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Win!

Nice idea but it gets a bit annoying after a while...

I would add the nipple caps on the back on the manifold too, 2 smaller ones and a bigger one. Always seem to be cracked to some degree. Can be done later but very easy with it completely off.

Some say it's never to late to start a project thread, so here I am after 5 years of ownership starting the story of the constant woes and joy my E46 has given me. Returned from overseas travel and needed a new daily that wasn't just a bog standard corolla for A to B. Previous flat mates had a few BMWs and sold me on how nice they were to drive and how easy they are to work on. Found this delicious M sport sedan on the trademe, gave it a once over and purchased it. The car had roughly 183k km when I bought it. Previous owner/s had a few receipts and the person I bought it off, had the car 'stolen' from their driveway whilst it was idling for a joy ride. So had a new wheel or two, new front bumper and some of the cooling system. Previous receipts I found in the glove box: Window regulator - 2012 Water pump - 2013 Thermostat - 2013 Idler pulley - 2013 Oil filter housing gasket - 2017 VANOS Oil line - 2017. After working on an old holden commodore with not the greatest online parts stores, I was shown FCP Euro and all of its delicious goodies. So I got straight into it with some standard servicing parts; Cabin air filter, Engine air filter, Spark plugs, Engine mounts, Power steering reservoir. Did some daily driving and enjoyed the awesome ride quality of a BMW and the M Sport suspension. Enjoyed the COVID lockdown living at my BMW friends house and got lost done. Went on another shopping spree; Fuel filter, front brake rotors and pads, VANOS rebuild kit, VANOS oil feed line, Trans filter and fluid, Water pump, Thermostat, Coolant hoses, Coolant expansion tank, Rocker cover gasket. Continued enjoying BMW ownership. Had a few little issues with a rough idle and the car stalling infrequently. Cleaned out the idle control valve and inspected the intake pipes. Found one with a crack so got a new one from pick a part. Issue seemed to be resolved. Continued to be a nice daily driver. Could feel the front left getting noisy and failed on a front ball joint. Sourced new front control arms and got to work replacing them. Tricky job but doable with right tools and a few swings on the mini sledge hammer. I only managed to get one done before I had to pack up my house and move to Blenheim / Picton. Oil level sensor had been on the fritz for a while and the F connector on the intake pipe snapped so I made a 3d printed one that did the job until my latest parts order could arrive; Air intake pipes and F connector, Fuel pump, Bosch Ignition coils, Spark plugs, Oil level sensor. I have been constantly chasing lean engine codes bank 1 and 2 on this car for years. Slowly trying to find all vacuum leaks as they seem the most likely culprit after reading lots of E46 forum posts. I noticed my DISA seal was very square, so measured it up and found an O-ring to fit. But now the car will not idle when cold. It dies after 1 second unless you give it throttle. And when it does start revving low and trying to stall it makes one or 2 loud clunks. If i hold some throttle on and manage to get out the driveway and on the move it will accelerate and cruise with no issue and when I reach work it will idle with a slight roughness. Have yet to find time to investigate but will check the idle control valve and have a hunt around the vacuum lines when I do. Next step I'm thinking all new CCV pipes etc and possibly intake manifold off, hidden coolant hoses and new intake manifold gaskets. Also add to the list a left rear wheel bearing which has suddenly become very noisy. I have ordered bearings and begun to create a list of tools required for the job.

Ahhh I did wonder if it was the one in question from your other thread but for some reason I had assumed it was a tech 2.

https://bimmersport.co.nz/topic/68350-1987-e30-m325i/

Nice one Chris, well done. Now on to the new donk...

Bahahahah love it, very well played sir 🤣

replace DISA valve, if it hasn't failed it probably will... dropping the Pin into your combustion chamber. Inexpensive insurance. Have a good look at the high pressure fuel hose supplying the injector rail. They're getting old now - if yours is crusty, replace. Nobody wants a fuel fire under the hood, You're on the right track, taking care of the intake vacuum leaks. cooling every five years. plugs and a full set of coils after your cuurnet work (if you havent already) and it'll be a sweet runner. Jared @Eagle is spot-on about those nipple caps (ooh err), Jon spotted those on mine recenty and we replaced them at same time as HP Fuel Hose. e46 325i motorsport is a sweet drive. They reward if treated to thorough maintenance. We've had our 325i Touring for 11.5 years, no plans to replace it.

@cleanish_e46 I'm biased... if it's not a race car, OE spec rubber is all you need - unless you prefer needing to see your urologist or dental sugeon due to persistent jarring. not to mention the state of our roads these days. I've had all of the bushes you mention replaced in the first two years with my e30. it runs Konis & H&R springs. The whole setup is firm, damped, as you'd expect from a BMW. I've also done the same on e46 & e60. Replacing rubber firms things up and restores control, though not to the point my wife or kids complain. Most proponents of Poly are under 25 or have replaced completely bagged-out bushings with poly, and are of course impressed and amazed at the improvement. By the time you've done everything (each part you stiffen reveals shortcomings of the next bagged-out part), it's the hair-shirt solution. Sounds and looks amazing though bloody uncomfortable to wear. Like I say, if it's a race car, all's great on Poly. Poly has its application. Unless you're certain you need that incrrease in stiffness, rubber is relatively inexpensive and far more durable than poly, and is the right compromise for everyday and sporting street use. BMW test drivers and development engineers logged thousands of hours developing a workable solution for most people, poly does not feature.

They didn't snap on the E30, but distinctly remember using more heat than I had planned!

Bump $50

Yeah, the exhaust will have to come off when removing the gearbox, the old gasket will likely be perished and the old nuts will be well rusted. With luck you'll manage to get the nuts off without the studs breaking off. Use plenty of penetrating fluid beforehand.

That kit wouldn't be the original it came with, being PreFL it would have Tech1 (like the skirts / spoiler). The rear bumper is either modified or a fiberglass rep to fit PreFL rear arches (Tech2 bumper is longer).

The OE mounts generally last a very long time in my experience and rarely truly fail unless they get oil leaking on them. I just replace them because they are very cheap ($10-15ea) and im in the area. Yeah i guess you could say poly is better, but to me i just dont see the need for them and they cost more?

E38 750i (and an Audi) update Yes, I did buy it and have spent *a lot* sorting it out. I will post up some stuff on what's been done... Latest with the E38 750i - had to top up the coolant a couple of times - ~300ml each time ... and boom - new radiator required, sorted by Driscoll Motors. At least it was simpler than an intermittent issue on the wife's Audi Q3 - engine check light turned out to be due to a sticking element on the PCV valve assembly. Lots of troubleshooting/fault-finding time before identifying this. 😕 MBI will at least cover some of it. She was using the V8 X5 while this was being sorted "this uses a lot of gas, doesn't it?" Um, yep - compared to a much more modern 4cyl

Doing the CCV without manifold removal isnt too bad if you have done it before. but as above id take it off and do the pipes at the same time.

Might be worth pulling it if it's never been off before. Makes the CCV job a lot easier and gives you a chance to do a bit of a cleaning job and also tackle some other jobs whilst you're in there. It's a good idea replacing the two plastic coolant pipes that run under the intake manifold (#6 & #8 on the schematic below). Those always rot and break off at the point where they attach to the block and the head, can often cause annoying coolant leaks that are hard to get to. Just took off and reattached the intake on mine this past week, not too terrible a job. I'd go that route if I ever need to replace a CCV again.

Did a smoke test with the home made setup. Worked well but might need a higher resistance wire or some more patience as I set the oil on fire. Found a lot of smoke coming from under the intake manifold so I have ordered a full CCV kit. Need to determine if I will take the intake manifold or do the reach around. Also the breather hose to the rocker cover so had to make do with a coolant line to keep it going. Also got sick of the loud rear left wheel bearing so tackled that job. Once you have all the tools its not a bad job, just a pain that it is the left one and you have to get the exhaust makes access tricky. But totally worth the effort to have a lot less road noise now. Still idles horribly at times so will investigate further when I tackle the CCV replacement.

Part 2

Car has been going great guns through the miserable winter months but with the nice change in weather got out on a few rural backroads with @Cement and @elias on Saturday - Dave and I having to navigate a pretty decent swathe of semi' precarious gravel roads, so here is a rare dirty picture of the old girl! Next project is a cluster refurb and tart up and then a refurbished steering rack before the next WOF. From there will just be dirivng the wheels off it and saving up for some rust repair and full respray next winter.

The seals on top of the bumper are the “normal” M3 3-piece seals not Evo3, and there aren’t any bonnet to guard seals fitted in those photos? Plenty wrong to make it perfect - the non-dogleg box (Jap Spec), aftermarket wheels and non-black rocker cover are the big ones for me. But overall presents pretty well for a lightly refreshed M3, how much M3 do you get for $125k these days? Market has definitely slowed recently, not a lot of spare change in the economy for playthings like week-end classics right now so could take a while to find a new home.

Very pretty. Very high price. (And - for me! - the rims are too big, for this money I'd definitely be looking for the real thing and not replicas, and the stretched tyres... 🤢 )

Lean codes are mostly vacuum leaks on these engines so you need to start with a pressurized smoke test, waste of time imo trying to find leaks without one. You can DIY one easy enough with hardware store etc parts and most people have an air compressor. Test is pretty simple - Remove airbox and ducting, remove the MAF and install a airtight zip lock bag etc on the front on it and re-install it. You can then either remove the F connector from the intake boot in front of the maf and pump smoke in there, or you can use the rubber capped intake ports at the back of the intake manifold (which can leak). This requires removing the cabin filter, housing and side of the ecu box which is straight forward but gives you even more room to see any possible smoke.

yep the manual 316i FL is the lightest spec e30, less sound deadening, no electric seats, no sunroof so lower c of g and best of all no rusty sunroof leaking! they are the bomb. give everything on your 33 year old nana car a birthday, rubbers bushes QUALITY tyres fuel lines cooling system shocks fluidsbrakes... wof rego insurance, and go and enjoy the pure spirit of driving an analogue manual car. teach yourself to drive in the wet without losing the tail, learn cadence braking, learn to heel-and-toe double de-clutch. more fun than your first shag and longer lasting too! 😂

Got some nice options on it, 2.5ltr, manual, Tech 1 wheel, leather sports seats. But not sure about the body kit (maybe needs a few more badges..?) and those wheels are a big no for me, especially with the Linglong “no good in a..” Crosswinds on them. Pricing is relatively sane compared to many listings.

Why do people bid early?

Sounds like you need to find a new GP, *stat*. Part of your new health journey. From your description, it sounds like they'd not been listening, for quite some time. Good luck with your journey. Much of this life can be filled with things you didn't expect to happen; don't let it twist you outa shape, remember that we're lucky to have the opportunity to make changes necessary!

I have type 2 - have to manage it but my doctor caught it early. Too much stress at work plus cakes every week (failing project needing support) did it for me. I'm now classed as pre-diabetic, and retiring has really made a difference. Keep on going!

Yes. Depends what tools you have. If you dont have a big impact or crank bolt tools then you probably looking a breaker bar against the chassis rail and flicking the starter. You'd want a decent quality bar though. Also may need a harmonic puller or hub puller or such to pull that crank sprocket off

Welcome Josh - +1 on check out the Club - which is affiliated with the RDS...

Welcome, check out BMW car club also https://www.bmwclub.org.nz/