General E46 thread

[Josh (PA)]

The other day I wanted to post a tiny e46 victory, but didn't want to start a new thread or hijack someone elses. I figured I would start a thread for any random e46 stuff that didn't deserve it's own. We got the little wagon back from the body shop all fixed up. Before we dropped it off it had a small coolant leak. I was able to diagnose and fix it in my work parking lot as a return temp sensor o-ring. $2.75, 10 minutes of my time and no tools needed later all was fixed. Yea!
Here it is post body shop

[Josh (PA)]

And now for the real reason I started this thread:

BOOM!!!
COMFORT SEATS

These were the ones I got out of an E53 after reading they were drop in replacements.

They are. The install was very easy and they are such an improvement over my old base model vinyl ones.

[rumatt]

I like this thread. :)

[3LOU5]

Status report on my E46:

15 years old with 148,xxx miles.

Still running strong, still enjoy driving her.

:thumbup: :thumbup:

[zach]

Wow, comfort seats are awesome! What a huge upgrade!!!

[kognito]

And now for the real reason I started this thread:

BOOM!!!
COMFORT SEATS

These were the ones I got out of an E53 after reading they were drop in replacements.

They are. The install was very easy and they are such an improvement over my old base model vinyl ones.

That is sweet!

[Josh (PA)]

Well all's well that ends well, I guess... but...

I decided to take her out for a drive last night and quickly realized the seat belts didn't fit in the seat receptacles. The SRS light was also on. Long story short, the donor car had been in an airbag accident and when that happens, the seat belt receptacles pre-tension and become unusable. This morning I pulled the seats back out, swapped on the receptacles from the old e46 seats (I had to splice one wire, but it wasn't much of a PITA) and put it back in. I have the BMWHat app and Mycarly OBD programmer so I was able to reset the SRS light and now all truly is well.

The seat belts needing replacement wasn't mentioned on the seat listing. Had I know, I probably would have gone with these:
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/hQEAAOSwB09YESK6/s-l500.jpg

e63 M6 seats. They are also a drop in, but this ad disclosed the need for new seatbelts.

[kognito]

I decided to take her out for a drive last night and quickly realized the seat belts didn't fit in the seat receptacles. The SRS light was also on. Long story short, the donor car had been in an airbag accident and when that happens, the seat belt receptacles pre-tension and become unusable. This morning I pulled the seats back out, swapped on the receptacles from the old e46 seats (I had to splice one wire, but it wasn't much of a PITA) and put it back in. I have the BMWHat app and Mycarly OBD programmer so I was able to reset the SRS light and now all truly is

Yeah, but, weeks/months from now this PITA won't matter, you will even chuckle about it

[Alan]

Well all's well that ends well, I guess... but...

I decided to take her out for a drive last night and quickly realized the seat belts didn't fit in the seat receptacles. The SRS light was also on. Long story short, the donor car had been in an airbag accident and when that happens, the seat belt receptacles pre-tension and become unusable. This morning I pulled the seats back out, swapped on the receptacles from the old e46 seats (I had to splice one wire, but it wasn't much of a PITA) and put it back in. I have the BMWHat app and Mycarly OBD programmer so I was able to reset the SRS light and now all truly is well.


Argh I hate when you think your done with a project and then you find out something is wrong and you have to redo it but it is good to know this doesn't only happen to me :D

[wdc330i]

That's a whole lot of fancy seat for an E46 wagon ;).

When are you going to put in the M steering wheel?

[Josh (PA)]

That's a whole lot of fancy seat for an E46 wagon ;).

When are you going to put in the M steering wheel?

Right after I win the argument with my wife and put a real transmission in it.

[wdc330i]

Right after I win the argument with my wife and put a real transmission in it.

:D

[kognito]

Right after I win the argument with my wife and put a real transmission in it.

Good luck with that!

Seriously, good luck with that

[Terri Kennedy]

When are you going to put in the M steering wheel?
I had my M3 SMG wheel before I even took delivery of the [new] E46. This is a shot from some years later after additional changes were made (the big one you can see is the Birch Anthracite Individual trim). Yup, the paddles on the steering wheel are hooked up to the automatic for gear selection.

https://www.glaver.org/bmw/6F5S1921-l.jpg

[bren]

Yeah, the m3 steering wheel is well worth it. Especially compared to the non-sport wheel. Though it may look funny next to those lounge chair seats. Haha

[Theo]

I also bought the M3 wheel and clear corners and had them installed at the dealer when my then new 01 330ci came in. Wouldn't you know by the next year the clears where standard.

[SCA]

I also bought the M3 wheel and clear corners and had them installed at the dealer when my then new 01 330ci came in. Wouldn't you know by the next year the clears where standard.

And now clears on a E46 are considered passé.

[Jeff_DML]

And now clears on a E46 are considered passé.

:cool:


weird that I use to love clears but do not now:confused:

[Theo]

And now clears on a E46 are considered passé.

That's just beautiful.

[ff]

And now clears on a E46 are considered passé.

Was that pic taken in 2004? Looks brand new!

[SCA]

That's just beautiful.

Thanks!

I will be placing it for sale shortly.


Was that pic taken in 2004? Looks brand new!

Photo was taken this past Monday (09.04.17)

[Theo]

Miles?

[SCA]

Miles?

Under 92,000

It is a 6 speed... The exterior is not flawless, door dings and clear coat failure on the roof rails and the top of three out of four door handles. The interior is a 8 out of 10, headliner sagging in the rear (common on E46). Mechanically the vehicle is very sound. Car is originally from Austin, Texas (rust free) I have all books, keys, and records. The original owner owned the vehicle until late March 2016. We purchased it early May 2016.

Edit: added some pics

[Theo]

Why are you selling so soon?

[SCA]

Why are you selling so soon?

Will discuss via PM.

[JST]

Under 92,000

It is a 6 speed... The exterior is not flawless, door dings and clear coat failure on the roof rails and the top of three out of four door handles. The interior is a 8 out of 10, headliner sagging in the rear (common on E46). Mechanically the vehicle is very sound. Car is originally from Austin, Texas (rust free) I have all books, keys, and records. The original owner owned the vehicle until late March 2016. We purchased it early May 2016.

Edit: added some pics

Which year is it?

[SCA]

Which year is it?

'04

06.25.04 build date

09.22.04 in-service date

[kognito]

I bought clears for my 01 E46. Installed them, took them off 2-3 weeks later.

IMHO clears didn't look right against red car

[JST]

'04

06.25.04 build date

09.22.04 in-service date

Ha. It's kind of crazy how some of these cars sat when they were new. I remember the one that I bought had been on the lot for a while when I pulled the trigger.

EDIT: So does that mean no Bluetooth? Was that an '05 only thing?

[Josh (PA)]

Who loves window regulators

[wdc330i]

Who loves window regulators

Woof. I had my 330i for 7 years and never had the regulator problem. Did have the sunroof cover run of the rails, though.

[ff]

Who loves window regulators

I never realized that this is what happens. Looks like a really bad design. Also, sort of looks like my fishing reel.

[Theo]

Who loves window regulators

Me. I’ve had three of the four done on my E39. Still waiting for the ticking time bomb fourth.

[rumatt]

Woof. I had my 330i for 7 years and never had the regulator problem. Did have the sunroof cover run of the rails, though.Yeah, I've replace only one (driver window) in 14 years. And I open the window every day to badge into my office.

I wonder why they are so inconsistently reliable.

Now that to think about it, it was probably about 7 years ago. I wonder if this thread will trigger mine to fail now. :speechle:

[ZBB]

I think the coupes failed much faster. Probably the same part, but the glass was bigger and heavier. I had 2 fail on my ‘01 in the nearly 4 years I had it...

[rumatt]

Makes sense.

We'll add this to the list if reasons why sedans > coupes :D

[Josh (PA)]

I had no issues on any of my e46s until about 2 years ago. Since then I think I've done 5, this is the second drivers side door replacement. I've never seen one spool a cable like this.

Anyway, it is replaced and working, albeit slower than I would like. Seems like there is a lot of friction.

[rumatt]

Anyway, it is replaced and working, albeit slower than I would like. Seems like there is a lot of friction.

That doesn't sound good for longevity.

[clyde]

Woof. I had my 330i for 7 years and never had the regulator problem. Did have the sunroof cover run of the rails, though.

I think we did regulators 7 times in the first three years of the '02 325xiT.

[3LOU5]

I just replaced my fuel pump about a month ago, my 2nd pump in 15 years/150,000 miles.

As far as regulators, I've done 2: RR and LF.

[Josh (PA)]

That doesn't sound good for longevity.

Nope, I'm guessing I'll be dealing with it again sometime in the not too distant future. I put a little lithium grease on the edge of the window and it seemed a bit better. It was too cold to play with it much more today. At least the window isn't stuck in the 1/2 way down position anymore, so the kids can use it without getting frostbite.

[rumatt]

I think we did regulators 7 times in the first three years of the '02 325xiT.WTF?

How often did you use then?

[wdc330i]

I think we did regulators 7 times in the first three years of the '02 325xiT.

Not once for our ‘03 325xiT in 9 years. What’s with that?

[clyde]

WTF?

How often did you use then?

7 times. :rolleyes:

I don't really remember details. No one said I would be tested on this.

[Josh (PA)]

My wagon has been acting like a turn signal bulb is out on my passenger side for a couple weeks now. All the bulbs look to be working, so I swapped them and the sockets from side to side and the issue remains on the right side. I hit all the contacts w/ DEOXIT and still no difference. What else could cause a turn signal fault?

[John V]

Bad grounds? E46s had at least one recall to fix grounding problems in the rear taillight assemblies.

[Josh (PA)]

Bad grounds? E46s had at least one recall to fix grounding problems in the rear taillight assemblies.

I read about the bad ground in the tail light this AM and it looks like I'm getting some water in back there from the taillight gaskets. Would that show a fault at the front turn signal. The car icon on the dash shows the front light error.

I looked at the connector to the tail light itself, but didn't follow the ground back to where it met the chassis. I'll dig into that this afternoon when I'm done work.

- Thanks

[John V]

I read about the bad ground in the tail light this AM and it looks like I'm getting some water in back there from the taillight gaskets. Would that show a fault at the front turn signal. The car icon on the dash shows the front light error.

I looked at the connector to the tail light itself, but didn't follow the ground back to where it met the chassis. I'll dig into that this afternoon when I'm done work.

- Thanks

I would think not, but BMW electrics are a bit on the funky side compared to manufacturers who are good at that kind of thing (i.e. the Japanese) so I dunno.

[Terri Kennedy]

My wagon has been acting like a turn signal bulb is out on my passenger side for a couple weeks now. All the bulbs look to be working, so I swapped them and the sockets from side to side and the issue remains on the right side. I hit all the contacts w/ DEOXIT and still no difference. What else could cause a turn signal fault?Did you check the litte fender side indicators as well as the main bulbs?

Also, are all the bulb bases the silver type with no brass mixed in? That can confuse the LCM. Speaking of confusing the LCM, it often reports an intermittent or steady fault before a bulb fault is visible by observation. My experience is that when regularly driven, the failing bulb will eventually hard fail and then you know which one it is. The LCM keeps a history and it may not have noticed you swapping the bulb or socket unless you left it that way for a while.

Do you live near anyone with a computer that can read BMW-specific fault codes (not the generic AutoZone code reader, nor the Peake and similar gizmos, but a real GT1 or similar)? That should give you a definitive answer. I have one, but that's a bit of a schlep from PA.

BTW, the cluster fault display on my car is one of the many manufacturing defects in the electronics that the factory failed to notice:

Cell phone called BMW Assist to tell them my airbags had gone off, only at night when the car following me hit a pothole.
Aux input pre-wire was mis-wired and didn't detect the aux cable as it should have.
Glove compartment flashlight charger never got power.
Cluster check control lights up the picture of the car when the driver's side back seat door is open, but doesn't light up the door ajar indicator for the door.


The first 3 are consequences of BMW hand-building a wiring harness for each individual car, with that car's options, and not performing any automated testing before installing it in the car, nor any functional testing when the car comes off the line. The last one is either a vendor manufacturing defect or a result of mis-handling during assembly. I'm waiting for something else to fail on the dash, like pixels, before I pull it and put a new LED in.

[FC]

Not once for our ‘03 325xiT in 9 years. What’s with that?

Late to reply to this, but I do recall regulators being an issue. I never had an issue in 76 years and 60k miles. And I used my windows a lot.

[Josh (PA)]

I'm guessing I'll find the problem somewhere near here...

Looks likebthe rear window washer fluid reservoir has been leaking for a bit. I'll change the tail light gaskets while I'm at it.

The tail light wiring looks good, I haven't found where the ground wire attaches to the frame yet.

[John V]

Yuck!

[FC]

Yuck!

Yeah. :ack: I'd go to town on that area and get a new bracket and hardware.

[Terri Kennedy]

I'm guessing I'll find the problem somewhere near here...
Yuck. Here are the parts diagrams with relevant part numbers:

https://www.glaver.org/transient/battery1.png

https://www.glaver.org/transient/battery2.png

While you have it apart, I'd wire-wheel the rusted body parts, prime, and then either re-paint with body color or some more durable coating. If there are any thru holes, make sure they are cleaned out thouroughly and on the underside, and similarly primed and painted.

Bag the positive battery terminal and fold it well out of the way - you don't want the explosive disconnect in there going off from sparks or static.

In anything other than a wagon, this is pretty easy. Since the wagon has full trim back there, it gets a lot more inconvenient.

Make sure the battery vent hose is not plugged and securely reconnected to the battery when you're done.