tonylauno1

Occasionally yellow engine light stays on for a while after car starts so I thought oil level is at min, but the dipstick always show it's at max. Anyway oil was very dirty and it's been 12 months so I did an oil & filter change. Went for a drive to warm up and let it sit for 30mins then drain the oil. When topping up, I only used 5.5L when it should have been 6.5L, the dipstick shows it's at Max. I have a 328ci E46 (M52TUB28). Engine light still stays on occasionally after car starts for 10-15 seconds. It doesn't come on while driving, should I need to worry about this? Now the missing 1L of oil, I thought it maybe trap in the engine but it's still clean after 100km of the oil mixing with the old & new (if there is 1L of old dirty oil in engine). Is it normal that people only use 5.5L when doing an oil change?

You are probably right, it's currently no fees to attract people. This is APN Media who have lost a large sum of money from classified ads to Trademe. They will be running sella.co.nz with a long term view of increasing revenue from classified ads. Sold many 2nd hand items for more than you paid for new! <thumbs up> lol

yep an option to include dealer/private listings might be useful, but I've always found Private sellers have an emotional attachment to their cars and tend to ask for much higher. Dealer just looks at age & mileage and put up price.

Yep, Nick021 has a point, Trademe maybe expensive but it is probably still cheaper when you consider the number of people and with a large number of bidders, you end up with your expected price or higher. Selling on sella.co.nz probably means you will need to accept a lower price since there is not enough interested people around to bid. I have known sella.co.nz for nearly two years now, have worked with them before. I think they are now part of APN Media. You needs listings for people to come, but you need people to come in order to get more listings. It's a hard one, which one comes first? They might stick around long enough to compete aggressively with Trademe

RS232 is a definition for serial communication on a 1:1 base. RS232 defines the interface layer, but not the application layer. RS232 ports can be either accessed directly by an application, or via a thin device driver in the operating system. USB is a bus system which allows more than one peripheral to be connected to a host computer via one USB port. The standard not only describes the physical properties of the interface, but also the protocols to be used, due to complex USB protocol requirements, communication with USB ports on a computer is always performed via a device driver. Accessing RS232 port via an USB port, requires a second device driver which emulates a RS232, but communicates via USB. Since USB is shared by several devices, there will be delays in communication due to the double device driver (RS232 working on top of complex USB driver adds creates extra overheads). These industrial applications expect a certain timing with RS232 communications, and the timeframe in which it is expected to perform can't be met hence the problems. So serial-usb converter is out of the question, a serial-usb cable are also a type of adapter and since it still connects via the usb port to access serial, it's also out of the question. It will always be creating a virtual serial port. Get a PCMCIA card or a port replicator which can be found for much cheaper for certain laptops.

True, it could be people expectation, this tyre shop owner in Greenlane was saying too many of his customers came back to return Eagle F1 asymmetric. Didn't ask why they were not happy.

hey wobblyone, just saw this thread, I know it's too late but have some information which you and others might find helpful about which oil to use. basically BMW TIS says as long as it meets their minimum standard then it's doesn't matter whether it's 0w40 or 0w30 or 5w40 or 5w30. If it's meets LL98 specs like the M62 then you can use LL98, LL01 or LL04. eg Castrol Edge 5w30 is LL98 Castrol Edge 0w40 is LL04 Mobil1 0w40 is LL01 Valvoline Syngard 5w40 is LL01 Oils marketed in US have different name, I think the SLX might be common in US but don't know what is the equivalent in other parts of the world.

well simke, it's looking good if they have contacted a repairer. It's a sigh of relief. Keep us posted, I interested to know the outcome. I have a 328ci too, I bet there are other e46 owners who are curious too. I know it won't be the same driving one of these but time to rent a Ford or Holden for the holiday trip.

Now there's not that many bmw wagon for sale let alone a e39 wagon, surely if you are interested you would go have a look and make an inform decision rather than base it on not seeing the tv work and the unanswered questions. If you like the car and want to buy it, does not having a tv and seller not answering online questions bother you? Is having a tv as a standard item in a car the utmost priority; even if it is, i'm sure you would have move it down to the bottom of the list as 99.9% of cars do not have tv... If anything him acting the way that he does, you might have some bargaining power, as everyone here expects no public interest in the car from any potential buyers.

All tyre test says Eagle F1 asymmetric is great #1 or #2 but people who have used them think they are no good and tyre shop have complaints from unhappy customers. Anyone know why?

That sux man, at least they didn't say no, there is still hope if they will have a look... Now the problem is how long will they need to have a look. What sort of life has the car been through and how many kms have you had it for?

Exactly what Hybrid said, the failures you read about, which had scared me when wanting to buy a e46, is the loss of reversed gear. And the thump usually occurs from 1st to 2nd on a e39 when it is cold, no problems when warm. Just make sure it's cold like first thing in the morning and that it should shift so smoothly you hardly notice it. Lower kms are better so you can get an transmission flush. If you count the number of complaints vs the number of cars sold, it's a very small percentage. You will probably read more problems about BMW due to the younger generation of drivers who are computer savvy and usually it's car enthusiast who are attracted to BMW. You wouldn't expect Benz or Volvo owners to post about car problems.

This tyre test shows that the RE760 (same tread pattern as the 001 which I assume is a different name in USA), is average when it comes to track work, but it's calm to drive and quiet. http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/compar...60_sport_page_8 RE050A is OEM for BMW 645ci & X6M, Aston Martin V8 vantage & DB9, therefore it must quite good if it is used on those cars.

Have seen a few $1 reserves on e46 328ci & 328i and they always end up around $11-$13k, this is at a time when they were selling for $16-$19k. For a $1 reserves car, you might not get what you were hoping for, unless you weren't expecting much. The only times I have put up a $1 reserve is when I didn't care what it sold for and it turned out great for me, otherwise would have thrown it away.

I've used Ados F2 which works for me, have to be very very careful otherwise in a black interior, it stands out too much if you get it on other places. Apply glue then wait 5 min then hold it tightly in place for a few hours with masking tape. I guess, you could also try vinyl glue and get a small brush to apply, again that could get messy too. I'm sure there is a more appropriate glue but they were available to me easily.

For that price, I'll get all 5 cars repainted lol

Just finding out where people get their car repainted and how much it cost? Let me know if you still remember, Thanks

Any point in getting a Powerchip to remap the ecu? I was thinking maybe there isn't a need to individual remap each car. So as a car gets older, some hp is lost, how are they lost? How come an ecu remap could get them back? Does it mean if the car was new with all it's hp, and it went through a remap, it would have been even more? Sorry about the dumb question, but would really like to get some basic knowledge on this

I think that is exactly it, "taking care of it" get it checked out if something doesn't feel or sound right. It certainly does cost more to "take care of it". BMW are nicer car to drive due to quality parts.Like others have expressed their opinion, 1600cc no way, unless your friend wants the badge rather than a car. Personally, I would say anyone who is not a car enthusiast would definitely get frustrated if a car is not reliable and cost them time & money. Nothing worse than buying a $4k car then after year, you realise you have already spent $2k

so how much is remap? I have a m52tu as well, would be nice to have all the hp like when new.

Yes, the GridIII & Direzza are not that great, but they are certainly above average and does the job quite well, much better than the Hankook. The RE01r which have been replaced by RE11 now. These come in limited size so it won't suit alot of people. They are probably the next step down from semi-slicks. They are in another class, can't put them in the same category as GridIII or Direzza DZ101. The RE01r/RE11 have to be compared to tyres like Dunlop Direzza Sports Z1 vs Toyo Proxes R1R vs Yokohama Advan Neova AD07, the ultimate non-semi-slick street tyre.

I'm after some tyres soon, this time want to go for something quiet but still sporty. From the reviews I read Yokohama AVS dB decibel, Yokohama Advan sport, Falkens ZE912, FK452, seems to be like good choices. I would go for Bridgestone RE050a or RE001 for something sporty, but not sure if these will be quiet. And the Bridgestone have shallow tread depth on either side, which means after a while, both the outer edge will be bold.

Wanted a multi-function steering wheel for e46 coupe. I have the triangle-shape airbag steering wheel, common on the e36. It's not the round-shape airbag steering wheel that is commonly found on e46. Have contacted Ray @ HellBM and I was too late & Euro-Italian has a complete kit for the newer round-shape type. Thanks

I certainly agree, some how the beige or tan color makes the car look more prestigious. Sorry, I'm not from Dunedin, can't help you there but Welcome. Might pay to list your engine trouble under "maintenance" to receive more help.

Thanks for sending the pic, mine is actually 11/1999 with the triangle-shape airbag wheel so it won't fit.