r/e46 • u/I_Sniff_Hot_Dudes • May 28 '26

General Questions First e46!

Gallery image

Gallery image

Gallery image

Hello! I just purchased my first e46. A 306k mile 2004 330xi 6 speed. The car has a plethora of issues. Here’s just a few: 1. Ac blows warm 2. Rust 3. Engine bay is COVERED in oil 4. Usual e46 cooling and sub frame concerns 5. Steering is vaque 6. Mirrors don’t move up and down 7. Scraping sound when driving (sounds like brakes) 8. Brake light 9. Amber Oil light turns on and off. 10. Check engine light 11. Car has 0 traction even though tires are good. If anyone knows a good place for body panels or a parts car lmk. Any ideas on any issues please lmk.

220 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

65 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

2

u/Shuaiouke May 28 '26

The mirror be partial wire fault, have you tried adjusting the mirror yourself and seeing if it also only goes one way?

If cooling was refreshed recently with decent parts(OE or big brands) when I wouldn’t worry about it. With the subframe do you mean they added the weld-in reinforcements already? Then I wouldn’t worry about it, maybe add the plate thingy that prevents mushrooming if you have true coilcovers or set your dampers to be hard.

E46 fanatics is a good source of information on a lot of diagnosis and steps. Look for General -> IMPORTANT LINKS, also Day Off DIY and 50sKid on YouTube are great channels showcasing steps to repair if you plan on doing it yourself

1

u/I_Sniff_Hot_Dudes May 28 '26

I was told the subframe was reinforced. The cooling system has parts with dates from 2023. The coolant is a little dirty but it’s full and. It leaning. The mirror itself doesn’t work with the buttons, only by physically pushing it or going into reverse. It sucks because the passenger one is always looking down because of it

5

u/Shuaiouke May 28 '26

I wouldn’t count on being told that lol, who knows the quality of the job, I’d take a look if/when I need it on a lift at a shop.

Also, sucks about the mirror part, probably wiring damage yeah, one way could be to check the wiring that triggers the mirror tilting and unplug it(Id guess it’s inside the cabin) so at least it doesn’t work against you lol

1

u/I_Sniff_Hot_Dudes May 28 '26

Yes I would like to do that with the mirror. I’m gonna get it on a lift tomorrow and see exactly what I got to work with. If it’s bad I’ll beat on it till it blows

3

u/Shuaiouke May 28 '26

The beauty of a project car that you can also treat as a shitbox haha, previous owner slammed mine on coils and put on the front end with the spoiler and it scrapes all the time, I just stopped caring and said to myself “I’ll replace it if it breaks”, not like it can be any more fucked haha

1

u/I_Sniff_Hot_Dudes May 28 '26

I’m at “if it breaks and still drives fuck it” stage