[ethanjoon]

I hope this thread is still active! I just picked up my Arktis Metallic 330i. It's a 6-speed with the ACS3 kit all around. 123k miles without a single scratch So far it seems like a solid car, but I'm still pretty worried about maintenance down the line I simply got a pretty great deal that I just couldn't pass on. Anyways, here are some pictures; enjoy! Just FYI, I hope to be removing the the tail light tints in hopes of redding out upper white portion. I'm even playing around with the idea of tinting the entire bottom portion black, and the entire upper portion red; sort of like a reverse blacklines idea. Anyways, please let me know what you guys think of the car.

[Diego06330i]

Originally Posted by BestUsername

I hope this thread is still active! I just picked up my Arktis Metallic 330i. It's a 6-speed with the ACS3 kit all around. 123k miles without a single scratch So far it seems like a solid car, but I'm still pretty worried about maintenance down the line I simply got a pretty great deal that I just couldn't pass on. Anyways, here are some pictures; enjoy! Just FYI, I hope to be removing the the tail light tints in hopes of redding out upper white portion. I'm even playing around with the idea of tinting the entire bottom portion black, and the entire upper portion red; sort of like a reverse blacklines idea. Anyways, please let me know what you guys think of the car.

Sick car dude!
How good of a deal did you get it for?

[Bmr3sn]

Nice car best

[Judge Dredd]

For those of you that ALWAYS drive with the A/C on, try turning it off for once and put it in sport mode. In Arizona it gets hot but it's a night and day difference. For some reason the A/C really robs this car of power and it's very noticeable.

[NoRedLight]

Originally Posted by Judge Dredd

For those of you that ALWAYS drive with the A/C on, try turning it off for once and put it in sport mode. In Arizona it gets hot but it's a night and day difference. For some reason the A/C really robs this car of power and it's very noticeable.

That is true, however, I understood when you deploy the gas fully, the AC is temporarily disengaged to obtain maximum engine power. This is only briefly during hard acceleration. I've thought I noticed this, however, never have read this in an actual specification.

[NoRedLight]

Well, here is my sedan. I purchased used in 2007 with 22k km (15k miles) on it from the dealer. It had all the options I was looking for in a BMW, and while I was originally considering a 335i, I test drove this and decided that was it!

What I love; the handling, the power - and particularly how you can actually use near 100% of the power regularly in daily driving - very satisfying; the seats; the efficiency.

A few other things that are not well discussed from what I've seen on this thread;
There are features of this car folks likely do not know about or appreciate. The brakes ABS for instance, if I recall when I purchased it, hits at 25x per second, whereas many other manufacturers, it hits at a rate of 10-15x/s.
In strong cross winds, if you have the active steering option, the car will adjust your steering angle up to 2 degrees to counteract.
When your rain sensor wipers are on, or on intermittent, then the brakes will regularly 'clear' the water off the pads while you are driving by moving them closely (without applying them). This keeps the brakes 'ready' in case you apply them, while avoiding loss of traction due to a layer of water first needing to burn off before maximum effectiveness.
The car also comes with Electronic Brake Force Distribution which I presume everyone is aware of. The Hill Decent control I found very handy.

These are some 'features' I've always found neat, aside from the amazing fuel efficiency for the power you get. What do you find unique or interesting?
I would have loved to do some more body kits mods, however, I'm likely parting with this in 2015 to make room for a bigger vehicle. I'm saddened, and am celebrating my time with this post.

Reliability wise it has been good. My car (Nov 2005 Manufacture Date) did have a faulty headlight that I replaced at 82k km (out of warranty). Aside from that, have replaced the water pump (known to last 160k km), spark plugs, clutch (both I did ahead of necessity), engine gaskets [at 205k km; they are steel on the 330i, and rubber on all others so with our car the most expensive maintenance item I believe], and brake pads at 120k km. The rotors are original. Overall, very happy with the cost to maintain.

Keep the pictures coming! I love to see what everyone has done; many unique, clean and desirable combinations.

Here are my pictures, and the details of my car (sorry for the PDF; I don't have time to downsize all pictures to jpg required max size);

OEM Installed Options;
Active Steering
HEA Specifications
Premium Package
Universal Garage Door Opener
Auto Dimming Mirror
Lumbar Support
Compass Mirror
Logic 7 Hi-Fi Sound System
Interior Upgrade
Sport Package
Sports Suspension
3 Spoke Leather Sport Steering
18" 7-Spoke Alloy Wheels -Styl
Sport Seats
High speed maximum

My Mods:
Black-out Front Grill
M-Sport Shifter
At 160k, installed Dinan Exhaust** and Cold air intake. At 180k installed Dinan Stage 1 Suspension* (Eibach Coilover springs and Koni Strut).

[NoRedLight]

Originally Posted by tigermack

I love this look. Nice job.

[NoRedLight]

Originally Posted by Fletch

If the 2006 330i is special then my 330xi with AWD may be even more so. Some will take exception with my choice of AWD but here in the greater Boston area almost everyone with a BMW has AWD; I think there are some compromises in handling during aggressive driving with the X version, but I will gladly trade off some high speed handling capability for the ability to keep the thing on the road in the winter (its not the snow we get in New England as much as the constantly changing conditions of snow, sleet, ice, more freezing rain, then more snow...)

I opted for an automatic which will also get some comments out there, but given our traffic (another reality of life in Boston) it was a good trade-off. I also think Sport Mode and Shiftronic help to ease the pain a bit.

Car has been very reliable, drives great in all kinds of conditions, with about 65k miles on it. My only beef, widely written about on this forum by almost everyone, has been with the run-flat tires and the car's ability to dent, crack, and ruin rims. I have been through 3 sets of tires, counting the ones that came on it, and dented rims twice. I finally got rid of the RFTs and the BMW wheels and put on 4 new, non-RFT Continental Conti Contacts and 4 new Beyern mesh (Silver) wheels. The car feels much better over potholes, the Beyern wheels look great, and the cost was < 50% of dealer estimate.

Would like to hear everyone else's experience with their 330i or 330xi out there. Can I now think of this car as a collector's item?

Fletch

2006 330 xi
Beyern wheels, Continental Conti non-RFTs
Monaco Blue, tan upholstery, Premium package
No other mods

Completely agree. I'm actually, and sadly, trading in my car for an AWD Auto given I share it now with my wife (no standard in her life). If I had chosen an Auto 330xi (and the auto is amazing in this car, it was the first I test drove I loved), then I would likely have it until 200k miles (330k km) + .

[tigermack]

Originally Posted by NoRedLight

I love this look. Nice job.

Thanks!

[bena1701]

Hi all,

After a long time searching for the perfect car I finally found it; 2006 330XI 6MT in blue w/ sport package, NO i-drive, and a grey interior. The car I bought has ~80K and is in mint shape.

The car came with Michelin PSS (non RFT) on it. Any real benefit to switching to RFTs in terms of vehicle dynamics? I am not worried about getting a flat. I am thinking of adding Michelin A/S 3 tires to the car when the current tires wear out. I have a winter set for when theres snow on the ground but I hate having to deal with sloppy winter tires in late October/ mid November just because the pavement is too cold for summer tires. I have found the A/S 3 tires to actually be better than many summer tires, plus far superior tread-wear. Does anyone have any experience with these tires on this car?

I am so far loving the car! It drives beautifully and I am amazed at how neutral the car is for an AWD vehicle. (I know I probably could have gotten by with RWD and good snows, but given that I am a die-hard skier here in the northeast and will drive through a blizzard to be the first one on the slope, I thought AWD would be best...) The sound the engine makes when you wind it out is simply amazing. As for now, here are some pictures and sorry for the lengthy post. I look forward to being part of community!

[NoRedLight]

Originally Posted by bena1701

Hi all,

After a long time searching for the perfect car I finally found it; 2006 330XI 6MT in blue w/ sport package, NO i-drive, and a grey interior. This is my first BMW. My previous cars were an 01 Audi allroad, which I had for 4 years (despite the maintenance nightmare and less than great driving dynamics of the car, I still loved it when I sold it at 160K), an 06 A4 3.2 6MT (meh, not very exciting), and a '14 Golf TDI 6MT which was great, but too slow. Finally I had a '10 A4 Avant 2.0T.

I have been searching for this particular car with this color combo for a long time. I like the extra power of the 330 over the 328s I have driven, and I think it sounds a little nicer and love the rareness of the car. I also hate cars which have i-drive or audi MMI, or whatever. I like a simple radio and hate the look of lousy small screens stuck into my dashboard for nav or other unnecessary information. I find all the manufacturer nav/ multimedia systems to be slow, distracting and infuriating. The logic 7 system is fantastic; I like that it has bluetooth and an AUX port and nothing else.

The car I bought has ~80K and is in mint shape. I do not believe the electric water pump has been replaced though. Should I worry about proactively replacing it or hope for the best? Having owned VAG products, I am well prepared for potential maintenance issues. Is there anything else I should worry about or proactively attend to?

The car came with Michelin PSS (non RFT) on it. Any real benefit to switching to RFTs in terms of vehicle dynamics? I am not worried about getting a flat. I am thinking of adding Michelin A/S 3 tires to the car when the current tires wear out. I have a winter set for when theres snow on the ground but I hate having to deal with sloppy winter tires in late October/ mid November just because the pavement is too cold for summer tires. I have found the A/S 3 tires to actually be better than many summer tires, plus far superior tread-wear. Does anyone have any experience with these tires on this car?

I am so far loving the car! It drives beautifully and I am amazed at how neutral the car is for an AWD vehicle. (I know I probably could have gotten by with RWD and good snows, but given that I am a die-hard skier here in the northeast and will drive through a blizzard to be the first one on the slope, I thought AWD would be best...) The sound the engine makes when you wind it out is simply amazing. I have been jealous of that sound ever since I fell in love with my boss's E46 M3 several years ago. As for now, here are some pictures and sorry for the lengthy post. I look forward to being part of community!

Great choice! I too dislike ANY Nav or protrudin screen, and unfortunately it seems all german manufacturers are heading this way. Audi in the new TT, and Porsche being the exception.

Re water pump; when it fails your car will go into 'limp' mode, and potentially first alert you of high engine temperature. No need to replace in advance, simply make sure you slow your car down / keep low RPM / pull over when the yellow engine warning light goes on. If its red turn the car off and have it towed. The ECU is programmed to avoid engine failure if you keep driving (hence limp mode preventing medium to full power). The only risk is you can overheat to necessitate replacement of the oxygen sensor, but again, don't worry about it.

Change the oil if you wish; as well as the power steering fluid to ensure longer life of the hydraulic system; and other fluids to be very 'diligent'. Not much else is necessary until the car tells you to.

Great wheels!

Here is my interior when I picked it up (premod);

[bena1701]

Thanks for the tips man. I guess I'll just hope the best with the water pump. I've only gotten stranded in a car one, and it wasn't even in my allroad. So if I never got stuck in that, I feel much better in this lol. Nice interior. Is that brushed aluminum? Looks really sharp.

[MGT81]

Originally Posted by bena1701

Hi all,

After a long time searching for the perfect car I finally found it; 2006 330XI 6MT in blue w/ sport package, NO i-drive, and a grey interior. This is my first BMW. My previous cars were an 01 Audi allroad, which I had for 4 years (despite the maintenance nightmare and less than great driving dynamics of the car, I still loved it when I sold it at 160K), an 06 A4 3.2 6MT (meh, not very exciting), and a '14 Golf TDI 6MT which was great, but too slow. Finally I had a '10 A4 Avant 2.0T.

I have been searching for this particular car with this color combo for a long time. I like the extra power of the 330 over the 328s I have driven, and I think it sounds a little nicer and love the rareness of the car. I also hate cars which have i-drive or audi MMI, or whatever. I like a simple radio and hate the look of lousy small screens stuck into my dashboard for nav or other unnecessary information. I find all the manufacturer nav/ multimedia systems to be slow, distracting and infuriating. The logic 7 system is fantastic; I like that it has bluetooth and an AUX port and nothing else.

The car I bought has ~80K and is in mint shape. I do not believe the electric water pump has been replaced though. Should I worry about proactively replacing it or hope for the best? Having owned VAG products, I am well prepared for potential maintenance issues. Is there anything else I should worry about or proactively attend to?

The car came with Michelin PSS (non RFT) on it. Any real benefit to switching to RFTs in terms of vehicle dynamics? I am not worried about getting a flat. I am thinking of adding Michelin A/S 3 tires to the car when the current tires wear out. I have a winter set for when theres snow on the ground but I hate having to deal with sloppy winter tires in late October/ mid November just because the pavement is too cold for summer tires. I have found the A/S 3 tires to actually be better than many summer tires, plus far superior tread-wear. Does anyone have any experience with these tires on this car?

I am so far loving the car! It drives beautifully and I am amazed at how neutral the car is for an AWD vehicle. (I know I probably could have gotten by with RWD and good snows, but given that I am a die-hard skier here in the northeast and will drive through a blizzard to be the first one on the slope, I thought AWD would be best...) The sound the engine makes when you wind it out is simply amazing. I have been jealous of that sound ever since I fell in love with my boss's E46 M3 several years ago. As for now, here are some pictures and sorry for the lengthy post. I look forward to being part of community!

Nice. I have a 335xi but I really like the 330 as well. That's pretty much how my car is spec's out too. Few options, no idrive, sport package, etc. Plus it seems like there's very few of us with both the xDrive and a manual/sport package

[NoRedLight]

Originally Posted by bena1701

Thanks for the tips man. I guess I'll just hope the best with the water pump. I've only gotten stranded in a car one, and it wasn't even in my allroad. So if I never got stuck in that, I feel much better in this lol. Nice interior. Is that brushed aluminum? Looks really sharp.

Yes, brushed aluminum. The dealer can part carbon fibre or aluminum if you want a change eventually.

Awd, std, sport pack is rare so keep it forever ... They are tough to come by!

[seatosky]

To bena1701, I have the Michelin A/S 3 on my 330i and they have been great. I live in Vancouver where it gets pretty wet during winter but I had them for my track day at the Ridge and instructor commented that "they really stick", that was in hot sunny conditions.

[mbanks21]

Here's some recent pics of my 330i. LCI front conversion and shadowline trim are in the works next:

[mikesl40]

Just picked up my first BMW over Labor Day. The ride and handling are great, I love this thing.

I'm in the process of selling my Toyota Camry. It's out on the main drag with a For Sale sign in the window and driving it around every other day to turn the tires makes me love the 330 even more. Steering and braking are from completely different worlds.

2006 330i Sport Package, MT
Alpine White
Black Interior w/ Wood Trim
Hankook summer tires

147,000 miles

Repair history:
-New shocks/struts at ~100k mls
-WP/Tstat replaced at ~120k mls
-Routine maintenance at local Indy

Thanks to this site I have (really, thank you guys.):
-Simple Green'd engine and oiled black plastic
-Replaced tail light in trunk
-New cabin air filter
-Oil/filter change 0w40 M1 (to be completed this weekend)
-Engine air filter change (to be completed this weekend)
-Bought oil filter housing gasket and BMW coolant (just in case)

Cosmetic Damage (ANY TIPS???)
-UV damage to headlights and fog lights, detailer improved these
-Oxidized aluminum trim around doors
-Curb scuffs on front bumper sides near wheels
-Chips and large scuff on rear bumper
-Dented trunk by license plate

After reading this site, I'm thinking about the LED Angel Eyes, blacking out the chrome on the grill, vinyl the door trim, 30% tints, and getting a new rear bumper.

Parked. Yellow Porsche Boxter (not mine) peaking in.

[BMRSEB]

Originally Posted by Arktis_Conviction

I hope this thread is still active! I just picked up my Arktis Metallic 330i. It's a 6-speed with the ACS3 kit all around. 123k miles without a single scratch So far it seems like a solid car, but I'm still pretty worried about maintenance down the line I simply got a pretty great deal that I just couldn't pass on. Anyways, here are some pictures; enjoy! Just FYI, I hope to be removing the the tail light tints in hopes of redding out upper white portion. I'm even playing around with the idea of tinting the entire bottom portion black, and the entire upper portion red; sort of like a reverse blacklines idea. Anyways, please let me know what you guys think of the car.

Did you get that car in Atlanta, looks very familiar to a car I was going to see but was an auto?

[PascalsWager]

Originally Posted by tigermack

Thanks!

Absolutely agree on your ride, tiger. I own the same car but in mostly stock form.

Is that an aftermarket rear bumper, or did you just paint the 'grin' area in black? Either way - nice touch, esp. with the BBS center caps and tint.

Makes me want to spring for the M3 rep bumper and CF lip! If I didnt love the look of the 162's so much I'd jump on some BBS rims too. So classy.

-PW

[ethanjoon]

Originally Posted by BMRSEB

Did you get that car in Atlanta, looks very familiar to a car I was going to see but was an auto?

Nope, this car has been registered in New Jersey

[Pyrat 2]

Originally Posted by mikesl40

...
Cosmetic Damage (ANY TIPS???)
-UV damage to headlights and fog lights, detailer improved these
-Oxidized aluminum trim around doors
-Curb scuffs on front bumper sides near wheels
-Chips and large scuff on rear bumper
-Dented trunk by license plate

UV damaged headlights. Sounds like this is already taken care of. If you seal them that will help slow down recurrence of the oxidization. Jetseal 109 helps.

Oxidized trim. I have had the same on my car. A simple buffing and sealing has taken care of them.

Buff the scuffs as much as possible. Also the colorized waxes work ok but not great. You can also use touchup paint and buff smooth.

Dent on the trunk. Try a painless dent removal shop. IF they can do it it shouldn't cost more than a couple hundred.

[ethanjoon]

Originally Posted by Bmr3sn

Nice car best

Thank you very much