E46 Daydreams

[Mehowski]

if you are staying static and want to have good fitment i would say 18s, plus these drive a lot nicer on 18s. 17s are to small for the e46 and don't fill out the arches enough.

18s not 17s. all day long.

qft.

I did both and you really have a hard time pulling of 17s static.

In contrast my two good friends both had static E46s in the past, and they pulled off 17s if you ask me. Just need to nail the correct tire size/fitment combo.





I mean, I say I'm settled on 17s however a nice set of 18s wouldn't go a miss. I'm not going to lie, I have no clue where to even start looking, OEM is a good idea however I don't want a wheel that's been milked to death on the E46.

The hunt continues...

[MadMax]

if you are staying static and want to have good fitment i would say 18s, plus these drive a lot nicer on 18s. 17s are to small for the e46 and don't fill out the arches enough.

18s not 17s. all day long.

qft.

I did both and you really have a hard time pulling of 17s static.

[Benwalsh91]

if you are staying static and want to have good fitment i would say 18s, plus these drive a lot nicer on 18s. 17s are to small for the e46 and don't fill out the arches enough.

18s not 17s. all day long.

[Mehowski]

So yesterday was the day I've been waiting for since I've been about 14. I dropped my first BMW!

The coils are maxed out at the moment. I want to go lower at the back, however I've been told they will settle an inch lower over the next few hundred miles which I'm keen on. The current set up is your classic FK AK Street coils, 100mm drop at the front with 75mm at the back. I've still got the bump stops in at the back but I'll probably end up taking them out.

I know BC Racing do a line of springs for the rears which are a bit stiffer and let it sit lower, so if I'm still keen on going lower I'll look into those.

The front sits nicely and scrapes over most things but I'm happy with that. When I get my splitter on the front bumper will sit even lower... so I'm not sure what's going to happen there. Let's hope I don't kill the splitter in one day. Now I'm on the hunt for some M sport side skirts too to even the lines out. I plan on keeping the rear SE bumper and making a small custom diffuser to tie it all together.

The hunt for some cheap run around wheels is truly on now, I've got the cash sitting there ready so it's a matter of finding something I like. I'm in no rush. I've also settled on 17" wheels so I can sit lower.

So here's what you're all really here for, the photos!

congrats on the Car, looks clean !

I only just now realize that i saw you shooting an Eos at Players Classic.

always liked the Styling 71 in 18s off the E38...the same design was done for the E46/E39 but with less dish

Players Classic was awesome this year, hopefully next year you'll see me shooting my own car there haha!

Nice car, love that blue. Can't wait to see what you'll do with the car ! Keep it up

Yeah the blue has definitely grown on me, cheers!

I'm just a quick 4,150 miles from London if you wanna set up a shoot



and BMW sucks. shoulda stuck with the polo
Also this marks your third thread and you still haven't lowered a car


My vote for wheels is a set of M pars. At least here in the US they're super cheap and they look great on e46s.

Polo was a curse, never touching VW again. The amount of abuse I got for not lowering it... hopefully this update makes up for it

[djlowd]

Nice car, love that blue. Can't wait to see what you'll do with the car ! Keep it up

[MadMax]

congrats on the Car, looks clean !

I only just now realize that i saw you shooting an Eos at Players Classic.

always liked the Styling 71 in 18s off the E38...the same design was done for the E46/E39 but with less dish

[TheTynosaur]

If you're from around London and fancy meeting up for a few photos and what not let me know, I've met some amazing people through S|W already and I'm always keen to convoy to shows together etc.

I'm just a quick 4,150 miles from London if you wanna set up a shoot



and BMW sucks. shoulda stuck with the polo
Also this marks your third thread and you still haven't lowered a car


My vote for wheels is a set of M pars. At least here in the US they're super cheap and they look great on e46s.

[Mehowski]

Nice car man, nice upgrade from the Polo, looks clean! I just bought my first BMW a couple weeks before I turned 20 back in April and have absolutely been loving it too. Personally wouldn't do ambers on it myself; wheel wise, have you considered OEM wheels from a ZHP E46? If you can find a cheap set, they'd look mint and you'd probably have more money left to put towards a proper set of split piece wheels.

This is a crazy upgrade from the Polo! Worth every penny though...

Wheel wise, it'd be natural to go for an OEM set. There's so many BMW wheels out there, it's nuts - I'm going to try and source a rare set though, even through they're going to be run arounds for now/winter wheels I still want to be able to stunt them out a bit.

Nice car! Love the color

as for wheels; you could look for some cheap 5/6/7 series (oem) wheels. (lower offsets so no/less f*cking around with spacers)
17 or 18's depending on what you like for a clean OEM+ look.

Thank you man! I actually really wanted a Black one, however this one was a really good price for what it is. I don't regret it though, when the sun is setting the colour just glows.

I am looking into 7 series wheels actually, a lot of uncommon designs in that category and like I said above, I want a set which isn't done a lot.

Some more parts arrived today in time for the weekend, my private plate and my Alpina Splitter. I'm going to fill out the paperwork for the DVLA today, so hopefully this time next week I can legally run the plate. I was going to get tinted plates (they're in fashion in the UK at the moment) however I'd like to avoid police attention and I'd like to get American spec plates in the near future anyway.

I'm going to get the splitter painted professionally as I want this car done properly. If it was smaller and maybe black I'd do it myself, but seeing as it takes up 50% of the bumper it's best I get it done right.

Might get the Alpina lettering done in Black, however I feel like then I'd want to get black kidney grills which I want to avoid. I'm aiming for a classy look so the Chrome is staying. Maybe I'll make the lettering silver...

Chat soon,
Mike

[FrankB]

Nice car! Love the color

as for wheels; you could look for some cheap 5/6/7 series (oem) wheels. (lower offsets so no/less f*cking around with spacers)
17 or 18's depending on what you like for a clean OEM+ look.

[19birel]

Nice car man, nice upgrade from the Polo, looks clean! I just bought my first BMW a couple weeks before I turned 20 back in April and have absolutely been loving it too. Personally wouldn't do ambers on it myself; wheel wise, have you considered OEM wheels from a ZHP E46? If you can find a cheap set, they'd look mint and you'd probably have more money left to put towards a proper set of split piece wheels.

[Mehowski]

Hi again,

So my car key was missing it's BMW badge.

Quick eBay job and we're all good. It's all about those small touches.



Private plate should arrive tomorrow, in the mean time I'm trying to decide if ambers would suit the car...

[Mehowski]

Hi all,

I actually started this thread before, however I read it back and it just didn't flow very well. On top of this I was doing the rookie error of saying a lot but not doing a lot, so I've decided the best course of action is to simply start again.

I bought this lovely 2003 Topaz Blue 318ci on March 31st. I'm the 4th owner and when I picked it up the car had 98,xxx miles on the clock. As with all 318s, it's leaking a little bit of oil, and drinks a stupid amount of it too. This is the prefacelift, however being registered in August it's probably the youngest prefacelift you can get. I was lucky enough to find one with the facelifted lump which produced a little but more power than the prior 2.0l.

I've absolutely loved BMWs since I was a little kid, and it's a dream come true finally getting my hands on one.








The car is currently sitting at 101,000 miles. I just self serviced it using thicker oil, 5W-40 rather than 5W-30, to compensate for the high millage (which I presume was mostly covered in London and not on the motorways etc.)

It came with full service history up to 88,xxx miles. The dealer I bought it from said he serviced it before he sold it to me but there was no proof of it. The car came with a fresh MOT too and new tires. All in all, I'm a happy bunny and the car still drives and pulls as if it were new. I'm doing my absolute best to not rag it though and treat it like my baby, because it really is.

On Saturday I start a new insurance policy which allows me to declare modifications. Insurance in London for young drivers is hideous, and even worse if you want to declare modifications. It's fair to say I'm getting shafted as much as I possibly can, but it's all very much worth it and part of being a petrol-head in the UK.

A package has arrived for me yesterday in preparation for Saturday. I've also bought a private number plate which I'll sort out after the weekend.





There's me on the right! I'm 19, live in South London and work up in Westminster. I also run an automotive lifestyle website in my spare time with my best mate. If you're interested the plug is in my bio! If you're from around London and fancy meeting up for a few photos and what not let me know, I've met some amazing people through S|W already and I'm always keen to convoy to shows together etc.

Anyway, an Alpina front splitter is currently being shipped over from Poland to me. No clue when it'll arrive but I think it won't be with me before the weekend.

I've got a lot of ideas for this car, however I shall keep them to myself - let's see what I can come up with!

With this said I'm having a real, real wheel dilemma. I want cheap run arounds, no clue if I should go for 17"s or 18"s. All I know it they have to look good with a static drop and cost around £400, while I save up for real big boy splits. Very keen to hear recommendations. Ya'll know very well I want splits now, however most tend to be way out of my budget.

Thank you for reading, and I shall chat to you all soon.

Much love,
Mike