E46 330i - Maintenance

[firaz]

Hi Guys,

Been meaning to do this for a while now.

To put everyone in the picture I really love the E46 330i. I'm currenty driving a 2004 330i 6 speed sportpack, which was purchased at 85000 km from Club Motors Pretoria. Prior to this I owned a 2002 5 speed individual.

Well the objective of this thread is to list all the parts that have been replaced on this vehicle since new, to help guide both current and potential owners of the abovementioned vehicle as to what could potentially go wrong and what maintenance costs could be incurred.

It should be noted that the car is predominantly serviced at the dealerships, namely Auto Glen and that I seldom drive the vehicle hard ( I average 8l/100km with 70% freeway driving and the rest stop/start)

Parts/Services under Motorplan:
1) At 25 184 km - Oil service, Horn Contacts
2) At 50 015 km - Inspection 1, Wipers, Headlight housing connections, Floating headliner.
3) At 68 351 km - Xenon headlights control unit
4) At 73 599 km - Oil service, coolant flush, brake fluid flush
5) At 80 344 km - Front and rear brake pads
6) At 96 166 km - Inspection 2, Thermostat, Rear tail light contacts, bulbs and plugs
7) At 99 064 km - 2 rears tyres - Conti SC3 245/40/17's
8) At 99 318 km - RHS fuel pump
9) At 99 726 km - Rear suspension rubber mounts.

Since expiry of Motorplan:
1) At 102 778 km - Brake fluid flush, fuel filter and 1 injector.
2) At 122 454 km - Oil service, 6 ignition coils.
3) At 149 223 km - Inspection 1, Wiper blades, Front brake discs and pads, Rear pads, Brake fluid flush, Rear light contacts, bulbs and plugs
4) At 149 300 km - Meyle HD LCAB's purchased from incomex and fitted by the one and only Gizmo (Must add that he's one awesome fellow, knows his stuff and extremely helpful)
5) At 149 350 km - 2 x 225/45/17's Conti SC3 and 2 x 245/40/17's Conti SC3's (that was today).

Let's hope that this info is helpful to the users out there.
I plan to update this thread as and when I replace more parts as my aim is to use this vehicle for a long, long time.

To do list:
1) Expansion tank
2) Full exhaust system including manifold
3) Chip/flashing of ECU

Regards,
Firaz

 

[AdiS]

Thanks man, really great info. You have a stunning example


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[firaz]

Thanks man, really great info. You have a stunning example


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No problem AdiS, I had you in mind when drafting this thread!

 

[520ebi]

:thumbs:

 

[abmi0000]

:thumbs:

 

[AdiS]

Interesting that you had to replace an injector. A colleague had to replace one this week on his z4 as well (180 000km). I've never heard of these failing on the petrol motors?

EDIT: Also, maybe add belts and pulleys to your list of preventive ?

 

[XMAX]

thanks for this. it will definitely help alot of the 330i owners.

 

[firaz]

Interesting that you had to replace an injector. A colleague had to replace one this week on his z4 as well (180 000km). I've never heard of these failing on the petrol motors?

EDIT: Also, maybe add belts and pulleys to your list of preventive ?

http://www.bmwfanatics.co.za/showthread.php?tid=6599
That's the link relating to the injectors.

Will have the belts and pulleys checked out when the car goes for its next service, everything seems fine for now. Even Gizmo gave the vehicle the thumbs up...

 

[Gizmo]

Very nice 330i package you have there, keep it in tip top condition.:thumbs:

 

[Yuben]

Great thread, I will be picking up my 330i this week.
With 112000km on the clock so far, next service is in 15500km according to the service indicator.
Is there anything that I need to check up as soon as I take delivery, with that mileage already covered, or do I just wait until the next service.

Any advice is welcome.

 

[LordPhoenix]

Great thread, I will be picking up my 330i this week.
With 112000km on the clock so far, next service is in 15500km according to the service indicator.
Is there anything that I need to check up as soon as I take delivery, with that mileage already covered, or do I just wait until the next service.

Any advice is welcome.

As a safety. Overhaul the cooling system. They seem to be very weak on the e46.

 

[Yuben]

Great thread, I will be picking up my 330i this week.
With 112000km on the clock so far, next service is in 15500km according to the service indicator.
Is there anything that I need to check up as soon as I take delivery, with that mileage already covered, or do I just wait until the next service.

Any advice is welcome.

As a safety. Overhaul the cooling system. They seem to be very weak on the e46.

What does that entail?
Just coolant and thermostat or radiator and pipes as well?

 

[SP33DYV]

I would start with the expansion tank and cap. And the thermostat of course. The radiator usually gets a hairline crack where the top of the expansion tank connects, and I will only replace the radiator when that happens.

 

[Yuben]

I would start with the expansion tank and cap. And the thermostat of course. The radiator usually gets a hairline crack where the top of the expansion tank connects, and I will only replace the radiator when that happens.

Excuse my ignorance, but I'm assumingthe expansion tank is the water bottle.

 

[SP33DYV]

I would start with the expansion tank and cap. And the thermostat of course. The radiator usually gets a hairline crack where the top of the expansion tank connects, and I will only replace the radiator when that happens.

Excuse my ignorance, but I'm assumingthe expansion tank is the water bottle.

Yes. Expansion tank = fancy word for pressurised water bottle.:thumbs:

 

[firaz]

Hi Guys,

Just a update.

Been almost a year since anything needed to be done on the car.

Car went in for an oil service today, at 176 500km.
Changed the microfilter as well, and replaced the expansion tank.
Fitted a new windscreen, and the car is moving just as the day as I got it.

Ps, apparently BMW now using Fuchs fully synthetic oils instead of Castrol.

Regards,

 

[Philip Foglar]

Glad to hear she is still in good order!! The oil varies from dealer to dealer... :thumbs:

 

[Bavs108]

Nice thread:thumbs: My car is currently sitting on 136600km. Bought it with 116000km 7 months ago:yuck: So far I've done the following:

118000 - Replaced brake disks and pads all round with ATE's.
119000 - Oil Service, brake fluid and coolant flush. Hasn't used a drop of oil since.
121000 - 2 New 245/40/17 Conti SC 3's for the rear - There's about 40-50% tread left after 4 months and I hardly ever drive my car hard:yuck: Awesome tyres though:thumbs:
126000 - Replaced the main belt - Preventative as I could see some hairline cracks on it. At the same time I did the CDV delete mod.
129000 - Expansion tank cracked. Had the car towed and replaced with a new OEM tank.

That's about it. 7500km to next service which should be Inspection 1.

On my to do list is a Decat, but I'm still trying to find the time to research this thoroughly before I go ahead with it. Will maybe do it with my next service. I'm also considering adding a sub and amp, but I want to do this as discretely as possible.

 

[Yuben]

Guys, just a few questions for E46 330i owners:
How often do you change your plugs?
I'm now doing 130000km and it was last changed at 86000km in May 2008:fencelook:
That was the last inspection service, and it's now due for an inspection service again.
I'm gonna change the mandatory filters, plus the thermostat which looks like it has a leak:thumbdo:.
I also want to replace the water pump since the original one is now 10 years old.
Would you advise changing the plugs at this service?
I'm also changing the fuel filter, since it was never changed:nonono:
The expansion tank was replaced as soon as I bought this awesome machine at 112000km in Aug 2012.
Is there anything I'm leaving out?
Brakes are fine, but it seems to be using too much oil for my liking.
Might need to investigate if there's a leak
Over to BMW Hospital aka Gizmo:joy:

 

[firaz]

Guys, just a few questions for E46 330i owners:
How often do you change your plugs?
I'm now doing 130000km and it was last changed at 86000km in May 2008:fencelook:
That was the last inspection service, and it's now due for an inspection service again.
I'm gonna change the mandatory filters, plus the thermostat which looks like it has a leak:thumbdo:.
I also want to replace the water pump since the original one is now 10 years old.
Would you advise changing the plugs at this service?
I'm also changing the fuel filter, since it was never changed:nonono:
The expansion tank was replaced as soon as I bought this awesome machine at 112000km in Aug 2012.
Is there anything I'm leaving out?
Brakes are fine, but it seems to be using too much oil for my liking.
Might need to investigate if there's a leak
Over to BMW Hospital aka Gizmo:joy:

Plugs are changed at Inspection 2, which is every 100 000 km or so.
I would recommend changing the fuel filter.
What do you mean by too much oil?
I generally top up abt 400 ml between 25 000km services, that is about every 10 000km.
Although I'm now going to try and do an oil service every 12 500km or so.
My thermostat was changed at approximately 100 000km.

Hope that helps!