BMW 330D E46 - My new car
Discussion
helix402 said:
Looking good! Is that the road down towards Shaftesbury?
Yep top of Zig zag hill. sparks_E46 said:
Best roads in Dorset around there. My car came from Shaftsbury.
100%! Had a three week driving course with the police and spent most of it around there. Was great. Girlfriend lives in Wincanton so get to use it a fair bit
. Dropped the car off to the garage today at 0830. Said it will take a hour to 90 minutes. Took a walk into town and came back and it was still in the air...never good!
Long story short, it needs a new offside brake caliper as its leaking. £320 later (including the brake pads!). But not something I can ignore when it comes to brakes! Thank god I get a bonus from work shortly...
Long story short, it needs a new offside brake caliper as its leaking. £320 later (including the brake pads!). But not something I can ignore when it comes to brakes! Thank god I get a bonus from work shortly...
My E46 M3 had a seized front caliper last winter ... local indy wanted just shy of £500 to replace it.
One piston/seal kit off eBay for less than 50 quid, a 10 minute tutorial on YouTube and some low-level spannering on a Sunday afternoon saw me do the entire job with pads for less than £100, plus a couple of hours of my time.
Granted everyone is not suited to it, nor has the time, but it was very easy to do should anyone be faced with same issue.
One piston/seal kit off eBay for less than 50 quid, a 10 minute tutorial on YouTube and some low-level spannering on a Sunday afternoon saw me do the entire job with pads for less than £100, plus a couple of hours of my time.
Granted everyone is not suited to it, nor has the time, but it was very easy to do should anyone be faced with same issue.
Longest trip since owning it today. 180 miles to Coventry. Sat at 70 for most of it on cruise control and returned just over 60mpg. Rather pleased with that!
I doubt I'll get that on the return as leaving in rush hour.
Was comfortable until the last 30 minutes. Then back did play up a bit.
I doubt I'll get that on the return as leaving in rush hour.
Was comfortable until the last 30 minutes. Then back did play up a bit.
I can't describe how much I love this car. Every drive is fun. I know its nothing special, but it is to me. Getting used to its little quirks. The clutch/flywheel is still making the noise, but everything else is fine. The warning light for the brakes has come on twice since, but touch wood its been off for a week now (brakes are all fine, garage checked them over).
Picked up some of these today to get around the s
te mirrors. It is generally the only thing I hate about the car. There is a huge blind spot. Much better now.
Car has just passed 177,777 miles. Can't remember how many it had when I got it. But it had 173,976 miles when it was MOT'd a few weeks before I got it.
te mirrors. It is generally the only thing I hate about the car. There is a huge blind spot. Much better now.Car has just passed 177,777 miles. Can't remember how many it had when I got it. But it had 173,976 miles when it was MOT'd a few weeks before I got it.
Driving back from Portsmouth today I've put my foot down off a roundabout and noticed the DDE light has come on in amber.
No loss of power, but did notice a bit of black smoke but not a huge amount.
Google is saying its the ECU or possibly glow plugs or a controller.
Helix...have you got any ideas?
No loss of power, but did notice a bit of black smoke but not a huge amount.
Google is saying its the ECU or possibly glow plugs or a controller.
Helix...have you got any ideas?
Had this with mine.
Whenever I gave it some beans, DDE light would come on and would lose a slight bit of power, but not really too noticeable.
Turns out, the fuel pump under the passenger seat mounted on the chassis rail was weak.
It failed soon after, replaced and been fine since.
Code you will get will be low fuel rail pressure.
Whenever I gave it some beans, DDE light would come on and would lose a slight bit of power, but not really too noticeable.
Turns out, the fuel pump under the passenger seat mounted on the chassis rail was weak.
It failed soon after, replaced and been fine since.
Code you will get will be low fuel rail pressure.
It’s very rare for an engine warning light on these. Glow plug faults don’t put the light on. It may be a boost leak, check all your pipes inc alloy ones for holes, also check the intercooler.
There should be a fault code stored too which will help. Could be faulty air mass meter too.
There should be a fault code stored too which will help. Could be faulty air mass meter too.
The above light hasn't come on since, and having got a code reader there is never anything showing.
There is a lot of white smoke at the moment. Strangely, it only appears when I'm coming back from work a few miles away. Long trips its fine.
Google suggests glow plugs or glow relay. Does that sound right?
There is a lot of white smoke at the moment. Strangely, it only appears when I'm coming back from work a few miles away. Long trips its fine.
Google suggests glow plugs or glow relay. Does that sound right?
Google lies. Most E46 330ds have worn out glow plugs. They are only used for very cold starts. White smoke is more likely to be from oil (early sign of turbo probs) or water in the oil. (Head gasket failure is very rare on these-I forget if they have an oil/water heat exchanger.
Also could be due to a blocked crankcase breather filter.
Also could be due to a blocked crankcase breather filter.
Edited by helix402 on Thursday 9th August 22:26
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