2004 E46 325ci fuel consumption and loud fan

[ajmalola]

hello,

i just bought a car as described above, ive noticed that i average around 13.6l / 100km, i drive city for about 10k's then highway for 5, daily... i get about 420 on a tank.

and the fan seems to be abnormally loud when i accelerate, the problem is compounded when its hot.

oh and do you know of any BMW specialist mechanic in the rosebank, area or wynburg.

Thanks:ty:

 

[Karthik]

Sounds like your car is overheating if the fan is going on too , is your temp gauge over the middle spot ? Cause that's when that louder fan is meant to go on . Also 13.6l is very high , I do 15km driving only in traffic with my 325i and I get 10-12l/100 .

 

[Coisman]

HI there.
My 325i is standing on 12.2l/100, and I drive VERY spiritted... :mmm:

 

[abmi0000]

Hmmm, might wanna consider a V8 with that consumption.

 

[ajmalola]

Sounds like your car is overheating if the fan is going on too , is your temp gauge over the middle spot ? Cause that's when that louder fan is meant to go on . Also 13.6l is very high , I do 15km driving only in traffic with my 325i and I get 10-12l/100 .

the temp gauge is right at the middle,

i also opened the bonnet and spun the fan, it spins smooth, but theres some resistance. is that normal?

---

HI there.
My 325i is standing on 12.2l/100, and I drive VERY spiritted... :mmm:

lol, how many k's do u get on a tank?

 

[Coisman]

Sounds like your car is overheating if the fan is going on too , is your temp gauge over the middle spot ? Cause that's when that louder fan is meant to go on . Also 13.6l is very high , I do 15km driving only in traffic with my 325i and I get 10-12l/100 .

the temp gauge is right at the middle,

i also opened the bonnet and spun the fan, it spins smooth, but theres some resistance. is that normal?

---

HI there.
My 325i is standing on 12.2l/100, and I drive VERY spiritted... :mmm:

lol, how many k's do u get on a tank?

---

Almost NEVER fill her up, only on long trips, and then its totally highway driving, andd then I get about 6.2-6.8l/100km.
I normally only put either R200-R300 petrol in, but will have to check how many km's I get, cause I never check, I just log it in the logbook...

 

[ajmalola]

Sounds like your car is overheating if the fan is going on too , is your temp gauge over the middle spot ? Cause that's when that louder fan is meant to go on . Also 13.6l is very high , I do 15km driving only in traffic with my 325i and I get 10-12l/100 .

the temp gauge is right at the middle,

i also opened the bonnet and spun the fan, it spins smooth, but theres some resistance. is that normal?

---

HI there.
My 325i is standing on 12.2l/100, and I drive VERY spiritted... :mmm:

lol, how many k's do u get on a tank?

---

Almost NEVER fill her up, only on long trips, and then its totally highway driving, andd then I get about 6.2-6.8l/100km.
I normally only put either R200-R300 petrol in, but will have to check how many km's I get, cause I never check, I just log it in the logbook...

---

then theres a prob, highway best ive seen is 10l / 100km... ill take it to a specialist once i find one.

 

[Loom]

i also opened the bonnet and spun the fan, it spins smooth, but theres some resistance. is that normal?

Yes, fans with a viscous clutch should have some resistance.

 

[ajmalola]

i also opened the bonnet and spun the fan, it spins smooth, but theres some resistance. is that normal?

Yes, fans with a viscous clutch should have some resistance.

oh, thanks so thats normal, i figured i should just take it to bmw for an inspection 2.

 

[hanopp]

According to me thats how the 325 roll, i had the 2004 325i Touring, never got more than 420km on a tank, it was always around 13-14km p liter!! I found my 330i lighter on fuel

 

[Dopi]

Is it an automatic or manual, the automatics are much heavier on the juice. Does the fan sound increase with the revs?

 

[moranor@axis]

seems a but heavy to me... i assume its an auto? the manual has an electric fan...

 

[ajmalola]

Is it an automatic or manual, the automatics are much heavier on the juice. Does the fan sound increase with the revs?

its an automatic, so the difference can be explained by that?

yes it does, its even noisier than the exhaust

---

seems a but heavy to me... i assume its an auto? the manual has an electric fan...

you assume correct. any common causes u might know of?

 

[Dopi]

Yes my old e36 325i automatic never went below 14.5 and a friend of mine with a manual got 12 at worst.

If it sounds like this I think its normal
[video=youtube]

 

[ajmalola]

Yes my old e36 325i automatic never went below 14.5 and a friend of mine with a manual got 12 at worst.

If it sounds like this I think its normal
[video=youtube]

cool, never knew u could embed videos :fencelook:

i think its a bit louder than that.

 

[Baron]

I've got a 2004 325ci, Manual.

I had very high fuel consumption when I first got the car, coupled with lack of torque, hesitations, bogging and surging, laggy throttle etc.

After a LOOOONG effort I think I've beaten most of the issues down.
In my case it was:

Vanos seals gone - replaced with Beisan vanos seals - fixed most of the power issues, but fuel consumption better, but not great - around 11 - 12 in heavy traffic.

Got BMW to flash my ECU to a newer version - Fixed laggy throttle, most of the hesitations, much better fuel consumption - 10 - 11 in traffic now.

So I'd suggest you start with the vanos which is a big one, only if you are experiencing any vanos failure symptoms on top of what you describe above.

In between all of that I also did the following, any of which could help your situation:
- Cleaned the MAF (was fine)
- Cleaned ICV and throttle body (were fine)
- Cleaned all electrical connectors and crimped the contacts (no difference)
- Cleaned and inspected DISA valve (was fine)
- Replaced oil with proper synthetic oil from dealership (not sure what was in there before I got the car but it looked nasty)
- Replaced spark plugs (no difference)
- Replaced intake hoses (no difference but old ones had some slight cracks)
- Replaced crankcase ventilation hoses and oil separator (no difference, old ones were fine)
- Replaced vanos solenoids (no difference, old ones were fine)
- Put the car through several OBD diagnostics tools, dealership, gizmo's and my own - NO SERIOUS ERRORS whatsoever throughout the time I've had the car - so dont believe there's nothing wrong just because no errors come up.


There's still some slight bogging and surging and hesitations which I still need to address, but the car is MUCH improved now.
Through process of elimination above, I'm going to try replacing O2 Lambda sensors next.

 

[GoCart]

Hi Guys,
I have a E46 325ci (05) manual, consumption is currently on 8.2l/100km. 70% of my driving is motorway with cruise control at about 130km/h. I normally get 700km on a fill up of just over 58 liters of fuel, I run 95 octane. I always thought that is great consumption for a 6 cylinder.

 

[moranor@axis]

if the low down RPM feels a bit limp at full throttle then its probably Vanos

other things to look at is Maf and O2 sensors...

if you think its Vanos I sell the Beisan kits they definitely work well... 100% positive feed back so far on them :rollsmile:

 

[ajmalola]

I've got a 2004 325ci, Manual.

I had very high fuel consumption when I first got the car, coupled with lack of torque, hesitations, bogging and surging, laggy throttle etc.

After a LOOOONG effort I think I've beaten most of the issues down.
In my case it was:

Vanos seals gone - replaced with Beisan vanos seals - fixed most of the power issues, but fuel consumption better, but not great - around 11 - 12 in heavy traffic.

Got BMW to flash my ECU to a newer version - Fixed laggy throttle, most of the hesitations, much better fuel consumption - 10 - 11 in traffic now.

So I'd suggest you start with the vanos which is a big one, only if you are experiencing any vanos failure symptoms on top of what you describe above.

In between all of that I also did the following, any of which could help your situation:
- Cleaned the MAF (was fine)
- Cleaned ICV and throttle body (were fine)
- Cleaned all electrical connectors and crimped the contacts (no difference)
- Cleaned and inspected DISA valve (was fine)
- Replaced oil with proper synthetic oil from dealership (not sure what was in there before I got the car but it looked nasty)
- Replaced spark plugs (no difference)
- Replaced intake hoses (no difference but old ones had some slight cracks)
- Replaced crankcase ventilation hoses and oil separator (no difference, old ones were fine)
- Replaced vanos solenoids (no difference, old ones were fine)
- Put the car through several OBD diagnostics tools, dealership, gizmo's and my own - NO SERIOUS ERRORS whatsoever throughout the time I've had the car - so dont believe there's nothing wrong just because no errors come up.


There's still some slight bogging and surging and hesitations which I still need to address, but the car is MUCH improved now.
Through process of elimination above, I'm going to try replacing O2 Lambda sensors next.

wow youve put in alot of work, how much does it cost to get vans seals replaced?

i think its that hey, because ive noticed that when im stationery, in drive with my foot on the brake the car seems to shake (convulse) very slightly.

 

[Baron]

I did it myself, and it was quite a bit of work!
Link to thread: http://www.bmwfanatics.co.za/showthread.php?tid=31784


I would make absolutely sure it's not something simpler before you decide to tackle the vanos, maybe have the error codes read on the car and see if there's anything obivously wrong, cleaning the MAF and checking for any vacuum leaks is probably a good place to start.

If you interested in the vanos seal replacement, the exact procedure to follow and what parts are required are here:
http://www.beisansystems.com/procedures/vanos_procedure.htm

As I said, I did it myself, but I'm sure someone like Gizmo could probably do it for you.