My Wife's '03 E46 320i - work in progress (DIY wherever possible)

[Philip Foglar]

Okay, so just over a month since I bought this car and still very happy with the purchase, there are still loads of things that I want to attend to. Will post all progress in this thread.

Within the first week of getting the car I had the two front lower control arm bushes replaced and all other bushes checked seemed fine. Alignment was done too.

Had a set of 17" wheels fitted (well, returned since the one was supplied with a very bad buckle), so running on the original 16" wheels until I get another set of 17" wheels - new Hankook Ventus V12 EVO's to be fitted again...

Earlier this week noticed that the right headlight was out, replaced both front headlight bulbs with the Osram Night Breakers - definitely brighter and whiter than the original Philips bulbs.

This evening replaced the power steering fluid - was a bit low and quite dirty. Also hoping that the power steering will now be quieter, but have a feeling that I will still need to just replace the power steering pump... Will update!

Still to do:

9k km till next service, but will have the oil and filter changed in due course anyway.

I want to replace the various cooling system items, expansion tank, water pump etc.

Handbrake needs to be adjusted or relined - seems a bit weak...

Both front window mechanisms need to be replaced, the rear window mechanisms seem to be fine though.

Clutch shudders a bit when cold, so if this starts to get worse will have to think about having this done most likely.

Brakes are still fine, but at some point will replace disks and pads.

Shocks are fine, but need to have them properly tested and replaced if necessary.

Want to have all bushes checked again - second opinion to find the cause of the "thud" sound between some gear changes or when engaging a gear at standstill.

So still very much a work in progress, but worth it! Much better than some silly econobox!!! :thumbsup:

Anything else I should be doing?

Philip

 

[zaleonardz]

I feel the same, my wife's also still has some nigglies, but much better and cheaper then buying her some entry level toyota..

Cant think of much onto your list, except perhaps gearbox flush.... I would do the oil flush now and at 9k again, just to make sure its sludge free. Will cost you about R700 with filter and Liqui Moly...

Things for the future, look at plugs, look at coil packs (expensive at R250 and you have 6)
Vanos solenoid seals ?
Cabin filter,
Clean Maf with Maf cleaner...

 

[Philip Foglar]

I feel the same, my wife's also still has some nigglies, but much better and cheaper then buying her some entry level toyota..

Cant think of much onto your list, except perhaps gearbox flush.... I would do the oil flush now and at 9k again, just to make sure its sludge free. Will cost you about R700 with filter and Liqui Moly...

Things for the future, look at plugs, look at coil packs (expensive at R250 and you have 6)
Vanos solenoid seals ?
Cabin filter,
Clean Maf with Maf cleaner...

Thanks! Was thinking about doing an engine oil flush, just never done this before, so a little unsure, but I reckon if done properly and with the right stuff can't really go wrong. Same with the gearbox.

I need to get the car connected to see if any codes come up, but other wise seems fine. Was thinking about the coil packs and cleaning the MAF - been looking through a linked E46WiKi page which does seem to have lots of valuable info. Any locally available that one can use to clean the MAF?

But yes, even though this car has a little over 150k km on the clock I reckon her life has only just started - as far as general maintenance I want to do as much as I can myself, but will leave the more technical stuff for a trained mech to do!

 

[Sith]

Perhaps check the diff seal for "sweating"? It's not uncommon, and not normally a problem, but could be worth having a look. This will also give you the chance to change the oil. I think it's one of those "sealed for life" items that I don't believe is right. They say that, but it's far cheaper to change oil then replace a diff.

 

[XMAX]

Okay, so just over a month since I bought this car and still very happy with the purchase, there are still loads of things that I want to attend to. Will post all progress in this thread.

Within the first week of getting the car I had the two front lower control arm bushes replaced and all other bushes checked seemed fine. Alignment was done too.

Had a set of 17" wheels fitted (well, returned since the one was supplied with a very bad buckle), so running on the original 16" wheels until I get another set of 17" wheels - new Hankook Ventus V12 EVO's to be fitted again...

Earlier this week noticed that the right headlight was out, replaced both front headlight bulbs with the Osram Night Breakers - definitely brighter and whiter than the original Philips bulbs.

This evening replaced the power steering fluid - was a bit low and quite dirty. Also hoping that the power steering will now be quieter, but have a feeling that I will still need to just replace the power steering pump... Will update!

Still to do:

9k km till next service, but will have the oil and filter changed in due course anyway.

I want to replace the various cooling system items, expansion tank, water pump etc.

Handbrake needs to be adjusted or relined - seems a bit weak...

Both front window mechanisms need to be replaced, the rear window mechanisms seem to be fine though.

Clutch shudders a bit when cold, so if this starts to get worse will have to think about having this done most likely.

Brakes are still fine, but at some point will replace disks and pads.

Shocks are fine, but need to have them properly tested and replaced if necessary.

Want to have all bushes checked again - second opinion to find the cause of the "thud" sound between some gear changes or when engaging a gear at standstill.

So still very much a work in progress, but worth it! Much better than some silly econobox!!! :thumbsup:

Anything else I should be doing?

Philip

Once again, Congrats on a great car.

The handbrake is easy enough. get a size 10 socket, remove the handbrake boot, and tighten the 2 size ten nuts. this will adjust your handbrake.

in my humble opinion (please dont kak me out for this) with 9k km left on the clock, i suggest a service. Check when last the plugs and filters were changed and get that done if needed. 9k km left means that the car has done about 16k km. Although BMW service intervals are meant to be 25k km, im not all too comfortable waiting for that full period. I would generally re service at 15k or stretching it, at 25k km. just my opinion.

It will be a good idea to change the water pump along with the other parts. I know that some people wont have problems with the water pump for 300k km. but I have failure at 135k km. So just be weary.


Maybe also check the brake fluid. Sometimes its a good idea to flush out the brake fluid.

 

[scienide]

pics?? :excited:

 

[habmwlo]

any pictures will be good to show all the changes

 

[scienide]

:spit:

^^^ banned so quick?

 

[Philip Foglar]

Thanks for all the replies and suggestions! LOL, must have been a spambot or some lost soul... :thinking:

When I had the suspension bushes checked I had a look around underneath the car and I didn't see any sweating around the diff, but will have that properly checked - also not very keen on the sealed for life idea. I think the main reason many manufacturers do this is simply to prevent the chance for muck getting in during a sloppy oil change.

Will give the handbrake adjustment a bash, sounds simple enough - how will I be able to tell the condition of the fiction material?

No, I agree, the oil change intervals are way too stretched out for my liking - also don't do such high mileage per year so I would rather replace oil more frequently.

With the cooling system I'd rather replace the "usual suspects" than have my Wife stuck on the side of the road one day.

Brake fluid flush is also a good idea! Thanks!

Can definitely add pics as I go along. Will take some showing the basic process I followed to replace the power steering fluid.

Philip

 

[Sankekur]

I would just like to add that when doing the handbrake, just do a search for the proper way to do it, and don't just tighten the bolts under the boot, as you need to make adjustments on the drums as well (yes all e46s have drums at the back).

 

[Philip Foglar]

Thanks! Will do. Drums as in for the handbrake and therefore not related to the rear disks which I suspected. Either way will investigate this before attempting this - I prefer to know what I am doing before making matters worse! :thumbsup:

 

[andrewbuch]

I would just like to add that when doing the handbrake, just do a search for the proper way to do it, and don't just tighten the bolts under the boot, as you need to make adjustments on the drums as well (yes all e46s have drums at the back).

You can do slight adjustments from under the lever.. but nothing major..

Thanks! Will do. Drums as in for the handbrake and therefore not related to the rear disks which I suspected. Either way will investigate this before attempting this - I prefer to know what I am doing before making matters worse! :thumbsup:

Its not as simple as it sounds, but still easy for a DIY...

Will try find my post on it now now...

---

Hope this helps, its for E36 but should be similar

http://www.bmwfanatics.co.za/showthread.php?tid=7970&highlight=E36+handbrake

 

[Sankekur]

Yeah you can make small adjustment to the handbrake with the bolts, but don't use it solely to tighten the handbrake, as it could eventually lead to stretched cables, which is not a good thing.

For those that are interested, this is what the parking brake looks like on an e46:

This stuff is fitted inside the hub of the rear disc, acting like drum for just for the purpose of the park brake.

Number for is the thing that you should be using to adjust the parking brake (Adjusting screw).

 

[Philip Foglar]

Okay, that is good to know! This is why I love this forum! So if adjusting is not suitable because of the chance of stretching the cable, replacing the shoes or lining would be the way to go... Thanks for the info!

 

[Sankekur]

Just check before you replace.

 

[Philip Foglar]

Will do, it seems very weak in general so I wondering if it hasn't been adjusted as much as possible already - will have to check it out first and see.

 

[Philip Foglar]

Okay, so taking things from a side while the situation with buckled wheels continues... (other story altogether!!!)

Noises from the engine bay being attended to. As mentioned before, "flushed" and replaced the power steering fluid which helped quieten the noises from the power steering, but not all the noises...

Isolated the noises to be coming from the serpentine belt pre-tensioner and idler pulleys. So replaced with new parts (not OEM, but good quality generics, so I hope).

Here's the before:
[video=youtube]

And here's the after:
[video=youtube]

The two culprits - front and then rear of them both (idler on the left and pre-tensioner on the right):

Between my father and in law and myself this was a fairly easy job aside from an aluminium washer/spacer from the idler that fell into the engine bay onto the tray under the engine - aluminium IS NOT attracted to magnets, so this eventually meant undoing all the bits underneath to remove the under trays!!! Other than that was just a bit fiddly and working around the belt tensioning was a bit tricky even with the pre-tensioner removed, so getting the belt back onto the new idler was a bit of a battle - I'm sure there must be a way to reduce the tension, but got it done in the end.

More to follow, eventually!

 

[zaleonardz]

Fantastic work Philip,

She is in good hands..

 

[Philip Foglar]

Thanks!! :thumbsup:

I think I am still going to have to replace the power steering pump at some point - still a bit noisy. But overall the engine sounds the way it should now. And hey, looks like I finally have a set of wheels for the car!!! It's been more than a month on and off with various wheels that all seemed to be pretty much duds! So now I can really focus on the more important things that all need to be attended - oil change, water system, handbrake adjustment/replacement.

So coming along nicely, and now almost two months since I bought the car still most impressed and happy with my purchase!

Will continue to update this thread from time to time of course.

 

[Philip Foglar]

Okay, been a while since I update this. From earlier today:

Slowly building up a nice collection of tools. These are just the tools bought over the last couple of months. Today went and bought another trolley jack to compliment the one I bought a while ago.

Of course the reason for the tools on display was that I decided to do an oil and filter change for my Wife's car.

Drove the car onto some wooden planks to raise the car a little and then used the two trolley jacks to evenly lift the car (used the chassis hard-points with flat pieces of wood) and then placed the jack stands at the normal jack points. Drained the oil and then discovered that I did not have a 36mm socket for the filter cover! Off to builders only to find that the only 36mm they had was a Gedore, and not Mastercraft. Wasn't sure if it would fit with the Mastercraft tools, so bought a Gedore sliding T-Handle just in case. First checked to see if it fitted the Mastercraft T-Handle which it did, so later on returned for refund. Also replaced the air filter and for good measure, fitted Osram Night-breakers for the high beams - already fitted for the low beams...

Very satisfying, and bar the cost of the tools bought, the cost of the service worked out to less than R700. Ended up using Castrol SLX 5W30 - oil and air filters bought from Midas, so those people who snigger and always say that BMW's are expensive to maintain... LOL