Washer bottle and bonnet: BMW E46 330CI Thread.

[Split_Pin]

As alluded to elsewhere, I purchased this from @320touring.

Here it is back at my bit after a pleasant jaunt to collect it under rather stormy skies this evening.

This belonged to 320's dad from 2011 until he recently decided to switch to a slightly smaller car, making this surplus to requirements. He was sorry to see it go but I was informed that when he was told it was me (that boy with the Rover 75) which would be the new owner, he was happy. 

That makes me only the third owner.

It drives as its low 103000 miles would suggest, no knocks or bagginess, brakes are smooth and progressive and grip is good.

The I-drive system is fairly basic and intuitive, I don't see what all the fuss was about back when it was launched. I think it works well. But then, we all now have the benefit of another 20 years of smart technology,  making this system seem remarkably simple. 

Air con works and the controls are thankfully quick and simple with just 3 rotary knobs together with a recirc and A/C button. I find the Audi A4 B7 s push button system cumbersome in comparison (the A8 set up is a big improvement though).

Seats look flat but are actually very supportive and I find my shoulders are supported, which is my number one pain point on a long journey. Massive arm rest in the back with cupholders which my son very much appreciates.

I was very surprised at the waftiness of it. I thought it would be a bit harsh but it's a non-M model and the 45 profile tyres give a proper sidewall at this aspect ratio so the ride is very smooth, if not quite Rover 75 standard.

On the subject of the latter, I am going to have fun spotting some parts shared with the Rover. Already I noticed that the HVAC flaps make the same noise when they reset themselves after the car is shut down for 5 minutes. 

Performance is adequate but it does pick up a great deal after 4k. I have had a fair few fast cars over the past couple of years and many times I have come very close to getting a speeding ticket which would price me out of running 4 cars in terms of insurance. So no more of those once the Saab goes. Or maybe I'm just getting older, I'll be 45 this year.

Things to do? Well, nothing really. I'm going to Upullit at the weekend as I need to get some Audi fixings so I'll pick up a couple of door mirrors as there's at least 5 or 6 E60s in at the moment. I'll probably give it a service as well. And just drive and enjoy!

When I brought it home, my wife and son were straight out and sitting in it, both approve 😀

Overall I am delighted with it and look forward to putting some miles on.

[sutty2006]

These are a lovely vessel to steer in any particular direction. 

[SiC]

Is this your first BMW (or Bangle BMW)?

Glad I got my iDrive working again. These are the earliest incarnations of them.  I can't tell from the pictures but does it have two slots on the idrive?

[Split_Pin]

Yes this is my first BMW. Its just got the one slot for a CD (presume that's what you mean). 

I mustn't compare it to the A8s MMI, which has exponentially more functions and is a different class of car.

[SiC]

11 minutes ago, Split_Pin said:

Yes this is my first BMW. Its just got the one slot for a CD (presume that's what you mean). 

I mustn't compare it to the A8s MMI, which has exponentially more functions and is a different class of car.

I think that is the M-ASK unit. The most basic of the idrives hence possibly feels a bit more antiquated.

More here:

https://mca.electricmura.ro/en/blog-bmw-mask-ccc-cic-or-nbt-idrive/

It's honestly no bad thing as they're more reliable and much cheaper to replace. You're unlikely to need to go through what I have done to get a working setup again. 

[Spiny Norman]

Funny how these look fairly normal now, I remember when they came out they were extremely 'Marmite' as Bangle's penmanship wasn't universally admired. I count myself among the original detractors but they've matured quite well IMO.
Either that or some of the gopping atrocities that have come since have taken the sting out of what is now quite a retrained but sharp design.
To me, the 5 series was always the peak BMW, and they have to have that silky smooth I6 petrol engine with the auto box. They're quick enough if you're not afraid to give them some hoof, the smaller six loves to rev.

Well bought.

 

[Split_Pin]

I have been using this for the past few days and very much enjoying it. The engine is a peach. Very comfortable. It even smells nice!

I am heading to Upullit tomorrow as they have a few E60s in and I'll pick up, among other things, a couple of door mirrors and bases as the ones in the car are a bit corroded:

I knew about the oil leak but it also has a coolant leak. The undertray makes it impossible to identify the source as its dripping out the side of it rather than straight down. Seems to be a thing with old German cars! I will just keep the level topped up for now.

Also an oil and filter change at some point over the summer although the stuff in it looks pretty clean.

[Split_Pin]

Me being me, this had to happen!

 

[cort16]

A BMW with an oil leak, I don't believe it😀. BMW offer very robust untertray to catch all the oil.

 A common place for these to leak is the oil filter housing if you've not found it already.

I had one almost identical about 10 years, same colour, gearbox engine and year.  The less said about my experience the better but this one looks great car for the price it was up for..

[Split_Pin]

I went to Upullit in Inverkeithing today and availed a couple of E60s of a nearside door mirror and an offside bonnet latch.

A trip to Poundland ensued to buy a can of satin black paint for the mirror base (they were all corroded) and I'm meeting 320T at some point in the week as he has range of paints for the car found whilst having a clearout. 

[Matty]

23 hours ago, cort16 said:

A BMW with an oil leak, I don't believe it😀. BMW offer very robust untertray to catch all the oil.

 A common place for these to leak is the oil filter housing if you've not found it already.

I had one almost identical about 10 years, same colour, gearbox engine and year.  The less said about my experience the better but this one looks great car for the price it was up for..

Remote filter housings a bonny job though. Few things to pull out the way but easy enough. I've had 3 now. And done 3 😁 

[Split_Pin]

Left Dundee and the EML immediately came on (wife took the pictures)

Misfiring like fuck, no power and shaking like a dog shitting razorblades. With 2 smashes and huge delays on the Queensferry crossing, plus only being able to do 55 mph, it took me 2 hours 15 minutes to get to Falkirk.

Just away to park the car somewhere out of sight and so I can forget about it for a while.

[Split_Pin]

...and it's now pissing out coolant, this is after 1 minute sitting.

 

[Bren]

I hope it is nothing serious. I miss mine but at least you do not have N62 complexity to worry about.

[Split_Pin]

11 minutes ago, Bren said:

N62 complexity

Thankfully not it seems, good old M54b22

Read the codes and had a couple of French whiskies (I took tomorrow off work to sort the coolant  leak on the A8 but a non driving issue on this car takes precedence)

P0306 Cylinder 6 misfire.  I'll Swap 6 and 1 coils tomorrow and see if the code changes. Very little online about injector issues on this engine so I'm thinking coil or spark. Very easy to check anyway.

P0597: thermostat. Stuck open.  That can fuck off for now, who cares. It's not a non driving issue, will sort later.

Coolant leak has been traced to a split header tank so back up to Upullit early tomorrow to see if any of the E60s I was at still have one attached.

 

[grogee]

I will echo what you've said about the early Bangle 5er, I had a 525i estate and thought pretty much the same as you. Pleasant in most ways and rapid if you give it a chance to gather its skirts. 

I even agree about the smell, mine smelled nice despite a high number of previous owners, most of whom must have been twats (it's a statistical certainty) . 

I liked the seats but being a shortarse I wished they could have raised up higher. 

Mine dropped oil too, TADTS. 

I'm sorry to hear about the shaking/warning message/coolant loss. I hope it's something simple. Luckily you've got another large German saloon that definitely* isn't leaking coolant as backup wheels. 

[Split_Pin]

4 minutes ago, grogee said:

Luckily you've got another large German* saloon (A rover 75) as backup wheels. 

Thank heavens for that old bus, it's an absolute trooper 😅

[SiC]

18 minutes ago, Split_Pin said:

P0306 Cylinder 6 misfire.

TIL the early 520i was a the 2.2 6cyl!

Same engine as my Z4. 

[SiC]

20 minutes ago, Split_Pin said:

P0597: thermostat. Stuck open.  That can fuck off for now, who cares. It's not a non driving issue, will sort later.

 I don't think this is thermostat stuck open code from googling it. I have similar code on my Z4. 

Get this, BMW put an electrical heater inside the thermostat. The idea is that the ECU can force the thermostat to open sooner than it would naturally open. Idea is that under high load or WOT, it can decrease the engine temperature to reduce the chances of pinging. 

Basically an incredibly and pointlessly over engineered thermostat. 

Tbh the internet reckons most of these engines out there will have that code nowadays. Shouldn't be causing your rough running though. 

I expect that's just a coil and possibly a plug. 

[Split_Pin]

1 minute ago, SiC said:

 I don't think this is thermostat stuck open code from googling it. I have similar code on my Z4. 

Get this, BMW put an electrical heater inside the thermostat. The idea is that the ECU can force the thermostat to open sooner than it would naturally open. Idea is that under high load or WOT, it can decrease the engine temperature to reduce the chances of pinging. 

Basically an incredibly and pointlessly over engineered thermostat. 

Tbh the internet reckons most of these engines out there will have that code nowadays. Shouldn't be causing your rough running though. 

I expect that's just a coil and possibly a plug. 

Cheers, grand knowledge, I'll call that fixed!

The buckarooing all the way home would have concerned my wife but I stayed calm and just imagined that dog on fire meme 'THIS IS FINE' 😂

[Bren]

I fitted a new header tank to mine - the heat had broken the float ( I found the missing bit sometime later in the spare wheel well!).

Petrol BMW's run hot - all to get the emissions down. The downside is the plastic become brittle and the valve stem oil seals suffer.

You can tell when a BMW is petrol - the blue smoke will let you know.

 

[Bren]

Forgot to add if you have no diag equipment icarsoft is very good for these.

[SiC]

1 minute ago, Split_Pin said:

The buckarooing all the way home would have concerned my wife but I stayed calm and just imagined that dog on fire meme 'THIS IS FINE' 

Yeah I understand that. 💯 staying cool is the best thing to do with partners and cars. Often I've found you can get around misfires if you ease off when the light flashes. At least with the 6cyl you still have ⅚ other bangers making power, rather than ¾ with a 4cyl 😅

[SiC]

2 minutes ago, Bren said:

Forgot to add if you have no diag equipment icarsoft is very good for these.

The Creater C420 is good too. Replaces the earlier C110i that is popular with the Bini crowd. SP might still have one from his petrol BMW R56 days (that he might be trying to forget)

[Split_Pin]

Yeah I was going to ask you about that @SiC, so the C420 is the one to go for nowadays?

I did indeed have a C110 but I wanted to forget about my Bini R56 days so much I gave it away to @Inspector Morose when he delivered my Cavalier a couple of years ago 😅

[SiC]

This is the one I bought 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/115940440832

Table at the bottom details the difference between the C110 and C420.

 I sold my C110 a few years ago to a mate who bought a R53. I think I sold it for £30 posted as the C110 were like £60 at the time. 

That C420 works fine on my Z4 and 330i

 

[SiC]

This one is cheaper

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/226056164844

 

[JMotor]

28 minutes ago, Split_Pin said:

just imagined that dog on fire meme 'THIS IS FINE' 😂

Do hope you can fix these issues without much issue as it does look a decent motor. 

[SiC]

Apart from being a bitch today, how are you getting on with it?

As I've already said with mine, it's pretty much all the car I need. Well a Honda too, as I can't rely on just owning a BMW. I was having a look around at if mine too a big shit and I had to replace it. Turns out BMWs are (over) pricey things on the open market. Next generation are coming down but command quite a bit premium over the Bangles era. 

[Split_Pin]

It's suiting me just grand. Floats over bumps, space, big armrest in the back, looks good and the interior trim quality on this particular one is pretty good for its age. 

The engine is very smooth although the gearbox is going a bit senile as it hunts  somewhat between 4th and 5th if accelerating gently . Solution is to accelerate less gently. However with the exception of the Saab 93, all the other autos I have  or have owned have had some kind of foible that I learned to drive around. 

The 55mph speed today meant I got 33mpg!