BMW Guru's

JamesShort · **Posted:** Mon Nov 05, 2012 11:02 am

I have Continental DW in the rear and will probably put them in the front too when the PS run out. They are great DD tires and at least somewhat fun to autox (on a setup day or whatever). If I ever decide to autox this thing, I'll probably get square 255 star specs on 17x9s.

MikeWhitney · **Joined:** Wed Aug 20, 2003 9:15 pm **Posts:** 4724

Out of curiosity, any of you guys with E46's have the "leaning" shifter? Where the shifter in neutral will not pop back under 3rd but sticks under 5th?

I did the detent pin bushing fix last week and it worked like a charm. Pulled the trans to replace the clutch and did the bushings at the same time. Took a few hours of creativity with hand tools (mostly for extracting old parts) but did not need the special drift tools, sockets worked fine.

Only bad part was that all 4 manifold bolts snapped when removing the exhaust. 5 hours to drill those suckers out.. Ouch.

Brian Marks · **Posted:** Mon Nov 05, 2012 11:09 am

MikeWhitney wrote:

Out of curiosity, any of you guys with E46's have the "leaning" shifter? Where the shifter in neutral will not pop back under 3rd but sticks under 5th?

I did the detent pin bushing fix last week and it worked like a charm. Pulled the trans to replace the clutch and did the bushings at the same time. Took a few hours of creativity with hand tools (mostly for extracting old parts) but did not need the special drift tools, sockets worked fine.

Only bad part was that all 4 manifold bolts snapped when removing the exhaust. 5 hours to drill those suckers out.. Ouch.

Yes, ours has that. Annoying.

JamesShort · **Posted:** Mon Nov 05, 2012 11:17 am

I'm not sure what you mean about the leaning shifter. The gearing in this thing is so long that I rarely go to 5th and I think I've been in 6th gear like 3 times

. Short shifting this car makes your fuel economy go to crap.

Mike, what shift bushings are you talking about?

I have the white plastic cage, the front 'stay' bushings, and the two rear ones on the end of the shifter stay. Haven't really researched the install yet.

EDIT: Ok, just read up on the leaning shifter thing. No I don't have that, though it seems that the 6 speeds might not be affected based on a quick search on zhpmafia.

Chris Halweg · **Posted:** Mon Nov 05, 2012 11:56 am

Brian Marks wrote:

MikeWhitney wrote:

Out of curiosity, any of you guys with E46's have the "leaning" shifter? Where the shifter in neutral will not pop back under 3rd but sticks under 5th?

I did the detent pin bushing fix last week and it worked like a charm. Pulled the trans to replace the clutch and did the bushings at the same time. Took a few hours of creativity with hand tools (mostly for extracting old parts) but did not need the special drift tools, sockets worked fine.

Only bad part was that all 4 manifold bolts snapped when removing the exhaust. 5 hours to drill those suckers out.. Ouch.

Yes, ours has that. Annoying.

Our e39 wagon has the same problem. As it gets colder out, it gets worse.

Scott Lusted · **Joined:** Tue Oct 27, 2009 9:52 am **Posts:** 215

MikeWhitney wrote:

Out of curiosity, any of you guys with E46's have the "leaning" shifter? Where the shifter in neutral will not pop back under 3rd but sticks under 5th?

I did the detent pin bushing fix last week and it worked like a charm. Pulled the trans to replace the clutch and did the bushings at the same time. Took a few hours of creativity with hand tools (mostly for extracting old parts) but did not need the special drift tools, sockets worked fine.

Only bad part was that all 4 manifold bolts snapped when removing the exhaust. 5 hours to drill those suckers out.. Ouch.

The one we have does it also. I'm probably going to ignore it for now but I've heard the bushing kit is the only real way to fix it. Internet searching as suggested that possibly changing the fluid would help but I'm not one for bandaids...

-Scott

MikeWhitney · **Joined:** Wed Aug 20, 2003 9:15 pm **Posts:** 4724

Scott Lusted wrote:

MikeWhitney wrote:

Out of curiosity, any of you guys with E46's have the "leaning" shifter? Where the shifter in neutral will not pop back under 3rd but sticks under 5th?

I did the detent pin bushing fix last week and it worked like a charm. Pulled the trans to replace the clutch and did the bushings at the same time. Took a few hours of creativity with hand tools (mostly for extracting old parts) but did not need the special drift tools, sockets worked fine.

Only bad part was that all 4 manifold bolts snapped when removing the exhaust. 5 hours to drill those suckers out.. Ouch.

The one we have does it also. I'm probably going to ignore it for now but I've heard the bushing kit is the only real way to fix it. Internet searching as suggested that possibly changing the fluid would help but I'm not one for bandaids...

-Scott

Good for you if you can ignore it, stuff like that drives me absolutely bananas

I'm weird like that, everything I "touch" in a car has to work perfectly or I get grumpy! Also squeaks and rattles .... grrr.

On the other hand, little oil leaks I could care less about, but I know some people (cough Jason Tower cough) can't sleep at night if a motor has some oil on the outside

Scott Lusted · **Joined:** Tue Oct 27, 2009 9:52 am **Posts:** 215

MikeWhitney wrote:

Scott Lusted wrote:

MikeWhitney wrote:

Out of curiosity, any of you guys with E46's have the "leaning" shifter? Where the shifter in neutral will not pop back under 3rd but sticks under 5th?

I did the detent pin bushing fix last week and it worked like a charm. Pulled the trans to replace the clutch and did the bushings at the same time. Took a few hours of creativity with hand tools (mostly for extracting old parts) but did not need the special drift tools, sockets worked fine.

Only bad part was that all 4 manifold bolts snapped when removing the exhaust. 5 hours to drill those suckers out.. Ouch.

The one we have does it also. I'm probably going to ignore it for now but I've heard the bushing kit is the only real way to fix it. Internet searching as suggested that possibly changing the fluid would help but I'm not one for bandaids...

-Scott

Good for you if you can ignore it, stuff like that drives me absolutely bananas

I'm weird like that, everything I "touch" in a car has to work perfectly or I get grumpy! Also squeaks and rattles .... grrr.

On the other hand, little oil leaks I could care less about, but I know some people (cough Jason Tower cough) can't sleep at night if a motor has some oil on the outside

I'm more likely to pull the transmission to fix the rear main seal leak than the shifter... But, I'll probably wait until the end of the year to do the clutch, rear main, and trans bushing kit..

Our chumpcar doesn't even leak a drop of oil.....

-Scott

Jason Tower · **Joined:** Wed Jun 11, 2008 3:31 pm **Posts:** 1173

Scott Lusted wrote:

Our chumpcar doesn't even leak a drop of oil.....

-Scott

can i switch teams?

Vincent Keene · **Posted:** Mon Nov 05, 2012 1:58 pm

Jason Tower wrote:

Scott Lusted wrote:

Our chumpcar doesn't even leak a drop of oil.....

-Scott

can i switch teams?

Landmark day...Tower comes out and says he wants to be on "the other team"...not that there is anything wrong with that. :lol:

Charlie Guthrie · **Joined:** Thu Aug 28, 2003 8:14 pm **Posts:** 832

My Z3 has the sticky 5th gear blocking pin, too. I did change to Redline oil, but it only helped a little. Wait until spring, it will improve. In the meantime just drive with care....1 - 2 -5....._Uuuuhh
CG

Scott Lusted · **Joined:** Tue Oct 27, 2009 9:52 am **Posts:** 215

Sooo a few days ago... P0171 and P0174 codes turned on the cel. Seemed to run ok so I drove it that day. That evening, I found the vac line on the air pump valve cracked so I replaced it and started inspecting everything on the intake side for other possible issues. The CCV system was all replaced by the previous owner and everything seemed to check out just fine.

I drove the car yesterday and it ran just fine but on my way home from work the cel came back on. Same codes. Oh well, I'll take a look at everything this weekend since it was running fine.

Well, this morning the car would hardly run once it warmed up. No power, missing, just plain not running well. I double checked everything I touched the other day but it all looked just fine. More internet searching landed me at inspecting the disa valve. I did the carb cleaner test around the gasket location and sure enough the rpm's jumped. I went ahead and pulled it out to see what was going on and it looks like the original gasket is completely flat and not getting a good seal. The valve is also very loose and based on the google searches, it is just due for replacement.

I parked the car outside last night and I'm betting the cold weather finally opened the questionable seal.

Anything else while I'm in there? Intake gaskets appear to be made of the same thing so it might be good to just replace it.

I already ordered a new fuel filter since those are also culprits of lean but it doesn't seem to be down on power.

-Scott

JamesShort · **Posted:** Thu Nov 08, 2012 1:56 pm

Scott Lusted wrote:

Sooo a few days ago... P0171 and P0174 codes turned on the cel. Seemed to run ok so I drove it that day. That evening, I found the vac line on the air pump valve cracked so I replaced it and started inspecting everything on the intake side for other possible issues. The CCV system was all replaced by the previous owner and everything seemed to check out just fine.

I drove the car yesterday and it ran just fine but on my way home from work the cel came back on. Same codes. Oh well, I'll take a look at everything this weekend since it was running fine.

Well, this morning the car would hardly run once it warmed up. No power, missing, just plain not running well. I double checked everything I touched the other day but it all looked just fine. More internet searching landed me at inspecting the disa valve. I did the carb cleaner test around the gasket location and sure enough the rpm's jumped. I went ahead and pulled it out to see what was going on and it looks like the original gasket is completely flat and not getting a good seal. The valve is also very loose and based on the google searches, it is just due for replacement.

I parked the car outside last night and I'm betting the cold weather finally opened the questionable seal.

Anything else while I'm in there? Intake gaskets appear to be made of the same thing so it might be good to just replace it.

I already ordered a new fuel filter since those are also culprits of lean but it doesn't seem to be down on power.

-Scott

I did the fuel filter a few weeks ago. I pulled the 54 fuse and let it stumble to death. When I pulled the first hose off the filter, it still was VERY pressurized and I got gas all of my face and arms. As you slide the first hose off, completely cover the connection with shop towels and do so slowly. I've never seen so much residual pressure in a fuel system after letting it stall be turning the fuel pump off.

The DISA valve gasket can be fixed with electrical tape instead of replacing the whole valve (unless the flapper or something else is bad).

From Rajaie and Beisan Systems:

Quote:

The DISA valve is problematic on 01+ 3.0l cars.
The DISA is a black box 4" high 6" wide on the side of the intake manifold
adjacent to the MAF. Remove it. The flap should rotate with resistance and
spring back when released. It shouldn't have any play. It breaks at its base
axis. If it's broken, the flap end axis pin can be removed and the flap will
fall off.
The 01+ DISA has a base gasket built into the DISA. It shrinks over time and
creates a small vacuum leak. Place an 8" piece of electrical tape on a table
top. Cut the tape half width with a razor knife. Place one layer of half
width electrical tape over the base gasket. This will thicken the gasket and
create a tight seal with the intake manifold.

Lucky you got the CCV system replaced before you purchased it...I'm dreading that job

.

Scott Lusted · **Joined:** Tue Oct 27, 2009 9:52 am **Posts:** 215

Update!

Just came back from the BMW dealership. Good thing for a "support" discount through work.

Put the new part on and it runs like it should now!

-Scott

MikeWhitney · **Joined:** Wed Aug 20, 2003 9:15 pm **Posts:** 4724

Bad CCVs, leaking DISAs, sticking shifters, defective vanos seals, leaking expansion tanks? Jeez, BMWs suck, I think I'll stick with Porsches :lol:

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