrote:I've been bitten by the BMW bug, but I won't go too far since it's just a high mileage 325i.

I mean there is worse. Modding a shitbox econo car and trying to make it a track car. So, I'd mod it. Get a simple koni-eibach suspension and some decent tires and it would be a lot of fun

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
I can't justify anything more than $50 on a $3000 car.

Sent from my SM-G900R4 using Tapatalk

Re: The Blue Phoenix - E46 325i - rherold9 - 01-14-2016

Senor_Taylor Wrote:
rherold9 Wrote:
Senor_Taylor Wrote:I've been bitten by the BMW bug, but I won't go too far since it's just a high mileage 325i.

I mean there is worse. Modding a shitbox econo car and trying to make it a track car. So, I'd mod it. Get a simple koni-eibach suspension and some decent tires and it would be a lot of fun

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
I can't justify anything more than $50 on a $3000 car.

Sent from my SM-G900R4 using Tapatalk
Dem lip spoilers be at least $100 on ebay and with the German tax that makes it $599

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

Re: The Blue Phoenix - E46 325i - Senor_Taylor - 01-14-2016

rherold9 Wrote:
Senor_Taylor Wrote:
rherold9 Wrote:
Senor_Taylor Wrote:I've been bitten by the BMW bug, but I won't go too far since it's just a high mileage 325i.

I mean there is worse. Modding a shitbox econo car and trying to make it a track car. So, I'd mod it. Get a simple koni-eibach suspension and some decent tires and it would be a lot of fun

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
I can't justify anything more than $50 on a $3000 car.

Sent from my SM-G900R4 using Tapatalk
Dem lip spoilers be at least $100 on ebay and with the German tax that makes it $599

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
$40.

Sent from my SM-G900R4 using Tapatalk
Oh man, I messed that up but I'm too turnt to fix it.

Re: The Blue Phoenix - E46 325i - *insertusernamehere* - 01-15-2016

rherold9 Wrote:
Senor_Taylor Wrote:I've been bitten by the BMW bug, but I won't go too far since it's just a high mileage 325i.

I mean there is worse. Modding a shitbox econo car and trying to make it a track car. So, I'd mod it. Get a simple koni-eibach suspension and some decent tires and it would be a lot of fun

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
ahem, what he really means is koni-h&r, taylor :wink: 8)

Re: The Blue Phoenix - E46 325i - *insertusernamehere* - 01-15-2016

Also you need some style 32's like now. Find a wrecked junkyard e39 or e38 or someone who doesn't know what they have and run with it

[Image: photo-1.jpg]

Re: The Blue Phoenix - E46 325i - *insertusernamehere* - 01-15-2016

Oh and also, lay down on the floor and get underneath your muffler and the tailpipe on the passenger side should have a little vacuum line plugged into the side of it, unplug it, plug the vacuum line with something the same size - forum people use a golf tee - and then zip tie the line to something or tape it somewhere. That'll keep the flap in the tailpipe open below 3k rpm so you can get a smidge more bass around town. From my memory i also got significantly more burbles and pops when you come off throttle and in between shifts when you do this. Also when you rev matched. It's referred to as the "golf tee mod". Barely a mod but i'll roll with it lol.

Re: The Blue Phoenix - E46 325i - BLINGMW - 01-15-2016

Senor_Taylor Wrote:... $10 and 30 minutes later, I now have a functioning door lock.
Well that's pretty sweet good job!

*insertusernamehere* Wrote:Also you need some style 32's like now. Find a wrecked junkyard e39 or e38 or someone who doesn't know what they have and run with it
IIRC the offset on those is... lower?... than E36/E46, making them stick out further. Is that just a little, or is it a fender rolling amount?

Re: The Blue Phoenix - E46 325i - Jake - 01-15-2016

Senor_Taylor Wrote:I can't justify anything more than $50 on a $3000 car.

I give you two months before you're shopping around for used part deals.

Seriously though, look on the E46 groups on Facebook and if you need/want something, go used. It's how I got the 'vert all Stanceypants McPolen for $300 with nice, Koni/H&R stuff. It's how I got BBS wheels for $50/wheel. Etc etc.

You could pimp this thing out for not a ton of money if you are patient and shop around.

Re: The Blue Phoenix - E46 325i - SlimKlim - 01-15-2016

*insertusernamehere* Wrote:Oh and also, lay down on the floor and get underneath your muffler and the tailpipe on the passenger side should have a little vacuum line plugged into the side of it, unplug it, plug the vacuum line with something the same size - forum people use a golf tee - and then zip tie the line to something or tape it somewhere. That'll keep the flap in the tailpipe open below 3k rpm so you can get a smidge more bass around town. From my memory i also got significantly more burbles and pops when you come off throttle and in between shifts when you do this. Also when you rev matched. It's referred to as the "golf tee mod". Barely a mod but i'll roll with it lol.

This only applies to the 330i and maybe the 328i. The 325i has no flap.

Re: The Blue Phoenix - E46 325i - Senor_Taylor - 01-15-2016

SlimKlim Wrote:
*insertusernamehere* Wrote:Oh and also, lay down on the floor and get underneath your muffler and the tailpipe on the passenger side should have a little vacuum line plugged into the side of it, unplug it, plug the vacuum line with something the same size - forum people use a golf tee - and then zip tie the line to something or tape it somewhere. That'll keep the flap in the tailpipe open below 3k rpm so you can get a smidge more bass around town. From my memory i also got significantly more burbles and pops when you come off throttle and in between shifts when you do this. Also when you rev matched. It's referred to as the "golf tee mod". Barely a mod but i'll roll with it lol.

This only applies to the 330i and maybe the 328i. The 325i has no flap.

I've seen stories of people claiming to have the flap on 325i's, but you're correct, I don't have one. I've already looked. Also, it seems Chan put an aftermarket airbox thing in it? I don't know if that's good or bad.


We will see on the mods, of course if I can get them for cheap, I might do some later down the road, but I'd rather not destroy the resale value just yet. These things seem pretty hard to pawn off.