Fox

Welcome friend. There is a wealth of info here, but not a lot of action reply-wise. I can only assume its because we are all out there having too much fun with our cars. (I certainly am, and I've only got a little one.......wink!)

I have on several mechanics authority that they routinely use a service spray at service intervals coz its quick and effective. You can buy such carb/injector cleaners at any auto shop for less than 2 pints of ale. You undo one end of the air feed pipe from the air filter box, and with the engine running, simply spray the fluid down the opening to feed the engine. This will immediately cause it to stall so you have to be ready with a hand on the throttle cable wheel to rev the engine slightly as you spray. I'm told this is a better way of maintaining gunk-free injectors than adding Redex or similar. There is also now slowly being adopted by some workshops, a new expensive toy that completely de-carburises the engine right through to the exhaust end. This can really help with emissions come MOT time. Dunno how much and where though. HTH

A couple of days ago my EML came on in the middle of a journey. I took it to my local bod who has a code reader app on his phone (!!!! Smart-!Removed!) and it predictably came up with the pre-cat oxygen sensor failure. The cabin had been smelling fumey for a few days, but I assumed it was always the car in front. (Yeah,right) He ordered the part and I used youtube as my reference for a 'how to'. As I set to with tools and took out the cabin filter tray, the first thing I discovered was that some enterprising Doofus had , erm, 'fixed' the rocker cover breather pipe by binding it with electrical tape! It was split right through at the spigot on the cover. "That'll be your problem matey" bod chirped. I then also found that, having re-bound the pipe with some duct tape, the other end that attaches to a cannister other side of engine bay was being sucked flat. Clearly knackered then. Chummy then ferrets around the workshop to find some spare hose. 20 seconds and 2 jubilee clips later, job done! Fault code erased and, well, no need for new component. Money saved. Hardly got my hands grubby. Lesson learned. I would therefore suggest to my learned chums here on this forum that the breather pipe be a first target when the engine warning light comes on and there is no discernible problem with performance. Thank god for local mechanics with a bit of savvy!

I appreciate this topic has been done to death, but I seem to have a strange variation on the theme. I have a newish Kenwood radio/cd player fitted by PO that works fine as a cd player and usb device reader. However, at some point the radio reception went on the blink. Assuming the aerial amplifier under the spoiler is at fault, I stopped using the radio. Imagine my shock then as I was driving along, for my mp3 play list to be loudly and clearly interrupted by a BBC traffic news bulletin. This despite the unit refusing to pick up a single station when scanning - just lots of white noise. HTF??? I know the aerial is embedded in the rear side screen, so does the amp just boost VHF band or does it work across all bands? I've checked all connections, but there is no logical explanation as to why the traffic news section of a BBC local radio should come through loud and clear - including the few seconds of music program after before all goes silent again. The unit spends most of its time on standby. Is there a multimeter test I can perform on the amp unit under the spoiler?

Erm, Houston, we have a problem......... Well I got the ol' hedgehog in ok and took her out for a test drive. Nice and cold air and everything works...... except the fan speed. It increases with each push on the button up to half way then although the bars on the display move ok, the fan stays at the mid speed selection. It may be just my wonky memory, but I am sure the high speed is a good blast. Have I done something fundamentally wrong? Before the hog failed, the fan did blow stronger, albeit puffing away like an old man going up stairs. The procedure is straight forward enough, so I'm guessing its a new fan blower. Unless you have a better idea?????? Beep.

Jeez, what a job for a Sunday morning! Checked here and youtube for help, all helpful and set to just before 8 this morning. Took 90 mins which included returning to my pc for a reminder, then back over to our garage block across the street to fold myself into a pretzel and, well, bu**er me its done and I have air-con again. Bliss! A word to anyone else doing this or 'looking forward' to the job- No the hedgehog doesn't need 2 screws much less that stupid plastic clip, which I had to jemmy out the way with a large screwdriver as its cleverly sited up against a rubber grommet not allowing any movement, and as long as the stepper motor housing still has that tiny hooked plastic lug which locates in a very small slot then only use the screw you can actually see to re-fit it. I did just so and the housing is located solidly with no movement. Not wishing to boast, but its the sort of job for young chaps with good backs, not this 60yr old ex breakdancer with severe neck trouble. I'd call it just about do-able. Thank you to all who have gone to the trouble to post detailed how-to's.

Hi. You just put in led interior kit for bmw e46 on ebay and it comes up. Good luck. Just ordered mine.

I've been looking at the kits on line. Thanks for the input. Will order a complete kit now!

Halfords do a diy regassing kit now but I would personally go to an expert service as they will check it for leaks and re-gass for around £70 or less.

Another potential area is the final stage resistor which apparently not only controls the fan blower but affects the heating too. I now have to change mine as the blower stopped working thus no air-con in this heat! Try the other suggestions first though as they are easier to rule out.

Does anyone else have my problem? The black strip that sits on top of the door body panel against the bottom of the window (part no. ?) has blistered under the black surface finish and looks ugly. It would seem to be rust under the black coating. Its happened on all 4 doors too. Has anyone tried to fix this by stripping/repainting? Mine seem a bit far gone so replacement would seem better. Can't find any reference on fleabay or the like, GSF no good and likewise Eurocarparts.

Aha! Just found the parts list here!

Is there a part number for the external rubber door strip that sits on top of the door panel at the window opening? Mine are badly blistered. Aside from a dealership, anyone seen these on fleabay?

Hi New to the forum and took ownership of very smart E46 touring recently. List of probs so far: Central locking/alarm not operating via key fob. (Answer found here, thank you) Massive oil leak around rocker cover gasket. (Solved that as I also own bmw f800 bike with same design of cover and same problem) Interior fan pulses once or twice per second except on full power. This varies day to day but very iritating. The radio control buttons on steering wheel occasionally stop working but seem to reset with ignition operation, like stopping mid-journey. Other than those, really happy with it.

Thanks! My local garage has a lot of 3 series experience and the owner, a mate, said the batteries only last for so long then they just refuse the charge while in use. of course its non replaceable and of course its gonna cost over £200 for each replacement. I'll look into the fan issue once I've found a decent workshop manual. Its funny how sometimes cars don't like changing hands and take a while for silly niggles to settle down. My wipers for instance. S'morning I used them and they had : delay, delay and speed 1. Didn't matter how many times I waggled the stalk. Then when I got back home tried again and got: delay, speed 1, speed 2 as should be. Funny old things cars

Just come to the forum and have to confess that I have a matching set. 318i touring and an F800ST sport/tourer. My brother tells me that I'm now a complete w****r! Well he would coz he's only got a Focus and a Bandit poor sod

Of course many owners in the south and home counties will know of the occasional German car nights at the Ace café on the North Circular. You can google their calendar

I found this too. Switched off after a short drive and noticed the a/c fan (set to auto climate control) ran on for maybe 5 seconds. Assumed its normal.

I've had my 2001 318i manual se touring for a couple of days now and have a problem. The previous owner - not the particularly bright sort - told me that he had the tailgate glass replaced recently (he only had the car since December 2014) and since then the key fob does not work, so no remote alarm-set/central lock functions. Obviously I can still lock it securely via the drivers door, so I'm hoping its a simple fix. Ideas chaps? Secondly, I have noticed that the fan in the auto climate control pulses (approx 1 second bursts with a 1second gap) all the time unless I override it to fastest speed. Is this normal? Otherwise what I have purchased seems to be an exceptionally clean, tidy and sweet running little car. A funny moment when I was buying the car and prompted the uncharitable comment above: He was presenting the interior and eventually found the hatch that contains the jack/hazard triangle etc and suddenly uttered a choice Anglo-Saxon oath. He had installed a new Kenwood radio/cd player without knowing the car has a multi changer hidden away in that very compartment! No matter, he let me have the new and the original units anyway! So, the car's done over 100k miles and still feels like new. Unlike my V series Volvo which has just been taken out and shot. The flat spoke alloy wheels are the only part that have not aged as well but I'm sure there will be suggestions as to how I can remedy that.

I am now the 'slightly uncertain' owner of a very tidy 2001 silver 318i Touring with 101,000 on the clock. It suits my needs as a musician with a lot of equipment to haul about. It came to me via a business partner who knows the previous owner and vouched for its credentials. Anally retentive obsessive type. Dodgy right there for starters! However, I figured that if was a dog I could sell it on for a small margin. Guess what? I really like this humble Beemer! I should add that I already have a BMW touring motorbike, so it was assumed that I should complete the set. Of course I now have lots of questions...........