Kind advise and opinion needed :)

[Previn]

Dear All,

Its been extremely long time I have not been in the forum due to work assignments , nevertheless I truly seek your kind opinion / suggestion with regards to my car , brief description as follows : -
- Series 3 , 318 Ci
- E46 ( of course )
- Model 2001 / 2004
- Ownership : 4 1/2 yrs
- Engine Model : M43

As mentioned above , the ownership of this car have been 4 1/2 years with me , bought over from a forumer in this site .now the story goes : the 1st problem I encounter was my engine overheated as the temp indicator was about to reach the " red " zone whereby as advised to stop the car at a nearest safest area , after doing so I called up the mechanic and seek his advise , being a guy that's newly owned the said car , I was totally vague ..so to be at a safe side I called the low bed tow truck and got it towed to the workshop , and got it check , the fault was " Electrical Fan " wasn't working so got it changed , and everything when smooth ( do take note this is 1st incident ) was about 1 year ownership of the car , anyway been sending the car to this particular workshop in Kuchai lama , the reason is because the previous owner have been maintaining the car at the Workshop , therefore since the history of it is there I felt that its more better to continue maintaining the car from this workshop , eventhough its quite a distance for me ; Sri Gombak to Kuchai Lama . anyway recently I have been having other problems , as a loyal customer again send to the workshop for repairs etc..I have been noticing that this Workshop have been charging me quite a sum but it didn't bothered me at first as long as the car is repaired and its in perfect condition , FYI, each time whenever I send to him , the bill have never been less than RM2000/ - , I don't know why its always like that thinking the parts is expensive therefore I kept quiet ..honestly I have spend almost 1/2 of value of the car in maintenances ...the most recent bill ( Oct 2015 ) to me was RM 9985 , whereby I changed the rear axle gear box ( correct me if I'm using the proper terms for this ) , steering shaft , climate control and other bushing etc ..I'm sorry as I don't have the bill with me to
actually show what parts have been changed .furthermore I have been having problems whenever I start the car ( Cold and Hot start ) , the RPM dies off..according to the mechanic he has re-programme something to get it solved and changed the items mentioned below , but actually it didn't solved anything as I have to start the car couple of times eg; more 5X than only the rpm is stable , what really saddens me is the cost that occurred even since I owned the car and the starting problem keeps on reoccurring . Therefore I truly seek your kind advise where can I send my car to a more reliable / truthful Mechanic , it would be extremely nice in the region of my area ( Sri Gombak ) or surroundings ..

Lastly, what else pissed me off whereby upon returning home after collecting the car I noticed there is a extremely bad dent at the edge of the driver's door..i called him up and took the shit out of him ...by telling him after spending so much of money at his workshop all this while and newest bill was Rm9985 this is the outcome of my exterior but he just kept quiet at first and later told me to take pictures of the dent and sent to him , which I told him to " F**K Off as he didn't had the responsibility to ensure the car is well taken care off

can someone please tell me what's the cause of me having the starting problems ??..I have changed the followings : -

- fuel filter
- fuel pump
- MAF sensor
- Thermostate ( not too sure its relevant to the problem )
- re-programme done

Ohh ya , the mechanic did tell me as the car is old , this is prone to happen so basically just bear with it ...which I find it silly of him saying that

p/s : I really wish I had the receipts with me now , as I could show you'll what I have done to the car ever since ownership but unfortunely I'm currently stationed in Netherlands due to the nature of my job in the Oil and Gas Industry

thanking you 'll in advance for having the time to read these concern and providing me with an honest advise

regards

Previn S. Gill

 

[moots]

oh my....diff gearbox replaced?these normally lasts the lifetime of the car!

i recommend optimum auto in damansara kayu ara.....

 

[wingzee]

Milleage of car? Name of workshop? Service records from previous owners?

 

[mushaini]

Try workshop Bomin Auto at Jalan Ipoh

 

[kw930]

oh my....diff gearbox replaced?these normally lasts the lifetime of the car!

i recommend optimum auto in damansara kayu ara.....

So many bad comments on Optimum still want to recommend?

 

[Crymson]

if your car's idle is not stable and sometimes the engine can die-off, most likely you have vacuum leak. You can search the thread here for more info by forummer/member. I had same problem just recent. Change the valve vent and hose, no more low idle.Not expensive to fix. The M43 is most reliable engine.

 

[valvetronix]

I would recommend Optimum too. They have looked after all of my UDM's for the past 5 years, not the cheapest workshop around but I I'm one of their satisfied customers. Most of the time their diagnosis is quite spot on, so trial & error is minimal hence lower unnecessary spending. Im always informed on what needs changing and of course the reason why lah.

 

[Previn]

HI guys ,

Sorry for my late response , as I'm still getting use to the time difference here and back home , , I will try to answer to the best of my knowledge ,
- The reason of me changing the diff gear box is because according to him when the car like 60 - 80 kmh , there is a humming noise observed , do take note I have also changed all bearings prior he telling me that the culprit is the diff gear box
- Milleage of my car is 169K
- I doubt I can post the name of the Workshop here , anyway I believe most of you'll may know the workshop I'm talking about
- I do have all service records from the previous owner with me, infact I'm please to say that the previous owner did maintained the car very well, he used to sent to Ah Meng prior sending it to the workshop at Kuchai lama , I asked him why did he changed workshop , his response was more closer to his home compared to Ah Meng's
- The car is perfect during idle eg. traffic lights etc..its only when I try starting the car during cold start ( morning ) or hot start like after driving around for sometime , honestly this really irritates me
- Guys I don't mind the price but as long as they ( Bomin or Optimum ) do a good job I'm fine with it .. FYI , I do return to KL at least once in a Month but each time back home I end up at the Workshop ,

regards

 

[Mel279]

get it scan and let us know what the fault codes, from there we can trim down what's the possible causes of your car problem. Seem relates to the cam & crank sensors but get the fault codes first

 

[gimli]

u need to show us the bill bro, if not difficult for us to comment whether the price is expensive or not.

 

[Herbert]

PKL Motorsports @ Kuchai Lama is my regular workshop maintaining both my BMWs. I was rather taken aback with Previn's post complaining about the workshop @ Kuchai Lama and thought he could be referring to PKL Motorsports. Hence I pm Previn to name the workshop which he did and he confirmed it wasn't PKL Motorsports. It is another workshop that is located a few doors from PKL Motorsports.

 

[Previn]

Hi Guys,

I don't have the receipts with me currently , therefore I cant justified what I wrote ...once back in Msia ( KL ) I will surely post it , as for the reco... it could be the cam & crank sensor.. I have changed those parts too..but it seems no difference ..anyway once I'm back in KL next Month ..I will take my ride to another Mechanic and get a second opinion with regards to my problems..will update you'll accordingly

regards

 

[gendong]

bro, when ur back in KL, do join us for TT n perhaps some of the guys can shed some light on ur predicament.

 

[awyongcarl]

Is there even a TT anymore? Joined as official member and I have yet to receive my starter pack lol.

 

[jarance]

Is there even a TT anymore? Joined as official member and I have yet to receive my starter pack lol.

Carl, there is a TT every 2nd Friday of the month.

The next is on the 13th Nov at Zam Zam.

http://www.bmwclubmalaysia.com/newforums/index.php?/topic/39614-bmwclubmalaysia-november-2015-official-tt/

Please contact the CM if you want to collect your starter pack. (Not easy to carry all the barang2 in the car all the time)

 

[jarance]

- fuel filter - It help

- fuel pump - It help

- MAF sensor - it help

- Thermostate ( not too sure its relevant to the problem ) - It does not help

- re-programme done - what is this?

others to consider
- Leak on hose including small hose to the fuel throttle
- ICV - clean it
- crank and cam sensor - use new.
- Loose cable to sensor
- Ignition coil - do a swap
- spark plugs - when was the last time you change?
- Air filter - when was the last time you change?
- Fuel throttle - clean it?

The M43 is a robust engine with minimum sensor. Most of the time, it is due to mechanical problem rather than electronic problem.

 

[Previn]

Dear All,

Truly apologized for my late response as I was extremely busy with my work assignment here , was offshore ( onboard FPSO Vessel ) at North Sea for sea run/trials whereby didn't had proper access to internet etc , furthermore being in the Oil and Gas industry doesn't give me much time to socialized , anyways my update with regards to my posting ...I managed to get this problem solved ..was in KL recently after my rotation . took my ride to USJ, I believe all of you guys knows which workshop I'm mentioning , what was done were basically changing the carbon sensor O2 ( not too sure if I'm using the proper terminology ) anyways its a sensor that is located at the exhausts pipe , got this changed and he also cleaned by idle valve sensor with some sort of spray ..Once this was done he re-programme with a scanner and all was go to go . as of now ( touch wood ) I don't have any reoccurrence with regards to my problems.

Guys, currently I'm back to the Netherlands for my remaining work rotation , would really love to participate in one of the TTs' as mentioned in the post, nevertheless if someone could be kind to whatapps me the dates and location of future TT's , that will be highly appreciated ( reason being as mentioned above work constrain and also limited access in mails )

I will be back to Malaysia ( KL ) mid of June , not too sure the rules here allows me to provide my mobile number in the post, anyways if I didn't something wrong please accept my sincere apologizes to all relevant parties

Till we meet and again , thank you so much guys for the wonderful advices that was given to me ....ohhh yaa ..small request is there any shops in Gombak ( as I reside in GBK ) or nearest that's able to change the roof cloth/lining as mine is sagging?? , please let me know

Once again thank you and best regards

Previn S . Gill
+6012 380 6071