gaz-777
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Posts posted by gaz-777
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Happy JimJam motoring Buddy 😉
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On 20/08/2019 at 08:02, kirkynut said:
I would stick to genuine gaskets as they will last longer than the Eurocarparts ones and they end up cheaper when you only have to do the job once every 90k or so.
You have to be a little careful when buying from Eurocarparts as some of the stuff they sell is complete crap.
One thing I got from them that seems to be ok is a tensioner made by INA. However, I was then in my dealer after I bought it and asked how much it would have been from them and the tensioner and belt as a kit was the same price as just the tensioner from Eurocarparts!
So try your dealer first for genuine!
Kirkynut
I bought the ina tensioner from a place on eBay for £26. Way cheaper than euro!
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Update!
A couple of weeks ago I changed the aux belt tensioner on the car. I purchased the ina tensioner, which was pretty good quality when it arrived. The job to change it is pretty easy and now my belt squeal has completely disappeared. It’s also tightened up and dampened down noise from the belt in general too. A job that was well overdue and should of replaced it when I did the coolant overhaul in 2018.
This year the car will see new spark plugs, diff and gearbox oil change along with the normal engine oil and filter change. In other news I have a faulty rear parking sensor which needs looking at 🙄
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I’d rather spend money fixing older cars than pay a monthly finance figure on a new one! You learn a bit more along the way too!
Did you replace your aux belt tensioner with a mechanical one? I rang bmw for a price but they asked if it was mechanical or hydraulic. I assume it’s the original mechanical one in mine. I know you said a genuine one wasn’t much more than another brand from eurocar parts.
I've also got a sticking front o/s caliper, I’ve looked online for an ate caliper refurb kit but can’t seem to find any. Have you ever had to rebuild/refurbish an E46 caliper? Obviously I will do both sides if I can find a kit for it.
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18 minutes ago, CoupEdin said:
I saw a comment the other day - 'hearing a new sound, and wondering how much it will cost to sort'!My aux belt makes a shocking noise - old ladies stopping and staring as I drive past. My AC also makes a noise when it's engaged so I'm going to take the plunge and do the whole lot on Monday.
All part of the fun.
Yep all part of the fun. I had my Aircon checked over and re-gassed last month, no leaks detected and blows ice cold. I had my dad look at the belts when I started from cold and it’s the aux belt that just slips slightly but makes a horrible squeal sound. Only lasts about 10 seconds but going to work at 3am is not good when it does it!
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Also forgot to mention it Passed the MoT in June with no advisories. And taking it down to Portsmouth took it over 100k miles 😁
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Another update to this thread, I carried out the Valve cover gasket replacement last week following a useful video on YouTube. Took about an hour and half doing it for the first time, but it was leaking quite badly at the back of the engine and dripping onto the 2nd bank primary cat. So the smell of burning oil was not nice when starting a journey. Anyway I decided to give the elring gasket a go from euro car parts, approximately £30 after their 33% off. The rubber seals on the valve cover bolts were all in good condition so I cleaned them up and re-Fitted them. I cleaned up the valve cover and surfaces well before fitting the new gasket, and any oil that had leaked around the area. I’ve just been down to Portsmouth on a family holiday and all seems to be good with no more leaks.
The only thing annoying me now is the aux belt tensioner, the aux belt slips on cold start up. I replaced the belts when I did the coolant overhaul last summer but never replaced the tensioner, so that’s the next job. It never seems to end but I don’t mind doing the maintenance on a 14 year old car that drives and goes so well.
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Hi Guys, just to update this thread I carried out an oil and filter change a few weeks ago. Also gave the pipercross panel filter a clean and replaced the pollen filter. Whilst doing the oil change I noticed an oil leak on the passenger side of the block which looked like it was coming from the oil filter housing gasket. You can’t see the leak from the top of the engine but only underneath with the bottom tray removed. So I ordered a genuine gasket from BMW and replaced the oil filter housing gasket on monday. The job was easy enough after watching a handy video on YouTube, but the majority of the job was cleaning all the oil that had leaked down the side of the block onto the steering rack and surrounding area. As I didn’t take any photos I’ve attached one from the web to show the failed housing gasket.
And after finishing that I found out that I also have another leak on the drivers side at the back of the engine. I suspect it is a failed cam cover gasket which is next on my to do list. A genuine BMW gasket is £38, anyone fitted any other brand of gasket for this job?
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Shame that mate, after all you’ve been through with it. I’ve had my 330ci nearly 5 years now, keep thinking about selling but just can’t find anything anywhere near the condition of it. I’ve got the cam cover gasket and oil filter housing gasket to change next week, I use it daily now and I love driving it. Any thing in mind what’s next?
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This looks very clean mate, all the usual jobs/mods being done too, I like!!
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15 hours ago, Ger89 said:
About to order a set off CMwheels myself, did you order longer wheel bolts for the front with the 5mm spacer, or do the standard bolts have enough thread left to secure the alloys?
Also where did you source centre caps? Do standard 68mm BMW ones fit?
Hey bud, I already had longer wheel bolts when I purchased the car. So I’m only guessing you will need them to fit the wheels, never tried the original bolts so I can’t comment on them.
I sourced my centre caps caps from eBay, there only cheap ones and yes they are 68mm so they should fit. But I did pick up some genuine bmw “m” stickers for the wheels, again on eBay.
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4 hours ago, stevehallone said:
This thread was the first one I found and this car was the deciding factor to my buying of an e46
Ha, funny you say that, because this is the first car I really liked on this forum and I ended up buying it! I suppose it was just meant to be
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36 minutes ago, evokid said:
Well as you say gaz, had the resonator delete done, not much difference on Idle, but when it gets above 4k revs certainly has made it sound more purposeful. Not intrusive in any way just sounds awesome above 4k
Glad to hear buddy, it’s kind of having an electronic valve that opens at 4K revs. It sounds stock at low revs, but then open the throttle and take it to 5-6k and it has that M3 raspy metallic note. Would love to hear what it sounds like with a Race spec Eisenmann bolted on the back.
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Cheers Kirkynut! Yes the Hella parts are one of the best I’ve seen. Straight replacement with no problems, I didn’t realise at first that the radiator came equipped for both manual and auto. I just assumed the one I ordered for my reg was for a manual. But hey now I know!
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This is looking very nice buddy, love the rear spoiler. You mentioned about the exhaust upgrade on your old 328, what rear box did you upgrade to? I have the resonator delete on mine but my rear box/tail pipes could be improved!
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The Hella products seem to be good quality and a perfect oem replacement. Better than cheaper ones on eBay etc. I actually destroyed the drain plug on my original radiator as the main plug just twists and then you pull it out, but I kept unscrewing it with my ratchet and broke it. The drain screw in the middle of it does screw out but not the main plug. Luckily I wasn’t using the old drain plug in the new rad. I did install my original coolant level sensor and kept the new one for spares.
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Continuing on from the coolant change, I recently ordered a new Hella Radiator and new Hella expansion tank from euro car parts. Fitting was relatively easy and straight forward. The radiator comes with a short and a long drain plug, the longer one was installed and caused a leak. So I swapped it out for the shorter one and that sorted the leak out. After running the engine up to temperature I had another leak coming from the top hose where it connects to the expansion tank, but the cause of that was that it wasn’t properly connected. After that was clipped on properly all was good. I haven’t had any other leak after a week of driving it now and should be good for another 13 years!
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So I have been losing coolant for a couple of months now but it was something I wanted to address with the car approaching 90k miles anyway. It turns out that the leaks were coming from the thermostat housing and the failed O ring on the coolant temp sensor. Additional to that the bearings in the water pump shaft were making quite a racket. So I ordered 1 x Meyle water pump, 1 x wahler thermostat, 1 x genuine bmw coolant temp sensor (they don’t sell just the O ring on its own), 2 x new dayco aux belts, 5L Comma G48 coolant and 5L of de-ironised water for a 50/50 mix ratio.
Yesterday I went ahead to change all the above and followed this diy I found on the web https://www.rmeuropean.com/bmw-e46-cooling-system-overhaul.aspx
This was very helpful and includes all the part numbers for doing the whole system.
The job was a success and the engine now sounds so much better without that noisy water pump. They were the original parts and had done well for 13 years of use. Next job will be the cam cover gasket as it has a very slight leak on the exhaust manifold side of the engine.
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Fingers crossed you have no more coolant leaks then. I’ve just got together the parts for a coolant change including Meyle water pump, Wahler thermostat, bmw coolant temp sensor and new dayco aux belts. My radiator and pipe work look fine and the expansion tank seems to be ok too. I currently have coolant leaking from the thermostat housing and temp sensor (failed O - ring). Bmw don’t sell just the O-ring so I’ve had to buy a whole new sensor for £36!
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56 minutes ago, Ger89 said:
Car looks great
Cheers bud
13 minutes ago, evokid said:Which reps did you go for? I'm Struggling between Cades / Atomic CSL's from BMautosprt / Would love the VMR VB3's but pricey!
I purchased my reps from Chris at CM Wheels, it’s the second set I’ve had off him and can’t fault them. Quality wheels at a good price. He does the atomic but there isn’t much difference and are more expensive. The VMR’s are nice but again pricey.
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27 minutes ago, evokid said:
Looking good mate, whats the offsets on the wheels and tyre sizes? Still debating on CSL's or Cades Tyrus!
Thanks mate, the current specs are 8.5j x 19” et38 (et33 with a 5mm spacer) with 225/35/19 rubber on the front. Then on the rear they are 9.5j x 19” et40 with 245/35/19 rubber. I’m still trying to find a better looking wheel than the CSL’s for it!
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Kirkynut's own E46
in E46 Photo Zone
Posted
I had the same issue with the pins coming through a rusty back plate on the drivers side. The handbrake wouldn’t release after being parked up and therefore had to use the gearbox as a parking brake for a short period of time. I ended up making some cups myself when I change the shoes, pins and springs. but these are perfect. Good to know if the other side does the same 👍🏻