Cars: E46 & E39 X3 and X5 E60 – 5series E65 – 7series E87 – 1series E90 – 3series According to the manufacturer the oil in these gearboxes are a lifetime oil. When I get these cars with early stages of gearbox faults; transmission light on – I usually recommend a change of oil and [...]

Every time a cylinder fires up the crank rotates; causing all sorts of very technical vibrations which I won’t get into here. The simple solution to this magnitude of force is mounting a big rubber damper or pulley onto the front part of the crank.

The weak point falls on the Timing Chain Tensioner and after a bit of wear & tear they stop working. This part has been modified and redesigned by BMW.

The link provided below will take you to the Web Page of Kristopher Linquist who has been collecting and sharing the owner’s manuals for most BMW E46 3-series 1999-2005.

The good thing about oil leaks is that they can be repaired. The changing of most seals, gaskets and o’rings will resolve this. It can be costly to do it all at once so it’s best to do it in stages as the leaks occur.

You need to know when you have replaced it and keep a record of it. This part has no exact expiration date and there is no warning when the bottle cracks.
When it will happen is unknown, so prevention is better than cure.

Sludge is a solid or gel in oil caused by the presence of water and accumulates with use. Put even more simply it’s a build up of product of over-stressed / used oil in the engine.