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Jon's E46 Topaz Blue 330Ci



Despite me saying that rolling arches is safe enough, because it is, when done correctly.

I'm not actually sure it would look good.

You not worried it might alter the classy look and feel of the car? I may be wrong, but rolled arches isn't the right look on this IMHO.
 

Tunst

ClioSport Club Member
  Focus ST225, Focus E
No, if you feel the wing if your car there is a bit of the wing pointing towards the car all the roller does is squashes that metal upward out of the way iirc
 
Yeah yeah I know, I just always thought it ended up looking a bit wider as a result.

Maybe down to the fact that all cars with rolled arches are lower with spacers.
 
You're not flaring them! Just rolling the kip to eliminate rubbing? Right?
Yeah that's was what i was talking about.

It still creates a wider look, does it not?

From what I've seen it's just the inner lip that's rolled, so you'd never ever see it.

They won't guarantee it. They say "most cars". I'd be willing to bet that although it doesn't crack at the fold, the top of the inner lip will be cracked/flaking where you can't see.

Like I said it depends on the paint.

Not really sure why its down do the paint, I would have though it was down to how much was being rolled, ie the depth of the inner lip, the deeper the lip the more roll, the more chance of it cracking as there is more strain on the metal.

Anyway, I wouldn't be fussed if it cracked inside the arch. If it was the outside, on the main body, then yeah, understandably I'd be gutted.

It's just an idea for now anyway.
 
Had 4 wheel alignment done this morning by Drury Lane Services, they did a great job. Took a bit longer than I was thinking but thats down to the design of the camber plates on the HSDs.

Drove like a bag of crap in comparison to now! Its fantastic. Looks like I've only got a tiny rubbing now when pushing on, so the spacers are staying as they are. However due to the alignment, everything looks as its should, so those last photos mis-represent how it now looks.

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It's been a while since I've updated this. Had the car roughly a year now and done just shy of 7k at an average MPG of 21.7. Yeah it's a bit thirsty.

Anyway, I've done some bits over the past few months which have included replacing the PAS pump, PAS Fluid bottle and both aux and air con belts. The pump ended up getting louder and louder until one evening I turned a 90degree corner at slow speed and the engine cut out. Obvious the pump was so bad that the tension on the belt caused the car to throw a panic. Very easy job to do, only complication was getting the fan off. Cost roughly £200 to get this job done myself with all parts.

On my way to work one morning I heard the sound of a flat tyre, and yep it was one of mine. Pulled over at a shop and swapped it for the spare. I'm guessing the idea is to put the spare on the front and the front on the rear, however I couldn't be bothered with that faff.

Standard Rear tyre width: 255
Space saver width: 165

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Lucky for me I'm running 20mm spacers at the rear so that gave the wheels a much better track. As both tyres were coming up to their limits I decided to get 2 new ContiSport 5's fitted. As soon as they were fitted I realised the 20mm's on the rear had to go, they were constantly rubbing the tyre walls. I'm on the look out for some 12/13mms to go on the rear instead now.

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The car had a MOT a couple of weeks ago, Which I actually thought was due in Feb, but it expired in December! Oops. Got it booked in and passed with a couple of advisories; Drop Links have slight play, offside brake pipe has corrosion (which is common) and the handbrake only just passed. So I'll get this sorted throughout the year.

A few people have always noticed I had a huge puddle in one of my tail lights, I had never noticed before because I had never seen the water move, that was until the MOT. Decided to keep an eye on eBay and get a pair of second hand ones. Most seemed to be selling of £40 upwards with the light bulb holders, I managed to get a bargain and get some for £23 Delivered. I set about fitting them this morning, I'll let some pictures do the talking.

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Old (bottom) vs New (top)

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Split the lensaway from the body to see this:

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Swapped over the boot inserts and G101'd, Amigo'd and Zymol'd:

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Fitted:

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Just need to strip the inners down, clean them and re-seal them. I'll do that when I do the old outers though.
 
Just been cleaning the car and I was thinking about the old number plates I had from the Trophy, and decided to see what it would look like.

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Just stuck it on with some 3M tape, I think it looks great. Just need to decided how much attention it might get from police, the car's pretty subtle so they'd probably never notice it.

Thoughts?
 

Coby.

ClioSport Club Member
Can see it getting some Police attention if they're hot on it around your area?
Stick with normal size imo.
 
Time for an update.

E46 is now going, its been great for the past 12 months. Fantastic car and would not hesitate to buy another in the future. I've now changed jobs so commuting in this not ideal and I also want to move to an E30. Coilovers and spacers are now off, so its back to standard, just need to send the V5 off this week to get the plate put onto retention. I've bought another car as a daily so this needs to go soon.

As I knew the car was going, I asked Niall to get some fantastic photos. I'll let them conclude this thread.

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welshname

ClioSport Club Member
Awesome pictures by Niall as always.

Be sad to see this go as it's an awesome car for just wafting about and surprisingly quick too. Onwards and upwards though and can't wait to see what you do with an E30.
 
Yep, I will miss it. Torque is a fantastic thing and great for wafting up and down the motorway in (when you don't have to worry about fuel).
 

Danith

ClioSport Club Member
  MX5 ND2/220 Trophy
Great pics. Where's the rooftop one taken?

Can't wait to get my e36 detailed. Taking it to Polish and Glow over the road, they do a good job for a £15 wash and polish.
 
Great pics. Where's the rooftop one taken?

Can't wait to get my e36 detailed. Taking it to Polish and Glow over the road, they do a good job for a £15 wash and polish.

Golden Square in Warrington. Decent lighting on the lower levels.

In other news, I'm keeping the E46 for a while longer as I found I was still struggling driving a manual. I'll see how the next few months go financially and work out where I want to go from then.

In the meantime, HSD's are off and its a boat so need to decided if I keep the HSD's or swap to the Billy/Eibach setup.
 
  330Ci cab
Just seen your post on e46zone Jon, having a serious thought about those HSDs. How was the ride with them on?
 
Just seen your post on e46zone Jon, having a serious thought about those HSDs. How was the ride with them on?

For coilovers, very good. I had the fronts set up on full soft and the rears half and half. I found that a bigger car handles coilovers much better than a small car, like a clio for example. They're fully adjustable, so can't really go wrong with them.

Didn't know you had a 330 though!
 
  330Ci cab
Jon.G Haha yeah, got mine in May last year. There's a thread on there, although I changed my username.

I'm tempted to buy, but I think I need to experience one with lows or coil overs. I'll be keeping mine, I've spent enough on it since purchasing! Haha
 
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cossiefran Got a link to your project thread?

Most of those who put coilovers on their E46 put cheap FK Streets on, that won't be any good, so don't compare to those. The other bonus is you can adjust the height to where ever you want and not affect the damping. Proper set up.
 
Unfortunately the 330 is no longer. I was involved in a RTA two weeks ago and it's been classed as a CAT C write off, which I've bought back for parts/to sell on.

I've been on the hunt for another 330 for a week now and not having much luck because I'm being pretty fussy with the spec/condition. I can't even think of anything else I would want to replace it with either.

I'll maybe update this with some 'crash damage' photos once its back at home.
 
jesus, what happened??

I'm not going to disclose any information until the case is resolved.

Make sure you buy a new one before selling anything on the current one. You might find you need it!

Yeah, I was thinking this, however I think I'm just going to hold out until I find the right one. Which could be days, weeks even (God forbid) Months.

Blimey Jon, hope you are okay!

Good luck finding a replacement, I guess this is where the xenon questions came from?

Yeah I'm fine mate. Exactly where the question came from. Considering a facelift this time.
 


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