What alternator do i need for my BMW??? 318i 2003
Discussion
Hi e46 fans!..
Im looking at replacing my alternator and I have a couple questions,
1. What alternator do I need for my car or where can I find out what one I need?
2. How hard is this to do with my car, I have discovered that i have the N42 engine type.
3.If anybody has done this before on an n42 engine, I would greatly appreciate an idiot guide to replacing mine.
I loath going to a garage and paying £400 plus, if its something I can do easily?
Kind regards
Im looking at replacing my alternator and I have a couple questions,
1. What alternator do I need for my car or where can I find out what one I need?
2. How hard is this to do with my car, I have discovered that i have the N42 engine type.
3.If anybody has done this before on an n42 engine, I would greatly appreciate an idiot guide to replacing mine.
I loath going to a garage and paying £400 plus, if its something I can do easily?
Kind regards
Put your reg. into CP4L and see what comes up. Depending the spec of your car there are quite a few choices ; Do you have AC/Climate control and do you have heater seats etc.?
Depending on the spec it will be around £140-180 for the alternator. One thing I will say is not to use a no-name/RTX branded alternator. I've seen and had a plethora of cheap alternators either cause issues out of the box or simply barely last the warranty period. On one car the pattern item left me stranded in Italy despite the alternator barely covering 2,000 miles, 1,000 of which were heading to Italy!
If you need it faster you'll have to go to ECP/GSF or a local motor factor to source it.
https://www.carparts4less.co.uk/alternator
As for how hard to me it's simple; If you have changed an alternator on an old car previously with a single thin belt it will be trickier but doable. If you've done a modern alternator before it's not a hard job. I did my E46 M3 alternator probably in a 2-3 hours from start to finish, but a chunk of that was spent in removing engine dressing as well as also changing the tensioner pulleys since I felt they weren't in the best shape. Oh and I did it on the driveway during cold December nights!
From memory it was
undoing the battery.
removing airbox and pipe,
loosened fan shroud,
possibly a loosened viscous coupling which would be removed if you are careless
remove the belts
remove alternator connection and then remove the alt.
What quotes have you had off garages?
Depending on the spec it will be around £140-180 for the alternator. One thing I will say is not to use a no-name/RTX branded alternator. I've seen and had a plethora of cheap alternators either cause issues out of the box or simply barely last the warranty period. On one car the pattern item left me stranded in Italy despite the alternator barely covering 2,000 miles, 1,000 of which were heading to Italy!
If you need it faster you'll have to go to ECP/GSF or a local motor factor to source it.
https://www.carparts4less.co.uk/alternator
As for how hard to me it's simple; If you have changed an alternator on an old car previously with a single thin belt it will be trickier but doable. If you've done a modern alternator before it's not a hard job. I did my E46 M3 alternator probably in a 2-3 hours from start to finish, but a chunk of that was spent in removing engine dressing as well as also changing the tensioner pulleys since I felt they weren't in the best shape. Oh and I did it on the driveway during cold December nights!
From memory it was
undoing the battery.
removing airbox and pipe,
loosened fan shroud,
possibly a loosened viscous coupling which would be removed if you are careless
remove the belts
remove alternator connection and then remove the alt.
What quotes have you had off garages?
Edited by SebringMan on Thursday 22 February 07:37
Watch some YouTube videos and you should see it's a pretty straightforward job. May only be the voltage regulator that needs replacement too!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrEehjM5tgQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrEehjM5tgQ
SebringMan said:
Put your reg. into CP4L and see what comes up. Depending the spec of your car there are quite a few choices ; Do you have AC/Climate control and do you have heater seats etc.?
Depending on the spec it will be around £140-180 for the alternator. One thing I will say is not to use a no-name/RTX branded alternator. I've seen and had a plethora of cheap alternators either cause issues out of the box or simply barely last the warranty period. On one car the pattern item left me stranded in Italy despite the alternator barely covering 2,000 miles, 1,000 of which were heading to Italy!
If you need it faster you'll have to go to ECP/GSF or a local motor factor to source it.
https://www.carparts4less.co.uk/alternator
As for how hard to me it's simple; If you have changed an alternator on an old car previously with a single thin belt it will be trickier but doable. If you've done a modern alternator before it's not a hard job. I did my E46 M3 alternator probably in a 2-3 hours from start to finish, but a chunk of that was spent in removing engine dressing as well as also changing the tensioner pulleys since I felt they weren't in the best shape. Oh and I did it on the driveway during cold December nights!
From memory it was
undoing the battery.
removing airbox and pipe,
loosened fan shroud,
possibly a loosened viscous coupling which would be removed if you are careless
remove the belts
remove alternator connection and then remove the alt.
What quotes have you had off garages?
This ^ under no circumstances use RTX or any other white box brands and avoid unheard of brands Depending on the spec it will be around £140-180 for the alternator. One thing I will say is not to use a no-name/RTX branded alternator. I've seen and had a plethora of cheap alternators either cause issues out of the box or simply barely last the warranty period. On one car the pattern item left me stranded in Italy despite the alternator barely covering 2,000 miles, 1,000 of which were heading to Italy!
If you need it faster you'll have to go to ECP/GSF or a local motor factor to source it.
https://www.carparts4less.co.uk/alternator
As for how hard to me it's simple; If you have changed an alternator on an old car previously with a single thin belt it will be trickier but doable. If you've done a modern alternator before it's not a hard job. I did my E46 M3 alternator probably in a 2-3 hours from start to finish, but a chunk of that was spent in removing engine dressing as well as also changing the tensioner pulleys since I felt they weren't in the best shape. Oh and I did it on the driveway during cold December nights!
From memory it was
undoing the battery.
removing airbox and pipe,
loosened fan shroud,
possibly a loosened viscous coupling which would be removed if you are careless
remove the belts
remove alternator connection and then remove the alt.
What quotes have you had off garages?
Edited by SebringMan on Thursday 22 February 07:37
(Google is your friend here) unless made by OE supplier Valeo Bosch etc or reconditioned by Delco remy, Bosch, Borg & Beck, even so called Lucas branded recon are good IME new old stock always gets my vote especially cost wise compared to new main dealer or approach a Valeo or Bosch dealer direct and the likes or ECP/GSF etc will shift on price if you push them Edited by Sardonicus on Thursday 22 February 09:36
DarrenC87 said:
Hi e46 fans!..
Im looking at replacing my alternator and I have a couple questions,
1. What alternator do I need for my car or where can I find out what one I need?
www.realoem.com is your friendIm looking at replacing my alternator and I have a couple questions,
1. What alternator do I need for my car or where can I find out what one I need?
DarrenC87 said:
3.If anybody has done this before on an n42 engine, I would greatly appreciate an idiot guide to replacing mine.
Although this doesn't cover the 318 it would be worth a lookhttps://www.pelicanparts.com/BMW/techarticles/BMW-...
I would add a healthy amount of Plusgas and a drive belt to your shopping basket at the same time.
Kind regards
Gassing Station | BMW General | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff