e46 m3 - feeler

[equ]

Detailed Maintenance (with records)

1135mi - 1200mi service
- diff & gearbox fluids
- brake bolts recall
- front door adjust/lube, clutch stop, alarm

4975mi - brakes lubed for screech
- door panel & seal replaced for closing effort
- dimming mirror replaced
- oil & cabin air filter
- brake fluid

5260mi - 2 rear michelin pilot sport (flat)

13450mi - parcel shelf speaker replaced
- DME update
- parking brake adjust

13600mi - connecting rod recall
- oil & filter
- front brake disc rotors & pads replaced for warpage
- power steering pressure hose replaced for leak

18500mi - OBD communication/DME update
- HVAC, final stage resistor (FSU) replaced for erratic fan speed

18800mi - subframe (rear axle carrier) inspection
- rear diff fluid replaced (grinding noise while cornering SIB 33 01 02 (last service by first owner)

19400mi - subframe inspection (second owner, different dealer)

23950mi - oil & filter change
- air filter, cabin air filter
- brake fluid, L fog lamp (third owner)

24000mi - front & rear michelin pilot super sport

24500mi - stones removed from brake shields

25000mi - exhaust cam sensor & seal

26000mi - Bosch battery

26850mi - oil & filter change
- idler & tensioner pulleys replaced for noise

27800mi - 65W Osram bulbs (fourth owner - ME!)
- Dice Mediabridge
- black grille
- clear sidemarkers
- clutch stop

28100mi - valve adjustment & valve cover gasket (xxPowerx)
- front strut brace install

29800mi - passenger door seal replaced
- moonroof shade tracks (ECS Tuning kit + body shop)

31000mi - oil & filter change
- diff fluid
- gearbox fluid
- coolant flush
- Dinan exhaust install

31600mi - cabin air filter
- new floor mats

32000mi - LED tail lights

33700mi - Upgraded C300 VANOS exhaust hub
- Cam bolts, VANOS seals, gasket, cover & timing
- Beisan VANOS solenoid (broken tabs found)

34200mi - alignment

35000mi - front tire replaced (flat)

35300mi - oil & filter change
- fuel filter
- brake fluid
- hood emblem (stolen)
- horns replaced

36800mi - front tires replaced

37450mi - 6 ignition coils & spark plugs
- fuel filter
- deodorize HVAC system

37700mi - wheels refinished

37750mi - engine air & cabin air filter (self)

38250mi - Bosch battery (self)

38950mi - oil & filter change
- exhaust gaskets replaced
- Autosolutions 20% SSK Install
- power steering fluid flush

40200mi - 2 rear tires, michelin pilot super sport

40300mi - passenger airbag (Takata) recall at dealer, replaced
- power steering fluid leak found

40700mi - handbrake tightened
- power steering fluid leak fixed

40725mi - driver's door seal replaced (installed by body shop)

41350mi - driver's side fog light replaced (self)

41400mi - driver's airbag checked under recall at dealer, not replaced

[ff]

Holy mother of pearl, that's a lot of maintenance.

[Terri Kennedy]

Originally Posted by equ

4975mi - brakes lubed for screech

Did the first owner also Armor-All the tire treads to completely prevent stopping? *

37450mi - deodorize HVAC system

Reminder - I have the official BMW de-skunking tool available for loan to 'mudgeons.

* Yes, this is the "Jet fockin' black" incident.

[equ]

Originally Posted by Terry Kennedy

Did the first owner also Armor-All the tire treads to completely prevent stopping? *


Reminder - I have the official BMW de-skunking tool available for loan to 'mudgeons.

* Yes, this is the "Jet fockin' black" incident.

Right? You're picking up on something though. These are filtered a bit!

He took it in for the rear parcel shelf speaker at least twice, maybe three times, got at least two new ones.

Complained about how doors 'felt' (newsflash, that's how e46 coupe doors feel, heavy) and also complained about car 'bucking in 1st & 2nd in sports mode' which sadly is a feature not a bug. Some other stuff too...

[Terri Kennedy]

Originally Posted by equ

He took it in for the rear parcel shelf speaker at least twice, maybe three times, got at least two new ones.

Could have been an incorrect diagnosis and it was actually a wiring harness problem. At least in this era, wiring harnesses were hand built on a per-vehicle basis and not tested - if the car worked well enough to drive it off the line and onto the transport ship, it was assumed to be good. Oddly, spare harnesses are built with all options and machine-tested. "Quality control" was left to the selling dealer and the customer.

My car (9/2002 production) had at least 3 factory wiring errors (that's all I've discovered, at least):

1) Mis-wire of auto-dimming mirror sensor into (non-existent on E46) "panic switch" for emergency assist. This resulted in my car calling BMW and telling them my airbags had deployed every time I drove it after dark on a road with potholes (the headlights from the car behind me would dip when it went through a pothole, and that was a sudden enough transition on the mirror sensor that it was interpreted as a panic switch press). Since there is no panic switch on an E46, the car's phone kit (genuine BMW) interpreted it as an airbag deployment and called BMW.

2) The aux input connector behind the navigation screen had the 3 pins in the wrong sequence.

3) The glove box flashlight socket was not wired to anything, so it never charged.

[ff]

Originally Posted by Terry Kennedy

My car (9/2002 production) had at least 3 factory wiring errors (that's all I've discovered, at least):

Mine was built in 8/2002, and I was convinced that one of the rear speakers had the polarity reversed because the music was so flat, and had very little bass. The dealer tech told me "that's impossible because there's only one way to plug it in". So I mentioned the possibility of the harness being incorrectly wired, and he just laughed. They ended up replacing the head unit, which of course did nothing to solve the problem.

[JST]

Originally Posted by ff

Mine was built in 8/2002, and I was convinced that one of the rear speakers had the polarity reversed because the music was so flat, and had very little bass. The dealer tech told me "that's impossible because there's only one way to plug it in". So I mentioned the possibility of the harness being incorrectly wired, and he just laughed. They ended up replacing the head unit, which of course did nothing to solve the problem.

Not wiring, but I still remember finding a brand-new E46 330 on the lot at Passport that had one chrome headlight bucket (correct) and one black headlight bucket (from a 325).

I also remember the stench of weed outside the door at the factory in Munich, so...