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

[Pandy]

yes exactly! its nice to see someone working hard with their friends in the cold and dark in some random carpark just to build a car, rather than someone paying some guy £1000's to do it for them. a lot of people seem to be making the move to bmw's at the minute, cant say its a bad thing!

Haha yeah I'm trying to do as much as I can myself same with a lot of my friends, it just feels so much more rewarding!

Im considering an e46 next or maybe an e90 depending how many years it is until I next change car. They're pretty reasonably priced for what you get, especially the e46s atm

[Thooooom]

Nice work so far man! I completely agree with you on the whole UK scene rant, it does just seem to be the same cars featured everywhere because of people having the ability to throw cash anywhere, while other builds that have taken some hard grafting get overlooked because the paintwork isn't up to par etc. I'm not saying that the feature cars aren't impressive, they do look amazing, but i'd rather look at something that I could afford to build and drive everyday myself

Also, im sick of VW, gonna have to be a BMW for me next haha, keep it up mate I'm looking forward to seeing this!

yes exactly! its nice to see someone working hard with their friends in the cold and dark in some random carpark just to build a car, rather than someone paying some guy £1000's to do it for them. a lot of people seem to be making the move to bmw's at the minute, cant say its a bad thing!

[Pandy]

Nice work so far man! I completely agree with you on the whole UK scene rant, it does just seem to be the same cars featured everywhere because of people having the ability to throw cash anywhere, while other builds that have taken some hard grafting get overlooked because the paintwork isn't up to par etc. I'm not saying that the feature cars aren't impressive, they do look amazing, but i'd rather look at something that I could afford to build and drive everyday myself

Also, im sick of VW, gonna have to be a BMW for me next haha, keep it up mate I'm looking forward to seeing this!

[Tino21]

Really like the colour.

Gotta post them test fit pics fo sho !

[Thooooom]

so on tuesday i broke down, lost powersteering then moments later noticed the engine was overheating and lost all power, after getting recovered home i realised it was the water pump, the bearing had gone which resulted in chucking the auxilary belt off which drives a/c, alternator, water pump and power steering. managed to get a pump the next morning, fitted it straight away, considering i only have a small amount of mechanical knowledge i was pretty happy to have sorted it myself. it was runnning fine again within 24 hours of breaking down, which i was pretty happy with!

also...

I GOT MY FACES BACK FROM PAINT!

they look awesome, went for reflex silver just to give them a standard wheel colour. after some issues getting the faces sit flat on the barrel due to the thickness of the paint, theyre now back together!



built them up today with some friends, all seems good so far! going to add another bead of sealant tomorrow and then get the tyres fitted tuesday







im really happy, despite a few problems i think it seems to be going too well, im half expecting to go to put tyres on on tuesday and for them to just deflate instantly haha. hopefully not anyway!

also a picture of my friends b5 s4. just fitted his e28's the other day, waiting some 30mm adapters for the rear as it tucks like crazy at the minute, definitely going to be something special though



lots and lots of awful phone photos, will be getting some nicer photos of the wheels tomorrow with my DSLR, also planning to do a test fit just because its cool. hopefully the next update will be with the wheels on!

[austinscottphotography]

Yeah i definitely think the money is worth the enjoyment and experience. I know a lot of people who blow all their money on nights out only to wake up and not even remember it. I definitely think im making better use of my money haha.

yeah im definitely loving my BMW so far, one of my friends has also made the move and bought an e36 328. We actually spent today raising the engine on that in preparation for fitting coilovers next weekend.

hopefully ill get a lot further with this car. i'd like to think so anyway.

it's hard not to fall in love with a BMW (except for the new ones....too many computers and they've flooded the market with all the new series that look exactly like one another)

what are your plans for the interior?

[Thooooom]

excellent answers to all questions!!!

i live in the US, (just moved from New Orleans to Dallas, Tx to be exact) so we don't have the Lupo over here.

however, i am aware of how small they are and i liked what you did with it.

even though you say you "lost" money on the resale i gotta say the enjoyment you got from each car for a year and the experience you gained by modding them is worth way more so i'd say you came out on top.

I totally agree with you on rich people who mod cars or rich people who just buy expensive cars. There's certainly a place for those types of vehicles because some people do work hard for their money and have earned the right to show it off.
However, i feel that shows and competitions need to include a "Budget Class" for people that know how to stretch a dollar (or a euro).
There's a lot to be said for people who can properly mod a car whether it be for speed or looks or both on a tight budget.
Honestly i don't see the point of throwing 10's of thousands of dollars at a car unless it's used for competition and you're sponsored. I'd be too afraid someone would wreck it or steal it and all my hard work would have been for nothing.

I'm a drifter at heart and i spend a lot of time and effort and as little money as possible on that hobby. To me, drifters are true car enthusiasts. They mod for the love of driving the car to its limits, which is what a car is meant to do.
Cars don't want to sit in garages and trailers waiting to be shown off once a month and then kept under lock and key the rest of the time. Cars are meant to be driven and enjoyed.

The US scene is diverse and full of different sub-cultures all of which have their own appeal.

I applaud you for getting away from the VW's and getting into the BMW's. I am on my 3rd E46 Bimmer (323ci, M3, 325XIT) and i've loved every single one more than the previous one.

Keep on modding, i think you'll thoroughly enjoy the BMW for the quality as well as the community. I've never owned a car with more dedicated and helpful fan base.

Yeah i definitely think the money is worth the enjoyment and experience. I know a lot of people who blow all their money on nights out only to wake up and not even remember it. I definitely think im making better use of my money haha.

yeah im definitely loving my BMW so far, one of my friends has also made the move and bought an e36 328. We actually spent today raising the engine on that in preparation for fitting coilovers next weekend.

hopefully ill get a lot further with this car. i'd like to think so anyway.

[austinscottphotography]

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 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.

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.

excellent answers to all questions!!!

i live in the US, (just moved from New Orleans to Dallas, Tx to be exact) so we don't have the Lupo over here.

however, i am aware of how small they are and i liked what you did with it.

even though you say you "lost" money on the resale i gotta say the enjoyment you got from each car for a year and the experience you gained by modding them is worth way more so i'd say you came out on top.

I totally agree with you on rich people who mod cars or rich people who just buy expensive cars. There's certainly a place for those types of vehicles because some people do work hard for their money and have earned the right to show it off.
However, i feel that shows and competitions need to include a "Budget Class" for people that know how to stretch a dollar (or a euro).
There's a lot to be said for people who can properly mod a car whether it be for speed or looks or both on a tight budget.
Honestly i don't see the point of throwing 10's of thousands of dollars at a car unless it's used for competition and you're sponsored. I'd be too afraid someone would wreck it or steal it and all my hard work would have been for nothing.

I'm a drifter at heart and i spend a lot of time and effort and as little money as possible on that hobby. To me, drifters are true car enthusiasts. They mod for the love of driving the car to its limits, which is what a car is meant to do.
Cars don't want to sit in garages and trailers waiting to be shown off once a month and then kept under lock and key the rest of the time. Cars are meant to be driven and enjoyed.

The US scene is diverse and full of different sub-cultures all of which have their own appeal.

I applaud you for getting away from the VW's and getting into the BMW's. I am on my 3rd E46 Bimmer (323ci, M3, 325XIT) and i've loved every single one more than the previous one.

Keep on modding, i think you'll thoroughly enjoy the BMW for the quality as well as the community. I've never owned a car with more dedicated and helpful fan base.

[Thooooom]

funny how you sourced some american side markers, as the for guys over here its vice versa. over at the xoutpost page at least. sweet e46!!!!

theyre really really hard to get hold of over here! i searched for a while but ended up finding some in germany for a good price. As for the actual side repeaters in the wings/fenders ive actually ended up painting mine with some tinting spray because i cant find any anywhere!

thanks

[one10_e36]

Looks great man! i wish my style 5s were 3 piece.

[Kylenatolix5]

funny how you sourced some american side markers, as the for guys over here its vice versa. over at the xoutpost page at least. sweet e46!!!!

[Thooooom]

well that answer raises more questions....
how many cars have you had?
what were they?
what did you do to mod them?
did you lose or gain money on the sale of them mod costs included?

sorry for all the questions but i've always wanted to ask people who mod new cars all the time these questions.

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.

[austinscottphotography]

as of yet ive never owned a car for more than a year. by the end of the show im always wanting something different, hopefully that wont be the case with the e46 though.

well that answer raises more questions....
how many cars have you had?
what were they?
what did you do to mod them?
did you lose or gain money on the sale of them mod costs included?

sorry for all the questions but i've always wanted to ask people who mod new cars all the time these questions.

[Thooooom]

The wheels and that color look GREAT !

thanks!


UPDATE:

so after removing the roll bar last weekend, today i removed the front struts to take off the sleeve that is used to support the drop links, the sleeve just winds off and has given me much more thread to use to get properly low. you can see here how big it is.



So next up i wound the car down as much as possible, just to give me an idea of how low i can actually go. its looking good!!



excuse the rust on the wing, its getting sorted!

bit of a relay on collecting my faces from the bodyshop but hopefully should be getting them tomorrow, then on with the building!

[Chasen88]

The wheels and that color look GREAT !