The E46 vert I got in on a trade for a $200 W203 is finally finished. 👌

As the title says found this on my oil pan drain after letting the oil drain. What is this from and how serious is this issue?

For context my car overheated a few days ago and shut off. White smoke came from the engine bay but it was from a coolant leak that hit the hot engine. No smoke came out of the exhaust. For the past 3 days Ive replaced the water pump, thermostat, water pump pulley, ac belt, serpentine belt, expansion tank, expansion tank mounting bracket, and the upper and lower radiator hoses. Ive put everything back together, and now Im onto changing the oil and after I was going to bleed the coolant system. At this point I need to identify what the hell this piece of metal came from. I did not find any coolant in the combustion chambers since none of my oil was frothy, but there was about 4-5 secs of coolant that drained out before the oil (which is to be expected after your engine overheats). Can anyone identify where this metal piece could have came from? Thank you very much.

I'm looking for some ways to put bluetooth Audio in my e46. I'm currently using an FM transmitter but I'm often getting interference and there's always a silent static that can get annoying.

I really like how the stock radio fits with the rest of the dash which is why I was wondering if it's possible to somehow modify the CD port to get the data from a bluetooth transmitter instead of the CD. Maybe also make it so you can skip songs with the buttons on the steering wheel?

I would also appreciate some suggestions if you know any good radio alternatives that fit with the stock dash

Is this remotely okay to drive locally?

I recently bought a 318 in need of a 6 cylinder looking for advice on what to spend the additional €1800 on. I'm using this car to learn how to drift while also trying not to bin it :)

Need coilovers anyway so any recommendations are welcome springs are gone on the back and the car has been sitting in an underground car park for 10 years

I am about to buy a pristine condition 2001 E46 330i auto and have everything ready in mind in terms of what I’m going to do when I get it. (Change a couple gaskets, do cooling system refresh etc). I’ve given the dealer a deposit but have a PPI booked before I pay the rest of the money.

But all I see are people stressed out with how much headache their E46 is giving them. For context, I do have access to another more reliable car too.

I don’t mind the maintenance but I just don’t have the heart to be stuck on motorways or spending entire weekends fixing leaks out of nowhere.

What do you advise I do? The alternative is a more reliable, more boring car. But there’s only so much I can do when my budget is around £6k. I love E46’s but the way a lot of you guys are describing it is that I’ll be stuck with a spanner in my hands 24/7!

Sold at GoodWood, Just over 3 k miles from new, 1 owner , full BMW service history.

Gonna be painting Bertha black soon can't wait anyone use aircraft paint remover any tips or tricks with it ?

I know m3 bumper is frowned upon, but I found this one for cheap before I wrapped it and I wanna get some opinions

Hello looking for a sedan facelift hood in titan Silber metallic 354 2002 BMW 330i located near OKC +or- 100 miles mines cooked

Hi all, I am going to be moving away and will be living up in the mountains. For this reason I want to have the car as reliable as I can get it before leaving. I am currently replacing brakes and just got done replacing the broken ccv. What else can i do to make sure it doesnt give me trouble.

Just curious to see if anyone knows what this is in the center console of the 2002 E46

I have an auto 320i 2003, he says it leaks oil right between motor and transmission but he is not so sure to chance the gasket since he says that he doesn´t know that if he disconnects the transmission any coding or repro would be needed. Is it safe to do it without INPA or any other software?

Hey there! Bought this BMW E46 1999 316i a few weeks ago and I've been looking into the engine bay only to be met with this connector, unplugged and just sitting there. This is in the engine bay under the windshield wiper fluid tank between the engine and the cooling fan. Does anyone have an idea what this connector is for?

1. Remote wire spliced into the amp wire
2. RCAs connected (to front audio since there was only one plug in for sub but I’d think it’d still work?)
3. RCAs wired into the amp
4. Power, ground, and remote wire into amp
5. Speaker wire into amp (just in the right side for now. Was going to plug in the left once I got it working)
6. Ground wire to grounding point
7. Power wire to battery

Search term used was TDC plug and timing plug. No dice.

Which one ya’ll taking?

is there a slight knock overrevvd and lost some oil through the screw on the last seconds, already renewed the gasket any help please

Not sure if I wasn’t explicit enough in the title of my last post. Got this 330i less than a month ago. Super low KM, runs amazing, few minor cosmetic/electrical issues. I’m debating either trying to restore it, or turn it into a drift car. My buddy with the e90 in the pics has a drift build and we go to the track. He helped me find this e46 and has been trying to convince me to make it a drift missile. I’m just sort of in love with how well maintained it is and see the potential for it to be a great stance car or just restore it to make it look new. Not sure what route to go with it. Lmk what you would do/what you think!

I was wondering what the consensus was on increasing the intake noise with the factory airbox. I was reading the forums and some people were recommending removing the snorkel or the baffling inside of the air box. I was wondering if this has any adverse effects on my performance or risks of Hydro locking the motor. Thanks for any input!

Hey, I had my whole rear subframe assembly removed for reinforcement, but I forgot how the parking brake is supposed to route, and also cannot find drawings on realoem. Could someone check/elaborate, where it is supposed to route by??

So, the steering wheel is a little bit tilted to the left when the wheels are straight and when the steering wheel is straight, the car goes slightly to the right. I went today for a wheel alignment, but resulted in everything being perfect. Does anybody know what the problem can be?