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The FAQ is never complete. If you have anything to contribute, please email me. Q: What is an E46? A: Each BMW body style is assigned a two digit number preceeded by "E". The "E" stands for "Entwicklung", the German word for development. The E46 is the body style for: 1999: 323i, 328i 2000: All 323 & 328s 2001+: All 323, 325, 330, & M3s The E46 M3 will start production in September 2000 and will have 330hp. See pictures here. Most dealers will not see more than one or two M3s by the end of 2000. Q: What are the production dates and model info for 2001? A: All 330 & 325 models have already started production Q: BMW is replacing the 323 and 328? A: The 325 and 330 have already replaced the 323 and 328, respectively. Q: What are the official HP/Torque numbers for the US-bound 325 & 330s? A: The 325 will have 184hp @5900rpm and 175lb/ft of torque@3500rpm. The 330 will have 225hp and 214lb/ft of torque. Here's everything you wanted to know about the new M54 (3.0 & 2.5L) engine. Keep in mind that 231bhp = ~225 US SAE HP. Q: Are there any differences between 1999 and 2000 cars? A: All year 2000 cars come standard with DSC (Dynamic Stability Control) rather than ASC. Also, For year 2000 cars produced after September 10, the following changes will be implemented (per Bulletin #00-3-7 26-Jul-99): Note- The exteriors of the cars have not changed. Q: What are the main differences between the 2000 323i and 328i?? Q: What are the exterior differences between the two cars? A: The 328 has the following: Q: What are the differences between the 2000 328 and the 2001 330? A: Here is a small list: Q: I paid $xx,xxx for my car. Did I pay a good price? A: Instead of asking yourself (or asking bimmer.org) if xx,xxx was a good price, calculate what you paid over invoice. Make sure to include the invoice price on all of your options. A "good deal" on a "fairly common" car is $1500-2500 over invoice. On brand new models or rarer cars, MSRP may be considered all you can get. Q: How should I negotiate prices for a car? A: Use the Rizzo Method! Click here for details. Q: Has the pricing on the 330 been released yet? A: Yes! Go HERE. Q: Has the pricing on the 325 been released yet? A: Yes! You should find a link to it from e46fanatics. Q: Where can I used 323 & 328 pricing? A: There are many sources including edmunds.com, kbb.com, and carpoint.msn.com. Q: Does the dealer really pay the invoice price? A: BMW dealers typically DO pay the invoice price. At the end of the month, they get a "dealer holdback" (cash back from BMW) based on their CSI (customer service index). Q: I'm interested in European delivery. Where can I find more information on it? A: Click here for cpick's European Delivery FAQ. Q: My dealer is trying to charge me extra fees. Is this a BMW policy? A: If the dealer is in a major metropolitan area, they must charge you a "MACO" or "DAG" fee. This covers local advertising fees, and is usually $200-$500. Any other fees that you are getting charged for are being charged by the dealer, and are most likely 100% profit. Q: Is there anything I should insist on before signing the papers? A: Floormats! E46s do not come with them.. and they cost around $80-120. Insist that your dealer include them. (some dealers DO include them automatically) Q: Is there any type of pick up checklist? A: Here's Jerry's very extensive E46 pickup checklist! Q: Is the BMW Financial Services finance rate negotiable? A: There is a "buy" rate and a "sell" rate in automotive financing. The buy rate varies by lender and can be influenced by (among other things)applicant's previous credit history, credit bureau "risk score", down payment (loan-to-value ratio), ...etc. The dealer earns "finance reserve" on the point spread between the bank's buy rate and the rate at which the deal is written. Q: How do I calculate my own lease payment? The depreciation calculation is simply obtained by first calculating the residual - multiply the M.S.R.P. by the published percentage offered by the leasing company (e.g. BMWFS 65% for 15k/yr 328i)... Next, subtract the residual from the adjusted cap cost which is the "selling price" (+) the bank fee and luxury tax (if applicable)(-)any cap reduction. Then simply divide that amount by the term of the lease to obtain the "monthly" depreciation. The "rent charge" calculation is also very simple. Just add the adjusted cap cost and the residual, and multiply that sum by the lease money factor(e.g. .00305). That product is the monthly rent charge. Now add the depreciation and the rent and you have the base monthly payment! All that's left is the monthly tax, based on your county of residence. Carlos Perez wrote this Excel spreadsheet to calculate it for you: lease.xls. Thanks Carlos! Q: When a car a deal is reached and a car is ordered, what is the typical down payment ? A: The average down payment is either $500 or $1000. The dealership would like to get $1000 but in almost all cases will accept a check for $500. Repeat customers at certain dealerships have been known to put nothing down but this is the exception rather than the rule. Q: What is the corporate rebate program? A: The corporate rebate is a program that BMW offers to employees of companies who participate in the program. When the employee buys or leases a new BMW, he/she will receive the rebate. So you ask which companies are the participants? I've never seen an official list from BMW, but some dealers' webpages have them. Here's one: Corporate Rebate Participant List. You can also call BMW at 1-800-831-1117 to check if a company is a participant. The rebate amount is $500 for a 323 and $1000 for a 328. You will receive the check directly from BMWNA 4-6 weeks after submitting your purchase or lease agreement. (You must submit this within 60 days of purchase) Note: BMW is discontinuing the Corporate Rebate program. It will NOT be valid for ANY 2001 model cars or any 2000 model cars sold after 10/31/2000. If your company is not on the list and you want it there, click here for how one person got her company added! Q: What is the BMWCCA rebate program? A: The BMW Car Club of America discount is generally the same amount as the Corporate Discount. They cannot be combined. You must be a member of the BMWCCA for one year previous to buying the car to get your discount. The CCA costs $35/year to join and includes a subscription to their magazine, Roundel. Membership also qualifies you to receive up to a 20% discount on parts and accessories from certain dealers. Click here to be taken to www.bmwcca.org. Q: I hear that people in other countries (Canada, Germany) can get BMWs with whatever option combinations they want. Can I get this here? A: Here's a write up by Glenn on how he ordered cloth seats in his E46! Q: Should I get an extended warranty? (and other warranty questions) A: 1) how much does the extended warranty cost? Is the price negotiable? "Service contracts" vary in price according to length and level of coverage, as well as by "deductible". Most definitely, the price is negotiable. The cost of the service contract is also dependent on who the provider is. 2) Can I buy the policy through any dealer or only from the dealer that I bought the car from? Service contracts can be purchased from any dealer... 3) Can I get repairs done at any dealer in the country? Generally speaking, the repair doesn't even have to be performed by a "dealer" per se... The only requirement (in most cases) is that the repair is performed by a reputable licensed repair facility... As a general rule, "deductibles" are usually lower, or are waived if the repair is performed by the selling dealer. 4) Is the policy underwritten by a 3rd party or BMW? Unfortunately, service contracts for BMW's are only (at this time) administered by a 3rd party... :-( 5) What happens if this third party company goes bankrupt, does the dealership take over the policy? Unfortunately, no... If the company goes bankrupt, you will probably lose your money... This has happened before. Make sure that you select a solid one. 6) How long do you have after buying the car to decide on buying the extended warranty? You have up until there is a minmum of 1 month, *and* 1,000 miles remaining on the original factory warranty... 7) Is the only variable between buying the policy now instead of at the end of the allowable period the possibility that the price of the policy might go up? If so, how much have prices been going up recently. The advantage of getting one early is obviously financial... If you buy one with the car, the cost can be included (i.e. financed) right in with the rest of the deal, and included in your monthly payments. There is also the issue of an "eligibility surcharge" that gets applied at various levels or intervals... Lastly, they do go up in price regularly... The last price increase I saw was on the order of several hundred dollars... Because service contracts are "transferable", and build "future value" it may make sense for some buyers to get one. If you are going to get one, the sooner the better... One thing is a given fact: they will go up in price... Think of them as a hedge against inflation. "Lock-in" future repairs at today's costs... The bottom line is that if you plan on keeping the car for a long time (beyond the 4-year factory warranty period), you might want to look into this further. -- Jon Shafer Q: What does it mean to order a car? How does it work? What happens at my dealer/at BMW in Germany when I order a car? A: Technically, (almost, see * below) all cars are "ordered" cars. All BMW dealers are allocated a certain number of production slots for their cars. Initially, the dealer orders each car with a set of options/color combinations that they think will be popular and sell well. Up to a certain point in time before the car is made, the specs on the car are still fully changeable (cf list of status codes here). This is where the "ordering process" fits in. Customer arrives at dealer with a certain set of options/color combos in mind, and there just aren't cars that are close enough to your specs that are available, either on the lot, as dealer trades, or already ordered and coming to the dealer soon, etc. What the dealer does is to *change* the options they previously ordered on one of their allocated production slots to the exact specs that the customer wants. Ideally, this would be the next available production slot that is still changeable, and that has not yet been sold to someone else who also ordered a car. At times of very high demand, though (like when the E46 was first introduced), production slots were sold out for several months into the future. So now there is a car scheduled for production with exactly the set of options/colors/etc. that you want. The production slot on the dealer's allocation list is uniquely identified by its "production number". WHEN WRITING YOUR DEPOSIT CHECK TO THE DEALER, WRITE THE PRODUCTION NUMBER ON THE CHECK! This now means that there's a production slot (and hence a car) "with your name on it". Before the car is built, the dealer will be able to tell you in which week of the calendar year the car will be produced, but not the day of the week. A couple of days before the car is produced, they should be able to tell you teh VIN, and once it has been made, they should be able to tell you the exact production date. After the car has been made, it might have to wait a couple of days at the factory to be put on a train, which takes it to Bremerhaven, where it will be loaded onto a ship (probably Wallenius) to be taken to the US. (or you could choose European Delivery.) Once your car has been placed on a ship, your dealer should be able to tell you the name of the vessel. You can then see when that vessel will arrive by going to Wallenius's vessel scehdule web page. Note: Occasionally Wallenius will 'rent' space on other non-Wallenius ships to keep up with demand. Email Wallenius with your VIN# if you can't seem to find your ship and they can give you arrival details. If you are on the West coast, your car will arrive at Port Hueneme in Oxnard, CA. If you are on the East coast, there are a few different ports it can arrive at. Please check Wallenius's web page for a list. After it arrives at the dock, it is taken to the VPC (Vehicle Processing Center). The time it spends at the VPC depends on the flow (volume) of cars arriving. Sometimes, a ship comes in with a light load, and the V.P.C. can crank them out in a day or two... On the other hand, it can take as long as a week if a couple ships arrive close together. Most importantly, a "sold order" is marked status code priority #1, which in plain English means get this one to the dealer A.S.A.P. It will be approximately 40 days from shipping date to delivery date if you are on the West coast and 30 days if you are on the East coast. Here are some related links you may find interesting: VonBimmerhead's BMW VPC pictures! * The exception here are the "seed units" of a brand new model, where BMW will send a certain number of cars with configurations they choose to the dealers so that every dealer has one or two of the latest and greatest model to let people test drive them before the new model becomes widely available. As of October 1999, the next BMW models for which dealers are scheduled to receive "seed units" are the X5. Q: What are the advantages/disadvantages of ordering a car? A: Advantages: Disadvantages: Q: Is there any way to 'track' where my car is without calling my dealer? A: No. Call or visit your BMW Center and ask them to see a copy of their "DCS2000 Vehicle Availability Report." Your car should be easy to spot on the list. Production Status Code number (if #150, then they should be able to provide you with the last 7 digits of the VIN), production number, and, of course your name together with order priority code (should be #1=Sold!!). They should be able to print this out for you. The availability report is updated on a daily basis, 6 days a week. For a list of status codes and what they mean, click here. Q: What is Car / Key Memory and how do I set it? A: Car and Key Memory is a group of preferences programmed by the dealer upon delivery of your vehicle. The dealer should give you a form to fill out when you pick up your car (or perhaps a day or two in advance) that you use to indicate your preferences for various settings. These can only be set by the dealer, but you can return to the dealer to have them changed as often as you want. Note that the initial setting incurrs no additional cost, but the dealer may charge you for changes made later. For a list of car/key options, click here. Q: I have my VIN. What does it mean? A: The VIN consists of 17 digits.
Q: What is the best product to use on leather? A: Lexol makes a great leather cleaner and a leather conditioner. You can see many cleaning tips at Car Care Online.com and Autopia Car Care. Q: How can I clean scuff marks off of my black leather? A: Michael "IronMike" Huoh on A4.ORG discovered that you can mix lexol with a brand of shoe polish that will make black leather look new again. View this entry on the A4 FAQ. Q: Ugh! Why are my wheels getting so dirty? A: It is common for E46's to "shed" lots of brake dust. Some of us are out there cleaning our rims once or twice a week. If you wax your rims the same way you wax the rest of your car, it will be a lot easier to clean them. More cleaning tips: The following links are text written by Thomas Nast. Many of people consider this the "bible" of car detailing techniques using Meguiars products. The New World According to Meguiar's Waxing Technique Q: What are the details of the break-in period? A: You should not exceed 4500RPM or 100MPH for the first 1200 miles. Try not to use cruise control and vary your speeds. On cars with a manual transmission, use engine braking as much as possible. Q: Should I really wait 15,000 miles before my first oil change like BMW recommends? A: There has been much debate on this issue. Many believe that the 15,000 mile interval was more of a marketing move than an engineering move. Others have suggested that today's synthetic oil really can effectively lubricate the engine for 15,000 miles. All scheduled oil changes are free up to the 45,000 mile mark. If you decide to have your dealer perform a non-scheduled oil change (at the 7500 mile mark, for example), it will probably cost you $50-60. Make sure to tell your dealer NOT to reset the service indicator. Late-breaking news... BMW has acknowledged that the present oil filter used in the E46 model vehicles (as well as other model and engines) will not necessarily last the desired 15,000 miles as required for extended oil service changes. The filter's filtering media has been known to become brittle and break apart due to the heat and pressure generated over time. This allows pieces of the filter media to be passed throughout the engine's lubrication system as well as possibly clog the smaller oil passages and contaminate the engine oil itself. Also, it had been noted that quite often the engine's oil looked to be far less than desireable at 15,000 miles when the filter failed due to the continued passing of the media itself and because there was no filtering of the oil to remove the normal contaminates found in the engine's oil. BMW mechanics have reported this information to the "Round Table" (a BMW information sharing team) that this is a commonly seen problem. BMW has a new filter which replaces this previously used filter. This new BMW filter is designed to last the required 15,000 miles without failing thereby offering protection for the extended oil service schedule changes of 15,000 miles. Next time you go in for your oil service, make sure your service department is aware of the new oil filter. Q: What type of oil should I use? A: The BMW manual recommends BMW 5W-40 synthetic or Mobil 1/Valvoline SynTech synthetic. Q: Help! I can't find the oil filter! A: If you open up the hood, you will see a cap labeled "25 nm" near the front of the car staring up at you. Unscrew it and you will find the filter. You should always buy an OEM oil filter from your BMW dealer. It will come with a required O-ring. Q: Where can I get an E46 repair manual? A:For a few years BMW published most of their repair literature on microfiche; now it's on CD. To use the CDs, you need an IBM PC compatible. The repair manual CD (for E36, E38, E39, and E46) is called the Technical Information Systems CD, costs about $110, and contains repair information, technical data, torque data, and a complete up-to-date collection of bulletins. The repair instructions include instructions for scheduled maintenance procedures. They are are overall quite comprehensive and are well illustrated, but they do assume basic proficiency. The software allows you to print out instructions, so you don't need to keep a PC in the garage. The software's interface isn't that good, but once you get used to it and to where various information is located, it's good enough. Ordering information Part Number TIS. Requires 486 or higher Windows 3.X OR 95 Computer, CD Rom drive, 4MB RAM, 10MB free hard drive space. The new source for these CDs is Central Letter Shop, 800.695.0079 (voice), 877.695.0079 (fax). The Parts CD (which covers all cars from 74-2000) is $126. Part number is SD92-148. The TIS CD covers E36, E46, E38, E39, E31, E53. It costs $154. Part number is 01 57 9 788 607 (177). Both CDs are updated as much as once a month. When you order, they'll send you the latest version. Q: Are there any special order options that I can get that are not listed in any brochures as available? A: Yes! One of them is the power rear sunshade. The option cost is around $500 I believe. Q: Is the Harman Kardon audio upgrade worth it? A: This is up to the individual. If you're used to a $2000 aftermarket audio system, the HK upgrade will sound poor. If you're used to hearing the stock stereo on a '92 Chevy Beretta, it will sound outstanding! (ask me how I know) Take your favorite CD down to your BMW dealer and pop it in a car with (then without) the Harman Kardon system and decide for yourself. Here's a great writeup on the HK system by Eric Foster Q: Are the Xenon lights worth it? A: Some consider Xenons a fad, others would not imagine driving a car without them. There is no doubt that Xenons are much brighter, although BMW's standard headlights are some of the best in the industry. If a Xenon headlamp "burns out," it may be expensive to fix. The replacement cost will most likely come down significantly as more and more auto manufacturers start offering them. Q: The sport package has a stiffer suspension. Does this make the ride harsh? (Note: Ci comes standard with sport suspension) A: The suspension is stiff, but the balance between ride comfort and stiffness is perfect. The sport seats are also very comfortable. I have never seen a post on bimmer.org where someone regretted getting the sport package (although there have been many that wish they had!). Q: The sport package comes with larger, high-performance tires. It snows where I live. Will I be OK? A: Performance tires + rear wheel drive = NOT fun in the snow. Traction control helps a lot, but it's not enough. If you are in a snowy climate and opt to get the sport package, it is highly recommended that you get a second set of rims and snow tires. Remember- If you have a 328i/328Ci, you'll have to get 16" rims as your extras- 15" rims will not fit over the front brakes of the 328. Here are some recommendations on snow tires: Note that BMW states that you should NOT use snow chains on the 328i 17" rims. Go to TireRack for pricing information. Q: How does the leatherette look? A: Many people are very pleased with the leatherette. The leatherette lacks the leather smell and it is easier to maintain. Most passengers will think you have leather! Once again, take a trip down to your BMW dealer and compare the two. Q: I really like the aluminum trim. Can I order it.. and can I install it myself? A: Vicky wrote a GREAT page describing everything you need to do to install the aluminum trim. Visit Vicky's great E46 mod page here! Q: I would like to mount a radar detector into my E46. Where can I tap into the power? A: There are two places that you can tap into power- Either the universal transmitter power in the roof center console or the cell phone power. Below is an example of one of each. View Brad Lavis's Valentine 1 installation View Kris Linquist's Valentine 1 installation View Donald Granger's Passport 7500 installation Q: What alarms can I get for my E46? A: The BMW alarm is p/n 65-73-9-416-520 Note: This P/N does NOT work on the convertible (MSRP $300, $220 from PacificBMW.com). This includes a high-powered siren, trunk/hood protection, interior motion sensor and tilt sensor. It will also flash the "clown nose" LED located on the bottom of the rearview mirror. Other alarms (such as Clifford) can be installed as well. If your installer needs a wiring diagram for one, select a model year: 1999 2000. Q: Can I install the BMW alarm myself? A: Yes. Even people with almost no mechanical skills should be able to do it in under an hour. The two tools required are a 10mm hex bit and a T-30 Torx bit. Installation instructions can be found here. Note: After installation, you will have to take your car to a BMW dealer to get the alarm 'activated.' Most dealers will charge a fee, but it is usually minimal. It should only take them 20 minutes to activate the alarm. Check out James Russo's alarm install page Q: I'd like my clown nose to blink and my car to beep when locked without having the alarm installed. Can I do this? A: Yes. The dealer has to do the following: e "Clown Nose" flashes when you activate your alarm. Did you know that you can have it programmed to flash, d the amber lights blink off/on when you open/close the doors even though the alarm is NOT installed? Here's how: 1) Have your dealer hook up the shop computer to the car. 2) Go to the "Anit-Theft" activation section. 3) Activate the alarm, but uncheck the "DWA" option. but.. There are some consequences to doing this: Activating the light is tricking the car's computer into thinking that the car has had an alarm installed. Consequently, fault codes are generated because the computer is searching for alarm data and can't find any... This will not affect the functionality of the vehicle until the car has some other electrical problem. When the car is hooked up to the diagnostic equipment at the BMW Center, the technician is going to pull up string after string of fault codes, and be unable diagnose whatever the problem is. At that point, the only solution will be to replace the car's computer -or- add an alarm in order to isolate the real fault codes... Sounds like a big headache just to have a blinking clown-nose thingy... Q: How can I test my BMW alarm? A: The tilt/motion sensors do not work until 30-40 seconds after the doors have been locked. To test the alarm, roll down your windows then lock the car. After waiting a minute or so, stick your hand in the window. The motion sensor should set the alarm off. Q: Can I install the Universal Transmitter myself? A: Yes. Here's installation information from Carl T. Greenan. Q: How do I install the cd changer? A: installation information from Dave Heckendorf. KO's installation (sedan w/ NAV) Q: How easy is it to upgrade the stereo/speakers? A: Great write-ups: Information by Cameron Moir. David Bagby's stereo upgrade saga Q: Is there a non-smoker package I can order? A: Yes. Here's the information provided by Joseph Koral: Non-Smoker Package Info. Q: What wheel/tire sizes can I go to on my E46? A: Several people have successfully installed 18" wheels on their E46's, however it is unlikely that this improves performance over a 17" wheel. The advantages of a larger wheel are better steering response and aesthetics. The disadvantages are greater unsprung weight (may affect suspension response) and greater rotational momentum/inertia, i.e. acceleration and braking will suffer. Typically a +1 treatment yields good results (in cases of a car with sport suspension but 16" wheels, going to 18" may also work for you). I would recommend against putting 18" wheels on a non-sport E46 however as the suspension is not designed for that. The E46 can accommodate tire widths up to 235mm in the front and 255mm in the rear. Remember to keep your overall diameter the same! This means go from 225/50-16 to 225/45-17 not 225/50-17. Q: What performance accessories are available? A: Dinan has both software and cold-air intakes available for the 323 and 328. Jim Conforti will have both available soon. Q: My car is supposed to be pre-wired for a cellular phone. Where can I get it? A: BMW currently only offers an analog cell phone at a very high price ($700+). The wiring in the E46 will support the installation of the Digital StarTac phones. The catch here is that it will only work with the not yet released data capable StarTac. This phone should be released soon. The new install kit will be released around December. Even if you have your own digital, data capable StarTac it will need a special software upgrade to work with the steering wheel controls. Q: I'd like to hook my current cell phone into my car. Can I do this. A: Ryan Akana successfully wired his Nokia 6190 into his car and used the proclip holder. View his installation here. Q: I heard I can get a strip to replace my front license plate bracket. A: Correct. You can order it from any BMW dealer- Part number 51-11-8-195-304 - list price: $16.20. Here's a picture of my car with the front strip installed: Picture. Q: Isn't it illegal not to have a front plate in many states? A: Sure is. I have been pulled over both in California and Ohio for other reasons, and the police officer never fails to mention that it is illegal not to have a front plate on the car, but I have never been ticketed for it. One person reported that in Santa Cruz, CA, he was ticketed for not having a front plate while PARKED. Q: How do I change the speed-sensitive volume control setting? A: This feature allows you to decrease the speed sensitive volume with the HK system as well as put your radio in different country modes (such as Europe mode). This doesn't work on all radio options, but give it a shot: On cars without NAV First, don't be driving while doing this procedure. Turn the radio off then on again. Dont touch any button except the 'm' button - the button you use to tune the radio frequency manually. Press and hold the 'm' button for TEN seconds or until the display changes. IIRC, it shows the serial number of the unit. Normally when you press 'm', the display will reflect that by replacing 'ST' (stereo tuning) with 'm'. When holding the 'm' button for this procedure, the display should not do this - you will continue to see 'ST' for the ten seconds. Now if the display has changed, you are in a configure mode on the radio. If you press the '+' or '-' button you change modes. The mode you want will display as "GAL (1-6)". This mode allows you to adjust the speed-sensitive volume control. Use the radio preset buttons 1-6 to set the amount of volume change you want at speed. Setting 1 is the smallest change, 6 is the highest. I use 1 with the windows closed, and 4 when it's a nice day and I drive with the windows open which makes for a lot of ambient noise at speed. The car is so quiet with the windows closed that setting 1 is plenty. On my car the default setting from the factory was 3 and it bugged me too. Then turn the radio OFF to save the settings. Turn it back on and go for a drive to test it. The other semi-useful test mode will tell you the signal strength of any give station from 0 to 15 (highest). Use the preset buttons to change stations in the mode. This capability is probably used in the automatic tuning funtion in the radio. On cars with NAV Get in the car, close the door, and turn the ignition to position 1 (accessory. As soon as the monitor comes on, press and hold the RDS button for aprox 12 sec. Using the arrow keys, near the Tone and Select buttons, scroll to heading "GAL" (German acronym for speed depandant volume) The default setting will be displayed. To change, use the number keys 1-6, 1 being less increase, 6 being maximum. Q: There appears to be some sort of sensor/light right beside my headlight switch. What is this? A: It is a light sensor which effects how brightly the on board computer and radio lights are displayed. To test it out by getting in your car at night, starting it, turning on the headlights, then taking the flashlight out of the glove compartment and shining it at the sensor. The displays mentioned above should become much brighter. Q: Where can I get update cds or cds for different regions for my navigation system? A: Click here to be taken to the BMW section on www.navtech.com Q: What is the red knob below the rear-view mirror? A: This is commonly referred to as the "clown nose". It houses a LED that flashes when the alarm is armed (IF you have the alarm installed). For cars without the premium package (which includes the auto-dimming rear view), it also functions as the dimming lever- Just twist it! Q: How do I remove the gas pedal?! A: Follow 'Jim in Oregon's' instructions here. Q: How do I remove my shift knob? A: Pull straight up, very hard. Be careful not to knock yourself in the head with it when it does pop off. :) Q: Help! My "Service engine soon" light just came on! A: Check to make sure that your gas cap is screwed on tight. If not, the SES light will be on for the next few days. If your gas cap IS tight, take your car into the dealer and get it checked out. Q: When I brake at high speeds, my steering wheel vibrates. A: Many people have reported this problem. It seems to develop after a few thousand miles. Rumor is that BMW may issue a recall on this matter in November. Q: After it has rained, my windows make a loud squeaking noise when they go up. A: This has been reported by a few, and they took their cars into a dealer for a window regulator or motor to be replaced. Q: Sometimes my sunroof doesn't open or close. A: It seems that the new E46s have an odd sunroof problem, where the car's electronics "lose" or "forget" its sunroof position initialization. The problem is most likely not the switch! To fix the sunroof, note the position of the roof (closed, open, or tilted). Let's use the "tilted" as our example. Press and hold the sunroof switch in the tilted position (i.e. press the switch straight up). Hold it for 20 seconds- This should reinitilize and it should work properly now. Q: I have an E46 Coupe with the HK system, and I can only find 10 speakers, not 12. A: The coupe DOES have 12 speakers. There are two speakers located under one of the grilles in the door. Q: Ugh!!! My E46 engine suddenly lost all its power while I was cruising down the street. A: A few reported that while driving as usual, the DSC and engine light would appear and the engine would not rev on demand. BMW had released Tech Service Bulletin addressing this problem on E46 and E39 in February, 99. The solution to it is to replace the throttle body which BMW refers to as an MDK. Q: What other bizarre problems have been reported? A: In one person's Y2K car, they were driving along and the DSC light came on, then the car immediately lost power. Here's another problem reported by Lorenz: After somewhat hard driving, I'd pull into my garage and turn off the car. The oil can light on the dash (the one that turns red during the power-on self test, i.e. when you turn the key from off into position II) would turn *yellow* and stay on for about 20-30 seconds. This is after I turned the car off and removed the key. Putting the key back in and turning it into position II, then removing the key, would turn the oil light off immediately. This was due to the fact that my oil level was slightly low. Driving the car hard probably caused some of the oil to be distributed in the engine, and the oil sensor found a "low oil level". Topping up the oil (under warranty at the dealer) fixed the problem. NOTE If your oil light comes on while driving the car (it did not in my case), the manual says to PULL OVER AND STOP DRIVING IMMEDIATELY to avoid engine damage. Q: My car starts beeping at me when I hit a certain speed! What's wrong?? A: The navigation system has this option. To disable it, hit the menu button, then use the round dial (not the volume switch, the one on the right side) to select on board computer and then push down on the dial. Once you're in the OBC screen, rotate the dial until you highlight the limit, then push down the dial again. Now you can change the limit or disable it completely. Q: My front windows squeak when raising them! What can I do? A: Try some Gummi-Pfledge! Gummi-Pfledge is a BMW rubber care product. A 2.1 ounce tube part # 82 14 9 407 015 retails for $7.50. It protects and takes care of rubber items. It prevents door weatherstrips from freezing up in winter and keeps the rubber pliable. I cleaned the strips with Spray-Nine prior to appling. Although it comes with its own applicator, using my forefinger was the way to go. Applied sparingly as recommended, one tube should last for years. See a picture of the tube here. Q: My windows don't seem to be sealing at the top- When I go over bumps in the road, I hear it "creak" or "pop" A: There is a technical service bulletin that BMW has for this. Take your car into your local service center and they will replace the window regulators. You should put a pair of gardening gloves in your spare wheel well. You think you have a lot of brake dust on the OUTSIDE of the wheels, you should see how much is on the INSIDE when you have to change your tire! Read all about BMW keys here Horsepower vs. Torque explained Shifting techniques ASC+T Explained |
