E46 Clubsport: Loss of coolant... split radiator!

The Clubsport is starting to become a bit 'whatever next' lately. Amidst the other post new year jobs I forgot to mention the coolant expansion-tank that sits next to the radiator had swelled and split down one side, so a new one was duly fitted.

Last week the sudden loss of coolant returned, with the puddle in the same place under the radiator, but no visible sign of a leak. Nath assumed it to be the radiator-cap, so we pressure tested it in work and it's fine. Then we pressurised the rest of the cooling system and this is what we found - the radiator has burst along the top. A new radiator is going straight in, but the fact remains that something is still pressurising the cooling system and needs to get sorted.

E46 Clubsport: Quick rev and exhaust burble...

Quick rev of the CS as we stave off real work by fiddling with Beemers. It finally has that proper vanos whoosh and exhaust note, though there is still a bit of a misfire / bogging down under acceleration and no fault codes are coming up on Autocom GDP, but DIS will find something and I will post the results. Shame, as this is delaying that front bumper splitter...

E46 Clubsport: Nathan's split rubber + other issues.

More big spending as the Clubsport gets back on the road with a new MOT, starting with 4 new Maxxis tyres for the refurbed split-rims. It's been running a bit rough, but as he started it for the first time in a month it ran a bit worse and began producing a lot of white / blue smoke from the exhaust. Fearing the head-gasket he started dismantling and found it was just one of the profile-gaskets in the rocker-cover [16 in the bottom diagram] was split and hadn't seated in the head properly the last time it was replaced and was allowing oil to spill down into the chamber and was causing the smoke. This, he assures us, is a common problem in 6-cylinder BMW petrols and had nothing to do with any 'engine-weld' products he may have also added. Never the less, with a new rubber-gasket the smoke has ceased. During the job he found the rubber intake hose was also split in two places, clearly contributing to the lack of smooth acceleration suffered since he got it, so he treated the 330 to a new one of these as well.

The MOT threw up borderline high emissions, which was waved, and both front lower ball-joints were knackered. These are usually replaced as a whole control-arm, so that's what was done and finally the Clubsport is back on the road, looking and sounding as it should with better pull and a really raspy vanos exhaust note. Next up comes replacing the lower bumper splitter sorely missing from the front end.

E46 Clubsport: Nay's new wing! Paint, polishing... fail.

It's good to get the purple 330ci Clubsport on the pages of BeemerLab and a bit of bodywork, no less. The driver's side wing was a bit bubbly when he got the car and has worsened somewhat over winter - front wings are the classic rusting spot on E36 / E46 after all and no matter how well you patch it up, it always comes back before long, so Nathan went the whole hog and bought a new patterned wing for just under £100. Despite offers to have it sprayed professionally for next to nothing, he opted to do the work himself with a rattle can of Holt's Colour-Match, mixed at Halfords.

He started with U-Pol Hi-build filler primer to deal with imperfections in the etch-primer, moved on to a single can of Holt's 'BMW 576 Velvet Blue Metallic' and finished off with 2.5 cans of Halford's own clear-lacquer. A spray guy at work gave us a tip - apply the first coat of lacquer and wait a couple of minutes for it to go tacky but not start to dry, then apply a good thick second coat. This enables you to get a proper coat on that can then be layered on without causing crazing in the base lacquer. Nay tried this out and, after 4 more coats, some flatting back with 1800 Wet/Dry and a bit of machine-polishing, the finish is glass-like and the colour-depth superb. What a shame that, after a week spent carefully spraying one wing, the colour-match is terrible. I guess this is a lesson not to have complex paint codes mixed up at Halfords. A local painting firm is on the case, watch this space...

Only 330 M Clubsport models were built in the original three colours. Only about 40 were made in Velvet Blue. This is one of the 40 and it has seen better days.