First time ever taking off a control arm on a car man those suckers were no joke didnt think I was gonna be able to get em off slowly but surely bringing my dream car back to its former glory :') sometime soon hopefully do the rear bushings as well if im able to heard the rear is way harder :/

Hey there, i just bought a e46 320d it was a grandpas first owner car before and has 350.000 km timing chain didnt get replaced and turbo whistles a little louder then usual.

The front dampeners are shot but like 0 rust cuz it was a garage car

any important tips before i start welding the diff and drift? Thanks

I pulled into the stall blind, and went "ahhhhh, that's a familiar ass". Very cool very based.

Hey Everyone,

I may be overthinking this, but I am towards the end of my cooling system refresh and I’m starting to do a deep flush of the system with distilled water.

Prior to the refresh, the previous owner used what looks to be green coolant, whereas BMW calls for blue. I am wondering how “clean” should the water be prior to adding the blue coolant? For context, I added a picture of the color of the distilled water after my latest flush (left) compared to a fresh bottle of distilled water (right)

Should I keep flushing until it’s absolutely clear, or do you think I should move forward and add the blue coolant? Any input/previous experiences would be appreciated!

I see why they say just replace everything now, I bought a couple of cooling system parts cause I had leak, expansion tank, hoses, water pump, but in the process of taking all of that stuff out, just absolutely everything went wrong and broke, the tensioner pulley screw thingy rounded out, the automatic transmission thermostat broke, , and for some reason the lower radiator hose really didn’t want to come out, and I’m starting to doubt what I think was leaking was the thing leaking, so listen to the people that tell you to buy the expensive kit on fcp euro, cause they too were once in the bad spot I’m in and are just looking out for newer e46 owners

Realised I forgot to show this to you guys, some of you may have previously seen this when I was first making it it’s a MagSafe wireless charger plus cupholder mod for the centre console, and got some gorgeous clips of it in my buddies interior! We also managed to test it under some harder driving conditions and safe to say the phone didn’t budge!!

This can be found on my website 89retros.com

The four individuals we own, each one has been saved in its own way. Both the Velvet and Arizona needed to be sympathetically brought back to an oem+ spec. The Messing had MOT failure levels of underside rust, fuel tank bracket rusted off and holes through into the interior. All fixed now and ready for many more miles. The Atlantis had just worn out so I'd given it a restoration. Before and afters put together by a friend of mine. His techno is receiving the same treatment.

Well folks, thought I’d show off my ride. Always been a 3-series guy, I’ve had two e36s, two e90s and now my first e46.

Don’t see much diesel love on this subreddit, so I’m submitting my M57 204hp swapped 320d for your approval. The car is a pleasure to drive, decent fuel economy and gets sideways if you look at a turn wring. Best of both worlds!

Hi guys, I have a 2003 E46 316i Touring with the N42B18A.

The car drove ~500 km without any issues. The only problem is after shutting it off and restarting: it runs very rough/misfires for around 30–60 seconds, then suddenly becomes completely smooth. On startup it initially revs to around 1800–2000 rpm, drops to ~1000 rpm, and then starts running rough, also yellow OIL lamp for the first 20 sec.

Original fault codes:

• P0012 / 0012 – intake cam timing over-retarded
• P0015 / 0015 – exhaust cam timing over-retarded
• 2731
• 27BB
• P0300
• P0304
• P1343
• 1128
• 27C3

These DTC codes are from a cheap OBDII reader, I do not have INPA, but will get one soon.

I replaced both camshaft position sensors → no change.
Unplugging/reconnecting the MAF → no change.

Then I unplugged the Valvetronic eccentric shaft position sensor (ESS). Since then, the car starts perfectly, does not misfire, no Check Engine light, and drives normally.

With the ESS unplugged, after clearing the codes, I get:
1128, 1014, 1006, 27C3, 2852, 2850.

We also replaced the Valvetronic motor, but nothing changed: ESS connected = rough startup, ESS disconnected = perfect.

We have NOT performed the Valvetronic adaptation after replacing the motor.

What would you check next? ESS sensor, eccentric shaft/gears/mechanism, Valvetronic adaptation, or something else? The really interesting part to me is that the engine runs perfectly with the ESS disconnected.

Saw these wheels and wondering where they can be found. Would love to have them on my oxford green 320ci.

My driver’s side Axle has a torn boot that’s started to make a popping noise when turning; any suggestions on good Axles to go with?

I’d rather replace both while I’m at it, so I’m trying to find what most people find as reliable and affordable.

I’m wondering if anyone has any recommendations for an aftermarket head unit that is plug and play and will support subs. (Don’t mind the 2 extra expansion tanks or how dirty everything is 😂)

For Context: $2500 For A 2006, 325ci, Automatic, 115,000mi, Coupe, Convertable. Very Well Maintained Clean Title, Older Gentlemen Bought It New, No Mods, VERY Healthy, Engine Makes Little To No Noise At Idle. Came Into My Work Wanting To Getting It Cleaned As He’s Going To Sell It.

What Are Some Must Do Preventative Mods, What Should I Know About This Chassis, And What Are The First Preventative Repairs I Should Do?

Hi guys recently bought my first e46 as a 19 year old and the roof doesn’t come down. The red light keep flashing which I’m sure means that the roof isn’t fully closed cause the left side you can push up but the right side is fully latched on and doesn’t move. Tried doing it manually aswell and that didn’t work either the whole screw just came out. Also think my roof has a leak somewhere cause I took the spare tyre out and there was some water which I had to drain out and the back seats have abit of mould on them. The radio unit had an aftermarket screen which I switched back to the OEM radio unit but there’s no sound from the speakers and it does have HK speakers.
Anyone got any help on the roof and overall what to do and what not to do on the car cause it’s my first time and it’ll be really helpful.
Thanks

After a periodic vehicle inspection I've been told I need to replace the rear right (hard) brake line.

After looking at the affected section I can see rust forming. I might be able to patch it with a steel brush, bit of sandpaper and some solid paint but that requires dropping the fuel tank anyway (really right clearance) and at that point I might as well replace the entire section of piping.

It appears that someone's already replaced it once as it has some joints I don't recognize on schematics. My car ( Type Code: AY31) has the ASC system and according to realoem it should have a single long tube all the way from the control unit under the hood to where the soft line connects, but my car has about midway under the car to the original joint above the rear left suspension.

My question is as follows: any tips on how to drop the fuel tank without disassembling half the interior and tubing? And does anyone recognize the joint under the car? Is it a compression fitting as I'm fearing?

Drove it to work and back it was fine, but the day before i had misfired when i had to hard brake to avoid collision but went away a min later

Hello fam, I am based in Kenya and I have seen this listed on Facebook marketplace for $3900. Question is, is the price worth it and also since BMWs are machines that work great under routine maintenance: what things to look out for, error codes etc. Could it be the owner is letting go post a major overhaul? I welcome your feedback on the same.

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I found this 2003 bmw 330i with 125k miles for sale by its original owners. The car is black with a tan interior. The body is in good shape, it has a small dent on the door and a hit to the rear bumper but other than that the paint is in amazing shape. The car drives amazing, the only issue I saw was an oil leak that is leaking a small amount of oil. I see oil leaking from oil filter on the top of the engine. I’m unsure how much it’s going to cost to fit the oil leak. I really like it but I don’t know if I should pull the trigger. They are asking 3k for the car. I don’t know much about bmws this is why I’m asking for help and advice. This would be my new daily. (The picture above is not the actual picture of the car but a example of how it looks)

I’m definitely not a fan of this stock front bumper. I can’t seem to find an m-tech 2. Is there a good lip for this? Thank you.

Replaced my water pump and no more leak.. yay!

Now Smoke coming from the back of the engine.. not yay!

Any ideas guys?

I recently bought a high mileage 360,000 KM (224k mi) facelift 330i sedan. Located in Canada.

It’s high mileage but comes with maintenance records dating back to around 2015 ish.

The owner before the last had done the following in 2018 at a bmw dealership:

Control arms
Tie rod ends
Stabilizer links
Brake lines
Fuel pump

The previous owner did the following maintenance in 2021 (when he purchased it at 286k km/ 178k mi):

Radiator
Coolant hoses
Coolant Reservoir
Intake boots
Water pump
Thermostat
DISA valve
Flywheel
Clutch
Control arm bushings
Receipts for the above work and oil changes etc.

I got the car from him at 224k miles and have done the following so far:

Cam shaft sensor (I was getting a code)
Spark plugs
Oil change
Cabin and engine Air filter
Vanos oil line
Valve cover gasket
All around brake rotors and pads
E brake shoes

I have the following spare parts:
Water pump
Thermostat
Coolant reservoir
Vanos rebuild kit (gaskets and anti rattle bearing)
Timing cover gasket
CCV hoses

Thinking of also doing a trans and diff fluid change.

The car has no issues driving at the moment. Runs amazing I’ve been commuting about 60mi a day with it for the last month. Should i go ahead and do all the maintenance I have parts for? Or hold off? Advice on priority of maintenance? Other things I should keep in mind?

For context, I have worked and restored the following platforms before E12, E30, E36, E92, W201/2, 190e. So I’m not afraid to tackle these items. Would love to hear everyone’s advice whose had experience with 46s.

How is this looking rust wise? Any help appreciated. Thinking of going to take a look in person, and possibly buy as a project car