You all are awesome. I can’t believe the kits are so inexpensive. Well.. just as I thought.. after popping the cover off.. our mechanic said the belt and wp appeared to be original and he recommended a full timing service. Glad I’ll have that piece of mind. I’ll need a right front axel and some tag light bulbs to get through state inspection. Overall they said the car was pretty sharp. Can’t wait to get her back home and on the road. She’ll be my daily for the foreseeable future. I really get a lot of 3-series vibes from it, but the reliability factor separates it from the pack for me. I’ve had generally good luck with all bimmers, but I would have never considered buying one close to 300K miles as I had recently w/ a TL. Another thing, this is my first, FIRST front wheel drive since year 2003 when I purchased a new Hyundai Accent. Different classes of vehicle haha.. fun lil car then, but the torque steer and feel are a pleasant change over my last few rwd. Thanks again!

 

It's all very exciting. I'd like to know what a full timing belt service will run you (that includes all the items in the kit) if you don't mind posting his quote, or you can PM me. ( I don't need the service but curious what the rates are)
Also don't forget to do the thermostat while you're at it, I think it's only $35 bucks to replace it.

For the tires, I don't know where you are but I run Blizzak's for snow tires.

 

Nice find, and locally, too!
The color combo is great. The seats and the silver console trim look super. Take care of those seats routinely if you want them to last...
Take zeta's advice and go with the Aisin kit if you or your mechanic will do the install. Accept no substitutes (lol.)
You might want to plan to replace the trans fluid with 2.5 qts of GM synchromesh if you notice it popping out of third gear
---it's the first thing I did to my MT 'cuz I experienced it on the test drive, and haven't had it happen ever since.
Since the WP/TB service hadn't been done, you might also want to do the NGK iridium plugs, brake fluid, etc., etc.
Be cautious with the axle replacement and check it against the OEM before installing---people have experienced issues.

Enjoy the ride!

 

welcome to the club.

 

Congrats on the car and welcome to the club

 

Just got her back from state inspection & maintenance. Complete timing service, w/ parts & labor ran me $1,100. That included the t-stat as well. This particular shop is fairly adamant about using factory parts. I wasn't able to confirm which brand, but they were picked up from the Acura dealer here in town. I'm in Montgomery Co., MD. Prices for everything here are treacherous at the moment. I was quoted as high as $1450 for parts and labor, and as low as $980 if I recall right. I think I may have gotten something better than $980, but you truly tend to get what you pay for, in this area, in my recent experience haha.

For tires, I'm in the middle between Michelin summers or an AS tire. I may go with summers, and only drive when necessary during the winter. Right now.. she's on "Delinte DH2s" hahaha. Maybe a great tire, not familiar with them. About 80% tread left, but I'm may go with something else in the very near future.

 

One thing I did notice when picking it up today.. a little roughness at idle. After 2-3 mins of riding it went away. I think I'll probably do the plugs within the next week or so. One the initial test drive, I didn't pop out of third, but there was some resistance shifting into it a time or two. It hasn't happened again, but I did take a note a reading the forums about the synchro issue. It looks like a fairly straight forward DIY. I'll probably try to knock that out as too in the next few weeks.

Just on the 5 min drive home, I was thoroughly impressed with the responsiveness.. and the smoothness of the clutch is preciseness of the gear box is just addictive. I daily drove a 2002 M3 for 3-4 years.. and test drove a few other e46s of the same year. I'm glad I had the "Bimmer experience".. but had I known I could have had one of the.. for way less... total no brainer. Maybe the TL will get old after a few weeks/months, but this is an unbelievable car, for that year range, and at this price point.

 

That's not too bad a price considering dealer mark up...

One thing that always annoys me is when dealers put on "new tires!" and the first thing you have to do is junk them.

 

First try the MTF below, rockauto has the best price:

If you want the Acura TSB 3rd gear synchro / 3rd 4th shift sleeve replaced, then the trans. has to be pulled $$$$.

 

Got it! I'm going to order some this evening! I do have an unrelated question for you or anyone else. I've been skimming the threads, it appears the same question has been asked, but I haven't found a thread with an answer yet haha!

At slow speeds I noticed, 35mph and below-ish... a whine/howling sounds coming from the engine area or front area or of the car. It becomes more pronounced as I come to a stop. It sounds (strikingly) like super-charger whine. Like, almost identical. I don't feel any lag, hesitation, lurching or anything out of the ordinary. When I pull of again I hear it, but it fades out the fast I go. I assume it's still there, just in audible. I'm "thinking" it could be a fading alternator or ac compressor.. but not sure. Any ideas, or have you heard of others with the same issue?

 

Just to clarify,
1) when you are at '...slow speeds...' you are obviously in gear with the clutch engaged?


Before placing in gear & engaging / releasing the clutch
2) will the 'whine/howling...super-charger whine' occur when the car is stopped, in neutral gear while revving or holding the throttle steady?

 

I have the same "whiny" sound, I always chalked it up to sounding like the DeLorean LOL.... I am not sure if that's just a TL design but it's been there forever since I've ever had the car.....

 

Seems reasonable, I have been quoted $1400 myself and as low as the $900's so you're within ballpark. I personally don't mind paying a bit more like $1,100 as you did just to make sure it's done properly by the right people. Lowballing yourself to save a few bucks isn't worth it to me.

I forget which summer tires I had on mine, but if you have another car to drive in the snow then you're already good to go. I'd just never ever try to attempt to drive summer tires in any icy/snowy conditions.

 

Oh yeah, definitely do the spark plugs, you may also find that you will need to get a new head gasket. Mine was leaking a bit so I had that replaced during the SP replacement.

 

The P/S pump is a typical whiner, usually just a couple of o-rings...lotsa threads here.

I agree with 'gray on summer tires...they are dangerous in any snow.

 

errr i think you mean valve cover gasket.. if you had to replace the head gasket during a spark plug replacement, ouch... my condolences

 

That's right! Good catch, my bad.....

 

I just got a 2010 TL, and I'm pondering this. New tires, some weird brand, not OEM size... ugh

 

Hahahahaha! Hit the nail on the head. They have Delinte DH2 All Season's on it now. I did a little research on them.. not a "horrible" tire, but you can feel the lack of performance from them.. especially in corners and on/off-ramps. I'm thinking about set of Continental DW's. I won't be driving this in the snow.. but we do get quite a bit of rain from time to time here.

 

Whines mostly when in gear, at 3rd gear and lower. It doesn't increase with throttle, and you can still hear it in neutral when drifting to a stop. I almost forget it's there most days. I think it just supposed to sound like that. No trans issues, slippage, etc. I did replace the dying alternator. That had no impact on the sound, which I thought may have been the culprit. I do plan to go with a j-pipe in the next few weeks. That may completely drown it out I'm thinking. I almost sounds like a "new transmission" sound. Almost like it's breaking in or something? Definitely odd. Going to keep driving her until she tells me otherwise.

Side note, this is an OUTSTANDING car for the money. The fit, feel, and handling are just awesome to me. I've always been a fan of the E46 Sedan. These 3rd gen's are right on par, if not a slightly better car, imo. I feel like the E90s even took some style cues from the TL now that I look at it. Definitely not a "fast" car, but insanely well balanced, easy to work on, and parts appear to be cheaper than similar "luxury" brands. I see why I've noticed these on the roads everywhere. Excellent vehicle. And no question, the manual is the way to go. I can't imagine an auto being as engaging as this. Extremely please I went with a 3G.

 

Continental DW06 plus are very good daily budget friendly and yet offer good grip in the wet. I have them on my daily TL right now and Pilot sport 4s in my blue TL.

As far under $10k sedan goes you are correct, not too many sedan out there offer the 6MT, driving feel and level of comfort of 3G TL (hence some of us here has multiple copies). Compare to today techs standard the TL is outdated but not so bad.

 

I've been in the market to buy one of these too. I've faded a lot of shady posts for these cars because of it. lol it's like they know there is a whole community of us stalking these things and just want us through their doors. But thats crazy right?