330ci Preventative maintainence.

[twoblacklines]

So having bought my 330ci and it being an auto at 91k I want to spend some £££ at a specialist (as I don't do DIY, other than DISA valve / air filter basic stuff).

I have a list of pretty much everything that can go wrong with these.

Could someone be so kind as to generally suggest what I should pay someone to replace these with before I start getting quotes? Drive in-drive out parts + labour.

Parts to check and change as required.

-Water Pump and drive belt
-Radiator
-Upper radiator hose
-Lower radiator hose
-Coolant sensor
-Expansion tank
-Serpentine belt
-A/C Belt
-PULLEYS
-Coolant flush
-Thermostat and Housing
-Temp Sender
-Hedgehog
-valve cover gasket
-Fan Clutch
-TIMING CHAIN TENSIONER
-Possibly Timing Chain also...
-Radiator Cap/Expansion tank Cap

-Automatic gearbox oil and filter!
-fuel and oil filters
-diff oil
-Cabin filter
-NGK SPARK PLUGS

-The Crankcase Vent Valve and 4 associate Hoses
-Clean MAF
-Pre-Cat 02 Sensor replacement.
-Camshaft position sensor replacement.

Thank You

[Smuler]

Have you run a diagnostic? If no fault codes, then maybe you should run it a 1,000 miles and prioritise after seeing, for example, what oil use is like. From your list, a CCV stands out as I had that replaced @ over 100k because of poor oil use. My other issues were coils which is an easy job; the rests were suspension related, strut, bushes, and then calipers plus discs and pads. Have you checked breaks?

[helix402]

Timing chain will be fine.

[philmots]

By the time you've replaced all that little lot you could of bought a lot newer and lower mileage E90...

I'd do the disa as a priority as that can lunch your engine. All other stuff as and when it breaks, which it probably won't.

[StuntmanMike]

Give the cooling system a going over, replace the water pump, and enjoy the car, ignore that amazing list.

[Patrick Bateman]

As someone who had a 330Ci and carried out some of that list, how long are you planning to keep the car?

Reason being, if you're looking to move onto more interesting things within a couple of years you could save yourself a lot of money.

Also, are you sure there's a viscous fan? Pretty sure all 330's had electric fans, mine certainly did but the 530i had a viscous one.

[lewis328]

I can't believe you gave your Audi away for 8k, surely it would have sold privately very quickly even for 9k.

[E30M3SE]

twoblacklines said:

-fuel and oil filters
-diff oil
-Cabin filter
-NGK SPARK PLUGS

Other than the diff oil these are all Inspection II service items, so when was the last time it had an Inspection II service?

[twoblacklines]

Patrick Bateman said:

As someone who had a 330Ci and carried out some of that list, how long are you planning to keep the car?

Reason being, if you're looking to move onto more interesting things within a couple of years you could save yourself a lot of money.

Also, are you sure there's a viscous fan? Pretty sure all 330's had electric fans, mine certainly did but the 530i had a viscous one.

About a year or two is realistic.

Viscious fan as it is an automatic.

[ScoobyD]

twoblacklines said:

Patrick Bateman said:

As someone who had a 330Ci and carried out some of that list, how long are you planning to keep the car?

Reason being, if you're looking to move onto more interesting things within a couple of years you could save yourself a lot of money.

Also, are you sure there's a viscous fan? Pretty sure all 330's had electric fans, mine certainly did but the 530i had a viscous one.

About a year or two is realistic.

Viscious fan as it is an automatic.

Yup. Auto has both a viscous fan and an electric fan. I know as recently had both of mine replaced!

[duff]

Was the Audi really that bad? By the time you've got those bits done you'll be maybe £1k up and in a car that's 5 years older with 50k more on the clock and prob less economical. I'd just drive the thing, it's a 330 not an Integrale

[Fox-]

I would really question the logic of replacing all that stuff - it's a list of stuff that can go wrong not a list of stuff that will go wrong. I mean why bother replacing the Hedgehog? You'll know when you need a new one because your climate control will go bezerk. Fan clutch?! Seriously?! My 530i is on it's original at 13 years and 207k miles! if it died tommorrow then that means you've probably got 4 years and 100k to go

As for the spark plugs - presumably the car has FSH so just continue the service regime and they'll get replaced when they are due.

Don't be in a rush to throw money at it. Live with the car for a bit and then see what needs replacing - it'd probably benefit from new Lemforder suspension arms all round and attention to anything thats obviously wrong, but otherwise.. just enjoy it and replace things when they need doing.

[twoblacklines]

Well this is the first problem. Taking it back tomorrow, is this the serpentine belt, or pulleys that need doing? They look a bit rusty...

Excuse the iPhone 4s quality

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1015272112168...

[twoblacklines]

duff said:

Was the Audi really that bad? By the time you've got those bits done you'll be maybe £1k up and in a car that's 5 years older with 50k more on the clock and prob less economical. I'd just drive the thing, it's a 330 not an Integrale

It was mind numbingly boring. I was stuck trying to decide whether to keep it or not so I went out for a long drive, got cramp halfway through it, came home and realised I simply didn't like it anymore. Hard to explain why other than it felt like it had no soul, very well made, but very boring as well.

This car has 91k on original suspension (unless anything gets changed during inspections?) and yet has better ride quality than the 40k A3 I had before.... let's not even mention steering feel or Audi's lack thereof.

I drove it down to Daymer Bay earlier and back, let my Dad drive it on way back, at this point the belt squealed on start up then disappeared.... anyway it used £7 of fuel to do 37 miles which is similar to the A3 if not better actually, and he (an Audi man through and through) commented on how nice it was to drive.

At the end of the day

1. there were no 40k bmw's available except one at Hexagon for £16,000
2. I don't have the time or will to drive all the way to Nottingham to look at a 70k example, being sold for more money, that could also have issues. Waste of time and money.
3. The audi - was very good - but very boring. When you don't smoke anymore (quit on the first of October), don't drink period, don't do drugs...your car is your only "vice" it is probably a good idea to get one you actually find inspiring.

[STW2010]

twoblacklines said:

Could someone be so kind as to generally suggest what I should pay someone to replace these with before I start getting quotes? Drive in-drive out parts + labour.

Parts to check and change as required.

-Water Pump and drive belt
-Serpentine belt
-A/C Belt
-Coolant flush
-valve cover gasket
-Radiator Cap/Expansion tank Cap

-Automatic gearbox oil and filter!
-fuel and oil filters
-diff oil
-Cabin filter
-NGK SPARK PLUGS

-The Crankcase Vent Valve and 4 associate Hoses
-Clean MAF
-Pre-Cat 02 Sensor replacement.
-Camshaft position sensor replacement.

I note three belts in your first list. There is only two, which I would advise checking and changing. They are quite cheap and at the same time consider checking and replacing the tensioners (I had one blow apart). There are DIY jobs though, so why not have a go?

For the first list, if you were to pay a garage to do that then I would estimate 3-4 hours labour plus parts- water pump will be by far the most expensive, belts are about £40 each and tensioners £50-60. Allow for about £20-30 for the coolant flush and same again for the gasket. Another gasket to consider is the oil filter housing gasket, which is a known leaking point.

The middle list is a service, so do this only if they haven't been done recently.

Now, for your final list. The CVV is a very expensive job if done through a garage. I did this myself and so would estimate 6 hours labour- all in I wouldn't expect much change from £800. Try diagnosing the fault beforehand. Again, with the sensors, only change if they are faulty!

For your original list you would be looking at a bill well in excess of £3k. Most of which will be labour costs.

[liller]

I really don't get preventative maintenance stuff, if it breaks then fix it. Why spend money trying to prevent something that may or may not happen at some point in the future? I've had a 330ci for over 3 years and other than consumables it hasn't gone wrong and I bought it at 90k. Drive it, enjoy it, if it breaks down then fix it.

[Patrick Bateman]

liller said:

I really don't get preventative maintenance stuff, if it breaks then fix it. Why spend money trying to prevent something that may or may not happen at some point in the future? I've had a 330ci for over 3 years and other than consumables it hasn't gone wrong and I bought it at 90k. Drive it, enjoy it, if it breaks down then fix it.

I can understand some things, especially anything that could come suddenly and completely throw a spanner in the works. For example, said car has a weak cooling system, say it's needed to get to work and public transport wasn't an option, I'd rather replace the water pump pre-emptively than find myself broken down at the side of the road unable to get to work for a week.

Then there's the fan clutch. I remember reading about Great Pretender's M5 when that let go out of nowhere and took a load of the cooling system with it along with sticking a big dent in the bonnet. It's not that much to replace and saves a ton of hassle should it decide to let go.

Edited by Patrick Bateman on Monday 13th October 23:41

[twoblacklines]

Fun Fun!

Going to do Disa myself and find someone to fit the vanos kit....

Going to BMW Falmouth today (taking dog to beach near there) to order exhaust cam postion sensor which SHOULD solve some of my problems.

Also had car balanced and aligned etc yesturday...garage had done something called "single alignment" or something instead of "dynamic alignment" which was causing a lot of steering vibration. Fixed!

[twoblacklines]

OK steering wheel / dash rattle not fixed.

Going to visit some where in Torquay on Saturday and have it up on a ramp and see what is what underneath.

[twoblacklines]

I forgot to mention - my parking sensors also broke today. Now I just get a 5 second long beep and...nothing. Sigh.

The way this is going I will just take it to WBAC and take the £2k they have offered for it.