What did you do to your other car(s) today?

[slammin_e28]

I sold the Laguna 'vert.....

....and bought a 2001 Land Rover Discovery II.

[cddallara]

Drove the 540iT to Marin from San Fransisco.
I wish the squirrel drove that nice.
New UCABs, LCABs, rear stuff, e31 x brace, supersprint/magnaflow exhaust, heated, leather memory sport seats, auto dip mirrors.
Shame it needs a re-shell.

[tig]

Drove the 540iT to Marin from San Fransisco.
I wish the squirrel drove that nice.
New UCABs, LCABs, rear stuff, e31 x brace, supersprint/magnaflow exhaust, heated, leather memory sport seats, auto dip mirrors.
Shame it needs a re-shell.

Thank God it needs a re-shell.

[cddallara]

Drove the 540iT to Marin from San Fransisco.
I wish the squirrel drove that nice.
New UCABs, LCABs, rear stuff, e31 x brace, supersprint/magnaflow exhaust, heated, leather memory sport seats, auto dip mirrors.
Shame it needs a re-shell.

Thank God it needs a re-shell.

Not only am I an idiot, but now my car is ugly too.
Ya cut me deep Charlie, real deep.

[rmiddendorf]

I figured out the 2006 E90 is leaking trans fluid. Seriously? I expect this from my old BMWs but the 2006?

It'll lead to having the trans fluid changed anyway, so its not all bad. Makes me wish I could buy a new E28 still though.

[tig]

Drove the 540iT to Marin from San Fransisco.
I wish the squirrel drove that nice.
New UCABs, LCABs, rear stuff, e31 x brace, supersprint/magnaflow exhaust, heated, leather memory sport seats, auto dip mirrors.
Shame it needs a re-shell.

Thank God it needs a re-shell.

Not only am I an idiot, but now my car is ugly too.
Ya cut me deep Charlie, real deep.

Hey now, it's not that big of deal. All you know is that *I* will never buy that car from you (unless you re-shell it). It was only Instagram anyway.

[slammin_e28]

I figured out the 2006 E90 is leaking trans fluid. Seriously? I expect this from my old BMWs but the 2006?

It'll lead to having the trans fluid changed anyway, so its not all bad. Makes me wish I could buy a new E28 still though.

Rodney.....your e90 is 9 years old.

.....it is an old BMW.

My 03 330 feels like a new car to me.....I hate when I think about it being 12 years old....

[Mike W.]

I figured out the 2006 E90 is leaking trans fluid. Seriously? I expect this from my old BMWs but the 2006?

It'll lead to having the trans fluid changed anyway, so its not all bad. Makes me wish I could buy a new E28 still though.

Rodney.....your e90 is 9 years old.

.....it is an old BMW.

My 03 330 feels like a new car to me.....I hate when I think about it being 12 years old....

And my '98 328is which has enough new car/late model crap on it to make me complain about new cars is now 17 years old. Which is older than my E28 was when I bought it. Old cars have to be a lot older now to be old than they used to be.

[Karl Grau]

Minor service and new tires.

[davintosh]

I had a really weird one with the e32 this morning... (self-induced, of course )

Yesterday we got a bunch of fresh snow; that and the cold made it impossible to go anywhere in the without using defrost, which usually isn't a problem in the e32 but the A/C compressor belt decided it wouldn't do its job without howling like a banshee at anything over 1500 RPM. I stopped to pick up a set of belts for it after work (figured I'd replace all three at once) but they only had one of the three in stock, which was not the A/C belt. When I left the store I got the brilliant idea to just unplug the A/C compressor clutch; the only time the belt howled was when the compressor clutch was engaged, so if I could keep it from engaging, the system may not defrost as well as when it's running, but it would will get me by until I can get the belts and the weather warms up a tad (hopefully.) It's a bit of a hack, but I've done far worse. With all the bonehead drivers that show up when it snows I decided that was a great plan since it meant I could just go home instead of making more auto parts store stops.

This morning it started fine, and behaved as I expected with the compressor clutch disconnected, at first. But a couple of miles into my drive to work, it started acting like the battery was almost dead and the alternator wasn't producing anything; dim lights, dim blinkers, ABS light on, radio blinking on and off, instrument cluster going totally dead then reviving itself, etc. I drove back home, shut it off, then started it back up to see if there was enough juice left to even turn the motor over; it did but slowly. Crap. The only thing that was different from yesterday was the unplugged connector on the A/C compressor; I didn't think that would cause all that, but thought I'd better try it just in case; I plugged it back in, buttoned things up, started the car, and everything was back to normal, just like that. It even cranked with a lot more oomph.

I've been pawing through the ETM for the car every chance I had today, but just don't see how unplugging the connector to the compressor clutch would cause the car to lose electrical power. Just disconnecting the compressor clutch shouldn't affect anything else, should it? I'm flummoxed.

[MicahO]

I haven't taken a car through an automatic car wash in years - not even the pickup or the wife's minivan. But the e46 was so caked in road salt that I decided it really needed a bath. Yeah, well about that..... The car sits pretty low on PSS10's. Low enough that it rode up on the frame rail before the tire was even engaged in the track. They tried to wave me forward. "It's only this one section. Go ahead." Yeah, right?!?!? With the car sitting noticeably higher on the driver's side, and visions of coming off the track in the middle of the wash cycle, I stopped and made them back the line up so I could get out.

They did refund my money. That was nice of them. I went over to the do it yourself wash area and did it myself. I'll call it a learning experience.....

In other news, the Touring is in dismantle stage, and lots of parts keep arriving for various jobs. The rear end is out and crated for shipment to Jim Blanton. Halfshafts are out and awaiting their backordered replacements. Other parts on the inside, underside and engine bay keep coming off the car. Soon I'll have to start re-assembly...

[davintosh]

I had a really weird one with the e32 this morning... (self-induced, of course )

Yesterday we got a bunch of fresh snow; that and the cold made it impossible to go anywhere in the without using defrost, which usually isn't a problem in the e32 but the A/C compressor belt decided it wouldn't do its job without howling like a banshee at anything over 1500 RPM. I stopped to pick up a set of belts for it after work (figured I'd replace all three at once) but they only had one of the three in stock, which was not the A/C belt. When I left the store I got the brilliant idea to just unplug the A/C compressor clutch; the only time the belt howled was when the compressor clutch was engaged, so if I could keep it from engaging, the system may not defrost as well as when it's running, but it would will get me by until I can get the belts and the weather warms up a tad (hopefully.) It's a bit of a hack, but I've done far worse. With all the bonehead drivers that show up when it snows I decided that was a great plan since it meant I could just go home instead of making more auto parts store stops.

This morning it started fine, and behaved as I expected with the compressor clutch disconnected, at first. But a couple of miles into my drive to work, it started acting like the battery was almost dead and the alternator wasn't producing anything; dim lights, dim blinkers, ABS light on, radio blinking on and off, instrument cluster going totally dead then reviving itself, etc. I drove back home, shut it off, then started it back up to see if there was enough juice left to even turn the motor over; it did but slowly. Crap. The only thing that was different from yesterday was the unplugged connector on the A/C compressor; I didn't think that would cause all that, but thought I'd better try it just in case; I plugged it back in, buttoned things up, started the car, and everything was back to normal, just like that. It even cranked with a lot more oomph.

I've been pawing through the ETM for the car every chance I had today, but just don't see how unplugging the connector to the compressor clutch would cause the car to lose electrical power. Just disconnecting the compressor clutch shouldn't affect anything else, should it? I'm flummoxed.

I kinda forgot about this one (it's been almost two weeks, you know!) but the problem turned out to be unrelated to the compressor; it happened again a couple of nights later, so I started digging a little deeper. I did figure out that the problem only happened when the lights were on, so started troubleshooting with that in mind. At first I almost discounted the battery terminals, because the battery was only a year old, and the connection couldn't be the problem, but decided to start there any way. Pulled the terminals and gave them a good cleaning (with the dandy terminal cleaner I got in my PBE box!) then checked a few other things before taking it for a test drive; that was it. I also got the belts changed out the next night, and all is well. With the e32's electrical system anyway. (knocks on wood.)

[slammin_e28]

Fixed the D2's charging issue....loose charging cable at the alternator.

Drove it around the neighborhood. Is fun.

Installed some LED license plate and interior lamp bulbs....because mo-brighter.

[Karl Grau]

After the whole Christmas reindeer thing I felt like I needed to do something REALLY special for the e30. I decided it was going to be one of two jobs I really hate, windshield lock strip or hood insulation. It was tails so that meant hood insulation.
The easy part, getting the 30 year old 'fuzz' off.



I started spraying the 3M Adhesive Remover and then decided it probably wasn't too smart 3' away from the gas water heater.




I relocated to the service area and got the side panels pretty much done before running out of adhesive remover.



I did a search and ordered the 3M adhesive remover that Rod Paine recommended so I can finish the job next weekend.
I haven't done this in over ten years but it was just as much fun as I remembered.

[irl-mn]

I took the first steps on my euro E24 to-do list ahead of the 2015 driving season (which will hopefully include a trip to The Vintage in May). I have the following planned:

- Full suspension refresh including shocks, control arms, bushings all around etc
- Revert to correct euro headlights including harness replacement
- Diagnose ABS light and repair as necessary
- Refurbish Recaro seats

I won’t start on the majority of this until the roads are clear of salt and I can get the car back home from winter storage, but I did pull the seats out this evening. They’ll be dropped off at a local upholstery shop tomorrow. Covers had been re-done by a PO, are good and match well with the rears, so they will likely be reused. The issue is with the frames and various adjustment mechanisms having warped and/or loosened over time. I’ll know more once they have been disassembled, but I think these are worth saving.

[slammin_e28]

E34

Went to change the oil, but it was still a nice honey color....not clover honey, but darker....

...after 5000 miles. Regular, Rotella 15w40. Basically all highway, 80 mile round trip every day.

Changed the VCG, was kinda leaky....all the valves were nice an tight....but not too tight.

[JSmoove]

Super easy repairs on the E46 yesterday. Basically replaced missing pieces is all. New brake caliper clip and jack pad for rear left corner of the car.

Today Ill be tackling a sheared off bleed nipple on the rear right caliper. Wish me luck.

[davintosh]

It was an e46 kind of day here too; driver's door window regulator.

It started acting up about a week ago, the rear part of it sagged and jammed, so I babied it back up into place and told my wife not to use it until I got it replaced. Then on Sunday my youngest son fetched the car for us out of the church parking lot, and tried rolling the window down while he waited. Forgot to tell him. It's been down about 2" since then. The new regulator showed up today, but I don't think I'll finish the job tonight; my wife left town yesterday, so NBD if the car sits in the garage for a couple of days.

In the meantime, I'm learning all I can about the "Zip Tie Method" of reinforcing the weak points in the regulators, and how to properly grease things inside the door to keep them humming for a long time. The zip tie thing looks promising, but I may just substitute some safety wire for the zip ties.

Also ordered some lower control arms for the front on that car. Ball joints are worn, so it's clunking pretty good on bumps.

[Mike W.]

The new E39 touring doesn't have the options the old one does, which the wife likes. #1 on the list is the rear door sunshades which the old car had. There's a couple of FAQs on it, how hard can it be. Two weekends later I'm done. Ok, working at a lazymans pace, but doing the head on a M30 car, R and R and rebuilding it would take me less time. A lot less. But it does look good.

[oldskool]

My turn signal was all blinkie-blinkie fast n junk, so I used the search feature here^ and found that it might be a blown bulb. I found one over at my neighbor's house attached to his car, an promptly installed it. I only put a new one in because I was sooo tired of passengers asking why it did that, and to prove to MikeW that I can, in fact, turn a wrench.
It was still working this morning so I will call it a successful repair, at least until Eddie comes looking for his bulb.

[Nanajoth]

Started to remove broken water pump bolts that the PO did not deem necessary to extract on my new to me E34 M5.

[1st 5er]

... my new to me E34 M5.

[Karl Grau]

Picked up where I left off last weekend with the e30 hood insulation. The different 3M adhesive remover doesn't work as well as last week's stuff.





I waited until the hottest part of the day just to make it extra fun.



Finally clean!



New OEM foam on.



Back to the garage. Next weekend the windshield lock strip isn't going to seem so bad.

[Nanajoth]

Drove the E34 for about 200 miles and developed a power steering leak. I will be putting the car on the lift after work to see if I still have the SLS power steering pump installed, then to convert it over to 535i parts.

The joy of sorting out a new used car.

[davintosh]

Wifey is still out of town, so I've been able to keep her e46 in the garage for some leisurely tidying of a number of jobs... When we first bought the car, I was sure it had bad bearings at the rear wheels -- it sounded for all the world like there was a P-51 on your tail when going down the highway -- so I geared up for replacing them; ordered parts and even borrowed a fancy hub puller tool from MicahO. But then a funny thing happened when I put a new set of snow tires on it in December; the noise disappeared. Totally. So it was the tires, not the bearings. The car has ~120,000 miles on it, and I figured they were probably due anyway, so as long as I had everything in place to do the job, I planned to just do it anyway. But when I got the wheels off on Friday, it was pretty obvious that the bearings had been replaced not terribly long ago. So maybe they aren't due. I ditched that plan, and will hang onto the parts in case they're needed at a later time.

So instead of doing wheel bearings, I fInished up replacing the regulator on the driver's door. I got disgusted with it earlier in the week because now the window doesn't go as far into the door as the other side does. I'm thinking that having the window stop without disappearing entirely under the wiper might be an intentional thing to keep it from flopping around too much when the door is slammed shut, but still annoys me that the driver's side is 1/4" above the wiper and the passenger side is about half that. After spending too much time futzing with and growling at it, I decided it wasn't worth bothering with, and buttoned up the door. I will be the only one who notices that anyway, and if anybody else notices, they deserve it.

Then, as long as I had to disconnect the battery for the regulator job, I pulled it out to clean the well that it sits in. When I replaced the battery last month I noticed there was a lot of white/brown powder in the well where it's mounted; I've seen powdery residue around batteries from corrosion before, but this thing looked like a cocaine dealer had lost a good half kilo in there. Ended up removing the battery tray & hold down to get it all out. The tray had lost most of its black paint and a bit of its mass to the corrosive atmosphere inside there, so I'm going to clean it up a bit and respray it. I'm tempted to just replace it, because the part is only ~$25, but I'm not sure how long it'll take to get it. Between the vacuum and some soda water, I got it all cleaned up. Thankfully there didn't appear to be any damage to the paint or the body metal in the well.

Then I started in on cleaning the intake up; in really cold weather, it doesn't like to idle very well. When sitting at a stoplight, the tach will start to bounce, going from ~700 rpm to about 1200, but if you don't tap the throttle the low point will dip lower & lower until the engine stalls. I'm pretty sure it's the idle control valve is just needing a good cleaning. I sure wish it was as easy to access as the one on the M20 or M30, but it's not too bad; the intake boot and DISA valve need to come out first in order to even see it. I'll probably give the throttle body a good cleaning while I'm in there.

I figured as long as I've got the DISA valve out of the car, I ought to upgrade it to eliminate the common failure points point. German Auto Solutions sells a kit that replaces a lot of the plastic moving parts with machined aluminum and brass pieces. It's not cheap, but it's cheaper than a replacement DISA valve with the stock failure-prone plastic parts, and the workmanship is pure art.

When I bought the DISA repair kit, GAS also had a combination deal where you could buy a 1.2 Bar coolant cap at a $10 discount, so I went with that as well. The cap is a thing of beauty with the black anodized aluminum body on top. Almost a shame to keep it hidden away under the hood. Of course, being the klutz that I am, I dropped the thing on the concrete floor before I had a chance to put it on the car. Just a little ding on the edge of the cap, but...