New car/330i problems.

[justanother5tar]

So, i picked up my e46 330i yesterday. On the test drive everything seemed spot on. Looking over the car everything seemed fine and sorted. No rust. 1 owner. Full service history. 94k. Wonderful.

Or maybe not.


1- Gear stick stays under 5th, doesn't centre. As i understand it, this is a worn bush/bearing (can't remember which) that is best replaced when its having a clutch and the 'box is out already.

2- Rear passenger footwell is wet. Wasn't raining when i bought the car, so this came as a surprise after some rain this afternoon. I've read this could be any number of things, but my google wasn't very specific, so i got allsorts of possible problems. It looks as if it is coming from the holes from where the white trim clips go into the door, what is this most likely to be?

3- The oil light; When i start the car, it comes on and goes out just like every other car I've owned. But it comes back on for around 10 seconds afterwards. Whats this mean? Also, the dipstick on mine doesn't match the drawing on the handbook, can someone confirm that the oil should be between the 2 'missing' bits of the dipstick? They are above the pointed arrow head end thing.

4- This is the one that worries me the most. When I'm driving the car, the temperature needle is bang in the middle of the dial. When left idling, such as waiting outside a pizza shop for my tea, it shoots into the red and the engine feels very hot when you pop the bonnet. I turned it off straight away, so hopefully I've not damaged anything.

5- Considering the history and the fact it was just serviced 2k ago, the coolant float level doesn't rise up and the oil is on what i think is the minimum mark. Should i be worried or would this be considered 'normal' usage?


If anyone could help me out here, tell me whats wrong, point me towards some information regarding these things or anything i would be very appreciative. Ive posted this on e46zone too, any help would be great!


Thanks.

[justanother5tar]

V8forweekends said:

4. The temp gauge uses similar electronics to my MG ZT - it's a "brill" (not) BMW idea that makes it point to the centre at anything from around 75 to 115 C - I think they do it so as not to alarm drivers by showing minor changes in temp. It's a bugger though as you don't get much warning of overheating.

The Overheating sounds as if it might be a fan issue if it's on idling after a run. I think there's a way to get a real time temp display in the instrument pack where the trip readout usually is.

Great. How do i check the fan? Without overheating it?

[justanother5tar]

mark.c said:

Quickly reply but...

1. Common, live with it until the box has to come out

2. Common, my first port of call would be the membranes behind the door panels

3. Common, from what you have said it sounds like a duff oil level sensor, oil level shoul be between the two marks you describe ( roughly a litre between them) check the level with the engine at normal op temp, switched off and left for 5 mins.

4. Stop letting it get hot! It won't thank you. Check fan is working... Oh and stop letting it get hot!

5. They can use oil, again common. Google CCV to learn more but first get to know the car and find out how much it is actually using.

Someone will be along shortly with a more detailed response but this should get you started hopefully

1- Yeah, that seems to be the general response...

2- That was my job for the weekend, ill stick em on with some better adhesive.

3- OK, ill have it changed next service, will top up as/when until then.

4 - i didn't let it get hot, i turned it off immediately.

5- Will keep an eye on levels.

[justanother5tar]

V8forweekends said:

Mave said:

Re 5, top up the coolant and keep an eye on it. Not unknown to have coolant leaks / shot radiator at that mileage.

Agreed, and/or possibly a split in the coolant expansion tank which aren't uncommon.

Ill have a look at the rad and expansion tank tomorrow then.

Thanks.

[justanother5tar]

V8forweekends said:

I am not an expert on the E46 - I just know a bit about the electrics because a lot of it (~80%) is the same as the Rover 75 MGZT, but on those - start the from cold, select the full demist option on the climate (the one with a pic of the windscreen) and make sure the aircon isn't off (i.e. not in "econ") then find the fan (I think it's in front of the rad on an E46) and look to see if it's turning. No movement = fan not working.

ETA - and here's the procedure for real time temp display - identical to Rover 75 -

http://www.e46zone.com/forum/topic/51602-330d-cool...

Edited by V8forweekends on Monday 2nd March 21:10

Awesome. Ill give that a go tomorrow too.

Thanks!

[justanother5tar]

mark.c said:

With regard 4, you said it went into the red, even if it's for a second, that's getting it hot. My advise would be until you get the fan checked/sorted I would avoid letting it idle unless absolutely necessary and don't take your eye of the gauge. Just for reference, an earlier straight six would crack it's head just for fun if it's allowed to get hot, these are more forgiving but not much more.

Right, thanks.

It wasn't completely into the red, it was between 12'oclock and the red.

[justanother5tar]

JakeT said:

I'm wondering here, are the last three digits of the number plate PSU, and was it from a dealer in Manc? Had my eye on a car very similar that sold this weekend.

Yep. Thats the one.

[justanother5tar]

JakeT said:

Looked a properly lovely car, if it was nearer and I had the money available, would have snapped it up. The leather on it looks amazing, and xenons and memory seats make it a nice place to spend time. As others have mentioned they're not overly expensive or difficult to replace. It doesn't sound like it got too hot, so the head should be fine. Door membranes will have been off in the past as window regulators in the E46 are made of cheese. Also the cooling fan on this car is a viscous one, so take a look at this guide on the fan clutch. That could be it, but the electric fan to draw air through the A/C condenser should be working and I am guessing should cut in and out if the AC is on or off when the car is idling at temperature.

Again, lovely car. Am envious, even with these little niggles.

Tbh, everything in the cabin works perfectly, and its in the great condition.

Its just these problems that are doing my nut in.

[justanother5tar]

JakeT said:

Good to hear. Even if you paid full price for the car I think you got a bit of a deal on it The M54 lives forever, my dad has one in an X5 and is just south of 200k. never set a foot wrong in all those miles. Also out of curiosity does it have folding rear seats or not?

Not a clue.

Thought they had a solid bulkhead with a ski flap tbh.

[justanother5tar]

rallycross said:

Needs a new fan by the sounds of it the rest of the things are just old car related problems nothing to be too concerned about.

Great place for E46 bits is these guys



http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Sila-motors/E46-E39-E90-E...

Yeah, i can't recall the fan coming on actually.

Im going to do the check tomorrow.

Thanks for the link.

[justanother5tar]

JakeT said:

The touring and coupé came with split folding seats (60/40) on them but it was an option on the saloons and a rare one at that. Just taken a look through my saved adverts on AT and the car is still on there. Still looking longingly at it...

ill have a look tomorrow.

Ill be happy when its sorted. They're awesome cars.

[justanother5tar]

Herman Toothrot said:

Sounds like my 325i, except it takes a motorway run then sudden stop to make it over heat, I have collected all the parts to do a full coolant system refresh, surprisingly cheap to be honest.

Yeah, I'm looking to have it done/do it myself soon i think.

Do you have links to where you go the parts from?

[justanother5tar]

confused_buyer said:

It could be the viscous coupling on the fan, rather than the fan its self. As a rear wheel drive car with a longitudial engine the primary cooling is off the crank driven fan at the front - not the electric one which is is mainly for the aircon condensor (I think it should still come on if the engine gets really hot though).

The viscous couplings do go (so the fan does not spin fast enough) and the electric ones pack up. If the electric one does not come on when you switch the aircon on it is faulty.

So the fan should come when I turn on the A/C?

[justanother5tar]

V8forweekends said:

Not all 330i's had viscous fans -later ones are electric only.

Mines an '02.

[justanother5tar]

rallycross said:

Yep 2 fans.

The elec rad fan for the a/c should come on with the a/c on but if it does not work it would not make the car overheat so the cars main fan must not be working also.

Is there any way to test it? The main one?

[justanother5tar]

V8forweekends said:

Not on all e46s - some have a single large electric fan on the engine side instead of the viscous and aux electric - OP have a look - if you have an old fashioned propeller looking fan on the front of the engine driven by belts - you have the viscous one and there will be an auxiliary electric one in front of the rad - if not, you'll have a single large electric one in the engine bay.

So, 1 fan = fan on back of rad. 2 fans = fan on front of rad. Sound.

[justanother5tar]

So I checked this morning and the fan doesn't come on with A/C and demist on full. Is this likely to be a fan fault? Time for a new one?

Thanks.

[justanother5tar]

V8forweekends said:

Could be a range of things unfortunately. Fan motor, thermo switch, fuse, wiring.

Which fan(s) do you have?

Just the single electric one on the engine side of the radiator.

[justanother5tar]

V8forweekends said:

Google (!) says that there's a temp sender in the bottom hose, and if you unplug that it makes the fan run all the time (if it can). Another possibility is to unplug the fan and connect it to the battery directly.


TBH I am clutching at straws a bit here - I don't want to waste a load of your time as my E46 knowledge is sketchy at this point. The basics are similar for any car though - it could be fuses, temp sender, the relay pack, bad wiring or the fan itself - hard to know without working through them all.

Another thing to try would be to run it up to temp using that real time temp display and see if the fan cuts in. Although the fan is supposed to work with the aircon, it won't if the aircon is short of gas or not working for another reason.

It does sound as if you probably have a cooling system issue in addition to the fan not working too.

Yeah, I've tried the full demist, A/C on, watch it for the fist 20 seconds on startup and pull the temperature sender on the lower rad hose. Fan didn't come on for any of these.

I've swapped the big 50A fuse and it didn't do anything. And the only thing besides that is the silver box on the fan, which isn't available as a single part anyway.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure theres some coolant making a bid for freedom somewhere too. Ill look into that too.

[justanother5tar]

john banks said:

Your only real worry as far as I can tell is that your head gasket isn't the cause of your coolant and oil loss. These engines are very strong unless overheated. You can get testing kits to see if there are hydrocarbons in the coolant.

I was happier before you commented.