Fellow 320i Owners

[GPGrobler]

Hallo all,

Just calling on fellow 320i E46 owners: what is your opinions and feedback about your cars? How many of you own them on this forum? At the moment I feel quite lonely, does not seem to be a lot of people owning them anymore?

My own input so far: Very happy with the car :bravo: even with the Vanos acting up because of the old seals and I can't wait to see what it does when the Vanos is sorted out.

Thank you in advance for your input.

 

[Cerberus]

Hi there GP!

I saw three on the a N14 today, all in beautiful condition! That being said they do seem to be quite a rarity on the roads these days...I'm actually quite surprised.

I am new on the forum and haven't even introduced myself yet, reason being I don't YET have my 320i E46! I'm getting it in 2 weeks! I love these cars and have wanted one ever since I drove one three years ago. Will post pics once I get it!

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[RAArmstrong]

People are moving towards diesel powered vehicles... So they will become more scarce I think... Lovely cars though :thumbs:

 

[Jandre]

I have owned two of them.

The first was a 2003 sportpack that i bought in 2004. Sold it in 2006. I enjoyed my time with it.

The second one was a 2002 exclusive which i bought in 2013. Had it for a few months only.

 

[freerider]

I loved my 2003 320i, one of the only cars I regret selling. Dr Evil on the forum owns it now.

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[Dr Evil]

I love mine hey, there is definitely something special about the one I got from Freerider.

His for sale ad made me register on the forum and I'm still here 3yrs later


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[GPGrobler]

Cerberus,

Just a few words of caution about your 320i E46:

Make sure there is NO hesitation on pull away, and NO lack of power in the lower revs, otherwise, mostly on these, the VANOS seals are shot.

Make sure the alarm and all electricals, windows, horn indicators, lights, wipers work fine.

Make sure the car does not pull off the centre line under braking or acceleration (suspension bush problems)

Make sure there are no strange noises coming from the suspension.

Make sure you drive the car both when the engine is cold and hot, and drive it more than twice before deciding to buy it.

Make sure the outside temperature sensor works, it shows an almost constant -40 if it does not work, and drives you insane with almost constant beeps while driving with +50 and other funny temp readings when it is not working.

 

[Prev]

I had my E46 320i for 9 years and it has gone to my brother since July last year. They are lovely cars and not too difficult or pricey to maintain. That external temp sensor also affects the aircon when it goes faulty.

There are still some things about the E46 that I miss :=):

 

[Cerberus]

Thanks for the advice! Will look out for those things, it's a 2002 Exclusive (manual) with FSH and 108k kms. Only one previous owner.

I'm having it serviced before I drive it up to Gauteng.

Is the VANOS is quite a pain to repair?

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[RAArmstrong]

Thanks for the advice! Will look out for those things, it's a 2002 Exclusive (manual) with FSH and 108k kms. Only one previous owner.

I'm having it serviced before I drive it up to Gauteng.

Is the VANOS is quite a pain to repair?

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Check this thread out WRT Vanos

http://www.bmwfanatics.co.za/showthread.php?tid=54335

Very informative :thumbs:

 

[GPGrobler]

Does it affect anything else except the aircon, because mine needs regassing, but the centre vent keeps blowing HOT air, does the temp sensot adjust the heater settings as well?

 

[Cerberus]

Sweet thanks! Will bear that in mind.

So far my only major concern is that the car was last serviced in 2010...so definitely needing an oil change! It probably needs a couple of other things, will have to look in the service manual to see what was done. I think it needs to go for Inspection II.

Apparently the previous owner was an old man, good news for me I hope...I guess he just hadn't serviced it because he hadn't done the kilos, although the car service intervals should adapt to the driving style if I'm not mistaken?

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[RAArmstrong]

Car should have an oil service every year or whatever the interval is

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[Cerberus]

Cool.

I'm definitely going to try this:

http://www.bmwfanatics.co.za/showthread.php?tid=47780
M54 reset your throttle adaptations in 20 seconds

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[GPGrobler]

I give my E30 M40 engine an oil service every three months. 285000 km's and still pulling like a train. :thumbs:

 

[Prev]

Does it affect anything else except the aircon, because mine needs regassing, but the centre vent keeps blowing HOT air, does the temp sensot adjust the heater settings as well?

Not as far as I know. When the external temp sensor goes faulty it will register a reading of -40 or something ridiculous. Only when that sensor registers -8 or higher temp will the aircon compressor kick in. If you drive on the open freeway you will see the readings change and probably get the compressor to kick in if you drive on that open freeway for long enough. The ext temp sensor is located in the front bumper on the left hand side. It is clipped on there. Sometimes that can come loose and affect readings so some people mount the sensor elsewhere. By doing this it may affect the external temp readings by a few degrees but not to the point of affecting your aircon.

In terms of electrical trouble shooting. Check the earth wire that is secured to a nut on the RHS front indicator. I had an occasion when that nut came loose and everytime I switched the fogs on my hooter would go off but not at full volume :bangdesk: and it would trigger a lights out warning on the dash. Took a while to figure out but after securing that earth wire properly all electrical was 100% again.

 

[GPGrobler]

I'm just wondering if it records -40, won't it want to heat the interior of the car?

 

[Prev]

I'm just wondering if it records -40, won't it want to heat the interior of the car?

Mine didn't trigger the heater :thumbs:

 

[Philip Foglar]

In early 2011 I bought my Wife the E46 320i Exclusive manual, it's a 2003 model and at the time it had 152k km on the clock and had iirc 2 previous owners already. My Wife thoroughly loves this car and currently with just over 180k km I reckon the engine is only just fully 'run-in'!!

As with the other M54 motors, they tend to develop oil leaks around the valve cover gasket and the oil filter housing gasket. Have since replaced both gaskets and along with the valve cover gasket, the best thing since sliced bread is to replace the Vanos seals with the Beisan Systems parts!

The nice thing about the E46 range is that there are so many well documented DIY's, and most things are very easy if you have the necessary tools and patience etc. I still maintain that the M54 engine range is the gem of the engines in the E46 range, and if looked after properly, will last very long!

Give it fresh oil every 10k km or once a year (whichever comes first) and the engine will thank over time - especially if it has already been subjected to the normal lengthy BMW service intervals in the past! Hopefully you can catch it before the beginnings of sludge build-up!!

 

[Cerberus]

They are wonderful cars! In not very experienced when it comes to DIY and sadly I don't have a garage at the moment so doing work on the car will only be possible on sunny weekends (should invest in some tools soon, and find a good mech in Pretoria).

If the oil in the car is 4 years old is it highly likely that sludge buildup is present? Does desludging form part of a regular service?

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