My new e46 318i

[rsdn26]

Hi guys. I am newbie here. My name is Rishi from kulim. This is my new ride. E46 318i lifestyle with n42 engine. Its a japan recond model made in 2000. Some pic of my ride..

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[rsdn26]

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[rsdn26]

Unfortunately, i bought the car from a used car dealer, thus i have no idea of the previous maintenance record. So i will be doing all the must do maintenance on my ride and hope i ll could inspire someone who have been longing to buy a bmw..

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[rsdn26]

I will be building a so called checklist of all checks and replacement, hope some sifu's can enlighten me with additional items.

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[rsdn26]

For starters,

1) engine oil change with shell helix ultra 5W-40 4 liters
2) LH absorber link changed
3) Front disc skimmed. Now feels way better while braking. No sterring judders
4) New 4 tyres. S/stone atlantis v7 215/45/17. No more pulling left and more silent.

Next task in pipeline
5) Gear oil change (GM gearbox)
6) spark plug change
7) t/shoot steering freeplay while at high speed
8) t/shoot intermittent power loss while driving between 2k to 3k rpm
9) radiator expansion tank, thermostat and radiator check for leak. Topping up water 300ml bi-weekly.

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[rsdn26]

10) replace all 4 absorbers. Not sure go for boge auto, or used gab adjustable.
11) replace lh front window lifter..already got weird noise while going up and down.
12) T/shoot air cold very cold especially at night..
13) diy angel eyes or might jus give the shop techs to do it.
14) my favourite, 2 din dvd player with gps.
15) reverse camera

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[rsdn26]

16) might want to replace radiator cooled transmission heat exchanger to air cooled type..

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[rsdn26]

All this are in my mind right now.. hope some experts can shed some light..

One more thing, i got to know from dealer that the previous owner of this car was from usj selangor in his late 50's.. if it happens to be any guys from this forum or you know him (uncle or wat) pls let me know, cos maybe he is still keeping all the maintenance history which if he ia kind enough to share with me..

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[rsdn26]

One more thing to share, of all the previous car i used to own, this is really the ultimate driving machine. 15 year old car with such solidity. Heads up to bmw

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[gendong]

Welcome to the forum bro, n congrats on ur new ride.

Seems like u hv planned out what to be done on the car. Thats excellent!! Care to share the mileage it clocked?

 

[rsdn26]

The milage shows 89k only but i have strong feeling that it has been altered by the 2nd hand dealer.

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[rsdn26]

My personal judgment on the car milage should be close to 200k judging on the car's absorbers. Previous owner have changed it to boge automatic and its already eol.. he must have use it at least 80k km. The ori sachs might have lasted 100k km.

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[kw930]

Great to see that there's still an enthusiastic new e46 owner here

 

[jarance]

Yes, go for angel eye.make sure it is SMD LED type and not the CCFL.

If you are leaking coolant, check that first.

 

[rsdn26]

Yes, go for angel eye.make sure it is SMD LED type and not the CCFL.

If you are leaking coolant, check that first.

Jarance,

Thanks for your advice. Will go for SMD LED type than.. There is no obvious leak that I can detect on floor or physically on the engine bay, but it reduces day by day..Is it for better I just go for a coolant system overhaul, change expanasion tank, hoses, thermostat, etc or troubleshoot 1 by 1. If troubleshoot 1 by 1 which place should I look for? Hoses perhaps? Thx

 

[kw930]

For starters,

1) engine oil change with shell helix ultra 5W-40 4 liters
2) LH absorber link changed
3) Front disc skimmed. Now feels way better while braking. No sterring judders -> Why skim it? Changing a new disc only cost you merely 100+/pcs (OEM brand Brembo)
4) New 4 tyres. S/stone atlantis v7 215/45/17. No more pulling left and more silent.-> Thought our default tyre size for 17" should be 225/45, but undeniable 215/45 is more commonly available and price also can be up to 30% with the same tyre size.

Next task in pipeline
5) Gear oil change (GM gearbox)
6) spark plug change
7) t/shoot steering freeplay while at high speed -> Try look into the short & long coupling, which is a common wear & tear part. However, mine still have the problem eventhough after changing them, so I guess mine could be the sterring column or the whole power sterring rack having problem.
8) t/shoot intermittent power loss while driving between 2k to 3k rpm-> Not sure how your power loss feel, but after I changed my cooling fan clutch, it feel much better. This is quite a common problem for our car since we are using mechanical fan clutch. The clutch should cost <RM300.
9) radiator expansion tank, thermostat and radiator check for leak. Topping up water 300ml bi-weekly.-> Suggest you do a compression test first. to see where the leakage. Normally the spare tank and the radiator cap are the easiest replacement. Worst case is the radiator leak and have to change a new unit.

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10) replace all 4 absorbers. Not sure go for boge auto, or used gab adjustable.-> Personally I've use new abs than used unit, it's wear & tear parts, not worth choosing used part. Normal OEM brand is BOGE or SACH, both about the same, but for mine I replaced BOGE at the front & SACH at rear (both replace at different timing). My suggestion is if replace both & rear, better replace both the same brand, I found that Sach tend to be lower than BOGE and personally Iike BOGE more than SACH.
11) replace lh front window lifter..already got weird noise while going up and down.
12) T/shoot air cold very cold especially at night..
13) diy angel eyes or might jus give the shop techs to do it. -> DIY should be an easy task, just google around and forum like e46fannatic or bimmerforums have lot's of detail info.
14) my favourite, 2 din dvd player with gps.> Never install on mine, but you may try search in Lazada, quite some choices there.
15) reverse camera> Never install on mine, but try get from Lazada,, lot's of choices with very reasonable price, maybe you can try the wireless type.

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I've gone through the similar path few years back when I bought my 320i.
I leave some feedback in red and hopefully it may help you.
BTW, try to do a scanning on the car first (you may try to buy a 1.4 scanner from Lazada, cause you <RM100 only) so that you may know which area got problem and plan for the repair on it first. Besides, it'll also able to tell your car actual mileage cause even car dealer able to temper the cluster, but don't think they'll alter the mileage stored inside EWS.

 

[rsdn26]

Thx bro kw90.. thanks for the useful tips. As for the tyres, 215 45 is easier to find and cheaper.

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[rsdn26]

Is this the scanner?

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[Alex5522]

Is this the scanner?

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Yes..this scanner was quite useful but the price seem to be a bit high. Try to check with this seller:- http://www.priceza.com.my/s/harga/BMW-Scanner-1.4.0-Diagnostic-Scan-Interface
Btw about your coolant leak, try ask your mechanic to do the pressure test.

 

[rsdn26]

Will check with a bmw specialist next week here in alma, and update the outcome.. btw for the scanner, will it work on laptop with windows 7 or 8.

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