first time Beamer owner

[Eddiebear]

Hello all, I have always wanted a BMW and finally bought a 2004 330ci, I was in love with the car but have had a couple issues, I went on a trip out of town with it and the fuel pump went out, That was a 700 dollar repair, hope that is not a sign of things to come , i love the way the car handles and thought about trying autocross with it but a little leary if something happens to the car what the cost will be to fix it. A fuel pump for a ford was like 150 bucks. big difference, Any other 330ci owners out there please let me know if there are some things that I should keep my eyes open for. I also accidently crushed the ipod attachment that runs thru the dash, If anyone knows a quick fix for that, i dont know if its hard wired in or some sort of plug, Will have to take the dash apart to find out, So any info there would be apreciated, thanks in advance,

[witeshark]

Best luck sorting the issues; welcome.

[Lord Vader]

Welcome to Bimmerwerkz,

The car is currently going on 9 years old, and some things will fail with age. Unfortunatley any fuel pump job is going to be expensive. Their not easy to do, and take several hours. $700 is the average price Ive seen to have it done.

Your power steering pump may fail, and it may not. Some E46 models got the Luk LF20 pump, and some got the LF30 pump. The LF20 had a flaw where the pump impeller could become jammed and snap off resulting in loss of power steering. This isnt a huge safety concern as you still have full control of the steering, just no power assist. The only way to tell which pump you have is to look for the sticker on the side of it, which sadly is best done by removing it. I replaced the LF20 pump on my friends 2004 320i over the summer.

Providing all the maintenance is kept up, it should last for many more years.

[Eddiebear]

Thanks for the info. will try and keep an ear out on the power steering. if thats all I have to worry about ill be in good shape. I try to listen to her at all times to catch things before they go wrong. The fuel pump deal just scared me a little. Thanks again

[Lord Vader]

One other thing that i can think of that you may experience is an issue with the central locking. If one day you go to hit the central locking button by the shifter and nothing happens, dont panic. The switch assembly has little plastic "feet" holding it togheter. As with my friends 2004 E46 this happened with him. You take two paperclips and unfold them. At the end of the paperclips make a little L shape. Use those paperclips to lift the switch assembly out. You will probably see the "feet" are broken and the switch contacts cant make proper contact. Useing some super glue compress the switch assembly together and glue it. Wrap in an elastic band and leave overnight till the glue dries. Once secure it just slides right back in.

[tunafish]

It's "Bimmer", unless after 45++ years they changed it, or unless you have a motorcycle. Any red light translates to meaning check your wallet. Anything that feels or sounds bad is worse than you might think. Remember this as well, your first guess is almost always wrong. Never mess with testing your electrics without a degree. Taking your dash apart or letting the local Audio guru do it leads to real problems when they (or your) elect this or that wire is the best lead and your radio only works with the turn signal on along with your running lights. Welcome, good luck, happy driving, enjoy the passion...and spending.

Someone always has a better BMW than yours. tunafish 1:18