330ci Preventative maintainence.
Discussion
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
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
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.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.
Viscious fan as it is an automatic.
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...
Excuse the iPhone 4s quality
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1015272112168...
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.
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!
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!
It is back at the dealer now. They didn't give me a courtesy car or anything though so I am carless for however long it takes.
Driving a long listening to my exhaust as usual watching my steering wheel judder from side to side slightly, suddenly it takes all the characteristics of a puncture (has been doing this sporadically) so I just keep driving (because it kept doing this) until I found a petrol station, outside Newquay of all places, stinking of what smelt like burning clutch.
Just so happened to be an AA guy in his van there so grabbed my membership card and he told me it is siezed brake caliper, known issue, jumped on Google on my phone and tons of threads describing exactly that.
SO having poured cold water over them to cool them I limped to Grampound where there is a bmw specialist, they measured the wheel temp and it was 700deg c, the others 300 deg c. They claimed I would have to have all 4 brake discs and pads and calipers replaced to the tune of £500, that I couldn't use the car in the meantime, and then proceeded to completely ignore me whilst I waited for someone to come and get me. Halfway through that period they shut shop at 10am and went off somewhere, meaning I would have to wait for them to come back as I had the keys etc. Utterly shocking customer service if you ask me.
So I just drove home which took an hour, rang up dealer, they said to drive it there...all 30 miles even though I said it seemed unfit for doing so.
So had to drive it there, stopping every 5 mins to let it cool down, at one point about 1 mile from the place it was actually smoking!
Then typically 500m away from their garage it stops binding completely and just behaves as usual just like it did before (guessing it just broke completely?), v-belt or whatever stops squeaking and all the parking sensors when I reversed into space there worked. Luckily I have video of it all not working!
So I will see what they say - I paid overprice thinking I would get a mint as you can get version of a 2003 90k bmw (which is what they sold me on) so their customer service has to be totally awesome in my eyes.
I don't think I would buy a car again from a dealer unless it is an UAC from a main dealer such as BMW or AUDI dealerships, way too much hassle.
Driving a long listening to my exhaust as usual watching my steering wheel judder from side to side slightly, suddenly it takes all the characteristics of a puncture (has been doing this sporadically) so I just keep driving (because it kept doing this) until I found a petrol station, outside Newquay of all places, stinking of what smelt like burning clutch.
Just so happened to be an AA guy in his van there so grabbed my membership card and he told me it is siezed brake caliper, known issue, jumped on Google on my phone and tons of threads describing exactly that.
SO having poured cold water over them to cool them I limped to Grampound where there is a bmw specialist, they measured the wheel temp and it was 700deg c, the others 300 deg c. They claimed I would have to have all 4 brake discs and pads and calipers replaced to the tune of £500, that I couldn't use the car in the meantime, and then proceeded to completely ignore me whilst I waited for someone to come and get me. Halfway through that period they shut shop at 10am and went off somewhere, meaning I would have to wait for them to come back as I had the keys etc. Utterly shocking customer service if you ask me.
So I just drove home which took an hour, rang up dealer, they said to drive it there...all 30 miles even though I said it seemed unfit for doing so.
So had to drive it there, stopping every 5 mins to let it cool down, at one point about 1 mile from the place it was actually smoking!
Then typically 500m away from their garage it stops binding completely and just behaves as usual just like it did before (guessing it just broke completely?), v-belt or whatever stops squeaking and all the parking sensors when I reversed into space there worked. Luckily I have video of it all not working!
So I will see what they say - I paid overprice thinking I would get a mint as you can get version of a 2003 90k bmw (which is what they sold me on) so their customer service has to be totally awesome in my eyes.
I don't think I would buy a car again from a dealer unless it is an UAC from a main dealer such as BMW or AUDI dealerships, way too much hassle.
dtmpower said:
Do you use them ? Mine broke about a year ago and I've only just fixed them with a new gearbox reverse switch and PDC module from eBay 2nd hand. In all honesty it didn't stop me using the car. Why bother paying money to fix things that don't add any motoring benefit ?
Quite a lot. Mainly to do a 4-point-turn here
Because I can't reverse up there it just wheelspins.... I had to reverse up in my FWD A3's because it would wheelspin going forwards up there.
[quote]Fix and repair when things need doing. Just use it and enjoy it.
Any ideas how much I am looking at getting somewhere to fit this vanos seal kit and anti-rattle?
http://www.i6automotive.co.uk/double-vanos-seals-k...
I am doing the DISA myself whenever I get the car back.
Edited by twoblacklines on Saturday 25th October 00:31
Well, ran out of cash today to fix this. Well not run out per say but run out of what I am prepared to spend.
Spent just shy of £2500 on it in 3 weeks fixing things - everytime I fix something, something new goes wrong, for example I have an industrial blowing sounding noise coming from under the drivers door when the car is turned on, you can hear it over the engine and exhaust at idle, believed to be the fuel pump... not going to fix this just going to sell the car instead.
I am really gutted about my tyres - £500 of goodyears and a week later having to sell the car... I am not looking forward to selling it tomorrow either as everywhere I drive one of the brakes squeal or generally make noises. The gearbox is just WIERD - I accelerate in gear, it seems to clutch slip like a manual car would with a failing clutch, the revs rise as the car accelerates then the revs drop mid acceleration as if i changed up a gear - except I am in 5th gear in manual mode - there is no gear to change up to.... put me off slushboxes....DSG/S-Tronic please!
I have not been put off these cars though, I just think they don't suit a daily driver. It has been pretty good on fuel since I changed the exhaust CPS, I get around 270m per tank which is £75 of vpower. I would love to pick up a low mileage, manual, techno violet coupe at some point. For now I am trying to decide between spending £3k on a golf mk4 gt tdi or spending £8k on another a3 s-tronic tdi.
Spent just shy of £2500 on it in 3 weeks fixing things - everytime I fix something, something new goes wrong, for example I have an industrial blowing sounding noise coming from under the drivers door when the car is turned on, you can hear it over the engine and exhaust at idle, believed to be the fuel pump... not going to fix this just going to sell the car instead.
I am really gutted about my tyres - £500 of goodyears and a week later having to sell the car... I am not looking forward to selling it tomorrow either as everywhere I drive one of the brakes squeal or generally make noises. The gearbox is just WIERD - I accelerate in gear, it seems to clutch slip like a manual car would with a failing clutch, the revs rise as the car accelerates then the revs drop mid acceleration as if i changed up a gear - except I am in 5th gear in manual mode - there is no gear to change up to.... put me off slushboxes....DSG/S-Tronic please!
I have not been put off these cars though, I just think they don't suit a daily driver. It has been pretty good on fuel since I changed the exhaust CPS, I get around 270m per tank which is £75 of vpower. I would love to pick up a low mileage, manual, techno violet coupe at some point. For now I am trying to decide between spending £3k on a golf mk4 gt tdi or spending £8k on another a3 s-tronic tdi.
Fox- said:
Didn't you buy this car from a dealer though? What did they say about the issues?
I took it back - they "fixed" the burning brakes by rebuilding/replacing a caliper, which means very likely leaving a warped disc on.I showed them the video of it squealing on start up (the cambelt etc) and when I got it back they said they could find nothing at all wrong with the suspension, steering, other brakes, any of the belts, or anything else. They said the parking issue was a sensor and they would ring me back the next day and I could come in to have it fitted - they never rang me back and when I rang them I got excuses for a whole week so just stopped ringing them.
I have sold it to WBAC today for £2500 - so a £3k loss + the £2500 loss = £5500 loss in three weeks :/
The dealer refused to drive it or ride with me whilst i drove it to point out the issues. They put it on the ramp, told me everything was perfect, and therefore they could not fix it as there was nothing wrong with it blah blah.
They also lied at sale stating they had put brand new nangkang tyres on it, when I went to get new ones due to the horrid noise they make, the place pointed out that they only had 2mm of tread.
They are professional liars and in the future I will either business lease and pay the BIK or I will buy from a manu franchise such as Ocean BMW. There is a reason these cars cost more than a specialists do! Ocean made me feel like royalty and I was only there for a £100 part!
I did not go looking for things wrong with it, I had all sorts of people on different forums telling me I MUST change this and MUST change that or it will be dangerous, so I changed it all...and yet it still drove like a piece of s
t.
There is a difference between "could do with changing suspension shocks" and me driving down a slightly cambered road with my rear springs making DOING sounds at 5mph... for example when I shut the drivers door I got a horrid handbrake tension style noise from the rear brakes.
They also lied at sale stating they had put brand new nangkang tyres on it, when I went to get new ones due to the horrid noise they make, the place pointed out that they only had 2mm of tread.
They are professional liars and in the future I will either business lease and pay the BIK or I will buy from a manu franchise such as Ocean BMW. There is a reason these cars cost more than a specialists do! Ocean made me feel like royalty and I was only there for a £100 part!
I did not go looking for things wrong with it, I had all sorts of people on different forums telling me I MUST change this and MUST change that or it will be dangerous, so I changed it all...and yet it still drove like a piece of s
t.There is a difference between "could do with changing suspension shocks" and me driving down a slightly cambered road with my rear springs making DOING sounds at 5mph... for example when I shut the drivers door I got a horrid handbrake tension style noise from the rear brakes.
Well you are reading wrong then.
Over 60mph it felt like I was going to die! Which is why I am not bothered about the financial loss - what is £5500 in the scheme of things when you think you are going to die driving it?
Another 2 things about the dealership that seem wierd:
1. When I bought it, they claimed to know the previous owner, a Mr Simon George, who had it on a priv plate - S11 CNG. They said he lived locally etc.
BMW sent Mr George a letter about airbag recall which got sent on to me - MR Georges address, was listed as the actual garage I bought the car from. Yet I cannot find a Simon George anywhere to do with the garage, in fact anywhere in Plymouth - it seems Mr George does not exist. Furthermore, they had that car for sale for 3 months yet Mr George, whos address was the actual garage, owned it since 2010.
2. When I went to Ocean BMW they scanned my car key to show me what had been done, and no record of them servicing the car showed up since 2004 when it was a year old. Yet in the service book it has quite a few "Ocean BMW" stamps.
Over 60mph it felt like I was going to die! Which is why I am not bothered about the financial loss - what is £5500 in the scheme of things when you think you are going to die driving it?
Another 2 things about the dealership that seem wierd:
1. When I bought it, they claimed to know the previous owner, a Mr Simon George, who had it on a priv plate - S11 CNG. They said he lived locally etc.
BMW sent Mr George a letter about airbag recall which got sent on to me - MR Georges address, was listed as the actual garage I bought the car from. Yet I cannot find a Simon George anywhere to do with the garage, in fact anywhere in Plymouth - it seems Mr George does not exist. Furthermore, they had that car for sale for 3 months yet Mr George, whos address was the actual garage, owned it since 2010.
2. When I went to Ocean BMW they scanned my car key to show me what had been done, and no record of them servicing the car showed up since 2004 when it was a year old. Yet in the service book it has quite a few "Ocean BMW" stamps.
THE HPI check came back all clear. It only had one MOT cert in the service history... I don't know how you get the rest off them from Vosa like WBAC can/do to check that theirs line up?
I kept taking the car back but they said there was nothing wrong with it so couldn't do anything. Paid with debit - I simply don't do credit cards. Bear in mind they are a 60 mile round trip on A roads and going there takes up the best of 3 hours by the time I speak to them etc.
It does look like it has been clocked. They are still selling the car I traded in for 8k for 11k with less miles listed (and more spec options) than it had when I sold it to them... I wonder if they have clocked that also?
I kept taking the car back but they said there was nothing wrong with it so couldn't do anything. Paid with debit - I simply don't do credit cards. Bear in mind they are a 60 mile round trip on A roads and going there takes up the best of 3 hours by the time I speak to them etc.
It does look like it has been clocked. They are still selling the car I traded in for 8k for 11k with less miles listed (and more spec options) than it had when I sold it to them... I wonder if they have clocked that also?
It was an expensive lesson but a good lesson.
Already picked up a good, low mileage a3 s-tronic tdi for replacement. Bit soul crushing going from 230hp 3.0 NA Petrol rwd to 140hp, turbo diesel fwd hatchback but atleast it costs next to nothing to run... insurance is half, mpg is double, etc.
Already picked up a good, low mileage a3 s-tronic tdi for replacement. Bit soul crushing going from 230hp 3.0 NA Petrol rwd to 140hp, turbo diesel fwd hatchback but atleast it costs next to nothing to run... insurance is half, mpg is double, etc.
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