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two_beer_bishes posted:I'll look into that, thanks for the suggestion! I like having more options When the rack seals died on my 325is I just cut the belt to the pump and drove it without power steering. I don't think that belt drives anything else (or didn't on my '87 that I remember). Drove it for 25k miles with zero problems.
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Apr 17, 2008 14:28
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CornHolio posted:OK you guys, what looks better: Well, since the Frua thing looks like the result of a drunken coupling between a BMW 2800 and a Datsun 240Z, I'd have to go with the 2002.
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Apr 18, 2008 14:57
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Adnuo posted:That'll have to wait until the streets dry up, unfortunately. Just press the brake pedal with your left foot. Carefully at first, since your left foot won't know how hard to press... but then you can hold the brake with the left and stand on the gas with your right. If the tach goes up and the speedo stays steady, you know where the problem is.
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Apr 18, 2008 20:19
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Dyscrasia posted:I've got a little situation that I would like some input on. I'm gonna go with the driveshaft support bearing. It should be pretty cheap to replace, but you'll probably have to take the driveshaft to a shop to have the old bearing pressed off and the new one pressed on.
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Apr 25, 2008 20:26
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Xenoid posted:Hey guys. Just got the clutch kit for my 97 540i here. I have everything off the car already except for the flywheel. Any hint on what exactly is needed to remove it? My neighbor mentioned something like a long T-60 torx or something but BMW dealerships here won't let you buy tools. I was pretty sure that the long torx tool was needed to remove the transmission, but the flywheel was straightforward. I'll try to remember to look in my Bentley manual when I get home.
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Apr 28, 2008 20:34
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TheMadMilkman posted:Every engineer I've asked about this has responded by saying that anything above the minimum is a waste of money. The octane needed relates directly to the engine's compression ratio, and the correct octane rating is needed to make sure that the gas/air mixture ignites at the right time and burns at the right rate.* I've also read that using gas with too high an octane rating can actually reduce your MPG. You're not "wrong", but it depends. Most modern cars with fuel injection, knock sensors, and distributor-less ignition will advance the engine timing until knock is just barely detected and then back off a certain amount. Advancing the timing means that you can get a more complete burn and more power out of the fuel you're burning or, analogously, burn less fuel to achieve a given power output. So, if your car is able to advance timing enough to take advantage of higher octane you may see better mileage. In my 540i, I would consistently get about 1.5 mpg higher using 93 octane than 89 (according to the on-board computer). Since I was generally getting in low 20s with my commute, that was about a 7% increase in mileage for a 3% price premium (gas over $3/gal, $0.10 per gallon difference). My GTO however, gets random mileage regardless of what I put in it, so I fill it with 89 most of the time. Occasionally I'll put in 93 to see whether I can get better mileage out of it, but not consistently enough to make a difference.
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May 2, 2008 02:41
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miklm posted:I'd take a car out of the Roundel classifieds over any of those. Anything out of the Roundel classifieds will be expensive and no more reliable than a CPO from a dealer. The "never driven in rain, only Zymol, detailed with a q-tip" crowd seems to think that their cars don't depreciate. Most of them are also insufferable douches who think that a BMW is a lifestyle rather than just a car. Doctor Grape Ape posted:Is the X-Brace for the E36 really a worthwhile mod? Yes. 100% worthwhile and one of the best mods you can make for the money, IMO. If you are at all sensitive to chassis flex and turn-in behavior, you'll notice it immediately.
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May 4, 2008 01:55
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miklm posted:I disagree with your position that a fully documented and correctly maintained car will be "no more reliable" than a realtor-wife leased car that barely got the minimum maintenance but was lease termed to a dealership's CPO lot and barely glanced at by a couple of service techs and the wash boy. For the duration of the lease, maintenance pretty much incudes oil changes, brakes, and tires. Unless it gets run out of oil, there really isn't much to go wrong with a CPO car. The ones in Roundel are either garage queens or beaten at autocrosses and track days. The price premium for the garage queens isn't worth it, IMO, and I'd stay away from the others entirely. That's not to say that people don't take their leased BMWs to autox days, but when things fail there's a chance of getting it covered. The only cars I'd consider out of Roundel are if I was looking for something specific... E34 M5, E28 M5, E30 M3, pre-74 2002... For those, enthusiast ownership may make a difference. It doesn't when you're looking for a 3-5 year old non-M car. quote:If he isn't still banned, Mapless I'm sure can chime in with paragraphs of glee about his CPO buying experience. I'm SURE he'd recommend it, after nearly assaulting a Tom Williams BMW employee over a control arm. Some dealerships are just poo poo, just like owners can be lying scumbags. I bought a CPO M3 before... it needed a new O2 sensor and rear upper shock mount thunked. Both replaced under CPO warranty, no questions asked. Drove it for 70k miles without a single issue, except when the water pump finally went at 107k.
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May 4, 2008 15:46
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CornHolio posted:Reading that thread makes me think my transmission is going to explode now... although Ive put about 400 miles on it without a problem. Reading any thread about BMW transmissions makes you think they're going to explode. It's all a giant mess of conflicting information and anecdotal evidence, but I think it ultimately depends more on how you treat it than what you put in it (unless it's Royal Purple  )
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May 28, 2008 19:39
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Pissingintowind posted:Wait, Royal Purple is bad? I've been using the ATF in my 5 speed... Don't be scared. It's completely anecdotal evidence based on a sample of BMWs I or my family has owned. I put either RedLine MTL or D4 ATF into 6 of them and had no problems, including an E36 M3 that I drove like a nutcase for 65k miles. I put RP SyncroMax into my 540i/6, drove it a much more mature manner and 15k later had synchro problems with 2nd, 3rd, and 4th (although 2nd was typically tough to begin with). I bought the car used with 82k mi on it, decent paperwork and no bad history the BMW dealer network could dig up. It had no issues that I noticed except being notchy when cold. I read about 95% of the post history on the RoadFly E39 board before deciding to try RP and I can't prove that RP had anything to do with it, but I'm not interested in using it again. Many other people have reported the exact opposite experience, which is why anything seems like such a crapshoot. mungtor fucked around with this message at 03:58 on May 29, 2008 |
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May 29, 2008 03:55
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Posted in the marketplace thread too... I've got a set of Bentley manuals for an E39 BMW 5 series. Covers everything from 1997-2002 _except_ the M5. Lists from Bentley publishers for $170, but I'll let them go for $100 shipped for a goon. E-mail me at thompsjeXXXatgmaildotcom if you're interested. Pull the XXX and convert the 'at' and the 'dot'.
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Aug 24, 2008 01:13
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maxallen posted:
That's awesome to quote since that's exactly what people were saying about BMWs 10+ years ago too. The bitching over the "lack of purity" in the E36 M3 was incessant and people were complaining about things like computers and cruise control. Feature creep happens all the time and kills a lot of good cars. Look at the progressions of the Nissan Z-cars or the RX-7, then compare to the BMW M cars. People buy an early one and love it, but want a little more in the next one... and more in the next, etc. By the time you're 3-4 generations down the road, you've added a ton of crap and priced the car out of the market that made it successful. What's probably not helping either is that BMW seems to be listening to the majority of it's customers... the ones who buy a BMW just to prove that they can afford it and that they're moving up the junior accountant ladder. Or the senior ones who buy the M-series just because it's more expensive and looks better. The danger is that the crowd that buys cars as a fashion statement are fickle, and BMW stands to lose a lot of market if something else starts to have more perceived status.
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Aug 27, 2008 16:06
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vivacthulhu posted:Also I don't think they made the E36 M3 coupe in an automatic, I'm pretty sure it was just the 4 door M3, for the ultimate poseur machine. They're much more common in the 4-door, but I think you could even get it in the coupe. The ad copy was: "A stick is no longer needed to stir your soul"  Edit: RealOEM lets me choose an E36 M3 coupe with a 3/95 production date and an auto. Some months there is no choice, so it appears that they made the autos in batches. mungtor fucked around with this message at 12:20 on Aug 24, 2009 |
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Aug 24, 2009 12:13
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I posted this in the For Sale thread, but figured I would re-post the BMW related stuff here before I threw it out. First, a Bavarian Autosport branded code reader. It's the round plug type and there seems to be an adapter cable available to go to the normal OBD-II style, but I don't have it. Worked on my E36 and E39, don't know what else. The book says 1987-2000. BavAuto sells it for $150, make me an offer.  Next, 16-inch wheels and snow tires that used to fit my E39 540i. Currently shod in Dunlop Wintersport M3 tires, 225/55-16. Tires are probably 7-8 years old and haven't been on a car for at least 4. Tread depth is around 7/32, no signs of rot, but they are old. Wheels are straight and in good shape with only some minor scrapes. They would probably run $100+ to ship, but if you're in the Eastern MA area (I'm in zip 02056) you can come pick them up for the price of a couple 6-packs just so they're not cluttering up my life.  Quesitons, offers, etc, e-mail me at thompsje at that mail thing that Google does.
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Jun 28, 2012 14:38
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rear end in a top hat Bicycle posted:Maybe a long shot, but is there anyone in Gainesville, FL with a 1987-2000 BMW? I bought a Peake Research R5/FX3 code scanner used from ebay, and it doesn't work. It doesn't even light up to give an error code. If it turns out to be the scanner, I have a Bavarian Autosport branded one sitting on a shelf. It worked on a '98 540i and a '95 M3, so it should be the right model.
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Nov 29, 2012 20:39
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rear end in a top hat Bicycle posted:I don't have PMs, but what do you want for it? I don't have PMs either. email me at thompsje at the Google.
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Nov 29, 2012 22:16
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sofullofhate posted:Argh. 6-spd E90 328 is having some starting / idling issues. Feels like vacuum / idle air valve type issues I had in Subarus, but I'd love another opinion from people who know the cars better. Here are the symptoms: Did you check that the oil fill cap was fully tightened?
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Feb 1, 2013 21:24
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Sarcophallus posted:In a fit of really dumb luck, I'm not going to be getting that last M3 for 6100. The old posting, should anyone want it can be found here. It's in Pittsburgh so I imagine a few of you are nearby. It might just be the lighting, but it looks like the lower grille is missing as well as the undertray. Also, at that price and 4 doors, it's probably an automatic. Still probably worth it if the body and interior are clean.
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Feb 14, 2013 13:17
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Negromancer posted:So is terrible throttle lag normal on e90's? Yes. It also seems to do weird poo poo like change the throttle mapping when you're in reverse so that you have to push even farther to the the car to move. You can try resetting the adaptation, but it doesn't have much impact as far as I have found. All the control feel of an E90 is fairly disappointing, especially if you've ever driven an E36. I got a Sprint Booster as a Christmas present and it makes a huge difference and makes the car much more enjoyable ('09 328xi 6-speed).
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Sep 24, 2013 13:10
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Viper_3000 posted:This is bullshit. There's a metric poo poo ton of BMW enthusiast forums out there and a poo poo ton of owners who take pride in their cars, and wouldn't let the oil get to 15,000km regardless of what the onboard computer tells them. While this may be true, they're still only a tiny fraction of the general BMW buyer population. That's probably why an E90 owner's manual doesn't even tell you what the oil capacity of the engine is. Everything in there says to just bring it to the dealer when the car tells you to.
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Apr 4, 2014 15:48
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BlackMK4 posted:The SA called and said that they couldn't reproduce the cold start issue or the AC vent squeak, and told me that the rear pads actually need to be replaced and that it was an error on their report. I'm pretty much at a loss, BMW North Scottsdale has been nothing but terrible over the past few years and I now understand why my family has chosen to stop buying BMWs and has moved to a different brand. This is the same dealer that pieces of the clear bra were dug out during their care, along with front bumper paint, and refused to fix it. This is amazingly typical. I bet they have a phenomenal showroom with fountains, chrome, and turntables. Also, a lounge with several huge TVs, a coffee bar, WiFi, and all leather seating. That poo poo doesn't pay for itself. I took my poverty spec 328xi to one of our local dealers like that since it was still under warranty and it was making a slow rythmic sound when taking off from a stop until about 10mph. I thought maybe it was a wheel bearing, and it was worth the $50 deductible just in case it was. They couldn't find anything to account for that, but they told me it was probably because my tires were cupped and they could fix that for $1600. This is a base 328xi with 16" wheels. They also told me that my front pads were at "less than 3mm" and they could take care of those ($1200) and the rear pads were also "less than 3mm" and they could do those for a paltry $900. While I was there they also noticed the accessory belt idler was squeaking (which I never heard) and could do the idler and the belt for $500. So, they never found the noise (which ended up being a casting inclusion in the driver's side rotor) and tried to up-sell me over $4000 of unnecessary repairs and they seemed genuinely shocked when I told them to just put the wheels back on and park it outside. 6 months and 10K mi later when I finally wore through one of the pad sensor wires I ordered all the brake parts for $450, had gotten tires done (to be fair they were at 1/4" tread) for less than $1000, and the idler pulley still doesn't squeak but I'm gonna replace it when I do the belt because it has over 80k on it. Fuckers charged me the full $135 for an hour of labor too because they told me the $50 deductible didn't apply since they found no problem and performed no additional work. At least they didn't dent it. I do have to wonder how many people who don't know anything about cars get utterly hosed over on a daily basis. mungtor fucked around with this message at 00:28 on Mar 27, 2015 |
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Mar 27, 2015 00:26
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Pierced Bronson posted:Yes, because apparently the people who accidentally bump into things by starting their car with it in gear exist exclusively in America. In the rest of the world it's a safety feature... ie, you can move the car out of danger (highway, train tracks, etc) when it won't start. Only Americans would prevent that because they're loving morons and launch the car into another one, and then try to blame the manufacturer for letting them.
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Apr 17, 2015 23:08
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Fox_bat posted:The same rest of the world that requires an interlock for reverse because you might put it in reverse by mistake? I'm all for raging at stupid laws but let's not pretend that it's exclusively an American phenomenon. Define interlock. The only car I ever had with anything close to that was a VW GTi where you had to push down on stick. Everything else was just a stiffer detent if anything. I think some cars had a ring you needed to pull up (ex-girlfriend's Dodge Shadow?), but it's certainly not common where the clutch switch is universal among cars sold in the US as far as I know. mungtor fucked around with this message at 02:16 on Apr 18, 2015 |
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Apr 18, 2015 02:14
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Martello posted:Yup, ripped the sensor apart. I replaced it (had a new one as standard procedure) and for some reason my red BRAKE light is still on. I've never had to do anything but replace the sensor to get that off before, am I missing something? If you turned it on with the sensor unplugged it may have tripped the "Brake Service" indicator. Does it display the "car on a lift" symbol when you turn it on? I had to do the service reset on my 328 after I did brakes too, but I actually wore through the rear sensor. Mine doesn't have iDrive, so the procedure is something like this: some guy on E90post posted:Put the key in, press start without brake to enable accessory mode, wait until the service reminders go away to the normal screen, hold the odometer reset button until a yellow triangle pops up, scroll to whatever service reminder you would like to clear, press BC until reset option comes up, hold BC to reset, and you're all set. Pretty sure that's what eventually worked, but it may still need some time to clear the sensor fault.
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Apr 21, 2015 03:46
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ultrabay2000 posted:I need to change the transmission fluid on my E39 540i/6. There seems to be a debate on using Royal Purple Syncromax vs Redline MT90. Is there a goon consensus on what is the one true transmission fluid for six speed BMWs? Sample size of one, but that transmission is the only one I ever used Syncromax in and the only transmission I ever had give me serious "won't go into gear at all" issues. Drained the RP and went with BMW unicorn blood and it was OK for the next 10k until I traded it. I've used Redline MTL and Redline D4 ATF in multiple other transmissions with no issues. For that single experience, I won't really consider a RP product at all. I'm OK with it being irrational.
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Jul 17, 2015 19:42
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MrChips posted:Just a matter of personal opinion, but I don't like the way they look, I don't like the way they ride, I don't like the steering feel (or lack thereof to be precise), I don't like the interior very much and while I like the performance of the engine lineup I don't like the way they sound. I had one as a loaner last year (I have an E90 328xi) and I hated it. Enough I had to rant to my brother about it. quote:They also had a clusterfuck with their in-house Enterprise rentals, so I ended up with a 2013 328Xi with the eco-drive or whatever option as a loaner. It sucked. It rode like poo poo because it was on 18" or 19" rims, the turbo was uninspiring, and the 8-speed automatic was never in the right gear. "Sport" mode helped a little, but not a ton, and the "shiftable automatic" mode was just as terrible as it was 10+ years ago. I tried it for a total of about 5 shifts and then just dumped it back into D. Steering was even worse than mine - big on-center dead spot and no feel, just friction to add weight. It also annoyed the gently caress out of me when coming to a stop because it was impossible to do smoothly with the transmission randomly downshifting. They might be better with a manual, but chances are that this is the last BMW I'm going to own (except for bikes).
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Aug 4, 2015 20:46
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Quick question for you guys... 2009 328Xi, 6-speed, 98k miles, OE battery. Over the past 3 weeks it's thrown 3 separate trouble codes. Misfire cylinder 3, Secondary air injection bank 2, and claimed a bulb was out when it wasn't. Each of these things happened immediately after startup as "Pending Trouble Codes". I did replace plugs and coils at about 95k because of an actual misfire (with legit code), but it's been fine since. I'm leaning towards it being the battery on it's way out. Does that make sense? Also, if I don't want to pay $rape at the dealer, is it actually necessary to get a programmer and register the new battery or can I just swap in a new DieHard and be good?
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Feb 16, 2016 23:11
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I'm car shopping since somebody decided to pull out in front of my 2009 328xi last week. I primarily bought the 328 (as a CPO in 2011) since there was a lot of noise about the HPFP and turbo problems on the 335i platforms of the same age. Is there any good info out there on whether the newer (2013+) 335i models have the same issues with the turbos, HPFP, and intake valve carbon issues that the early ones did? Most of the info I'm finding is about cars in the 2008/2009 age range, but it may just be old news by now. On the other hand, there seem to be far fewer CPO cars available than I would expect - and that might be because they are still having issues. Any info or pointers to other forums/threads would be appreciated.
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Dec 12, 2016 23:37
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If anybody's interested, I have a Bav Technic basic version cable that's never been plugged into a car. I was going to use if for my battery recoding, but some douchebag in his grandmother's Avalon decided that he was too important for stop signs or traffic. At least it was before the new battery. Cost on the website is $179 plus close to $20 S&H. It can be yours for $125 shipped. Either PM me or email me at thompsje at the mail thing that Google does.
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Jan 16, 2017 21:50
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