Bozeman, Montana ZHP

[Rustler]

Hello all, I purchased my ZHP last fall, and I've been meaning to post here since!

First, the specs: 2004 sedan, 6mt, Imola Red, black leather, black cube trim, sunroof, winter package.

Mods: I'm planning to keep this in the "OEM plus" style. I bought the car in bone stock form and drove it that way for a few months before deciding what, if anything to do. I've added: a 27mm sway from ECS (and replaced the endlinks with Mahle HD); a GruppeM intake; and black kidney grills. It came with PS4s which I swapped out for Michelin Pilot Alpin 4s for the winter. I've now got to decide whether to put the summers back 135s (in which case I'll probably get a second set of 135s so I can swap seasonally myself at home and save the rims from potential damage during tire swap) OR get Apex ARC-8 in a staggered fitment. Arc 8 are half the cost of new OEM 135s and weigh much less in 17 inch size, but man do I think BMW just nailed the look of the 135, and it's kind of the calling card of the ZHP. I'm hesitant to move away from the 135 but two sets of the same wheels is intensely boring.

My thoughts on ZHP ownership: When I was in high school my mom bought a bog standard E46 328i automatic, and it was awesome, and I credit that car for setting off a lot of my car enthusiasm today. I last drove it in probably 2006 and I've owned many, many cars myself since but always wanted to have another long term go in an E46. When this one was delivered and I drove it for the first time I thought, "uh oh, maybe you shouldn't drive your heroes (again)." It felt a bit too slow, a bit too wallowy, and a bit too quite compared to the cars I'd been driving. But looking back after a few months and a few carefully chosen mods, I couldn't be happier. In reality it has plenty of power for public roads, the engine sounds amazing (it really needed an louder intake), and with the beefier sway that slight wallow on turn in is gone and I'm really appreciating how nice it is to have a little body roll in corners.

After 6 months of ownership I am loving this car, drive it every chance I get, and all my memories about this platform maybe being the most balanced enthusiast daily driver ever are totally redeemed.

Some pics:

[Galapolis]

Rare to see snow pics like that, thanks for sharing. I hope to see more snow pics like that in the future!

For wheels, the E46 came with so many different wheels. I'm sure you can find something OEM you will like. The 18" Style 32s for example are pretty light. Style 152s are currently on sale if you fancy some BMW Individual catalogue items.

[Rustler]

I really like the Style 32s. They remind me of the OZ Superturismo LMs I had on a former Ford Fiesta ST. Does BMW have the best OE wheels to choose from of any brand? I think maybe.

These cars do great in the snow. I have pickup truck for when it gets bad, but on hardpacked roads the E46 is a dream. Of course, we don't have salt on the roads around here so I'm much less hesitant to drive a near 20 year old car around in the winter.

[fredo]

Welcome, sir. And congrats. Your ZHP looks really sharp. How many miles on the clock?

IMO, style 119 is a good choice. I just checked the price, they sell for $116 each.

http://www.zhpmafia.com/forums/showt...792#post614792

[SunDevil_M3]

Looks awesome man! I myself have an Imola 6 speed I recently picked up and have been looking at sway bars to reduce some of the roll in turns. Coming from M3's, that was not really a thing as all my cars were track setup and coming into this thing felt like swinging a boat around a turn. I have a set of OEM wheels sitting in my backyard as I am sitting on Apex Arc 8's and have thought about raising the car back up and putting stock wheels on just to keep that OEM look! I am far from that now slammed on bronze apex wheels!

Good luck and enjoy the car man! It's a car you can get in and go anywhere and not feel bad about putting miles! I feel bad not tacking miles on it lol!

[///Mark_D]

Nice spec ZHP, and cool to see it in the snow!

[Rustler]

Re: sway bar, I was surprised how much just replacing the front OE bar with a 27mm unit did for the both the feel on turn in and overall cornering balance. Really nice upgrade that was in keeping with the factory feel of the car. This replaced a FK8 Civic Type R, and true to modern car tuning that thing cornered like a piece of paper, but you pay for that on the road in comfort and sometimes control when the road is bumpy. The lean and compliance of the stock suspension on the E46 takes some getting used to, but once I recalibrated, I realize that it's probably a better balanced setup for regular road use overall. That said, an FK8 Type R is one amazing machine. But there are too many good cars out there to hang onto one that ugly, for keeps anyway.

[Rustler]

Welcome, sir. And congrats. Your ZHP looks really sharp. How many miles on the clock?

IMO, style 119 is a good choice. I just checked the price, they sell for $116 each.

http://www.zhpmafia.com/forums/showt...792#post614792

Those 119s would make a great winter wheel. ~35k on the odo.

[BADCLOWN]

amazing pictures. its not montana, but i got the chance to visit utah for the first time last summer/fall. it was unreal, can only imagine montana is the same.



congrats on the purchase and cheers to the future enjoyment of your ZHP. it looks amazingly clean.