hello new member here.. i bought a 330xi new back in 2004 and this year i bought the same again but model year 2005. i found a great mechanic here but i'd love to do some of my own work on these cars .. where can i take a few classes to learn how to work on the E46? is there a repair manual out there? and what is the best channel for parts .. dealer in richmond or northern virginia with CCA discount? thanks in advance for the suggestions
the newtis site looks very promising, thanks. but i'm hoping cca offers some kind of mechanic school.. because unfortunately i am much better at taking things apart then putting them back together again. https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/ https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/e46-330xi-lim/
Welcome to the club & forums! Bentley manuals are, if not perfect, excellent for most all diy work that most are willing to tackle - http://www.bentleypublishers.com/bm...bmw-3-series-e46-1999-2005-repair-manual.html There are many places for parts - realoem.com is handy for parts lookup & parts numbers. Bavauto.com is one seller (they do price matching also) - note that if they have to special order something, it's likely something they have to source from BMW, in which case a dealer that offers 'CCA member discounts might be just as well for an option. There are lots and lots of sellers out there - if you don't have a Roundel in hand to see advertisers, look at the current digital issue here on the site. In most cases you'll find you can have a pretty high confidence level Roundel advertisers are selling quality parts. Bimmerworld, autohausaz are a couple of others. Easy enough to look up part numbers & then do a google search to compare sellers, prices, & whatever impressions you have of various sellers. Search the forums here, you may find others have already had questions answered about what you want to do, along with google searches and other large BMW forums - bimmerforums.com, bimmerfest.com, bimmerpost.com, bimmerboard.com, etc. If you're planning to keep your E46 for the long-term, you may want to research the chassis subframe cracking issue - pre-emptive reinforcing is much cheaper than repair; I think the general consensus may be it's less of a problem with the later sedans - check out the reinforcement kit from Turner Motorsports. Check your local chapter's website &/or social media - some chapters do diy tech events, but that will vary widely; my chapter area for instance we don't focus much on diy-instruction type events.
Welcome aboard and congrats on the new purchase! Sorry can't say I know any classes for e46 repair. But you can always ask here on the forums for help or email one of the technical service advisors!
