320d e46 - Some mods, cosmetics, and some help

[Redups8]

Hi Guys,

To start with some background. This was my late grandads BMW 320d that my dad, uncle and aunt bought for him for his birthday few years back. My grandad fought a long battle with cancer and unfortunatly passed away due to some lung issues he battled with. My younger brother has since inherited the car, but this car has so much sentimental value to us.

Since my brother was 18 when he got the car, these BMW's didn't have the greatest Audio. An INFITY audio upgrade along with a small self powered kenwood sub was recently added just to give a nice over all clarity.

This car as it stands now has 140 000 km on it raise: and still runs like new.

My brother has recently also purchased a RaceChip and we had installed that now. Claims are that it increase power by 25% or something. I myslef cant vouch for 25%, however, there is a noticeable difference and increase in power. Still need to get the car over to the Dyno to see what the figures are.

The vehicle has recently got for new brakes, major service, alignment. At the service, my brother had a complaint of quite a nasty shake in the steering wheel. BMW did some aligning for us but this didnt solve the issue 100%. Turns out... 3 of the 4 rims are bent :bangdesk:. So, new rims are on a list of to do's.

There are a few things that we want to add to the car, but, still try keep a bit of authenticity.

Can someone shed a bit of light on De-cat or exhaust? I have been doing some reading, but mixed reports of doing full free flow and only branches, and this and that. Maybe someone can shed some light. The goal... well, its nice to have a bit of a note while driving, but to get a small gain in power (and from what i read) a longer lasting and more responsive turbo is the goal really.

The list of mods done:

-Audio upgrade.
-RaceChip

Mods to be done:

- Bi-xenon angel eye
- Exhaust de-cat or full system
- e46 Sport or M seats
- e46 M sport steering wheel
- Double din head unit and AC control relocation
- New wheels and tires

Please share advice, comments, etc. It will be highly appreciated

Thanks guys.

Pics below

 

[DieselFan]

You don't have branches on a diesel. You have exhaust mani to turbo to downpipe...

Do a decat remove the on in the downpipe and the ones in mid pipe if your car has.

Google egr delete. Strip egr and clean it.

Oil service every 10 000kms

Is your car auto or manual. Google and see if it has swirl flaps. If it has. This is the main priority to remove them. Mine hadn't failed at 350k kms. But some have had them fail under 100k kms and if they fail your going to drop big money on an engine rebuilt.

If you are doing a bi xenon upgrade I take it you are fitting projects. Do not do it without. contact vsomai on the forum you can find him in the advertisers section. Ask for fx-r projecters. They are better than oem.

I think yuben on the forum is selling his old sports seats forgot if they are sports seats. Or there is another guy forgot his forum nic selling sports seats.

Gizmo is selling a sports steering wheel from an m3 which is the same as a normal sports wheel.

Have your suspension checked. Control arm bushes on the e46's tend to go.

Good luck and enjoy the car.

 

[Redups8]

You don't have branches on a diesel. You have exhaust mani to turbo to downpipe...

Do a decat remove the on in the downpipe and the ones in mid pipe if your car has.

Google egr delete. Strip egr and clean it.

Oil service every 10 000kms

Is your car auto or manual. Google and see if it has swirl flaps. If it has. This is the main priority to remove them. Mine hadn't failed at 350k kms. But some have had them fail under 100k kms and if they fail your going to drop big money on an engine rebuilt.

If you are doing a bi xenon upgrade I take it you are fitting projects. Do not do it without. contact vsomai on the forum you can find him in the advertisers section. Ask for fx-r projecters. They are better than oem.

I think yuben on the forum is selling his old sports seats forgot if they are sports seats. Or there is another guy forgot his forum nic selling sports seats.

Gizmo is selling a sports steering wheel from an m3 which is the same as a normal sports wheel.

Have your suspension checked. Control arm bushes on the e46's tend to go.

Good luck and enjoy the car.

Thanks for the good responses. What benefit does EGR delete have?

With regards to suspension. What do you recommend changing/fixing to improve?

Thanks!

 

[DieselFan]

EGR is exhaust gas recirculator. It vents gasses from the exhaust manifold back into the intake. Your fuel consumption should decrease. You won't get carbon buildup in your intake pipe where the egr valve sits. And the car should smoke less.

You need to look at the cat on a lift. And inspect or have inspected the entire suspension.

How does the car drive? Is it right on he road? Play in steering? Your car is relatively low mileage so don't think much would be wrong yet

 

[Redups8]

The EGR was JUST replaced a month and a half ago :bangdesk: If i knew about the delete earlier would have honestly mentioned to my bro to have it removed rather...:argh:

So with the fixing up after inheriting it, control arms have been replaced as they were also shot. The ride is relatively decent, a bit of play in the wheel but not enough to comlain about i would say. What your view on that? Since the control arm replacement I havent really thrown it around much to see if its any different to before. It was a bit lose on the road before the replacing, but i cant really say until i have properly driven the car around other than to work and back which is 8km of mainly straight road and traffic averaging 50km/h...

Suspension - Im no pro. We dont want to drop too much ride height, but can consider replacing when it comes to that. What is the average life span age and KM wise on the OEM? When replacing. what advice can you share?

Thanks again. Eyes are already opened! :idea:raise:

 

[DieselFan]

Egr could have probably been cleaned. It was probably stuck with carbon build up. No biggy atleast you know it's clean now. So delete it anyway. It's a simple diy.

Play in steering could be tie rods best is to have a trusted mechanic look into the whole suspension. Don't send it to bmw.

They say shocks last 100 000m kms. But I think people get much more off them. My previous e90 was on 140 000kms and the shocks were fine. I would look at overhauling the suspension at 200k kms

 

[Redups8]

The whole EGR exercise cost around R5k...:yuck: so my gut is telling me it was replaced. and it also looks brand new. Will post pic tomorrow.

I will have to google that a bit. Any chance of an error light or code?

Wrt to de-cat. Im thinking that should be next step. What is the cost of that excercise and what do you recommend.

I have to ask - Are you a mechanic/shop owner or just a enthusiast with some knowledge. Im learnig quiet a lot from you thus far :thumbs:

Much appreciated

 

[DieselFan]

Enthusiast. Ah that's a f up. You could of ordered a quality delete kit from the uk for 30 to 50 pounds which gets rid of the valve in the egr which restricts air into the intake. But there is also a simple diy which involves blocking the vacuum pipes of the egr. It is very simple. I would do this first as it would cost you next to nothing.

I paid R800 for decat in the downpipe and R250 for the each of the mid cats. Yours might not have the mid cats. I would do the decat. And then the swirl flap blanks which can be ordered off eBay.

You won't get errors with decat or egr.

 

[Redups8]

If you have any links/or part number of where i cant find the parts from UK that would be awesome!

Can i do de-cat at any exhaust shop? Noiseboyz, Supaquick, etc.?

 

[DieselFan]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-EGR-b...arts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item1c4129dc2c

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-swirl...arts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item1c368e053a

Those are the items I ordered, they are high quality products. And the seller shipped them to me as a gift so I didnt pay customs.

He initially shipped me the plastic blanking plates. And then shipped the correct ones.

That EGR kit is not essential, there are guys who are using the simple method of blocking the vacuum lines and it works fine. Its more of a luxury item. The performance gains are debatable. But logic dictates that this will allow more air into the engine and the flow to remain constant.

Not all exhaust shops will be able to work on downpipes. Best is to create a new thread in the correct section or just the general section asking where to go.