What did you do to/for your e46 today??

[RedOctober]

Bought a new (to me) one!!


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[Reasoned1]

Repaired (for the most part) my grills on my 2005 330xi--they were ready to fall out. I drilled a pair of 3/16" holes on the inside edge of both grills and zip-tied them together (nice, short loop and completely invisible from the outside). I also shimmed both grills with a small, strategically located block of rubber and applied some Gorilla glue where needed. They're about 80% now and aren't going anywhere, so that's good enough for now. Whoever designed the retention of those grills at BMW should be bitch-slapped.

I also installed an ECS carbon-fiber strut bar (which is a nice looking piece of hardware, without hinges). I've been very skeptical of these things based on what I've read, but I finally decided to try one on my ZHP garage queen for looks, if nothing else, but also to resolve the controversy in my own mind. Well, I got tired of waiting and figured I'd slap it on my manual 330xi (sport package) which I'm currently driving. I had to take some of the weight off the wheels to get it on and, after, I did, I went for a little ride. I took it around a looping on-ramp with increasingly small radius that always challenges my ability to gracefully maintain my lane. Well, I even got on it a bit and holding my lane without things getting ugly was no problem, so I have to say the strut bar did tighten things up and add a small but noticeable--even significant--degree of anti-sway. I think my automatic 330xi (non-sport package) would benefit even more, so I guess I have to get a couple more at some point.

[Reasoned1]

Well, I got a couple more strut braces--from ECS this time and regretted it, because these have a logo decal permanently affixed to the cross piece (unlike the one from Turner which contained a sticker I could apply at my option). Oh well--no biggie... I found that by completely disassembling the strutbrace mounts, I was able to install without lifting the car at all; in fact, there's quite a bit of play in the assembly--so much so that I'll be suprised if the whole thing doesn't loosen with all the flexing and forces it's subject to. That said, I've been keeping a close eye on the one I installed a few weeks ago, and it's stayed tight. I also replaced a missing jack pad.

[eeeks]

Over the past few weekends:

Replaced alternator and all tensioner and belts

Replaced intake hoses with Mishimoto silicone boots

Upper and lower rad hoses

Brass bleed screw on expansion tank...

Replaces VANOS oil line and crush washers

Rotated tires...

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[awp235]

Well, I bought it a few days ago on friday, as a beater/ drift project. Runs great, 213.5k on the clock, fresh tires, and beat up wheels. a little rust here and there, but for my use of the car, that's ok, since it's nothing even remotely structural. Upper radiator hose went the day I got it. Almost overheated, but I was able to stop in time. Swapped the thermostat and water pump(new metal impeller version), and put the upper radator hose back on, and beat on it for a day. Held all day yesterday, but let loose on my way to work today. So now the thermostat is cooked again! Joy. Going to pick up the upper hose, and swap the thermostat with a new one at autozone, since I can't believe it failed (clsoed) after getting just a little hot. Going to throw it all in today and hopefully put it through it's highway paces and see how it holds up.

[Reasoned1]

Replaced the OEM style 98 wheels (with Hankook Ventus S1 Noble2's) on my 2005 330xi 6MT with 17x8.5" APEX Arc-8's and Michelin PSS 245/40R17's... How sweet it is! I had no complaints whatsoever about how this xi, with sport package handles, but it now feels more like my ZHP (I can't wait to put new Arc-8's on that too--they're sitting in the garage)--smoother and livelier with noticeably more aggressive turn-in. It now provides feedback that feels like the tires are "carving" their way through the turn--rather than merely riding on rails... very, very nice.

These are Satin Black, and my xi is Steel Blue--didn't think I'd love the combination (got them anyway, because they were 25% off), but it ties in with the black body moulding and looks pretty sharp. Of course, now I need to replace the grille and wrap the chrome trim...

New Wheels.jpg

[HotRodBimmer]

First, got a thousand dollar estimate to replace my rear bumper. Then installed 12mm spacers on the rear, rubbed, rolled, reinstalled, good to go.
Before:


After:


Also, hmu of you need your fenders rolled, it's addicting.

[Reasoned1]

Replaced glass in driver's side view mirror.

[GotgolfMD]

Ordered the following, planning a weekend of work on the 05 330ci vert....
-Grom iPhone/BT adapter
-Rollback compartment to replace cupholder
-New brake pads, (PO installed cheap pads that squeal)

Bimmers in the barn.jpg

[Reasoned1]

Installed another "Wheelskins" steering wheel cover (leather) on my other 330xi. I ran into an issue with the first one I tried, I contacted thew company, and they were AWESOME about sending me a replacement. I really like the look and feel of these things...

[Reasoned1]

Changed all the lug bolts on my wheels. The old ones were getting pretty rusted--time to refurb.

[GotgolfMD]

Added a GROM-IPD4 to the 330ci vert and changed out the cup holder to a rollback bin. Ran the Bluetooth antenna under the bin along with USB plug. Audio from Pandora or Spotify is a huge improvement.


I can't imagine doing this work myself without YouTube. Many thanks to BavSound for a solid video's about removing the dash and interior panels.

Next weekend are the BavSound Stage 1 Speaker upgrade.

[Eaglesail]

Wasn't today, but resealed both headlight lens seals between the last rain storms. Today, sunny, no moisture inside the lenses...If anyone is interested, I will explain what I did.....

[frito]

Wasn't today, but resealed both headlight lens seals between the last rain storms. Today, sunny, no moisture inside the lenses...If anyone is interested, I will explain what I did.....

I'm interested.

[curry]

Replaced both rear ABS sensors. I Still have the three light lights of doom on the dash.

[Eaglesail]

Frito....Unlike many car mfg's...BMW's plastic headlight lenses...they don't yellow, but instead turn as a clear opaque when years of ultra-violate light effects clarity...as you likely know.

Frito, I removed both clouded lenses...more easy than you may think....Dry sand the lens faces using 600 grit machine sanding..(I use a MERKA vacuum sanding system) from there use wet (hand)sanding with 1000 grit..progressing to 2000 grit ..I use 3M wet sand paper.. then use a 2000 rpm buffing machine with 3M cut compounds followed by 3M polishing compounds. The end result is....they look new! ...The alternative is buying new lenses, $150 ea. You can purchase just the lenses, Pelican sells them...and not the entire light assembly. ...........This is a least expensive way....short of lens only replacement....One tip, remove the yellow blinker assembly first.... a Philips screwdriver..easyout...then the painted lower molding below (clipped in) then upper rubber top flange, also clipped in.....then un clip bottom, sides and top, of the lenses themselves...It's really not hard to do...trust me!

[ItsGibson]

Fixed Seat Belt cover thingy that was falling off, glued C pillar headliner back up, put plastic mirror cover back on after it flew off going down the highway, and the new OEM BMW emblem I put on on Sunday flew off as well so I ordered one of them.

[ItsGibson]

Gave it a good ol hand wash, used some back to black to restore the color on some of the black trim on the exterior of the car. Planning to clay bar and polish/wax tomorrow

[Reasoned1]

Replaced oil (Mobil 1 0-40W) and filter (Mann) using my Mityvac 7201 vacuum pump. Combined with the ability to change the filter from the engine bay, changing oil is actually a pleasure on these cars--no removing covers or getting under the car!

[MN2K740i]

Pulled the rear brakes on my new to me M3, figured I have potentially 2 junk froze up calipers. Guess adding two rear calipers to the parts list. Rear rotors are a lil rough but within spec so hopefully they'll clean up

[MN2K740i]

Started flushing the brake fluid on the M3 today. It's beyond overdue to the point of looking like burnt trans fluid. Also ordered akebono euro pads, oil change kit, a new hood roundel and hazard/lock switch (realized it wasn't working today) so soon as this all gets here, hopefully sooner than later, I can get some good progress underway. Also ordered the new tires for the Summer wheels today too. BF-Goodrich G-Force Comp-2 A/S.

[ItsGibson]

Replaced all spark plugs, replaced ignition coils for cylinders 3 & 5, cleared Service Engine Soon light. Touched up the front of the car with a clay bar. She's running and looking good

[ItsGibson]

Replaced fuel pump In the parking lot at work because towing it is too expensive. $200 for a fuel pump, not bad. It's one thing after another on these cars isn't it? Also replaced the hood emblem that flew off a week or so ago.

[shamrockmac5]

new e46.jpg
I bought this last week for $1400, picked up a stock set of used 16" style 42s from the auto skills center here for $20 a piece, I personally mounted and balanced a new set of 225 50ZR 16 Michelin Pilot Exaltos (just under 400 euros without tax) and replaced the missing passenger side kidney grille (50 euros from the dealer) so all in I'm right at $1950... it has 250K kilometers on the clock but runs and drives like it's been mostly babied. The seller replaced the front brakes, radiator and hoses just prior to sale. i think it sits nicely right along side my trusty 523i kombi! I looked up the proper tire inflation data for a set this size on this car... 31psi front and 37psi rear. I'm very impressed with how it handles the Bavarian B roads!! The feel on Autobahn is also quite nice!

[Joehinvt]

20170524_191636.jpg20170607_200701.jpg
Total strip down and repaint to get rid of the little bit of Vermont fungus(Rust) Looks friggin amazing!