The car came from England over to Ireland in early February 2026, the car had a valid MOT so it could legally be driven over. Below is the car as it came from England. The car was originally an automatic but was converted to manual.
- 2003 E46 330i, 4 door saloon
- Interior mostly stripped, with only essentials left
- Welded 4.1 ratio diff
- “Performance” remap with raised limiter
- Rear fully polybushed
- Catless headers
- 4 like new tyres
Issues that needed sorted
With the car back home there were a few issues that needed sorted.
The clock spring was broken, so there was no horn.
The rear diff polybush was starting to melt.
The gearbox light was on on the dash, the car wasn’t coded to manual.
There was no clutch switch installed during the conversion.
There was no reverse light switch installed during the conversion.
The oil level sensor needed replaced.
I started with the light on the dash, the least important issue. I bought an INPA cable and installed BMW Standard tools on my laptop. I removed the option code for an automatic gearbox from the car. Light gone. Another quirk of the auto conversion was a button on the dash to fool the EWS module into letting the car start since it still thought it was an auto. With the option coded out the button was longer necessary. One less step in starting the car.
Next I ordered and installed a clutch switch, it was necessary since the car has electronic throttle and has driver’s wish, (the throttle doesn’t drop when you take your foot off) the throttle would hang for a second when clutching directly off throttle, it could raise a bit even. This was eating the clutch (more on this later). The install was very simple, installed the switch on the throttle, wired it to earth and the ECU. I just cut one of the pinned wires going to the gearbox ECU and stuffed it into the DME pin for the clutch switch. Mine is the old style switches with one top one bottom, only the top one is necessary.
The poly bush, very important to get this sorted. Don’t want to wear out the already whiney 4.1 diff. Got the car on a Sunday, noticed bush was melting on the Friday, got a bush locally sourced and installed on the Saturday. All done without removing the exhaust and subframe. Just lowered the subframe a bit, pulled off the rear cover, installed the bush and put it all back together.
Clock spring, I wanted the horn and more important steering wheel music controls to work. It’s an easy enough job, removed the airbag, pull the wheel out removed old install new and put it back together. The steering wheel is keyed so you can’t put it on wrong. Just like that, horn, music controls and cruise control are all back.
The reverse light switch and oil lever sensor still need to be installed.
I also gave the car a proper service, I replaced the oil filter with a K&N performance filter, whatever that is. I replaced the oil with Shell’s best. I replaced the spark plugs with OEM plugs. I replaced the valve cover gasket.
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