E46 woes

antijoke

antijoke

antijoke

Caporegime
Joined
28 Jan 2003
Posts
39,981
Location
England
So today my E46 decides to throw up an amber warning light for the DSC light and an amber handbrake light. Started after the car struggled to turnover.

It then fired up but was incredibly lumpy for acceleration.

Drive home was ok apart from lumpy acceleration at low revs.

What do we think this could be? Google shows sensor issues but people make no mention ofpoor acceleration.

Any help?

The ultimate driving me crazy machine.
 
Mine has done the same but without the acceleration issue during the snow after spinning the wheels up... Be interested to hear what is wrong with it tbh. Haven't had a chance to take it to BMW to get codes read. :(
 
Check the MAF, Intake side of things. A split hoses or a bad MAF can cause the engine to misfire and run poorly. Disconnect the MAF - See if it runs any better, the engine will run on a default map. Check the intake hoses for any splits/burst pipes.

Coils, a bad coil will cause a misfire.

Aside from that, it could be anything, get your codes read. A simple OBD scanner could throw up the fault code relevant.
 
Well just been to walk the dog and I noticed the drivers side wheel arch is resting on the wheel! Got a torch to look the through the alloy and I saw a sheered spring!

Guess that is what the problem is with the wheel sensor etc.
 
Indeed, I took a picture. It's dark but it's hilarious. Wonder if the rest of the spring is at morrisons.

IMG_20130201_203901_zpse4c1498c.jpg


Not sure how that would all tie in with the car not starting properly though.
 
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it hasnt got bright yellow or bright pink wheels and silly camber, the wheels looks like theyre another oem BMW wheel etc. there are far more offensive e46s out there, its not that bad
 
[TW]Fox;23679355 said:
Why? An e46 323i is never going to make a great track car but it does make a really nice road car. Or it did before you set about spoiling it :(
Click to expand...

Because I plan on purchasing a new motor this summer.

It isn't worth selling, here in Ireland they sell for nothing (sub €2000), its a 1999 starting to develop rust around the rear arches. Apart from rust, it's too genuinely good to sell to some punter for 1500 euro, I'd much rather make it a project.

Also here in Ireland there is a lack of tracks and the one only local one isn't a massive track therefore usually speed isn't the main contributor to overall enjoyment, IMO.

I have always wanted a second car as a project, who knows, you can pick pretty cheap m54b30's up cheap enough now, could make a nice conversion.

Oh, and don't get me started on our tax system. This costs me just over 1100 euro to tax for the year, A 330 on the road, would set you back 1300 for the year.

Hoping to pick up a mk5 GTi or possibly something diesel for the mileage I do.
 
So I've had both front springs replaced now, however the lights are still on for the DSC and orange handbrake sign.

I'm not sure if this the reason the car is still not running smoothly, do I need to get these codes cleared to solve this now or is there something more sinister lurking?
 
Have you seriously not had the codes read yet?

You are just guessing until you get the car plugged in and get the codes read. Once you know which errors have been flagged up you can work out whats wrong!

Whats the point in just guessing?
 
No, because I got it to a garage (BMW Indy) and left it with them. I'm quickly running out of garages who I can trust to carry out any level of work.

Due to work I picked it up when they were closing so had no idea the warning lights were still on. Looks like I'm heading back in the morning to enquire what exactly they've done (which seems to be fix the spring and that's it) !!!!
 
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small wager on the failed suspension component has taken out the wiring for a wheel speed sensor and hence the dsc warning
 
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