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Drunken Lullabies posted:I think THE e30 has finally come my way.. Its around 240k miles, 1 owner, with tons of service records. Flawless exterior, only interior flaw is a bolster rip, no rust, all OEM, etc. My only concern is: how much life do these motors usually have in them? The condition is so good that the miles don't scare me, I would just need it to hold out for at least a few months while I save up to rebuild it. I feel with a bit of love put into the motor, it would be a flawless car. He says it runs fine and doesn't leak any fluids, and I would do a PPI before I gave anyone money just to be sure, but I still want to hear the internet's opinion. Yes, buy it! I doubt you need to get a PPI.
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Mar 9, 2013 02:12
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Also chiming in that you need to buy it. All these motors do in their old age is drink a bit more oil than when new and maybe go down a bit on power. Just keep up on the timing belt and drive the ever-loving poo poo out of it to keep it happy.
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Mar 9, 2013 03:51
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And even if the motor went I'd buy an M20 from one of the 10 kids in your city doing 24v swaps and dump it in.
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Mar 9, 2013 04:01
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Well, hopefully he answers my messages and sells me it soon. I can't wait to own one. E: It also only has under 10k on the belt. Drunken Lullabies fucked around with this message at 12:34 on Mar 9, 2013 |
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Mar 9, 2013 12:02
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I'm probably going to buy a 2011 CPO 328ix today. BMW-provided warranty on the three cars I'm looking at is over 5 years/100,000 miles, so I'm not too worried, but is there anything I should be looking for in particular when I'm checking out the car. Things that are known to fail early or warning signs? Thanks.
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Mar 9, 2013 14:56
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So I bought a thing.
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Mar 10, 2013 02:10
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Awful app won't let me edit.
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Mar 10, 2013 02:14
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Yup, that's a standard BMW parking job. ...But seriously, details?
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Mar 10, 2013 02:16
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I can't really make out what that is...m5?
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Mar 10, 2013 02:16
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Crustashio posted:Yup, that's a standard BMW parking job. Yep that's how they gave it to me: up on a curb. It's a new M3, premium, style 220M wheels, black everything, 6 speed.
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Mar 10, 2013 03:43
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Jealous Cow posted:Yep that's how they gave it to me: up on a curb. Welcome to the E9X M3 club! That makes now 4 of us, at least. How is your restraint with the break-in period going?
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Mar 10, 2013 04:37
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I just got a screaming deal on a 112k mile '97 M3!   The radiator leaks. God drat cooling system.
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Mar 10, 2013 05:00
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User Error posted:
That is standard equipment. Nice ride! Besides the cooling system, it looks in pretty good shape!
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Mar 10, 2013 05:08
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thealphabetsez posted:Welcome to the E9X M3 club! That makes now 4 of us, at least. How is your restraint with the break-in period going? Just put 130 miles on it driving back from Rockville, kept the revs under 5k and only did a few quick accelerations. I wanna drive it really really fast. I'm not used to the clutch yet, and with power mode off the throttle response is kind of laggy which is causing me to have jerky starts. It's also terrifying how easy it is to break the tires loose with almost no throttle. iDrive seems ok. The music playback screens are horrible, but I guess most are. Do you know if its possible to use Bluetooth audio while also connected through USB to charge? Connecting it forced the phone to disconnect and requires repairing. Also, is BMW Online worth it? Edit: also, I saw a pristine zinno '89 325 with temp tags driving north on I-95 south of Fredericksburg. Any of you goons the new owner? I think it was the busted rusted out one that had been welded back together after an accident that I gave to a local euro shop to use as a training car for new mechanics. I think one of them polished it up and flipped it. I'll have to check the vin in a few months and see if a title pops up in another state. Jealous Cow fucked around with this message at 14:16 on Mar 10, 2013 |
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Mar 10, 2013 05:18
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I think you have to use a secondary (cig lighter) usb port to charge phone if you want to use bluetooth on the phone. There are also some idrive settings to fiddle with as well regarding the phone/bluetooth. I just use a low profile Scosche usb charger in the armrest for the phone and then the armrest USB port for my iPod in my F10. If you have an iPod classic, the album covers will look like poop on idrive due to the low resolution. Your M3 is freaking sick. So Jellus....
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Mar 10, 2013 16:51
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Keyser S0ze posted:I think you have to use a secondary (cig lighter) usb port to charge phone if you want to use bluetooth on the phone. There are also some idrive settings to fiddle with as well regarding the phone/bluetooth. Oh that thing's pretty cool. I like that it should fit in there flush and I can get rid of the cig lighter (can't believe it came with one, haven't seen that in years). So far I'm not too impressed with the iDrive music interface. It requires far too many clicks and confirmations. With Bluetooth audio you can use your phone to control the music, which is suboptimal but faster than iDrive.
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Mar 10, 2013 17:06
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Follow up to my post a week or so ago about the DISA valve dying in my E46 330ci: I went ahead and decided to try the repair/upgrade kit from German Auto Solutions for about 1/3 the cost of buying a new DISA valve (almost $300) that would still be a flawed design. Got the kit in the mail yesterday and it's very well designed and well made. Here's my trip report: For those that don't know, the DISA valve is a vacuum operated valve that varies the intake manifold length by opening/closing at different RPMs. It's present on the M52/M54 engines (at least) and is one of the few common failure points on these otherwise very stout motors.  Fortunately it's pretty easy to get the DISA off as it's hanging off the right side of the top of the intake manifold. Just have to pop off the top of the air filter/MAF housing to get enough access. Then it's just two T40 torx bolts and a plug.  Dying DISA valve. The flapper was starting to get loose and was causing noticeable rattles in the lower RPMs.  Start by popping off the actuator cover and disconnecting the vacuum pot lever. Ran some wire around it to keep it out of the way. The yellow plastic lever is what was starting to wear out and cause the rattle.  Extract the lever by drilling a screw into it a little bit and pry it out.  Old and busted (and dirty as hell). The thickest part is supposed to be hexagonal, but had now gotten almost entirely rounded off. This was the primary cause of the rattle of the flapper, and gets replaced with a new, better-designed aluminum lever with the repair kit.  This pin was also starting to protrude which is not good. It is supposed to be flush with the flapper housing.  As you can see, it's not a very long pin and it is not threaded. It didn't take that much effort to yank out. Really glad I caught this when I did and repaired it as there are horror stories of this pin falling out entirely and getting sucked into the intake manifold and eventually into the valvetrain. Bad bad news if that happens $$$$$.  The old flapper is made of plastic, and while mine was still in pretty decent condition short of being dirty as hell, the repair kit upgrades this to a nice CNC-ed aluminum flapper.  Clean up the housing nicely with some Simple Green before starting to put things back together.  Housing with new aluminum flapper in place. Also it's not obvious but this kit replaces that above pin that is prone to falling out with a new design that makes it impossible for anything to ever get sucked into the intake. I was in a minor hurry slapping things back together since I didn't want the threadlock to start setting so I didn't get a picture of the process.  The kit also included a new replaceable O-ring for the part of the DISA unit that seals up with the intake manifold. Unfortunately, the OEM O-ring is not easily removable and is glued into place. While my OEM O-ring was still in okay condition, I decided to replace it anyway since I had everything apart already. Scraping out the old O-ring and thoroughly cleaning the groove was actually the most tedious and time-consuming part of the job.  All back together with the new O-ring. The flapper can move smoothly, but has no play or wiggle to it anymore. Once the DISA unit is all back in one piece, installation is reverse of removal. Started it up and no more rattle and the car at least was idling evenly. Hopefully nothing goes wrong as I drive it more, but at least worst case I know that no small bits of anything are going to get sucked into my engine now! The repair seems to have gotten rid of the occasional stumbling/hunting idle I had intermittently, has smoothed out power off the line, and has increased the bit of punch you can feel when VANOS engages at 4000-4500 RPMs. I imagine it's been slowly dying for a long time and I just hadn't noticed how pronounced the negative effects were getting as they had been very slowly building up over time. If you've got a motor with a DISA valve and you haven't replaced or repaired it yet, I really recommend doing so. The OEM design is staggeringly bad given that when the part inevitably fails it can/will feed metal and plastic bits into your intake. The redesigned parts from GAS eliminate that possibility entirely. It really is how it should have been designed by BMW originally. Guinness fucked around with this message at 01:51 on Mar 11, 2013 |
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Mar 10, 2013 23:06
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Jealous Cow posted:So I bought a thing. NICE. Do you ever go to Cars & Coffee over in Innsbrook?
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Mar 10, 2013 23:13
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Moxie Omen posted:NICE. Do you ever go to Cars & Coffee over in Innsbrook? Not as of yet. What's the schedule?
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Mar 10, 2013 23:39
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Jealous Cow posted:Not as of yet. What's the schedule? Every other Saturday morning, next one is on the 23rd. https://www.facebook.com/groups/194801907239997/
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Mar 10, 2013 23:58
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I just joined the club. My parents bought me a 2005 325i with 75k miles for my 21st. What should I go about fixing first?
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Mar 11, 2013 19:04
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I'm getting my E30 out soon, and I need to do an oil change. I've heard a lot of conflicting information on what oil weight to run in the car. Previously, I had been running Mobil1 0w40, but have heard that that is wrong and I need to be running 20w50. Am I doing it wrong? What oil do you E30 owners run? The Subaru folk loves the Rotella T, would that be applicable here as well?
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Mar 11, 2013 19:33
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Lightbulb Out posted:I'm getting my E30 out soon, and I need to do an oil change. I've heard a lot of conflicting information on what oil weight to run in the car. Previously, I had been running Mobil1 0w40, but have heard that that is wrong and I need to be running 20w50. Am I doing it wrong? What oil do you E30 owners run? I've always run GTX 20W50 in mine.
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Mar 11, 2013 19:39
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Seems folks like Rotella T for their M20's.... works good in Rover V8's and Porsche crowd as well. The ZDDP is good for flat tappet motors.
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Mar 11, 2013 20:16
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Moxie Omen posted:Every other Saturday morning, next one is on the 23rd. https://www.facebook.com/groups/194801907239997/ I'm not on Facebook. I can swing by next time though.
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Mar 11, 2013 20:26
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I run 0W40 in my m50b25 it's the recommended oil.
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Mar 11, 2013 21:59
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The E30 manual covers what oil weight to use in different temperatures. Here in NE Ohio I use 10W40 (Castrol GTX) in the winter and 20W50 (Valvoline VR1 non-synthetic) in the summer. The M20 loves thick stuff.
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Mar 11, 2013 22:26
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Doctor Londom posted:The E30 manual covers what oil weight to use in different temperatures. Here in NE Ohio I use 10W40 (Castrol GTX) in the winter and 20W50 (Valvoline VR1 non-synthetic) in the summer. The M20 loves thick stuff. This, more or less. Thicker as it gets hotter.
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Mar 12, 2013 02:34
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Ok, so I need to replace the belts and do an oil change on my 2000 323i wagon. I wanted to run the belts by someone just to make sure I get the right ones. I've read up and I think I have the right ones, but there are so many numbers thrown around with these cars, I just want to be sure. http://store.bimmerworld.com/oem-replacement-serpentine-belts-p1604.aspx Model: • E46 Non-M (-8/'02) Belts: • Main Belt (Alternator, waterpump, P/S) • A/C Belt I also threw in an OEM Oil Filter Kit from that site. If anyone knows of a better site with better policies/prices, let me know. And another question, my driver's side front turn signal light keeps popping out of its bracket at freeway speeds, and I can see that one of the tabs on it has broken, probably long ago, so I'm in the market for new blinkers. Anyone have any recommendation for some cool clear or smokey ones? It's a pre-facelift E46. Thanks!
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Mar 12, 2013 02:53
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mutata posted:If anyone knows of a better site with better policies/prices, let me know. Bimmerworld is in-state for me, and has good thing going for basic e36 brakes, but I find that for other stuff, Bavarian Auto and Pelican Parts have come out ahead for pricing, both have great customer service, and both offer free shipping for most orders with totals over $70.
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Mar 12, 2013 08:11
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So, I think it's upgrade time  It looks like my price point will get me a 2004 e46 330Ci coupe or a 2005 e90 330i sedan. There are multiple examples at the same price and same mileage. What I want is folding rear seats, nav, PDC. I'm excluding e90 325i's since there is bugger-all price difference while it has an engine that is smaller but uses about the same fuel and lower option specs, and e46 330i's since I haven't seen one yet with the folding rear seat. I don't really care whether it is 2 door or 4. Is there anyone who can offer an informed opinion? How hard is it to find an e90 330i with folding rear seats? How are the extra gadgets on a first year e90 for reliability? Is the e90 really less nice to drive? anyone in Aus trying to sell their baby and wants a major downgrade plus cash? edit: comedy option: e60 530i is also in the price range  But I live in the inner city in an apartment with on-street parking, so it's probably too big
Captain Postal fucked around with this message at 13:59 on Mar 12, 2013 |
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Mar 12, 2013 10:07
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Captain Postal posted:So, I think it's upgrade time I had a 2006 325xi E90, and didn't have any major issues, other than the passenger seat weight sensor. I guess the oil level sensor was finicky, but they replaced those early on. Water pump should be done around 100k miles, but that's normal. Active Autowerke sells a pretty good tune for the 325, but you wouldn't gain a lot by tuning a 330. Non US engines might be different from what I'm thinking of though. The cold weather package gives folding rear seats on the E90. I haven't driven an E46, but I'm on my second E90 (traded up for features and less miles). I love the sport seats, but finding cold/sport/stick used is a pain. The 330 has about 255hp, so it's still a bit more than the new turbo 4 models.
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Mar 12, 2013 14:41
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Alarbus posted:I had a 2006 325xi E90, and didn't have any major issues, other than the passenger seat weight sensor. I guess the oil level sensor was finicky, but they replaced those early on. Water pump should be done around 100k miles, but that's normal. Yeah, I'm in Aus so nothing gets imported with a cold weather package. I've read that the mod to add folding seats is possible and fairly easy once you've spent the money on new folding seats, but I don't know how hard they would be to find at a wrecker here. The difficulty would be proportional to the number of cars with the option, so modding is probably either not necessary or impossible. Either way I'm looking for a car that doesn't need it. I've read some reviews on other sites that say the e90 is much quicker but feels heavier and more sluggish. I trust goons more than I trust those reviews. But if I can't find an e90 with folding seats then that will make my decision for me. I think there are a few around though.
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Mar 12, 2013 15:33
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If any of you happen to stumble across a low mileage E30, could you please PM me? Prefer the 2.5/hard top/manual, but would consider smaller engine/convertible. Don't want to do a transmission swap.
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Mar 12, 2013 19:11
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lemoz posted:I just joined the club. My parents bought me a 2005 325i with 75k miles for my 21st. What should I go about fixing first? Well, what's broken? Beyond that, make sure all scheduled maintenance is up to date. If the cooling system hasn't been done, you may want to either do it or make sure you have a slush fund ready to do it when the timebomb goes off there. If it's an automatic, enjoy your other timebomb which could be annoying to catastrophic depending on which automatic it is.
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Mar 13, 2013 00:02
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Guinness posted:DISA valve Wow, good write-up...this is going to save me a bunch of money, as my DISA is starting to rattle now. In other news, it seems like I've experienced nearly the full gamut of common failures in my E46...at least I got to my water pump and thermostat before they caused damage.
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Mar 13, 2013 00:10
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MrChips posted:Wow, good write-up...this is going to save me a bunch of money, as my DISA is starting to rattle now. Happy to help other people save $200+ on a really easy repair, and also to support the guys engineering a better designed, longer lasting part. Highly recommended.
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Mar 13, 2013 17:51
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  So this is the ugly on that 325is, the rest of the interior looks otherwise completely unused. The light for the gas gauge is out but otherwise the dash and cluster is good. And just in general, interior is one of my lowest priorities right now because I don't like the color anyway. Should I? I have a few days to decide because I have to travel to it to even see it. It otherwise is 1 owner and has a metric ton of service history, so I think I know what I'm going to do... Drunken Lullabies fucked around with this message at 19:27 on Mar 13, 2013 |
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Mar 13, 2013 19:23
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Drunken Lullabies posted:
If an E30 has an unmolested frame and little rust there is no excuse not to buy it.
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Mar 13, 2013 19:28
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Metal bumper.... buy it!
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Mar 13, 2013 19:28
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