gjm

This is for sale, if anyone is interested.

I suspect (without looking closely) that the bodywork will write this one off. The engine and gearbox (and rear axle?) could be useful to someone. Bit pricey at the asking though.

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a.aspx?id=1838784364

RR is in TK now. There's enough line there to complete a temporary job using the existing line, and cut off what was removed, and the one way inline valve. Doing the job properly will mean removing the inlet manifold - I'll get to that in time. Changed the spark plugs today. The combination of removing the air pump (etc) and new plugs does mean the tickover seems to have settled down a bit, and it generally feels like it's running better. Current average fuel consumption is 13.5km per litre - aka 7.4 litres per 100km. A fairly easy 800km+ per tank of fuel. Not bad for a 17 year old automatic!

Sadly I'm currently nearer the 'dollar down, dollar a week for a very, very long time' stage!

Removed air pump and associated stuff from Miss M's 318i. Pulled what look to be original spark plugs... ? They are NGK platinum, but even they can get a bit tired after 100000km+. Ordered 4 more.

Still ❤️. Still can't afford it. ?

Thanks Jared. Arrived yesterday morning. If the weather stays good, I'll have a look later today.

The cap unscrews without any problem - it's what is normally in the cap (and seals in the reservoir neck) which is pulling free. My biggest concern is damaging the reservoir.

Hopefully this shows the problem.

No photo but will sort one. The top 'shell' - the threaded part - comes away on its own. Everything else stays in the neck of the reservoir. I can prise a flat cross-shaped part out of that out, and remove the spring, but that's not much help!

No-one else had this happen? I've had caps come apart at least twice now, although this is the first time it's been difficult to extract the pressure part from the tank.

Interview this morning. Should be interesting... The interviewer is the person I will replace - he has moved 'up' int he company. I wonder if he's looking for someone like him, or someone to take things in a different direction? Impossible to tell. The company has shared a 'position description' which I take as a good thing - so many describe this document as a 'job description'. Subtle, semantic difference, but potentially an important one. That said, the document is 7 pages long... ? (And doesn't include making tea!)

Broken E46 radiator cap. Well, not broken, but in two parts - the outer cap, and the pressure components. The cap unscrews from the expansion tank, leaving the pressure parts in the neck of the tank. Any tips or tricks for getting the parts out of the tank neck, other than remove the empty cap, start the engine and wait for pressure to do the rest?

Will do. Thanks.

The airbag light has chosen to remind us that the bulb is working. Not particularly insistent, but looks like there's an iffy connection somewhere - driving along, small bump, and there it is saying "Hellooo!" A little further down the road and it's gone again. ?

What is the fit like?

Thanks Jared. I thought it might be something like that. When I removed the EGR from the 320d I bought a blanking plate for the exhaust.

Could be mouse poo. No sign of any damage to anything, fortunately.

Very recently collected an Orient Blue E46 318i built 03/04/2001. Another very late M43-engined model. Low(ish) kms at 140000, 12 months WoF, 3 months rego. Prepped for us by the thoroughly wonderful Andy P ( @_ethrty-Andy_ ) . Drove nicely on the way up from Wellington, but not before giving us a bit of a scare in the Welly CBD when it dropped some coolant - coolant was running from under the car, and could be seen pooling on top of the expansion tank, under the hose and cap. ? We think this was due to the expansion tank cap not being quite tightened down far enough but that's difficult to tell as the cap insert stayed in the tank when I tried to remove it. I've seen this happen several times before - design fault? Or me having too big hands? - so we'll get a new one. I was able to tighten the 'empty' cap on to the insert in the tank, and there were no more leaks. Getting it apart may be more fun, but I'll sort it. Only other issue was a suspected dodgy thermostat. Temperature rose nicely to show as a vertical needle on the gauge, then after 50km or so started to drop. I don't like that - having had some coolant drop, and having seen this happen with low coolant, it was a bit of a concern. Stopped, checked under bonnet, but no sign of any leaks. Kept a close eye on it and the needle came back up to normal again. It did this a few times on the trip back, even dropping just below quarter at one point, but no warning lights. I'll get a new thermostat. The previous owner was one of those drivers who'd use 'touch' parking, but we'll not be worrying about that. Looks like they were hit in the rear quarter, or backed into something reasonably hard, at some point - the rear bumper has burst off the mounting rails. Should be an easy fix. All four corners have been somewhat 'modified'. Still... It's for a student and if that's as bad as it gets, I'll be surprised. Interior is tidy. Seats are all good, but the door pockets have had something melt in them at some point. Yuck. So. Nice car. Nothing unexpected and we're happy. Time for Dad to start sorting some of the little problems. Lots of little pieces missing. Nothing of significance, and I'll pick them up from someone breaking an E46 (M43) or from Brent @BM WORLD, Kerry at Mosen, or wherever. I'll clean up the corners and do what I can to make sure they don't rust. Oil and filter changes, engine and gearbox, obviously. Now... one of the things I've found with this car that I've not seen with others we've had is that it still has all the emission control - air pump gubbins in place. I doubt it's doing any harm, but it's not really necessary... Any gotchas with removing it? A good clean and polish, and she'll be a'right.

I don't mind it, but I suspect we're in a minority. Can't see Chanel bringing out 'Eau d'EP90' anytime soon!

And it smells. If you get it on your clothes, it doesn't come out. Aka 'that nice LandRover-y smell.'