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

RoyW · Post by **RoyW** » May 01, 2020 4:15 AM

e28Sean wrote:Blacked out the trunk badges.

Nice! What model?

-RoyW

e28Sean · Post by **e28Sean** » May 01, 2020 9:51 PM

RoyW wrote:
e28Sean wrote:Blacked out the trunk badges.
Nice! What model?

-RoyW

2002 CLK55 AMG (W208).

GoNoles · Post by **GoNoles** » May 01, 2020 10:31 PM

Quarantine project #255...

Machine polished the E63 for the first time (14 years)
Megs 205 after clay bar, that's it

Will seal with some Klasse next

1st 5er · Post by **1st 5er** » May 02, 2020 9:25 PM

Well sh!t.

Ricky535 · Post by **Ricky535** » May 02, 2020 11:25 PM

Installed manual sport seats on the ZHP. Youngest son was wrenching, I was supervising

BMWCCA2 · Post by **BMWCCA2** » May 03, 2020 8:42 PM

Replaced the Xenon bulb in the driver's side headlamp in my wife's 128i. Kind of a pain as you have to remove the air-cleaner box and mass airflow meter just to get to the headlamp cover that really just barely fits in it's space. Worth if for excellent headlight. I work at a dealer and bought the replacement from FCPeuro for about half my employee cost from BMW. Philips bulb just like what came out of it.

gadget73 · Post by **gadget73** » May 04, 2020 8:07 AM

repainted and installed a set of factory Marchal 750 fogs on the Mark VII. Not aimed quite right, but they're honestly more there for looks than function.

RonW · Post by **RonW** » May 16, 2020 12:42 PM

Replaced the battery in my E46 325Ci. The correct battery looks just like an E28 battery, but it's a bit longer and taller. You might be able to get it to work in an E28.

Oddly, the old battery was incorrect. In fact, it looked exactly like an E28 battery. It was the one in the car when I got it 8 years and 168k miles ago, so it doesn't owe me anything.

Karl Grau · Post by **Karl Grau** » May 16, 2020 10:17 PM

Started on a timing belt for the e30. I've owned it 14 years and have never changed the belt. I had no service history when I bought it so for all I know, it's the original from 1984.

1st 5er · Post by **1st 5er** » May 17, 2020 12:09 AM

ElJeepO got:
Oil change
Tranny filter and fluid
Water pump and thermostat

a · Post by a » May 23, 2020 10:33 AM

I checked the oil on the Fridge because I got a "maint required soon" Whatever it is, it doesn't need oil.

topher800 · Post by **topher800** » May 23, 2020 11:29 AM

CJ3B got a new water pump and radiator. And a new rear main seal, like the third one I've put in...will it ever stop leaking?

On the wife's allroad, swapped out the PO's AWE exhaust with 4" tips back to the OEM exhaust. Just too appalling to look at those tips, and a little louder than we want. Car has a stage 2+ upgrade, so noticed we lost a few ponies. We really enjoyed the Milltek we put in the Passat Wagon, so might look into that. Nice note, but was quiet.

gadget73 · Post by **gadget73** » May 26, 2020 9:30 AM

Put a stock radio back in the Mark VII. Didnt like the looks or sound of the aftermarket Pioneer that was in there. Opened up the stock radio that came with it, all of the caps inside have barfed. Neither unit is the actual model the car would have come with, its a year or so newer but identical mounting, connections, etc.

austin8753 · Post by **austin8753** » Jun 12, 2020 11:34 AM

replaced the clutch, rear crankshaft seal + flange seal, input/output/shift shaft seals, fuel tank and all associated hoses, on my red s50 powered e30. for the first time, in almost ten years of ownership, it doesn't leak a single fluid. for those that know me, and this car, that is nothing short of a miracle.

AB

gadget73 · Post by **gadget73** » Jun 15, 2020 8:14 AM

don't say that too loud. It'll grow a new leak.

replaced the AC clutch on the Mark VII. this one uses a rubber bushing as a spring instead of the usual spring for a spring. Rubber had gone flat like it does after 30 years and a bunch of miles. Clutch was dragging against the pulley, trashed both. It had been previously re-gapped so I didn't have enough shims. $30 for a 5 pack of the official shims or 25 cents for an M6 washer.

vinceg101 · Post by **vinceg101** » Sep 01, 2020 6:14 PM

(Can't believe this post is 4 pages back

)
This past Sunday was some long needed attention being given to the E39:
I'm in process of installing a set of factory Rear Window Shades for the sedan. Most of what I was doing was prep work on the parts:
Testing for the correct paint color to match the Sand interior: Turns out it' SEM Light Buckskin #15093. This will be used on touching up the plastic trim as well as the Rear Parcel Tray:

Epoxy repairing the replacement Door Cards:

Pulled the existing ones off the door to see the damage from a non-sealed Vapor Barrier (thank you BMW Dealer Service monkeys). These will get all new Butyl Tape sealant around the complete perimeter:

See all that mildew on the bottom of the panel? Yum:

Then there was testing the jack stand adapters I had a welder mock up (and no these are not part of the recall). These fit the jack pad receivers BMW used for this generation. I guess this falls under "What Did you do in your Garage today?" (Do we have one of those threads?):

vinceg101 · Post by **vinceg101** » Sep 03, 2020 3:51 PM

Oh yeah: This happened some time last week to the E39:

Unfortunately it didn't happen during some momentous event or even interesting scenery (I think it was on the 405 in the Sepulveda Pass). Oh well.
Now the E39 is only a few hundred miles from that of the M535i.

(This photo taken by professional drivers on a controlled closed road course. This should not be done by amateurs.)

RetiredDoc · Post by **RetiredDoc** » Sep 04, 2020 12:48 PM

My GMC2500 has been parked outside next to the barn for the 6 months since Covid isolation started. A damn squirrel had gotten into the engine compartment, chewed the lead positive battery post on my almost new Optima $300 yellow top auxiliary battery down flush with the plastic case. There were tooth marks and lead shavings left behind as evidence. Too bad the little f*** didn’t ground himself.

I ordered a replacement post, and this morning I drilled a hole through it and into the lead below the battery case, tapped the remaining base, and bolted the replacement post to the battery. Then I covered all the new exposed lead post with a heavy duty battery clamp.

Karl Grau · Post by **Karl Grau** » Sep 07, 2020 9:45 PM

Vincent, you guilted me into doing some deferred e39 stuff.
My roof rail paint had started to degrade a couple of years ago so I bought some Ebay paint to have a go at redoing them myself.

Peeling rails.

Sanding them down.

Ebay paint

I was very impressed with the color match. This pic was taken before clear coat.

I ordered six clips but I only ended up breaking one.

Rear window rubber trim on order and R/R window regulator to go in next.

Post by **tig** » Sep 07, 2020 10:51 PM

Washed Helga, the 2010 Q7 TDi we love that will get sent to the crusher at any moment (because VW/Audi f*cked me with #dieselgate). She was quite dirty because the 'kids' have been using her for camping. She came back from Utah as a puppy transporter and I'll be driving her back there before ski season...

vinceg101 · Post by **vinceg101** » Sep 08, 2020 11:18 AM

Karl Grau wrote: Sep 07, 2020 9:45 PM Vincent, you guilted me into doing some deferred e39 stuff.
My roof rail paint had started to degrade a couple of years ago so I bought some Ebay paint to have a go at redoing them myself.
Peeling rails.

I wish it were just my roof rails, I have a small dessert size plate on my roof that has lost its' clear coat and is currently looking Leprosy-like at the moment

. I'm going to look into having the roof re-shot since you can kind of do that with an E39 (thanks to those roof rails).

I didn't get to The Hangar this weekend due to unbelievable record temperatures Saturday and Sunday; it was likely about 114 but maybe more. All I know for sure is that it was the hottest it has ever been at my house (which was unbearable even with a room AC in the office). So my E39 Rear Window Shade upgrade was put on pause until this coming weekend.

Karl Grau · Post by **Karl Grau** » Sep 08, 2020 9:12 PM

vinceg101 wrote: Sep 08, 2020 11:18 AMI didn't get to The Hangar this weekend due to unbelievable record temperatures Saturday and Sunday

I hear you. Other than the sanding and base coat, I got nothing else done. I hid out in the one air conditioned room I have. I'm starting to get a backlog of projects but we have the rest of September and then Santa Ana season through October and probably half of November still to go.

BDKawey · Post by **BDKawey** » Sep 17, 2020 1:27 PM

I paid off the audi s4 today.

3 weeks ago i was rear ended, 11k in damage. hired a private appraiser to help fight the battle and ended up with a settlement of a little more than I probably would have been able to sell it for. but i paid it off and the settlement will come soon. then its getting sold to a close friend to either be fixed or parted out.

RIP

vinceg101 · Post by **vinceg101** » Sep 28, 2020 11:52 AM

My wife's Honda CR-V gets no love.
Started doing something that's been on my list for some time: Cleaning the interior. I mean REALLY cleaning.
Being that we no longer have ANY car events this year (SoCal Vintage finally called it last week), I guess I had to channel all that anal retentiveness somewhere so my wife's car gets the benefit.
Started with the rear seats trying to eradicate 16 years of happy dog memories along with plants, lumber, dirt, sand, etc.:

Now I have just the rest of the entire car to do; that should keep my inner ADD personality happily fed.

topher800 · Post by **topher800** » Sep 28, 2020 6:20 PM

I put a new battery in the CJ3B. Had to have been 12 years old. Cable terminals were shot, so cables got replaced also. Was easier than working on the lawn mower

amagansa · Post by **amagansa** » Sep 29, 2020 1:27 AM

Drove up to Newcastle with my buddy to buy what might be one of the last surviving Oldsmobile Silhouettes. Yes, the dustbuster looking one. It needs a bumper, radiator and a few other minor things, but this one has been pretty well taken care of. Yes, we are idiots. But it was 400 dollars for a well taken care of, low (98k) mileage, Buick 3.8 powered, fully optioned family van from the 90s. Best case scenario we fix it up and have a sweet time capsule. Worst case, I put a radiator in it and drive it til registration expires, or 24 Hours of Lemons

BDKawey · Post by **BDKawey** » Sep 29, 2020 11:34 AM

subaru is at the dealership to have the airbag recall completed from the second time (they replaced all the defective airbags with equally defective airbags) and also to have a blend door replaced. not interested in doing that myself. also picking up a new cobb accessport for it since my old version had the screen go bad and they dont offer support so its a paper weight at this point.

John in VA · Post by **John in VA** » Sep 29, 2020 12:07 PM

BDKawey wrote: Sep 29, 2020 11:34 AMsubaru is at the dealership to have the airbag recall completed from the second time (they replaced all the defective airbags with equally defective airbags)

BMW did the same thing with the E46.

gadget73 · Post by **gadget73** » Sep 30, 2020 8:33 AM

The replacements weren't also from Takata were they?

BDKawey · Post by **BDKawey** » Sep 30, 2020 2:24 PM

gadget73 wrote: Sep 30, 2020 8:33 AM The replacements weren't also from Takata were they?

I do believe that they did replace the takata bags with takata bags, i imagine that this new one again will be takata

gadget73 · Post by **gadget73** » Sep 30, 2020 3:31 PM

Third time's the charm hopefully?

vinceg101 · Post by **vinceg101** » Oct 18, 2020 1:03 PM

Continuing the Rear Window Shade and related weatherproofing issues for the E39:
Spent about 3 hours removing the old Butyl adhesive/weatherproofing from just one door. If you've not worked with it, it's pretty nasty stuff. It took me a while experimenting with various methods and chemicals (save yourselves some time: heat gunning does NOT work neither does lacquer thinner). I suspect straight acetone will but I didn't have any and couldn't find any on the shelves. I only had very little of 3M Specialty Adhesive Remover in liquid and some of the regular Remover in aerosol; that's the ticket. Be prepared to lose some skin on your fingertips.

Spent the rest of the afternoon putting the left door back together (including installing new Butyl adhesive tape to the vapor barrier so at least it won't leak this winter; maybe) with the new replacement door panel with integrated sun shade. Still not right and will have to pull the panel off (again) and figure out the top panel clips as well as how BMW expects you to attach the shade hooks on the window trim.

gadget73 · Post by **gadget73** » Oct 19, 2020 8:04 AM

I've used mineral spirits on butyl before. Slow and messy but it does work if you scrape the big chunks off first.

vinceg101 · Post by **vinceg101** » Oct 19, 2020 12:15 PM

gadget73 wrote: Oct 19, 2020 8:04 AM I've used mineral spirits on butyl before. Slow and messy but it does work if you scrape the big chunks off first.

Removing as much as possible with a plastic scrapper/blade is the key. I knew Acetone would have done the trick but I didn't have access to any on Saturday (at least not easily). I'm picking up the 3M remover this week and back at it on the right door this weekend.

vinceg101 · Post by **vinceg101** » Nov 05, 2020 11:45 AM

Finally finished the rear doors over the weekend:

I stumbled my way through this install as I did not find a technical bulletin for the installation procedure (I didn't look too hard, truthfully). I pieced it all together through the parts diagrams and good 'ole Google & YouTube searches.

I also replaced the Vavona wood trim as many of the original pieces were very faded and cracked (that's what the tape is about on the door panel).

Now if I can only find these for the E28...

jca · Post by **jca** » Nov 14, 2020 12:17 AM

Wife and I took our E 21 out for an Italian tuneup, driving to a small town not far from home. Felt good to get out of the house during this COVID time.

gadget73 · Post by **gadget73** » Nov 15, 2020 3:35 PM

Flushed the heater core in the Continental and made a restrictor to try to force more coolant flow through the core. Used a bit of scrap aluminum bar and basically made a 3/4 x 5/8 step bushing with a 1/4" hole through the middle of it. Nothing elaborate but it seems to have helped a bit.

davintosh · Post by **davintosh** » Nov 15, 2020 11:45 PM

Yesterday was oil change day; got the F150 and the e34 done. That meant I got to add to my O-ring & crush washer collection. (Does anybody else do that?

)

Also swapped out the power steering reservoir/filter on the e34 and put the winter tires on it. The e34 is my youngest son's car, so I rarely touch it, and it's a discouragement when I do. The car just keeps losing weight via rust, and the "needs" list on that thing just keeps growing... but my son has really become attached to the car. I hate the thought of dumping a bunch of money and work into tires & suspension bits with it deteriorating the way it does.

BDKawey · Post by **BDKawey** » Nov 16, 2020 8:15 AM

cleaned out the inside of my subaru, husky dog life is ruff. hair everyyyywhere

Zeta · Post by **Zeta** » Nov 19, 2020 2:06 PM

A couple weeks ago I replaced the Isuzu's clogged radiator. Over the weekend I replaced the front shocks. I tried to do the rear as well, but the upper nuts were so badly rusted that they're never coming off. Waiting for some carbide-tipped bi-metal blades to arrive so I can finish the job...

Here's the crusty old front shocks: