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

[davintosh]

Replaced the crappy plastic "dead pedal" side panel on the e46. Why is it on this car it seems to take an hour to get the old part out and five minutes to get the new one in? I just don't get it.

The sunroof shade has been flopping around inside the roof of the car since we got it, so I ordered the parts I thought would be needed to sort it out. The parts are indeed needed, but once I pulled the sunroof and got the shade out, it turned out that it's a little more serious a situation; the little spring clip that's molded to the body of the shade is broken. Great. I'm not sure exactly how I'll fix it, but for now I just put the sunroof back in place without the shade.

Also discovered that my wife must've nudged a curb somewhere because there's a big nasty scuff on the lower front valance and one of the plastic fender liner bits that goes behind it is all busted to crap. It also knocked a sensor loose that attaches to said plastic liner bit somewhere, allowing it to dangle and drag on the pavement. The plastic housing is worn away, but there is a metal probe or something sticking out of it, so I'm guessing it's still functional, if it's being used at all. I've been prowling through RealOEM and ECSTuning.com trying to find it and I think it's an outside temp sensor, but...

Last thing was to clean the leather seats and put some Lexol on them. I've applied the stuff a couple of times before, and it's like they just slurp the stuff up. I'm thinking the previous owners didn't do much with the leather.

[John in VA]

Also discovered that my wife must've nudged a curb somewhere because there's a big nasty scuff on the lower front valance and one of the plastic fender liner bits that goes behind it is all busted to crap. It also knocked a sensor loose that attaches to said plastic liner bit somewhere, allowing it to dangle and drag on the pavement. The plastic housing is worn away, but there is a metal probe or something sticking out of it, so I'm guessing it's still functional, if it's being used at all. I've been prowling through RealOEM and ECSTuning.com trying to find it and I think it's an outside temp sensor, but...

51 71 8 193 811 - Splash Panel - Left
65 81 6 905 133 - External Air Temperature Sensor
61 13 8 365 340 - External Air Temperature Sensor Plug Repair Kit

[E9er]

Also discovered that my wife must've nudged a curb somewhere because there's a big nasty scuff on the lower front valance and one of the plastic fender liner bits that goes behind it is all busted to crap. It also knocked a sensor loose that attaches to said plastic liner bit somewhere, allowing it to dangle and drag on the pavement. The plastic housing is worn away, but there is a metal probe or something sticking out of it, so I'm guessing it's still functional, if it's being used at all. I've been prowling through RealOEM and ECSTuning.com trying to find it and I think it's an outside temp sensor, but...

51 71 8 193 811 - Splash Panel - Left
65 81 6 905 133 - External Air Temperature Sensor
61 13 8 365 340 - External Air Temperature Sensor Plug Repair Kit

If you lose that outside temp sensor, you'll have no AC. I've replaced it and the splash panel twice on our wagon. A combination of a bad design and my teenage daughter's parking abilities.

[slammin_e28]

This:

http://www.mye28.com/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=133671

[crispy]

I drove right past my Malaga '73 2002 that sits on the side of the driveway. Somewhere in its life it got a nice suspension, very mild engine mods, decent seats and steering wheel, an Alpina nameplate and wheels that look Alpina. Is it an Alpina? Probably not, but nice none the less. Some day I will push it into the shop and treat it properly.

[BonitaBeast]

Installed front and rear skid plates

[davintosh]

Well, it isn't exactly my car, and I didn't do it, but... Got a Father's Day call from my eldest son, and one of the things that came up is his '93 328is is kaput. It got bumped by one of my neighbor's parents almost a year ago, and he's been trying to get things squared away with insurance and parts and this and that and the other thing ever since. He finally got it back on the road on Friday with a new hood and radiator support bits, plus fresh paint on the front clip, only to have a fender-bender later that day. He's pretty sure it's gonna be totaled now. Sad day for him.

One silver lining is that it puts him in a position to buy one of my cars before we depart for The Continent. 735i or 528e... Which will it be?

[Trapped_in_GNV]

"First" oil change on the 335. It only has 500 miles on it since I bought it, but I don't trust Carmax to have used the correct...anything, when prepping it for sale.

[yodman]

Did an ignition service in my 1990 Jetta VR6. Coil pack had cracked and was allowing spark jump and a pretty heavy misfire. Replaced the coil, plugs, and wires. The wires had varying amounts of mileage on them, the plugs had about 40k and looked good, and the coil pack was a cheap aftermarket replacement before I bought the car that had at least 60k on it. Now she purrs like a kitten and has a nice set of factory Bosch wires and NGK plugs. Love my Jetta.

[slammin_e28]

I ended up with a Berguntrot 524td.



Dad got a Bronzit 524td.



IDK what happened here....but we now have 3 diesel e28s.

[Das_Prachtstrasse]

I ended up with a Berguntrot 524td.



Dad got a Bronzit 524td.



IDK what happened here....but we now have 3 diesel e28s.

Send me one in a container prease?

Replaced the idler arm and lower control arms on the iS last weekend, what a difference that idler arm made. Need to do the rest of the arms and links at some point but for now it's a well improved.

[wkohler]

I hate my E34.

[tig]

I ate my E34.

Wow, quite an appetite.

[dhdrums]

Well a couple weeks ago we brought our Mercedes e320 4-matic wagon to our mechanic to have him replace the rear accumulators. When we pulled in I saw an older white BMW in the lot with its hood up. I didn't realize it until we got closer to it that it was a white e21 BMW 320i. As we entered the shop I held open the door for an older lady as she walked out. She walks over to the e21 and shuts the hood. Three weeks later we end up buying and bringing this e21 home with us. An all original Alpine white, pacific blue interior, 110,000 mile one owner car. She was an enthusiast, been to the BMW plant in Germany several times and we even got a picture of her leaving the dealership in the car.

So I'm out driving it at night and sure enough my brothers and I get pulled over...

The trooper informed me that our taillights were out. So I explained to him it was a new car and I had no idea they were out and he let me off with a warning.
Last Friday and decided to open up the tail lights and see what was wrong. Turns out someone had replaced the running light bulbs with the wrong wattage bulb and melted the housings. Today, I looked online and found a right tail light in a junkyard close by, so we went and bought it, replaced it and replaced all the other bulbs that were burned out.

This was supposed to be an easy job. Just swap housings, replace bulbs, and be legal to drive at night again. However I could not for the life of me figure out why the right sided running lights wouldn't turn on and why the left front fog lamp wouldn't turn on. After checking the wires and making sure the bulbs were seated, it finally dawned on me that I should probably check the fuses. Sure enough the fuses were blown. Man I felt really freaking stupid.

But now they are fixed. Took it out for a drive tonight and while getting out of the car I broke the map pocket on the door card. So now I need a pacific blue driver's door card with the pocket and a left tail light and it will be good as new. Well not new, that would mean I'd have to complete the laundry list I've already started to work on to make it new again.

[wkohler]

The map pockets are separate from the door card so you should just need the map pocket and the correct color is Marineblau.

What year? '82? I would recommend looking into that rust under the flag sticker ASAP. Car looks really clean, particularly on the rear panel, which is unusual. Trunk lid looks like it's a slightly different shade of white though.

Congratulations on the purchase!

[dhdrums]

The map pockets are separate from the door card so you should just need the map pocket and the correct color is Marineblau.

What year? '82? I would recommend looking into that rust under the flag sticker ASAP. Car looks really clean, particularly on the rear panel, which is unusual. Trunk lid looks like it's a slightly different shade of white though.

Congratulations on the purchase!

Thanks! It is an '81. I guess Im looking for just the map pocket in Marineblau then. When I cleaned out the trunk, the rust was a little more severe than I originally thought. The trunk pan has several small spots,spots in the spare tire well, and spots around the tail lights. But luckily it's not on or around the strut towers So I'm going to have someone look at it soon to see what it is going to take to fix it up properly. Other than the rust in the trunk and the sun bleached trim it is really clean. Definitely needs a lot less than my e28 does.

[wkohler]

I didn't have much to go on there, but passenger mirror and the later rear windows definitely said '81 or later. I split the difference.

Tail light rust is exceedingly common, as is the rust behind the bumper trim, and of course in the well. I wouldn't expect a car like that one to have structural rust. I'd also have a good look around the trunk gasket, and the front and rear windows too. Improper windshield replacement is a big thing on those, just like the E12s and E28s.

I know many disagree, but I think those are fun cars. You don't go anywhere quickly, but they're still fun.

[juan c.]

Took the E39 wagon to Lime Rock HPDE because the E28 wasn't ready. Underpowered and overweight, but I love that car even more now.

[Mike W.]

Took the E39 wagon to Lime Rock HPDE because the E28 wasn't ready. Underpowered and overweight, but I love that car even more now.

Which version is it and how did it do? I've never really pushed either of ours but I feel the weight and it doesn't feel nearly as tossable as the sedan. But as I said, I haven't tried.

[juan c.]

Which version is it and how did it do? I've never really pushed either of ours but I feel the weight and it doesn't feel nearly as tossable as the sedan. But as I said, I haven't tried.

It's an autotragic 525i. I put it in sport but still couldn't wring enough Go out of it. That said, it acquitted itself rather admirably in the corners. Big bend was tough with all that weight up high and stock suspension, but the rest was good fun. There was no tossing that whale, for sure. I can't wait to go again. I am going to focus on improving the E28 for the occasional track and autocross day since it's not a daily driver.

[T_C_D]

Finally some decent 16" wheels for the S6.

[Mike W.]

Which version is it and how did it do? I've never really pushed either of ours but I feel the weight and it doesn't feel nearly as tossable as the sedan. But as I said, I haven't tried.

It's an autotragic 525i. I put it in sport but still couldn't wring enough Go out of it. That said, it acquitted itself rather admirably in the corners. Big bend was tough with all that weight up high and stock suspension, but the rest was good fun. There was no tossing that whale, for sure. I can't wait to go again. I am going to focus on improving the E28 for the occasional track and autocross day since it's not a daily driver.

Not too bad then, but it didn't rewrite the laws of physics. Sounds about right.

[nik77356]

Which version is it and how did it do? I've never really pushed either of ours but I feel the weight and it doesn't feel nearly as tossable as the sedan. But as I said, I haven't tried.

It's an autotragic 525i. I put it in sport but still couldn't wring enough Go out of it. That said, it acquitted itself rather admirably in the corners. Big bend was tough with all that weight up high and stock suspension, but the rest was good fun. There was no tossing that whale, for sure. I can't wait to go again. I am going to focus on improving the E28 for the occasional track and autocross day since it's not a daily driver.

Not too bad then, but it didn't rewrite the laws of physics. Sounds about right.

I've had my autotragic 525i Sport Wagon on track before and had quite the blast! Anemic, yes, but still plenty of good, laughing fun. I did constantly have my hand out the window pointing people by since I happened to be running in the TT session that event though. Can't wait to put a proper transmission behind it with a B30 swap!

Put a new left front wheel speed sensor on the E39 wagon last night, hoping like hell my issue wasn't the DSC module that needed repair (Even though I knew that was the issue in the back of my mind). Of course it didn't fix the issue. Looks like I'll be pulling out the DSC module soon to see what's up.

[slammin_e28]

E46:

Trans ad diff fluid
Oil change
Rear brakes.....even though they weren't touching the sensor, but the light was on and I'd just done fronts. Come to find out the sensor wire on the front came loose and rubbed through on the wheel. FAK.
Washer pump.

Test drove.

Parked.....annnnnnnd there's a nice puddle forming under the car. Meh. I just changed washer pumpe, no big....oh wait....that's fucking coolant.

Expansion tank cracked on the seam. So pulled back in a replaced. 20 mintes. Done. Happy.

[MicahO]

A great weekend overall, and a busy one on the various cars. Thursday night started with replacing the parking brake equalizer on the Tundra. The old one was rusted into a basically solid mass. I was tired of lubing it once a month and wrestling with it until it would move. We'll see if the new one makes it through a winter before massive corrosion sets in.



Then onto the 330, where I'm still sort of chasing an intermittent set of noises up front. As the car is approaching 200K and is in generally great shape, I don't mind dumping some more time and parts into it, so.... New front calipers to go with the rotors and pads it got last month, put back the UUC swaybar with new bushings, tighten up the shocks, and a new set of Conti DW all around. The car felt great coming into work this morning, and the brakes look very shiny.



All of that work was done before noon on Friday, and we had some good friends visiting for the weekend. So after a walk downtown with the kids to Taco Hombre and Fizzy Lifting, I got out the Studebaker and we rolled around town a bit. Yes, we fit 2 adults and 6 kids into the car. There are no seatbelts to count, so it must be legal! Back at the house - no dogs allowed in that car!



It was a good start to a GREAT Fourth Weekend.

[cddallara]

Threw some clear turn signal on it a couple weeks ago, and shoved it back into bike hauler duty.
Changed out my spidered inner tails for some intact ones last night.

[vinceg101]

Last Friday on way back from working all day on the M535i (aka the "old car") prepping for Portland, the water pump on the E39 (aka the "new car") blew up and threw a bearing.
Had it flat-bedded to the mechanic to sit until yesterday as I had absolutely no time this past weekend to change it out.

Damned thing only had about 51,000 miles on it. We looked at it and couldn't recognize the manufacturer, so that was telling. Luckily it didn't take out anything else when it seized. The radiator has a few K less than the water pump so I''m thinking that comes out next. I needed the car so I didn't have the luxury of telling him replace everything else, but I'm going to start ordering parts this week.

[NZfiver]

New rear tyres (Goodyear) for the wagon.

[wkohler]

Tried to put the door panel back on.

Untitled by Christopher Kohler, on Flickr

[bkbimmer]

Tried to put the door panel back on.

Untitled by Christopher Kohler, on Flickr

You gave a valiant try.