2mAns Daily Driver Thread - who knows what it is today...

[roguetoaster]

So, in 6mo you'll sell it to someone not in CA.

[mike.bmw]

That sounds like a good solution. Now you can enjoy it for 1.5 years before deciding to sell or keep it.

[2mAn]

Mini Update: I reached out to the BAR because theres a program that Im trying to take advantage of. Basically with the failed smog and the subsequent work done, I can get a one-time pass on the smog. I still have to take it in and get another failed smog but once thats done I can take all my paperwork to the Referee and I will get the pass. Good news because I can finally register the car in my name, get my tags and kick the can down "2 years" which technically is only 1.5 years away at this point... so thats good at least

[2mAn]

Last night I did another Drive Cycle and no changes.... pretty fed up with this thing. It shouldn’t be this hard. Everything looks correct but can’t get over this final hurdle.


Crawled under the car to see if anything looked funny with the o2 sensors and they look brand new, just like the top. Nothing strange happening down here either.







Not sure I have any patience left for this...

[Staszek]

Assuming this car hangs around, I plan to buy a BlueBus and plug it in, but Id also like to eliminate any funny business, and this looks like funny business...

Glad you got help, I spent many years on E46fanatics, while they had a lot of wheel and angel eye threads they also have a ton of informative stuff and some really knowledgeable members.

As for that pic, thats an Aux adapter, I believe that one takes the place of the CD Changer. You dont need it, I remember you saying you had the upgraded CD43 so you can add OEM Aux connection.

https://www.blitzsafe.com/catalog/2002-2005-conv-2006.html

[2mAn]

Met up with a Moderator/ Expert from E46 Fanatics today. Copied his comment on my other thread here...

OP spent some time at my house today and I put it through the paces.

It’s an M54B30 with all the M52TUB25 peripheral parts bolted on.

It runs super smooth with near 0% fuel trims.

Pre-cat O2 sensors are new and switching healthy.

Post-cat O2 sensor voltages start at 0.42V at start up, then plunge down to 0.06V and stay there. So I think that is where the problem lays.




The MS42 DME had been flashed to 328i software back in June, then curiously flashed to 323i software in July.

We weren’t sure if it had a tune or not, so I programmed the DME back to factory 328i software as per this link.

[URL unfurl="true"]https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showparts?id=AM53-USA-02-2000-E46-BMW-328i&diagId=12_0897[/URL]




Something is up with the cats (could they be hollowed out?) or the post-cat O2 sensors to just bottom out with their voltages, even at fully 98C running temp. I usually see 0.75-0.78 volts when fully heated. I double checked the values with both INPA and OBD Fusion. Interestingly, BMW Scanner 1.4 doesn’t display live data for MS42.




Everything about the engine seemed just fine, except the post-cat O2 voltages, so at least I eliminated a lot of possible issues. Time to get it up in the air and inspect sensors and cats.

I owe a HUGE debt of gratitude to this man, Scott. His willingness to spend time helping a stranger is what this world needs, so its great to know a person who does that.




Since leaving his place I did about ~50+ miles (probably more, Im a little exhausted from the long day, drove over 200 miles total!) but Im... happy? ... to report that no SES/CEL has illuminated and the car is driving as good as it has been. Im going to relax for the rest of the day, but tomorrow I am getting under the car and will be inspecting those post-cat o2's , I will knock the cats and if there is any kind of hollow noise, I will pull the exhaust apart and try to see whats going on up there. I'll send the DAPO a text and ask him about the cats also, who knows maybe I will get a response lol...




Im just happy we have eliminated many questions and I have some focus on potential issues.




Also, while I was in the hatch looking for a flathead I noticed a bundle of wires that was previously plugged into the CD Changer, and saw some funny, non-OEM looking stuff and uncovered this ... thing... anyone know what the heck it is?









Assuming this car hangs around, I plan to buy a BlueBus and plug it in, but Id also like to eliminate any funny business, and this looks like funny business...

[Northern]

I like the idea of drive by wire for smoothing transients and traction control, but it's a shame that OEMs have to take what should be a good thing and make it absolute garbage.

[FrankKnox]

(I'm learning) I believe the thinking behind this is that my car runs a MS42 which is Drive by Cable still and they would need to convert it to MS43 (Drive By Wire) to use the ECU. I think this actually is better because the BAR apparently recognize the VIN on the ECU, at least that's the problem with my MR2. I prefer drive by cable anyways. I plan to drive out to meet a knowledgeable E46 enthusiast later this week and he will see what's going on with the tune, and hopefully can correct it... and if he cant, well... who had their money on 3 months?

Good luck in this difficult task, let's hope that he still cope.

[2mAn]

weird that it's running on the 323 ECU still...

(I'm learning) I believe the thinking behind this is that my car runs a MS42 which is Drive by Cable still and they would need to convert it to MS43 (Drive By Wire) to use the ECU. I think this actually is better because the BAR apparently recognize the VIN on the ECU, at least that's the problem with my MR2. I prefer drive by cable anyways. I plan to drive out to meet a knowledgeable E46 enthusiast later this week and he will see what's going on with the tune, and hopefully can correct it... and if he cant, well... who had their money on 3 months?

[Northern]

weird that it's running on the 323 ECU still...

[2mAn]

Small update from the weekend. Ive started doing some investigating work that some E46 Fanatics have me doing. Things I've learned so far:

-It appears to be the original ECU


-These weird mods in the ECU box were the automatics connectors and the two isolated wires are for the reverse lights





-It has purple injectors, so these are the M54 units?






The Good News is that it overall does appear to be a fairly well done swap and there were no smog failures listed on the CA DMV Page, but the Bad News is that I have made zero progress towards having all monitors ready to go to get a passing smog.

[mjweimer]

My coveted Forester XT is slowly growing to be a piece of shite, and I look for good manual daily hatch/wagon options constantly. The results of my searches are dismal, and I’m far too cheap to buy a new car.

Your recent purchase has my wheels turning..... car is looking good!!

I know of a sorted red/grey facelift RWD Touring (MY2002) that might be on the market soon. It's an auto but the 5MT swap is not hard...TX car so no rust. I always knew you would start to come around.

[Staszek]

Please dont dump that car! Its too nice. It makes me miss my E46 so much.

[mike.bmw]

E46 manual wagon! Don't get rid of it! Looking good.

[AWDBOB]

My coveted Forester XT is slowly growing to be a piece of shite, and I look for good manual daily hatch/wagon options constantly. The results of my searches are dismal, and I’m far too cheap to buy a new car.

Your recent purchase has my wheels turning..... car is looking good!!