The E46 325ti Appreciation Thread

[Mr Tidy]

Mine warms up quick enough, but it had a new thermostat about 18 months ago when the cooling system got a complete refresh so it should do!

Just looks a bit sad now as it is on it's 16 inch winters for a while.

[Deptford Draylons]

dirtychinchilla said:

A somewhat dull question for you guys, but how are your cars coping with the cold weather in terms of heating? Mine seems to take ages to demist the windscreen and actually put out any heating. At least 5 minutes I would say.

My poor car isn't very healthy, and I'm feeling pretty sad about it. Loses power all over the place and grumbles and kangeroos a bit

Mine is very quick on the rapid screen demist and general, in fact to much. I think the base setting on the heating is 14 degree, at 15 its furnace-like hot inside. Go above 20 and you're cooked !

[dirtychinchilla]

Wow....I'm feeling rather left out right now, then. And the fix is as simple as replacing the thermostat??

[s m]

gregs656 said:

I've been looking to change the MV2s since I bought the car but it hasn't happened just yet.

They were a factory option though - which I reckon along with the adjustable seats is one of the more unusual options for this car.

Have you got the adjustable bolsters?

[Kawasicki]

Deptford Draylons said:

dirtychinchilla said:

A somewhat dull question for you guys, but how are your cars coping with the cold weather in terms of heating? Mine seems to take ages to demist the windscreen and actually put out any heating. At least 5 minutes I would say.

My poor car isn't very healthy, and I'm feeling pretty sad about it. Loses power all over the place and grumbles and kangeroos a bit

Mine is very quick on the rapid screen demist and general, in fact to much. I think the base setting on the heating is 14 degree, at 15 its furnace-like hot inside. Go above 20 and you're cooked !

I fitted a new thermostat last week, as a precaution.

With an ambient of -2C and driving at 70mph the old thermostat took about 8mins to get warm air flowing, with the new thermostat it takes about 5 minutes. Much faster!

[s m]

dirtychinchilla said:

A somewhat dull question for you guys, but how are your cars coping with the cold weather in terms of heating? Mine seems to take ages to demist the windscreen and actually put out any heating. At least 5 minutes I would say.

My poor car isn't very healthy, and I'm feeling pretty sad about it. Loses power all over the place and grumbles and kangeroos a bit

Mine warms up really quick to be honest - no complaints - although not as toasty as my old Ford. Having said that, I never need windscreen heat in the Ford as is has the heated windscreen which demists in 20-30 seconds so all the cabin heat is focussed on the driver and passenger

As for the running issues, have you checked all your air intake piping for splits and tears. Very common to find the rubber boot from the airflow meter is split

[JakeT]

On my commute my car is usually showing warm on the gauge about 2 miles in(5 mins or so). I don't use the heater on the first part of the drive though to aid warm-up. When we had the chilly snap a few weeks ago it took a little longer. There's a lot of info on running issues for these engines, it should be easy to find.

[s m]

On the subject of unusual options, anyone else got the TPMS ( tyre pressure ) system on their car?

[JakeT]

Not on mine thank god really. They seem to break a lot, especially the version that has the sensors in the wheels. IIRC the options list on my car is:

Power folding mirrors
Bi-Xenon headlamps with power wash
Hi-Fi stereo system
6CD changer
Sunroof
18" MV1 alloys
Topaz blue leather and paint.

[gregs656]

s m said:

Have you got the adjustable bolsters?

No just lumbar.

[s m]

JakeT said:

Not on mine thank god really. They seem to break a lot, especially the version that has the sensors in the wheels. IIRC the options list on my car is:

Power folding mirrors
Bi-Xenon headlamps with power wash
Hi-Fi stereo system
6CD changer
Sunroof
18" MV1 alloys
Topaz blue leather and paint.

Mine is the ABS sensor version luckily - S251A option- not seen the other type on a Compact - not had any issues with it in the last 4 years but it did alert me to a slow puncture a while back

[Mr Tidy]

s m said:

Mine is the ABS sensor version luckily - S251A option- not seen the other type on a Compact - not had any issues with it in the last 4 years but it did alert me to a slow puncture a while back

Wow, that does seem to be a rare option!

AFAIK the E46 version of TPMS only ever used the ABS sensors, the valve-based system came along some time after the E46 (thankfully)!

[JakeT]

The valve based system was used in the E53 I know (my dad's had one from new with the sensors in the wheel), and I think they were available in the E39. The ABS sensor version is better definitely.

[helix402]

The E46 did use the terrible valve based system, which has now reappeared in its unreliable state in the F30. It was called rdc. It was replaced on later cars with an abs based system.

Here's some info:



http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=9661...

Edited by helix402 on Sunday 18th December 22:17

[s m]

Mr Tidy said:

Wow, that does seem to be a rare option!

AFAIK the E46 version of TPMS only ever used the ABS sensors, the valve-based system came along some time after the E46 (thankfully)!

I've only noticed it on one other ti to be honest but there might be many more out there with it
Little button next to the stability one

[Hil_lo]

Drove the a4069 black mountain pass yesterday on the way from a weekend break in Tenby. Absolutely brilliant road, I hear they filmed many a top gear episode there.
Effortless 3.5hr drive from reading to Tenby in the Ti, average mpg on the way back including a 18km blast down the A4069 equaled 38mpg, so very happy with that.

[Deptford Draylons]

Tried a weighted (500g ) shifter gear knob on mine at the weekend and it makes a nice difference to the stock rubbery feel.

[Cheapstraitsix]

Can anyone with xenons tell me what sidelight bulbs they have, the Internet's telling me its push fit 501.
However mine has had twist fit ones in, how ever they still don't look like the correct fit and have damaged the holder. [img]http://thumbsnap.com/sc/6j3d3EhL.jpg[/iofmg]

Could the correct fitment be twist fit with offset pins?

[Max M4X WW]

Cheapstraitsix said:

Can anyone with xenons tell me what sidelight bulbs they have, the Internet's telling me its push fit 501.
However mine has had twist fit ones in, how ever they still don't look like the correct fit and have damaged the holder. [img]http://thumbsnap.com/sc/6j3d3EhL.jpg[/iofmg]

Could the correct fitment be twist fit with offset pins?

Looks like two types on Real OEM, I'd probably get the 501 holders (63128380205) and fit those.

[s m]

Passed another MOT, no advisories yet again

Tester remarked how rust free it was for a 3-series of that age