andya

Hello, just a quick question if i may - I drive a 318i E46 1998 - since I bought it last year it has done something that i never thought about at the time but several people have noticed it and bought it to my attention. After the car has sat idle overnight or during the day upon start up there is a very noticeable vacuum sound that lasts for about 45 seconds to a minute. it only does this after about 5-6 hours of not being used- otherwise it doesn't occur. As far as i can tell it doesn't impede the performance in any way but then again I never even noticed the sound until someone mentioned it. Any ideas? many thanks, Andy

Hi, I drive a 318i E46 98 with apparently what has been diagnosed as a broken catalytic converter. From what i understand under current legislation (which will most likely change early next yr tho) I can elect to remove the cat converter entirely and put in a kobe resonator or the like in instead. I have asked around and got various quotes - from bmw workshops the cost ranges up to over $1000 but midas/pitstop etc can do it for around $250ish. I suspect that at bmw garages they would be installing bmw parts thus the higher prices. Has anyone out there done this type of conversion. Mechanics have told me that it might be a fraction louder with the cat removed - my only concern now is will it make any problems for the O2 sensors? In the meantime the converter is rattling away worse than ever and I have heard that they can block up completely and basically prevent the car from starting. One last question - without the cat my exhaust emissions will still be pretty good I would suspect as the engine is fairly low on miles but even with the rattling (if i can bear it) and the fact that no warning lights have yet come up on the dashboard telling me there is an exhaust issue (if there are such warning sensors) do I even need to get it fixed. I mean if it passes muster on emissions testing say at WOF then would you even bother fixing it? (the noise is annoying but I can block it out with the radio etc). One last question too - does anyone happen to have a 318i E46 1998/99 Owners manual and/or cd business stereo manual? Mine are both in Japanese. If some one does and would like to help me out I would much appreciate it. Cheers, Andy