Welcome to Tech Talk, where our resident BMW tech Nick Owen answers all your pressing BMW technical questions, frustrations, and issues. Have a question for Nick? Email him at techtalk@roundel.org. Let’s get into it.
2004 E46 330i NLA Door Parts
I come to you with mounting frustration. My good old 2004 E46 330i has a problem. The cable that connects the outside door handle to the interior mechanism recently broke. You can’t open the driver’s door from the outside (rolling down the windows with the fob works but…). I arranged to have my local independent shop repair it but the part (“Carrier, outside for handle” P/N 51217044839) is NLA. I found something similar on Amazon but it looks like it does not come with the cable that is broken. ECS Tuning doesn’t have it, etc.
The shop has tried to find a used part locally without luck. Do you have any ideas?
Appreciate the help,
Louis Thelen
Shedd, Oregon
Try eBay. I’ve been having some luck with getting NLA parts from here for my customers. Hope this helps.
Wow! Thank you, that did help. Had to purchase the door handle with the carrier but better too much than not enough. You are a hero!
2023 530e Debate
Currently planning to replace our 2000, 328i with a 2023 530e. Are there long-term maintenance issues with BMW hybrids?
I’ve located two non0hybrid low mileage 530s and they are priced the same as hybrid models. Gas in our area is $4.59 this week.
Best Regards,
Scott M. Cunningham
I have to say the 530e isn’t a bad car. I serviced a fair amount of them the last year I was at the dealership. From a longevity standpoint it’s tough to tell what kind of issues will occur with the high voltage system. I don’t think they’ve been out long enough for us to determine their true reliability yet. From what I have seen, it is pretty good. The B48 engine can help extrapolate the MPG well with the high-voltage system. But I think if you’re going to go for PHEV you need to really lean into the EV part to get the full potential out of the car. Meaning use the charging stations and make sure the engine gets a proper heat cycle when not in use for a while. PHEV cars do need a little more education but once you learn how to live with them, they’re quite beneficial. Of course, this pertains mostly to your life and drive style but the 530i alone isn’t a bad car either.
With that said, if it were me, I would spring for the 540i.
The car I’m looking at has 12,000 miles and we drive about 8,000 miles/year. I can plug in every night. What does ‘make sure the engine gets proper heat cycle when not in use’ mean? If I drive short trips does the engine sit idle?
Switching from an E46 the technology is mind boggling. I will need a six-week class to figure out how to use it.
Best Regards,
Scott M. Cunningham
There are just a few things to be aware of when living with a 530e. For example, when you first start the car and put it into gear, the engine will not turn on. In fact, it won’t turn on until a certain speed or throttle input is given. The car will take over most of the decision making as to when to switch between the two power plants.
There is a button to select full EV mode which is nice for short trips or to leverage the EV functionality.
When it comes to heat cycling the engine, the engine is not ever going to just idle unless the computer tells it to. That’s why I am recommending that you be mindful of this so that if you know you’re going to go on the highway, it’s entirely possible to drive on electric all the way to the on ramp before the engine even turns on.
That means the engine will be bone cold when the engine computer decides to turn it on, right before merging onto the highway. You can use the shifter in sport mode to override the car and turn on the combustion engine. This will also allow the HV battery to charge a little from the engine running. I recommend this practice to prolong the B48 lifespan since the engine will need to be ran more often than the engine computer requests.
Plugging in the car overnight using a 110v outlet will not yield much charge in a 6-12hr period but it will over a 36-48hr period if the battery is low on charge. If you have access to a 220v outlet, it can charge the car in 6-8hrs. It really depends on your energy needs and how much you drive in EV mode.
