E46 325ti

[Simon13]

my Dads e46 had the Harmon Kardon upgrade. I'm not an audiophile but i thought it was bloody brilliant setup. You'd go a long way to improve on it to my ears

[pacerpete]

my Dads e46 had the Harmon Kardon upgrade. I'm not an audiophile, HENCE ME REPLACING THE FACTORY BMW BUSINESS HEAD UNIT IN MY BITURBO WITH A £26 SONY EXPLODE I BOUGHT IN SOUTHALL SO I COULD LISTEN TO MY JUSTIN BEAVER CDS, but i thought it was bloody brilliant setup. You'd go a long way to improve on it to my ears

[capri_rob]

What's the deal with improving the audio on these E46 turds?

The touring is fitted with standard Business CD headunit. It sounds cack.

I don't like E46's with aftermarket headunits as it ruins the dash. Is there any point upgrading the stock speakers? Other than the Harman Kardon gear (which looks like a ball ache to retrofit) is there a way to get better sound with the OEM headunits?

Jammy

Mines got the cassette "business" Head unit ( In 2003 FFS ) with the 6 disk changer in the boot.

Going for the Dice Duo Ipod kit as soon as I've got a spare £100

To be fair the quality is OK IMO

[bss325i]

There is ways of improving using the stock HU. I'll post in more detail tomorrow eve as I'm of out with the mrs in a mo.

[DanThe]

I was looking at the screen thing for my E39 as pointed out by Bazzra but it looks like £700 worth to get the lot, im not arsed about a sat nav or tv, just wanted to get the DAB into it so after some searching I found this - http://www.dabonwheels.co.uk/Kinetic_di ... E7,3MGCG,1

Not got round to finding out any reviews on it yet though

[Morat]

Mine has the business tape deck/CD changer in the boot with the HK upgrade. It would sound good if I actually owned any CDs...
Can I swap the hilariously out of date Motorola flip phone for Bluetooth? The car also had business navigation, but I've never seen it do anything.

[e301988325i]

Mine has the business tape deck/CD changer in the boot with the HK upgrade.

I'm starting to wonder if our E46's are ringers of each other. . .

Ps) I give myself headaches with the stereo, it's bloody ace!

[E30BeemerLad]

Mine has the business tape deck/CD changer in the boot with the HK upgrade. It would sound good if I actually owned any CDs...
Can I swap the hilariously out of date Motorola flip phone for Bluetooth? The car also had business navigation, but I've never seen it do anything.

Mine has fortunately come with a Parrot hands-free kit and it sync'd right upto my mobile via bluetooth, even mutes the stereo when the phone is in use.

[E30BeemerLad]

Some coont managed to scratch both nearside doors today in the local Sainsbury's, grrrr.

Initial observations/ things that need doing.

1- Thermostat - it only runs about 1/4 on the temp gauge.
2- Hedgehog resistor - the fans seem a little varible in speed
3- Reverse sensors don't seem to work properly, they beep for one long beep after you put it in reverse and then do nothing else.
4- Clean out the wheel arches!
5- The car steems up a lot inside after being parked up. - Not sure what to investigate there..

May aswell do the water pump and idler pulley bearings whilst I'm down the front of the engine.

[e301988325i]

Some coont managed to scratch both nearside doors today in the local Sainsbury's, grrrr.

Initial observations/ things that need doing.

1- Thermostat - it only runs about 1/4 on the temp gauge.
2- Hedgehog resistor - the fans seem a little varible in speed
3- Reverse sensors don't seem to work properly, they beep for one long beep after you put it in reverse and then do nothing else.
4- Clean out the wheel arches!
5- The car steems up a lot inside after being parked up. - Not sure what to investigate there..

May aswell do the water pump and idler pulley bearings whilst I'm down the front of the engine.

This is my experience of buying bits so far.

1) BMW only £80 odd, the only aftermarket one I've heard of failed quickly, replaced under warranty, but just don't bother.

2) http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/360512116269? ... 1497.l2649

3) If yours run along the black strip and aren't colour coded in the bumper

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PDC-PARKING-S ... 8274524%26

[pnd]

have a good look at the rad too they bow out at the bottom. as for the steaming up mine does this too someone has suggested the vapour barrier in the door.

[capri_rob]

Stat is common fail point-dans done mine twice because the first one had a manufacturing fault-speak to matt at ecp-theyre about £40

Same again for water pump

I've got a total bmw write up somewhere of how to fix the reversing sensor iirc put it in reverse and hold a piece of card against each sensor and listen closely-the one that isn't clicking is the broken one

[DanThe]

Are you using the air conditioning at all? This will make the inside of the heater box damp and mist the windows. Heater on hot to dry it out

[E30BeemerLad]

I've not been running it, but I did test it today and it was a bit wiffy.

Should I run the temp jacked up with the air con switched on or off?

[TPS]

my Dads e46 had the Harmon Kardon upgrade. I'm not an audiophile, HENCE ME REPLACING THE FACTORY BMW BUSINESS HEAD UNIT IN MY BITURBO WITH A £26 SONY EXPLODE I BOUGHT IN SOUTHALL SO I COULD LISTEN TO MY JUSTIN BEAVER CDS, but i thought it was bloody brilliant setup. You'd go a long way to improve on it to my ears

[DanThe]

Heat on aircon off, smelly aircon is because the evaporator/heater core is damp and has nasty mould/fungus type disease growing on it

[Simon13]

Re your parking sensors sound like one has failed. Stick the car in reverse with the ignition switched fully on. don't have the engine running.

Go round the back and stick your finger front of each sensor, you should hear them pluse, like a faint clicking sound if its working. If its broke you won't hear nothing guv

[e301988325i]

I tried testing the parking sensors manually, bearing in mind I'm not a retard mechanically or electrically, I failed miserably and replaced one that was ok, the fault codes identify the individual sensors that have failed.

[bss325i]

The click test isnt full proof as sometimes they can still click but not work correctly.

Ask Trev!

[E30BeemerLad]

I guess having a fault code reader is a helpful bit of kit for a modern BMW. Any recommendations?

I think I will need to investigate the front balljoints or bushes as I noticed on the journey to Norwich today that it tramlined a bit and the steering wheel was a bit fidgety when you catch a pot hole.

Car was nice on the journey though, could just do with another 200bh

[bss325i]

Front wishbone bushes are more like a service item on these.

Use genuine BMW ones as they last the longest.

Best diagnostic for a modern BMW?

For £30 its all you need. Plus a laptop to run it.

http://bmtechnic.co.uk/unique-features-of-our-cables/

Unless you want to fork out hundred for the latest version of what BMW dealers use.

[E30BeemerLad]

Cheers Barry

[E30BeemerLad]

Oh, by the way, I would be interested to learn how the standard head unit setup can be improved on for some better sound quality. Is it down to upgrading the speakers?

[bss325i]

Oh shit, forgot about that!

Yes the paper speakers are shite and can be improved upon. The mounts in the front doors can also be improved with MDF or stainless rings, have a google.

Plenty of aux in/ipod options with the cheapest and simplest being something like this,

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-E46-3-Ser ... 337eb59454

Or the best being this for full ipod control,

http://www.toysinyourcar.com/acatalog/intravee.html.

As for sound, the BMW Business CD HU only has high level speaker ouputs so if you want to run an amp you need a high level to low level converter.

HK can be retro fitted but its a big job. Parts like for HK like speakers and amps can be had easily and relatively cheap but the wiring harness which is needed has be removed from a beaker as well as the door looms as they are different to. You could buy the looms new but is like over £700!

I know trev is about to frag an E46 with HK but sadly its a coupe.

[bss325i]

Looms,

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-e46-compl ... 35c2cf09e9

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-M3-E46-Sa ... 2a271dcbad

Nav set up,

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-E46-3-SER ... 4abfbdc3cb

[capri_rob]

Any proper pics of this turd yet Lee ?

[B7]

The click test isnt full proof as sometimes they can still click but not work correctly.

Ask Trev!

F*ckin' tell me about it. 6 new sensors and it's just about working on the e39! And i still have a dodgy one on the rear which does nothing.

[E30BeemerLad]

Any proper pics of this turd yet Lee ?

Not yet mate, it's filthy at the moment.

I need to get off my arse and get the thermostat, water pump & wishbone bushes ordered though. Otherwise it's a nice comfy daily. Generally seeing an average of 30mpg over the last 600 miles.

Yeah it certainly could do with another 200bhp and sports front seats but otherwise it'll do.

[DanThe]

The click test isnt full proof as sometimes they can still click but not work correctly.

Ask Trev!

F*ckin' tell me about it. 6 new sensors and it's just about working on the e39! And i still have a dodgy one on the rear which does nothing.

I find disconnecting the beeper works wonders

[Simon13]

fixed my e36 no problem, been working over a year now no faults.

[bss325i]

The PDC sensors on e36's and pre face lift e39's with the round plug seem to be a lot more reliable than the later ones used on E46's and later E39's.

[dazleeds]

cmon old man wheres the fecking pics lol

i went lower down the price range and got a nice little 323i se saloon with lpg
its only a t plate but not bad condition really few spots on the arches but hey it only cost a bag of sand so will do me nicely for now

also went for the auto but the tiptronic comes into play when i can be bothered to flick the gearstick lol
all in all not bad cars second one i've had now and fuel bills nice with it being lpg

get them pics uppppppppppppppppp

[E30BeemerLad]

OK, here's a couple of pics of the new whip. It almost seems to have been a pointless exercise making all the effort to buy a car with proper bodywork when it has already earned about 5 or 6 scratches and nicks on the paintwork from car parks etc.











Poor old Golf, parked up the driveway now, but it will hopefully get some attention soon.

[Andyboy]

A grey E46 wagon. You must be moist with anticipation every morning!

[E30BeemerLad]

Gushing mate