What is next

[Mtnman]

So i currently have 134,600 miles on the zhp. I just took a few minutes and put my maintenance history in a spreadsheet. I didnt include things like oil changes. But major repairs and maintenance. If some of you knowledgeable guys would look at this and let me know if you think i am missing something big, let me know. Merry xmas everybody!
Maintenance Chart 330 ZHP
23921 bremi ign coils replacement
26901 Brake fluid change inspection 1
41577 Rubber Hydrolic mount/ front axle control are bottom leaking
41577 rubber hydrolic mount front axle wishbone
56534 alternator drive belt. Rear pads and rotors. Ac drive belt
72874 front brake pad and rotor
72874 injection nozzles replaced. Cyclone separator replaced
76611 DISA valvel replaced
87,625 brake fluid change, Valve cover gasket replaced, Front lower control arm bushings replaced power steering pump replaced, brake fluid change
99,998 spark plug replcement
129663 Transmission Fluid (auto) changed, pully/belt tensioner replaced
133122 (hit landscaping block in rd) Transmission fluid change, Transmission pan, Oil pan replaced, engine oil level sensor replaced, skid palte replaced
133758 Rear brake pads and rotors replaced

[shadowpuck]

ouch on the landscaping block!! that had to be an unpleasant experience.....

if you are a BMW club member - their technical advisor, Mike Miller, publishes a maintenance schedule that BMW used to follow; prior to offering free maintenance. Anyway, the main point is that the maintenance is pretty aggressive compared to modern schedules. It looks like you are following the more aggressive schedule.

Looks like you are hitting the big items - have you done cooling system maintenance? coolant flushes, etc.....

[Mtnman]

ohh. no. Dangit. guess its time for a change and a stewart water pump huh?

[shadowpuck]

if you have no record of cooling system maintenance, i think that's the only big thing left.....
you've done the cyclone - so that should be good.

you might be due for some pulley replacements, along with hoses (both water and vacuum).
in the couple of e46 cooling system replacements i've helped with we found cracked or damaged pullies and some broken vacuum hoses.

if there's no record of the cooling system, if it were my car i'd make sure i do that next.
there's plenty of good kits out there which will provide the water pump, hoses, expansion tank, etc; replacing the radiator is up to you - unless, of course, it shows signs of failing/leaking......
i'll let some of the others speak up as i believe the automatic transmission e46's have a different fan setup than the manuals - so, not sure if there's anything in there that needs to be addressed along with everything else.

that's a well maintained car there! you've addressed the brake fluid even - that's often missed!
only other thing i can think of might be gaskets - valve cover, etc. i'd only do that if there was evidence of leakage.....
are you the original owner?

all the usual suspects have the parts - bimmerworld, turner, etc. tischer bmw, directbmwparts (a dealer)...

[Mtnman]

I am the third owner, but my bro in law owned it since 38k miles. He had it cpo too, so he had everything done to it he could (notice all the maintenance after 80k miles.) He also put 80k miles on it in 2 1/2 yrs on the hwy. Pullys were replaced about 5k ago. The tranny fluid change took all the cohonas i had to get done, but im so glad i did.... Not changing tranny fluid ever (accd to bmw) just didnt make sense to me. So coolant system is definitely next..... Thanks for your input shadow. if you see anything else lacking, let me know!
david

[shadowpuck]

excellent - sounds like a well maintained car. now is when all that maintenance starts to pay off......

yeah, isn't the tranny fluid thing kinda bizarre? i mean, i understand why bmw did it, but good grief......

[Mtnman]

I know.. i mean damn. Never change the fluid? Im not a mechanic, but i understand physics and friction vs viscosity and useable life of materials. just doesnt make sense. The best thing about hitting the landscaping block (u know, try to look for the good in things) was that i got another tranny change about 5k miles after the first change, so i hope that got any extra floating particles out of the system.

[danewilson77]

You're gonna be due for suspension soon.

Belts....two tensioners and the deflection pulley.

Have you cleaned icv?

Diff fluid? I might have missed it though.

[zhp43867]

Stewart pump is not necessary. If you stick with the genuine updated BMW pump, you'll be fine.

[shadowpuck]

agreed on the water pump. the stewart piece is a great item, and well built, but i think for most situations the OEM pump is totally fine.

i forgot diff fluid -good call.....

[Mtnman]

so i re-assessed my sheet and due to a lack of thoroughness on my part, i failed to include that i have had all pulley tensioners and drive belts, etc replaced. I also had the diff fluid changed at the first tranny change service. So i guess that leaves cooling system for now. Dane, what is icv? and what suspension pieces are we talking about needing? rcabs, or shocks/struts?

[shadowpuck]

icv - idle control valve. it can get dirty over time and can impact the vehicle's ability to hold steady idle.

suspension wise - the odds are at that mileage most everything is worn, the question (at least in my opinion) is how worn is too much? in other words, can i live with it? my general rule is i don't touch the suspension unless something is obviously broken, or it has a dramatic impact on keeping alignment, etc.

that said, when i do finally do suspension on any of my cars i tend to do everything at once - all bushings, shocks/struts/springs, etc, mounts, etc...
and, of course, if i find an amazing deal well, then, can't ignore it! :)

at least based upon what i've read, the e46 tends to go through ball joints (which i think you've already had done).

much of my knowledge is on the e36 so i'm still learning all the ins and outs on the ZHP.....:)

[danewilson77]

so i re-assessed my sheet and due to a lack of thoroughness on my part, i failed to include that i have had all pulley tensioners and drive belts, etc replaced. I also had the diff fluid changed at the first tranny change service. So i guess that leaves cooling system for now. Dane, what is icv? and what suspension pieces are we talking about needing? rcabs, or shocks/struts?

Yup....^.....what puck said.