The Blue Phoenix - E46 325i

[Senor_Taylor]

Haha, you don't know the story.

I actually don't want to sell it yet. That's why I listed it for the ridiculous price. We've been joking about it in the group chat. It's funny looking at the e-mails I've been getting.

It actually surprised me how long it took Chan to sell his, and I was wondering if it was the way he had worded his ad.

You're on of those people who thinks you can sell something of value with half assed photos. Good luck with that.

Those are the only photos I had on my phone for the 5 minutes it took me to write up that little post.

Don't worry. I'm keeping it for now.

[WRXtranceformed]

So you listed it just to see what kind of emails you would get about it?

[Senor_Taylor]

I wanted to see what kind of interest it would get. If someone happened to offer me $6k no questions asked, I'd think about parting ways with it just because It'd be dumb not to. Since no one is going to offer me that, I'm hanging on to it for a while.

[Ken]

So you listed it just to see what kind of emails you would get about it?

Kids these days.

[Senor_Taylor]

Ordered some new sun visor clips to fix the broken one on the driver side. Chan says he already replaced them once, so I'm guessing these are made out of porcelain or brownie brittle with how often they break.

I turned on my hazards for the lolz the other day and I couldn't get them to turn off until I eventually hit the button as hard as a I could without snapping my fingers in half. I guess it was good timing, because that was the last breath from my door lock/hazards switch. Pried it out with lots of breaking of plastic and taped the bottom of the switch back to the rest of it with some American flag tape.

USA 2 - Germany 0



I've had a few people contact me from Craigslist asking about cooling system maintenance, so I've promptly ignored them. The cooling system as far as Chan and I know has been ignored for the most part.

So, on the to-do list for the future:

- CDV delete (Man, I hate that thing)
- Attempt an oil change (I've never seen a filter like this, and I spent way too much money on oil the other day)
- Take a look at the rear subframe (Or maybe just ignore it. Low chance of it being broken, but I feel a weird clunk sometimes when I clutch in to shift when driven hard. What could that be?)
- Use Sam's super hardcore cleaner to clean the leather some more
- Look into fixing the rattle in the rear speakers with high bass
- Re-glue ceiling fabric
- Look into this oil leak. I smell stuff burning very faintly after driving it hard, so I'm fairly positive there is a leak
- investigate rattle/vibe at 2100 RPM

Things I should do, but don't really care to:
- Rear bushings
- Replace pulleys and belts on the front (Have only made noise on one very very cold morning)
- Get it aligned (Pulls to the right)
- Investigate weird noise when AC is on
- Replace wood trim and shifter knob with ones that aren't cracked all to hell.
- Short throw shifter
- Cooling system maintenance (Just drive her till she 'splodes)

ALSO, there is a BMW dealership in Lynchburg. Totally forgot about that because it's in the rich part of town, and I'm just a dirty peasant. I'll get the recalls done when I go home for the summer.

[RawrImAMonster]

I don't think the cooling systems are quite as much of a problem as they are on E36's, but I know the E46 M3 water pumps have problems with bearing issues. Might want to check into whether that is a problem on the other E46's. I think they'll usually start making a noise before they fail, but still that's not really something you should wait until it breaks to fix.

[SlimKlim]

- CDV delete (Man, I hate that thing)
- Attempt an oil change (I've never seen a filter like this, and I spent way too much money on oil the other day)
- Take a look at the rear subframe (Or maybe just ignore it. Low chance of it being broken, but I feel a weird clunk sometimes when I clutch in to shift when driven hard. What could that be?)
- Use Sam's super hardcore cleaner to clean the leather some more
- Look into fixing the rattle in the rear speakers with high bass
- Re-glue ceiling fabric
- Look into this oil leak. I smell stuff burning very faintly after driving it hard, so I'm fairly positive there is a leak
- investigate rattle/vibe at 2100 RPM

Things I should do, but don't really care to:
- Rear bushings
- Replace pulleys and belts on the front (Have only made noise on one very very cold morning)
- Get it aligned (Pulls to the right)
- Investigate weird noise when AC is on
- Replace wood trim and shifter knob with ones that aren't cracked all to hell.
- Short throw shifter
- Cooling system maintenance (Just drive her till she 'splodes)

ALSO, there is a BMW dealership in Lynchburg. Totally forgot about that because it's in the rich part of town, and I'm just a dirty peasant. I'll get the recalls done when I go home for the summer.

Oh boy, ok, a few points.

1.) Oil changes are stupid easy, easier than a traditional screw on filter, just google one of the dozens of DIYs out there. In the future grab your filters online as part of another parts order so you don't get ripped off by a dealer for them. I don't recommend buying them at advance auto or whatever because they tend to not include all of the o-rings and/or gaskets you need.

2.) Clunking could be a bad transmission or motor mount if it's happening when you take the load off the drivetrain, you just need to get under there with a light and look for stuff that don't look right.

3.) I'll say this now, you will regret not prioritizing the cooling system. These motors have an aluminum head bolted onto an iron block, if you pop a water pump/hose/expansion tank/radiator/etc, you could blow the headgasket in the time it takes you to get off the road. My car blew its headgasket because it got an air bubble stuck at the back of the motor when I was trying to bleed it down after a radiator replacement. If you don't know the last time it was done, it's the next thing you need to do.

[Senor_Taylor]

I don't think the cooling systems are quite as much of a problem as they are on E36's, but I know the E46 M3 water pumps have problems with bearing issues. Might want to check into whether that is a problem on the other E46's. I think they'll usually start making a noise before they fail, but still that's not really something you should wait until it breaks to fix.

My last water pump experience has scarred me. I don't want to go near them. Another reason I'm very torn on whether to keep this car long term. I just drive with one eye on the temp gauge and the other on the expansion tank. I really don't care enough to spend $500 on hoses, an expansion tank, the proper water pump, etc and destroy my back working on it. Maybe if my back wasn't a mangled mess for the last 2 years, I'd be more willing the roll around in my gravel drive way for a few days. Regardless there is nothing I can do until the summer because I don't even have enough time to do my laundry nowadays.

[SlimKlim]

I don't think the cooling systems are quite as much of a problem as they are on E36's, but I know the E46 M3 water pumps have problems with bearing issues. Might want to check into whether that is a problem on the other E46's. I think they'll usually start making a noise before they fail, but still that's not really something you should wait until it breaks to fix.

My last water pump experience has scarred me. I don't want to go near them. Another reason I'm very torn on whether to keep this car long term. I just drive with one eye on the temp gauge and the other on the expansion tank. I really don't care enough to spend $500 on hoses, an expansion tank, the proper water pump, etc and destroy my back working on it. Maybe if my back wasn't a mangled mess for the last 2 years, I'd be more willing the roll around in my gravel drive way for a few days. Regardless there is nothing I can do until the summer because I don't even have enough time to do my laundry nowadays.

Sell the car now before you end up trying to sell it with a blown HG. Don't cost yourself more money later because you don't have the time and money now.

[Senor_Taylor]

Yeah, owning a BMW is not right for me. I actually have more money in my bank than my parents, so I have no safety net on this car. We will see how the cards play out.

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[Jake]

The BMW "cartridge" oil filter design is so great. You can seriously change the oil filter in a tuxedo if you want, and not get dirty.

Oil leak is probably the valve cover gasket... very easy job and I think $25ish in parts. The exhaust manifolds are right under the valve cover, so you smell burning as the oil seeps out and drips straight onto the hot exhaust.

The entire cooling system can be replaced in a matter of hours, really. Why are you so scared of doing the water pump? On the BMWs, it's just bolted right to the front of the motor. All you have to do is pull the fan and the drive belt, and it's 4 bolts to remove/replace. I know the Miatas was driven off of the timing belt but these are a bit easier to service.

I'm curious why you say that owning a BMW isn't for you... nothing you've listed is really absurd maintenance given the age and mileage of the vehicle. I remember being really nervous about working on things when I started out on my friend's E34 (somewhere in the Projects forum, there is a thread) because everything was just so different from the Miata, which was all I knew. DJ and a few others convinced me to attempt more of the work on my own and once I got some nudging, I discovered that much of it wasn't really all bad to do.

[D_Eclipse9916]

Yeah, owning a BMW is not right for me. I actually have more money in my bank than my parents, so I have no safety net on this car. We will see how the cards play out.

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I agree. I think you need to sell the fun car and wait till you can afford something that isn't bottom of the barrel. A miata, a great car reliable wise, was a money pit for you since you bought bottom of the barrel and didn't have additional income to get it done right.


A bmw is not one of those cars that you can wait till it breaks and then do a $5 fix. Integras/civics/NA MR2s/Not shitbox miata seem to be more up your alley hence why they were the go-to cars for many when we were young.

[Senor_Taylor]

I agree with DJ. This car was such a great deal and really helped with the Miata situation, I just don't have the money to properly take care of it. I honestly could trade this for a well sorted Miata and be fine. I just need the car to last until summer to when I have time to look around. If I wasn't in school I wouldn't have a problem with working on it, but I honestly don't have 5 consecutive hours to do anything. I'm literally working 30 hours a week (as a favor to my boss) just between saturday and Sunday and taking 16 credits, I'm also VP right now. If I didnt work, id be all over a project just because I'd be so bored.

the VCG was replaced within the last 3 years, so it might not be that. I got a Mann filter kit with all of rhe gaskets and stuff for the oil change yesterday.

[Beej]

Did I miss something? It's been like a month, nothing has broken, and the car is now too much to maintain?

[BLINGMW]

I did the VCG less than a year ago in the hopes of solving the oil issue, but it did not.

[Senor_Taylor]

Did I miss something? It's been like a month, nothing has broken, and the car is now too much to maintain?

It's not too much to maintain if I just let it be, but that doesn't seem to be okay.

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[BLINGMW]

I think the cooling system paranoia is a bit much, it's not an E36. Just drive it and keep an eye out for leaks. :dunno: And yes, low chance of subframe issues unless you start tracking it.

[*insertusernamehere*]

Did I miss something? It's been like a month, nothing has broken, and the car is now too much to maintain?

Yes, that's a thing. Oddly enough, I agree, sell it. My e36 was wrong timing.

[Jake]

I think the cooling system paranoia is a bit much, it's not an E36. Just drive it and keep an eye out for leaks. :dunno: And yes, low chance of subframe issues unless you start tracking it.

Agreed - I know I said it's easy to replace the cooling system, but I also don't think you need to be clamoring to do it ASAP either.

For all the shit E36's get about reliability, my 328i was purchased back in what, July? and has been daily driven since. It was maintained by the previous owners to various levels of care (i.e. not neglected) and you know what I've truly done for maintenance since purchase? One oil change, front brakes, and an ABS sensor. And now it's starting to leak coolant from a $25 hose that will take me an hour to replace.

The rest of what I've done has been upgrades, but it could be rolling around on old shocks and stock 15" wheels and be just as solid. I'm not preemptively doing a damn thing on that convertible, just addressing whatever as it comes up. And it's been cheap.

What I'm getting at is that everything requires occasional maintenance and in that regard, I don't think an E46 is some wildcard of horror and expense. Change the oil every so often, keep an eye out for leaky things, replace brake pads when the dash light comes on, and otherwise just drive the damn thing. Chan owned it for years and didn't neglect it, all you have to do is keep it up. Worry about the upgrades and preventative shit later. It's a BMW Civic, not a Maserati.

[Senor_Taylor]

What a roller coaster of emotions y'all have put me on this morning. So either I should light it on fire, spend all of my money and fix every single thing and replace every part, or do nothing until it explodes. Got it.