Wagoon!

 

 

Thanks dudes!

I had my first issue with the BMW earlier this week.... and it was a doozy Kidding, it was only a headlight:

I had some Sylvania H7s laying in my parts bin so .. no need to hit up Autozone - I looked into swapping for Xenons but prices are around $250 and the harness needs modification. No thanks ... I'll leave them alone.

As far as MPG update, I got 400 miles out of a tank and I am currently averaging 24.8 mpg .. this is partly due to hitting peak commute times and being at a crawl.

Overall, very happy with it .. I don't know if the PO replaced the sound system but I'm pretty blown away by the quality. Lows / mediums / highs sound great and there are 0 rattles. I'd say it sounds better than my wife's MDX ELS system.

Currently on the hunt for some cross bars - apparently, there are some OEM crossbars found on the Subaru Outback that fit the E46iT with little modification.

 

Those rails look very similar to the ones on the TSX wagon.

There are a glut of Yakima Whispbar knockoffs on eBay. I picked up a set and after comparing to the pictures of the Real Deal, I'm pretty sure they come out of the same factory but are probably just made on 4th shift.

Might work for you:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Pair-41-3-4...item3b38078681

or similar.

 

Thanks brotato!

I'll have to measure the rack width and go from there.

I just want to do wagon things!

 

Daily driver is a BMW touring.



Pffft.









<--- Jealous.

 

I’d much rather have an S5 for DD purposes

These can be picked up as little as 3-4k ... it’s a lot of car for the money.

 

Don't matter!


Still jearous! The 3er Touring is gorgeous and has the right colors for both body and wheels.

 

Definitely a clean E46.

 

this was a perfect pick up.

 

BMW made an E46 truck? Does this one have a camper shell on it?

 

I hope J likes getting his own medicine

 

i can dish it and take it!
I'm a top and a bottom!

 

Got my cross bars mounted up. More pictures to follow this weekend.

Love the look and I’m definitely on the hunt for a kayak / paddle board.

Home Depot runs stat!

Test fit:





Mounted up:

 

Thule box too in the plans...?

 

If one came across for a steal ... maybe.

Although, I feel I am going to have a hard enough time finding uses for the cross bars .. let alone a Thule box.

 

You need box because wagon not cause you have anything to out in it.

Honestly though driving around with them on when you have no use for them kills your gas mileage 2-3mpg. I don't recommend it.

 

Yeah, TBH, I always thought the Thule box was more "completing the look" than anything else for these wagons.

More often than not, they are empty and almost never used.

 

J's ex has one of those on his Q7 and she always says it looks like the box looks like an alien trying to abduct
the car. She thinks it looks goofy!

Kayak though, that's where it's at!

 

Here's a few pictures I've taken since the last update:





This thing has been one hell of a daily so far, no issues to report . Purchased with 153k, I'm just about rolling over 159k after the weekend.

Prior to doing the 860 mile trek to Pacific Grove, I did an oil change and climbed under the car for the first time. No leaks is nice and no hiccups along the way!

26.5mpg on the way up, 25.2mpg on the way back. I loaded a bunch of stuff from my mother in law's house which I'm sure didn't help MPG, but whatever .. it's a wagon.










I'm still on the hunt for some wheels / possibly some replacement shocks, but otherwise super happy with it.

Thanks for reading!

 

and headlights

 

I like those wagons, nice ride.

 

 

Awesome! Keep enjoying it for what it's made to do.

 

Nice.. Finally you got a real car

I know you already said it but please do something about those headlight... Maybe look into junk yard to see if you can find an OEM projector with HID?
Not only they are halogen, no projector, they look like they are fogging up in the rain too

There are plenty of BMW OEM wheels to choose from and they are all very cheap... especially the F30 ones...

 

If I haven't done headlights on the B5 yet ... what makes you think I'll do them on the E46

Thanks man!

I did a little more research and apparently, the Xenons are a direct swap .. however, the autoleveling needs to be programmed so essentially you'll have no high beams until that's done.

If I go to the yard and find a clean set ... I'll pull them. Otherwise, light output is just fine for me .

 

Bruh, just install a cheap HID kit in the halogen housings. Brighter is better. Plus you don't need to worry about aiming... Full bright all the time.

The best of both options.

 

I'm more of a light bar kinda guy ...

 

The sedan and wagon headlights are a "no bake" to open design. You can buy a set of direct retrofit projectors and associated hardware from TRS and swap them in over an afternoon. Wouldn't be OE but it would work fine and not require any auto leveling coding. Also, I'm not sure your car has the leveling sensors and arms hooked up to the suspension so you'd need to add all that hardware as well if you're going down that route.

 

More reason to stick with halogens ...

I don't know, I think I'm just lazy / content.

 

the simplicity of old tech...
although with Johnny right around the way...order what he tells you and do it bro.

 

Good enough for me lol.

To be clear, I mean that you'd need the leveling sensors and such for an OE swap not for the TRS route. The retrofit is just a swap over, that's it.

 

You really want me to answer that question? many of you might get your feeling hurt

 

Yes! It's a 17 year old car with a salvage title ... nothing hurts my feelings anymore.

 

BMW has been great .. but, being a 17 year old German car .. it does have it's occasional drawbacks.

In the span of 3 weeks, the front passenger side window regulator went out and fuel pump took a shit 43 miles from home

First time on a tow truck .. AAA Gold membership paying for itself.



30 minute repair and the car was back up and running. Can't argue that!

Few others I've snapped:





I don't have much plans other than upkeep .. I'm on the hunt for a set of wheels / new-ish tires and possibly some cheap suspension.

There's a part out car in LA that I plan on going through this weekend ... going to grab a hood / bumper for the $150 range.

I love how cheap parts are

 

with all the stay at home stuff, you got plenty of time to put a B58 and a ZF8 in that thing...

The previous Gen's handling and feel + the current Gen's acceleration

 

There really is something special with the E46 chassis ...

If this thing ever took a shit, I would happily get a higher mileage ZHP 330CI ....

 

The only thing better than that E46 is one with three pedals.

I've genuinely thought about getting another one, loved mine that much...except for all the times it needed work...which was a lot.

 

The moment you realize it's a shit box and to not make it perfect .. makes owning old German cars so much more enjoyable

I would love a beat E36 M3 ... I would do such bad things to that car.

 

At this point it wouldn't be a big deal because it wouldn't be my only car.