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

[Tammer in Philly]

Fixed the X5's hazard switch (free fix, 5 minute job) and replaced a turn indicator. For the 1600-2, I replaced the casters in the crappy Chinesium tire dollies with good bearing-hub casters. Now I can roll it out of the way much more easily to work on the track car. Required cutting some pull handles off the dolly bases to clear the larger footprint of the HD casters. $100 and 90 minutes well spent.

[slammin_e28]

Put the Genuine Land Rover TDi tstat on the Discovery. 70 MPH temps dropped from 235F to 195F. Something was def wrong with the year old OE one. Idle temps are down to 199F instead of 221F.....so the aux fan no longer runs all the time (cuts on at 212F).

Bled the brakes as well. Now I don't have to push the pedal 2x to get good pedal. Feels like it could be better, but def a improvement.

Much much happier.

Also swapped the plastic diff fill plugs (THX BMW) with brass ones.

Now the only fluids I really need to swap out are PS, ATF, and T-case....then we're totally baselined there.

[Mike W.]

Not today, but over the past couple of weekends. The old E39 touring, I smogged it, no problems with 250K and redid the clearcoat. A sizeable job, but not huge. It was only failed from the front doors forward so far less than the whole car. Came out good, not great, but good. A long thread here.

http://www.mye28.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=131715

From this



To this

[Karl Grau]

Replaced the windshield washer pump. It's conveniently located behind the fender liner so you have to remove the wheel and fender liner.

Since I already had one wheel off, I put the Style 5s on so I can refinish the Style 42s. Black centers aren't very fetching on a blue car.

[Mike W.]

Replaced the windshield washer pump. It's conveniently located behind the fender liner so you have to remove the wheel and fender liner.

Since I already had one wheel off, I put the Style 5s on so I can refinish the Style 42s. Black centers aren't very fetching on a blue car.

We really do need an E39 subforum. I know, we need Jeremy to get one.

[davintosh]

We really do need an E39 subforum.

e46 comes first.

[1st 5er]

We really do need an E39 subforum.

e46 comes first.

And e34 before that.

[slammin_e28]

We really do need an E39 subforum.

e46 comes first.

And e34 before that.

Wait, I thought this entire site was for e34s.....?

[Nanajoth]

We really do need an E39 subforum.

e46 comes first.

And e34 before that.

[E9er]

Our wagon’s a little scruffy but I love it. We had a 5 speed 528it (sport pkg) years ago and I've kicked myself over and over for selling it. I bought this one a couple of years ago as kind of a family truckster and for my teenagers to drive. The front bumper has always bugged me; with broken grills, a big spit on the bottom, a broken fog light, and deep scratches by both head lights. I did get an estimate to have it repaired but it was a quarter of what I paid for the car.

I decided to wait and see if I got lucky. Well, that happened a couple of weeks ago. I noticed a 540 (non-running, salvage title) on CL that the guy was either going to sell or part out. From the pictures, I could tell it had a bunch of M5 goodies and it was black. I called the guy and asked him what the paint code was (I had to tell him where to look), sure enough, it was jet black just like our wagon. The car was done mechanically and interior was horrible but the body was in great shape. I offered him 100 bucks for the bumper, he said no and that he had a guy that wanted the whole front end. I guess I’ve been watching too many ‘American Pickers’ because went for the ‘bundle’. I offered him $500 for the bumper and the 17X8 Style 5 wheels. He came back with $600 and we shook hands. I put the wheels on CL for $700 (they needed refinishing) and sold them the next day for $600. So long story, long, I got the M5 bumper (painted the exact color of our car) for free!

Not a huge fan of the amber fog lights but they are in good shape so they’re staying.

[MicahO]

^^ That bumper looks GREAT! I love me some M5 action on a Touring!

It was a busy delivery day for the Touring. I got the diff back from Jim Blanton. It's gorgeous. I'll get pictures this weekend as we reinstall it.

I also got these from the State:

[Karl Grau]

That's a cool plate (and I'm not a personalized plate kinda guy). Does New York no longer stamp the numbers/letters in the traditional way?

[wkohler]

Very few states do anymore.

[MicahO]

NY still stamps, but only for the non-personalized plates.

I've also never been a personalized-plate kinda guy, though I began to warm to the idea when Jen got the RETROMOM plates on the Townsman. This car I felt was worthy of something different, and it's not yet old enough for 'vintage' plates in NY. I've also got the California plates with the same text from the previous owner.

I have not done personalized plates on the other cars, though I do have 'vintage' NYS plates on the e28M5 (Liberty plate), the '71 F100 (yellow-on-blue farm plate), and I'm doing the paperwork for the '59 (black on yellow).

[M. Holtmeier]

No one will care here, but my other BMW now is '12 135i M-sport DCT. Over the winter, I've been setting the car up for DD, autox and the occasional track day. I just sent the E-diff out to Mfactory for a limited slip install. I got an Eibach Multi Pro R1 coil over kit for free. The dampers are at Eibach now getting rebuilt. (They are really bad at returning phone calls) I already installed solid M3 subframe bushings and I picked up a set of VMR 19" wheels with a set of P-Zeros I got from tire rack on clearance. The plan is to have a dedicated set of track wheels, summer DD wheels and winter wheels.

[MicahO]

That's a fun car, and one of the few I've seriously considered as a DD replacement for the ZHP. Sounds like you are setting it up for serious fun!

[Michael Star]

Put a camber kit on the rear of my track toy CRX

[tig]

Put the summer tires back on Julie's car. Because I really want it to snow here so I can go skiing.

[bkbimmer]

I washed my car for the first time in about three months.

[MicahO]

Touring work - over the past couple of weekends I've put back together the engine (new cooling hoses, water pump, thermostat, belts, fan clutch, expansion tank, etc), cleaned up the steering lines enough to find that the 'leaking hose' was actually just a leaking gasket at the PS fluid reservoir, swapped the grommets on the brake fluid reservoir and bled the brakes, and replaced all of the diff bushings and the other rear subframe mount. Every mount or bushing other than the trailing arm bushings has been replaced in the past year or so, most of them since August. I've also replaced the TPS, CTS, ATS, throttle cables, and bunch of interior bits that were not quite right. All in all a nice bit of work.

This weekend, the rebuilt diff and new halfshafts were finally reinstalled. The old diff bore a striking resemblance to cek's boat-anchor diff. The car's got 230K on it and is not *clean* underneath, but it's not at all rusted, so finding the original diff look like this was a huge surprise. The front of the case was dry, crusty and devoid of paint. At least one output shaft seal and the rear cover seal were leaking, so the back and bottom were caked with oil-dirt. Nasty!


That diff was shipped out to Jim Blanton, who was able to source a much fresher case and rear cover. What was reinstalled Saturday was this:



As has always been the case, Jim does incredible work and always goes the extra mile. Now if only the roads would clear up so I could drive this thing......

The remaining work for this year revolve around bulbs in the dash and AC panel, and reverting back to the repaired OE head unit. I'm waiting for warmer temperatures for this work to minimize any work on cold, brittle plastic.

[Dub-Nub]

No pictures, sorry.

Changed oil on 3 cars.

'07 Hummer H3 got Mobil 1 5W-30 with Mobil 1 filter. TON of metal protection needed removal.
'14 Volkswagen Jetta 2.5l got Mobil 1 0w-40 with Mobil 1 filter.
'88 Dodge Ramchager 318cc 5.2l got dino oil. Pennzoil 10w-30.

Ended up replacing master brake cylinder in the ramcharger this weekend also.

[dhdrums]

Tore into the w210 wagon today. The headlights had gotten really cloudy. So after seeing a e55 amg with these projector lights and asking the owner about them. We ordered a set and I put them in this afternoon.

Started with this...


After removing the old headlights...


And ended up with this...

[Das_Prachtstrasse]

Installed a few NOS items in the e34. Extended leather Mtech 2, and M5 shift surround. Much betterer.

[Tammer in Philly]

Sunday: New battery in the fiancee's TT, washed it and the E34. Glad I did; we got another 4" of snow today.

Finally making progress on the track car, which I've been working on a few hours here and there. Yesterday got the accessories back on the track car's M50 block, mounted headers and motor mount arms. Need to make a cooling hose solution as I am blocking off the heater feed and eliminating the "spider" hose, then the engine will be ready to go back in the car. Then I'll mount the new flywheel so I can lock the timing and do the Vanos work. I also got the new diff front bushing in the subframe and finished the harness, from which I've removed about 35 lbs of wire and connectors.

Now I'm ready to assemble it into a roller (sans wiring harness), install the motor as described, mock up the brake pedal solution (Tilton 2-pedal kit to eliminate the booster), have my friend fabricate and weld in whatever brackets I'll need, then pull the motor back out and send the car off for an inside-out paint job. Then it's just (finally, after 2.5 years) re-assembly.

-tammer

[euro24]

Other cars? What other cars?

Well, I don't have an e28 Anyway. But I do have an e24.

Over the weekend I installed a new antenna grommet (unbolt the antenna and drop it down, it's way easier than with it in place), repacked the wiper motor (again. Don't use dielectric grease like I did), reglued the trunk carpet, and did belts and alternator bushings.

Last time I did belts I couldn't get the A/C off in one piece or back on at all. This time It cut it off again, and then used the engine to bump the new one onto the pulley. As for tensioning belts, I always reach the end of the tensioning tracks before my torque wrench indicates that I've reached the specified torque on the tensioning gears. So, I just kind of eyeball it. My belts are probably too loose, but they work fine so whatever.

The alternator bushings were a real bitch; the old bushings came out fine and the new ones went in like a breeze, but I could only get the metal sleeve that rides inside the bushings in about 2/3 of the way. I ended up buying a 6 inch bench vise and sticking a 4 foot pipe over the handle for extra leverage to squeeze the sleeve into the bushings. Also replaced whatever that little black rectangular plastic piece with a wire coming out of it that's screwed to the back of the alternator (what is that thing Anyway?) with a spare one I had lying around that looked to be in better condition.

[Justin_FL]

Renewed the ceramic coating on the windshield of my F150 yesterday. The water shedding performance at speed was starting to drop off. I got about a year from the last application, so that is pretty good and less work than applying RainX every 3-4 weeks during the wet season.

Also wanted to wash, polish, and wax the truck too but it was 90°F in the shade so I was not terribly motivated. Supposed to rain today anyway.

[davintosh]

Renewed the ceramic coating on the windshield of my F150 yesterday. The water shedding performance at speed was starting to drop off. I got about a year from the last application, so that is pretty good and less work than applying RainX every 3-4 weeks during the wet season.

Also wanted to wash, polish, and wax the truck too but it was 90°F in the shade so I was not terribly motivated. Supposed to rain today anyway.

Ceramic coating for windshields?


Am I the only person who hasn't heard of this stuff?

https://www.duragloss.com/ENVIROSHIELD- ... ING-SYSTEM

[Justin_FL]

Coatings are pretty new to the car care industry on the consumer level so I think you would be far from the exception! I keep meaning to do the paint on the truck, too, but haven't really had the time to polish and prep the paint correctly first. Application is also more critical, it is not like a wax and you need to be thin and very uniform in thickness, then go back around before drying to finesse the high spots.

The Duragloss product is one of the later entries in the market and had pretty good feedback the last I heard. Hard to beat their price as most of the competition is priced quite a bit higher. I have another brand product but they are more similar than different.

[wkohler]

I got it running and moved it around to the backyard. Needed a fuel pump. I had one I was going to throw away that had been sitting since the early 1990s.

[slammin_e28]

Installed the AC compressor and lines for an M30 on the E34t. A year after the M30 swap I'll finally have AC!