2004 e46 BMW 330i Sport Touring 6 speed
Discussion
Slow said:
Gunk said:
You seem to having a lot of problems on a car you paid strong money for, what's the mileage?
Does seem to be the case, my £350 330i manual touring has had less faults I reckon and its on 178k now! Rust will win on mine though, its everywhere.
Yes, yes, ok, rub it in!
To be fair, this is the first thing in 5000 miles that has stopped me driving it. There's a few niggles but it is a 14 year old car with 150k on it!
I swapped the coil pack to cylinder 1 and the fault moved there, although interestingly there were a couple of misfire codes on cylinder 3 before I reset it.
The other (thermostat related) code came back after every reset - what does it mean in real terms? Is it OK to drive? It must be opening and closing as the engine warms up perfectly normally...
Cylinder 1 has a Bosch coil pack but all the others are the black Bremi ones - I thought these were the crap ones on earlier cars that tend to fail? I had assumed I would have Bosch ones all round... Is the mixture a bad thing?
To be fair, this is the first thing in 5000 miles that has stopped me driving it. There's a few niggles but it is a 14 year old car with 150k on it!
I swapped the coil pack to cylinder 1 and the fault moved there, although interestingly there were a couple of misfire codes on cylinder 3 before I reset it.
The other (thermostat related) code came back after every reset - what does it mean in real terms? Is it OK to drive? It must be opening and closing as the engine warms up perfectly normally...
Cylinder 1 has a Bosch coil pack but all the others are the black Bremi ones - I thought these were the crap ones on earlier cars that tend to fail? I had assumed I would have Bosch ones all round... Is the mixture a bad thing?
Well the coil pack is on order.
Just had a quick look and the stat looks like an arse of a job including removing fan. I need the car for a family holiday in a couple of weeks and I've got a lot on so I may just book it in for it along with the oil filter housing gasket. Also noticed that a belt down the front of the engine looks a bloody state. Surprised they didn't pick it up on the inspection 2...
Just had a quick look and the stat looks like an arse of a job including removing fan. I need the car for a family holiday in a couple of weeks and I've got a lot on so I may just book it in for it along with the oil filter housing gasket. Also noticed that a belt down the front of the engine looks a bloody state. Surprised they didn't pick it up on the inspection 2...
NiceCupOfTea said:
(PS- 150k miles, yes I've had a few problems but easy come easy go. Not many manual 330 touring sports around to be picky with)
You are so right on the picky aspect! My nephew drove my 325ti Sport Compact a couple of years ago and realised he needed one in his life! I found him a facelift with sunroof, OK only an SE but a 6 speed.
Then his OH became expectant, so he needed something a bit bigger all of a sudden!
Found him a 54 plate 325i Sport Touring in Imola Red - but it was a 5 speed? It seems the facelift only gave the diseasels, 325 Compacts and 330s a 6 speed box. So a 6 speed 330i Touring is heading towards the rocking horse doodah!
I bought my 325ti as a vaguely practical car, but if I could find a good 330i Touring I'd jump on it as I think the Touring is the 2nd best looking E46 (after the Coupe, but that isn't practical).
Gratuitous photo of his Imola Touring and my Compact!
Slow said:
Gunk said:
You seem to having a lot of problems on a car you paid strong money for, what's the mileage?
Does seem to be the case, my £350 330i manual touring has had less faults I reckon and its on 178k now! Rust will win on mine though, its everywhere.Not really remotely comparable, in truth. OP's is a rare car, and prices tend to be strong even for high mileage examples - I don't personally think these faults are in any way dreadful for a car of its age/mileage.
No personal offence, but yours is a rusty non-Sport heap that looks like it's been used as a farm runabout.
Edited by C70R on Wednesday 5th July 10:11
C70R said:
Slow said:
Gunk said:
You seem to having a lot of problems on a car you paid strong money for, what's the mileage?
Does seem to be the case, my £350 330i manual touring has had less faults I reckon and its on 178k now! Rust will win on mine though, its everywhere.Not really remotely comparable, in truth. OP's is a rare car, and prices tend to be strong even for high mileage examples - I don't personally think these faults are in any way dreadful for a car of its age/mileage.
No personal offence, but yours is a rusty non-Sport heap that looks like it's been used as a farm runabout.
Edited by C70R on Wednesday 5th July 10:11
If it wasnt before me, ive certainly gone some way to make it into one, drifts fantastically in the field. The rusty shed will still get to 155 and maintain a 130mph cruise all day long so mechanically it seems spot on. Shame the fuel tank isnt much bigger at those speeds though.
I wouldn't say any of the faults have been particularly egregious, most of the faff seems to have been with the boot lid hinge. Didn't your 330i have all new suspension fitted also? Arguably I'd be more concerned about the rust than about a coilpack failure or the likes.
For the record, both of my E46s have been reliable cars. The 328 did jettison a caliper carrier bolt yesterday, so has a wheel bolt holding that in place to get me home.
For the record, both of my E46s have been reliable cars. The 328 did jettison a caliper carrier bolt yesterday, so has a wheel bolt holding that in place to get me home.
Thanks, yes the tailgate hinge would have been fine (if floppy) if I'd left it alone, and it's all fixed now.
Original suspension as far as I can tell but it really does feel as tight as a drum. Got a few bushes that need replacement but happy with the ride & handling generally.
The car is a bit tatty exterior wise, but honest. There are a couple of spots of rust that I intend to get looked at before they worse, and there are some bits of lacquer peel - by far the worst is the drives side wing, and the bumper. I have been on the look out for a wing but it's a rare colour so I will probably get the wing and bumper blown over at the same time as I get the rust sorted. I want to get the mechanicals sorted first though.
I love the car though, must have been a great all-rounder when new. I wish they had done an M-version. I think a supercharger would have been great too, just to add a little mid-range!
Original suspension as far as I can tell but it really does feel as tight as a drum. Got a few bushes that need replacement but happy with the ride & handling generally.
The car is a bit tatty exterior wise, but honest. There are a couple of spots of rust that I intend to get looked at before they worse, and there are some bits of lacquer peel - by far the worst is the drives side wing, and the bumper. I have been on the look out for a wing but it's a rare colour so I will probably get the wing and bumper blown over at the same time as I get the rust sorted. I want to get the mechanicals sorted first though.
I love the car though, must have been a great all-rounder when new. I wish they had done an M-version. I think a supercharger would have been great too, just to add a little mid-range!
Bosch coil turned up and duly fitted - looks different from the two types already in there (one of them Bosch), no silver bit, all black plastic. Spark plug end looks different. Bosch printed on it and in a Bosch box though. Fitted though, and no code or engine light after 15 mins running so seems fixed and engine running smoothly.
Funnily enough, as I had the code reader plugged in I checked the live data stream while the engine ran up to temp. Engine temp rose as expected and when it hit 94 or so suddenly the rad temp started to increase from ambient so I'm going to infer from that that the thermostat is working. I guess there could be an open circuit across the contacts on it or something that doesn't affect it's mechanical function but the ECU doesn't like it and is throwing a code...
Thanks to all especially helix for the advice.
Funnily enough, as I had the code reader plugged in I checked the live data stream while the engine ran up to temp. Engine temp rose as expected and when it hit 94 or so suddenly the rad temp started to increase from ambient so I'm going to infer from that that the thermostat is working. I guess there could be an open circuit across the contacts on it or something that doesn't affect it's mechanical function but the ECU doesn't like it and is throwing a code...
Thanks to all especially helix for the advice.
NiceCupOfTea said:
Bosch coil turned up and duly fitted - looks different from the two types already in there (one of them Bosch), no silver bit, all black plastic. Spark plug end looks different. Bosch printed on it and in a Bosch box though. Fitted though, and no code or engine light after 15 mins running so seems fixed and engine running smoothly.
Funnily enough, as I had the code reader plugged in I checked the live data stream while the engine ran up to temp. Engine temp rose as expected and when it hit 94 or so suddenly the rad temp started to increase from ambient so I'm going to infer from that that the thermostat is working. I guess there could be an open circuit across the contacts on it or something that doesn't affect it's mechanical function but the ECU doesn't like it and is throwing a code...
Thanks to all especially helix for the advice.
I can't understand why you,didn't just change all 6, if one goes they all start going. I made that mistake a couple of years ago and I've just had all of them replaced on my 325i E91Funnily enough, as I had the code reader plugged in I checked the live data stream while the engine ran up to temp. Engine temp rose as expected and when it hit 94 or so suddenly the rad temp started to increase from ambient so I'm going to infer from that that the thermostat is working. I guess there could be an open circuit across the contacts on it or something that doesn't affect it's mechanical function but the ECU doesn't like it and is throwing a code...
Thanks to all especially helix for the advice.
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