[mscott842]

Doing a suspension refresh on 20th anniversary of E46 HP I bought new from Glendale dealership in 2004. 86K miles. Trying to keep it stock. Doing Sachs front struts with Z4M front strut bushings.

[IcewaterPete]

Looks to be in amazing condition! How bad do the original bushings look?

[Chihuahua]

Best all-around 3-series ever built IMO, nice car. Good luck with your project.

[sspade]

Sweet ride! Awesome to see one that truly found a lifelong companion from the getgo.

When you say "front strut bushings" are you referring to the mount itself or the bumpstop? Perhaps something different altogether... forgive my ignorance, have not owned an E46 yet.

Share more pics

[John in VA]

Front Control Arm Bushing (FCAB), BMW - E85/E86 Z4M - goes in the "lollipop" to supposedly improve some handling due to the offset. It moves the front wheel in the wheel well (can't remember if forward or backward) that looks weird, to me.

The top strut mount can also be upgraded with a later E90 or Z4 mount (along with reinforcement plates) that drops the car ~10 mm in front.



Here's mine - 2006 ZHP coupe with 60k miles:

[M4_ZMT]

So beautiful! Enjoy in good health. If you ever see a 2001 Steel Grey 325i sedan rolling on Style 68's, give me a high beam flash! In Glendale pretty regularly. Not trying to thread jack a ZHP party, but these E46's are truly lifelong companions as someone else said, in any form. Clean ones are harder and harder to come by as the years go on. The facelift coupes are one of my favorite BMW designs point blank.

[slilley]

I loved my '04 ZHP! Purchased new in late 2003. It covered over 104K miles before I sold it to a fellow BMWCCA enthusiast - at that point, it was nickel-and-diming me to death!

[celsdogg]

The ZHP is such a special Bimmer. There aren't a lot of other regular production run cars that had the amount of "special" parts that it had.

Recently, a ZHP showed up in a local junkyard. I wanted to take off work and head over and pillage it but I had recently hurt my back lifting and wasn't in any condition for physical activity.

I kept whining to my wife about how I wanted to pull the Style 135's, alcantara seats, steering wheel, and shift knob, the cubed aluminum trim, the instrument cluster, front and rear bumper covers, tail lights, door cards, cams, differential. . .

I finally made it over to the junkyard this past weekend and I couldn't find the car. Turns out my son and I had passed it several times. I have never seen a car so cleanly stripped. It was almost unrecognizable at a glance. I guess someone local had the same idea as me.

Oh, congrats to everyone in the thread with their ZHP's!

[dizz81]

Man brings back memories of my old 330ZHP I had. I loved that car so much.

[marcopolo650]

04 E46 330CI ZHP 6MT

[marcopolo650]

Timeless machine!

[KevinC]

I had one for 5 years. For part of that time, I also had a pristine E39 M5. As much as I liked that car, I never fully warmed to it - just too big and heavy for me, and the recirculating ball steering really sucked in comparison with the sublime r&p setup in the E46. I found myself continually reaching for the ZHP keys, to the point that I bailed on the E39 after 1 year.

[marcopolo650]

Originally Posted by KevinC

I had one for 5 years. For part of that time, I also had a pristine E39 M5. As much as I liked that car, I never fully warmed to it - just too big and heavy for me, and the recirculating ball steering really sucked in comparison with the sublime r&p setup in the E46. I found myself continually reaching for the ZHP keys, to the point that I bailed on the E39 after 1 year.

The ZHP is an overall a driver’s car. It is well put together. I never owned and M5 but I have a hand full of other bimmers including an E82 135is 6MT and believe me when I say, I get an overall better driving experience than my 1er.

[tcphoto]

The ZHP is a special car, I nearly bought an '05 Coupe after buying my first BMW. The longer I owned my car the more I tried to mod it to look like one. This is my old convertible about a year before selling it.

[marcopolo650]

I love BMW’s sliver color shade offerings over the years. I had a 96 E36/37 Z3 w/ Arachtic silver and coral red interior.
The silver that was offered for the 01 E38 740i M-Tech II was second to none.
Also my 95 E36 M3 and the 06 E86 Z4 3.0si

[tturedraider]

Very thankful I got to own one!!! A 2004 Imola Red over Natural Brown leather!! I wish I could have kept it and still had it. I’m still torn over my decision to part with it. At the time I was concerned about all the little niggling issues with the accessory components on the M54. I had just had my entire fuel injection system replaced, thankfully under the CPO warranty. And I was very taken by the E90 N52 and the safety enhancements the E90 offered. And I wanted the last of the naturally aspirated I6 motors.

The ZHP still ranks as the most fun car I’ve owned and definitely the most statement making car!!

[marcopolo650]

Originally Posted by tturedraider

Very thankful I got to own one!!! A 2004 Imola Red over Natural Brown leather!! I wish I could have kept it and still had it. I’m still torn over my decision to part with it. At the time I was concerned about all the little niggling issues with the accessory components on the M54. I had just had my entire fuel injection system replaced, thankfully under the CPO warranty. And I was very taken by the E90 N52 and the safety enhancements the E90 offered. And I wanted the last of the naturally aspirated I6 motors.

The ZHP still ranks as the most fun car I’ve owned and definitely the most statement making car!!

I definitely agree with your last statement.
Was yours a 6MT or autoTragic?

[Chihuahua]

Said it a million times, for me the E46 ZHP is the best all-around car BMW has ever built.

[marcopolo650]

Originally Posted by tcphoto

The ZHP is a special car, I nearly bought an '05 Coupe after buying my first BMW. The longer I owned my car the more I tried to mod it to look like one. This is my old convertible about a year before selling it.

I am a big fan of BMW’s Sliver color options over the years. I used to own a 96 Z3 with arachtic silver and coral red interior. The silver offered on the 01 E38 740i M-Tech II is second to none IMHO. Even my old 95 E36 M3 was silver with blk Vader seats

[marcopolo650]

It sucks that BMW lost its way!

[marcopolo650]

Live on BAT
04 ZHP vert 6MT