328 BMW

[taylorf69]

Thinking of buying a P reg BMW328 120000 on clock
I've been told the only known fault is the heater will only blow warm air.
Any ideas what the problem could be and the worst case scenario in terms of repairing the fault
i.e what it could cost

[dan101smith]

Does it have the digital climate control?

[taylorf69]

Not ot sure can't tell from the advert.

[clonmult]

At that age its less likely to have digital climate control - I think it was an option earlier, became standard fit later on.

[dan101smith]

My P-reg 328i had digi climate - if this one has, then I think that's the final stage resistor (hedgehog) - £100ish.

[carter711]

Have you checked to see if it's had its nikasil cylinder lining taked care of?

[Dunk76]

Failure/Check points:

Nikasil Bore issues - well documented
Auto Trans - normally checks out around the 120K mark
Thermostat prone to sticking - cheap and easy, but not good if it's been left for a long time
Water Pump impellor prone to failure - upgrade to later metal impellor type
Aux Drive belt tensioner failure - upgrade to later M54 hydraulic type
(Coupe) Window motor regulators fail meaning one-touch closure stops working - not essential, but a nuisance, big money as regulator part of the motor itself
Viscous Cooling Fan - coupling prone to failure (either complete jam, or never engaging)
Check top mounts front and rear
Rear wheel bearings
Front lower balljoints

[john_p]

:frown: what happens to the auto box at 120k?

(looks at 2000 E46 328i with 121k on the clock)

[Dunk76]

If it's an E46, the ZF 5HP19 is normally well past it's best - torque convertor normally the culprit. Can be rebuilt though.

If it's an E36, the GM box normally suffers band issues - 2nd gear slippage, and gear hunting between 4th and 5th

[carter711]

Dunk76 said:

If it's an E46, the ZF 5HP19 is normally well past it's best - torque convertor normally the culprit. Can be rebuilt though.

If it's an E36, the GM box normally suffers band issues - 2nd gear slippage, and gear hunting between 4th and 5th

Being a P reg it's not going to be an E46.

[Dunk76]

I know that - see the brackets of the post above though.

All the points I originally raised are E36 specific though

[sniff diesel]

taylorf69 said:

I've been told the only known fault is the heater will only blow warm air.
Any ideas what the problem could be and the worst case scenario in terms of repairing the fault
i.e what it could cost

If it doesn't have climate then it could well be the heater matrix valve. Easy enough to change for a DIY'er, shouldn't cost you more than a fiver from a scrapyard.