[swooshdave]

Just made a deal on a 2001 330xi sedan. I was surprised at the condition considering it has 208k miles. It's in fantastic shape for that mileage. I've seen cars with way less miles in horrible shape. And for the price I wasn't going to blink. Actually offered them more than they were asking. It is someone from work so not just a rando. They were just done with it and didn't want to do any work on it anymore. I've been there so I know what they mean.

I use to have a wonderful E39 540i wagon. Loved that car to death. Amazing power until it ate the timing chain guides. I've sworn off BMW V8s. Now I have a 2012 X5 which is fine but isn't really doing it for me. It was originally for the wife and while she loved the wagon she hates the SUV. Go figure.

The 330xi is suppose to be for the oldest kid.

Now the bad news. It's suppose to have a bad idle. Ran perfectly while I was looking at it. Owner thinks it's more prevalent when it's been driven for a while. Doesn't quite sound like a vacuum leak. It's throwing lean codes. He replaced a bunch of stuff on the intake side (MAF, CCV, some hoses). I'm suspecting the MAF so far. It might be aftermarket.

Anyways I'll get it home this weekend and see if I can get it to misbehave.

 

[kylanjohnson]

Welcome!

Pull out INPA and see what it says.

 

[swooshdave]

Welcome!

Pull out INPA and see what it says.

INPA?

Got it home. Drives great. Idle issue presented briefly but isn’t consistent. When brakes are hot the front judders a lot. Seller said he changed front rotors a lot. Car would sit all winter and you can see where the pads were on the rotors.

 

[PowerS54]

Welcome!
Great looking ride. That interior looks fantastic for the miles.
INPA is THE best tool for these cars. It is part of the "BMW Standard Tools" download. It is the program the dealers used back in the day. And the download is free! All you need is a K-DAN cable for like $15 and an extra computer. New, used, whatever. Bunch of advice on how to set it up and get it going. Small learning curve, but so worth it.

 

[swooshdave]

Welcome!
Great looking ride. That interior looks fantastic for the miles.
INPA is THE best tool for these cars. It is part of the "BMW Standard Tools" download. It is the program the dealers used back in the day. And the download is free! All you need is a K-DAN cable for like $15 and an extra computer. New, used, whatever. Bunch of advice on how to set it up and get it going. Small learning curve, but so worth it.

Interior is looking better. Making the kid scrub the inside. As soon as she gets her licenses she can drive it.

 

[Mantraxalos]

I picked up a $900 202k mi 330xi with poor idle and lean codes. I did a smoke test and let me say there was a quite a lot of smoke. I changed the intake boots, ccv, the intake air temp oring, air distribution orings and perhaps MOST importantly - the 7mm vacuum port cap on the back of the intake manifold. It runs much better now. Afterwards, I put in new NGK plugs and coils as the history was mostly unknown.

 

[swooshdave]

I picked up a $900 202k mi 330xi with poor idle and lean codes. I did a smoke test and let me say there was a quite a lot of smoke. I changed the intake boots, ccv, the intake air temp oring, air distribution orings and perhaps MOST importantly - the 7mm vacuum port cap on the back of the intake manifold. It runs much better now. Afterwards, I put in new NGK plugs and coils as the history was mostly unknown.

We’re you able to reach the vacuum port cap without removing the intake manifold?

 

[Mantraxalos]

Yes but I took off the plastic shield between the intake manifold and brake reservoir. In addition to of course the cabin filter housing.

 

[77'911]

I would pull the DISA. It was the culprit for lean codes and a poor idle quality on our MY02 330xi.

 

[swooshdave]

I would pull the DISA. It was the culprit for lean codes and a poor idle quality on our MY02 330xi.

I figure it’s that or the ICV.

 

[77'911]

I figure it’s that or the ICV.

The ICV can get dirty, where it makes the idle not champagne glass balancing on the intake smooth, but rarely causes a DTC. Generally, they seem to be pretty reliable, unlike the door lock actuators in these cars. ; ) I'll be interested what you find. I've pretty much gone through everything on our car.

 

[swooshdave]

The ICV can get dirty, where it makes the idle not champagne glass balancing on the intake smooth, but rarely causes a DTC. Generally, they seem to be pretty reliable, unlike the door lock actuators in these cars. ; ) I'll be interested what you find. I've pretty much gone through everything on our car.

Luckily I got a pile of service records.

FISA (Intake Mani Runner Valve) was replaced ($313.29) on 9/27/2011. 50k miles ago. I hope for that price it was an actual BMW part.

I will still pull it and check.

Looked through the paperwork and no mention of the ICV.

I'm very suspicious of vacuum lines throwing the codes.

With this many miles and if no one has been at the ICV... it's time!

 

[77'911]

Luckily I got a pile of service records.

FISA (Intake Mani Runner Valve) was replaced ($313.29) on 9/27/2011. 50k miles ago. I hope for that price it was an actual BMW part.

I will still pull it and check.

Looked through the paperwork and no mention of the ICV.

I'm very suspicious of vacuum lines throwing the codes.

With this many miles and if no one has been at the ICV... it's time!

Well, in less than 50k, I've pulled the intake 2x times to refresh virtually everything. Here is the actual BMW part...
adjuster unit
Vacuum hoses are cheap, I just replace when I'm in there. Since it's a new car to you, you'll probably need to base line it service wise.

 

[swooshdave]

Well, in less than 50k, I've pulled the intake 2x times to refresh virtually everything. Here is the actual BMW part...
adjuster unit
Vacuum hoses are cheap, I just replace when I'm in there. Since it's a new car to you, you'll probably need to base line it service wise.

I would look to rebuild the FISA before replacing. But I will definitely check the condition of as many vacuum lines as I can when I first dive in. If I find a few that are suspect I’ll assume most are.

 

[swooshdave]

Intake is not surprisingly less than pristine. I don’t like the link in the hose to the ICV. MAP looks new. Made in Germany stamped on it. FISA looks new and operates perfectly. Pin tight. That’s good to go back in. So far haven’t found any suspicious looking vacuum hoses.

ICV doesn’t look like it’s been out recently. I won’t pull that until the weekend.

 

[77'911]

You might check if the disa will hold vacuum. It looks in decent shape and factory unit.

 

[swooshdave]

You might check if the disa will hold vacuum. It looks in decent shape and factory unit.

Given the number of places these things can leak vacuum that aren't called DISA I'll leave that for later. If I exhaust all other options then I can come back to the DISA as it's relatively easy to remove. I'm mostly concerned about the vacuum lines and caps at the back of the intake manifold.

 

[77'911]

Given the number of places these things can leak vacuum that aren't called DISA I'll leave that for later. If I exhaust all other options then I can come back to the DISA as it's relatively easy to remove. I'm mostly concerned about the vacuum lines and caps at the back of the intake manifold.

It's not the flapper valve that is of total concern, it's if that vacuum pod on it will hold the flap in position. Easy to test when its off(IE 3 torx bolts). If you're going to keep the car, I'd just pull the intake and reseal. Makes replacing the vacuum hoses, caps, and lines much easier. I just had to do ours to deal with the brake vacuum booster valve and hoses(read: fun).

 

[swooshdave]

It's not the flapper valve that is of total concern, it's if that vacuum pod on it will hold the flap in position. Easy to test when its off(IE 3 torx bolts). If you're going to keep the car, I'd just pull the intake and reseal. Makes replacing the vacuum hoses, caps, and lines much easier. I just had to do ours to deal with the brake vacuum booster valve and hoses(read: fun).

I'm not feeling that adventurous yet. DISA is two Torx bolts on mine.

 

[swooshdave]

Moving this discussion to a new thread and out of Introductions.

My 330xi Resuscitation Thread

Here's my introduction thread. It was getting a little verbose and was turning into more than an introduction. https://www.e46fanatics.com/threads/330xi-sedan-not-first-rodeo.1310822/#post-19095665 So I'm just going to track all of my maintenance and modifications here from now on. Now this...

www.e46fanatics.com