Had the bearings replaced in the alternator and new brushes fitted... still getting a little noise..? More anoying than anything as it's only at idle... when driving it's fine.. can runs fine...?

Maybe I'm being pickey... ?

Just a note.. my model (M57 - 2926cc - 184bhp) doesn't suffer from the 'flaps' issue. This is a flap (plastic) in the manifold that over time can come away and get eaten by the engine resulting in some serious damage... phew!

Turbo breather was also changed today... did it while at my dads... was black but not as gunged as when I first picked up the car last year..

I did get the car back from the bodyshop.. had the bonnet/front bumper sprayed up to get rid of all the stone chips.. and the rear bumper re-sprayed to get rid of some marks/scuffs... car looks brand new!

Car has gone to get the alternator/pulley sorted to get rid of the terrible noise!

Recently the engine developed a bit of a rattling noise.. so got it checked out. I was told it was the belt tensioner.. but if you were going to change that then you might aswell do both the drive belt and A/C belt. So it was done (£213)

Noise stopped for about a few weeks then came back. So took it back to same place.. and this time they said it's gota be the alternator. So now it's booked in to get that changed (£140).

During my regular up-keep of the engine.. i thought the MAF was due a clean. I bought some ISOPROPYL ALCOHOL cleaner to give it a blast. Have to be very careful not to damage it and take it apart slowly..

All done.. no change to cars performance but more for peace of mind...

On the forums there was alot of talk about the EGR valve on diesel motors. This valve uses hot exhaust gases and passes it into the intake with cold air. This mixture over time causes the EGR valve to get blocked therefore reducing the cold air uptake:









I had already cleaned my one.. but to save keep cleaning it on a regular basis I bought a Bypass Valve and had it fitted:

Now I have nothing but clean cold air going into the engine. Lovely.

The car had started to develop a bit of a leak. I checked the oil level and it wasn't getting lower. I checked the coolant and it wasn't getting any lower. I got the gearbox oil checked and it wasn't getting lower.. so left it for a bit. Now and then the yellow DDE light would some on the dash and I started to notice the petrol needle dropping alot.. so it had to be a diesel leak.

Got it booked it.. and the 6th injector was leaking.. right at the back.. got it changed (£233). all cleaned up and she was back to full health.

Now came the time for the remap. To prepare for it, I gave the car fresh oil and cleaned the air filter (washable).

I was using Emaps. They had been recommened alot by the forum guys and he had a good reputation. Met Simon... took the car for a spin and health-checked it on the computer - no faults so all good.

He downloaded the current ECU and set about modifying it. Once back he applied it and set it was the 'moderate map'. Back in the car for a spin.. all was good and WOW.. WHAT A DIFFERENCE.

Parked up.. and applied the more 'aggressive map'. Back in the car and went for a spin. FLIPPIN HELL... how much power!!! It was a completely new car. He told me if I had any issues to call him back and he would come and take a look.. top bloke, very professional and another satisfied customer.

Power - estimate 230bhp.. Torque 470 Nm

I had been looking for a set of rims for a long time... and have always longed for a set of BBS.. and found some for sale up on the BMW forum.. 19" BBS CH 8.5 x 19 front with 235/35/19 ET 35 and 9.5 x 19 rear with 265/30/19 ET 40 perfect for 3-series... so I snapped them up... refurbed them and dropped them on the car!!





It's as if these alloys were made for the E46... looked the business... I kept hold of the MV1's and will use them later when winter comes round.

The rear tyres were looking a bit low.. and the fronts weren't the best.. so got a whole net set all round.. same make.. 255/40/18 on the back and 225/45/18 on the front.. cost £280.. much better grip in dry/wet..

By now my mind had been made up to get a remap.. but before I did.. I wanted to get a better exhaust system to compliment my air filter and also make use of the remap.

I had heard about a company in birmingham called TorqueFlow. I made a meeting with them and had a chat. The advised on a straight through system... removing the centre section and finishing with tail-pipes slighlty offset to give it the BMW OEM finish. So booked it in.. handed over £490 and it was done in 4 hours. These guys don't fit one "of the shelf".. they custom make each and every application so you get a customized fit and a lifetime warranty.

I started to get a bit of a vibration through the steering wheel on braking.. didn't happen all the time.. but enough to get on my nerves... got it checked out and front caliper was sticking.. bit of a problem on 3-series.

It was advised that it's best to replace the whole lot (discs/pads).. so that's what I did. I got some new calipers (pair) at a cost of £290 and a set of front discs/pads. The old man replaced these for me and freshened up the brake fluid.. so that's another 20-40K of motoring I don't have to worry about...

To tidy the backend up.. I decided to polish the drab looking OEM diesel downpipes. This involved some fine grade sandpaper and some autosol polish...

Before:

After:

With the car running ok.. I decided it was time to start modifying the car. My whole aim was to keep the car as OEM as possible to maintain it's original looks.

First I started of with a simple air filter replacement.. OEM for a Pipercross one.

That is my air filter after I had serviced it.. can't believe how dirty it got!

This this black one suits the engine. Haven't noticed much difference.. sounds a bit more better even if it is a diesel.

With the car running right I had to sort out the handling/alignment.. so over to those 4-wheel laser alignment places and it wasn't good..





alot of red boxes... so handed over £100 and got it corrected...






I now started to get some true MPG readings.. and it was averaging about 38MPG... that will do nicely...

Bought my first ever BMW (Nov 2007).. and went for a oil burner.. but had to get the top of the range - 330d M-Sport and one with extra space cause of the kids.. so tourer it had to be.. in the only colour I buy cars in - BLACK. This was the 184bhp 5-speed manual version.

It only had 1 previous owner.. full BMWSH and alot of optional extras. It had 103K on the clock but that didn't worry me. It had some scuffs to the alloys.. bonnet/bumper was chipped bad and some dents here and there.. but was clean and straight.

Now being one of those newer cars.. the computer tells you when it needs a service. Computer said 10K or something. However, as the previous owner had already had his next "company car".. this wasn't used and it had only covered about 2K in 8 months. So being from the old skool days of servicing cars (6 months) I gave it an oil/oil filter/air filter/fuel filter change. Job Done.

I registered on the forums (BMWLAND.co.uk) and the guys also advisied me to change the turbo breather and clean out the EGR valve... so I did and boy it was messy!