The wagon_ e46 touring m/t

[1badg35]

Definitely going to start off this thread by saying this is definitely not a true "build" in the sense of the word.. Its just the daily hauler with some light modification and fab work to make it drive better and look a bit more proper for hauling car parts, prototypes, tools, wheels, and people around. sometimes all of the above.


a little back story. The v8 s4 was sold back in september of '12. yeah 1.5 years ago



It was fun, but for the mileage i was putting on it (while getting 10-11mpg) and the fact that a straight piped 4.2 was not at all practical for driving around quietly without grabbing attention from all including the cops, it lost its purpose. I also needed a lot more room to haul the parts back and forth, so it had to go. Car was sold in about two weeks time.

Now, typically being a complete nut when it comes to cars, one would think that I already had a new car lined up and ready to go. Quite the opposite.. In fact, I had not even decided on what car to get. I wound up making offers on e46 m3s, a few e90 335is, a random e92 335i coupe, even more random 964 c2, and then I got serious..

decided the hunt needed to be logical, and needed to be a german wagon, namely bmw. Basically narrowed me down to e91 6 speed or e46 5-6 speed wagons in my mind.

fast forward 11 months, and a lot of frustration looking at cars that were not what they were advertised to be, and I finally found one that suited all of the needs.

CT car, 65yo male driver (its only owner) daily, awd, all the options, no accidents or issues other than a key mark on the driver side rear quarter, a small dent on the passenger front fender, and rock chips from driving... and all service records at bmw from the beginning... done. found on a thursday at 7pm, up at 6am with walt and some cash on friday morning, driving back with it at 9am that morning.


pictures from this fall apparently didnt happen. So a more current few days after 12" of snow picture to suffice




its a 2002.5 325xi touring facelift model, manual trans, black on dove. Not my color combo of choice at all, but a solid car that has almost all of the qualifications that I needed in the dd.

more to come...

[1badg35]

fast forward another six or so months of daily driving, and not a single modification to the car yet other than maintenance, o2 sensors, replacement 5000k hids for the headlights, shot the front grills matte black.. and here we are..

things that have come up so far:

blew both rear shocks on the way back home from a road trip, front driver strut about two weeks ago, and broke the shifter bushing a few weeks back on a very cold morning.


This is where we are at today_


In order to keep the car a reliable dd that doesnt grab too much unneeded attention, the modifications on the agenda are:

wheels (likely a few sets as people know of my addictions)
meaty tires
suspension
short shifter/new bushings
possible light tinting on the windows
removing the trim around the windows to change over to matte black
new clutch/flywheel in spring

oversized snow tires for the 17" wheels that came with the car... its either that or the wheels and tires are going up on CL. I cant stand them

that is about it..


pictures to come shortly as some things on that list have already started happening

[1badg35]

not much of an update but nonetheless



and time for a semi custom creation (we got bored at the shop and got to some machining and welding)




and I am putting the 1 piece square set of AC schnitzers up for sale. Figure its not logical to have two sets of wheels and tires for this car, so they are going up shortly

oh and decided this car needs to be tinted. driving around with expensive car parts inside the car is not logical when people can see in. I had two people ask me about a set of wheels i had in the back for the 5 minutes i was in the gas station... needless to say, that cant happen

[kittenpuncher]

cant wait to see more progress.

[1badg35]

Thanks. Once the snow clears, itll progress a slight bit faster

have I said how much I cant stand black cars... Might actually have to do something about that this spring. and I tried to fool myself into thinking It would end at wheels and a drop haha

[Nuts]

Congrats bud! i wish i didn't have to sell my wagon last year. Fantastic daily!! Cant wait for you to upload some updated pictures....

[kittenpuncher]

Thanks. Once the snow clears, itll progress a slight bit faster

have I said how much I cant stand black cars... Might actually have to do something about that this spring. and I tried to fool myself into thinking It would end at wheels and a drop haha

Wheels and a drop hahah ..... never enough.

[terolla]

gonna follow this one

[Tino21]

seeing the amount of gorgeous set you built...this wagon will be cray

subd

[Chasen88]

^+1

[1badg35]

thanks. It is a daily, and hauls a lot of stuff around.. so its not going to be anything too crazy like the other cars. Thats what the fairlady is for and the p car im looking for..

i do have a meaty set of these waiting for whichever wheels i end up going with on the car.

[P78]

knowing you, i'm following this

[1badg35]

unsure of what to do in this situation, but I have the limited time opportunity to swap entire interiors for a black leather set off another touring.... this would be huge other than the fact that it is 10deg outside, and it will literally take at least two full days swapping out all of the parts.. not sure i want to handle that much time pulling apart two interiors in the freezing cold.

the major upside is that I can do what i originally wanted to do with the interior. e46 m3 front seats in a special color leather, and piano black trim to get rid of the hideous wood thats in there.

Remember, it is a touring, and we are talking entire interiors, so it is at least a few hundred pieces. the interiors are huge in these things

[Tino21]

Id go for what you originally wanted to do, your gonna enjoy it alot more down the line.

[1badg35]

yeah I decided I am going to swap the interior possibly next week if i decide to take the roadtrip to do so. all depends on the temps mostly. 20" of snow and cold here means it isnt happening this weekend

trying to work out all of the color combinations for this car without having a single thing settled upon is impossible to do..

the wheels are part way through finishing, and ready for my decisions and im torn between brushed on brushed with matte clear powder or translucent dark brown (gloss) over the whole wheel..

do i leave the wheels brushed with matte clear powder... or do what the original plan has always been and powder them to be a slightly darker version of this





whatever i end up deciding, the rest of the details will work off of this decision.