E46 318 2.0 - Issues at 100k km

[planta]

OlaHad the opportunity last weekend to attend to these 2 fabulous monsters. Both had almost similar issues.I am sharing these to give a better understanding on the issues that commonly occur on these models at 100k km mileage. Have seen these issue on 4 cars, all 318 2.0 2002 and 2003. Hopefully, the sharing will benefit you guys in taking better care of your UDMs, as I do with mine. IT IS NOT INTENDED AS A COMMERCIAL POSTING.Background318 2.0 N42 BT – Valvetronic. CKD. Both car mfg year was 2003, lifestyle model, Ebony Black. These guys just bought these as pre own cars a few months back.Mileage for both cars are about 100k km.Picture below - more to come

 

[planta]

Issues with the cars
Leakages – every possible place that it can leak…. LEAKED. Flywheel oil seal, vanos solenoid sensor oil seal, oil filter housing, external vacuum pump, oil sump, valve cover gaskets. These leaks are common for E46 Valvetronic and normally occurs at around 100k mileage. I have seen these on 4 E46 318 2.0 cars at about 100k mileage.

Cooling system
Both Radiator Clogged. Last month we had the same model at 100k km clogged as well. Secondary Termostat worn out. Head Water Stopper at 100k km. Better changed this coz it is cheap. Better be safe than sorry.

more to come..

 

[planta]

Dirt – OMG... One customer dropped by and naively asked did these engines burned or something coz it had a lot of pure black debris.

Moral of the story is… CHANGE YOUR ENGINE OIL EVERY 10K km. You can see from the pictures, I can remove the black debris by scrapping it out. Some are soft and some are hard.

more to come...

 

[planta]

Compare with this engine from this car... same model but 2002 but the owner change the engine oil every 10k.

But then again, the engine oil sump leaked at about 100k, this is how engine look from bottom up. Clean :top:

more to come....

planta

 

[Bailey]

good marketing startegy ooooooooppppppsssssss sorry good job planta see u tomolow yeah

 

[planta]

Last issue

Transmission - One car had the ATF wrongly changed. According to the owner, before it was sold to him, the dealer took it for an ATF change but after that the car was sluggish, lag and transmission change was not smooth. When we drained the ATF from the GB, the ATF was red. 5HP ATF is a bit yellowish and not red and by experience on the smell, we know this is Dextron III that used on 4HP transmission and not for 5HP transmission. Other issues - Worn out engine mounting and severed gear box mounting.

We had to totally drained out the red ATF, removed the torque converter turned it upside down to let the balance ATF spill out, change the strainers and all oil seals.

planta

 

[planta]

Not marketing strategy bro...this is not my main income...it is more of a hobby and passion for cars. What to do...being a gear head or grease monkey, you just can't help getting your hands dirty. What ever money I earned from this barely supports my hobby....change this and that to my cars... you know... it never ends...

My intention in sharing these pictures is for BMW users to know the impact of how they care for their cars and potential buyers to know what they are getting themselves into.

Change your engine oil every 10k and don't go driving in to workshops and get your ATF changed without knowing the spec, coz then you have to say bye bye to your transmission, unless you really know your mechanic and trust him with your life. Some say keta to macam bini... so ingat senang aaa mau trust orang jaga bini orang.... he he he....

As for the buyers, if you are buying an E46 2nd hand at about 5 years old or 100k km mileage.... be prepared... when you have bought it... you have no option but to do all this... otherwise... you figure out the possibilities.

Hope the sharing helps....

planta

 

[BlackCat]

Thanks bro planta. This is a great post. I do hope there would be more to come on this episode...

If any of the moderators are reading this post, may I recommend that this be a stickey or something.

BTW, was that your w/shop in the pics... Would like to know more, pls PM me. Thanks.


BlackCat

 

[Bailey]

really good info planta really appreciate it.................such a nice tiles u have there for a workshop hah yeeeeeeeeehhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaa

 

[planta]

He he he... yeah.. nice tiles...That was what hooked us in renting this shop. We can not afford hoists yet, so we choose a shop with nice tiles so that we can mop it everyday.... so that it is clean and shiny before we start work like laying on the floor and remove gearbox. :top:

planta

 

[Bailey]

hoping tat one day when i go to penang i shall drop by yr place yeah , is the workshop in kulim area ???????? i bet by then most of the E46 guys will go to yr place yeah bro

 

[Jerman]

Great summary Planta,
It was great info to share with the rest of the E46 owners!

 

[planta]

Final update

The car with the GB issue has a heavy vibration at 160km/h. We suspect it was due to broken gearbox mounting. As you can see below, both mounting snapped.

This is a picture of the vanos sensor from the car with the dirty engine. It is black.

Compare this to the ones removed from the other car with 10k engine oil change.

We cleaned up what we can which took hours. The final look before we assembled these stuff back.

That's all folks...

planta

 

[astroboy]

Hi Planta, can share with us the estimated cost for those leaks repairs? Perhaps lump sum, so we can budget when getting a near 100k km E46.

TQVM! and good info!

I spoke to AB lately and interrogate them about the sludge residual in the engine which possibly caused by the lengthy oil change intervals. I have seen too many during my E46 search and 9/10 E46 has that problem. Once open the oil cap and it can't escape a layman's eye to notice those sludge. YUKS!

Answer given to me is the UDM owner went and add additive and its the additive that causes the residual! AB is using Petronas Synthium 3000 now and the Petronas has sent their engineer to AB to answer questions and similar question was posted. The Petronas engineer has assured AB that the sludge residual is not caused by the 25k km oil change interval. Samples of Synthium 3000 was sent to BMW Germany for analysis and they pass the test, thus approved for used in BMW.

Whatever it is, I will continue to monitor my oil to make sure it doesn't happen to my E90 which I have just collected today... Damn.... E90 no dipstick!:stupid:

 

[Don Franco]

That was very informative mate! Thanks for sharing.

cheers!

 

[planta]

Hi Astroboy

Cost varies between rm2k to rm6k. Price of parts icreased many times this year alone and may likely to increase again in 2008...So if you are buying a 100k km E46, get prepared to spend like rm10k for major service on engine and transmission depending on how many parts need to be changed.

As for the assurance of 25k mileage oil change does not cause sludge and massive dirt in the engine or due to additive and bla bla bla.. I have no technical data to prove otherwise. I only see the impact to the engines.

But then again, these guys are the ones putting stickers on the transmission oil pan that BMW ATF is lifetime warranty but how many BMW owners had to change the ATF after 100k km due to ATF issue. So, who would I trust, the logic or the technical advice like the one given on the ATF?

I would rather change my engine oil every 10k then take a risk on 25k km oil change.

planta

 

[chaiks]

Hi Planta, can share with us the estimated cost for those leaks repairs? Perhaps lump sum, so we can budget when getting a near 100k km E46.

TQVM! and good info!

I spoke to AB lately and interrogate them about the sludge residual in the engine which possibly caused by the lengthy oil change intervals. I have seen too many during my E46 search and 9/10 E46 has that problem. Once open the oil cap and it can't escape a layman's eye to notice those sludge. YUKS!

Answer given to me is the UDM owner went and add additive and its the additive that causes the residual! AB is using Petronas Synthium 3000 now and the Petronas has sent their engineer to AB to answer questions and similar question was posted. The Petronas engineer has assured AB that the sludge residual is not caused by the 25k km oil change interval. Samples of Synthium 3000 was sent to BMW Germany for analysis and they pass the test, thus approved for used in BMW.

Whatever it is, I will continue to monitor my oil to make sure it doesn't happen to my E90 which I have just collected today... Damn.... E90 no dipstick!:stupid:

Planta,
Good thread, too bad you're up in Penang, else can pay you a visit.

Astroboy,
Good post, on the estimated cost for potential buyer of pre-owned 3s to budget in the purchase.

I don't own an e46 anymore, but curious about this problem on e46 sludges. Does it only happened to valvetronic or 2.0 engine only? Pre-facelift 1.9 engine? Is this a global issue or limited to Malaysia? If its only here, could it be due to our hot climate and/or mismatch of oil and also fuel? Would definitely like to hear more about this problem, and whether still persist in later or other model.

cheers.

 

[QD250]

adoi, adoi, adoi.......

touchwood, touchwood, tochwood......

thanks planta and guys on the info.....

 

[planta]

Below are pictures taken from an E46 M43 1.9 engine which we overhauled in October. I can not recall what was the mileage.

The sludge at the oil filter housing was really bad. It was like clay. The engine...you guys can imagine how dirty it was.

planta

 

[astroboy]

Actually I would like to hear from those owner who own first hand UDM and what's their feedback on the LifeTime fluid and the 25k oil change interval thingy.

Pre-own UDM not counted because no history of the car ma!

Maybe a poll would help. The poll should goes like how many 1st hand owner have not replace your LifeTime fluid and car running fine?

A. Less than 100k km, still good.
B. 100k to 200k, still good.
C. 200k to 300k, still good.
D. More than 300k, STILL GOOD!! :stupid:

Engine? follow 25k interval, no sludge or got sludge?

Use Synthetic but yet still got sludge?

Additive added?

Wah.... very complex... can someone with organised mind help us out..

Can it be the oil filter not doing a good job in filtering the sludge? Its the oil filter's job wat?

Why not planta give ur customers a questionaire..

They are actually 2 groups of people each telling their side of the story. The 3rd party foreman that have not been trained in Germany before would present a different story than those who have work with BMW Service Center and been trained in Germany before.

Those foreman that says LifeTime fluid is crap when u ask them where they learn to fix BMW, they will tell u the learn it from another 3rd party workshop.

Those foreman that was trained in BMW when they come out and open their own workshop, they discourage use of 3rd party transmission and axle fluid but insist u pay a visit to BMW service center to get the job done. Other fluids, they are more than happy to replace for u but they dare not meddle with the LifeTime fluid components. Obvious, I have seen more horror story before!