Bare minimum maintenance for a new (old) E46

[AEnrico]

Hi everyone, I'm planning to buy a used E46 (325TI, not available in the US I suppose).
My very stupid question is about day one maintenance, just to avoid to suffer dire damage.
My idea is to perform the following as preventive maintenance from day one:

• replace all cooling ducts with silicone ones (DIY)
• replace water pump (maybe DIY) and expansion tank
• change transmission oil
• change motor oil and filter and filter housing gasket
• change power steering oil and reservoir (DIY) plus maybe some of the ducts (the easy access' ones)
• change oil pump (possibly with a custom one)
• change brake oil, main cilinder and brake pads (DIY)

Is it enough to start using the car even in moderate trips (less than 500 miles) without too many worries?

Maybe replacing the timing chain as well is a good idea?

Please take note: I do not own any private ground where I could perform maintenance work, I'll do my best in public roads!!!!!
Well, I'll do it having the car parked along public roads actually, but saving money by doing DIY maintenance is a paramount requirement. Mainly, I can perform quite anything not requiring to haul the car or the engine, or to dismantle the front bumper, exaust manifold and so on.

Whatever could be performed while the car is standing on its wheels and without large parts of it taken apart, I should be pretty able to do it.

Any advice, tip and suggestion is hearthly welcome.

[MauiM3Mania]

Moved from the BMW General Discussion sub-forum.

I bet you'll get better input here!

[02Pilot]

Assuming this is an M54, do the rest of the cooling system while you're at it, and change the CCV system as well - you'll have good access while you're doing the oil filter housing gasket. The timing chain and oil pump should be fine unless the car has been badly neglected.

[AEnrico]

Thank you for the Feedback, I really appreciate it!

[ross1]

Oh my, the sky is always falling when it come to BMW cooling systems.
Do you have any service records for the car? At this age there is a good chance lots has previously been done. If not err on the side of caution but to automatically assume everything is shot is foolish.
Fluid service is a good idea anytime.
OFH gasket? Is it leaking?
Brake "main"(master)cylinder? Why?
P/S reservoir? Why? Hoses? Change the ones that leak, not the ones that are easy to change.

Oil pump? That's absurd.
Timing chain? equally absurd.
You've not mentioned anything about this car's condition that would indicate the need for open heart surgery.
Have this car inspected by a pro before you buy to see what it truly needs.

[02Pilot]

The only reason I recommend (justifiable) paranoia on cooling in this case is the M54's well-known ability to rapidly destroy itself with even one overheating event. For the price of parts it's cheap insurance. Sure, you can check for production dates on the parts, but by that time you've already pulled them in many cases, so why not just throw new ones in?

[MarcoZandrini]

Paisan, check the maintenance records to see if the cooling system has been overhauled. The consensus here is that it needs to be overhauled at 100k miles/~165k kms. If the records don’t show that the cooling system has been overhauled, you need to overhaul it now. And, installing aftermarket cooling system parts is strictly verboten!

[AEnrico]

Tank you all for the tips.
The reason I would swap cooling ducts unless really pristine, is because I would like to know the starting point. I have seen fairly new cars, never mine ones!, calling on assistance on highway because of a sudden fail in the cooling System. AFAIK simple contamination could degrade rubber hoses, leading to early fail.
Oil filter gasket replacement would be done because I would like to install a CCV replacement, so it could be sensible to do that as weil.
Why not aftermarket Silicon hoses?
I always believed them to be far better than any rubber one if properly made.

[AEnrico]

Just a last note. I'm asking about preventive maintenance because I'm still in the process of purchasing an used E46 325 (M54B30 engine). Up to now, I've seen suspiciously clean BMWs' motor boots. One even showed clear markings of extreme exposure to high pressure hot water or steam. Like somebody trying to delete any oil leak sign. So I'm bracing myself for the worst, because I plan to drive this prospective car for fun, but also for serious trip on spring/summer and I wouldn't like to be left stranded, under no circumstances.
About maintenance records, in my experience they do not tell all the story, unfortunately. At least not always.

[shadowpuck]

i've never had a need or desire to run silicon hoses in a street car. use quality BMW parts and it'll be just fine. i've run several bmw's several hundred thousand miles now using stock hoses.