A car for Miss M (pt26, or something!)

[gjm 3258]

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.  

[KwS 2425]

MMM, is that mouse poo i see on top of the air pump thing? Hope they havent caused any wiring issues, little bastards get everywhere in cars.

Should be a good car for a student. Wish i had something that "flash" when i was growing up lol.

[gjm 3258]

7 minutes ago, KwS said:

MMM, is that mouse poo i see on top of the air pump thing? Hope they havent caused any wiring issues, little bastards get everywhere in cars.

Should be a good car for a student. Wish i had something that "flash" when i was growing up lol.

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

[Olaf 3318]

looks like the ideal car, Graham!  score.  and of course orientblau metallic is one of the coolest colours for an e46 ?

[eliongater 718]

2 hours ago, gjm said:

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

I was going to mention that on Monday but the coolant issue was more pressing

[Eagle 1662]

Japanese imports always have the air injection systems fitted. For removal you will need a blanking plate for the exhaust manifold (either bought one or fabricated) and some vacuum line. I did have a spare plate one lying around and will have a quick look to see if i can find it.

[gjm 3258]

48 minutes ago, Eagle said:

Japanese imports always have the air injection systems fitted. For removal you will need a blanking plate for the exhaust manifold (either bought one or fabricated) and some vacuum line. I did have a spare plate one lying around and will have a quick look to see if i can find it.

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.

[hotwire 352]

8 hours ago, gjm said:

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

Rodents in cars. Have seen untold over the years & the little shits cause heaps of issues in eating through things. Often wiring is eaten inside inner guards etc - where it  cannot be seen but suspicious electrical gremlins & signs of rodents is always a give away.

Looks like a nice score by the way.

[gjm 3258]

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. ?

[allan 295]

Hi have a look under the passengers seat at the wiring and how well it is secured for the seat belt tensoner and passenger mat these are known to course the problem you mentioned.

 

[gjm 3258]

30 minutes ago, allan said:

Hi have a look under the passengers seat at the wiring and how well it is secured for the seat belt tensoner and passenger mat these are known to course the problem you mentioned.

Will do.
Thanks.

 

[KwS 2425]

On 10/31/2018 at 8:54 PM, hotwire said:

Rodents in cars. Have seen untold over the years & the little shits cause heaps of issues in eating through things. Often wiring is eaten inside inner guards etc - where it  cannot be seen but suspicious electrical gremlins & signs of rodents is always a give away.

Looks like a nice score by the way.

Totally agree, it's a real bastard. Had an accord that had a mouse in it, it had eaten little holes in various bits of trim to gain access, and the park lights didn't work because of chewed wiring in the guards. Kept finding little black presents everywhere. Never got that smell out either. 

[gjm 3258]

On 10/31/2018 at 6:28 PM, Eagle said:

Japanese imports always have the air injection systems fitted. For removal you will need a blanking plate for the exhaust manifold (either bought one or fabricated) and some vacuum line. I did have a spare plate one lying around and will have a quick look to see if i can find it.

Thanks Jared. Arrived yesterday morning.

If the weather stays good, I'll have a look later today.

[Eagle 1662]

All good. Couldn't find any vac line but you will need approx ~100mm

[eliongater 718]

I should have some vac line if you still need it when you collect the Range Rover

[gjm 3258]

1 hour ago, eliongater said:

I should have some vac line if you still need it when you collect the Range Rover

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!