#e46

Our garage has been graced with the presence of a clean 2001 E46 330i, so we can now begin development on this E46 intake. Let's dive right in!

Stock System

The 330i stock intake system is similar to the 32X, the big difference being the size of the MAF housing. On the higher-output 330i models, this housing is larger so it can accept greater airflow needed by the more powerful, higher-displacement engine. To accommodate that larger diameter, our design will have a slightly enlarged opening on the heat shield. Everything else should fit right into place! Here are a few shots of the stock system we are working on.

Aerial shot of the 330i engine bay

Interested in picking up this awesome E46 fan setup? Check out our discounted pre-sale linked below!

Mishimoto BMW E46 Non-M Performance Fan Shroud Kit Pre-Sale

Functional Prototype

In a short timespan we were able to turn our 3D models into an actual functional prototype. Check out a couple images of our first BMW E46 fan shroud!

Mishimoto prototype E46 parts

Interested in picking up this awesome E46 fan setup? Check out our discounted pre-sale linked below!

Mishimoto BMW E46 Non-M Performance Fan Shroud Kit Pre-Sale

Our E46 product line continues to grow. This series of articles aims to tack another offering on our list of performance cooling components. We've covered the radiator, expansion tank, and coolant hoses. The only radiator-related item left to tackle is a cooling fan solution.

The stock 3-Series E46 offers two different fan options. Automatic models are equipped with an antiquated mechanical fan, while those who row their own gears get an electric fan.

Our goal with this project is to produce a BMW E46 fan shroud solution that will function with either a manual or automatic model. We will be following our trend of successfully producing exo-style shrouds for the E46 M3 and E36 chasses. The idea behind this fan mount style is

Interested in purchasing our E46 silicone radiator hose kit? Check out our product page linked below!

Mishimoto BMW E46 Non-M Silicone Radiator Hose Kit!

The E46 BMW has been the focus for a ton of product development here at Mishimoto. Recent projects include the Mishimoto Performance Air Intake, Aluminum Radiator, and Aluminum Expansion Tank. To continue our pursuit of supplying a full cooling solution for the 3-series, we also tackled a set of radiator hoses for this model. In typical Mishimoto fashion, we will be looking to improve the durability of the stock design.

Stock Hose Setup

The stock BMW E46 radiator hose system is unique, mostly due to the inclusion of quick-disconnect fittings at each mating point. Take a look at the stock hoses pulled from our test vehicle during radiator testing and development.

Interested in purchasing this E46 oil cooler? Check out our product page for more information!

Mishimoto BMW E46 M3 Oil Cooler Kit

The results are in and they are exactly what we expected! This cooler provided huge gains in cooling efficiency. Let's take a look at the data we compiled. First up is the core volume comparison.

Core volume comparison

As you can see, the Mishimoto oil cooler provides a huge increase in total core volume.

Interested in purchasing this E46 oil cooler? Check out our product page for more information!

Mishimoto BMW E46 M3 Oil Cooler Kit

Time to see if this cooler can make a significant impact on fluid temperatures. As before, we borrowed a test fit vehicle from the folks over at Open Road Tuning. Once we had the car on the lift, we removed the factory cooler lines and spliced our temperature sensors into the stock lines so we could collect inlet and outlet fluid temperatures.

Temperature sensors installed

Interested in purchasing this E46 oil cooler? Check out our product page for more information!

Mishimoto BMW E46 M3 Oil Cooler Kit

Welcome to our third installment of the build! We are nearing the completion of this project, with only some final test fitting necessary and data collection to ensure that this product performs to our standards. First, take a look at the Mishimoto oil cooler compared to the stock unit.

Mishimoto prototype oil cooler (right) and stock oil cooler (left)

Interested in purchasing this E46 oil cooler? Check out our product page for more information!

Mishimoto BMW E46 M3 Oil Cooler Kit

Our team now had a functioning oil line adapter to convert from the stock oil filter housing to -AN fittings. Now we would be able to move forward with designing the actual heat exchanger for our kit. We reached out to a few of our local friends and sourced this Oxford green example!

Test vehicle on lift

Our friend Andrew at Open Road Tuning was kind enough to loan his vehicle for a week of development! First we tore off the stock cooler to get a look at what kind of space we had to work with.

Interested in purchasing this E46 oil cooler? Check out our product page for more information!

Mishimoto BMW E46 M3 Oil Cooler Kit

The BMW S54 won the "International Engine of the Year" award at its inception in 2001 and was consistently on "Ward's 10 Best Engines" list for four years. It's hard to argue against the E46, an 8,000 rpm, 3.2L straight-6 producing over 330 hp and 260 ft-lb of torque, with a competent chassis, an exhaust note that straightens the neck hair of all within earshot, and a body styling that is unmatched in uniqueness. Although my opinion is slightly skewed, being a fan of most BMW products, many would agree that the E46 was a fantastic vehicle for the street and even better for the track. E46 M3 pricing has trickled downward over the past few years, meaning that even those on a tighter budget can find their way into the cockpit of one of BMW's finest. We are seeing these vehicles at track