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TheMadMilkman
Dec 10, 2007

protmind posted:

How much is this sucker going to weigh?

According to BMW, curb weight is between 3200-3500 pounds.

http://bmwblog.com/docs/2009_z4_roadster_technical_data.pdf

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havelock
Jan 20, 2004

IGNORE ME
Soiled Meat

protmind posted:

How much is this sucker going to weigh?

It's heavier, but I'm not sure by how much. I have the 3.0si coupe which makes 255 hp and goes 0-60 in 5.5ish. The new one has a 258hp 3 liter that gets to 60 in 5.8 or so, so it has slightly more power and is still a bit slower.

I hope the folding hardtop doesn't mean there won't be a coupe.

Edit: ok the numbers from autoblog differ from those in the pdf posted above. It looks like the 3.0 is up a few 100 lbs and the 3.5 is even heavier than that.

havelock fucked around with this message at 21:41 on Dec 14, 2008

protmind
Dec 25, 2007
From Jalopnik. The 3.5 twin turbo has a curb weight of 3450lbs. The current M roadster weights 3197 with the coupe at 3230lbs. Wonder how much a soft top would weigh?

I think the current M coupe will definitely be a future classic.

jambo
Jun 21, 2002
Wow first time I've seen proper pics of the new Z. I expected it to be much heavier than that to be honest so there's some good news. It certainly won't be as bare bones and racey as the old Z4M since they had a pretty hard time moving that niche model off the floors. Shame for the real enthusiasts though. Any news on an M version? Rumor is they've dropped it, but would be nice to know for sure either way.

Squirrelly Wrath
Oct 1, 2005
I'm looking at e36s and while reading up I've gotten the impression that the early cars can have crappy interior build quality. Several sources mention that "later" cars are better built, and that this is sometime after '95 (or '97?). Does anyone have a definite date for when this improved interior was implemented? Was it when the A/C controls went from dials to digital, or before that? Is there any way to determine if a car has the better interior? Any personal experience regarding this? If I love solid interiors of the old Mercedes kind should I avoid e36s all together and look at e30/e34s?

ad infinitum
Oct 11, 2001
All things shining.
I'm trying to decide between a 2000 Z3M Roadster (this is the year before the S54 engine upgrade) and a 2001 Z3 3.0. The Roadster is faster but not by a huge amount, and it's more expensive but again, not by a huge amount. Is there anything I should know before deciding on one or the other? Is one substantially more fun to drive than the other, or will one cost more to maintain than the other? I'll be using it as a daily driver, but I don't care too much about practicality.

multiprotocol
Sep 16, 2004
label switching is fun. i can relate to that.
Get the M roadster. You will not regret it.

Also, just got in the manual (!) steering rack for my E30 project car. Pictures coming shortly. Only $140 shipped from Germany, and it's brand new.

CornHolio
May 20, 2001

Toilet Rascal

multiprotocol posted:

Also, just got in the manual (!) steering rack for my E30 project car. Pictures coming shortly. Only $140 shipped from Germany, and it's brand new.

Jesus thats a good price. Mind if I ask where you got it?

multiprotocol
Sep 16, 2004
label switching is fun. i can relate to that.

CornHolio posted:

Jesus thats a good price. Mind if I ask where you got it?

ebay.de, and a seller willing to ship to the US. I put my two years of high school German to work for me. :D

OBAMNA PHONE
Aug 7, 2002

Squirrelly Wrath posted:

I'm looking at e36s and while reading up I've gotten the impression that the early cars can have crappy interior build quality. Several sources mention that "later" cars are better built, and that this is sometime after '95 (or '97?). Does anyone have a definite date for when this improved interior was implemented? Was it when the A/C controls went from dials to digital, or before that? Is there any way to determine if a car has the better interior? Any personal experience regarding this? If I love solid interiors of the old Mercedes kind should I avoid e36s all together and look at e30/e34s?

Both e30 and e36 interiors have their faults: e30s have dashes that crack due to sun/heat and the face has a tendency to break/fail in some spots near the radio and headlight knob.

E36s have lovely door panel inserts which would start to delaminate on earlier cars. Headliners also seem to fall at some point but mine has yet to do so. Same with the door pillars. Glovebox sagging is common and usually only looks ugly but some will squeak (mine).

I wouldn't say that either should influence your choice in which vehicle to buy.

AngryTurtle
Sep 18, 2004

Freude am Fahren
I've owned my 1993 325is for about 2 and a half years now and the only problems I've had with it are related to the interior and doors. I've seen the inside of both my door panels more times than I'd like to count. I really like the layout of the interior in the car, but there is a lot of plastic bits. Every problem that BraveUlysses mentioned has happened to my car. Basic maintenance and upkeep on them is important, but even a slightly beaten up BMW interior is still better than most other cars I've been in. I can't attest to the quality of the later models, but I would definitely not rule one out when you're looking.

Doctor Grape Ape
Aug 26, 2005

Dammit Doc, I just bought this for you 3 months ago. Try and keep it around for a bit longer this time.

multiprotocol posted:

ebay.de, and a seller willing to ship to the US. I put my two years of high school German to work for me. :D

I've been thinking about doing this for a set of cams. I wonder if they'll knock the 19% VAT off since it's not being sold to someone in the country... hmmm.

Also, I just sent my $116 to a guy on ebay.co.uk for an E36 Euro 3 Spoke steering wheel :D

This style:

People in the US routinely ask $300+ for this wheel.

morothar
Dec 21, 2005

Any opinions on the new Z4 presented this week?

http://www.bmwblog.com/2008/12/14/the-new-landshark-has-landed-2009-bmw-z4/#more-6810

I will be in the market for a sporty 2 (or 2+2) seater in the first half of next year and at this point, the choice has really boiled down to the 135i, Boxster and now the new Z4.

I just wish it was not as bloody heavy - 200 kg difference to the Boxster is quite a bit, and I would like to take the car to a track now and again :(

Crustashio
Jul 27, 2000

ruh roh
On the subject of interiors, is there an e30 cupholder that won't break if I look at it wrong, but doesn't require modifying anything?

Aquila
Jan 24, 2003

morothar posted:

Any opinions on the new Z4 presented this week?

http://www.bmwblog.com/2008/12/14/the-new-landshark-has-landed-2009-bmw-z4/#more-6810

I will be in the market for a sporty 2 (or 2+2) seater in the first half of next year and at this point, the choice has really boiled down to the 135i, Boxster and now the new Z4.

I just wish it was not as bloody heavy - 200 kg difference to the Boxster is quite a bit, and I would like to take the car to a track now and again :(

I'll probably be buying one to replace my Z4.

Speaking of which, will putting non runflats on it be a problem? And can anyone recommend some 225 45R17's?

havelock
Jan 20, 2004

IGNORE ME
Soiled Meat

Aquila posted:

I'll probably be buying one to replace my Z4.

Speaking of which, will putting non runflats on it be a problem? And can anyone recommend some 225 45R17's?

I have the sport package on my z4 coupe so my tire sizes are different, but I just want to say stay away from Sumitomo HTR ZIIIs. They got really good reviews when I bought them but they get greasy when autocrossing. I'm actually faster when the tires are colder.

A lot of people who take off the run flats buy the flat tire repair kit that comes with the M coupe to have just in case.

And I'm not sold on the new z4. I still want to see what the coupe looks like (if there is one). Right now, the TT-S looks pretty good. 5 seconds or less to 60, > 250 hp, nearly 30 mpg.

two_beer_bishes
Jun 27, 2004
I just can't figure out these drat blinkers!

The fuses are all ok, I replaced the flasher relay for the blinkers, and I replaced the bulbs but the front right blinker still won't work. The rear one works sometimes (flashes rapidly) but after a second or two the relay buzzes and doesn't stop until I switch the blinkers off.

edit: The fuckheads on the E30 forums are saying it has to do with the engine fire I had months ago. Not buying that one...

two_beer_bishes fucked around with this message at 00:20 on Dec 20, 2008

Doctor Grape Ape
Aug 26, 2005

Dammit Doc, I just bought this for you 3 months ago. Try and keep it around for a bit longer this time.

two_beer_bishes posted:

I just can't figure out these drat blinkers!

The fuses are all ok, I replaced the flasher relay for the blinkers, and I replaced the bulbs but the front right blinker still won't work. The rear one works sometimes (flashes rapidly) but after a second or two the relay buzzes and doesn't stop until I switch the blinkers off.

edit: The fuckheads on the E30 forums are saying it has to do with the engine fire I had months ago. Not buying that one...

Start with the simplest thing possible and check for continuity on all of the wires. Remove the blinker relay and short the pins for each blinker, etc.

Comedy Option: You're low on blinker fluid.

Pissingintowind
Jul 27, 2006
Better than shitting into a fan.
My friend's RSM got repaired. For anyone wondering, the total damage was $400. Looks good as new, and I heartily recommend Bimmer Clinic in Elizabeth, NJ.

two_beer_bishes
Jun 27, 2004

Doctor Grape Ape posted:

Start with the simplest thing possible and check for continuity on all of the wires. Remove the blinker relay and short the pins for each blinker, etc.

Comedy Option: You're low on blinker fluid.

I always overlook the simplest of tests, thanks, I'll give that a shot in the morning.

hedgegnome
May 20, 2008
Hi! Ok, im posting with some questions about my friends 1980 320i. Im pretty clueless about them, and I thought someone here could give us some advice.

Its a 5 speed, and shes been having clutch problems. The old one went out, and she had another friend replace it. Unfortunately they did a poor job of it. When they got it back in, the shifter was way harder to work than it was before. And to add drama, right after they fixed that the rear flex joint broke and went flying. So the car has been sitting for a while.

Just over the last few weeks, shes had some local shadetree guys off craigslist fixing it. They fixed the flex joint, 'bled the clutch' (can you do that on that car?) and drained the tank cause it had been sitting for a while and wasnt starting. Its running and driving now, though. But the shifter is still wonky.

I can get it into each gear, but for R 2nd and 5th you have to shove it all the way forward till it hits the radio. 1st and 3rd, the shifter is straight up and down. And its loose as all hell too.
The CL guys said it needs a new cable, but from what Ive been reading its not a cable shifter. Maybe they ment the clutch cable? They said it was stretched out, and needed replacing. The clutch does grab about 3/4ths out, which i thought was kinda high for a new clutch. But its working alright, she just wants to stop having to fight the shifter.
Also, this car has been pretty neglected. It sat for about 12 years at one point before the previous owner got it running again. So just about every rubber part id guess has gone to poo poo by now.
And we are both broke. Hence the CL guys, though they did a pretty good job and were drat cheap. So ideal fixes would be very inexpensive :)
Thanks!

And cause everyone loves pictures, heres the car in question!


And.. whats this worth? Its pretty solid, has some rust in the normal places but nothing terrible. Interior is fair, seats are shot, has about 150k on it and runs alright. I dont think its really ever had more than oil changes, and like I said it sat for a long time at one point. Ive been saying she should sell it and get a more reliable car, she wants to keep it and have things fixed things as she goes. Its her only car, too. What say you AI?

hedgegnome fucked around with this message at 23:10 on Dec 21, 2008

Brock Landers
Jul 28, 2004

You're a donkey. I like that.

hedgegnome posted:

What say you AI?

I saw that's a pretty good looking 320i. Most of them here in the Northeast are rusted to Hell and back. I was tempted to get one instead of the E30 I ended up with because I really like the "shark" look to the front end. I figured that the rust hassles just wouldn't be worth it though.

Sounds like you have clutch issues and shifter issues. The shifter probably has worn bushings in the shift linkage which are causing the looseness in the shifter. Parts are about $45 and it's not TOO difficult, though taking the driveshaft out makes the job easier. Here are directions for an E36:
http://www.pelicanparts.com/bmw/techarticles/E36-Shift_Bushings/E36-Shift_Bushings.htm
You're will be similar but you'll probably look around and see if anyone has written anything up on the E21 shifter bushings.

This car doesn't have a cable clutch; it's all hydraulics, so you'll want to look at the clutch master and slave cylinders. There are tests you can do, but at this age, the seals are probably shot and both could use a replacement. They are price from the dealer ($180 master, $80 slave), so I recommend a complete brake fluid flush and bleed first (if the craigslist guys didn't do it already). That'll be cheaper. If that doesn't work, try the shifter bushings I mentioned. They might be all you need. If you're still having issues, you could have a bad clutch master or slave, or something causing the clutch to bind as it moves inside the bell housing. You won't know unless you open up the clutch housing and look. If you do that, you might as well replace the clutch ($300 in parts). At this point, it's all about how much you want to put into the car to keep it running. If $600-800 for a clutch job is doable, then go for it. The M10 motor is bulletproof as long as you change the oil and adjust the valves. You have been adjusting the valves, right?. If the motor sounds like an old sewing machine (clacka-clacka-clacka), you need a valve job, stat. Get a feeler gauge ($10), valve cover gasket ($20-30), some new oil and a filter, and look here: http://www.3dtriad.com/e21/tech/valves1.html
You can do the job yourself in about 1-2 hours, including changing the oil afterward. If you can keep the rust away, these cars are quite dependable.

EDIT: As for what it's worth, not a whole lot. The E21 wasn't really loved like the 2002 before it or the E30 after it. The 2002 is more "cult car" and the E30 is more updated and therefore a better daily driver (ABS, better rustproofing, better A/C, etc). You won't get top-dollar for anything but a rust-free, well maintained car. Yours doesn't sound like it meets those criteria so I'd wager ~$1500. It would probably be worth it to put $1000 into it and drive it for another year or two, however. That's one or two more years without car payments.

Brock Landers fucked around with this message at 23:39 on Dec 21, 2008

Pissingintowind
Jul 27, 2006
Better than shitting into a fan.

Pissingintowind posted:

My friend's RSM got repaired. For anyone wondering, the total damage was $400. Looks good as new, and I heartily recommend Bimmer Clinic in Elizabeth, NJ.

Well. My friend is officially the unluckiest person alive. Right after picking up his car from Bimmer Clinic, he heard that his grandmother was sick in MD (we're in NJ). He drove to go see her. On the way back, early on the morning, while not speeding or doing anything retarded, he hit a patch of ice. The car spun out, into a lightpost. Luckily, he was unhurt. Unluckily, the entire passenger side of the car is destroyed. If the same damage had occurred on his side, he might not be here today. I haven't seen the damage, but he thinks it is going to be totaled.

In memory of a beautiful stock Techno Violet M3, let us all pour out a 40 of Amsoil.

boobstastegreat
Aug 9, 2004
yum
I have a 1995 540i that I drove from California to Chicago. The tires on there are most definitely not intended to be used in this kind of weather and I've been getting stuck in even the most tiny amounts of snow/ice. The traction on this thing is hilariously bad and rear-wheel drive isn't helping.

I've put 200 lbs. of sand above the rear axle which didn't seem to help much. Now I'm wondering what kind of tires you guys recommend. What kind of price should I pay to replace the rear two tires.

Brock Landers
Jul 28, 2004

You're a donkey. I like that.

boobstastegreat posted:

I have a 1995 540i that I drove from California to Chicago. The tires on there are most definitely not intended to be used in this kind of weather and I've been getting stuck in even the most tiny amounts of snow/ice. The traction on this thing is hilariously bad and rear-wheel drive isn't helping.

I've put 200 lbs. of sand above the rear axle which didn't seem to help much. Now I'm wondering what kind of tires you guys recommend. What kind of price should I pay to replace the rear two tires.

Whatever you do, get 4 new tires of the same make/model. Don't mix and match all-seasons and summer or all-seasons and snow (or summer and snow) on the same car. For Chicago winters, I'd get a set of cheap 15" steel wheels and some good snow tires (Blizzaks, Hakkapeliitta, etc) and run them from November until March or so. Then get yourself some good all-seasons for the rest of the year on your regular rims. You can run snow tires on your current rims, but steel wheels are so cheap and you could mount/dismount your snow tires yourself every year instead of paying a shop to mount the tires every time.

boobstastegreat
Aug 9, 2004
yum
May I ask the reason for not mixing tire types? Also, is weight over my rear-axle doing me any favors? any other suggestions. Thanks Brock

Brock Landers
Jul 28, 2004

You're a donkey. I like that.

boobstastegreat posted:

May I ask the reason for not mixing tire types? Also, is weight over my rear-axle doing me any favors? any other suggestions. Thanks Brock

The reason for not mixing tires is that it will upset the handling of the car. Let's say you have winter tires on the rear and all-seasons or summer on the front. You'll be able to get going better, but now turning the car (very important) will be compromised. If you have all-seasons on the rear and winters on the front, now you can turn great, but you'll have a tough time getting moving. Also, you will tend to fishtail out of control around corners. The same can be said about two different brands of tires, even though all 4 might be all-seasons (or summers or winters). Traction and handling can very greatly between brands and models of tires. Is it worth saving a few hundred dollars for the safety of riding on 4 new, correctly matched tires? Even if you aren't hurt in an accident, you'll be paying hundreds (or maybe thousands) to repair your car.

Weight over the rear axle did work for me last winter in my BMW, but BMWs have almost perfect weight distribution, front/rear. I noticed the car got moving better, but had a tendency to "whip" or fishtail slightly around corners more if I wasn't careful.

Xenoid
Dec 9, 2006
My driver side door is making horrible squeaking noises which I will be fixing with moly grease I presume (correct me if I'm wrong please) but in addition to that, the door keeps trying to close itself as I'm getting out and it won't stay open. This is annoying as gently caress and makes it hard to get out. The door is also really drat heavy. How do I usually fix something like this? I have tried Bimmerforums and Bimmerfest and found a few people asking about it but nobody gave them answers on how to fix it.

Brock Landers
Jul 28, 2004

You're a donkey. I like that.
Grease the hinges and replace the door check. What model/year is this BMW?

Xenoid
Dec 9, 2006

Brock Landers posted:

Grease the hinges and replace the door check. What model/year is this BMW?

Doesn't matter. I greased the hinges and it solved both the squeaking and the "not staying open" thing. Both of the front doors had this problem but not the rears. Greased the rears as well anyways. Wish I had actually done it a lot sooner because it was really annoying :P

Pimpsolo
Jun 6, 2004

hedgegnome posted:

I can get it into each gear, but for R 2nd and 5th you have to shove it all the way forward till it hits the radio. 1st and 3rd, the shifter is straight up and down. And its loose as all hell too.

This sounds like a very classic case of having the shifter on backwards, and bad bushings. I'd stake my very good reputation on it. It will be somewhat of a pain to fix this. Exhaust and shielding will need to come off, driveshaft will need to be unbolted and moved out of the way. When he had the tranny off, he undoubtedly had to disconnect the linkage and when he did he probably damaged the bushings further (an inescapeable fate).
When he reattatched the shifter, which requires sliding the linkage into the little hole (you can see on the far left of the image below) he did so with the shifter rotated 180 degrees from the correct position. The effect is that the bend in the shifter is pointed the opposite direction and will cause all of the symptoms you've listed.

To correct this, you must remove the linkage, slip it out, rotate the shifter 180º, reinsert the linkage and bolt everything back up. Sorry.

Only registered members can see post attachments!

two_beer_bishes
Jun 27, 2004
Does anyone have any tips on getting to the shifter bushing that's right on top of the trans?

The bushing in question is #2 in this picture

Pimpsolo
Jun 6, 2004

New problem. On my 91 318is it never got up to operating temp. I went to replace the thermostat, so I drained the coolant an noticed what appeared to be a lot of oil mixed in. My first obvious fear was blown headgasket. I checked the oil cap, looked good, checked the dip stick, looked good, checked the oil filter, looked fine. Also the exhaust has never really smoked.

I went ahead and installed the thermostat and discovered a coating of this oil all over the inside of the thermostat housing, hoses, radiator, etc. I cleaned up as much as I could and filled the coolant system with all distilled water (not wanting to waste the expensive BMW coolant if I was going to have to replace the headgasket). I ran the car and got it up to temp and looked into the coolant reservoir and didn't notice the coolant flowing at all. I went in the car and turned the heat up and it was blowing totally room temp. To rule out a blockage to the heater core, I flipped it back to "cold," drained the coolant, turned the heat on and more coolant came out (so I know coolant is getting to the heater core).

I want to mention that after having ran the car now for a cumulative half hour or so, there seems to be no oil in the water anymore. The belt to the water pump turns freely, the pully has no wabble or give, the pump makes no noises and doesn't seem to leak. Is it possible for a water pump to fail silently like this? Also, if say coolant hasn't been flowing for who knows how long, and has just sat stagnant for maybe years? (I bought the car from someone who stored it for God knows how long, and drove it with a bad potential water pump/thermostat and I haven't driven it really at all,) could that cause this oily build up on everything?

I think it's also worth mentioning that when the car had the failed thermostat, the engine always ran cold, never ever reaching operating temp, even with the radiator fan disconnected. It seems to me that a failed water pump would overheat the engine regardless of whether the thermostat is stuck open or not. I would like to emphasise again though that the coolant in the tank on the radiator (when viewed with the cap off) remains totally motionless (however does seem to get quite hot,) even when the car is at operating tempature, and if I feel the hoses, I don't feel anything flowing through them really, and yet the car doesn't ever seem to overheat. WTF

I'm pretty sure I'm going to go ahead and replace the water pump, but before I do I'd like some thoughts on it, especially the (what appears to be)oil in the coolant.

two_beer_bishes posted:

Does anyone have any tips on getting to the shifter bushing that's right on top of the trans?

The bushing in question is #2 in this picture

If by "getting to" you mean how to get it off, you'll notice in the realoem picture that there is a pin that is slid though it #3. #3 in the diagram needs to be pried up and rotated so that the pin can be slid out. This is best done by wedging a flat head screw driver and prying it up. It's a tight space, but it can be done. This image http://www.pelicanparts.com/bmw/techarticles/E36-Shift_Bushings/lift_pic.jpg should give you a good idea on how to do it.

If by "getting to" you instead meant how to replace that bushing, well the only way is really to remove the whole shifting arm, and to do that you should just follow this guide http://www.pelicanparts.com/bmw/techarticles/E36-Shift_Bushings/E36-Shift_Bushings.htm

Brock Landers
Jul 28, 2004

You're a donkey. I like that.

Pimpsolo posted:

New problem. On my 91 318is it never got up to operating temp.

Hmm... Well a water pump is pretty simple: just a pulley turning a shaft connected to an impeller. If you turn the pulley and the impeller turns, then the water pump works. Verify that first. When you say the engine ran cold, did the needle ever move from the blue area? Or did it just stay at ~1/4 of the way up the scale? The M42 is known for thermostats that stick open and allow the engine to run cooler than usual, but the gauge should read something. If the coolant in the radiator tank is getting hot, then coolant is moving. It's really tough to see it move looking down into the tank. When you squeeze the hoses, you should hear a "gurgling" or "swishing" sound as coolant moves around and the upper hose should be warm after the car has been running for a bit. The "oil" in the coolant might be nothing more than old, sludgy coolant. Perhaps the previous owner ran some of that "Stop-leak" crap through the system. That stuff turns coolant into a sludgy brown mess too. Outward symptoms of a possible blown headgasket are: lots of white smoke out the exhaust, mysteriously missing coolant, a temperature gauge the climbs when the engine is under load, and the whole milkshake oil or coolant. You may get all or none of these and still have an issue. If you really want to verify it, you'll have to do a compression and leak-down test.

Pimpsolo
Jun 6, 2004

Yeah, the needle moved to about 1/4 of the way, the thermostat was bad for sure and the gauge is working for sure. That's taken care of now. The hoses do get quite warm but the thing that has me wondering is, on my e46, if I pop the cap on the reservoir, I can clearly see coolant rushing in from the top and it's quite turbulent. In the 318is though (of a very similar cooling system design) I see nothing at all, occasionally I'll see a few drips come from the hole in the top. I'm 99% sure the coolant in the reservoir doesn't move at all, until it starts boiling that is. Also I can't understand how I'm not getting heat inside the car. I'm saying it doesn't even get slightly warm from the vents (and as I said before, with the coolant drain plug open, when I switch to "heat" coolant comes pouring out, so coolant is getting into the heater core).

I guess I'll pull the water pump soon to see if when I spin the pully, whether it spins the impellers (or if it even still has impellers -eek-, they didn't put the plastic ones on the e30's did they?)

Edit: In the back of my mind I was really really hoping that "stop leak" stuff looked like brown oily sludge, because that's precisely what the old coolant looked like. The thermostat gasket was leaking too, until I replaced it, so maybe he was trying to hide it.

Pimpsolo fucked around with this message at 05:53 on Dec 23, 2008

Doctor Grape Ape
Aug 26, 2005

Dammit Doc, I just bought this for you 3 months ago. Try and keep it around for a bit longer this time.

two_beer_bishes posted:

Does anyone have any tips on getting to the shifter bushing that's right on top of the trans?

The bushing in question is #2 in this picture

Put a jack under the transmission, then undo the crossmember and lower the transmission. This should give you a little more room to get the bitch clip. Then you use the smallest flathead screw driver you have to manipulate the bitch clip. Pelican Parts has a pretty good tutorial telling you how to get the bitch clip off.

two_beer_bishes
Jun 27, 2004

Doctor Grape Ape posted:

Put a jack under the transmission, then undo the crossmember and lower the transmission. This should give you a little more room to get the bitch clip. Then you use the smallest flathead screw driver you have to manipulate the bitch clip. Pelican Parts has a pretty good tutorial telling you how to get the bitch clip off.

Thanks guys, it'll be a while before I can try that (unless I can get the garage heater working soon)...

two_beer_bishes
Jun 27, 2004

Doctor Grape Ape posted:

Start with the simplest thing possible and check for continuity on all of the wires. Remove the blinker relay and short the pins for each blinker, etc.

Comedy Option: You're low on blinker fluid.

I finally got around to trying this and while pulling the steering column apart, I found out that the problem is two wires that go into the switch stalk itself. If I jiggle the wires around it'll work for a while...but it looks like the switch is a bitch to replace, with all the connecting wires soldered into place (unless there's a plug that I didn't see)...

Doctor Grape Ape
Aug 26, 2005

Dammit Doc, I just bought this for you 3 months ago. Try and keep it around for a bit longer this time.
According to:

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=1113&mospid=47309&btnr=61_0764&hg=61&fg=35

it has a connector.

I would take the stalk with that wire out and try and find the break, then cut that section out, solder on some new wire and heat shrink the connections.

If that doesn't work hit up the junkyard.

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two_beer_bishes
Jun 27, 2004

Doctor Grape Ape posted:

According to:

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=1113&mospid=47309&btnr=61_0764&hg=61&fg=35

it has a connector.

I would take the stalk with that wire out and try and find the break, then cut that section out, solder on some new wire and heat shrink the connections.

If that doesn't work hit up the junkyard.

Thanks for that, it's too loving cold for the junkyards though (but much easier than dropping $100 for a new one).

Looks like tonight I'm going to take more poo poo apart...

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