dimsim

Purchased the gearbox from Allan, but alas without stripping the seat right down, could not find a way to just replace the gearbox. The seat itself is really complicated with lots of sping tension in places so my guess is you would need some kind of jig and pulling equipment and a lot of time to do this. I ended up buying a standard e46 electric seat base and stripping the backrest and seat cushion off, then swapping my sports seat tilt gear, wiring loom and adjuster swithcing to the standard base. Have E46 seat motors, standard seat adjust switch, a tidy dark grey cloth seat cushion and the outside seat trim if anyone is interested,

Ended up buying san iCarsoft i910-II. Does pretty much everything, reads/resets trouble codes, reset the service light/airbag/light etc, provide live engine data etc. Was about $200 from ebay.

1998 E46 328i Sedan. The drivers side seat recline stopped yesterday and when i actuate the switch i can have hear the motor running but no recline! Have read elsewhere that a gear goes in the recline motor gearbox but that seems to be for E36's. Anyone sorted this before? Have got the seat out and taken a few pics. Tried to run the rod between the gearbox and opposite side recline gear rack but that wont turn at all. The black arrow is the rod i tried to turn and the red arrow pointing to what i thing must be the gearbox. Looks like it would be tricky to get out? The red arrow here is what i would call the recline rack and gear on the side opposite to the motor and the yellow arrow points to the rod that connects this and the gearbox under the seat. Am I right or way off?

Would you mind elaborating on that?

From what I can tell there are two ways of resetting the Service indicator on the E46. One way for OBCD1 (short pin 7 & 19 for three seconds) and another for OBCD2 (hold down the trip counter, turn key to position one and wait for reset to flash etc) The OBCD2 way doesnt work for me as I only get the test function, never get a reset so ill assume as my 328i is an early one 1998 that I must have OBCD1 so shorting pins 7 & 19 for 3 or 9 seconds should work. Unfortunately neither work. Am well used to resetting E30 indicators by shorting pins on the diagnostic plug so cant fathom what's wrong. I also tested pin 19 with a multimeter and that is definitely earthed ok so this process should work. The oil service light just stays at -4750km Any ideas? Thanks

Might have posted the below in the wrong forum - can a mod check and move if necessary please http://bimmersport.co.nz/topic/53759-e46-front-brake-hose-variations/ ​

Just got two front brake hoses from BNT and the chassis end seems to be different from what's fitted. The original brake hose has a smaller diameter end with four locating lugs where the BNT hose has a large diameter end and only two locating lugs. From what I can see these is only one hose listed for my 1998 E46 328i M52 2.8 I've attached photos of what I've been supplied and what I think I need. Does anyone recognise either part being from a different model? This looks like the correct part http://www.ecstuning.com/BMW-E46-325Ci-M54_2.5L/ES61521/ The LPR hose I've been supplied has a part number of 6T47831 and can be searched at http://www.lpr.it Thanks

Thanks Glenn, will do & good to chat too. Glad to see another great operator in these forums.

hi guys - apologies of this has been asked before but my searches turned up nothing regarding this. need to replace the rear wheel bearing on my e46 328i sedan. from my time at bmw this was a fairly simple job with the special tool and I've found a tool on ebay what looks like it will do the job. does anyone know if there's a tool i can get locally? guess ill also need a large socket and inverse torx socket for the driveshaft too - does anyone know the sizes off the top of your head for these please. will i also need a three legged puller to oull the inner race off? or is there something better to do the job with? finally - would i simply be better to get someone to do this that has the tools and if so does anyone know of a suitable person in Hawkes Bay. thanks

Thanks for clearing that up - from memory this was done every Inspection II service or 80k's is that about right?

nice one thanks...but i thought the trans was sealed? are some of them able to be serviced? or is this another dog and lemon fable?

lol....i trust everything i read unless it's written by a man in a white suit but seriously ...ive never really read anything from the dog and lemon guide before and was simply offered this as a freebie with a carjam report. although the language in the overview was a little colourful, i though the inclusion of all the various vehicle recalls were quite informative...but are they universally thought of as rubbish?

Hi, first time here pretty much and was hoping for some advice with my 1998 E46 328iA4. The car has a NZ dealer service history from new , now done 160ks and I was wondering if there was anything I should check/test at this age/mileage and also if you think its worthwhile purchasing mechanical insurance? I have a mate in the industry so can get the insurance for wholesale which saves a few hundred but is still just under $1k. I think its through the AA. I read in the Dog and Lemon guide that the transmissions were only built to last 150k's and as they were sealed it was a replacement job if anything went wrong. Does anyone have any experiecne with major faults on these? Are the cooling systems still a bit dodgy (leading to overheating, cracked heads etc) or is this model more immune from the earlier 3 series cooling issues? Any experience people have with one of these would be muchly appreciated. I am an ex BMW registered technician but havent been near the spanners for a couple of decades (but am looking forward to having a tinker once again Thanks

Sorry, the Alpina's not really my thing. Your e28 looks pretty nice though.

Pics/condition etc of your iL? Would prefer a straight 750i but understand not many of those around NZ new. The 537 although interesting doesnt really fit my quest for original spec.

Looks tidy enough. Does it still drive tight/noises? Service history? Anything been replaced recently, brake? shocks?? all electrics work?

x-bmw reg'd tech looking for second car. prefer nz new, original cars. will look at anything but prefer a 6 cyl manual with a bit of pull, no 318's, 320's, 520's, etc.