I got me a BMW 3

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Duke

Keep 'em separated
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GTP_Duke
;) Same day as Sage, too!

Yesterday I picked up a new-to-me 2003 BMW 325i. It's a 23,000 mile CPO car, which means that in a year and a half when the original warranty expires, it gets an additional 2 years or 50,000 miles on the major systems.

325small14pc.jpg


It's a ZSP (Sports package) with a manual transmission, heated leather seats, moonroof, and xenon headlights. In other words it has everything I considered essential and no fluff. I would have liked to get a 330, but there was a big step up in price to get the additional power, and this has enough motor to be fun. This engine is notoriously hard to modify effectively, but I may be doing a few basic items to it.

The previous owner apparently added the lip spoiler and a small color-matched spoiler at the top of the back window, which are nice subtle touches of personality. It seems to have a short-throw shifter in it, too, because the throws seem, well, shorter than on the other 325s I recall driving. The clutch takeup is also better placed for some reason - in most of the BMWs I've driven the catch point is way up high in the travel, but this car seems much more linear.

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It was a 250-mile round trip from one end of New Jersey to the other to get it, but the deal seemed worth it. I can't wait for an excuse to drive it - almost makes it worth going to work.
 
Congrats! Are you and Gil in a race to have the most cars here at GTP?

I mean, you have a Van, a TSX, a LeMans, now a 325i, a neon...

It's a very good looking car. I quite like the spoiler. Have fun with it. 👍👍
 
That is teh sex. Now throw some HRS 3-piece forged alloys on it, preferably no bigger than 18", with some Kumho Ecsta Supra 712's or MX's around 13" wide in the rear. :D Take it to the track, homeboy. :D
 
The looks of those 3's are pretty damn near perfect in my book. 👍 One thing that does bother me are the location of power window switches, but I believe they fixed that for the new 3's. Congrats on your purchase, Duke.
Duke
It was a 250-mile round trip from one end of New Jersey to the other to get it, but the deal seemed worth it. I can't wait for an excuse to drive it - almost makes it worth going to work.
What are you joking? If I was driving back a car like that, longer the better. :D
 
Heh, it hadn’t even occurred to me that we both got 3’s. :lol: Congrats again on the purchase. 👍

Is the seat comfortable with that front part detached like that?
 
Congratulations, Duke! I'm glad you're enjoying the car. I love the color and the subtle spoilers. :) That's my least-favorite E46 taillight design, though. :indiff:

a6m5
One thing that does bother me are the location of power window switches, but I believe they fixed that for the new 3's.

Blasphemy! The center console is where they're supposed to be. :P I like them there on my car -- they're easy to find, and you don't have to swap hands on the steering wheel to use them.
 
High-Test
Congrats! Are you and Gil in a race to have the most cars here at GTP? I mean, you have a Van, a TSX, a LeMans, now a 325i, a neon...

It's a very good looking car. I quite like the spoiler. Have fun with it. 👍👍
Thanks! I really like those two little touches also - I never would have paid extra to have them added, but I'm glad they were already there.

Actually, a guy from the GRM message boards made me an offer I couldn't refuse on the Neon, and he took a spare engine and set of wheels I wanted to get rid of as well. Thaqt's what prompted me to step up my search for a car, when I had been window shopping before.

Though I admit we have 4 cars for 2 drivers, so i win in the department of redundancy department.
the Interceptor
As for the power issue: here in Germany, some BMW tuners offer a range of easy to install and fairly cheap supercharger packages. Maybe you should check if that's available in the USA as well.
Thanks; I'll look into those!
a6m5
The looks of those 3's are pretty damn near perfect in my book. 👍 One thing that does bother me are the location of power window switches, but I believe they fixed that for the new 3's. Congrats on your purchase, Duke.

If I was driving back a car like that, longer the better. :D
Actually, I was driving my nephew's 190,000 mile mufflerless Mazda 323 hatch. In return for the favor of him spending his Saturday this way, I let him drive the BMW most of the way home.
backspace
Which end of New Jersey do you live in?
Actually I live in Delaware, south the the bridge. But the car was located near East Orange.
Vonie
Nice, I haven't seen those wheels before.
They're the standard BMW 17s that come with the Sport package. I may look into some summer wheels/tires, though.
Sage
Heh, it hadn’t even occurred to me that we both got 3’s. :lol: Congrats again on the purchase. 👍

Is the seat comfortable with that front part detached like that?
Thanks! Yes it is. However, it can be retracted as well if it doesn't fit your thighs well.
Wolfe2x7
Congratulations, Duke! I'm glad you're enjoying the car. I love the color and the subtle spoilers. :) That's my least-favorite E46 taillight design, though. :indiff:

The center console is where they're supposed to be. :P I like them there on my car -- they're easy to find, and you don't have to swap hands on the steering wheel to use them.
I don't mind the taillights, but then I prefer amber turn signals. I see that replacing the tails is a popular appearance item, though.

Yeah, I like the window switches there on the console, too. Plus the front-seat passenger can put the rear windows down as well.

Thanks for the congratualtions, everybody!
 
Congrats on an awsome new car! You already talked about modding the engine, but any plans for suspension mods?
 
Wolfe2x7
Blasphemy! The center console is where they're supposed to be. :P I like them there on my car -- they're easy to find, and you don't have to swap hands on the steering wheel to use them.
:lol: You're right. As I've never driven a BMW, I never realized that "swap" until you just mentioned it.

Duke
Actually, I was driving my nephew's 190,000 mile mufflerless Mazda 323 hatch. In return for the favor of him spending his Saturday this way, I let him drive the BMW most of the way home.
Right on. In that case, I guess the drive could've felt a little long. :D
 
Nice Duke 👍

We get those wheels on 330d's here. But diesels sound like the sucks - straight 6's are much better ;)
 
(and now from the department of the completely predictable)

:D 👍

Nice going, man. Choice color combo. Choice options. Cool 'no charage' extras. Make sure you see a doctor when the 'permagrin' doesn't come off after a few weeks.


M
 
Nice, if my 323ci had a CD player I would really miss that car right now. But how come the front lip on your car looks so unassuming even though it's got the ZSP on it?

And I too like the window controls in the centre, on the E90 they're on the side armrest which reaches far too forward and slopes down, so a lot of times I open the rear left window when I want to open my own.
 
humbo
But how come the front lip on your car looks so unassuming even though it's got the ZSP on it?

I was wondering the same thing until I recalled the M-Aero II airdam only comes if you order ZSP on a 330i. But he's most definately got ZSP. Check out the three spoke steering wheel and thigh bolsters on the seats.


M
 
Very nice Duke. If I ever had extra money I would love to own one of these some day. 👍
I think I took more pics of the BMW's in GT4 than any other car. Get some pics of the sexy halos for us. :sly:
 
Sweet. Now you can pretend you're Andy Priaulx. RWD manual - wet trackday fun :D Enjoy!
 
No more Neons. :(

But a fun to-drive Bimmer, that makes up for it. Truth be told, I've only driven a 3-series once for any considerable distance, but it seemed to be worth all the hype the auto press gives it.
 
Ev0
Congrats on an awsome new car! You already talked about modding the engine, but any plans for suspension mods?
I want to take a few weeks/months and find out what suspension tweaks I may want to make, if any. Swaybars are usually a good way to improve the cornering without affecting the ride, so I may start there. The M54 engine is not terribly cost-effective to mod, so I'm going to carefully think about what I do there. The car has a build date of July 2003 which means it has the last revision of the engine management system for this model... no $300 chips to make 10 or 15 extra HP, unfortunately.
///M-Spec
I was wondering the same thing until I recalled the M-Aero II airdam only comes if you order ZSP on a 330i. But he's most definately got ZSP. Check out the three spoke steering wheel and thigh bolsters on the seats.
Hey, I actually logged in this morning to drop you a PM with the good news, and I saw you had found this thread. Thanks again for all your patient and detailed advice. You definitely helped me find the perfect car. I would like to have come home with a 330, but I just coudn't justify the extra money to myself. From what I paid for this I'd have needed to increase the budget substantially - like, by the cash price of my daughter's first car in a few years. It's not a rocket sled, but it has more than enough torque for the daily dirty work. And so far it has all of the indefinable quality of driving feel that I had hoped for.
👍
 
Duke
Yesterday I picked up a new-to-me 2003 BMW 325i. It's a 23,000 mile CPO car, which means that in a year and a half when the original warranty expires, it gets an additional 2 years or 50,000 miles on the major systems.
Seems to be an excellent purchase, Beemer_Duke.:cool: I’m personally a fan of any of the six cylinder E46 range, and despite modest performance, I’d be inclined to leave the car stock. Savour that refined six for us… :cheers:
 
Hmm... four cars, two drivers? I'm almost there... just need to get rid of one driver. :lol:

Damn nice car... and a nice find in manual, too!

Just looking at that interior brings tears to my eyes... I like that steering wheel much more than the fat boy in the new 3's. (But that's just me.) :D
 
Duke
Though I admit we have 4 cars for 2 drivers, so i win in the department of redundancy department.

^ Indeed you do :lol:

Congrats on the car Duke - Looks very good.. And the sound of that straight 6 is pure sex !...
 
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