Preventive maintenance or... Not?

[TxCracker2316]

I just became a proud owner of a ci zhp and want to make sure it stays fun to own. I did a lot of reading before pulling the trigger on one and read alot about the play school plastic cooling system. I'm in Houston and it gets HOT here in summer. My question is should I invest in a complete cooling overhaul if there's no evidence of it already being done, or wait for the fail. I've had experience with replacing water pumps/radiators/etc. and I've also had experience with my old '87 325i giving up the ghost with no warning.
The reasonable cost for the parts is not a big deal for the insurance factor, and I would doubt the plastic impellers would be enough to shave into the block were something to happen.
Also to go along with the normal fluid/filter change of buying a pre owned car is there anything else I should check out? The ac and steering feel fine (knock on wood). The car only has 69xxx miles and is very apparent the po knew what he had and took care of it. Any and all advice is appreciated and thanked ahead of time.
Oh yea, the CEL did come on and I had the mechanic at work scan it and it came up maf low input which I'm guessing is needing to be cleaned? Denatured alcohol? Thanks again yall.

[Oli77]

Congrats.

I use MAF cleaner. Yes on the coolant system overhaul. I changed my first water pump at 70k miles or so it was OEM and wobbly. Unless you monitor your engine temp every 12.58 seconds, I would check into it, specially in TX.

[TWong1200]

I picked up my ZHP less than a month ago and just did my cooling system and Vanos seals last week. Cooling system was preventative but seals were not. Seals made a huge difference, though.

I'd be cautious about using any sort of cleaner on the MAF.

[ELCID86]

MAF cleaner spray can from the auto parts store.

[WOLFN8TR]

I live in Las Vegas were the temps are 100-115 in the summer. The first thing I did to my ZHP was the entire cooling system. I replaced everything except the radiator. Also I got the UltraGauge so I can easily monitor the coolant temps, it also has a audible alarm you can set which is really nice. Link is in my sig.

Is yours stick or auto?

[TxCracker2316]

All the input is extremely helpful I guess I'll be piecing it all together right away. Should I buy the metal thermostat housing? I know I need the metal water pump. Also how hard is the vanos seals? Is there anything else that needs to be replaced or upgraded in the vanos system while I'm in there? I don't mind doing what needs to be done. I plan on having the car for years.

[NorCalZman]

You dont "need" metal anything. The OEM stuff is fine as long as you change it on schedule. That goes for the hoses, waterpump (composite, not plastic), thermostat, and perhaps most improtantly the expansion tank. just FYI, the date of manufacture should be somewhere on some of the parts like the hoses. If you look around them and maybe with a little mirror you may be able to see when it was made and get an idea of when they were last changed.
Do you have PA Soft yet? If not, get it. And when you do, do the temp gauge mod. This will make your temp gauge show useful temp readings instead of cold/running/overheated it does now. This mod will be all you need as far as temp monitoring if you are the type to check your gauges while you drive. And its a free mod, so theres that too.

As for other stuff, your intake boots are probably torn or soon will be so you should probably just change them if you are going to clean your MAF. Also pull out your DISA and check for function/play. Change that also if needed.

[Smilez]

like most people said. cooling system. Ours is pretty sensitive.

[TxCracker2316]

Wow very helpful stuff. Zman, where is the best place to get the pa soft? I'm guessing there is a thread on the gauge mod as well. It appears I have a lot to learn about the car.

[NorCalZman]

Yes, you will spend hours and hours reading about this car in threads here and e46fanatics. Haha.

Here is a little info to get you started. Do a search on here, google, and e46fanatic for BMW Scanner 1.4 and/or PA Soft. Study up! The BMW scanner is a OBD device that plugs into the car to allow the related windows program, PA Soft, to interface with the car. With this powerful tool you can read/clear all the trouble codes on the car and change a bunch of options on the car via check boxes. ALSO, you can reprogram some modules such as the temp gauge to make it actually useful.

I forget where I ordered my BMW scanner. I think I got the link in one of the PA Soft master threads. It will ship from China, just fyi. It usually contains a disc with PA Soft in it but alot of people worry about malware on the disc. I think a member here would be able to provide the software if that makes you nervous.

Once you get that far, a DIY thread started by me for the temp gauge mod is in the coding section on this forum. It takes 5 minutes.

You have a few choices to purchase OEM parts. You can look up part numbers on realoem.com, and order parts on a dealer online website. I lean towards bmwmercedesparts.com myself.