Thom's bagged E46 saloon/sedan - Airlift, BBS RF - UK Build

[Thooooom]

How are the bags doing? Considering getting some for my e46.

theyre doing fine, had no issues really. tank seems to be leaking sometimes over night but i have a feeling its actually the V2 manifold.

[Thooooom]

i havent updated this in ages!

spent a fair bit of time polishing my wheels yesterday in preparation for Edition38, one of the biggest UK shows which is this coming weekend. They dont actually allow anything non-vag into the show area but i'll still be there in the camping area and carpark.

went and grabbed some photos last night just because the wheels were looking so good.










as a kind of side hobby, im also into urban exploring/urbex/place hacking (whatever you want to call it) recently found this derelict factory not too far from my home where you can actually open the shutter and bring a car in, so i had to grab some photos.





couple more on my flickr too: https://www.flickr.c.../106876584@N05/

[NathanE-94]

im only 19, so this is my 3rd car. My first car was a VW Lupo, which ended up like this



Then my VW 6n2 Polo which i posted at the start of the thread.

and finally my E46.

i lupo was on coilovers before id even got my license, and sat on the driveway while i messed with it, changed the wheels to Ronal R15's. then just did what i could to the arches etc to get the car fairly low (although looking back now it wasnt low at all. haha) i did some interior work such as a rear seat delete and an audio install, nothing fancy but i really enjoyed making it. then just little things like black masked headlamps,

Lupo mods:

• Coilovers
• Ronal R15 wheels
• some arch work to get the car lower (although looking now it wasnt low at all)
• Black masked headlamps
• rare 'cambridge' edition rear lights
• rear seat delete
• basic audio install with custom build sub install in the rear, really enjoyed making that.

Polo Mods (i did less to this car, and spent most of my time just trying to get it as low as possible.)

• coilovers with extra hard bumpstops cut to size allowing for no travel in the damper
• Bullet wheels 15 x 7/8
• GTI front grill and splitter
• again a basic audio install, not the the same quality as the lupo one though.

i lost money on both cars, not loads, approx £400-£600, maybe slightly more on the Polo. but im not in it for the money haha.

Im only a student, so dont have the budget to be constantly buying parts to keep me enjoying the car. I always see something else i want and feel the need to move on. i am hoping to make things different with this car though.

Another reason for moving on so fast would be due to my age, if youre familiar with the Lupo then it should be quite obvious its quite a childish car, i didnt want to be driving round in that little thing while friends of mine are driving VR6 corrados and such (as they were at the time). The polo was bigger and a lot nicer, i really really loved that car, getting the splitter close to the floor wasnt too difficult and for that reason theres quite a few people in the UK who drag them around ruining the underside, its good fun haha.

Ive recently taken a huge liking to the US scene, im not sure if youre from the UK or US or somewhere else, but the UK scene isnt really what im into anymore, people build cars to be perfect in every aspect, including spending 10's of thousands on interior retrims, new paint jobs, wheels, air ride (which is significantly more expensive over here than it is in the US) and engine work too. I just dont have the money to do that, and im tired of seeing the same few rich people kill it everyyear because they have the money to do so.

obviously there are exceptions, but the US scenes a lot more interesting, cars are less perfect all over, people just like to run really low, and make their cars look undrivable, which is what i like. the 'fitment' scene over here isnt as extreme as it is over there, there are people over here that are doing it, but its the minority. Far too many people are perfectionists on every aspect of the car, which i cant afford to be. id rather focus on getting the car sitting right and having fun with my mates, not stressing out because my retrim isnt finished for a show or because i didnt win a trophy. The E46 lends itself well to having a low, wide, cambered set up. which is what i wanted. i also wanted something that wasnt a VW, as its being over done and every man and his dog has a lowered VW now.

sorry for rambling, i hope that answers your questions though haha.

First of, been a follower of yours on IG for ages...Love your photography and the e46 is ballin'...it's killin it, love it so much

But also everything that you posted above is so true, I couldn't agree more with everything that you've just said! More money doesn't necessarily buy you character, less money forces you to think outside the box... #FvckYourChequeBookBuilds hahahaha!!

[presidentialbaptist]

funny how us dudes always want euro spec ambers and euro dudes always want us ambers. dig it man. very clean.

[Thooooom]

First of, been a follower of yours on IG for ages...Love your photography and the e46 is ballin'...it's killin it, love it so much

But also everything that you posted above is so true, I couldn't agree more with everything that you've just said! More money doesn't necessarily buy you character, less money forces you to think outside the box... #FvckYourChequeBookBuilds hahahaha!!

thank you man!

i totally agree.

[Thooooom]

funny how us dudes always want euro spec ambers and euro dudes always want us ambers. dig it man. very clean.

yeah ive had a lot of people from the US saying 'why the hell do you want the amber corners?!' haha. i love them though, really make it stand out. thanks man

[NathanE-94]

thank you man!

i totally agree.

No worries, dude! Shall keep an eye out for updates!!

[E30Cavey]

Great build so far man. Also agree with you about the UK scene, don't get me wrong i can appreciate them. but its so much better to see a homebuilt car that someones put so much of their own time and effort into getting it how they want it to look not just what they think other people will like.

[lower99]

Sick build! Absolutely love it!

[Tino21]

damn homie, the car looks so good in these shots! Those in the factory are DOPE.

[JJ.]

Really nice E46, love the stance. Thought I'd seen it before on steve's photo's, I followed him on IG because B5. And now i've found you're build, sick pics and followed you also on IG.

[mikey G]

Looks great! Any plans on fixing the fender? The sticker is killing making me twitch! lol

Photography is on point

[Lhotte]

I <3 this!

Had a nosey round at Edition!

[Spectra Phantom]

Loving this E46 man, keep up the good work.

[Thooooom]

Great build so far man. Also agree with you about the UK scene, don't get me wrong i can appreciate them. but its so much better to see a homebuilt car that someones put so much of their own time and effort into getting it how they want it to look not just what they think other people will like.

haha exactly man. i can appricate all cars, but to know someones been slaving away on their drive way or even in carparks (like a lot of me and my friends do who dont even have driveways) just makes a car have so much more presence and character. the person who build that car really did it for themselves and has a bond with it that you cant get by just throwing money at something and winning trophies.

Sick build! Absolutely love it!

thank you!

damn homie, the car looks so good in these shots! Those in the factory are DOPE.

thanks man! i rarely get round to using my camera, but when i do i like to make sure i do a good job, not really a fan of someone who takes like 5432564326243 photos and has a few nice ones, i'd rather cut the rubbish out and just take a few nice well executed shots. i really do need to sort out taking more photos though haha.

Really nice E46, love the stance. Thought I'd seen it before on steve's photo's, I followed him on IG because B5. And now i've found you're build, sick pics and followed you also on IG.

yeah me and steve are like best mates so always together, we only live like 2 minutes apart so most evenings are spend around his house messing in the garage and stuff. gutted he sold the S4, it was like nothing else ive seen with the stupid aero parts and the mad expensive magnesium wheels that everyone ***** him for running because they thought he'd ruin them. that car was insane. we're just starting work on his next build! he's decided he wants to go a bit older and do a full on smooth bay engine swap turbo build, so thats my winter nights sorted. its bmw too

Looks great! Any plans on fixing the fender? The sticker is killing making me twitch! lol

Photography is on point

honestly, when i got the car it was top of my list, but it slowly dropped down and i sort of stops caring, but lately its really bugging me (partially because its getting much worse!) ive told myself i need to do it asap, but i go back to university next week which means ill be needing the car most days and cant get it in the bodyshop, should have done it this summer really. either way i cant sell it like this so it'll be done at some point. thanks for the kind words about photos

I <3 this!

Had a nosey round at Edition!

thaaaaaaanks. i saw you talking to ben and lance when he was parked behind me but pussied out to coming over haha. edition was too good.

Loving this E46 man, keep up the good work.

thank you!