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MadMMX

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Everything posted by MadMMX

  1. Actually - The N42 shouldn't burn oil - common problem with the rubber valve seats getting hard and cracking and leaking. The repair itself is not a difficult one but have to take the engine top off to replace. Ran an n42 for over 8 years - had to do the repair once at about 50-60 k kms or 6 years down the line. You also need to change the timing chain tensioner to the newer uprated model to prevent rattle of the chain as it gets older. Overall solid engine though. Also make sure all your water hoses and water pump are in good nick. ! Cheers,
  2. Hi Guys, Just to let you all know that the Agent is carrying out a passenger side airbag recall for all E46's. Got my Bro's airbag replaced this morning FOC there and they take only 45 mins to do the job. If you normally service there - they will call you to make an appointment. Unfortunately this is a part of the global Takata airbag recall. Cheers,
  3. MadMMX

    A/c Repairs For Bmw

    what is the issue you're having with the A/C ?
  4. MadMMX

    Bmw Remote Key

    Hi, Unfortunately you're missing the main step. The video will program your car only for the lock / unlock functions - but won't start the car. You will need to get your virgin tranponder key cloned to your original key - there are several places advertising the service in the sunday papers where they need to first read the rolling code base key off your original key and then program the new key. The chip in it can only be programmed once.so good luck - may be better to ask them how much it is to supply the key as well. Cheers,
  5. Actually I use a guy in petersborough - pretty decent chap been using him for years - can pm you the details. There are some really good euro forums that help you locate and d/l the software - you can get it from torrent sites and buy the cable from ebay for about 25 pounds. I also actively watch forums like digital-kaos Actually with things like brake pads don't do anything till the indicators go off - the brake pad kit has a new indicator and actually there's absolutely no reason to replace before the indicators go off as there is some pad left even after it goes off. What diesel are you using ? N47 ? Actually did the oil seperator and hose replacement on my n42 at home many years ago - seperator was about 27 pounds. hoses were a little more expensive but replaced them just as well. The new direct injection n43 is setup differently. cheers,
  6. Hi, Sorry was out of touch for a couple of days. Actually that works perfectly for servicing - but actually you don't really need to service too often. 8K seems too little considering that the factory lists 14k or once in 2 years for the diesels - but actually if its the oil change - I usually keep a couple of filters handy and do a change at laughs if the milage is running high. The N42 / N43 genuine filter from UK is only 8 pounds so actually no point in trying to save 2 pounds using mann Also got down the 14 flute oil filter remover so it only take like 20 mins to go do the change. You also need to remember to reset the oil service indicator - but its just a few buttons on the meterboard. Actually the petrol X1 would have seemed to be quite ideal years back when I had the diesel E46 and serviced at Milly's long before he went very upmarket he suggested that the petrols were much easier to maintain and strangely it was on his advice that I moved to the petrol E46 facelift. He actually test drove and evaluted that car for me which at the time was quite new and also suggested that I go to the agent for the maintenance since it was pretty new and I stayed in colombo and it was a long drive over to his place. Actually the N42's were always a little leaky on the rocker cover gasket but that part was only like 25 pounds - changed the rubber on my E46 twice over 8 years on at home - quite a simple repair. The oil leaks on the cover and around the vanos seals .etc are quite common and actually nothing to worry about at all. The only issue is if you find it burning oil when its like 5-6 years old - and thats when you need to have the valve seats changed. Actually of the headset from the UK dealer, the whole kit costs about 120 pounds - with the head gasket being the most costly bit of it at about 45 odd pounds and the actual valve seat set (which seams like some kind of rubber) is only 25 pounds itself. I had changed the top seals - vanos seals and rocker cover seal not long before I gave pret*ge the car to do the valve seats and they actually re-used the rocker cover seal / vanos seals ..etc as they were all new and only changed the head gasket, valve seats and the manifold seals. Of couse I had spent some time over the years and the service manager / mechanic also knew me to some degree and were quite friendly so they did the job with minimal fuss. People in UK do head work at home as well - but you need a bunch of special tools to lock the cams when removing the head. I got my timing chain tensioners also changed at the time. Actually a common problem on the N42 is that the original timing chain tensioner was improved as with time the chain stretches and tends to knock a little and it needs to be changed with an updated tensioner (which fits from outside and takes about 10 mins to change) and costs about 27 pounds. A power steering leak doesn't sound right for a 3 year old car - was it leaking from a rack end or close to the pump ? The newer ones including my e90 all have electric power steering. Anyway actually have the factory diags for the E46 and now the E90 as well which actually works on the F series as well - unfortunately is uses a different cable called an E-net cable. Happy to help anyone in free time - you can pm me. The E46 is actually really well setup for maintenance with the petrol actually fairly easy to maintain - you can see the forums in uk and usa and most of the procedures are well docemented with pictures. The BMW procedure DVD's or TIS is also fairly easily downloadable. Cheers,
  7. Hi Don, Actually on no 1 that friend is actually a mutual friend along with Dom and the rest of the crew. Actually been helping out a no of other BMW owners on the diagnostics - have a working inpa and a istap at home Generally its pretty accurate as long as you use the diag with mechnical knowledge as well. - Its a sort of hobby of mine and would be happy to help. Don't have the cable for the F-series though since there wasn't a need. Also heard that the agents are really ripping people on brakepad and that type of maintenance which is a real shame.It was rather shocking but unfortunately the local agents have this habit of over complicating simple maintenance tasks - for instance my E46 had done about 60K KM's when the valve seals started to leak a little and I noticed a small oil burn. Asked them at a service and they actually quoted all the way from changing the crank bearings to a complete engine re-build which was totally unnecessary. I simply told tham so and insisted that I only wanted the valve seats changed and the top end seal kit and head gasket changed which i supplied and actually they were quite happy to acceed to my request. Previously I had noticed a slight play in my steering and the agent recommended that I change the steering rack I asked their then service manager whether he was mad to which he replied that being the agent they generally recommend that type of thing - changed the tie ends and the problem was gone. Buggers tend to rip off a lot of customers I guess who really don't know better which really ends up killing the brand image. I guess it doesn't hurt their margins though. The alternate BMW man's prices are as bad as the agent incidently leaving most Sri Lankan owners with little choice unless you have the overseas contacts. I would guess that the X1 type issues stated here are of the nature of killing a fly with a rocket launcher. Actually the good thing about stuff like the connectors is that every single component is orderable and they cost only a few pence - I usually order a few of the common ones and keep with me since I potter around with accessories and also keep a crimping tool handy with heat shriking tubing. Its really unfortunate on the one hand as once you start using the euro cars even with their little ideocyncracies you really don't look back. And generally the options available on these cars are way ahead of their jap counterparts. My E46 had Blue tooth pairing with voice recognition on the original spec and it was a 2003 YOM car Yeah I guess the bottom line is when you run these cars you do keep a bit of a financial buffer in case of any eventualities but like I said preventive maintenance goes a long way in avoiding this. Cheers,
  8. Actually Don youre quite right on some but the name of the game is preventive maintenance and really timely maintenance. Currently using my 3rd 3 series - went from 320d E46 preface to 318i facelift with an N42 engine and now a 318i E90. Used the 318i E46 with the N42 for 8 years - car was rock solid - daily runner never gave me any grief but I did my maintenance on time. After about 6 years replaced the valve seals at the agent - got the parts from UK agents and prest*ge charged me 22k to fit - they had no issues with me supplying the parts. Also as of many years ago there really isn't any special tropicalisation process. (did the research here) but the cars they used to bring down including my E46 petrol were de-catted with no euro 3 emission control system and the same ECE spec as is sold in UK sourced direct from Germany. They do even have something called the rough road package for this part of the world but its really only a set of shims for the front and rear suspension which lift the front by 2 cm and the rear by .65cm to give a bit of additional ground clearence. Actually the suspension is fairly simple the usual suspect on the E46 is the lower end bushes but this this only about 12-15K and need replacement every 3-4 years - used poly bushes here with very good result. You need access to the BMW diagnostics as the cars will self diagnose - no need to resort to maka bass's. !! Also not easy to turn milage on this as the milage is stored in 6 computers and if its tampered with you will get a red dot appearing on the dash (tamper dot) If you source your parts from UK and have access to the diags - you can easily maintain these without breaking any banks and the genuine parts in UK are actually cheaper than the bloody toyota parts that you get in SL ! The petrol service interval is actually 25K km;s or preferably once a year and the agents cost for that is actually quite reasonable ! I guess everyone has their own preferences but moved from japs (having owned nissan / toyota and honda) to BMW's and never looked back Of course my first car was a Mini minor so was always partial to euro's and was familier doing small repairs thanks to the lessons learned in the mini Just my 2 cents worth. Cheers,
  9. Take a look on the ad's and also ikm**.lk - there are some decent ones floating around. Possibly look for ones that Sta&&ord have maintained - they will have any records of maintenance ..etc. Cheers,
  10. Anyone know anyplace in SL that sells chevron techron ? Cheers,
  11. Actually this is for a petrol car. Get this error that there is too much sulpher on the nox sensor. Apparently need to run the car for 100 kmph for 30 mins to clean it and preferably put in a cat cleaner or something. Cheers,
  12. Anyone aware of somewhere where you can get the catalytic converter cleaner similar to the fuel injector cleaner that you can add into the gas tank for a euro car ? Alternatively is there someone doing Lucas injector cleaners or where you can buy a Chevron injector cleaner ? Cheers,
  13. Actually most of the vezels come with the factory fitted reverse camera. Its a bit of a different setup (4 wire) but most of the audio shops know how to hack it and connect it. (Need to add the video connector + hotwire the power circuit to the reverse light). Cheers,
  14. MadMMX

    E90 320I

    I guess its really so so - my brother and I have been using a pair of E46 318i facelifts (N42 engines) - I've had mine close to 8 years now and bro's is close to 5 years. Really not had any major issues and the pleasure derived from driving them has led to the dropping of the japs with the exception of a uk imported civic hybrid. The name of the game is preventive maintenance and keeping a few extra bits like a spare coilpack ..etc and doing your services (which is actually only once a year ) Really by the amount of trouble that RR had with the E90 it looks to have been a real lemon though I have friends who are pretty happy with their E90's. Both petrols & diesels.
  15. MadMMX

    E90 320I

    They seriously said the DPF's are removed ? That was news - coil packs do go after some miles - but not really too expensive - 10-20 pounds at the most. The N47 diesel has some real horror stories for the post 2011 ones on the net and there are some 520d's here as well that have busted engines (e60's) as I've heard. Personally been using the E46 n42 engine for over 7 years now - had a few niggles - valve seats leaking at 70K - but nothing major - need to change the oil seals on the top of the engine and gasket cover once in a while - but really if you do your preventive maintenance on time the car looks after you. The n42 doesn't have the direct injection and have done things like changing the pcv valve..etc at home. Really its all to do with your sourcing good parts - contacts in UK are your real friend RangeRover - didn't realize that you had such a lot of issues with the e90 - was this after the big prestige overhaul ? Was it really that bad ? Cheers,
  16. Are you still using the heater or have you bypassed it ? Cheers,
  17. Actually beg to differ on this. Been using a E46 N42 for the past 7 years now. The valve seal repair actually isn't such a big deal - only that our local stealers tend to try to rip you off completely when you do the repair. I did mine at the agents a few years ago - got down the parts from UK (Genuine from a dealer) cost me less than LKR 25k and had the agent actually fit them - labour cost another 27K which included some other stuff where I actually also changed the timing chain guides / tensioners ..etc. Don't get taken in by all the BS about changing piston rings and all that crap. Put the headset in which includes the valve seats and the rocker cover gasket ..etc and its a 3 day repair. Ignore all the BS about you should change this ...etc when you're taking this and that out. Use your own good judgement. The oil leaks are for when the seals around the engine start to get a little old (lets face it - these cars are approaching ten years old) but the good thing is that each individual seal is order able and only cost like a few pounds genuine from the dealers. Have replaced all of them over the years even including the sump gasket which only costs like 15 pounds genuine. Use your good judgement - find a good garage also which has lifts and who has folks who will allow you to also put in your two cents worth and these cars will give you years of driving pleasure. The only important thing is to do your maintenance on time. Mind you the service interval is pretty long too. The N42 give your more power than the M43 with way more economy and is not prone to maintenance like the diesels. You can take your injectors out at home once a year or two and get them cleaned ultrasonically and you're good to go. Try doing that in a diesel ! ( Which incidentally I have owned in the past ) I have done all the major repairs that people dread including changing the a/c evaporator / suspension stuff / head repair / engine mounts / new clutch.. etc and it most of it using genuine parts if not uprated and some actually replaced at the local agents and it certainly hasn't broken the bank - if not being cheaper that some of the jap car repairs that I have had to do in the past. If you have access to the BMW diagnostics - your don't have to worry about maka bass diags - as the cars diagnose themselves. I guess it all boils down to good judgement. Also when your buying these - look for the service records and check with the agents / others to make sure the maintenance was done right. Just my two cents. Cheers, MadMMx
  18. Thanks - Interesting Also went in for a Disco 1 300TDI recently - Lots of plans Cheers,
  19. How did you go about wiring up the second battery ? Did you have to use that gizmo that allows for the split charging of the two ?
  20. MadMMX

    Bmw 116I Problem

    On another note did you ensure that all the tyre pressures are correct on the car and reset the tpms ?
  21. MadMMX

    Bmw 116I Problem

    Actually its a little strange but you can get a more accurate error code not from DIS but through another internal BMW diagnostic program called INPA - not GUI - its very text and indicator based but it probes out more error msg's that the normal diagnostics can. Wouldn't usually find this one at PrestXXX - but its on the forums. I use it my self for pre 2008 cars - works with the newer ones but you need a new cable which costs about 50 dollars to plug it in to the newer interface. The deal at even at Pres... you need someone like Shavi to read the problems - before I went on that journey to figure it out, usually the normal mechanics there didn't have a clue - usually used to go call Shavi to figure it out. Dunno how the new guys is. Actually the steering angle sensor can be re-coded as can a second hand abs unit. Replaced a couple of ABS units for friends, one a new unit from Singapore which needed to be coded to a E39 and another a second hand unit from UK for another friends E46. Mil had also wanted 80-100K for a new control unit Its amazing what info you can find on the forums - but you need to be a little careful as with the non gui tools - there are different tools that can blank your ecu as well Cheers,
  22. MadMMX

    Bmw 116I Problem

    Did he figure what the warning lights were ? Didn't Mil plug it into the DIS ? It should have popped up the error codes very easily ? Unfortunately post 2008 needs a slightly different type of cable - otherwise would have been welcome to plug it into the DIS at home and have a look. A clearer pic may help to narrow it down though.
  23. MadMMX

    Bmw N47

    http://www.facebook....94760?sk=photos This is probably the most informative thread http://www.bmwland.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=130016
  24. MadMMX

    Bmw N47

    well it seems to be a bit of a serious issue that appears to have been resolved in the engines after mar 2011. really unfortunate issue as the timing chain sprockets which appear to have become defective as they are too sharp or something are friction welded to the crankshaft making a crankshaft change required. Also it appears that the majority of the problems occur after the car has hit 100K Kms so a new car with a warranty shouldn't have too much to worry about - what would be worrying to potential buyers of the 320d's, x1's and now the 520d's is after they finish the warranty and come on the market in about a years time. Never heard of timing chains snapping until you read about this issue - some horrid pictures of busted chains and the damage they cause on google as well.
  25. MadMMX

    Prestige Vs. Milroy

    Another experience to chalk up at the Agent !! Referring to a manual E46 Self Adjusting gearbox on a BMW E46. I recently had some maintenance to do and gave to car in to the agents (P**T**E). Gave the a brand new BMW genuine part clutch kit that I got from England. Was very surprised when they called me to say that they were having problems fitting it. Went over - happened to have another genuine clutch plate handy as well - got fed this bullshit story by the mechanic and the Workshop Manager about how sometimes BMW part numbered products for the UK are slightly different to the Asian varients ..etc. They couldn't fit the second plate as well to the existing Pressure plate and advised me to buy their original kit for some 100K + price. Thanked them for their effort - they actually charged me 9000 bucks not to fit it !! and said no thanks to their kit (thay had acually fitted it on the car to demonstrate that it worked !!) got them to fit my old clutch back and said I'd get it sorted out with a replacement from UK. (Brought from a main dealer there) After consutation with my friend got down the self adjusting fitting kit + the centering tool and found that not only had the agent disarmed the sac assembly but also jammed the SAC springs as well. Reset it with the tools I got down and took the car to a friend in dehiwela who does race Subaru's and got him to hoist it up and pull the box off - had the BMW procedure and dismantled the whole thing with them. Fitted the new kit according to the BMW instructions and it all came together like clockwork. Absolutely no issues and the clutch is like silk now. Can only figure that the agent was trying to stiff me into buying a clutch kit from them !!! Made a written complaint as they hadn't assembled my car back right either - their were bolts & clips missing !! but wasted half a day getting a couple of replacement bolts put back !! They didn't have some of the clips that they had lost as they claimed not to have stock of them !! Got those down from my friend in UK for a few pounds and re-fitted everything back. Car is fine now. I can't believe some lame ass mechanic / technician trid to take me for a royal ride and stiff me for some heavy dough !!! I don't know if he was just incompetent or was a crook !! Mind you thus far I've never had any issues with the agents !! Bottom line - try your utmost not to leave your vehicle their unattended !!! Mind you the good thing about BMW is that every little nut and washer has a part no and can be ordered for peanuts if you have access to a dealer. !!!! Cheers, MadMMx
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