The "WTF is wrong with my E46 now?" thread.

[Antoin]

Since there seems to be an ever increasing amount of E46 owners past & present on the forum I thought it would be helpful to have a wee thread so that the owners can;

a) Vent their frustration at parting with money for one
b) Offer advice on how to diagnose/ fix common problems
c) Threaten to burn it every other weekend.

Seeing as these cars love to break something this should be a busy thread!

Il start.
Traction control is kicking in going around tight roundabouts. (Edit; Driving at sub 10mph, it hasn't been slippy)
This the basic wheel speed sensor?

Thanks,
Anton

 

[Coog]

Lol I'm just about to start into another day of spannering on mine to do a cooling system overhaul and drop links. Then I swear that better be it lol.

I've a spare drivers side rear wheel sensor here brand new if you need one. I bought it but never used it.

 

[Phil_EK9]

I'd just like to say... my friend has one and bar a CD changer, a taillight and the front pulley that comes loose he's had little bother...

 

[Coog]

They've always done my head in. They can and will plough on hanging together but to keep them tip top you need to be constantly throwing parts at them. I'm being a bit too fussy considering age, etc but I'll need to hang onto it for a while and I hate minor niggles. Probably would have been better in a 2.0 Mondeo which was the other option!!

 

[pablo]

@Antoin your tyre pressures ok?

 

[Antoin]

Lol I'm just about to start into another day of spannering on mine to do a cooling system overhaul and drop links. Then I swear that better be it lol.

I've a spare drivers side rear wheel sensor here brand new if you need one. I bought it but never used it.

Might take you up on that Coog im going to give the old one a good clean this evening and see if its just some dirt has got trapped in around it or the plug.
Also have the thermostat to do this evening as the old one had cracked. Ive been surviving on it glued together with some epoxy. Im nearly scared to start taking it off as whoever had the car before was a complete butcher. Who knows what il find.

 

[Antoin]

@Antoin your tyre pressures ok?

First thing I checked @pablo.

 

[Jethro]

@Antoin your tyre pressures ok?

or his blood pressure ?

 

[AMG]

First thing I checked @pablo.

Are the 2 tyres the same tread, wear etc? Can sometimes play havoc with traction controls!

 

[Jethro]

Not having owned one I always assumed they were pretty solid and very little went wrong with them ?
Maybe having a Renault runabout isn't so bad after all ?

 

[Antoin]

@amg306 , yeah all new tyres back before Christmas and no signs of any additional wear on any of them.

 

[Gavlar]

Guy behind me is constantly doing something in his garage to his e46 estate its always got the hood up or jacked up, doesn't inspire confidence and its pretty clean looking lol

 

[moorsojr]

Mine was running rough and had little boost so has had....
New turbo
New MAF
New MAP sensor

Then discovered it was the actuator that was ****ed. so...
Actuator reconditioned

Running better but still slow and poor MPG.
So i decided to do a decat. When i took the cat out i noticed the guts of it had come loose in the casing and fallen down, covering half of the outlet on the bottom.

Now going like a train, MPG is much better and *touches wood* its being very well behaved.

 

[C4L]

My 330coupe msport has had nothing but regular servicing in just over 2 years, most reliable thing I have owned... sorry.. tell a lie, needed a ball joint for mot, that's it.

touch wood touch wood touch wood touch wood

 

[Alan_B]

Might take you up on that Coog im going to give the old one a good clean this evening and see if its just some dirt has got trapped in around it or the plug.
Also have the thermostat to do this evening as the old one had cracked. Ive been surviving on it glued together with some epoxy. Im nearly scared to start taking it off as whoever had the car before was a complete butcher. Who knows what il find.

Awaits a post saying the bolts have stripped the threads

 

[Coog]

Yeah be careful taking the sensors out lol. They've a habit of coming out in bits!!

 

[moorsojr]

My 330coupe msport has had nothing but regular servicing in just over 2 years, most reliable thing I have owned... sorry.. tell a lie, needed a ball joint for mot, that's it.

touch wood touch wood touch wood touch wood

that's because you bought a big petrol engine'd one, other than the rubber boot that goes between the MAF and throttle body which forms a lovely hole, they seem to be a great car.

 

[C4L]

ahh didn't realise, is everyone posting about the diesels?

i thought they were all fairly sturdy reliable things with the exception of suspension components, i know they eat them cause theyre a heavy enough owl car. maybe thats just the petrols

 

[Deckz]

(I'm Writing this as I toucg the wooden table)

My E46 320d that's turing 172k is going like a dream.
Had to replace the rear speed sensor due to TC light flickering and the temp sensor as it was reading +15 with 6 inches of snow. Other than that it's flawless. Great driving car.

Looking at this thread I thought both my MGs where troublesome, maybe not as bad now lol.

 

[Antoin]

Awaits a post saying the bolts have stripped the threads

I might just stick more glue on it!
@Deckz I just cut the sensor off mine to stop it bloody beeping at me.... "no its not ****ing -40oC!"

 

[moorsojr]

ahh didn't realise, is everyone posting about the diesels?

i thought they were all fairly sturdy reliable things with the exception of suspension components, i know they eat them cause theyre a heavy enough owl car. maybe thats just the petrols

i know the OP has a derv but unsure about the rest. to be fair i love my car, it drives well, handles well and goes very well with the remap and decat. The fact that i replaced the turbo, maf and map sensors was more because of poor guidance. The actuator alone would have only cost about 2-300 quid to get refurbed and refitted.

 

[Antoin]

Its mostly stupid sensors that are the cause of most of the problems. Maybe this is the E46's way of bonding with its owner, maybe I haven't been paying it enough attention lol

To be fair I haven't had any serious problems to date, moreso small stupid problems that could have been prevented had the previous owners not been clampets;

Stripped/ broken sump plug
No anti freeze
Broken thermo housing - found that when I did the antifreeze.
Airbag light LED had been pried off the bloody instrument cluster
Probably needs the Airbag passenger seat sensor mat replaced/ bypassed - Hence the LED being prised off the cluster
Needs the bootlid wires looked at
Needs the diff mount changed
Needs the vanes on the turbo checked as I seem to be getting "bouncing boost"
Parking sensors are ****ed.

Il not give up though!

 

[Burt2000]

I remember the first time @AIRFORCE1 put my old 330i on the diagnostics, something like 14 different sensor error codes lol. Spent right few quid on all types of sensors to get it sorted, wont be buying another i have to say.

 

[Antoin]

I remember the first time @AIRFORCE1 put my old 330i on the diagnostics, something like 14 different sensor error codes lol. Spent right few quid on all types of sensors to get it sorted, wont be buying another i have to say.

Mine was like the menu from Yoko! Doubt it had ever seen a scanner before lol

 

[Sgt_Major]

My 330coupe msport has had nothing but regular servicing in just over 2 years, most reliable thing I have owned... sorry.. tell a lie, needed a ball joint for mot, that's it.

touch wood touch wood touch wood touch wood

Mine was the same, just before I sold it on there was a couple of wheel speed sensors needed replaced, but was sweet otherwise.