Halp! I Haz E46 Weirdness!

Harvey wrote: OP, have you checked the battery?

Duke wrote:

Tyler H wrote: A lot of E46 bros replace them every 2 years, whether they need it or not. Not saying I endorse that approach, but it is out there. If it's over 2yr, go for it. Assuming you eyeballed the leads and grounds already.

Wow, that's just ridiculous. Mine lasted since I bought the car CPO in early 2006 until August or September of this year. So that's a minimum of 9 years under my ownership, and the car was built in September of 2003 - it was a BMW-branded battery that may well have been installed at the factory.

Yeah, replacing every two years is absurd, we had a BMW battery in my wife's car and it was only replaced preventatively when the alternator let go after eight years.

When I bought my '03 in 2013, it had the OEM battery (according to the date stamp). Lasting ten years is pretty damn good in my mind. I replaced it with an O'Reilly's special, and haven't had any more issues with it.

bravenrace wrote: Sooooo, related to this is the question of what battery?

I put the "gold" level AGM battery from Advance in mine. It was a little under $199 plus core. Fair warning: It's about the size of a 12-pack and weighs north of 50 pounds.

The E46 battery is a big one for sure, probably why they throw it in the trunk.

In reply to Harvey:

I like the Mercedes with the big battery in the trunk per German practice, and a small "starting" battery under the hood. Well small by German standards, it's still around a group 35 or thereabouts.

I guess in some areas, you must leave your parking lights on if you park on the street. Which would be why on some cars (have only seen it on Mercedes) you can turn on only the left or the right parking lights.

Weird wild shtuff.

Knurled wrote: In reply to Harvey: I like the Mercedes with the big battery in the trunk per German practice, and a small "starting" battery under the hood. Well small by German standards, it's still around a group 35 or thereabouts. I guess in some areas, you must leave your parking lights on if you park on the street. Which would be why on some cars (have only seen it on Mercedes) you can turn on *only* the left or the right parking lights.

Porsche also used to do it. Both my 74 914 and 72 911 could turn on the left or right side parking light by leaving the turn signal switch active to the side you wanted on with the car off. I personally think it is a great idea, but here in the states, you would get people telling you your lights were on

BMW 2002's up to 73 had the same feature.

E46s do that too. If you put the turn signal lever over after turning off the car, it will light the marker lights on that side of the car.

Duke wrote: E46s do that too. If you put the turn signal lever over after turning off the car, it will light the marker lights on that side of the car.

Kinda freaked me out the first time that was accidentally engaged.

OK, thread jack, what exactly is the purpose of parking lights only on one side of the car? I don't actually understand the need for parking lights in general. Is the idea that you are up on Inspiration Point and you don't want a drunk to run into your car?

bravenrace wrote: Sooooo, related to this is the question of what battery? I actually have three cars needing batteries soon. For a long time I had been buying Optima batteries, but have heard stories of them not being as good as they used to be, and sure enough the last one I bought failed pre-maturely. So what say you?

Personally, I've only used Bosch batteries in my German cars. Fortunately, the local Pep Boys near work stocks a full selection (the ones near my house don't), including the weird size my VW takes. I replace them every 5-6 years as a maintenance item.

In reply to GTwannaB:

It's a European spec-thing. A lot of cars have them. Years ago, they would remove them and cover the hole with trim for the US market (often leaving the wiring there) but sometime in the late 90's they stopped and just shipped them as-is.

In reply to Ian F:

I think he's talking about the ability to leave the lights on one side, not the fender side markers (which actually make a ton of sense, IMO, for when someone immediately next to you is trying to change lane).

I've never truly understood the purpose of parking lights, myself. They're too dim to actually light anything up from the driver's seat, so I dunno.

In many small towns in germany you park your car on the street, two wheels on the sidewalk and two on the street.

With all the fog and night mist, you leave the parking lights on for the side of the car thats on the street.

Parking lights are... umm... for parking? ...in situations where being seen might keep your car from getting hit.

As mentioned, towns in Europe - many built over 1000 years ago - tend to be much more narrow and less car-friendly than towns in the US.

The first car I had with parking lights was a Subaru. They all have a switch on the column that lights up each corner so you can...see nothing and accidentally drain the battery if you leave them on. Never made sense to me. Now I guess it does.

Sorry for the stupid question, I've never been to Europe and am not particularly knowledgable of European parking conventions.

pointofdeparture wrote: In reply to Ian F: I think he's talking about the ability to leave the lights on one side, not the fender side markers (which actually make a ton of sense, IMO, for when someone immediately next to you is trying to change lane). I've never truly understood the purpose of parking lights, myself. They're too dim to actually light anything up from the driver's seat, so I dunno.

Parking lights are so other people can see you when you're parked.

Turn signal repeaters (the turn signal near the A-pillar) is a GODSEND. DOT spec just requires that the front turn signals be mounted at the corners so they can be seen from the side as well as the front. Repeaters guarantee that the turn signal is seen from the side.

Of course, people in the US often go the other way, installing E-code headlight assemblies with the turn signals mounted inboard, because they were supposed to be used with repeaters. E-code headlight assemblies and no repeaters means you have to be directly in front or behind to see the turn signals!

Quantum #2 has had this done to it. I obtained a mint set of DOT-spec headlight assemblies to de-convert it. I'm torn between trashbinning the E-code headlights or selling them. I guess they are worth stupid money, but at the same time, they're unsafe without the repeaters and it would be unscrupulous to facilitate someone to put them on their car.

This is also why cars that have ignition-switched headlights will still allow you to turn the parking lights on with the ignition off.

Cargo-cult designed cars won't allow this. Subaru was awesome for putting a separate switch on the column.

While on another lighting rant. American companies are absolutely awful for installing fog lights that can only be used with the headlights on. Fog lights are meant to be used when using the normal headlights would give too much glareback to be able to see. In other words, foglights can ONLY be used with the headlights OFF. This is why I generally call them "d-bag lights", since their only purpose is to annoy traffic ahead of you.

This is what I call "cargo cult engineering". A feature is installed without any clue as to what the feature is meant to do. If they are fog lights, they should only come on with the headlights off. If they are driving lights, they should only come on with the high beams on. What we generally get is neither.

In reply to Knurled:

I had a plan to install fog and driving lights on my TDI: Fog lights interlocked with the parking lights (on) and normal lights (off) and the driving lights with the high-beams. Never found an acceptable way to mount the driving lights.

The factory harness for driving lights on MINIs have them only work with the high beams. The fog lights only work with the low beams, but that might be something that can be re-programmed through the BCM.