Yoshi's E46 LS powered wagon

[protomor]

Well, the LS will come one day.

Found this car super cheap so I had to get it. Something happened and it overheated. The comp came back 180 across the board. I think the auto trans cooler leaked into the rad because I found oil in the coolant but no coolant in the engine oil.




The horror! Ooh look, heated seats.


Interior doesn't look half bad either.


Mother fracking moon roof! This car has more options than my DD!



Front window will need to be replaced


WAGON!


Some strong language and a game of tic tac toe was done on the hood


Hello 2.5 liter of fun


And here is the fun part. PO didn't seem to figure out how to hook back up that top rad hose.


Basically, I'll eventually put the LS from my E30 into this car when I kill it. In the mean time, it will be a spare car and probably get a cage. Sikky is working on an E46 LS swap so I'm in line for that fun.

Anyone who might be able to help me trouble shoot this oil coolant stuff would be nice. I'd like to do the clear lights mod but I'm not sure how the early model wagon tail lights work. Do I get sedan? Or does it have to be wagon specific?

[DjTyfighter]

I to have a wagon (as my DD), i love mine.... even though its a POS


And i believe it would be the same as sedan but I'm not 100% sure, perhaps check realoem.com?
Also, putting that coolant piece on isn't as easy as it seems... gave me a hard time on my last e46.

[RandomHero27]

I to have a wagon (as my DD), i love mine.... even though its a POS


And i believe it would be the same as sedan but I'm not 100% sure, perhaps check realoem.com?
Also, putting that coolant piece on isn't as easy as it seems... gave me a hard time on my last e46.

i need those wheels

[Loki Motorsport]

Mille Miglia MMII's.. I have them on my 328is as well. 17x8.5 ET15

[protomor]

Those clear corner lights make a big difference. Bah.

Yea any tricks to that upper hose? It wouldn't go on so I figured the expansion tank wasn't on right.

I'm trying to keep the car sleeper so I'm only going to use BMW factory rims. I'm not sure what comes 18x10 other than M3 wheels though. All the bmw wheel guides I see are by style and not by size.

[DjTyfighter]

sorry, no tricks to putting it on. Did it once a while back and it gave me a fight but got it. Had to do it again later down the road and just gave up and reused my old one. Perhaps try to make sure its lubed good?

For wheels my vote is for a square setup of style 40's (aka roadstars)... i use them on my drift car but the pictures I've seen on e46 wagons made it look amazing. Although they are expensive and rare to find
18" wheels are better suited for the E46 though, personally if i were to go for new wheels i would try to stay away from 17's


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I changed my mind... i vote for 18" AC Schnitzer type 2's (even harder to find! lmao)
My 2nd personal favorite, i would kill for a set of 18's for my wagon.

[Johal E32]

Posting now to see the progress, looks nice!

[protomor]

Nice to see so many wagon lovers lol. I'll keep updated but this will be a long thread. Hopefully this motor is ok and I can run it for a bit before the LS time. Ironically, this is already one of the top hits in google for "ls e46 wagon".

[Novablue454]

That hose gave me a hell of a time as well. I smeared Vasoline on all the fittings, then put the one on the engine first. I had to use a pry bar to get enough pressure to pop the ones on the radiator/tank

[RandomHero27]

my buddies girlfriend has an e34 wagon, on M-parralels OMG its so beautiful


988906_10205055335894531_7022595132831645767_n.jpg

[protomor]

Well I think I figured out why there are tons of leaks. All the hoses are fat/distended and the Orings inside the plastic ends are super swollen. I took one out and couldn't get it back in.

I was dumb and sucked/blew into the auto trans cooler thingy and didn't manage to get anything. Doesn't mean it isn't broken but I'm kinda getting lazy on replacing that. What with having to jack up the car while running to fill the damn thing with fluid.

I ordered a new expansion tank and mounting plate. hopefully they come with o rings since I couldn't find them for sale otherwise. New upper/lower rad hoses, new block to rad hose, and a new alternator belt since it seems to be on its last leg. This $1k car is now up to $1500 with the tow to get to my house. Ah well.

Still no idea where the oil came from but I've heard mixing bmw and non bmw coolant can leave sludge? All oils look fine so I'm stumped. Maybe the PO fixed something somewhere sometime and it's just left over?

Suggestions/thoughts guys?

[Apex24]

Looks like a fun project. I would try to flush the coolant system and clean all areas where there have been leaks, fill it with new water/coolant and see if any new leaks show. Like you said, could be left over from a previous endeavor. Also, BMW coolant is stupid expensive. I got rid of that shit asap.

[protomor]

I found some speckles in the lower hose when I replaced it. Seems like maybe someone used stop leak on it?

Regardless, I found this https://instagram.com/p/5QO1pZzAR0/?taken-by=protomor

So I'm going to order a new fan clutch, water pump, and thermostat. Otherwise, I can't think of anything else it could be. Anyone got a link to those radiator caps that have the built in funnels and what not so I'm not spilling coolant over everything?

[jeremy5000]

Ughhh I freaking love tourings... I'd love to do something like this.

[protomor]

Sleeper LS E46. What's not to love?

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Capture.PNG

Man. So few parts but $200. Hopefully the 32mm is the right fan clutch wrench size. I never bought it but it's finally time I stopped messing with it and just get the right tool.

[torkas]

I to have a wagon (as my DD), i love mine.... even though its a POS


And i believe it would be the same as sedan but I'm not 100% sure, perhaps check realoem.com?
Also, putting that coolant piece on isn't as easy as it seems... gave me a hard time on my last e46.

HEY MAN! You gotta tell me the name of those wheels, they'r legen.. wait for it.. DARY!

[pDubs]

This you?

[protomor]

Heh. My hair gets in my way so I have a small head band. Someone called me DLB the other day (google safe...ish).

[JesterMX6]

Someone called me DLB the other day (google safe...ish).

[protomor]

I lift weights and wear a head band.

[protomor]

There was seriously dirty motor oil when I pulled the thermostat out. Lots of it. No coolant in the oil. This is really weird. I thought the HG might have been gone but after looking at what the PO did, I think they might have put oil in the coolant. Not even kidding. Now I have to get a new pulley for the water pump. Blah! The water pump looks new too. WHAT IS GOING ON! There was a bunch of rubber bits behind the thermostat and an O ring that I think came from the expansion tank. The other rubber bits look like gaskets and gasket maker.

Anyone got advice on how to flush out the heater core? Which lines should I pull off?

[Massive Lee]

Oil in the cooling system ? noobs... Or an Asian mechanic...

How much did you pay for that hulk?

[protomor]

1100 lol. $600 in so far in hoses and towing costs. I figure if it runs after this, I'm happy. Kinda no telling how bad it is though. I really just want it for the shell.

And hey, I'm asian!

[protomor]

Yay the E46 holds a temp now. I love the res attachment I got. It really helps me figure out if the motor is still bubbling or not. I realized the best trick was to hold it at like 2-3k rpms and when the fluid level comes up in the funnel, crack the bleeder to let out some air. Took a long while but it holds a temp. Still some oil but that's why I'm running straight water for now.

Now I just have to figure out these codes. I'm hoping they are just from the overheating and the one bad line you can see at the end of the video.
p1161
p0116
p0443
p0340
p1421

[JesterMX6]

that air pump tho