2004 TiAg ZHP

[t.er]

Welcome and clean car! Also damn that's quite the rats nest of wiring for the laser jammer

[S2Ace]

Thank you all for the kind comments so far!

Looks great! I wish the front plate delete/relocation was as easy on coupes as they are on sedans

One of the biggest reasons I picked the sedan over the coupe is the ease of working on things (ex. headlights! I refuse to bake anymore headlights open haha)

Congrats, the car looks great!
Looking forward to the progress, especially the dash cam and wiring!

D'oh! I'm terrible at keeping journals since most of the time I just want the car back together again to go for a drive. I'll go back at some point and snap some photos but the connector I purchased just connects to the homelink for power.

Welcome and clean car! Also damn that's quite the rats nest of wiring for the laser jammer

Yeah it was quite an adventure relearning how to take my dash trim apart again...at least it's gone for now! Hopefully no more quirky wiring!

[S2Ace]

Nothing fun yet...more preventative maintenance (sort of!)

9/18
Replaced the cooling system with the FCP euro kit. No leaks so far but learning the BMW bleeding procedure was an interesting process. Was second guessing myself for a few days but the coolant level has stabilized after 2-3 days of driving and no leaks or overheating, woohoo!

Also took the time to crawl under the car and inspect all the suspension components:
-Both forward diff bushings have cracks
-Rear diff mount has cracks
-Very very slight oil weep at the differential inspection cover (noted by previous owner). No dripping on the floor yet. Just a wet look at the bottom of the differential

At least I can probably knock all three out at the same time and reseal the diff as well. Not looking forward to dropping or lifting the diff back up

-Shocks and struts on their way out...probably have to look at replacement sooner than later. I can see some leaking at the front struts and the rear shocks are just a little bouncy. Deciding between going OEM again or KW V1s. Anyone have experience with the reinforcement plates and how much height they add?


9/26
CCV Replacement. During one of the test drives, i noticed oil weeping out some of the valve cover grommets. I had the same issue on my old wagon and believe the CCV has failed creating too much pressure and forcing oil out of areas that shouldn't? I haven't noticed any additional oil after cleaning but decided on replacing the CCV anyways. It was still the original unit so it had to go... Also bought a spare valve gasket set just in case (Previous owner had the gasket replaced along with a new cover) but hoping to save it for a VANOS reseal. I can feel the stutter at higher RPMs.

Cleaned the ICV and TB while in there



I was today years old when I learned that the cap can be used to hold the straw...I've been reusing the tape for years...


Disassembled everything ahead of time on sunday while waiting for parts to arrive on monday. Decided to break open the old one to see what goes on in there. Assuming the diaphragm got stuck during one of my cooling system test drives (I did do a few short trips....)



After replacing the CCV, not sure if it was my butt dyno but the throttle response feels like it's improved...? I don't have to give it as much input for 1st and 2nd. Could just be also not driving her for a few days lol.

Here's a couple of phone photos from the long test drive after the CCV replacement. God I love the side profile of E46s:



Should probably dust off my camera at some point...
Thanks for following so far! Hopefully I get to do some more interesting things at some point. Hoping to take her on a spirited drive at some point in the next few weeks.

Planned next major maintenance items (in no particular order):
-Drivetrain fluid change
-Diff bushings/mounts
-VANOS reseal
-New suspension (?)

[johnrando]

Nice werk.

Sent from my SM-F936U1 using Tapatalk

[S2Ace]

No maintenance photos to add but here's the updates so far:

10/3 - Reseal VANOS and anti rattle kit. New valve cover gasket set

10/8 - Replaced the final stage resistor unit

10/13 - MT Fluid drain and fill

Upcoming:
-Ordered diff bushing set and transmission mounts



Took a long drive since it's been sitting in the garage all week (rotating cars since wife is working from home). Here's a couple of phone photos:

[BADCLOWN]

Those are great pics!

[S2Ace]

Another small update! Dropped the pumpkin for Halloween!
-Replaced the front and rear diff bushings/mount (cracks everywhere!)

-Resealed the output shafts and the inspection cover since diff was already out and not expensive to reseal. Didn't have the right socket to remove the input shaft so left it alone since there was no leaks

-Replaced the transmission mounts

Reading threads online made the job seem a lot harder than it actually was. Everything came out smooth and went back in smooth. Hardest part was just bringing down and lifting the rear diff back up. Car drives a lot more smoother now and the rear end clunk has disappeared! Getting closer to finishing up maintenance to a level comfortable for me and hopefully move on to more fun things.









The near 20 year old paper gasket was frustrating to remove...thank god they aren't made anymore.

[Vas]

That gasket is the worst and so is the smell of gear oil.

Any leaks from the oil pan?

[fredo]

Well done, man. The differential and transmission mounts are on my radar.

[S2Ace]

That gasket is the worst and so is the smell of gear oil.

Any leaks from the oil pan?

Luckily, no! Previous owner had it replaced a few years back. On my list of things to keep an eye on.