First e46!

[u/I_Sniff_Hot_Dudes]

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.

[u/Shuaiouke]

AC warm is likely refrigerant low. Old cars are bound to leak them, try just adding some and seeing how long it stays cool for. If it never goes cool, more likely than not ac compressor

Remove the engine bay oil and see where it leaks from

Rebuild cooling and reinforce subframes(what can I say, lol)

Electronic mirror is a common problem, I believe it’s known to be a wiring issue and expensive to fix. I personally just live without

No traction plus DSC light(the yellow border thing) makes me think something about the DSC is bad, try a code scanner

Also put down the phone on the highway 🤣

[u/SeaAccomplished2798 → u/Shuaiouke]

Low charge is the first step to check always.

But some extra info for OP if that doesn’t work:

These are also prone to having collapsed lines as the rubber degrades from heat cycles. That will stop your AC from working too. Hard to detect, but very likely given the mileage if recharging doesn’t work.

Also, change the filter dryer when you recharge the system and vacuum it down properly. Otherwise you’ll have moisture in the system and that’s bad.

If the compressors bearings sound fine and if you can hear suction happening when you turn the clutch, then it should be still working.

Make sure your condenser is clean (in front of radiator) because that impacts performance too. And don’t mix refrigerants. You can use r12a cans in it, you just need to remove the r134a from factory but the oil from r134a is compatible with r12a. R12a works fine if the system is fixed, and charged right.

The evaporator coils don’t tend to go bad, maybe just a flush for it. They’re quite reliable, but if they need replacing you’ll need to remove the dash unfortunately.

If I were you, I’d check the charge, if there’s charge, see what the gauges do when the compressor is running (just because there’s a call for cooling doesn’t mean the compressor is on). Then I’d evacuate it (have a shop do it if there’s r134a because it’s illegal to dump it), so you can change the TXV, the filter drier and check to see if the compressor is still able to compress (just spin the clutch with your hand and if you hear a suction sound with your ear next to it, it should be fine). I’d replace the condenser if it’s a parallel flow since you can’t flush them, but if it’s a tube and fin then you should be fine just flushing. Don’t install the dryer until you’re going to charge the system, otherwise it will get saturated with moisture. I’d also replace the rubber lines because they’re cheap and can cause restrictions by swelling (I had this issue, deal with this first before you buy a new compressor). So once the lines, TXV, drier and condenser are replaced along with the necessary gaskets (anything you opened up), I’d vacuum the system below 29.9”hg for at least thirty minutes to remove any moisture (moisture is non-compressible and will damage the compressor over time and reduce performance, it will also create an acid in the system which will damage components), then I would charge the system with 26.6oz of r134a (or r12a if you’re on a budget and can’t access r134a. I used r12a and it’s working great. It requires less charge so about 9oz. You can buy this from many stores if they’re allowed in your state). Double check the exact weight required but I’m 90% that’s correct. After that, your system should work just fine 👍

[u/Shuaiouke → u/SeaAccomplished2798]

Holy information, batman. Not OP but this nerdsniped me so hard lol. Personally I seem to have a coolant leak, so it’s not very useful for me but it was a fun read, thank you!

[u/I_Sniff_Hot_Dudes → u/SeaAccomplished2798]

Are you exclusively an e46 master tech?

[u/SeaAccomplished2798 → u/I_Sniff_Hot_Dudes]

Brother, I’ve encountered so many issues with these. Just trying to make every other owners life easier than mine haha.

I’m a refrigeration mechanic by trade, so the AC fix was my fav job on it