100,000 mile maintenance advice

[ranger]

I am an experienced former E46 owner (2005 325i with 170,000+ miles) and I am in the process of buying a ZHP with 106,000 miles.

I plan on doing the cooling system upgrade - water pump, tstat, hoses, radiator cap, overflow tank, and radiator plus i plan on replacing the belts and pulleys while underhood. I also plan on replacing the rear diff fluid, fuel filter, and all the air filters. Finally, an oil change.

I will check the brakes.

I have been buying my BMW parts from Pelican. Does anyone have other BMW parts suppliers I should consider? Are there any suppliers who have a suggested cooling system kit?

Thanks

[Newjack]

ECS Tuning and getbmwparts.com are both reputable places to buy bmw parts. They both have cooling system bundles that you can buy for a reasonable price as well. I'm no guru but the stuff that I have seen on Pelican always seemed to be priced a little high.

Check http://www.ecstuning.com/BMW-E46-330i-M54_3.0L/Engine/Cooling/

and

http://www.trademotion.com/partlocator/index.cfm?action=MorePartInfo&PartID=774527&siteid=214672&catalogid=4462

[Marcus-SanDiego]

Also check out AutohausAZ (http://www.dpbolvw.net/click-4193730-10701773), which is an affiliate advertiser at ZHPMafia.com. Plenty of members use them, too.

[BCS_ZHP]

Scott,
Congrats on the find, think its going to turn out to be a great deal for you. The 6 spd you'll enjoy more than the steptronic (keep telling yourself that when you're in heavy traffic).

[echo46]

I use autohauz, pelican parts and sometimes bavauto. Also tried FCP Groton for brakes on my e36. All good. Although I am sure you are well aware, I would consider transmission fluid change with redline, a thorough inspection of the suspension, ICV and throttle body clean and brake fluid change. Just my 2 cents. Good luck with the ZHP.

[billschusteriv]

+1 on above.

Would also consider transmission fluid and brake fluid flush/fill/bleed.

Whether or not you go for all BMW parts in your cooling system kit, I recommend that you consider getting a BMW OE water pump. I've purchased OEM water pumps only to have them fail after 10k miles.

[echo46]

I will be doing the a cooling system refresh tomorrow and bought the OEM water pump so as to avaid a possible failure. Also replacing hoses, temp sensor, thermostat/housing and expansion tank. Will also be doing the fuel filter and brake fliud.

[ranger]

Sorry - a little confused. DO buy a OEM water pump or DO NOT buy an OEM water pump?

Thanks

[echo46]

My bad, get an oe pump with a metal impeller. If you want a really good one check out the Stewart water pump.

[danewilson77]

My bad, get an oe pump with a metal impeller. If you want a really good one check out the Stewart water pump.

Quoted from a friend...

"The old BMW water pumps had orange or black plastic impellers that were prone to breaking. The newer BMW water pumps have a fiber-resin composite impeller that looks like black plastic, but is much less prone to breaking; however, the stigma of the "plastic impeller" has persisted. Many aftermarket water pumps (such as Graf, I think) have metal impellers.

Both will move the water adequately. Both (composite and metal) will last a while, unless abused or dropped during shipping/installation.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that the bearings in the OEM pumps are better than the bearings in the aftermarket pumps, but I don't think there is real research or empirical evidence to support this. Now that the impellers don't break like they used to, the bearings are the new weak point.

I personally went with an OEM pump with composite impeller.

There's also the Stewart high-performance pump, but that's off in a category by itself, and is several times more expensive than the usual OEM or aftermarket pumps."

[billschusteriv]

Sorry - a little confused. DO buy a OEM water pump or DO NOT buy an OEM water pump?

Thanks

OE water pump = water pump (may be manufactured by GRAF) in BMW box to BMW specifications. Most $$$.
OEM water pump = water pump made by GRAF in GRAF box made to fix the hole in your motor. Less $$$.
Aftermarket water pump = water pump not installed in your car from the factory, e.g. made by Stewart. More $$$.

[ranger]

Ok - $770 worth of 100,000 preventative maintenance love headed for the "new" ZHP from Autohaus. Should start installing next week.

[zj96sc]

Scott - pleasure to meet you this afternoon.

My thread is over in the projects forum, just tackled a lot of this same stuff.

Looking forward to some pics of the new coupe.

Paul