Register a SA Forums Account here!
JOINING THE SA FORUMS WILL REMOVE THIS BIG AD, THE ANNOYING UNDERLINED ADS, AND STUPID INTERSTITIAL ADS!!!

You can: log in, read the tech support FAQ, or request your lost password. This dumb message (and those ads) will appear on every screen until you register! Get rid of this crap by registering your own SA Forums Account and joining roughly 150,000 Goons, for the one-time price of $9.95! We charge money because it costs us money per month for bills, and since we don't believe in showing ads to our users, we try to make the money back through forum registrations.
 
  • Post
  • Reply
OBAMNA PHONE
Aug 7, 2002

ynotony posted:

Quick Cooling question:

I've got a 110k 94' 325i that has a small cooling issue. I used to leave a small puddle of coolant in my parking spot every once in awhile - really small like a few ounces. I started noticing this right after I did a coolant flush a month ago. So I figure I have a leaky hose or something. But then the puddles went away, and my "check coolant level" thing started flashing. I topped it off with some extra water/coolant and then the puddles came back for a week. Then they stopped and my check coolant light came back on. Any theories?

I took a picture under the car and noticed GREEN coolant. My coolant used to be green but is now BLUE:


Also do any e36 owners have any coolant bleeding techniques?

Try looking around your thermostat housing. You may see buildup around the edges, if it's leaking out.

As for bleeding, see here: http://www.pelicanparts.com/bmw/techarticles/E36-Coolant_Flush/E36-Coolant-Flush.htm

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

dangerous.hotdog
Feb 29, 2008
I'm in the market for a daily driver in LA. I know pretty much nothing about cars, but I talked to a few buddies that have/had BMWs and they rave about them. I looked a bit into the new 1 series and I'm very intruiged.

Anyone else (I think I saw 1 person mention it) in the market for the new 1s? After a bit of internet research, I gather that there is a waiting list for these on the order of 3 weeks to 1+ months. Also, I had a difficult time finding a comparable car in this price range.

Xenoid
Dec 9, 2006

VacaGrande posted:

The car is awesome, but please do not go 15k miles between oil changes like BMW thinks is appropriate. They're insane unless your driving is all 55mph steady at 2500rpm. Get it changed at least every 7,500 miles. BMW won't pay for it but it's worth it for the life of your engine. My local German car repair/race prep shop tells me stories about the horrors they see in late model BMWs after years of 15k-mile oil changes.
Considering that owners like myself that never drive anywhere would take a long time to drive 15,000 miles / 24,000 km... That would probably take me 2.5~ years to do...

mazachan
Apr 18, 2005
Puppies

miklm posted:

I've never seen a ZHP coupe before. Every one I've ever seen has been a sedan.

Yeah, pretty much for a little bit more than the ZHP coupe, you can get the M3. I bought my ZHP sedan because I needed the 4 doors. But man, that thing is so much fun to drive.

RandomG
Mar 7, 2004
I LUV HONDA <3 ~<3 ~ <3 ~<3 ~ <3 ~<3 ~

TractionControl posted:

I'm retarded. I just test drove the E90 M3 with my uncle(who owns the M5). It was thrilling.

Heheh, I get to do it again, it's e92 m3, it's the coupe.

edit: I guess I'll post more than just correcting tractioncontrol on stupid poo poo...

I drive an e28 m5. With the suspension and brakes done, I love it. The car in it's current state oversteers when you give it gas in 1st, will even do it at the top of 2nd if the turns tight enough (around 55-60 though, so not necessarily a good idea). Less tight turns or turns above 2nd gear it will slightly understeer on the throttle and slightly oversteer off the throttle. It isn't fast by today's standards, but it'll still beat all the eco cars, and I'd put the engine note up there with anything. It screams like you'd expect a race car to and yet it sounds much smoother than a v8, but also has a slight mechanical sound to it that separates it from the sound of most newer engines.

Doesn't have the highest grip, but it lets you have fun with car control at non-retarded speeds.

160k or so, rebuilt top end, maybe more (maintenance isn't clear on the rest), euro suspension setup, 540i rear brake upgrade, JC chip.

Reposted pics from the mods thread:





RandomG fucked around with this message at 22:46 on Mar 29, 2008

Guinness
Sep 15, 2004

mazachan posted:

Yeah, pretty much for a little bit more than the ZHP coupe, you can get the M3. I bought my ZHP sedan because I needed the 4 doors. But man, that thing is so much fun to drive.

Although, at least theoretically, the ZHP coupe should be cheaper to operate in the long run. Purchase price isn't necessarily the only cost to base a decision off of.

TheGoatTrick
Aug 1, 2002

Semi-aquatic personification of unstoppable douchery

RandomG posted:

Heheh, I get to do it again, it's e92 m3, it's the coupe.



:)

RandomG
Mar 7, 2004
I LUV HONDA <3 ~<3 ~ <3 ~<3 ~ <3 ~<3 ~
drat, you're right, they do have a 4 door now don't they.

Luk3
Nov 25, 2005

Guinness posted:

Although, at least theoretically, the ZHP coupe should be cheaper to operate in the long run. Purchase price isn't necessarily the only cost to base a decision off of.

Also, in Canada anyway, an M3 of the same year would be anywhere from $10000 to $20000 more. Depending on condition, etc. It boggles my mind how cheap the M3 is in the states.

Lightbulb Out
Apr 28, 2006

slack jawed yokel

RandomG posted:

Heheh, I get to do it again, it's e92 m3, it's the coupe.

We drove the sedan. They had 2 coupes though.

It was really cool.

Mad Dragon
Feb 29, 2004

Guinness posted:

Although, at least theoretically, the ZHP coupe should be cheaper to operate in the long run. Purchase price isn't necessarily the only cost to base a decision off of.
For starters, the ZHP won't need valve adjustments every 30,000 miles.

snugglz
Nov 12, 2004
moist sod for your hogan

RandomG posted:


I drive an e28 m5.





Dude, your car is HOT. I've been lusting over E28 and E34 M5s for a while now (along with the E30 that's always just barely out of reach)... really gotta finish my current project first tho (needs better suspension, some breathing mods and some other small stuff):


snugglz fucked around with this message at 10:27 on Mar 30, 2008

maxallen
Nov 22, 2006

dangerous.hotdog posted:

I'm in the market for a daily driver in LA. I know pretty much nothing about cars, but I talked to a few buddies that have/had BMWs and they rave about them. I looked a bit into the new 1 series and I'm very intruiged.

Anyone else (I think I saw 1 person mention it) in the market for the new 1s? After a bit of internet research, I gather that there is a waiting list for these on the order of 3 weeks to 1+ months. Also, I had a difficult time finding a comparable car in this price range.

Someone may be able to correct me on this, but I would think to stay away from the 1-series in the US for a while, since some of those cars that got wrecked on that freighter were 1-series. Anyone know if these are just going to be demo cars like the M3s, or are they going to be advertised? Last I heard they were going to be sold as new.

Fake Edit: They may have already all sold too...

TheGoatTrick
Aug 1, 2002

Semi-aquatic personification of unstoppable douchery

maxallen posted:

Someone may be able to correct me on this, but I would think to stay away from the 1-series in the US for a while, since some of those cars that got wrecked on that freighter were 1-series. Anyone know if these are just going to be demo cars like the M3s, or are they going to be advertised? Last I heard they were going to be sold as new.
All damage will be disclosed when the cars are sold.

quote:

Mr. Plucinsky said BMW had contacted the customers affected. For models whose damage is less than 3 percent of its value, buyers can choose to accept a repaired car or a similar model, or have a new car built to order.

Repairable cars with more than 3 percent damage will be driven by company employees. They will eventually be resold as certified used cars, with full disclosure of their history.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/03/automobiles/03BIMMER.html?_r=3&ref=automobiles&oref=slogin&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

maxallen
Nov 22, 2006


Ah, ok, I thought it was just the M3's.

Mad Dragon
Feb 29, 2004

maxallen posted:

Someone may be able to correct me on this, but I would think to stay away from the 1-series in the US for a while, since some of those cars that got wrecked on that freighter were 1-series.
Unless BMW has a time machine, the 128i I just ordered is safe... it hasn't been built yet. ;)

Frozen Horse
Aug 6, 2007
Just a humble wandering street philosopher.
Hey OP, can we talk about 6-ers in here? Anyway, I'll use this post to write about the 733i that I used to own, since there hasn't been enough BBBMW love. It was an E23 from 1979 and was mighty special. Driving it was like floating in a cloud of power accessories and soft suspension. The ride was surprisingly precise yet distant, like a teutonic dentist. At the time, I was not used to power brakes and had some rather hilarious moments of trying to control 4300 pounds of grandpamobile after locking up the brakes. On the highway, it got ~17 mpg, in the city it was rather worse at ~12. I don't miss it mostly for this reason.
Concurring with an earlier poster, it was definitely in the 144K+ camp, and it showed in odd ways. In this age range, expect things like the AC to not work, and smogging it was an interesting experience. Fortunately, it had had cats put in instead of the criminally stupid thermal reactor system that it had shipped with. The temperature sensor crapped out once, leading to the fuel injection going full rich and another time, the timing chain skipped by a link, neither of which makes it run well. The automatic transmission was a weak point in BMWs of this era, and mine was no exception. It started getting stuck in first until driven for a while at which point it would give a clunk and drive normally. This progressively got worse, and eventually I rid myself of it after my mechanic informed me that it would probably need a rebuild and I had gotten the engine back into my other car.
This is me halfway through a valve adjustment on it, if waffleimages feels like sharing.

Frozen Horse fucked around with this message at 02:23 on Mar 31, 2008

Noeland
Feb 28, 2006
This thing just magically appeared in my driveway, and I haven't stopped staring since.





Methinks a PNW BMW goonmeet should be in order.

DEUCE SLUICE
Feb 6, 2004

I dreamt I was an old dog, stuck in a honeypot. It was horrifying.

snugglz posted:

Dude, your car is HOT. I've been lusting over E28 and E34 M5s for a while now (along with the E30 that's always just barely out of reach)... really gotta finish my current project first tho (needs better suspension, some breathing mods and some other small stuff):




Didn't you mention you were going to sell this? Good to see that you haven't. :)

User Error
Aug 31, 2006


This is my dirty e36 beater. '92 325i, 5 speed, 177k miles. The motor runs like a top, but the 2nd gear synchro is shot and 4th sometimes pops out. It needs front shock mounts and tie rods which I'll do as soon as the weather cooperates. The rear suspension also makes some unnerving creaking sounds (oh god dont let my subframe rip out before I have a chance to put in reinforcement plates). The interior is like a typical high mileage e36, aka junk. I still love it though. I put in offset poly LCA bushings but other than that it's stock.

Not a bad car for $1700

I saw my first e28 M5 this weekend at the SCCA Club Racing event at Gateway. :awesome: It was parked in the paddock but wasn't a race car. It was completely clean and stock looking and I got a boner.

OBAMNA PHONE
Aug 7, 2002

Noeland posted:

Methinks a PNW BMW goonmeet should be in order.

Sign up for the 4/11 BMWCCA driving school day at Pacific, I'll be there.

Zee M Coupe looks great!

OBAMNA PHONE fucked around with this message at 04:18 on Mar 31, 2008

Leo
Oct 25, 2005


Picked this up on Saturday:



:rock: 95' M3 with 110k miles on it. I got it for $8k and overall it seems in decent shape. It's completely stock and I love it. Unfortunately today as I started driving it I noticed that under moderate to hard braking the brakes pulsate a bit. I guess thats a warped rotor? not really sure.

I'm so torn between keeping it stock and just maintaining it or delving into modding it a bit. Who knows?

rope kid
Feb 3, 2001

Warte nur! Balde
Ruhest du auch.

I miss my E34 sometimes, even though it was "only" a 530i and an AUTOTRAGIC LAWL oh god :smith:



snugglz
Nov 12, 2004
moist sod for your hogan

warwick5s posted:

Didn't you mention you were going to sell this? Good to see that you haven't. :)

Yeah, what I've learned is that you can sell the car... but you can't sell the disease. I've tried.

That, and everyone was low-balling the hell out of me to the point where I realized the time I have invested is worth more than what I was even asking... anyway, it's a blast to drive and the insurance on 1.9 4-cyls is cheap (shh...) so it makes a pretty rad daily. After I've got it fully sorted, I'm gonna track down an E30 of some sort to flog...

Also, Your avatar is awesome...

Frozen Horse posted:

The ride was surprisingly precise yet distant, like a teutonic dentist.

best description of a 7 I've ever heard...

double-edit: Warwick, I just remembered you're the dude from Madison. I get back from 4 months of backpacking in like 5 days -- wanna go driving?

snugglz fucked around with this message at 08:32 on Mar 31, 2008

TreFitty
Jan 18, 2003

I'm trying to convince my friend to save his money when it comes to buying a car. He's looking at spending around $30K on a new Nissan, which I don't feel is a bad purchase, but I do feel that he's too young to get in to that kind of debt, despite his salary and lack of current debt.

I'd like to see him get a used car.

His criteria:
-Large in front and in the back in terms of leg room. All of us (except me - 6'1", 175 pounds) are pretty big guys
-Nice looks (I think we can check that one off)
-He really likes the auto/manual shifters in Nissans these days

Is there going to be a BMW out there for him that would save him some money? Are high mileage BMW's super-reliable? Would he be happy with it if he's a very-little-maintenance sort of guy?

I hope this is the right thread to ask in.

milieu
Apr 26, 2003
Vizier of Allah

TreFitty posted:

I'm trying to convince my friend to save his money when it comes to buying a car. He's looking at spending around $30K on a new Nissan, which I don't feel is a bad purchase, but I do feel that he's too young to get in to that kind of debt, despite his salary and lack of current debt.

I'd like to see him get a used car.

His criteria:
-Large in front and in the back in terms of leg room. All of us (except me - 6'1", 175 pounds) are pretty big guys
-Nice looks (I think we can check that one off)
-He really likes the auto/manual shifters in Nissans these days

Is there going to be a BMW out there for him that would save him some money? Are high mileage BMW's super-reliable? Would he be happy with it if he's a very-little-maintenance sort of guy?

I hope this is the right thread to ask in.

I personally don't think a BMW would be the right choice for him. If he's looking at 30k new Nissans/Infinitis then I doubt he's going to want a BMW older than the last body style. He wants front and rear legroom, so that's at least a 5-series, probably a 7-series. So he's likely looking at BMW V8s, which have more maintenance issues than the inline-6s. High mileabe BMWs are reliable as in the engine + drivetrain isn't going to fail on you if maintenance has been kept up with. But there's a lot of poo poo that will break over time that's not necessary to keep the car running, but will annoy the poo poo out of a lot of people. 5- and 7-series cars have a lot of electronics that can/will break. Any higher mileage car is going to develop rattles that you won't find in a new vehichle. Seats will get worn, headliners will start to fall, trim will get loose, etc.

BMWs are great cars if you're passionate about your car, but I feel that the number of maintenance issues + bugs that are considered acceptable to people who are passionate about cars/BMWs would be considered a bit ridiculous by people looking for solid and peppy A-to-B cars.

Your friend sounds like he's looking for a quick, nice looking, a-to-b car. A Japanese car sounds perfect for what he's looking for. He could get a nice Infiniti (made by nissan) g35 for 12-16k that would drat near fit his criteria perfectly. And the g35 will haul some rear end.

Ultimate Mango
Jan 18, 2005

Hooray!, another reason to go through and find these:





As much as I loved my X5, this is in a whole different class performance wise.

hello internet
Sep 13, 2004

I've got a '96 318is with 135K miles on it and the engine still runs like it is brand new. Still has the original clutch as well. I've recently had to put a lot of money into it on the exhaust and suspension but I can justify putting a lot of money into because it should run for a long long time.

3363
Jan 18, 2006

by Fragmaster

hello internet posted:

I've got a '96 318is with 135K miles on it and the engine still runs like it is brand new. Still has the original clutch as well. I've recently had to put a lot of money into it on the exhaust and suspension but I can justify putting a lot of money into because it should run for a long long time.

Coming from a variety of hoopties it's always puzzling how a 150K+ BMW idles so softly that sometimes you're not even sure the drat thing is on.

User Error
Aug 31, 2006

3363 posted:

Coming from a variety of hoopties it's always puzzling how a 150K+ BMW idles so softly that sometimes you're not even sure the drat thing is on.

My muffler has the natural weight reduction upgrade so this isnt a problem for me.

milieu
Apr 26, 2003
Vizier of Allah

chem42 posted:

My muffler has the natural weight reduction upgrade so this isnt a problem for me.

Yeah it's really amazing the weight savings you can get from a mild steel muffler after a couple of years driving on salted winter roads.

Ziploc
Sep 19, 2006
MX-5

Ultimate Mango posted:



That gearstick looks weird as hell.

RandomG
Mar 7, 2004
I LUV HONDA <3 ~<3 ~ <3 ~<3 ~ <3 ~<3 ~

BraveUlysses posted:

Sign up for the 4/11 BMWCCA driving school day at Pacific, I'll be there.

That sounds really tempting, I'll have to look if I can scavenge up the money and get the car to a point where I won't be paranoid about flogging it.

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.

Ziploc posted:

That gearstick looks weird as hell.

It's an SMG gearbox.

Quite A Tool
Jul 4, 2004

The answer is... 42

Real Life posted:

Picked this up on Saturday:



:rock: 95' M3 with 110k miles on it. I got it for $8k and overall it seems in decent shape. It's completely stock and I love it. Unfortunately today as I started driving it I noticed that under moderate to hard braking the brakes pulsate a bit. I guess thats a warped rotor? not really sure.

I'm so torn between keeping it stock and just maintaining it or delving into modding it a bit. Who knows?


Holy poo poo 8k for a 95 with 110k on it? Around here the price has just barely been dropping but they are still consistently between 12-15k, with under 12 being complete shitboxes with 150k+ on average. If you don't mind asking where abouts are you located? I've been searching for a E36 M3 to replace my Shiro and can never find one that isn't beat to poo poo, or through the roof expensive.

Congratulations on a screaming deal if the only problem with it is a warped rotor.

Quite A Tool fucked around with this message at 21:28 on Mar 31, 2008

Beerios
May 9, 2006

by T. Mascis

Doctor Grape Ape posted:

It's an SMG gearbox.

I'm pretty sure it's an auto with tiptronic mode, but still just a torque converter-based slushbox. Only the M5 and M6 get SMGs in the US market, if I recall correctly, although the double-clutch gearbox coming out in the M3 next year is allegedly going to make its way into the 5- and 3-series at some point.

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.
Whoops, looks like it is. That gear knob is similar to the SMG in the M3 and I thought the SMG box had trickled down into non-M cars.

Xenoid
Dec 9, 2006
I'm still trying to get the starter off the transmission on my 97 540i6. gently caress. Me. What the hell do I have to do? I've got every bolt off the bellhousing and the starter won't move and neither will the bellhousing. I'm doing a clutch job by the way.

Seriously I need to get my baby working again so I can get laid easier drive around.

I was also wondering about an ECU remap thanks to that thread with the Subaru. I've sort of glanced at mods for my car but everything seems super expensive. $400 for a CAI that gets 5 bhp for example. Are there any mods worth doing on this car that won't break the bank for no reason?

Xenoid fucked around with this message at 23:56 on Mar 31, 2008

got off on a technicality
Feb 7, 2007

oh dear

Ziploc posted:

That gearstick looks weird as hell.

It is the most annoying transmission lever in the world. My parents have an AT E60 525i (we put small engines in cars in Asia hurr) and every time I have to touch it I gingerly clasp the thing with the tips of my fingers like I'm going to break it, and it feels like the cheapest plastic joystick in the world. The action feels more mechanically decoupled than your average automatic shifter and makes it plain that it's the car's electronic brain that is calling the shots, not you. Over-engineered creatively-shaped garbage, that's what the shifter is (grumble, grumble, rant over).

edit> When I prefer the feel of my 1999 4-cyl AT Camry's shifter to this, BMW has a problem.

got off on a technicality fucked around with this message at 23:55 on Mar 31, 2008

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

Pimpsolo
Jun 6, 2004

snugglz posted:

really gotta finish my current project first tho (needs better suspension, some breathing mods and some other small stuff):



I'm interested in this. I really love your ti. Honestly when I was looking for cars it was either an e46 coupe, or 318ti (ended up e46.) If when you've "finished" your project and you want to sell it, honestly consider me first please. I'd like to see more pics of it and what you're doing to it. Sweet ti.

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • Post
  • Reply