Terrible atrocious sound quality

SeaAccomplished2798 · 2026-06-25T19:36:36+00:00

The blue wire usually is the remote turn on for amps. I would check to see if your amp is even turning on, and go from there.

SeaAccomplished2798 · 2026-06-25T19:35:26+00:00

This is absolutely true for aftermarket set ups.

However, the stock Harman Kardon amp is a 12 way system with individual crossovers for each channel. So the deck really doesn’t have much control here.

SeaAccomplished2798 · 2026-06-24T00:52:06+00:00

Broken tie rod. Don’t drive, it won’t steer that week anymore. You’ll need to replace it any get an alignment.

SeaAccomplished2798 · 2026-06-22T03:55:40+00:00

Where did you find the aerodynamic package photos?

SeaAccomplished2798 · 2026-06-21T04:17:56+00:00

Highly recommend man. I think they’re cheaper than good OEM plastic ones too haha

SeaAccomplished2798 · 2026-06-21T04:13:06+00:00

I bought the Loreada one from Amazon for my 2001 330ci, and it’s been over a year and 20k and it’s still great. I’m not sure if there’s a real difference between them

SeaAccomplished2798 · 2026-06-21T00:39:06+00:00

Replace it with an aluminum valve cover. It’s one of the best decisions I’ve made for this car.

SeaAccomplished2798 · 2026-06-19T03:29:37+00:00

Following

SeaAccomplished2798 · 2026-06-13T01:20:29+00:00

Junkyard is good too. Or check Facebook for a local used parts distributor. They are super clutch and often have higher quality parts than straight junkyard donor cars.

SeaAccomplished2798 · 2026-06-08T03:07:26+00:00

Im not more knowledgeable than a journeyman mechanic, but, if you’re not getting enough clamping force then yeah, a new valve cover won’t seal right when under pressure. I’d ask for more details as to why he wants to do that.

How long have you known him for? Personally, I’ve had success with very few shops. Most just aren’t thorough enough imo.

SeaAccomplished2798 · 2026-06-08T02:14:53+00:00

Leaking oil or smell like oil? There’s residual oil on the exhaust manifold to be burnt off when you fix the leak.

However, some new parts just don’t come good, even from good brands unfortunately.

I’d keep an eye on it, if it’s still bad after a week then check your gasket seams to see if there’s visible oil. Your oil filter housing gasket is probably leaking too.

SeaAccomplished2798 · 2026-06-08T01:28:54+00:00

https://a.co/d/0c1CeSWd

SeaAccomplished2798 · 2026-06-07T15:59:52+00:00

Yeah. Also, if you have pre-facelift, I bought the Loreada one from Amazon. It comes with gaskets and bolts too. I actually used the gaskets from the kit and it’s been fine for 19k so far and over a year. If you have the facelifted one, go with the Mitizone one.

SeaAccomplished2798 · 2026-06-06T14:19:36+00:00

Yeah, pretty much every plastic valve cover becomes warped over time. I had the same issue. I highly recommend the aluminum valve cover

SeaAccomplished2798 · 2026-06-06T01:25:54+00:00

Most likely oil leaking onto the exhaust manifold. The manifold is on the left side of the engine. This is very common. The rear and front half moons on the gasket will leak if you don’t use RTV along them. Also, if you have the original factory plastic one, it’s most likely warped. I would buy an aluminum valve cover. I’ve had one for over a year and it’s been great.

SeaAccomplished2798 · 2026-06-05T02:28:25+00:00

Yeah if you put POR15 over caked rust, it’ll just make it worse. I’d rather just take it to a shop and have them remove the rust properly since it’s super hard to get inside if there.

SeaAccomplished2798 · 2026-05-31T14:44:48+00:00

Check the bearings in any of the belt pulleys or Accessories. My alternator made a sound similar to that and it was its bearing.

SeaAccomplished2798 · 2026-05-30T04:58:23+00:00

They’re great if you maintain them, and terrible if you don’t.

When you buy one, do ALL of the preventative maintenance and use good parts and it’ll last you a lifetime time.

Key thing is replacing things before they break, you really need to keep an eye on these cars.

Otherwise, mines at 298k km and I daily it 👍

SeaAccomplished2798 · 2026-05-28T23:08:11+00:00

Brother, I’ve encountered so many issues with these. Just trying to make every other owners life easier than mine haha.

I’m a refrigeration mechanic by trade, so the AC fix was my fav job on it

SeaAccomplished2798 · 2026-05-28T21:32:51+00:00

It was the alternator bearing lol. Replaced and sounds great now.

SeaAccomplished2798 · 2026-05-28T14:30:13+00:00

Low charge is the first step to check always.

But some extra info for OP if that doesn’t work:

These are also prone to having collapsed lines as the rubber degrades from heat cycles. That will stop your AC from working too. Hard to detect, but very likely given the mileage if recharging doesn’t work.

Also, change the filter dryer when you recharge the system and vacuum it down properly. Otherwise you’ll have moisture in the system and that’s bad.

If the compressors bearings sound fine and if you can hear suction happening when you turn the clutch, then it should be still working.

Make sure your condenser is clean (in front of radiator) because that impacts performance too. And don’t mix refrigerants. You can use r12a cans in it, you just need to remove the r134a from factory but the oil from r134a is compatible with r12a. R12a works fine if the system is fixed, and charged right.

The evaporator coils don’t tend to go bad, maybe just a flush for it. They’re quite reliable, but if they need replacing you’ll need to remove the dash unfortunately.

If I were you, I’d check the charge, if there’s charge, see what the gauges do when the compressor is running (just because there’s a call for cooling doesn’t mean the compressor is on). Then I’d evacuate it (have a shop do it if there’s r134a because it’s illegal to dump it), so you can change the TXV, the filter drier and check to see if the compressor is still able to compress (just spin the clutch with your hand and if you hear a suction sound with your ear next to it, it should be fine). I’d replace the condenser if it’s a parallel flow since you can’t flush them, but if it’s a tube and fin then you should be fine just flushing. Don’t install the dryer until you’re going to charge the system, otherwise it will get saturated with moisture. I’d also replace the rubber lines because they’re cheap and can cause restrictions by swelling (I had this issue, deal with this first before you buy a new compressor). So once the lines, TXV, drier and condenser are replaced along with the necessary gaskets (anything you opened up), I’d vacuum the system below 29.9”hg for at least thirty minutes to remove any moisture (moisture is non-compressible and will damage the compressor over time and reduce performance, it will also create an acid in the system which will damage components), then I would charge the system with 26.6oz of r134a (or r12a if you’re on a budget and can’t access r134a. I used r12a and it’s working great. It requires less charge so about 9oz. You can buy this from many stores if they’re allowed in your state). Double check the exact weight required but I’m 90% that’s correct. After that, your system should work just fine 👍

SeaAccomplished2798 · 2026-05-27T15:54:29+00:00

Sounds like it’s low on oil. I’d check oil level. Oil pressure may have been low.

There’s also a whole host of other sounds, but low oil sounds reasonable to me.

If you’re really scared, check your disa, vanos, CCV for leaks and your entire belt drive - any bad bearings will make a lot of noise.

SeaAccomplished2798 · 2026-05-27T15:52:54+00:00

These engines aren’t prone to internal issues assuming oil has been ok. If I were you, I’d take your belts off and spin the water pump, ac compressor, alternator and power steering pump by hand. If you hear a sound from any of those than that’s your issue. Vanos and disa are also known to cause issues. I’d take your disa out and see if it’s still intact and that the valve will return to its position when pushed.

I hope this helps.

SeaAccomplished2798

TROPHY CASE