geeks E46 330 touring wagon of invisibility!
Discussion
Having been in the rather unusual situation of having a car worth more than I owed on it recently I decided to say goodbye to the Abarth, COVID and a job change meant I was going to be doing nowhere near the mileage I used to and it was hard to justify having a car on the monthlies that wasn't really being used. So a deal with WBAC was done and the Abarth after 13,000 miles of ownership has gone. I was gutted to see it go, really loved the little thing but it was the grown up thing to do.
With that in mind something was still needed to replace it as I cannot use Mrs geeks car for work stuff on the few trips here and there I will still need to do. As luck would have it a friends dad was selling his E46 330 Touring, a car I was vaguely familiar with from when he used to use it to transport his race gear about the country. A quick chat confirmed it was the car I thought it was and it indeed has been as well looked after as I remembered. With that in mind we loaded the dogs into the car and set off on the 2 hours or so to go and have a poke around, once I arrived it was pretty clear I was taking it home, happy with the test drive a deal was done and off I set for home.
Once home as always its time to have a proper look and see what's what.. So what do we have?
E46 BMW 330 Touring
Xenons
Style 32's
Titan silver paint
Shadowline trim with Carbon trim panels
Climate Control
Cruise Control
Tape Deck and CD Changer
2 x keys
Black leather seats
Full Service History
MOT until March 2022
139,000 odd miles under its belt
Now, some pictures..
The money shot!
Bodywork needs some TLC, the bumper needs a paint and it has the usual E46 crust developing but overall for an almost 20 year old car, it's lovely. It drives "like a new car" I can attribute this to it having been babied, everything it has needed has been done and even the stuff it hasn't needed has been done too. The suspension is tight, the steering good and the gearbox, telepathic, snappy and responsive, these are words you wouldn't use when describing it. Adequate I think is the description but it suits the car and the type of driving that it will be used for so really I have no complaints. I love it, the straight 6 is a wonderful thing and makes that noise we all know and love, being a silver estate means it's totally invisible not once have I had someone try and "race me" it just cruises around without fuss and thumps down dual carriageways at pace without any bother.
With that in mind something was still needed to replace it as I cannot use Mrs geeks car for work stuff on the few trips here and there I will still need to do. As luck would have it a friends dad was selling his E46 330 Touring, a car I was vaguely familiar with from when he used to use it to transport his race gear about the country. A quick chat confirmed it was the car I thought it was and it indeed has been as well looked after as I remembered. With that in mind we loaded the dogs into the car and set off on the 2 hours or so to go and have a poke around, once I arrived it was pretty clear I was taking it home, happy with the test drive a deal was done and off I set for home.
Once home as always its time to have a proper look and see what's what.. So what do we have?
E46 BMW 330 Touring
Xenons
Style 32's
Titan silver paint
Shadowline trim with Carbon trim panels
Climate Control
Cruise Control
Tape Deck and CD Changer
2 x keys
Black leather seats
Full Service History
MOT until March 2022
139,000 odd miles under its belt
Now, some pictures..
The money shot!
Bodywork needs some TLC, the bumper needs a paint and it has the usual E46 crust developing but overall for an almost 20 year old car, it's lovely. It drives "like a new car" I can attribute this to it having been babied, everything it has needed has been done and even the stuff it hasn't needed has been done too. The suspension is tight, the steering good and the gearbox, telepathic, snappy and responsive, these are words you wouldn't use when describing it. Adequate I think is the description but it suits the car and the type of driving that it will be used for so really I have no complaints. I love it, the straight 6 is a wonderful thing and makes that noise we all know and love, being a silver estate means it's totally invisible not once have I had someone try and "race me" it just cruises around without fuss and thumps down dual carriageways at pace without any bother.
Edited by geeks on Friday 20th August 12:30
Having run around for a couple of weeks doing "estate car things" such as tip runs, moving big items and generally enjoying it, it was time to address some niggles. First though a picture of an estate car doing what estate cars do, a tip run!
On from that to the niggles, first up brake judder, when braking gently all seemed fine, when braking hard or from speed there was quite the judder through the steering wheel, a quick chat with Clive from CB Autoservices (a quick plug for him here: https://www.cbautoservices.co.uk/) confirmed my suspicion of pad pickup on the discs. The rear pads were low too so a full set of pads was ordered along with replacement front discs. Inspection of the old ones confirmed our theory, see much pickup!
Those rear pads that needed a swap:
Sadly I don't have pictures of shiny new brakes fitted to the car but I am sure you can all use your imaginations for that.
Next niggle, it had a couple of times stalled when reversing on a gradient and once when moving from P to D on a set of lights to pull away, I also noticed the engine wasnt really pulling as it should especially low down. A quick plug in to my trust Bluetooth code reader and Torque Pro Android app confirmed a sensor fault for the inlet camshaft sensor. A new BMW sensor was ordered and the next day while waiting for it to arrive I was returning from Wickes (having bought some long lengths of timber, more estate car things) it decided to stall halfway round a roundabout, the first I knew of this the steering had gone heavy I looked down to see the rev counter on the stop, s
t! Fortunately I was able to get it into neutral and restarted while still turning right without power steering, coasting and not causing a massive accident, a PH driving god if ever you saw one people! With the sensors arrival I fitted it that evening keen to avoid the same sphincter worrying situation from the day before, I don't have pictures of this either as it was late when I changed it and it took only 5 minutes to swap out. I can however report that it did indeed resolve the issue and it now fires off the line as you would expect and no more stalling.
On from that to the niggles, first up brake judder, when braking gently all seemed fine, when braking hard or from speed there was quite the judder through the steering wheel, a quick chat with Clive from CB Autoservices (a quick plug for him here: https://www.cbautoservices.co.uk/) confirmed my suspicion of pad pickup on the discs. The rear pads were low too so a full set of pads was ordered along with replacement front discs. Inspection of the old ones confirmed our theory, see much pickup!
Those rear pads that needed a swap:
Sadly I don't have pictures of shiny new brakes fitted to the car but I am sure you can all use your imaginations for that.
Next niggle, it had a couple of times stalled when reversing on a gradient and once when moving from P to D on a set of lights to pull away, I also noticed the engine wasnt really pulling as it should especially low down. A quick plug in to my trust Bluetooth code reader and Torque Pro Android app confirmed a sensor fault for the inlet camshaft sensor. A new BMW sensor was ordered and the next day while waiting for it to arrive I was returning from Wickes (having bought some long lengths of timber, more estate car things) it decided to stall halfway round a roundabout, the first I knew of this the steering had gone heavy I looked down to see the rev counter on the stop, s
t! Fortunately I was able to get it into neutral and restarted while still turning right without power steering, coasting and not causing a massive accident, a PH driving god if ever you saw one people! With the sensors arrival I fitted it that evening keen to avoid the same sphincter worrying situation from the day before, I don't have pictures of this either as it was late when I changed it and it took only 5 minutes to swap out. I can however report that it did indeed resolve the issue and it now fires off the line as you would expect and no more stalling.
Love the E46, I think they just keep looking better with time. I had an E46 330Ci coupe but for family reasons needed a touring and all the manual 330i E46s I could find were a bit rusty in the usual places so I ended up with an E91 330i instead. I still think the E46 is the nicer car both to look at and to drive, although the E9x don't seem to be so rust prone.
Another Touring owner here, they're lovely cruisers, and with the right tweks can surprise faster cars.
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
With the rust, it's best to get it sorted ASAP as it can run away and rust out the arches on the rear. Front wings are avaliable so depending how far they've gone, It's easier to replace than repair.
Oil leaks usually stem from the rocker cover, oil filter housing rear mainseal and the sump gasket. The first two can be done by DIY if you're handy with spanners. and the latter will need a lift to deal with it.
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
With the rust, it's best to get it sorted ASAP as it can run away and rust out the arches on the rear. Front wings are avaliable so depending how far they've gone, It's easier to replace than repair.
Oil leaks usually stem from the rocker cover, oil filter housing rear mainseal and the sump gasket. The first two can be done by DIY if you're handy with spanners. and the latter will need a lift to deal with it.
Another one here, although I should probably update the thread - hadn't realised it was so long since I did it!
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Mine has since had a new pattern wing which I bought painted and got a local guy to fit for £200 all in (needed a fair bit of 'adjustment' apparently, but all good), including the wing, plus new rear brake pipes - other than that it's been brilliant.
Rear arches are just starting to show signs of bubbling so I should really get them sorted before it gets worse...
Make sure that your cooling system is up to scratch - my wife blew the engine on our old 330 convertible when the header tank split on the motorway!
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Mine has since had a new pattern wing which I bought painted and got a local guy to fit for £200 all in (needed a fair bit of 'adjustment' apparently, but all good), including the wing, plus new rear brake pipes - other than that it's been brilliant.
Rear arches are just starting to show signs of bubbling so I should really get them sorted before it gets worse...
Make sure that your cooling system is up to scratch - my wife blew the engine on our old 330 convertible when the header tank split on the motorway!
Looking good OP. 
I had a couple of E46 Compacts, the last being a 325ti Sport I bought in 2014 as an elderly parent taxi. But by 2018 I talked myself into needing a Touring for walkers and wheelchairs, but struggled to find an E46 that wasn't crusty so ended up with an E91. Although E46s are so much better looking! And finding one with Xenons is a real bonus as they seem to be pretty rare.
Any rust on the rear arches is probably best sorted sooner rather than later, but front wings are just bolted on so are much less of an issue.
There's just something about N/A straight 6 petrol BMWs that gets under your skin - I'm currently on numbers 5 and 6.
Keep enjoying your E46 journey.
I had a couple of E46 Compacts, the last being a 325ti Sport I bought in 2014 as an elderly parent taxi. But by 2018 I talked myself into needing a Touring for walkers and wheelchairs, but struggled to find an E46 that wasn't crusty so ended up with an E91. Although E46s are so much better looking! And finding one with Xenons is a real bonus as they seem to be pretty rare.
Any rust on the rear arches is probably best sorted sooner rather than later, but front wings are just bolted on so are much less of an issue.
There's just something about N/A straight 6 petrol BMWs that gets under your skin - I'm currently on numbers 5 and 6.
Keep enjoying your E46 journey.
Thanks for the comments guys, much appreciated, @SF_mantra, watched your thread from the beginning. Am I correct in thinking you are local to me (MK)?
Back to the car at hand took it down to Newbury and back today from MK. On the return leg....
Bugger, fking cars! It was still driving fine and with no code reader on me I figured I would carry on to home.
Once home it was time to work out what was the cause of our new found illumination. A quick code read later and we have....
Cock! Having just changed the inlet sensor I guess it follows the exhaust one would fail shortly there after... However the P0174 code.. that's going to be trickier to trace, chances are I have an air leak somewhere, wisdom would suggest that I have disturbed a pipe that was already brittle when I removed the airbox etc to change the inlet cam sensor. So, now we have to chase it down, it's all an adventure I suppose
Back to the car at hand took it down to Newbury and back today from MK. On the return leg....
Bugger, f
king cars! It was still driving fine and with no code reader on me I figured I would carry on to home. Once home it was time to work out what was the cause of our new found illumination. A quick code read later and we have....
Cock! Having just changed the inlet sensor I guess it follows the exhaust one would fail shortly there after... However the P0174 code.. that's going to be trickier to trace, chances are I have an air leak somewhere, wisdom would suggest that I have disturbed a pipe that was already brittle when I removed the airbox etc to change the inlet cam sensor. So, now we have to chase it down, it's all an adventure I suppose
geeks said:
Thanks for the comments guys, much appreciated, @SF_mantra, watched your thread from the beginning. Am I correct in thinking you are local to me (MK)?
Cock! Having just changed the inlet sensor I guess it follows the exhaust one would fail shortly there after... However the P0174 code.. that's going to be trickier to trace, chances are I have an air leak somewhere, wisdom would suggest that I have disturbed a pipe that was already brittle when I removed the airbox etc to change the inlet cam sensor. So, now we have to chase it down, it's all an adventure I suppose
Correct I am local in MK and given the lean code, check the intake pipe for splits, they tend to go bad and fall apart. but cheap enough to get a replacement even from BMW. Mine's currently away still having it's engine rebuilt but it should be back hopefully in September. Cock! Having just changed the inlet sensor I guess it follows the exhaust one would fail shortly there after... However the P0174 code.. that's going to be trickier to trace, chances are I have an air leak somewhere, wisdom would suggest that I have disturbed a pipe that was already brittle when I removed the airbox etc to change the inlet cam sensor. So, now we have to chase it down, it's all an adventure I suppose
Feel free to PM me, if you need a hand to resolve the car, I do have transport and plenty of experience to work out most issues on them and check usual issues if you want me to lend a hand.
Congrats OP, love the Type 32 alloys. You've done well to find one with xenons.
First few months always need a bit of snagging.
Mine had a crankshaft sensor issue on the drive home from buying.
As you mention, vacuum leaks common cause for these kind of codes. Don't overlook the MAF though. Good luck!
First few months always need a bit of snagging.
Mine had a crankshaft sensor issue on the drive home from buying.
As you mention, vacuum leaks common cause for these kind of codes. Don't overlook the MAF though. Good luck!
geeks said:
Thanks for the comments guys, much appreciated, @SF_mantra, watched your thread from the beginning. Am I correct in thinking you are local to me (MK)?
Back to the car at hand took it down to Newbury and back today from MK. On the return leg....
Bugger, fking cars! It was still driving fine and with no code reader on me I figured I would carry on to home.
Once home it was time to work out what was the cause of our new found illumination. A quick code read later and we have....
Cock! Having just changed the inlet sensor I guess it follows the exhaust one would fail shortly there after... However the P0174 code.. that's going to be trickier to trace, chances are I have an air leak somewhere, wisdom would suggest that I have disturbed a pipe that was already brittle when I removed the airbox etc to change the inlet cam sensor. So, now we have to chase it down, it's all an adventure I suppose
Yup; as SF Manta has said; it'll be perished/split air intake boots, so check MAF back to TB and replace all parts IMO; they're not expensive. Use the Z3 3.0 section to delete the resonator if there's one fittedBack to the car at hand took it down to Newbury and back today from MK. On the return leg....
Bugger, f
king cars! It was still driving fine and with no code reader on me I figured I would carry on to home. Once home it was time to work out what was the cause of our new found illumination. A quick code read later and we have....
Cock! Having just changed the inlet sensor I guess it follows the exhaust one would fail shortly there after... However the P0174 code.. that's going to be trickier to trace, chances are I have an air leak somewhere, wisdom would suggest that I have disturbed a pipe that was already brittle when I removed the airbox etc to change the inlet cam sensor. So, now we have to chase it down, it's all an adventure I suppose
And whilst you're at that; rebuild the DISA with the X8R kit; peace if mind and all that
Cheers chaps. I shall persevere. Mrs geeks did look at me looking at RealOEM earlier and asked “is this car going to become a money pit?” I have assured her it’s possible
Some bits ordered this evening. I shall order intake boot tomorrow and DISA rebuild kit as I read a few horror stories about them. Might organise a vanos rebuild kit too eventually but it seems ok for now so I’ll leave it be for the time being but it’s on the list.
I have assured her it’s possible Some bits ordered this evening. I shall order intake boot tomorrow and DISA rebuild kit as I read a few horror stories about them. Might organise a vanos rebuild kit too eventually but it seems ok for now so I’ll leave it be for the time being but it’s on the list.
Edited by geeks on Sunday 22 August 19:27
geeks said:
Disassembled airbox today, both boots look fine, no aging or discernible cracks but I have ordered replacements. Took the DISA valve out and it looks almost new, I will have a flick through the history and see if it has had a replacement
Did you check the vac lines and also the intake part of the boot where it connects to the TB? They crack/perish and sometimes it's hard to seed_a_n1979 said:
geeks said:
Disassembled airbox today, both boots look fine, no aging or discernible cracks but I have ordered replacements. Took the DISA valve out and it looks almost new, I will have a flick through the history and see if it has had a replacement
Did you check the vac lines and also the intake part of the boot where it connects to the TB? They crack/perish and sometimes it's hard to seegeeks said:
d_a_n1979 said:
geeks said:
Disassembled airbox today, both boots look fine, no aging or discernible cracks but I have ordered replacements. Took the DISA valve out and it looks almost new, I will have a flick through the history and see if it has had a replacement
Did you check the vac lines and also the intake part of the boot where it connects to the TB? They crack/perish and sometimes it's hard to seeCamshaft sensor is a easy if not cheap fix, they're located in the VANOS in the front end of the engine. The exhaust one is likely the culprit if i remember the code right.
Edited by Sf_Manta on Monday 23 August 10:09
New bits have arrived in the post today, it's like a mini Christmas, upper intake boot, rear passenger window regulator as that crapped itself a couple of weeks into ownership and also the exhaust cam sensor, the lower intake boot should be here by the weekend as well so guess what I will doing this weekend? @SF_Manta, if you have nothing better to be doing on Sunday, please feel free to come over make appreciative noises, nose at what I could be doing better and drink my coffee you are more than welcome
ETA - It will be Sunday I just remember Mrs geeks has a hospital appointment on Saturday
ETA - It will be Sunday I just remember Mrs geeks has a hospital appointment on Saturday
Edited by geeks on Wednesday 25th August 13:17
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