New 330XI Owner, Help me out a Little

[SydBarett420]

Just grabbed a 2002 330XI 5 speed with 182K for a pretty decent price.Two owners, no accidents, all service checks/inspections performed at the same BMW dealership. Was wondering if anyone has any suggestions are far as things to check upon first inspection. Obviously there will be an across the board fluid replacement and suspension parts such as control arms, shocks, etc. will be looked over. Was really looking for anything BMW specific I should be looking for?

The last service according to CarFax was at 174,000 and had the following done: Maintenance inspection completed, Battery/charging system checked, Brakes checked.

Excited to join the E46 family and just looking for a little guidance before I roll it into my shop in the next few days to see what I have.

[TonyAngel]

If you have all of the records, I'd check to see when the cooling system was last refreshed. This would include ancillary hardware, such as hoses, pulleys and the belt. If it was last done at around 100k miles, it's due for another one. I'd also check to see at what interval the oil was changed and check to see if the transmission was ever serviced. To be more specific with regard to the cooling system, this would include the water pump, thermostat, radiator, expansion tank, expansion tank thermostat, sensors, belts, and pulleys. If any of this stuff has over 50k miles on it, I'd change it just to make sure.

If the previous owner was following the 15k mile oil service interval, you might want to check into that. It's due for an oil change now. The transmission fluid was also considered to be lifetime fluid, but this is kind of a misnomer. What is meant by "lifetime" is 100k miles. 50k miles is the preferred transmission service interval.

If this is your first BMW, pay attention when adding fluids and check the caps for information. BMWs are very specific with regard to fluids, for example, the power steering system in my E46 takes transmission fluid.

I'd also check the brakes. When I bought mine, it had just gone through an inspection, but to me, the rotors were toast.

Did you have any sort of pre purchase inspection done before you bought the car? If not, I'd suggest that you have a diagnostic scan done with a BMW specific scan tool. There could be problems that have logged faults, but did not set off any lights.

[SydBarett420]

If you have all of the records, I'd check to see when the cooling system was last refreshed. This would include ancillary hardware, such as hoses, pulleys and the belt. If it was last done at around 100k miles, it's due for another one. I'd also check to see at what interval the oil was changed and check to see if the transmission was ever serviced. To be more specific with regard to the cooling system, this would include the water pump, thermostat, radiator, expansion tank, expansion tank thermostat, sensors, belts, and pulleys. If any of this stuff has over 50k miles on it, I'd change it just to make sure.

If the previous owner was following the 15k mile oil service interval, you might want to check into that. It's due for an oil change now. The transmission fluid was also considered to be lifetime fluid, but this is kind of a misnomer. What is meant by "lifetime" is 100k miles. 50k miles is the preferred transmission service interval.

If this is your first BMW, pay attention when adding fluids and check the caps for information. BMWs are very specific with regard to fluids, for example, the power steering system in my E46 takes transmission fluid.

I'd also check the brakes. When I bought mine, it had just gone through an inspection, but to me, the rotors were toast.

Did you have any sort of pre purchase inspection done before you bought the car? If not, I'd suggest that you have a diagnostic scan done with a BMW specific scan tool. There could be problems that have logged faults, but did not set off any lights.

No pre purchase inspection other than what I saw with my eye while I was looking for another car (auction cars FTW). I don't believe I will have access to service records unless I call the BMW dealership it was serviced at.

[floydr]

Check the front driveshaft CVJ boots.

[SydBarett420]

Car is pretty beat up inside, will have to examine more after a hard cleaning. Engine seemed to have a knock that went away after a royal purple oil change. Ran Torque Pro and threw a camshaft sensor B code and the P0240 and P0340 codes (not sure if I got the exact codes right) for the cats.

[Pelican Parts]

Just grabbed a 2002 330XI 5 speed with 182K for a pretty decent price.Two owners, no accidents, all service checks/inspections performed at the same BMW dealership. Was wondering if anyone has any suggestions are far as things to check upon first inspection. Obviously there will be an across the board fluid replacement and suspension parts such as control arms, shocks, etc. will be looked over. Was really looking for anything BMW specific I should be looking for?

The last service according to CarFax was at 174,000 and had the following done: Maintenance inspection completed, Battery/charging system checked, Brakes checked.

Excited to join the E46 family and just looking for a little guidance before I roll it into my shop in the next few days to see what I have.

Welcome and congrats on the new purchase! I'm attaching a link to our site's DIY tech articles on the E46 platform. This will likely save you quite a bit of $$ and headaches if you're going to be working on the car yourself. Please let us know if you have any questions!

BMW 3-Series E46 (1999-2006) Technical Articles