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wolrah posted:Any suggestions for floor mats for an E46 sedan? The velcro things ripped out of both of my front mats and I prefer a thicker rubber mat anyways (especially as an Ohio winter approaches), so I'm in the market. I prefer the BMW rubber mats, but Weathertech makes a decent mat as well. It's much deeper than the stock mat.
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Oct 24, 2009 01:05
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This is why we can't have nice things:  gently caress New Brunswick.
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Oct 24, 2009 17:05
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Pissingintowind posted:This is why we can't have nice things: Was that intentional damage or did something fall out of the sky or what?
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Oct 24, 2009 17:18
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The Locator posted:Was that intentional damage or did something fall out of the sky or what? Some drunk idiot threw a garbage can. At least they didn't touch the paint on anything as far as I can tell.
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Oct 24, 2009 17:33
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stump posted:I've noticed my 325tds has quite a lean to the drivers side. Anythis in particular I should check for in the suspension? Both the front and back are lower. As far as I know suspension is standard and original, and it has 148,000 miles on it. Look at the belt line. The wheel well in the back is simply seated lower than in the front. Same with the E34. As for the driver's side lean, I'd say the shocks, one side has probably started to go. Original shocks at 148k miles = busted for sure. Replace both.
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Oct 24, 2009 20:37
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wolrah posted:Any suggestions for floor mats for an E46 sedan? The velcro things ripped out of both of my front mats and I prefer a thicker rubber mat anyways (especially as an Ohio winter approaches), so I'm in the market. I'd buy BMW original, even though they're more expensive. Aftermarket mats never fit properly, and are ugly 99% of the time.
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Oct 24, 2009 20:40
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Pilsner posted:Look at the belt line. The wheel well in the back is simply seated lower than in the front. Same with the E34. The shock isn't what controls the ride height; the spring does. That's why you can compress a perfectly good gas strut with only a little muscle and why they sell lowering springs, not shocks. It's possible that a super-blown out shock might cause a very slight sag, but it's not going to be that noticeable. The front-to-back height issue could well be an illusion caused by the different heights of the wheel arches.
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Oct 25, 2009 00:37
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My e36 1998 M3 is confusing me. Every once and a while, the steering wheel starts to shake back and forth when in motion. When this happens, the car all the sudden feels heavy. It doesn't want to roll in neutral as much. Its as if it has oval shaped wheels. Coasting to a stop feels like im going over a bunch of mini speed bumps. And its takes considerably more revs to get it going. All of that happens at the same time. And then after 10 minutes, its all gone and the car is back to normal. It doesn't only happen at certain speeds, its started at 60 mph, and its started at 25 mph. It doesn't happen every time i drive it, and i drive it every day. I also hear a squeeky noise when my steering wheel goes left of center and im in motion that gets faster/slower depending on the speed Im going. Im not sure if this has anything to do with the above symptoms, but i feel like they are related. Please help!
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Oct 25, 2009 18:45
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Sounds like your engine is either misfiring or going into a low-power failsafe. Is your CEL on? And if it's not, is it functioning?
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Oct 25, 2009 19:18
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It happens when I'm rolling in neutral so i really don't think its the engine.
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Oct 25, 2009 20:15
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Cakefool posted:Alright, so what am I looking for? Pilsner posted:Look at the belt line. The wheel well in the back is simply seated lower than in the front. Same with the E34.
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Oct 26, 2009 19:03
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My oil pressure light is on a lot more now that I've switched to 5W30.  It still only flickers, but it gets brighter and stays on longer before it flickers off.Backstory: I found out after owning the car for a year and a half that the PO had pulled the oil pressure bulb. Car still drives fine. The light flickers at idle, only at full operating temp, and its much more prevalent with 5W30 thn with 10W40. I'm thinking either idle control valve is clogged (leading to a slightly too low idle), sensor is going bad, or *gulp* the oil screen is getting clogged. Thoughts?
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Oct 27, 2009 00:11
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This may sound a bit odd, but does anyone have any instructions for getting to the rear strut tower in an E36 sedan? I'm hearing some rattling around back there and I'd just like to check it out.
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Oct 27, 2009 05:22
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McMadCow posted:This may sound a bit odd, but does anyone have any instructions for getting to the rear strut tower in an E36 sedan? I'm hearing some rattling around back there and I'd just like to check it out. Cut the carpet. No, really.  That's from my '96 328is coupe, but the easist way is to cut on three sides so it will still stay attached. You don't really notice the cut after you put it back, but you always have easy access to the shock towers (especially important if you put on Koni Yellow single adjustable shocks which have to be all but taken out to adjust). That also avoids the pain that is removing the speakers/boxes to take out the carpets. More trouble than its worth, unless you have an E36 M3 LTW with 125 original miles or something... Otherwise, one box cutter and 30 seconds, done.  Normal use; you really don't notice it unless you're looking for it... miklm fucked around with this message at 06:05 on Oct 27, 2009 |
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Oct 27, 2009 06:03
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Mid 90's E36 - a money hog (for UK goon)? Looking at the £600-800 range for purchase and while I could budget for an overall £1k spend I'd prefer to keep the money spent to a minimum until I've past my first year of driving "growing pains". After speaking to friends about buying a cheap bimmer I'm worried about it being a wasteland of chav-beaten gearboxes and wonky electrics even if after a test drive and cursory glance the car looks fine. On the road across from my house I counted four seperate mid-90's 316/318's and I find it hard to believe they're so expensive to maintain if they're so common - but I prostrate myself before the more knowledgable goons in this thread to ask for advice.
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Oct 27, 2009 15:09
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miklm posted:Cut the carpet. Ok, cool thanks. I'll have to do that. I'm planning on replacing all my shocks within the next month or two anyway, so I'll probably buy some reinforced strut tower mounts to go along with them.
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Oct 27, 2009 16:44
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Jagtpanther posted:Mid 90's E36 If you can turn a wrench yourself and are handy with some superglue, they're quite inexpensive to maintain due to the robust mechanicals. Weak areas are the cooling system (beaten to death all over the internet) and interior bits.
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Oct 27, 2009 16:59
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That's great news - my Dad's got a large garage and I've dipped my hands into a little maintenance and restoration on some previous cars. Thanks! (I'm also curious about the superglue thing?)
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Oct 27, 2009 20:17
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Jagtpanther posted:That's great news - my Dad's got a large garage and I've dipped my hands into a little maintenance and restoration on some previous cars. Thanks! The Superior German Adhesives tend to fail in many mid-90s German cars due age or heat.
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Oct 27, 2009 21:08
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Anyone have much experience troubleshooting e30 rear brakes? I went to put my driveshaft back together, only to find the input shaft for the rear diff won't rotate, thus denying my access to the nuts I need to tighten. I popped the wheels off (after having to use my jack handle as a cheater bar, those lug bolts must have been 200+ ft-lbs) and was greeted with this:  I expected rust (car has been on stands since may, and I had already planned to get new pads/rotors) but I didn't think something would rust badly enough to seize/stick. The thing that confuses me is both axles can rotate about ~3°. The calipers definetely drag on the rotor (see attached picture) but I'm not sure what the hell stops the rotation, I just hear a clunk when I go in either direction. It was enough resistance that I took out all the lugbolts with the car still in the air. If I get someone to put on the brakes you can't rotate the axle at all, as expected. You can see the light spot by the caliper where it drags on the rotor.  Click here for the full 780x800 image. My front brakes, while rusted, still work fine - I rotated them lots to get the front driveshaft back in place. I don't even need to really fix the rears, I just need them loose enough that the wheels rotate. I'm a very short drive away from repair shops that I can drive 5 mins with engine braking/front brakes and get them to do it instead of doing it in the cold. I'm just not sure what to start looking at, and the e30 repair manual isn't much help. I can rotate one side with just a few ft-lbs of torque, but the other side takes a little bit of torque applied to a lug bolt I screwed in.
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Oct 28, 2009 03:56
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Sounds like a parking brake issue. The rust on those rotors is certainly not extreme enough to keep the axles from turning.
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Oct 28, 2009 03:59
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I wonder if any of you might know the cause and cure of a mild problem my car has. It's an '86 325e, I've had it 3 years and this problem usually shows up when I haven't been driving it as much as usual (holidays - no daily to and from work trips) or even if I've gone a day without driving it. The problem is it sometimes loses power when accelerating, it feels lumpy and sort of spluttery. I've noticed the problem is most apparent after sitting idling on the brakes at lights, or after braking suddenly. As I said, it only happens if it hasn't been driven that much in the last couple of days. My dad looks after my car for me so it doesn't get shop services, just oil changes, filter changes and the like. I had the transmission serviced when I bought it, new timing belt and water pump not long after that, but the last 2 or so years it hasn't had much done to it. The problem has occurred consistently since I bought it and always goes away just as consistently. Apart from that the car always starts every time, usually runs smoothly and beautifully, it had 256000km on the thing before the counter stopped working not long after I bought it (3 years ago)so it still has that much but has probably done another 30,000 or more. Cheers in advance for any thoughts. PS It's an automatic art of spoonbending fucked around with this message at 15:47 on Oct 28, 2009 |
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Oct 28, 2009 15:25
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This is the culprit: Edit holy poo poo how do I resize this!
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Oct 28, 2009 15:31
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miklm posted:Cut the carpet. If you don't want to cut the carpet, there's a small walk through (remove speakers, pull on carpet) on the Pelican Tech article: http://www.pelicanparts.com/bmw/techarticles/101-Projects-62-Rear-Shock-Mounts/101-Projects-62-Rear-Shock-Mounts.htm Arwox posted:My e36 1998 M3 is confusing me. Have you replaced your diff fluid recently? Or messed with it? Steering wheel shake could be the LSD having fits and mucking with the rear wheel turning? Could also account for the heaviness in acceleration? Other thoughts are a stuck front brake caliper or something to do with the front wheel bearings. I'd drive around until it happens, then get home and get the car up in the air and see if you can feel some resistance on one of the wheels. I'd start with the front calipers/bearings though. That seems somewhat logical. Squeeky noise is power steering pump or fluid failure. Join the club, I think my PS hoses are leaking on my M5.
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Oct 28, 2009 15:53
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Good news everyone! Traded in my Nissan Altima Coupe (on a bit of an extended impulse) for a 2007 335i (manual, sports+prem, CPO). Got it a couple of weeks ago. This is only my 3rd car (first being a Camaro), and I have to say it's been pretty awesome so far. Already took it to a local track day and had an absolute blast, though the more I sit on BMW forums, the more paranoid I become about listening for wastegate rattles and fearing a HPFP failure. With my dog...   
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Oct 28, 2009 17:47
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Second picture is great. Sweet car!
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Oct 28, 2009 17:51
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King-Kong posted:With my dog... Good dog.
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Oct 28, 2009 19:07
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Welp, took off my caliper today and tried to take off the rotor. It appears to be jammed on something - it's not seized to the hub (note to self: CHECK FOR PARKING BRAKE FIRST BEFORE HAMMERING) but it will only come off slightly cocked about 15 degrees, then no more. If I let go it kinda springs back a bit. Peeking in where the caliper was it appears the parking brake shoes aren't disengaging enough - they're coming out with the rotor. I'm going to venture a guess and say i'll need new parking brakes? On the plus side, the driveshafts will rotate now. I think I'll just put the main driveshaft and exhaust back in, then limp the car to the dealer and let them deal with the brakes. It's getting too cold and dark to work on the car anymore.
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Oct 28, 2009 22:44
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Put the rotor back on and look through the lug holes. On the larger brake spring in the rotor hat there's a star wheel that you can rotate with a screw driver to adjust the shoes. Turn the star wheel clockwise to suck in the e-brake shoes.
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Oct 28, 2009 23:12
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Anyone know how to remove the C-pillar trim in an e34? I've been doing some interior work like re-covering the package tray, sunroof, and sunroof control panel in anticipation of doing the whole headliner and pillars, but I can't get the things off! I had the seat and package tray and interior lights out, and I could only find one screw by the bottom of the things, which didn't help loosen them up. I tried some pulling and prying but they seem to be on there really solid like they're bolted down. It's kind of gross that all the cloth in the car is so faded and old that I can't really tell if it's supposed to be more gray or brown.
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Oct 28, 2009 23:33
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Lowclock posted:Anyone know how to remove the C-pillar trim in an e34? I've been doing some interior work like re-covering the package tray, sunroof, and sunroof control panel in anticipation of doing the whole headliner and pillars, but I can't get the things off! I had the seat and package tray and interior lights out, and I could only find one screw by the bottom of the things, which didn't help loosen them up. I tried some pulling and prying but they seem to be on there really solid like they're bolted down. It's kind of gross that all the cloth in the car is so faded and old that I can't really tell if it's supposed to be more gray or brown. The trim have 4 little square plastic studs going out of them on the back, each of which go into.. poo poo, I don't know what they're called - little square, brass-colored things that flex and are V-shaped with some holes in them - and then into holes in the bodywork. There are two studs at the rear and two at the front, IIRC. So you just have to pull. If you can't pull, try prying with a screwdriver. Lodge it in from the side (in the door opening) and feel your way forward, then pry. If you've removed the A-pillar trim, they're fastened exactly the same way.
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Oct 29, 2009 00:26
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Pilsner posted:^^^^^ Well poo poo, I guess they are just really in there then. The A pillars weren't very bad compared to these. I just didn't want to go breaking poo poo if it has some weird sliding clip or something. Guess I need a bigger stick! Thanks. EDIT: If anyone knows of a place to get a window guide for the rear driver's window (the rubber/felt gasket that seals the window to the door frame) for less than $100, please enlighten me. It makes a tiny bit of wind noise that I can't hear over the stereo and it's ruining my german luxury experience. Lowclock fucked around with this message at 06:12 on Oct 29, 2009 |
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Oct 29, 2009 00:34
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Lowclock posted:EDIT: If anyone knows of a place to get a window guide for the rear driver's window (the rubber/felt gasket that seals the window to the door frame) for less than $100, please enlighten me. It makes a tiny bit of wind noise that I can't hear over the stereo and it's ruining my german luxury experience. And you're sure that isn't just the window glass that isn't going all the way to the top? My first E34 had the problem of the driver's side window missing about 10mm, which was only noticable if you peeled the rubber back a bit, and it became audible when driving at ~30mph or more. It was because the bracket that holds the window motor had jumped off its fastenings.
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Oct 29, 2009 13:14
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Welp the issue I was having with the rough idle on a cold start is back again with a vengeance (much cooler temperatures probably not helping). I had previously cleaned the contacts to the MAF as suggested here, that worked then, and this time I got some of the Gunk cleaner for the MAF sensor itself. Didn't really seem to solve the problem. This is on a 2003 e46 btw (325iT). Should I be just bringing it into a mechanic at this point? Getting the MAF sensor out for the cleaning was about the extent of the DIY stuff I'd be comfortable with, really. I'm actually wondering if I put the intake boot on properly again, I'll check that tonight. I have read that a cracked intake boot is a pretty common cause for this, does that sound right? Any estimates on how much a job such as this might cost? Basically now when I start it up in the morning I just give it gas for a bit until I can let it idle without sputtering and stalling out.
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Oct 29, 2009 19:52
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Pilsner posted:And you're sure that isn't just the window glass that isn't going all the way to the top? My first E34 had the problem of the driver's side window missing about 10mm, which was only noticable if you peeled the rubber back a bit, and it became audible when driving at ~30mph or more. It was because the bracket that holds the window motor had jumped off its fastenings. I wish. The rubber isn't really cut up or missing or anything, it's just smashed all to hell. It looks like it rolled up wrong once with the weatherstripping squished once and never moved it again. The rubber has pretty much bonded to itself, especially on the sides. The top part is actually just fine. Maybe related to that, but is there supposed to be a clip or a slider or anything that should keep that window parallel to the ground/straight besides those metal channels and weatherstripping? It pivots back and forth so if I don't help it a little bit it will try to dig the front edge into the frame and get stuck. With the door panel off and poo poo I can't see anything noticeably broken, bent, or missing, and didn't find any pieces in the door frame that might have fallen off.
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Oct 29, 2009 21:23
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Y'all might be interested in this. http://www.autoblog.com/2009/10/29/bmw-builds-e34-m5-convertible-keeps-it-secret-for-20-long-years/
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Oct 29, 2009 21:31
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peterjmatt posted:Put the rotor back on and look through the lug holes. On the larger brake spring in the rotor hat there's a star wheel that you can rotate with a screw driver to adjust the shoes. Turn the star wheel clockwise to suck in the e-brake shoes. The rotor won't rotate, at all. The parking brake assembly is pretty much fused to the rotor. The only reason I can turn the axle is because I unbolt the rotor and it floats while the halfshaft rotates behind it. As soon as I line the holes back up and bolt the rotor up it just becomes immovable again. If I can't get it to drag loose under power when I get everything else back in I'll have to get it towed.
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Oct 29, 2009 22:37
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The next time I have to replace my alternator, I may just sell my car. I ordered a rebuilt Bosch from Turner Motorsport. It was bad. I picked up a rebuilt Valeo from AutoZone. It was bad. I picked up another rebuilt Valeo from AutoZone. The nut for the lower bolt was too big for my original bolt, nobody in town had one that would fit, and I couldn't press the old nut out. Got another Valeo from AutoZone, managed to get the too-big nut pressed out and hammered another one in (barely) and got the thing together. Oh, and I threw $100 in parts at it to replace some ~10k mile old belts and pulleys because I couldn't believe that the first two alternators would be bad. Then I bought a $15 mechanic's stethoscope that confirmed that the noise was in fact coming from the alternator.
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Oct 30, 2009 00:17
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Welp, I'm out of the BMW club. I'm guessing what was a drunk driver swiped me, caused me to lose control and demolish the passenger side of my M3. Hit and run too. What a Halloween. I guess I'm just glad I'm alive and not in a hospital. I was probably pretty close to going head on with a tree or something.
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Nov 1, 2009 19:24
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| # ? May 18, 2024 03:32 |
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DevCore posted:Welp, I'm out of the BMW club. drat. Glad to hear you're all right. It's a bad weekend for that. Insurance going to take care of you?
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Nov 2, 2009 04:24
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