Project E46 330i Touring

[evnmopwr]

Also Put her to Work yesterday.

 

[Tinuva]

Now THAT is how you use a touring

 

[evnmopwr]

Nothing like blown coolant lines on a Saturday afternoon when The is no chance on getting parts till monday.
Thankfully i was home when i saw the puddle on the floor

the 1 was brand new line i installed when engine was rebuilt (one that runs along the head)
The other i thought i replaced too but seems no invoice found for it.

I will be replacing both again just for peace of mind.

Will tear into her today and pull the intake.
Will use the time to install the new stearing rack boots too thats been on the shelf for some time now.

 

[evnmopwr]

Teardown started


Intake off


And my guess is the new coolant bottle and new 2.0bar cap preasured system nicely.
and this pipe backed out??? Not sure if you can see, but the 1 O-Ring is clearly visible. it like it backed out 1cm or so.

bare in mind, Since the rebuild, 19000kmish i replaced the bottle and cap.
Its been 100% ok up until i replaced these 2 items. since then i needed to top up.

Thoughts??



Will order OEM pipes tomorrow from dealer.
hopefully this fixes it as i dont want to take this intake off again

 

[evnmopwr]

Also I either Found a tear in the upper intake boot or i caused it while removing it and the Vanos line is leaking

so that needs replacing tomorrow too.

2 x Plastic Coolant pipes
1 x Upper Intake boot
2 x steering rack boots
1 x Vanos Line

 

[Peter@AEW]

Get aluminium washers for the vanos line, copper is almost ok as it will leak eventually

 

[Benji]

BMW and their biodegradable cooling systems...Add OFH gasket to the list...I found it near impossible to get that coolant pipe installed with the OFH still installed. For the effort saved and the peace of mind of a new OFH seal, it is totally worth it, even tho you probably did it with the engine rebuild

 

[evnmopwr]

BMW pipes have been ordered.
Decently priced. 1 problem, Its JHB only so i have to wait.

Red Rubber Grease, Motul coolant and New upper intake boot is on its way.
just the vanos line i need to go scratch out as i had a new one in stock. i just dont know what i did with it



im going to remove this el-cheapo part later to see what the issue is with it.

 

[evnmopwr]

Intake boot arrived

 

[evnmopwr]

BMW and their biodegradable cooling systems...Add OFH gasket to the list...I found it near impossible to get that coolant pipe installed with the OFH still installed. For the effort saved and the peace of mind of a new OFH seal, it is totally worth it, even tho you probably did it with the engine rebuild

Red rubber grease bro. You will never have issues with these quick release pipes again!

 

[evnmopwr]

O-Rings looks compromised?
they not as puffy as the OEM ones it seems.
and this pipe was in for around 19000km. :|

Dont make the same mistake i did. OEM for these parts ONLY

 

[evnmopwr]

The rip in the INtake boot. Car drove Perfectly though. So i must have cause this when i pulled the pipe off during the teardown
but she was due for a replacement years ago so its good to have happened now.


Got the car on the road last night, DONT ASK, and She holding her water and Things looking great.
All back together



Was suprised to see email from SMG Century city this morning telling me my parts have arrived.
I was only expecting these by weekend.

So i Guess im going to be doing the job again this weekend. LMAO

 

[evnmopwr]

Pipes have been collected



And little something extra (those Black fin things that go above the headlights as mine is Melted/Brittle)



Hope weekend is the last weekend i Do this job. Dont want to think about it for the next few years

 

[evnmopwr]

Picked up some new items for the touring to Aid its pending Cosmetic Refresh
Thanks @Benji for the lead on these. Price was too good to pass up.



Will make a massive difference


And some New Original BMW Fender indicators



Could not find me Spare Vanos oil pipe so waiting on the replacement 1 from Dealer.
ordered new Washers too (Aluminum as @Peter@AEW suggested).

part numbers:
Hydraulic Oil pipe: 11361705532
Sealing Washers: 32411093596 (Dealer mentioned it is Alluminum and not copper so lets see)

 

[individj]

mmmmmmm what lovely sparkly things

 

[evnmopwr]

mmmmmmm what lovely sparkly things

It comes at a price.
Was handed a SKINS Cosmetics invoice i had to pay aswell since i "have been buying so much unnecessary parts for the car". :|

But since i paid that, I have little free rein to get "things i really need for the car".
So i need to use that freedom NOW!

 

[evnmopwr]

Since i could not find the Vanos line i had in stock, I ordered new one 1.5weeks ago.

Finally had the time to collect the Vanos line at Dealer this past weekend.
And i must say, It looks rather Back Yard manufactured. :|.

Im Questioning my descision to Go OEM on this and not the RaceGerman Upgraded line.

Thoughts? or is it just me imagination?

 

[evnmopwr]

And Another issue Proped its head this morning on way to work
Coolant temps touched 105deg .....

it seems the Radiator fan is only spinning at 1 speed and cannot keep the car cool when in peak traffic.
On the hunt for a Replacement OEM fan but i may have found a good Aftermarket alternative ...

Just doing some research on the aftermarket option as it may be a good idea to just go this route ( Half the price of the OEM one )

Replacement fan from BMW is R8800+-. For a Radiator fan? jissis.

 

[evnmopwr]

Another issue i see i did not Mention, since many Touring owners might be sitting in the same postion in future, i will just document it.

2 x issues i had with the rear glass hatch
1. The Microswitch to open the glass hatch stopped working.
2. The glass hatch would randomly pop itself open. whether the car is On or off or locked, It just pops itself open.

The glass Hatch would open when you press the Key.

Thinking its the Microswitch as i tested continuity as much wiring as i could, bought new switch
plugged in and Same Issue. did not work



Had to resolve this as the Hatch was unlocking While car was parked at mall etc.
or the Alarm would trigger constantly over and over

Facing the boot, I opened up the Previous Wire repair i did on the Right side loom and i checked the repairs on all. All still intact.
so i decided to cut open the Left side loom and i found 1 small Red wire broken in 2 places. and a Yellow/Black wire thats insulation was shaved away exposing copper.

As a test, i touched the Small red wire to the Yellow/black wire and what do you know, It keeps on triggering the Latch to open the glass.

So i repaired the broken red wire and Fixed the Yellow/Black wire ...
And the Original microswitch started working again and no more automatically opening of the Hatch.
Sadly, the grommets are NLA so i cannot get new Grommets :'( ....

i planned on buying grommets then having an Auto Electrician make me a repair loom. But Not going to happen as NLA at dealer, and Cannot find decent Grommets second hand ( mainly not allot of E46 touring sbeing parted out )

Tape will have to do for now as Repair kit from Schmiedmann is almost 5k.
Since i need a Radiator fan now, These wires will have to wait. lmao

 

[Benji]

I need to do something similar...apparently the remote antenna is in the rear hatch and is routed thru those wires as well...My remote has completely stopped working and also had the glass hatch popped open randomly (it has stopped now tho), but only when the car was unlocked, thankfully/weirdly.

Just seems like such a catastrophically fiddly and boring job, cant find the motivation to sort it out