[karan561]

In this Video i run you through all the Tools i've bought & D.I.Y. Jobs undertaken which have helped me maintain my BMW E46 328i.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dHV...x2DEe8BYv38-qE

[karan561]

Tools;



- OBD Scanner;

BlueDriver is the scan tool i've purchased.
Not only can you read and clear the typical check engine light codes, you can also read and clear airbag, transmission, ABS, and other module codes.
Its fairly easy to use as a code reader & has decent capabilities compared to other expensive handheld scanning tools. This scanner is operated through its App which can be installed in your SmartPhone (Google Pixel 3XL in my case). Its also compatible on Apple devices.

- Full Ratchet Set;

A full 1/2inch ratchet set by FORCE. 1/2inch is useful for heavy jobs and in this set we have sockets from 10mm to 32mm.
Also, in the box you get a U-Joints for harder to reach areas.
The FORCE ratchet is great quality and the teeth have never skipped during our use.

- Torque Wrench;

Torque Wrench is an essential tool to have and is probably the most widely ignored tool in India.
There are digital wrenches available as well but mechanical torque wrenches are highly reliable and robust.
We are using the Torque Wrench by Torquemaster, an Indian based company and the model is TM-100, maximum torque capacity is 135NM which is good enough for basic work but may not be enough for Axle jobs.

- Moto Heavy Jack;

This Jack makes life easy than the conventional Jack provided with the stepney/spare tyre.

- Jack Stands;

Total 4 Jack Stands with a capacity of 3MT each.

- Dremel;

A very handy rotary tool by Dremel for custom fabrication and sometimes even useful for removing rusted/stripped bolts.

- Multimeter;

Its always useful to have a Multimeter in your toolkit as its handy to have to check battery, alternator and fuse related jobs.

- WD-40;

This blue & yellow can is a problem solver for many jobs not only for me but across the world & for decades.

- KW Tool Kit;

This kit came with the KW Coilovers. It consists of a Spanner wrench which is used to adjust the height of the suspension helping me to raise / drop my E46. The kit also includes an adjustment pin which can alter the ride quality by making the coilovers stiff i.e. towards a track setup or more comfortable i.e. Street Setup. All 4 corners can be customised according to your needs & has a total of 16 clicks/settings.

[karan561]

Driveshaft Centre Support Bearing Replacement;

This bearing supports the center section of the drive shaft.

The CSB required a full overhaul due to previous misalignment of driveshaft which was out of balance causing out of specification rotational stress on the CSB which is a delicate bushing that can rupture very easily.

The CSB jobs required exhaust removal, transmission and differential cross-member removal and finally removal of the flex-disc (Guibo) which was also replaced.

This was one of the most difficult jobs attempted as a DIY. IIRC the car was on jack stands for well over 24hrz;





We took our own time to remove the driveshaft, bring it to one of our offices have a good look at whats going on;





Referring to websites such as RealOEM helped a lot;

[karan561]

Gearbox Mounts Replacement;

During the CSB job (Described in Post #3), access to the transmission mounts was extremely simple and made sense to be replaced as well.
This is a very tricky job as the new bushings are not compressed and need external force to be compressed by using a jack for proper alignment.

[karan561]

Brake Pad Wear Sensor Light Solution;

This was a simple workaround to eliminate the brake pad light on the dash by shorting the wear sensors on the from left and rear right of the vehicle.

[karan561]

New Horn Install;

Was a relatively easy fix but the headlights & a few other components had to be removed to replace the horn.



The OE horn lasted till upto 2019 which is approx 18 years considering its a MY 2001 Car



A similarly German sounding horn by Roots was installed;

[karan561]

Other Miscellaneous Jobs

New Lug Bolts;

The E46 uses a 17mm lug dimension for the wheels;



New Number Plate LED Lights;

[karan561]

3D Printer;



The Role of a 3D printer was required on a few instances. Thankfully we have a few 3D printers readily available.

During the job (Post #3) of the Centre Support Bearing replacement we noticed a bushing between the output shaft of the transmission and the driveshaft had perished from polymer degradation.

So we custom made the same part in CAD & later 3D printed it;



^ The material used was TPU.



^ finally went in perfectly

[Sheel]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[AMG Power]

Hey Karan, good to see you're a DIY expert too.

It takes real passion to be able to handle DIY on older cars - studying manuals, parts availability, accuracy of information, skill and knowledge levels etc.

Would be good to see videos of work being carried out on the car. I hope you're taking adequate safety precautions.

Look forward to seeing the thread regularly updated.

[Jeroen]

Great thread, thanks for sharing! Good to see you are enjoying working on your car. Interesting to see the use of the 3D printer to make your own part!

When working on prop shafts it is always a good idea to put markings on all the flanges in order to get it back in the exact same orientation. On some cars, the prop shaft is actually balanced and you migth get some vibration if not all the parts go back in the correct orientation to one another.

Jereon

[mura]

Originally Posted by karan561

Gearbox Mounts Replacement;

During the CSB job (Described in Post #3), access to the transmission mounts was extremely simple and made sense to be replaced as well.
This is a very tricky job as the new bushings are not compressed and need external force to be compressed by using a jack for proper alignment.

If you need to compress the gearbox mounts to fit them - either your engine mounts have compressed due to age or if you had new engine mounts installed they stretched when you removed the transmission rear bracket and did not support the gearbox. I have done multiple transmission mounts on E46's and did not need to compress them in any car.

Also, these work very well: https://www.rogueengineering.com/Rog...nts_p_137.html

[bharatbits]

My dream is to have a garage where i can do the basic maintenance for my cars myself. I would really like to pursue that as a hobby as and when space at home permits.

[chieftain]

Nifty 3D Printer usage! Probably the future of parts manufacturing right there.

[karan561]

Originally Posted by AMG Power

Hey Karan, good to see you're a DIY expert too.

It takes real passion to be able to handle DIY on older cars - studying manuals, parts availability, accuracy of information, skill and knowledge levels etc.

Thanks for the appreciation.

Would be good to see videos of work being carried out on the car. I hope you're taking adequate safety precautions.

When the work was done did not film any videos but had only clicked random pictures. But with all the Quarantining going around thought of filming this entire experience in a pictorial presentation as seen in the video.

Look forward to seeing the thread regularly updated.

Sure thing !

Originally Posted by Jeroen

Great thread, thanks for sharing! Good to see you are enjoying working on your car.

Hi Jereon, thanks ! Your DIY threads/posts are really inspiring too. Hope one day I can reach upto your level

Interesting to see the use of the 3D printer to make your own part!

Yes, i had also 3D printed another part. Looking for those pics. Shall post soon.

Originally Posted by mura

If you need to compress the gearbox mounts to fit them - either your engine mounts have compressed due to age or if you had new engine mounts installed they stretched when you removed the transmission rear bracket and did not support the gearbox.

You're right, the engine mounts need a change.

Originally Posted by bharatbits

My dream is to have a garage where i can do the basic maintenance for my cars myself. I would really like to pursue that as a hobby as and when space at home permits.

Good Vision !

Originally Posted by chieftain

Nifty 3D Printer usage! Probably the future of parts manufacturing right there.

Thanks !