BMW and M Power Owners

[Traffic_Warden]

Recieved my ELM 327 today, plugged into the BMW E46 to see why the emissions light was on - Coil pack 1 & 5, brilliant cheap bit of kit and gave specific codes too well worth the money.

 

[rodenal]

The brace from bmw only fits in so many ways, it will hold and then slip off the water pump pulley bolts before the fan nut cracks.

I'm using a bicycle headset spanner so it is rather thin which allows the brace to move I guess.

Doesn't sound like you're jamming it in well enough

I used to use a foot long 32mm(or whatever the nut is can't remember spanner and smack it with a mallet

I've probably still got one if you get really stuck, also you are turning it in the right direction?

 

[teenwolf]

Ordered the tool at BMW today, thought the guy would be able to look up the part but had to look it out for him. £18 or so, hopefully pick it up tomorrow and get on with it. Can't even service the Astra as the weather is crap!

Had a hand from the cat.

Bottom right corner looks worse than the rest assuming this is where it was leaking.

With the cover off the only damage I found was this. It wasn't as brittle as I expected with the spark plug bits still being flexible. I think one of the bolts wasn't as tight as the rest too.

How clean I could get it before replacing the cover.

I scrubbed up the cover and broke off all the harder parts I could. The vanos bit looks a bit manky to me.

After a quick drive I still had a few spots of oil on the previously wiped wing. I panicked but it's possibly from the fan still having some on it as I wiped it and took it a more spirited drive and it was still clean.

Hi did you use a guide for this job?
I'm going to be doing mine.

 

[slick rick]

Defeated by my old BMW at the moment. Have taken off coolant hoses to help give some space to get the fan off but still no luck.

Have soaked it in penetrating oil and will get an adjustable spanner tomorrow, hoping the wider jaws will help hold the other brace in place.

The nut is reverse thread if I remember right. I didn't have to much trouble getting it off using a home made tool.

 

[Jonny ///M]

I watched a youtube video of it getting done on an X5. Pretty straight forwards really.

I am turning the nut right and pulling the brace the opposite way.

The tool just slips off before I can apply massive leverage. 32mm tool I have isn't the longest which is part of the problem.

 

[Voxination]

The brace from bmw only fits in so many ways, it will hold and then slip off the water pump pulley bolts before the fan nut cracks.

I'm using a bicycle headset spanner so it is rather thin which allows the brace to move I guess.

Does the tool look like this? I found when doing it I couldn't get two of the screws (or whatever the protruding bits from the pump are) in the holes, but I put that down to it being an aftermarket water pump. Instead I put the one at the end of the tool over a screw to anchor it in place, and then just used the side of the tool to brace against another screw and to brace it anti-clockwise. One of us held this in place (quite tightly) whilst another put the 32mm spanner on the bolt and gave it a whack with a hammer in a clockwise direction (reverse thread), once it had broken then it was easy. Without an extra pair of hands it could have been tricky.

 

[Jonny ///M]

Yeah that's the one. I get it to go on two bolts, only fits two ways when the bolts are further apart.

I just find it slips off really easily.

Got my mate coming tomorrow so should get it off. If not I'm torching the ****ing thing haha.

Need to pick up some BMW coolant from what I've read using anything else is bad?

 

[rodenal]

Comma also make a good compatible coolant - you can buy it from halfrauds at a reasonable price with a trade card

 

[Jonny ///M]

I saw the q48 stuff last week so I'll pick that up.

I won't need a whole 2.8 gallons just taking off a few hoses and the stat?

 

[slick rick]

I saw the q48 stuff last week so I'll pick that up.

I won't need a whole 2.8 gallons just taking off a few hoses and the stat?

It might be worth flushing the system and renewing the coolant while your at it, it wont take much longer since you will have to bleed it either way?

 

[rodenal]

I would flush it all through personally seeing as you don't know what's actually in it - from now on you can just top it up after any work

 

[Jonny ///M]

Skimped that part really. Now that it's running I may drain and refill at some point. Just need it running for Monday as the astra is sorn and uninsured.

Running dead on maxing out at 96 degrees now. Was motorad part I took off and replaced it with a behr.

Was topping out at 60 before.

 

[utajoker]

Where do people buy bmw washer fluid from?

I've seen concentrate from as little as £3 for 50ml that dilutes 1:100 that seems to be genuine from the reviews posted.

 

[[TW]Fox]

Where do people buy bmw washer fluid from?

I've seen concentrate from as little as £3 for 50ml that dilutes 1:100 that seems to be genuine from the reviews posted.

This is a summer mix and contains no freeze protection.

 

[Voxination]

Where do people buy bmw washer fluid from?

I've seen concentrate from as little as £3 for 50ml that dilutes 1:100 that seems to be genuine from the reviews posted.

That sounds like the stuff I use, however I was not aware that this didn't provide freeze protection as Fox says. Could make things interesting if we have a cold snap.

 

[SpeedFreak]

Swapped out the standard for the advanced climate unit yesterday. I was not sure if it would work as it seemed pre LCI was a no and post LCI a yes. My car is somewhere in the middle as it came with the LCI Climate and NBT iDrive but without the touch controller. I believe LCI cars had were wired for either unit whereas the pre LCI were wired differently.

The job itself took 10 minutes and now that it's fitted it seems to be working as expected. Independent control for passenger and driver side is working and seems to be regulating correctly and the rear passenger control is defaulted through the passenger controls.

Also booked my car in to have the boot catch window mechanism checked. It seems it is just a sticky piston so hopefully a simple fix.

 

[danza]

Discovered that the reason my 330i sounds so muted is due to the exhaust butterfly being stuck shut. Now it's stuck open.

I'm sure I'll tire of the drone at ~70mph soon, so will look at fixing it so it opens and closes as it should, when the weather is drier. Has quite a nice rasp to it now though.

 

[growse]

I'm somewhat confused by the climate control on my LCI E90. Here's a picture (not mine):



Each big dial sets the temperature for... each side of the car? This doesn't appear to work very well - if one side is set to 16 and the other to 22, is it meant to blow cold out of two of the four vents, and warm out of the other two?

And if those dials set temperature, what does the red/blue wheel at the top of the image do?

 

[BananaDunka]

The dual zone climate control is what you have there. The side vents and footwell vents will reflect the zone temp set by the dials. The dial at the top is for the centre vents to quickly choose between heating or cooling. It's a great system unique to BMW still I believe.

 

[Dis86]

The dual zone climate control is what you have there. The side vents and footwell vents will reflect the zone temp set by the dials. The dial at the top is for the centre vents to quickly choose between heating or cooling. It's a great system unique to BMW still I believe.

Yup, this.