Jump to content
adro

E46 330i Touring

Recommended Posts

E39 out, E46 in.

Transported it up from Arrowtown last week, picked it up this week.

211,000km

NZ New

2 previous owners. Last owner had it for 12 years/173,000km

Known faults were the remote keys don't work and it has a vacuum leak under the intake manifold as diagnosed by an indy shop in Arrowtown.

A few bits of service history but nothing significant.

Fresh off the trailer:

AVP_9398AVP_9399AVP_9400AVP_940250592898256_b0cf14d9fd_b.jpg

After talking to experts (forum members) I've started what looks to be a bit of a maintenance mission.

Started with the PCV. It was dated as 2002 so original and very brittle. The oil return line disintegrated in half as I pulled out the dipstick tube. I left the manifold on in a bid to have a driveable car to pick my daughter up from day care in and in my haste I forgot to plug in a few things. Idle was smooth but it was real jerky and had a big dip in the throttle when you initially got on the gas. Scanned it and it came up with cam position sensor fault. So out came the airbox and it turned out I had forgotten to plug in the cam position sensor, alternator and something else...whoops...anyway, seems to be running alot better now. Revs are constant and it's not throwing misfire or rich codes. Did the classic air filter, cabin filter and oil + filter too.

50592164838_dbdfe73d22_b.jpg

It's pretty oily down here...

50592898291_39d6e82168_b.jpg

Pretty dusty up here..

ewwwww

50592164948_a5ede83589_b.jpg50592898416_90f86984b9_b.jpg50593029752_ee166bfbde_b.jpg

New stuff

50592164843_6ba9c3a82e_b.jpg

I went with 5W-40 just because I had 1.5L left over from the 540 so figured I might as well use it up.

New Roundel. I got a cheap one off trademe last time and it wore really fast so went all in on the dealership one this time.

50592164353_8d0427a986_b.jpg

Changed the plates over too. DQZ346 lives on.

AVP_9409

Things to do:

- coolant system overhaul

- vanos

valve cover gasket

oil filter housing gasket

- New Disa valve (rebuilt)

- Tints & chrome delete around the windows

- Motor mounts

- Get the remote locking working

- Trans oil and filter

Things I would like to do:

- Tyres

- Suspension Eibach prokit, Bilstein B4 shocks front and Sachs m sport rears

- Xenons + black corner lights

- Bluetooth hands free

- Bavsound upgraded speakers

Feel free to add to this never ending list ?

Edited by adro
  • Like 13

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Recent history suggests that is a very very small list...

  • Like 1
  • Haha 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
2 minutes ago, hqstu said:

Recent history suggests that is a very very small list...

You know it ?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

HPR5 is the right stuff for M54 IME.  

How's the oil filter housing gasket and valve cover gasket/seals?  they're the prime culprits for oil leaks, followed by VANOS oil line, Power Steering Reservoir and hose, and sump gasket.

It's a grand looking car, mate.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Added things to do:

Clean ICV, power steering and brake fluid change, camshaft sensor o-rings, fuel filter and belt pulleys

Things ill eventually do:

Replace most of the wearable parts on the car and fix any cosmetic issues 

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
1 hour ago, Eagle said:

Added things to do:

Clean ICV, power steering and brake fluid change, camshaft sensor o-rings, fuel filter and belt pulleys

Things ill eventually do:

Replace most of the wearable parts on the car and fix any cosmetic issues 

Oh yeah I cleaned the ICV and throttle body when I did the PCV. They actually weren’t too bad 

Tried to do the fuel filter but obviously original as it had those weird special hose clamps, I’m guessing vice grips? so bailed out on that. The vac line down there could do with replacing. I broke the one that goes into that F connector in the upper elbow straight away. 

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

@Eagle - good tip, I never thought of doing  CPS O-rings.

@adro I bought a length of high pressure FI Fuel Hose, pre-cut and fitted short connector lengths, and used new stainless jubilee clips first time I replaced my e46 fuel filter.  Managed to get the inlet and return hoses mixed up, won the no-start prize.  Trap for new players.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Yea, fuel filter, and new vacuum hoses and hose clamps for it.

Vanos seals from besien systems or similar will recover some power and fuel economy.

e46 Electric fan mod.

msport front bumper.

Black grills and shadowline.

Just my opinion

Also check and replace the little rubber bungs on the back of the manifold as they will be cracked or missing at this age and will create a vacuum leak.

Edited by zero
  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Bit of a change! Looks clean and no doubt in a couple of years it will be one of the cleanest in NZ

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

White LCI wagon is cool. The LCI is enough of a change it looks like a model half step. 

The aftermarket is so strong on e46 you can easily make this as modern, look and perform as well as cars 4x the price.

 

Edited by m325i
  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

212 xxx km.

I ran into a bit of a problem when I dropped the disa pin into the intake and it found it's way to cylinder 6.

No compression in cylinder 6, Jon at auto38 advised that an engine swap would be his preferred option.

51034366841_ef5144e611_b.jpg

Plug in cyl 6

51034366941_b7c224eb10_b.jpg

off to Auto38

Old piston cyl 6

51033622048_7741c85fef_b.jpg 51033622093_f14876d1fb_b.jpg

Head off old engine.

Bought an engine before Christmas, organized a mate to put it in. He didn't get to it till the new year where he found 8.5L of milkshake in the sump instead of 6.5L of oil. So the vendor kindly refunded and i got one off Nick Weitz.

Nick compression tested it before sending and it was algood. Came out of a running car so confidence was high. This engine was the older coil style so the manifold and valve cover from my original engine was swapped over (since CCV had just recently been repalced meant it didn't need to be pulled apart), along with the loom and headers.

New parts that went in while engine was out

  • Engine mounts
  • Sump gasket
  • Plastic coolant hoses under intake manifold x 2
  • upper and lower radiator hoses
  • water pump (graf metal impeller)
  • Thermostat
  • Valve cover Gasket
  • Oil filter housing gasket
  • Vanos seals
  • Spark Plugs
  • Electric Fan from @zero
  • upper intake boot
  • oil filter
  • Penrite 5W-40
  • rebuilt Disa Valve

Car was running rough and was throwing lean codes for bank 1 and bank 2. Turns out the 02 sensors weren't plugged into their corresponding bank.

Car is now running very smooth and I'm waiting for the vanos seals to break in.

51033622043_94a9e388b9_b.jpg
I replaced the seals in my old vanos unit to make it quicker to install. Also my solenoids were cosmetically in much nicer condition.

 

51034354151_c193b622ef_b.jpg

New engine looks really clean. No idea of the mileage as it had been swapped into the car it came out of.

51034454637_26e6860a50_b.jpg

Up at mt Vic watching the hill climb today. 

The list of things still to do:

  • Gearbox filter and oil - have parts.
  • Fuel filter - have parts and have replaced the vac line.
  • Xenon - have parts but need to code LCM and there are still some wiring to do.
  • Bilstein touring shocks and Eibach prokit springs. (these were in the post when the engine went bang)
  • Remote key still isn't working despite changing the FTZ module
  • Tints
  • soundsystem/handsfree bluetooth.

So been a bit of a mission, I was completely stumped by the lean codes and was  pretty stressed out that the engine was toast. I'm really enjoying having it back on the road.

AVP_6564 AVP_6563-2

 

 

Edited by adro
photos
  • Like 13

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

What a saga. Glad to hear it’s back in the road mate. 

Edited by hunter
  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Oh wow, a lot of 'bonding' with the new wagon already 😐

Must feel great to have it sorted!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
3 minutes ago, Sammo said:

Oh wow, a lot of 'bonding' with the new wagon already 😐

Must feel great to have it sorted!

yeah, a bit of an introduction to the M54 for sure 🤪

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
12 minutes ago, adro said:

yeah, a bit of an introduction to the M54 for sure 🤪

One of BMWs 'most reliable' motors haha

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Suspension upgrade

Before the engine went bang I had just pulled the trigger on some Bilstein Touring shocks and Eibach Prokit springs from Demon Tweaks. I already had rear sachs shocks I purchased from @Eagle which were for the motorsport setup so went with the B4's which from the looks of realOEM are the factory motorsport package shocks.

New bits

Lemforder front shock mounts

Bump stops and dust covers

Bilstein B4 front shocks #BLS22-139948, BLS22-139931

Eibach Prokit springs #EIBE2067-140

Meyle HD rear shock mounts

Sachs rear shocks #556 882

I got a shop to do the spring compressor part but i DIY'd the rest to try save on labour (the rear is pretty labour intensive)

50996959144_e2985084b0_b.jpg

the rear shocks were completely dead. 

51046785743_f52fbc2714_b.jpg

rear spring height comparison

50996959585_5c1fbe5257_b.jpg

bit of trim removal

50996959705_1afe710289_b.jpg

Found 1 random Monroe up the front.

50996959129_7a491f1e20_b.jpg

New fronts

AVP_6571

After a few KM's they are settling in.

So far I'm really impressed with the quality of the ride. Comfort vs handling I think it's a great combo for the daily driver.

 

 

Edited by adro
  • Like 11

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Just ditched some flogged out Monroes on the Ti for B4's also. Always good $ spent. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
4 hours ago, Eagle said:

Just ditched some flogged out Monroes on the Ti for B4's also. Always good $ spent. 

Nice. Yeah, great price too! 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Facelift.

almost 1000km since the engine went in. Had a coolant light on last week. Not sure if it  did a big burp or if it's leaking but either way i topped it up and am keeping an eye on it.

Xenons sourced from Weitz and coded in by @promo. Black corner lights also installed with chrome bulbs.

Black grilles are also in and a few stone chips fixed up.

I've just noticed looking at these photos that there is a little bulb on in the passenger side light. This is consistent with a bulb out light on the dash on the drivers side. Anyone know what this is? I haven't wired up for bi-xenon functionality yet or self  leveling...they will come down the line.

AVP_6781 AVP_6779 AVP_6778

Suspension has also settled.

AVP_6785

AVP_6777

Dropped the car into auto38 this week for a gearbox flush. ZF filter and 12L of ZF oil. 212K trans oil was very black apparently.

Edited by adro
  • Like 4
  • Thanks 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The little bulb will be the tiny little guy used for park lights. This happened to me on my e46 and took a bit of looking to see it on the back of the light housing.  It’s up the top towards the inner edge of the light housing from memory. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...

×
×
  • Create New...