BMW 3 Series (E46) Service Manual: 1999-2005
M3, 323i, 325i, 325xi, 328i, 330i, 330xi, Sedan, Coupe, Convertible, Sport Wagon This Bentley Manual is a comprehensive source of service information and specifications for BMW 3 Series from 1999 to 2005. The aim throughout this manual has been simplicity, clarity and completeness, with practical explanations, step-by-step procedures and accurate specifications. Whether you’re a professional or a do-it-yourself BMW owner, this manual will help you understand, care for and repair your E46 3 Se
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(out of 83 reviews)
List Price: $ 129.95
Price: $ 81.87
Review by for BMW 3 Series (E46) Service Manual: 1999-2005
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The manual looks good until you actually have a need for information. The electrical diagrams are crude, inaccurate, improperly drawn, and actually very limited with almost nothing about the engine or fuel system (what you need the data for most). Have a question about the steering rack? Want to rebuild one yourself? Want to see a parts break-down before tearing into it?? Forget it, there is little mention of the rack other than telling you to buy a new one from a BMW dealer. How much fluid does the power steering pump hold? No data. Want to see a photo of under-carriage parts? Forget it. Want to know which wires run to the fuel pumps? Forget it. Ignition switch data? Ha! Want to trouble-shoot your ignition or fuel injection? Forget it. Anyone who has ever spent much time at all servicing their own vehicles already knows more than what this book contains.Over and over the book purposefully avoids giving information, totally skipping the topic entirely by stating things like “…we recommend that this be done by an authorized BMW dealer…”. It is personally insulting that the author deems everyone who buys the book is not competent enough to service one’s own vehicle. A service manual should be just that, a service manual, one that supplies technical information. This book fails to live up to that need. I now recommend avoiding the Bentley book. A Chilton should suffice as well and cost half the price.I am a 25 years+ experienced electronics technician whose specialty is trouble-shooting everything from basic house wiring to the most complex computerized security access systems. This morning I wasted almost 3 hours tracing down a bad fuel pump relay, but could have found the problem in less than 5 minutes if the manual had given correct information. (In the afternoon it took me less than half an hour to trace down a faulty CPU chip connection on a circuit board I’ve never seen before, one that caused two separate main security system controllers to malfunction, and with my having no data whatsoever to go by. Obviously, I would have been better off not using the Bentley manual at all while working on my BMW.) If you cannot trust a manual’s diagrams and writing, then it is of no value, actually a liability. I personally will from now on avoid anything from Bentley. Yea, I’m ticked at Bentley!
Review by Robert A. Sutterfield for BMW 3 Series (E46) Service Manual: 1999-2005
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If you are (or are considering becoming) a home mechanic whowants to work on your own car, this is the essential volume – farbetter than Chilton or Haynes because it’s much more specialized. Ifyou’d rather pay a professional for a particular job (or foreverything needed on your car), this book will give you the knowledgeyou need to not get fleeced.It’s pretty good with the step-by-stepwalk throughs, though it depends a bit too much on cross-references toprocedures that are described elsewhere but seem to belong *here*,in-line with the rest of the work you’re doing *today*.One weaknessis lack of detail on changes through the model years. For example, itdescribes the power steering pump and coolant plumbing location on6-cyl cars from mid 88 on, but doesn’t discuss the earlier locationthat permitted the PS pump drive pulley to saw through the lowerradiator hose…
Review by for BMW 3 Series (E46) Service Manual: 1999-2005
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This is a good book. Has good information on specifications, maintenance and mechanical work. However, the book has no information on working on the factory wiring for a a car stereo replacement process, which is probably a very popular thing to do on an older car. There was no wiring diagram or instructions on how to work it. It also had no information on pulling the on board computer. Another area of disappointment was removing interior and exterior body pieces. Very minimal information.Almost nothing specific to the convertible model 325ic.
Review by M. Tung-Yep for BMW 3 Series (E46) Service Manual: 1999-2005
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I will leave the more in-depth reviews to the readers with more engineering know-how; but I took delivery of this book from Amazon the other day, and as a first-timer to a BMW Bentley manual I’m quite impressed. At over 1400 pages there’s no doubting that it’s quite comprehensive and detailed. But for anyone who owns an E46 and has gone a step further to become an enthusiast, you will know how complicated these cars are; so it would appear impossible to cover absolutely everything for the E46, what with so many different body variations, engine options and equipment levels, not to mention different markets. Bear in mind that with the international context of use for this book, some details and specifics will be absent.
The pictures included are reasonably well detailed and are of high quality and of a decent size. Explanations are quite clear. A batch of wiring diagrams are appended to the end of the manual, which contributes substantially to its size. As those familiar with Bentley manuals will know, the manual is fully indexed and segmented into the main car components (e.g. engine; body), with each sub-component (e.g. changing the transmission; removing headlights) quite well-defined, including an overview of what special tools are required for the job.
I think this book will come in very handy for my E46 (’99 model) and would recommend it to friends. It’s a bit expensive (though in reality this won’t bother most people with E46s) and also this version is quite new so it may not breach the second-hand market in any great quantity in the near future.
Review by Loin Burger for BMW 3 Series (E46) Service Manual: 1999-2005
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I had a similar experience to another reviewer in that after a few days owning the manual, the binding started coming apart and a few pages are now trying to escape.
I used the book so gently that I believe I’d rather just get a refund than an exchange – because I’m afraid the same thing will just happen again.
As for the contents of the manual, I’m giving it 4 stars because it seems like a decent manual. It has good pictures. Granted, sometimes you need to stare at them for a while and then stare at your car to figure out exactly which angle they took the picture from. The instructions are concise but I was able to follow pretty well.
I’m not a seasoned mechanic. I want a manual to tell me what to do, what order to do it, and generally which screws to undo for each step. This manual did that pretty good.
Here’s what I used the manual for in my short time:
-I replaced my belts
-I openned up the blower motor for the HVAC system
(unnecessarily since it wasn’t the problem)
-I replaced the blower motor resister pack, also called
the final stage unit which is in behind and left of
the glove box.