2005 BMW E46 325Ci Sport

[PistolPete]

Jun 12, 2023 8:06:10 GMT Peter C said:

Based on a bit more research and advice from an E46 Facebook group, it seems that the most likely cause of the oil leak is the oil filter housing seal rather than the sump gasket.



This would be good news as replacing the oil filter housing seal is much easier than replacing the sump gasket.

The plan is to obtain the new seal from BMW, replace the old one, clean up the sump and whatever else is caked in oil, reassemble the undertray and see what happens next.

I think you’re on the right path, my 530 had lots of oil leaks and I too thought my sump was at fault, turns out it was my oil filter gasket also, now that’s replaced I have the rarity of an oil tight m54

[Peter C]

I have bought a new oil filter housing seal from my local BMW dealer. It costs peanuts, there was no point in buying an EBay cheapie.



I noted that the metal undertray was missing an access hatch.



Whilst getting the oil seal, I also bought a replacement hatch and associated fixings from BMW.



All being well I will have some time this weekend to make a start on replacing the oil seal.

[Peter C]

I replaced the oil filter housing seal yesterday.

I've done this job once before and I was hoping it would be easier second time round.

Removing the air filter box assembly enabled access to the alternator.



With the power steering pump removed, necessary to gain access to remove the alternator's bottom bolt, I then removed the alternator. This is the oil filter housing, looking rather filthy.



And here is the side of the engine block with the oil filter housing removed, covered in crud and oil.



With the oil filter housing removed, replacing the seal is easy.



Last time I did this job, the old seal came out in fifty small pieces. This time, the seal came out in my one piece, although it was quite hard and brittle.

I spent a good couple of hours cleaning whatever was covered with oil. Surely, there must be better ways of spending a Saturday afternoon?



I cleaned up the engine block as best as I could without going for the concourse look. Cleaning out muck from the recessed areas took forever. 



And here we have the cleaned oil filter housing refitted with a new seal.



I cleaned the underside of the sump, the steering rack and everything else that I could access without dismantling.



Last job involved re-fitting the sump guard (with the new access hatch fitted) and the plastic engine tray. The plastic engine tray fixings were so heavily corroded that I ended up using cable ties to secure the tray. I will have to buy new fixings from BMW.



That was yesterday. Today, I planned on removing the clutch delay valve.



I didn't have a hose clamp so I made my own. It's been a while since I made a tool. I find it satisfying making something that works from bits I have in my workshop and saving a few pounds in the process.



Removing the slave cylinder with the valve attached was easy.



Separating the valve from the slave cylinder pipe was also easy. Reattaching the slave cylinder pipe to the top hose would have been easy enough, however no matter how securely I attached the fixings, the pipe remained loose and caused a hydraulic fluid leak. To make things more interesting, with the valve reinstated and everything tightened up, there were no more leaks.

I got this far and didn't want to refit the valve and give up. I decided to modify the valve by drilling out the central section. Looking through it, you can see that the bore diameter of the centre section is narrower compared with the inlet and outlet sections. Using no less than three drill bits, I finally managed to drill out the centre section and remove whatever little parts were inside.



With the modified valve in place, everything went back together ok and once I bled the hydraulics, I had a good pedal and no apparent leaks. Win.

I was filthy and tired so the test drive involved pulling the BMW out of the garage....



To enable me to give the workshop floor a good clean - don't forget I have an OCD about my garage floor.



And that's it, I've managed to get both jobs done without any major issues. The plan is to drive the BMW over the next few weeks and keep an eye on the garage floor for evidence of further oil leaks. Hopefully there won't be any!  That's easier said than done, as the BMW's lowered suspension really doesn't like the horrendous state of Buckinghamshire's roads. Also, driving it makes the wheels dirty. I think I'll leave it where it is for now, it makes a lovely garage ornament. 

[2p2g1m]

Good work. Always enjoy your updates 👍👌

[Peter C]

The clutch pedal has a firmer and more positive action now, the biting point is more pronounced. Win.

I took the BMW to see a client this morning, who has an amazing Alpine and a Scimitar as part of his collection of toys, which also includes a Mk 2 MX5 which is garaged. Personally, I think he's mad, I would chuck the Mazda out by the roadside and keep the French mistress under cover.

[ballbagbagins]

I did that clutch delay valve delete on my e90 3 series, gave a much better feel.

What is the flooring in your garage?

[Peter C]

Jul 4, 2023 9:51:52 GMT ballbagbagins said:

I did that clutch delay valve delete on my e90 3 series, gave a much better feel.

What is the flooring in your garage?

Something similar to this stuff:

www.bigdug.co.uk/workshop-flooring-c348/flooring-mats-c402/garage-flooring-c20293/interlocking-floor-tiles-c20294/bigdug-garage-flooring-set-p1358/s1459?cid=GBP&glCurrency=GBP&glCountry=GB&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI483JlfT0_wIVBfntCh0YTQfeEAQYAiABEgIVmfD_BwE

[Peter C]

The lease on my reliable but totally unexciting Kia Exceed comes to an end in November.



My wife has clocked up too many miles on her lease car and I have decided to let her have the Kia whilst I sort out a new daily for myself. I don't want to lease another car for now because costs have gone through the roof and rather than buying another old car, I have decided to put the E46 to good use. As of Monday, it will be my new daily.

My surveying kit fits nicely in the boot.



I've made a few improvements today.

The passenger side of the centre console was damaged when I bought the car.

I removed the console.





I don't understand how the coatings have become damaged as the remaining sections remain very firmly attached. I rubbed down the flaking bits with 600 grade sand paper and gave the side of the panel a squirt of black gloss.



The remedy is far from perfect but it didn't take long and it will do for now.



The original floor mats are in great condition and the front mats are screwed down with plastic fixings, which makes their removal fiddly. I often bring all sorts of curse word into the car and I wanted to fit another mat over the original. Luckily for me, I kept a set of mats from my wife's old BMW 4 series and the driver's mat fits well enough in an E46.



The plastic grille in the front bumper looked very faded and weathered.



To remove the grille, the whole bumper needs to come off. I didn't fancy that so I masked off the bumper instead and got the grille ready for a squirt of black gloss.



Job done.



The underside of the front section of the bonnet had some surface rust.



I rubbed down the rusty bits and painted the metal with silver Hammerite.



Job done.



I noticed a vacuum (?) pipe had become detached from the inlet pipe. 



There was enough of the rubber sleeve left to re-attach the pipe.

Finally, I gave the engine bay a bit of a clean, not that it needed it.



Let's see how the BMW and I will cope with daily outings around Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and west London. 

More updates soon, hopefully with no bad news.

[Peter C]

First day and first adventure with the BMW.

I drove about 60 miles to a work appointment and all was well. The engine pulls nicely, the exhaust sounds great and even the cheap subwoofer was subwoofing to my satisfaction.

I left my second appointment and noticed a couple of warning lights on the dash.



A quick check on the E46 Facebook group, specifically on a recent post about this very problem and I ended up unplugging the ABS module, which apparently resets something important.



Later on I drove 50 miles to London and back and the warning lights didn’t reappear. Problem fixed?

To be continued.

[Peter C]

The two warning lights came on on another couple of occasions last week. 

My auto electrician friend took a look at the problem earlier this week. He connected a laptop to the OBD port and came up with a list of issues.



The voltage drops are irrelevant.

The brake fluid switch issue I am not sure about.

This tyre pressure issue is also unlikely to be related to the warning lights.



However, this could be important.



This code suggests that one of two pressure sensors fitted to the side of the brake master cylinder is faulty. There are two of these sensors and apparently it is possible to swap the plugs on the sensors around and next time the warning lights come on, the code should confirm that the other sensor is defective. This being the case, I will know that the sensor needs replacing. However, if the same code as before comes up, the issue could be with the ABS module. Makes sense?

My friend is away on holiday for a fortnight from today and yesterday's 60 mile work outing in the BMW didn't cause the warning lights to come on again so it might take a bit more time to get to the bottom of this issue. The good news is that the BMW drives no differently when the warning lights appear and I can keep using it without worrying that it will grind to a halt. 

[Peter C]

The warning lights haven't come on since my auto electrician friend deleted all the codes on Tuesday. I'm sure they will be back soon.

Earlier this week I noticed what looked like nasty corrosion poking out of the junction of the offside rear wing and the top of the bumper. E46s rust just about everywhere so I had to investigate.

Removing the bumper is easy. I left the four reversing sensor cables in place as I didn't want to break anything and end up with needless beeping.



The corrosion was nowhere near as bad as I feared. There was just localised surface corrosion and the metal underneath was totally solid.



The nearside was even better.



And there was nothing to worry about around the back.



I rubbed down the affected areas and applied silver Hammerite to protect the metal. Job done.

If only all problems were that easy to fix.

[Peter C]

I've already clocked up about 300 miles in the BMW this week and I am very pleased to report that the dreaded warning lights have not reappeared. I've enjoyed each journey and I can't help looking back at the BMW whenever I walk away from it, something I never did when I drove the leased Kia.

A few photos of places we've been together:

[Fossilfish]

Such a lovely shape. My brother paid 9k for a very low mileage E46 and I thought he was crazy but they are wonderful cars and nice ones like yours are the ones to get and people are starting to pay good money for them.

Great work bud

[Peter C]

I was in the process of parking the BMW in Maidenhead town centre this morning, in a wide and long parking bay (good) with a relatively high kerb (bad).

Whilst reversing, I could see the kerb behind me (green line) and my nearside rear wheel was nowhere near it. However, I didn't see the kerb alongside (red line) and whilst reversing I felt a crunch. Noooooo! Squeaky bum time! I kerbed my freshly refurbished wheel!!!! Turns out, thank god, that the tyre absorbed the impact and the rim is undamaged. I won't do that again in a hurry!

[Peter C]

Another MoT passed, another clean sheet.



The only recommendation, not advisory, is that I should treat and paint the exposed sections of the rear subframe.



Whilst the BMW was up on the tester’s ramp I took the opportunity to perv at my lovely exhaust system.





The plan was to use the BMW as a daily hack, instead of the leased Kia Exceed that I’ve had for the past three years, however the BMW is not comfortable enough (something to do with the lowered suspension!) so I’ve bought a more suitable car to use and abuse.



Don’t laugh!

[Peter C]

Before I sold my MINI Cooper I removed the head unit and amp / sub combo.

I installed the amp / sub in the back of the BMW today. It sounds ok, more punchy than the bargain basement Edge that was in there before but it doesn’t sound as loud as it did in the back of the Cooper.



The BMW’s boot is more isolated and insulated than the luggage space in the back of the Cooper, which obviously makes a big difference. I also suspect that the much higher spec Pioneer head unit that was in the Cooper also performed better. Swapping the head units around is a more involved process, which I will leave for another day.