Although this is the 10th post on the build blog, a full service was actually one of the first things I did. Keeping on top of the mechanical upkeep gives a bit of peace of mind when you own a car that's travelled the circumference of Earth 5 times...
I wanted to replace as much as possible in this service, I suspect the previous owner did what was necessary to keep the engine turning over and nothing more.
So the list of items to be replaced:
- Engine Oil - Castrol Edge 5W/40 Fully Synthetic Oil
- Genuine BMW Oil Separator Filter (Oil breather filter, Crank case filter)
- UFI Oil Filter
- UFI Fuel Filter
- UFI Air Filter
- UFI Cabin Filter
- Airco-Breeze Aircon Sanitizer
Starting with the cabin filter, I took the housing apart which was really easy, just two quarter turn fixings and it's away.
Removing the filter revealed yet more dirt and grime, so I set about putting that right straight away. The rubber inserts in the cabin filter housing are drain points, although I'm not sure how much draining was going on as they were grimed up to the hilt. In the pictures you can see a cleaned up one next to how they came out of the car, vast improvement.
I also spent some time cleaning up the covers and the cabin filter housing. The filter itself wasn't horrendous but I'm glad it's been changed.
Before and After
Comparisons
Next up was the air filter. After removing all of the engine plastics, it was fairly easy to access the air filter, just a couple of Allen head bolts and you've got the intake ducting off. Inside I found a rather grubby looking filter, and the filter housing was quite dirty too, so I set to work cleaning that as well. Below you can see a comparison of the old and new filters, unfortunately I didn't get an after photo of the cleaned filter housing.
The oil filter got attention next, this was really easy to do. The old one was pretty gunked up but I imagine they do get like that pretty quickly by the nature of their use.
The oil separator filter type was up for debate, there is a vortex type and a loo roll type. The dealer I got the filter from informed me that the vortex type was no longer available for the M57 330d engine, so reluctantly I went for the loo roll type. I've since learned the vortex type is still available, so I might swap to this at the next service interval. The loo roll type is fine if changed regularly though. Below is the new loo roll in place.
The last of the engine services was the fuel filter, unfortunately I didn't get any snaps of this, but there isn't much to see really. It was a simple case of pulling off the pipes connected, removing the old filter and replacing with the new one, then reconnecting the tubes.
Inside the car I'd noticed a the typical musty smell coming from the vents after the aircon had been in use. Looking at some online reviews it seemed Airco-Breeze Anti Bacterial Spray was recommended. I picked some up from eBay for about £10 delivered and gave it a shot. Instead of the aircon 'bomb' type cleaners, this one is sprayed directly into the vents. I emptied the whole tin in and let it settle.
It smelt great for the first month, but the inevitable musty smell came back. After the winter I'll give the aircon bomb type a go.
Nevertheless, the car is now running really smooth, the new parts gave it a revitalising boost and the car is even nicer to drive. Chuffed.
Let me know what you think in the comments, which aircon cleaner do you use? Were your drain inserts worse than mine?
5 Comments
Great posts. I am about to replace the oil separator (with a vortex element). Was wondering how much of the housing sitting over the top of the filter I will need to remove. It sounds like you didn't have to remove too much apart from the microfilter and air filter housing to gain access. Is this correct? I have seen youtube which suggests I need to remove a hell of a lot more around the bulkhead area, but that was for a E90 330d. I have the M57 engine.
ReplyDeleteCheers.
Yep basically, if you take enough panels off to be able to replace the air filter, you can replace the breather filter.
DeleteYou can see it just above the airfilter in this image:
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e308/l18ydl/E46%20Touring/Oil%20breather/IMGP5279.jpg
Remove the bolts securing it, then remove the 3 bolts securing the injector wiring rail to give enough leverage to get the breather filter cover off.
It really isn't much of a job, the full write up of servicing an M57 330d can be found here:
http://www.bimmerforums.co.uk/forum/f91/replacing-oil-breather-e46-m57-330d-t68937/
Hope this helps,
Andy.
Cheers Andy for quick reply. WIll look closer at those links when I get round to doing it in a couple of days. Planning to hit the 4 must-do's all at once: EGR clean, swirl-flaps removal, breather valve change and MAF clean. (Did an oil change yesterday)
ReplyDeleteThanks again mate!
No problem, sounds like you have got a good list of stuff to do there, all worth-while.
DeleteJust one thing though, it would be worth having a look to see if your engine actually had swirl flaps fitted. Mine, M57 330d 2002 manual, didn't so no need to remove them. A quick google should give you an answer. I think they reintroduced swirl flaps to the M57N engine (the later 6 spd 200bhp model).
Good luck with all your work.
Andy.
Hi Andy - I believe I do have the swirl flaps as mine is the M57 but with auto-box (Dec 2002). According to my info the auto's have them. We have very similar cars actually - mine is also sapphire black, M-sport.
ReplyDeleteSome annoying build quality issues on mine, both roof gutter trims over the rear doors have come away from the roof. Been like this after only 3 years from new. I've seen other E46 from 2002 on the road with similar issues. And faulty window mechanism front nearside. BMW say around £400+ to fit new gutter trim EACH SIDE! Will attempt a repair myself for these and the window - just need lots of time which is the hard thing.
BTW - as you reported not being able to get the vortex type oil separator element from BMW - it is available. I got mine ordered from PMW, same place I got the swirl-flap blanking plates, if you ever decide to fit it.
Cheers again!
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