My BMW E46 330i Sport
Discussion
Little Update:
I've done over a 1000 miles in the car now. It's just getting better and better. I discovered the butterfly valve in the exhaust was seized shut meaning I was running on one pipe, so I sorted it out so it's now stuck open which as a result means it sounds damn fantastic everywhere, even crackles and pops a little on the overun.
Last owner certainly never opened it up often, felt really restricted at the top end, but now after some V-Power and a few good runs it really shifts down a road. Only just found out that when EVO tested in a while back they got a 0-60mph time of 5.9seconds. Seriously impressed.
So far the only thing I've got for it is a new front badge to replace the old worn one. My ebay fault code reader software is on the way so I will address the airbag fault code next.
Last thing to mention is fuel economy, in town I'm getting 17mpg. But amazingly I've matched BMWs claimed 40mpg on some longer runs being very good with that usually lead-based foot of mine. Normal for motorway driving is around 32mpg. Pretty pleased with that.
More updates to come....
I've done over a 1000 miles in the car now. It's just getting better and better. I discovered the butterfly valve in the exhaust was seized shut meaning I was running on one pipe, so I sorted it out so it's now stuck open which as a result means it sounds damn fantastic everywhere, even crackles and pops a little on the overun.
Last owner certainly never opened it up often, felt really restricted at the top end, but now after some V-Power and a few good runs it really shifts down a road. Only just found out that when EVO tested in a while back they got a 0-60mph time of 5.9seconds. Seriously impressed.
So far the only thing I've got for it is a new front badge to replace the old worn one. My ebay fault code reader software is on the way so I will address the airbag fault code next.
Last thing to mention is fuel economy, in town I'm getting 17mpg. But amazingly I've matched BMWs claimed 40mpg on some longer runs being very good with that usually lead-based foot of mine. Normal for motorway driving is around 32mpg. Pretty pleased with that.
More updates to come....
james_gt3rs said:
Lovely car, lovely colour! How much was the insurance?
Ummm enough A price I hope to never have to pay again. But still worth every penny.It was a nice colour, it's now a sort of brown on blue colour. Not keen on keeping a gleaming BMW in dodgy little city side streets. It will be making an appearance at the PHSS at Silverstone after it's had a nice long bath.
petrolveins said:
james_gt3rs said:
Lovely car, lovely colour! How much was the insurance?
Ummm enough A price I hope to never have to pay again. But still worth every penny.It was a nice colour, it's now a sort of brown on blue colour. Not keen on keeping a gleaming BMW in dodgy little city side streets. It will be making an appearance at the PHSS at Silverstone after it's had a nice long bath.
Poko said:
james_gt3rs said:
I'll take a guess then. £3500?
£2k iirc The Crack Fox said:
One of the two pipes should remain shut until a certain RPM, although plenty of owners jam it open to enjoy the sound, take care if/when we get a smattering of snow as these are crap in bad conditions. I've enjoyed owning mine, trip reads 29.7MPG over the last 20k miles of enthusastic driving. I hope you enjoy yours
My valve was seized shut so it needed freeing up. Best thing I've done to the car, it's like having a new exhaust. Sounds amazing in tunnels too. I'm not expecting good things with 255 rear sections and real drive in the snow. As for fuel, I need to calculate my total averages at some point. Be interesting to see.ETA
Bugger! Just calculated my overall mpg over the last 1200 miles.... 22.9mpg. Oops, that'll be the city driving and new car fever doing that.
Edited by petrolveins on Thursday 2nd February 07:39
sparks_E39 said:
If you do a lot of town driving don't expect much more than the MPG you get now, thirsty buggers they are!
It's the combination of traffic, a set of traffic lights into a 50 zone and a nice bridge I go under everyday on my way to uni. I'm actually loving how filthy it is at the moment. Might just never ever wash it.
DanielJames said:
petrolveins said:
Yeah Parkers price guide said about £5300 is what I should pay. But in all fairness it's not perfect. The airbag light comes on and off intermittently, so I'm suspecting loose connection somewhere. Common problem I know. Also it needs one new parking sensor, so those don't work, and I need to get a new key for it. But touch wood mechanically it seems all good. Oh and I need to replace the front badge and possibly give the wheels a refurb at some point. Currently I'm sorting out the airbag light, ordering a new key, and some BMW plates for it. Pleased as punch though.
Sounds familiar, my parking sensors are hit and miss and the airbag light likes to flash with passengers..BMW electronics ey!!
I seem to remember reading that the airbag light flashing is a common fault; any idea what causes it?
Clivey said:
Thirded! I also need to look at my parking sensors and the airbag light had started to illuminate with passengers, but since Wednesday it's decided to stay on. Bugger.
I seem to remember reading that the airbag light flashing is a common fault; any idea what causes it?
90% of the the time I'm told it's the passenger occupancy sensor, which can be fixed yourself with a part that costs £10 from ebay, and bypasses the sensor. But can be many other things.I seem to remember reading that the airbag light flashing is a common fault; any idea what causes it?
I've just had a new light spring up which tells me a rear bulb has blown, when in fact all the bulbs are working. Also a cheap self-fix soldering job I'm told, just need to find the time now. I did get some BMW Diagnostic software which I tried today. Interesting the number of fault codes the 'blown' light bulb has thrown up. Seems the car at some point has recorded a fault from every single rear bulb. A short-circuit I'm told, fixed by re-earthing the light unit somewhere else. However there is no fault code I can see for the airbag light, meaning I have no idea what's wrong. The software did however pinpoint the exact sensor that has packed up and gave me a part number to order it. Had good fun running though some of the diagnostic tests, seeing the dials go to 155mph and back, setting off the car alarm from my laptop and getting individual lights on the car to turn on. Also gives you timings on the Vanos system, engine, oil and water temperatures and all sorts of geeky things. I even found one function to tell me how close the nearest object to each of the individual sensors was. Also found a way to disable the annoying headlight washer system, which I don't need as I don't have xenons. So now I don't washer fluid spray all over the front end of the car every time I wash the windscreen.
Since last time I've treated the car to some nice proper BMW Dealership plates, just to make it look less wheeler dealer. However I think I've got myself a slow puncture. Hoping it won't require a new tyre.
petrolveins said:
90% of the the time I'm told it's the passenger occupancy sensor, which can be fixed yourself with a part that costs £10 from ebay, and bypasses the sensor. But can be many other things.
Hopefully that's it. In reality, if the car's involved in an accident that's bad enough to require airbags, bearing in mind it's worth £4-5k it's going to be written off anyway, regardless of whether or not you've got to replace the passenger airbag / dash.petrolveins said:
I've just had a new light spring up which tells me a rear bulb has blown, when in fact all the bulbs are working. Also a cheap self-fix soldering job I'm told, just need to find the time now. I did get some BMW Diagnostic software which I tried today. Interesting the number of fault codes the 'blown' light bulb has thrown up. Seems the car at some point has recorded a fault from every single rear bulb. A short-circuit I'm told, fixed by re-earthing the light unit somewhere else. However there is no fault code I can see for the airbag light, meaning I have no idea what's wrong. The software did however pinpoint the exact sensor that has packed up and gave me a part number to order it. Had good fun running though some of the diagnostic tests, seeing the dials go to 155mph and back, setting off the car alarm from my laptop and getting individual lights on the car to turn on. Also gives you timings on the Vanos system, engine, oil and water temperatures and all sorts of geeky things. I even found one function to tell me how close the nearest object to each of the individual sensors was. Also found a way to disable the annoying headlight washer system, which I don't need as I don't have xenons. So now I don't washer fluid spray all over the front end of the car every time I wash the windscreen.
Sounds geeky enough to appeal to me, lol! - Having said that, I really would rather it didn't have any faults!petrolveins said:
Since last time I've treated the car to some nice proper BMW Dealership plates, just to make it look less wheeler dealer.
New plates are on my "to do" list too - I just want to sort out the niggles first. Cracking car though - I did 320 miles yesterday and could've done double that comfortably. The only downside now is the price of fuel, especially comparing MPG to my diesel Citroen C4!Edited by Clivey on Saturday 25th February 11:38
Not so much an update as an excuse to post up some photos I took of the car today. Loving the car, average fuel economy is up now too. Total average is about 26mpg, finding I get into the mid-30s on a decent run.
Overall I'm loving the experience, but the BMW electronics are living up to their reputation. I have rectified the shorting issue with the rear light-clusters, which was much less complicated than I feared. However the next day the passenger wing-mirror packed up, guessing it's the motor. I'm going to book it into a recommended BMW Indy garage to get all the things looked at, I've also discovered it's about 3 years overdue a brake fluid change so that needs doing too.
Anyway now for the pictures
Overall I'm loving the experience, but the BMW electronics are living up to their reputation. I have rectified the shorting issue with the rear light-clusters, which was much less complicated than I feared. However the next day the passenger wing-mirror packed up, guessing it's the motor. I'm going to book it into a recommended BMW Indy garage to get all the things looked at, I've also discovered it's about 3 years overdue a brake fluid change so that needs doing too.
Anyway now for the pictures
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