E46 wagon (sold Jan 2018)

325xi Touring

Year: 2004

Exterior: silver

Interior: black leather

Transmission: 5-spd manual

Details: 

I acquired this in 2016 to be the all arounder, a car I don’t mind putting miles on, running through awful MN winters, and sitting outside the garage in the summers to give other fun cars a full year garage spot. 

The car is a sport, premium, xenons, 5spd 2004 325xi touring with 109k miles when I bought it. I bought it despite the crappy used car dealer it was at and warning signs to find something better. Hell, we can’t be choosy when looking for a 325xi touring 5spd and also I had the great input of those on the E46 fanatics forum and well documented FAQs. 

First I had to do new front brakes, fix a leaking oil filter housing and bad oil level sensor, ac recharge, and look at a driveline shake that was a symptom of needing new front axles.  The car also came with mismatched tires. New Dunlops went on to correct that.

The list of major work and upgrades as of Oct 2016 was:

  • Overhauled cooling system (expansion tank, radiator, thermostat, belts, hoses, German auto solutions cap)
  • German Auto Solutions DISA fix
  • New motor mounts and front axles
  • iPod adaptor/plug
  • Swapped wood for silver trim
  • V1 hard wired in
  • E9x wheels and snow tires
  • Thule roof rack
  • New starter
  • Gm5 fix for wonky central locking
  • Driver and passenger side window regulator zip tie fix
  • Headlight washer pump replacement
  • Weathertech Digital fit mats front and rear
  • Coding: coolant temp gauge, turned off DRLs
  • New diffs, transmission, and transfer case fluids from Redline
  • New battery
  • New/used passenger side speakers to replace blown out/buzzing unit


Work as of December 2016

  • Front:
    • New front Lemforder control arms with bushings
    • Koni struts
    • New/used shock mounts
    • New swaybar bushings and endlinks (both OEM)
    • New upper and lower spring pads

 

  • Rear:
    • New shock mounts from AKG with reinforcement plates
    • Rob43 shocks from e46fanatics
    • New original BMW springs (one of mine had a cracked coil)
    • New rubber swaybar bushings