E46 touring — from daily beater to clean weekend cruiser
My E46 325i Touring transformation. This car was my daily driver for 3 years in its rough state before I decided to restore it properly.
BEFORE:
- Faded Titansilber paint with clear coat peeling on hood and roof
- Rust bubbles on rear arches (typical E46 problem)
- Sagging headliner
- Cracked dashboard
- Worn suspension with clunking noises
- Foggy headlights
- 245,000 km
AFTER:
- Paint correction and full respray of hood, roof, and rear arches
- Rust repair with proper rust treatment and new metal
- New headliner in black Alcantara
- Dashboard replaced with a clean used unit
- Meyle HD front control arms, new rear trailing arm bushings
- Bilstein B4 dampers all around
- Headlight restoration and clear coat
- M Sport bumpers front and rear
- 17-inch Style 68 wheels (OEM M Sport)
- Full detail with ceramic coating
Total cost: about 3500 EUR over 2 years. The E46 Touring is one of the best looking wagons BMW ever made and they are still affordable. Get one before prices go up — clean examples are already getting harder to find.
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