So I picked up my second e46 M3 last week

[hoppo4.2]

So I picked up my second e46 M3 last week. Having missed the last one so much. It has a few minor things to look at but nothing bad.

I've already fixed the seat motor simple bad connection.

But the drivers side mirror won't fold up any common faults there?

Also I remember my old one heating up. To half way on the gauge and staying there all the time. On the new
one the needle moves about between the first white dot ( cold side) and half way. Just seems odd that the two do different things.

Lastly the exhaust note on the old car had a distinctive metallic rasp to it where as the new one it's not so good. It looks like a genuine original back box. Are they an active system with flaps in that could be playing up?

Some of you may have seen the pic already but hay ho

[PH lurker]

No title...

[nrick]

Mine goes up to the first mark and stays there.

[scottri]

nrick said:

Mine goes up to the first mark and stays there.

Same here...

edit ** sorry that is wrong it goes between the two marks and stays there. In other words pointing straight up. Never moves from there.

Edited by scottri on Friday 27th January 12:43

[Sidewindow]

When up to temperature mine sits halfway and stays there.

Regarding the exhaust, as I understand it the rasp noise comes from the centre section, not the rear silencer. It may have been changed for a non genuine part? It's not an active exhaust system.

Edited by Sidewindow on Friday 27th January 08:51

[illmonkey]

If the temp reading doesn't sit bang on the middle, you've got a broken thermostat. It stays open and lets water rush around and never get upto a good temp. You'll be losing MPG because of this. Should only be a £100-£120 fix.

[Sidewindow]

Get the rasp back asap!

[y2blade]

The Rasp is due to the resonance-chamber sound tuning (M division went to great lengths to engineer the sound into that car), shame to have it missing....the metallic rasp is very much a part of the cars character

Nice looking car btw


Edit to add:
You didn't buy it from a PHer did you? I'm sure I read a post last year from someone that had one but hated the "rasp" (I know..crazy eh!) ...he replaced the exhaust system to get rid of it


I Don't recall what colour his one was though, but it was definitely a E46 M3...might be worth doing a bit of digging

[sjj84]

It says somewhere in the manual that anywhere between the first dot and third dot is considered normal and it may move depending on conditions, in reality, it should go to bang on the second (central) mark and stay there. BMW quoted me from the manual, but still changed mine under warranty so they clearly knew it shouldn't do that.
No idea about the exhaust, I'd be looking to see if the full exhaust was standard, the rasp is superb.
Those wheels don't look right, have they been painted silver rather than the standard finish?

[Luca Brasi]

sjj84 said:

Those wheels don't look right, have they been painted silver rather than the standard finish?

Yep, not very nice

[hoppo4.2]

Ok well I'll check out the exhaust system soon as pos.

The thermostat thing makes sense I'll change it won't take long.

As for the wheels yes they are silver all over but perfect and mark free so I'll paint them up right when I get a chance. Anyone no what the colours are called that they should be?

[Pig Skill]

The temp needle thing depends on year. The early ones fluctuated from just below halfway to bang on centre - never past dead centre though.

Many people complained so the software has a damping effect to iron out fluctuations so it sits bang centre.

Those of you who's stay dead centre - what years are yours?

Mines an 02 and generally sits just left of centre sometimes goes to dead centre.

If you google it, it is a widely reported issue.

I had a new thermostat and coolant before I started reading up and it made no difference. Ive also done a compression test and had very healthy readings - 175 - 180 psi in each cylinder

[hoppo4.2]

Well the new one is 02. But the old one was 51. But maybe the old one was on newer software. Not fussed but just thought it was odd

[Nedzilla]

hoppo4.2 said:

As for the wheels yes they are silver all over but perfect and mark free so I'll paint them up right when I get a chance. Anyone no what the colours are called that they should be?

They are not supposed to be painted at all.They are supposed to be pollished metal.

[ant man]

As advised above, looks like you have the 19" option alloys which are polished and lacquered.

The issue with the door mirror could be a fault DRIVE unit. There's usually 2, one moves the glass, the other the mirror itself. Don't go to BMW, they'll want to replace the whole mirror. Instead take it to a specialist who will pinpoint the exact cause and order that part.

Nice car by the way.

[duff]

Nedzilla said:

They are not supposed to be painted at all.They are supposed to be pollished metal.

Not quite, the sides of the spokes and the dish are painted dark gloss grey, the faces are polished.

[sjj84]

Pig Skill said:

The temp needle thing depends on year. The early ones fluctuated from just below halfway to bang on centre - never past dead centre though.

Many people complained so the software has a damping effect to iron out fluctuations so it sits bang centre.

Those of you who's stay dead centre - what years are yours?

Mines an 02 and generally sits just left of centre sometimes goes to dead centre.

If you google it, it is a widely reported issue.

I had a new thermostat and coolant before I started reading up and it made no difference. Ive also done a compression test and had very healthy readings - 175 - 180 psi in each cylinder

Mine was an 02, it was fluctuating before I had the thermostat changed and was dead centre afterwards. Thats not to say they didnt update software at the same time, but it was never mentioned.