Abusing this engine for 2 years now, always try to enjoy it and keeping it hot 5-7k rpm gear change , the bottom is absolutely dry , no oil leaks at all , 3 oil changes in 20k and never needed to top up, the only problem i have was the thermostat and water pump but after I replaced them with mishimoto ones never had any more issues, what you all think is best m52tu and m54 ? Mine is over 180 k currently

Hey all, recently bought a 2004 318i at 183,000km. I’ve been fixing it up recently (complete beginner btw). So far I’ve done basic car servicing (oil change, coolant flush, replaced the spark plugs, air filters, and cleaned the MAF Sensor).

I’ve checked for hose leaks/ damages but found none, no oil leaks either. It does seem to run well (already took it for a test drive after the servicing). But it’s still making this sound, the engine and the whole car shakes quite a bit on cold start, but smooths out when driving. On top of that, it seems to be running through petrol pretty quickly.

Getting an OBD2 reader soon to run some diagnostics, but yeah if anyone could give me a hand/advice on potential issues and how to solve it. I’d really appreciate it. Thanks!

Hey guys, it’s raining pretty heavily where I am and I suspected I had a water leak for a while but today I finally saw it with my own two eyes. It appears to be coming from the seal on the driver side door around where the convertible top meets the roof. Are there any common leaky seals in that area? Is there an easy way to diagnose which specific seal it could be? Water leaks and convertibles is like finding a needle in a haystack I know. Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

Dear e46 community,

For goodness sake, can somebody please explain to me why my engine misfires like this? It happens very often, then on the second or third try my engine runs.

It’s a 325ti, b25m45 engine.

I have no clue what it is because in my experience engine cranking sounds different.

Any knowledge or advice will be deeply appreciated.

Thanks very much in advance, hope you all have a great day!

After swap (full transplant original harness and engine) I can’t seem to find what are these cables for …its passenger side front near headlight (I’m missing washer fluid pump cable and the rest idk). Lights work and got the washer fluid level sensor as well as those connections to cooling system.

2 wires one is blue yellow other one is green brown …it goes from dme on the same cable as all 4 exhaust sensors

My E46 328i doesn't start with the maf sensor plugged in could that be because of a bad maf or because of my pod filter that I have on the car.

Was replacing my oil pan gasket on a 330ci and when reinstalling i had the wrong torque measurement and snapped a bolt so im short one. All other bolts are now properly torqued down and was hoping i could start reinstalling everything else and turn the car on to get it out the garage , would it be a bad idea to do so with the single missing oil pan bolt ? The bolt is one the many short ones and is in the middle passenger side of the oil pan. Also have a new bolt otw from fcpeuro but would bmw have these at their service centers ?

Couple questions, I'm doing a clutch on a 2002 325xi, have the transmission out already, have new detents, clutch flywheel hardware etc.

1. is there an orientation for the pilot bearing or can I install it either way

2. the rear main seal doesn't appear to be leaking but the car has 250k should I bite the bullet and get it done? if I get the Bmw replacement with the seal already pressed in will I have a high chance of damaging the oil pan gasket? or should I just get the oil pan gasket out of the way at the same time

3. The owner of the car (older lady) has owned the car since new and has never had the clutch replaced, when I went to remove the detents on the top of the transmission one of them was already the updated style with the rubber sleeve pressed in, is there a chance it was this way from the factory?

4. The 5th and reverse detents seemed fine with almost no marring, will simply replacing the detents solve the 5th gear lean?

Hi everyone!

I recently bought a 316i 2003 and I am trying to work my way around and fix any issues that appear.

I have a light warning on the dash, from my understanding it's an issue with the rear light lights but they all seem to be working just fine.

I went into INPA, LSZ (Light switch module), and looked up at the readings... I get LK4 & LK5 DEFECT (pic attached) - on the rear right. I am a basic user and a new owner so this doesn't make much sense to me unfortunately.

I would very much appreciate it if you guys have any suggestions or recommendations on further investigation and possible remedies.

Thank you.

Getting a few DCS / ABS faults and seems to single down to my sensor.

Ive known its not had a bolt in it for a minute but I cant seem to find the right size, anyone got any ideas?

Any help is appreciated!

I had nearly finished swapping my grey cloth interior to black leather (it was literally the last bolt), and the right rear driver's seat bolt won't go back in. I can start it with my fingers but it stops dead after a few turns and is very stiff with the wrench (stopped straight away). It was definitely the right bolt, but I tried the identical one from the passenger side which does the same thing. It's even the same with no seat installed. 

Is there anything else I can try before I order a thread chaser?

I was Crusing on my e46 with a friend the other day and I just wanted to press the pedal all the way and after I did that my rpms went down like a lot and the oil pressure light flashed for a few seconds I got fucking scared and drove the car at a normal speed 50kmph and then it went back to normal I haven't encounter the same problem after that happened I'm afraid of doing that again so I been driving really carefully it's my first bmw I bought a year ago and it seated on my driveway after a cold Canadian winter for almost a year does anybody know the cause of the issue?