E46 Engine Swap

[Jamielance46]

Hello everyone, im new on the bmw scene this is my first bimmer, i have been considering a engine swap because i would love some more power, ive been considering a 328/330 engine but is it a lot of work? Or even just replacing the Standard 318 engine for another Standard engine but with less miles? How much works involved? Thanks

[Guest DazH]

Hey Jamie,

Yes it is a very involved task. E46 motors are inexpensive so changing the engine for a bigger one and all the hassles that comes with it is crazy.

Sell your 4 cylinder car and purchase a 6 cylinder. Both cars are pretty much the same price as there are a demand for both cars. The smaller 4 cylinders attract people wanting the economy and low insurance bracket and the more premium 6 cylinder models attract... well... people like you who desire more power.

Hope this helps

Daz

[DAN@ADRIAN FLUX]

Hi and welcome,

If you ever need any help with insurance in the future then please feel free to drop me a line.

Regards,

Dan.

[Mtech79]

I'm with daz on that one, definitely sell it and buy a 6 pot

A lot of work involved in changing it and the 4 pot valvetronic engine

Is the worst engine bmw ever made their more trouble than their worth mate!

[Jay Kay]

Good luck mate. I too am new to all this with my first BMW. I recently bought what appeared to be a nice clean 330ci convertible, but I have to say its not without its issues. I would love to justify it by reminding myself that its a 10 year old car, however I sold a 13 year old golf turbo and paid triple the value for the BMW and the golf was immaculate and 100% hassle free. The BMW however, it came home on the back of a flat bed on Sunday...

[Guest DazH]

Good luck mate. I too am new to all this with my first BMW. I recently bought what appeared to be a nice clean 330ci convertible, but I have to say its not without its issues. I would love to justify it by reminding myself that its a 10 year old car, however I sold a 13 year old golf turbo and paid triple the value for the BMW and the golf was immaculate and 100% hassle free. The BMW however, it came home on the back of a flat bed on Sunday...

Sorry to hear about the Lemon. Relative to other powerhouses, because of their age, the E46 330Ci is an inexpensive brute that often falls into the hands of people not knowing how to cae for such a special car so the second hand market is flooded with duds :(

If you need any help, post away dooode

[Jay Kay]

Cheers Daz. Luckily my issue is now resolved, new expansion tank, trans cooler thermostat and expansion tank cap. A few bottles of coolant and it was about £200 as i fitted them myself. I still have the problem of another leak, which i'm guessing is power steering fluid. I put it into Cooks Ferry (never again!) a specialist who tried to tell me he thought it was an engine oil leak which I didn't think it was, however all his waffle about 25 years of experience and fixing hundreds of these engines that all leak from the same place, I handed him a couple of hundred quid to fix it and its still the same. Won't be going back there!

I'm also troubled with the passenger mirror which dips as it should when reversing, but does nothing else. Again, while in Cooks Ferry I asked him to remedy it, and was told a new switch should cure it. Another £40 quid was added to the bill and I was told the new switch would be fitted on the day they fixed the oil leak. When I picked the car up I asked if the mirror was now working, only to be told they had forgetten about it and the switch was in the store room. They then tried to fit it - with me telling them that I was in a rush (fitting a mirror switch takes seconds) but 10 minutes later I went outside to see what was happening, to find the door had been stripped down and the switch making bugger all difference. I was then told that while it didn't fix the issue, I couldn't return the part as its electrical and packet had been opened. All told, I spent around £250 in Cooks Ferry and achieved F-all.

Oh, and then there's the passenger window that works fine, until you try to use the switch that does all windows at the same time, at which point the passenger one only goes up half way and then goes back down again.

Oh and the reverse parking sensor that goes of whenever it fancies whn i'm backing out of my drive.

My mate with a far newer 320d was with me the day I broke down. He now swears he will be selling his car long before it becomes 'old' like mine.

I know these are probably just silly little fixes, stupid electrical gremlins (excpet the fluid leak) that are easy fixes once you know what the problem is, and I am working my way through the list as I want everything working, but it just feels like its one thing after another. This is exactly what I hate about modern cars, far too much tech in them. I was out in a 5 litre MK1 Perana Capri recently that almost as old as I am and its still going strong, my 10 year old BMW however will never live to be that old and neither will virtually any modern car. Electronic will fail, technology will move on and they will become write-offs in half the time that older cars give up on us. Its a shame but I doubt the next generation will ever see a 'classic' on the road - they will all be in scrappies.

Rant over. Sorry.

[Steve B]

parking sensor issue i had with mine, turned out that one of the sensors was full of water and so knackered. replaced them all n it worked fine.... untill i replaced my dash and forgot to plug something in.. but i cant really be bothered to strip my dash out again xD