g3org3y's shedtastic £900 BMW E46 330Ci
Discussion
My first rad for the E46 was a GSF brandless thing, sealed but swelled up and leaked within about a year, total false economy. Replaced by the 'Zed Shed' with a Hella/Behr rad and tank 3years agp which has given no bother.
On the E36 I bought a cheapy from CarCooling.co.uk which sat on the back seat waiting to be fitted for long enough it couldn't return it when I found I couldn't get a rad cap to seal on it for love or money. Bloody thing went on the scrap pile and I bought a Nissens which again was faultless for years.
Sadly, buy cheap, buy twice appears to hold here!
Daniel
On the E36 I bought a cheapy from CarCooling.co.uk which sat on the back seat waiting to be fitted for long enough it couldn't return it when I found I couldn't get a rad cap to seal on it for love or money. Bloody thing went on the scrap pile and I bought a Nissens which again was faultless for years.
Sadly, buy cheap, buy twice appears to hold here!
Daniel
g3org3y said:
Nissens is the second cheapest on ECP 
Cheapest: EIS
Middle: Nissens
Most Expensive: Hella
Sounds reasonable to do the thermostat, housing and waterpump at the same time?
Anything else to change while I'm there?
Might as well swap the upper and lower hoses too, they do come pre-assembled and as someone mentioned previously, the O rings go in them, I know from having one go on my upper hose.Cheapest: EIS
Middle: Nissens
Most Expensive: Hella
Sounds reasonable to do the thermostat, housing and waterpump at the same time?
Anything else to change while I'm there?
Expansion tanks are known to pop too depending how hard you drive the car, and given the youngest E46 is well into it's teens, not worth trusting aged plastics from my experience.
I would day definitely do the hoses, as ive had two of the three fail when I didn't, top hose, and the breather hose or whatever it is, smaller dia of the two bottom ones.
Last time I did the expansion tank while I was at it because why not, its money but not a huge amount and you obviously have to separate and re assy when you swap the rad.
Thermostat housing was not due to a leak, but a stuck open stat. They come as one part, and I was recommended to put in a BMW one, but they are not cheap and at easy to do without draining much coolant, so if it gets upto temp in a sensible time, leave it?
Waterpump. Think mines had one, can't remember.
Daniel
Last time I did the expansion tank while I was at it because why not, its money but not a huge amount and you obviously have to separate and re assy when you swap the rad.
Thermostat housing was not due to a leak, but a stuck open stat. They come as one part, and I was recommended to put in a BMW one, but they are not cheap and at easy to do without draining much coolant, so if it gets upto temp in a sensible time, leave it?
Waterpump. Think mines had one, can't remember.
Daniel
Sf_Manta said:
Might as well swap the upper and lower hoses too, they do come pre-assembled and as someone mentioned previously, the O rings go in them, I know from having one go on my upper hose.
Expansion tanks are known to pop too depending how hard you drive the car, and given the youngest E46 is well into it's teens, not worth trusting aged plastics from my experience.
Good plan.Expansion tanks are known to pop too depending how hard you drive the car, and given the youngest E46 is well into it's teens, not worth trusting aged plastics from my experience.
dhutch said:
I would day definitely do the hoses, as ive had two of the three fail when I didn't, top hose, and the breather hose or whatever it is, smaller dia of the two bottom ones.
Last time I did the expansion tank while I was at it because why not, its money but not a huge amount and you obviously have to separate and re assy when you swap the rad.
Thermostat housing was not due to a leak, but a stuck open stat. They come as one part, and I was recommended to put in a BMW one, but they are not cheap and at easy to do without draining much coolant, so if it gets upto temp in a sensible time, leave it?
Waterpump. Think mines had one, can't remember.
Daniel
Car comes up to temp no problem.Last time I did the expansion tank while I was at it because why not, its money but not a huge amount and you obviously have to separate and re assy when you swap the rad.
Thermostat housing was not due to a leak, but a stuck open stat. They come as one part, and I was recommended to put in a BMW one, but they are not cheap and at easy to do without draining much coolant, so if it gets upto temp in a sensible time, leave it?
Waterpump. Think mines had one, can't remember.
Daniel
Interestingly, when I stick a code reader on it, it shows 7B Activation Map Cooling. Does this suggest the thermostat is at fault or some other sensor associated with the cooling system?
Your thermostat code means you need a new thermostat.
For the parts you’re considering changing I recommend:
Water pump: gen BMW-they last the longest
Thermostat: MAHLE or gen BMW as above
Expansion tank: gen BMW as above
Coolant is G48.
I wouldn’t worry too much about the coolant hoses. The main problem with them is minor leaks from the o rings. You can buy a kit of a full set of uprated o rings.
For the parts you’re considering changing I recommend:
Water pump: gen BMW-they last the longest
Thermostat: MAHLE or gen BMW as above
Expansion tank: gen BMW as above
Coolant is G48.
I wouldn’t worry too much about the coolant hoses. The main problem with them is minor leaks from the o rings. You can buy a kit of a full set of uprated o rings.
helix402 said:
Your thermostat code means you need a new thermostat.
For the parts you’re considering changing I recommend:
Water pump: gen BMW-they last the longest
Thermostat: MAHLE or gen BMW as above
Expansion tank: gen BMW as above
Coolant is G48.
I wouldn’t worry too much about the coolant hoses. The main problem with them is minor leaks from the o rings. You can buy a kit of a full set of uprated o rings.
Yes, googling did suggest likely new thermostat needed.For the parts you’re considering changing I recommend:
Water pump: gen BMW-they last the longest
Thermostat: MAHLE or gen BMW as above
Expansion tank: gen BMW as above
Coolant is G48.
I wouldn’t worry too much about the coolant hoses. The main problem with them is minor leaks from the o rings. You can buy a kit of a full set of uprated o rings.
Thanks for the advice, much appreciated.
g3org3y said:
MOT day today...it'll be fine...probably.
Good luck! My experience with cars like this is it rare to have a surprise at the test station, but its not unheard of either.ONly time I have been stung was a E36 compact which faired on rear subframe bushes. Turned out the garage (always fair to me, but never underhand) had been felt around the collar for passing cars that shouldnt have and where being very cautious! Still cost me £500 however.
Never in doubt. 
The E46 survives for another year. Rad behaved itself until a really hot day last week where it started leaking again from that problem area. Should probably get that sorted out at some point.
MOT said:
Date tested
17 August 2020
PASS
View test certificate
Mileage
162,394 miles
MOT test number
2146 5016 5594
Test location
View test location
Expiry date
26 August 2021
Monitor and repair if necessary (advisories):
covers fitted to n/s & o/s sills
Offside Rear Direction indicator slightly discoloured (4.4.3 (a))
under body shields fitted
o/s/r shock absorber dirt shield loose
It actually failed the first time for 'offside headlamp aim too high'. Looks like they adjusted it and re-tested.17 August 2020
PASS
View test certificate
Mileage
162,394 miles
MOT test number
2146 5016 5594
Test location
View test location
Expiry date
26 August 2021
Monitor and repair if necessary (advisories):
covers fitted to n/s & o/s sills
Offside Rear Direction indicator slightly discoloured (4.4.3 (a))
under body shields fitted
o/s/r shock absorber dirt shield loose
The E46 survives for another year. Rad behaved itself until a really hot day last week where it started leaking again from that problem area. Should probably get that sorted out at some point.
Nice one.
Bit of a funny one about the cill/body covers, they can make good inspection hard, but what can garage or owner do about it?
The dust covers on my rear B4's failed within a few weeks, got replacements sent out, but never fitted them as likely fail again!
So yeah, your worse item is in my book, a slightly discoloured indicator. Aka, its a minter!
Daniel
Bit of a funny one about the cill/body covers, they can make good inspection hard, but what can garage or owner do about it?
The dust covers on my rear B4's failed within a few weeks, got replacements sent out, but never fitted them as likely fail again!
So yeah, your worse item is in my book, a slightly discoloured indicator. Aka, its a minter!
Daniel
dhutch said:
Nice one.
Bit of a funny one about the cill/body covers, they can make good inspection hard, but what can garage or owner do about it?
The dust covers on my rear B4's failed within a few weeks, got replacements sent out, but never fitted them as likely fail again!
So yeah, your worse item is in my book, a slightly discoloured indicator. Aka, its a minter!
Daniel
Boom, value instantly doubled. Bit of a funny one about the cill/body covers, they can make good inspection hard, but what can garage or owner do about it?
The dust covers on my rear B4's failed within a few weeks, got replacements sent out, but never fitted them as likely fail again!
So yeah, your worse item is in my book, a slightly discoloured indicator. Aka, its a minter!
Daniel
g3org3y said:
It actually failed the first time for 'offside headlamp aim too high'. Looks like they adjusted it and re-tested.
The E46 survives for another year. Rad behaved itself until a really hot day last week where it started leaking again from that problem area. Should probably get that sorted out at some point.
Woohoo The E46 survives for another year. Rad behaved itself until a really hot day last week where it started leaking again from that problem area. Should probably get that sorted out at some point.
My E46 330Ci has just passed its MOT so lives on for another year. It wasn't due until November, but as the car has been parked in my garage for most of the year, and I needed to take it in for the replacement of springs, I figured I might as well get the MOT refreshed as a kind of health check before I start using it again. It ended up needing a rear wheel bearing and DSC sensor (I wonder whether the latter was damaged during replacement of the former, being that there were no warning lights when it went in!). Not bad for going on 200,000 miles
Congrats on the pass. I'm looking forwards to when mine goes in as i've used the same place for the past couple of years. They know they can't get any work from me, but I always make sure they're strict on it, so I know it's been checked correctly.
Last year the car was a bit tatty underneath.. this year it's a bit different
The exhaust is due to be done in Sept using M3 and Eisenmann parts in stainless steel.
Last year the car was a bit tatty underneath.. this year it's a bit different
The exhaust is due to be done in Sept using M3 and Eisenmann parts in stainless steel.
craigjm said:
g3org3y said:
Boom, value instantly doubled.
Yeah but it was already halved by just looking at the owner 
pmorg4 said:
Woohoo
My E46 330Ci has just passed its MOT so lives on for another year. It wasn't due until November, but as the car has been parked in my garage for most of the year, and I needed to take it in for the replacement of springs, I figured I might as well get the MOT refreshed as a kind of health check before I start using it again. It ended up needing a rear wheel bearing and DSC sensor (I wonder whether the latter was damaged during replacement of the former, being that there were no warning lights when it went in!). Not bad for going on 200,000 miles
Thanks My E46 330Ci has just passed its MOT so lives on for another year. It wasn't due until November, but as the car has been parked in my garage for most of the year, and I needed to take it in for the replacement of springs, I figured I might as well get the MOT refreshed as a kind of health check before I start using it again. It ended up needing a rear wheel bearing and DSC sensor (I wonder whether the latter was damaged during replacement of the former, being that there were no warning lights when it went in!). Not bad for going on 200,000 miles
I wasn't worried...much.TBH, I'd been under the car not that long ago sorting the ARB links so everything looked
You may be right regarding the 'collateral damage' theory for your DSC sensor
Sf_Manta said:
Congrats on the pass. I'm looking forwards to when mine goes in as i've used the same place for the past couple of years. They know they can't get any work from me, but I always make sure they're strict on it, so I know it's been checked correctly.
Last year the car was a bit tatty underneath.. this year it's a bit different
The exhaust is due to be done in Sept using M3 and Eisenmann parts in stainless steel.
Thanks. Last year the car was a bit tatty underneath.. this year it's a bit different
The exhaust is due to be done in Sept using M3 and Eisenmann parts in stainless steel.
Sounds like yours is a keeper.
Update:
Expansion tank started leaking quite a bit after my previous post and I didn't fancy having to top up coolant on a daily basis so the E46 hadn't been used for a couple of months. I was pleased that despite sitting unused and subjected to a lot of rain there was no damp in the car at all. Attached my CTEK charger for a couple of days and it started first time. Idle was a bit grumpy for 10-20 seconds but then settled down. Has been fine on subsequent starts but the aux air pump (that is used for emission control on cold starts) has started whining. Will ignore.
It finally had its cooling system refresh last week:
- New radiator (Nissens)
- New thermostat (Wahler)
- New expansion tank (Meyle)
- New hoses (Febi Bilstein)
- New AC condenser (Hella/Behr Premium Line)
(Didn't do the water pump as looking in the SH, was already done a couple of years back).
Oddly enough, the lower return pipe was reportedly faulty when the mechanic put it on so they had to put back on the original item. Will find out the specifics next week (and decide whether to bother returning the hose). Otherwise seems the refresh went ok.
E46 will probably move on to make way for a new addition (E70 X5). Having 5 cars is probably a bit excessive so need to make some space on the drive. Will be passing the 330Ci on to my dad.
Overall the E46 has been pretty decent in the time I've owned it. Of course it has cost some money and time to get bits and pieces sorted, but it's a 20 year old BMW with >160k miles. As long as the body remains relatively rust free, I don't see why it shouldn't last a quite more years.
Expansion tank started leaking quite a bit after my previous post and I didn't fancy having to top up coolant on a daily basis so the E46 hadn't been used for a couple of months. I was pleased that despite sitting unused and subjected to a lot of rain there was no damp in the car at all. Attached my CTEK charger for a couple of days and it started first time. Idle was a bit grumpy for 10-20 seconds but then settled down. Has been fine on subsequent starts but the aux air pump (that is used for emission control on cold starts) has started whining. Will ignore.
It finally had its cooling system refresh last week:
- New radiator (Nissens)
- New thermostat (Wahler)
- New expansion tank (Meyle)
- New hoses (Febi Bilstein)
- New AC condenser (Hella/Behr Premium Line)
(Didn't do the water pump as looking in the SH, was already done a couple of years back).
Oddly enough, the lower return pipe was reportedly faulty when the mechanic put it on so they had to put back on the original item. Will find out the specifics next week (and decide whether to bother returning the hose). Otherwise seems the refresh went ok.
E46 will probably move on to make way for a new addition (E70 X5). Having 5 cars is probably a bit excessive so need to make some space on the drive. Will be passing the 330Ci on to my dad.
Overall the E46 has been pretty decent in the time I've owned it. Of course it has cost some money and time to get bits and pieces sorted, but it's a 20 year old BMW with >160k miles. As long as the body remains relatively rust free, I don't see why it shouldn't last a quite more years.
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