Another silver BMW - 2005 330i Touring
Discussion
Cracking 200k update Jake. A lot of what you said rings true - they're just very, very good at what they do these cars. I never planned to keep mine as long as I have but it's reached that point where it seems pointless swapping for something newer - this was peak era for these sorts of cars imo, with modern enough safety gear, but proper hydraulic PAS, limited tech (or no tech in mine!), and so on.
Agreed, Mervin. Absolutely. They also still drive very well too and don’t suffer from the malaise of driving dynamics that many modern cars seem to. These are all good reasons to do some more rust prevention, as that will be what takes it off of the road.
Just picked up a Valvetronic motor gasket and another 5l of screenwash from BMW. I will probably do those bits on Saturday.
Just picked up a Valvetronic motor gasket and another 5l of screenwash from BMW. I will probably do those bits on Saturday.
Swervin_Mervin said:
Cracking 200k update Jake. A lot of what you said rings true - they're just very, very good at what they do these cars. I never planned to keep mine as long as I have but it's reached that point where it seems pointless swapping for something newer - this was peak era for these sorts of cars imo, with modern enough safety gear, but proper hydraulic PAS, limited tech (or no tech in mine!), and so on.
At least the tech is easily upgradeable if you do have it; an Andream screen gave me CarPlay so I never ever have to bother with the rather dated CCC system in my car.Final service pre-200k today. Oil, filter, air filter, microfilter, and a valvetronic gasket to take care of a weep that's been there for a while now.
As you can see below, the mess had accumulated after some time, I've been meaning to get around to it for a while, but didn't. Until today.
As it's an early (08/2005) build car, many instructions on the internet didn't really work that well, and the wiring harness for coils, and the motor can't be removed without renewing the bolts that fasten it down. So I left it there. Getting the motor out is very tight, and the screw at the bottom that secures the motor is tricky to access. Can't get an E8 Torx spanner on it, and my E8 torx socket was too fat. Fortunately a quarter inch fits it perfectly, and it came out fine.
With the motor out, the eccentric cam gear is a little worn, but it's been used for nearly 200k now, so I'll forgive it. Everything still seems to work fine, so no complaints. Noted at the bottom is lots of the oil reside where it's been slowly leaking for some time.
Cleaned up (sort of) and back together. The bottom bolt was installed the other way around, as per newer cars. Far easier to do up.
Oil changed, and other bits done, and taken for a run to check the oil level. As it should be.
As you can see below, the mess had accumulated after some time, I've been meaning to get around to it for a while, but didn't. Until today.
As it's an early (08/2005) build car, many instructions on the internet didn't really work that well, and the wiring harness for coils, and the motor can't be removed without renewing the bolts that fasten it down. So I left it there. Getting the motor out is very tight, and the screw at the bottom that secures the motor is tricky to access. Can't get an E8 Torx spanner on it, and my E8 torx socket was too fat. Fortunately a quarter inch fits it perfectly, and it came out fine.
With the motor out, the eccentric cam gear is a little worn, but it's been used for nearly 200k now, so I'll forgive it. Everything still seems to work fine, so no complaints. Noted at the bottom is lots of the oil reside where it's been slowly leaking for some time.
Cleaned up (sort of) and back together. The bottom bolt was installed the other way around, as per newer cars. Far easier to do up.
Oil changed, and other bits done, and taken for a run to check the oil level. As it should be.
I always enjoy checking in on this thread and was mildly annoyed to see you took the E36 today, especially as I was viewing an E91 330i touring straight after the event 
Didn't manage to catch you either as the carpark was all a bit disjointed!
Anyway, I've just sent you an email from your profile as I have a couple of questions regarding N52's!
Cheers
Didn't manage to catch you either as the carpark was all a bit disjointed!Anyway, I've just sent you an email from your profile as I have a couple of questions regarding N52's!
Cheers
pmorg4 said:
Good stuff, here’s to the next 200k! Nice to see an N52 being well looked after into higher mileages, as it does feel like an engine that will happily do mega miles.
Cheers. It seems fine now knock on wood, so I’ll keep running it for foreseeable, honestly. Considering there’s ones with far more miles than mine, I’m happy there.Max M4X WW said:
I always enjoy checking in on this thread and was mildly annoyed to see you took the E36 today, especially as I was viewing an E91 330i touring straight after the event Didn't manage to catch you either as the carpark was all a bit disjointed!
Anyway, I've just sent you an email from your profile as I have a couple of questions regarding N52's!
Cheers
Didn't manage to catch you either as the carpark was all a bit disjointed!Anyway, I've just sent you an email from your profile as I have a couple of questions regarding N52's!
Cheers
Apologies, max. I saw E36 attendance was low, so figured I should pump that number up a little bit. I had to dart a little earlier than planned, so didn’t catch you.Seen your PM though, and replied.
No big update, but MOT day today. Passed, with advisories for rear subframe corrosion and floor pans at the back, too. Not unexpected, and I slightly expected worse.
All I’ve done since the last test is drive it (16k), and service it twice. Good car. Here for another year. I best do some de-rusting on the rear undercarriage too, I suppose.
All I’ve done since the last test is drive it (16k), and service it twice. Good car. Here for another year. I best do some de-rusting on the rear undercarriage too, I suppose.
We're off to Italy soon, and with a service about due, with it on 207k now. I bought a Filter and microfilter through my good lady at work, as she gets cheap parts, and Opie had a sale on Mobil1 oils, so 7 litres of that. Borrowed a ramp to do it this time, which was convenient.
Now we're over 205k the service indicator has stopped working properly, as expected. It only reset to 14k instead of the usual 19k that it would go to. At some point it won't reset at all and will tell me that a service is always due. BMW have a fix, and so I'll get that applied at some point. It just disables the service indicator for oil, which I don't mind as I do the oil at 10k intervals.
With this done, I tried the snow chains that I purchased too, to have some practice should we need them on a mountain. I'm glad I did, as one of the chains was defective, out of the box. Below is how they should look:
And how one set looked...
The permiter chain was looped through the ones that go over the tread. Fortunately there was a couple of fixings that weren't welded up, so I could open them out and re-route the permiter chain to be correct.
Finally, test fitted...
Now we're over 205k the service indicator has stopped working properly, as expected. It only reset to 14k instead of the usual 19k that it would go to. At some point it won't reset at all and will tell me that a service is always due. BMW have a fix, and so I'll get that applied at some point. It just disables the service indicator for oil, which I don't mind as I do the oil at 10k intervals.
With this done, I tried the snow chains that I purchased too, to have some practice should we need them on a mountain. I'm glad I did, as one of the chains was defective, out of the box. Below is how they should look:
And how one set looked...
The permiter chain was looped through the ones that go over the tread. Fortunately there was a couple of fixings that weren't welded up, so I could open them out and re-route the permiter chain to be correct.
Finally, test fitted...
I'm guessing you'll be going to the North of Italy if you need chains on winter tyres!
Anyway I hope you have a great trip.
These 330is just soak up the miles so well.
I just noticed my E90 was built in September 2005, so a month after your car. But the 325i E91 I had previously was built in August 2005, even though it wasn't registered until 1 March 2006.
Anyway I hope you have a great trip.
These 330is just soak up the miles so well.
I just noticed my E90 was built in September 2005, so a month after your car. But the 325i E91 I had previously was built in August 2005, even though it wasn't registered until 1 March 2006.
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