MyE28.com

davintosh wrote:And in the process of getting there I managed to break the neck off the radiator. Whoever it was that thought plastic in the cooling system was a good idea ought to be shot.

If the neck broke off that easily maybe it's a blessing in disguise, it may have been that close and better now than when she was driving. And while I'm generally against capital punishment, I have to admit it may be appropriate for the damned plastic in the cooling system. Some things are just over the line.

Swapped exhaust systems for one with 60k less miles, ran a can of seafoam through the vacuum system, changed the plugs, and...

Passed smog!!

It's only been overdue since November

Replaced the radiator on th 01 e430, a/c compressor and associated parts as soon as they arrive.

Replaced the fuel pump on the Eurovan. Decided to ignore the new exhaust leak that just started...

-Graham

Replaced the heater valve on the E46. Very simple job, and hardly any coolant lost on the changeover. Happy wife, happy life!

Spent an hour with a bottle of 409 and a roll of paper towels getting rid of the raccoon party that was my interior last night.

Blasted warm weather had me leave my window down. Won't do that again.

Who am I kidding, I'll forget at least 3 more times this summer...

I need to get another vacuum though, my last mini shop vac started smoking...

Tried to install rear headrests only to find out that I didn't order the rings for the seat tops because...they no longer exist in 'the system'. Off to the yards next week...

I washed my touring. Won't know how badly I did until morning. It was dark. I hate black cars.

wkohler wrote:I washed my touring. Won't know how badly I did until morning. It was dark. I hate black cars.

Yesterday was the inside, today was the outside.

Washed the dirt and grime off of my dearly departed father's 1987 w126 420sel. Time to get her ready for market. Sigh...

p.s.,
It looks like the one above...anthracite over palomino.

Trans service and diff service with synthetic fluids, ordered .5mm spring perch pads, big sway bars and factory 6 disc changer 01 e430 Sport x2

Put Michelin PSS's on the back of the beast before the drive to San Antonio.

Drove ~750 miles over the weekend. New tires stick like silly putty and now I feel something loose out back. The tail end is sloshing around like a Buick.

Fun thing about the trip was I made it all the way from San Antonio back to the Fort Worth city limits without driving on a road I had been on before.

Got back from Sandy Eggo on Sunday night and the X5 wouldn't start; had to jump start it yesterday morning with the e28. New battery for the X5.

Spent some time trying in vain to get the water pump out of my daughter's 318ti. Trying; the bastard is still in there.

I did absolutely nothing and the check engine light turned off!

davintosh wrote: Spent some time trying in vain to get the water pump out of my daughter's 318ti. Trying; the bastard is still in there.

My experience. This job will make you hate that car. I would rather change a dozen e28 starters.

djazz wrote:

davintosh wrote: Spent some time trying in vain to get the water pump out of my daughter's 318ti. Trying; the bastard is still in there.

My experience. This job will make you hate that car. I would rather change a dozen e28 starters.

Thanks for the morning laugh.

And, gotta remember this when car shopping.

You're welcome.

I wouldn't say avoid compacts at all costs. They certainly have their pluses. It's just like every other BMW. You learn the weaknesses and work around them. With the ti, I'm convinced the only reason to buy one is to swap in a straight six. The M44 cooling system is that much suck in my opinion.

You'll have an economical hatchback on the outside and a sporty Z3 on the inside. With the M52 you could get very close to M44 mpg when you behaved, with a huge boost in hp and torque when you didn't. With the S52 think MCoupe in sheep's clothing.

Two letters. Z and F.
I need to buy a clutch now
Almost forgot three more letters. LSD.

I ain't trippin'

davintosh wrote:Got back from Sandy Eggo on Sunday night and the X5 wouldn't start; had to jump start it yesterday morning with the e28. New battery for the X5.

Spent some time trying in vain to get the water pump out of my daughter's 318ti. Trying; the bastard is still in there.

Finally feeling nearly normal after last week's chemo treatment, so finally got around to working on the ti again. Got the pump out over the weekend -- used a two-arm puller, a Wonder Bar and a 6" roll core to get it out. The core (think a toilet paper tube, only bigger ID and thicker walls) worked well to keep stress on any one section of the timing cover to a minimum, and with the bar formed a bridge over the pump for the puller to brace against. Put some tension on it, paused to take a peek to see if it was making progress, and POP! out it came, along with about a half-gallon of antifreeze. Good thing I already had a good coating of floor dry down.

Then last night my son and I tore into that project with a vengeance, hoping to get it done for my daughter this weekend (she's been doing an internship at a hospital about 2 hours north, and has my e32. I want my car back. ) Pulled the intake manifold to gain access to the plastic tube mounted to the block under it, then swapped out all of the hoses that were buried under there. Two other pains in the ass in that job; removing three wires from the starter (so that the wire harness that threads through the middle of the lower intake manifold can come out ), and removing/installing the little plastic gooseneck that mounts to the back of the cylinder head. There's about three inches of space between the head and the firewall, with the engine wire harness and some other stuff arching over the back of the head; you can barely see any of it. We decided to wait for my daughter to show up tonight to help get the bolts in on that one; her hands are about half the size of mine or my son's.

Volvo 240...I mean, for something made in the 90s, can I complain at all about the maintenance/repair needs at all...well I will anyway...
Doing an exhaust, manifold studs broke and defied all attempts at removal. A 'friendly' local quotation, while lacking in numbers and decimal points and ample in exasperation and threats, led me to surmise that a rebuilt head was less than having compromised remains of my head after whatever took place at the paid shop, so I pulled the head...
It looks fine upstairs... http://www.flickr.com/photos/13677713@N ... hotostream
Downstairs...it makes me want to throw it in the trash rather than ever reinstall...http://www.flickr.com/photos/13677713@N ... hotostream
Ventil Sauber every 3k since taking ownership, I promise...
At least this head was very easy to remove...
unfortunately the pistons match the appearance of the bottom of the head...only 145k here...

So...I'm head shopping.

Finally finished the cooling system rebuild/alternator replacement job on the Ti. That is the job from hell.
Let it idle in the driveway for a good 40 minutes while cleaning up, and the temp gauge never went past 12 o'clock.

To make the job even more difficult, my son's small GearWrench ratchet and a 7mm socket dropped down behind the engine and didn't fall out. Can't reach it, can't see it with mirrors, can't get a magnet on it... Gonzo. Blew at least an hour looking for the dadgum thing.

Dropped a seat base and extra leather off at the upholsterers today.

Should have my silvergrau hell manual sports in next Monday or Tuesday

davintosh wrote:Finally finished the cooling system rebuild/alternator replacement job on the Ti. That is the job from hell.
Let it idle in the driveway for a good 40 minutes while cleaning up, and the temp gauge never went past 12 o'clock.

To make the job even more difficult, my son's small GearWrench ratchet and a 7mm socket dropped down behind the engine and didn't fall out. Can't reach it, can't see it with mirrors, can't get a magnet on it... Gonzo. Blew at least an hour looking for the dadgum thing.

Congrats. I always dread not hearing that final thud on the driveway.

I've decided to hold out for the perfect ti swap car: either a late 328i(s), a Z3 with a good rear subframe, or an M3 that's not made of gold. I think I'll be in for a long wait.

On the M5 front(cracked endcap), got most of the radiator stuff in today. The more I look at it the more things I want to do "while I'm in there."

ADD sucks.

davintosh wrote:Finally finished the cooling system rebuild/alternator replacement job on the Ti. That is the job from hell.
Let it idle in the driveway for a good 40 minutes while cleaning up, and the temp gauge never went past 12 o'clock.

Oops; let the dancing banana out too soon on this one. After writing that last bit, I went out and caught a whiff of raw gasoline. Put a finger under where the fuel line attaches to the fuel rail... wet. Off with the upper intake mani, tighten, check, tighten, check, tighten, check, tighten, check, remove... Guess what? Missing o-ring. Damn. Howtheheckdidimissthat? Another hour.

This car is seriously testing my sanctification.

Carefully packed the Alfa V6 heads up to take to Pensacola to the Alfa wizard there. He is going to rebuild the heads and install some hotter cams in them.

Plan on the Alfa at RTT next year!

I hope this is the end of the 318Ti saga... I decided yesterday that the car should stay here for a few days, just to make sure no other little problems cropped, and if they did, so I could take care of them. Went out to drive it to the doc's office (weekly PICC line dressing change) and it wouldn't start; battery was dead. I had wondered whether the dying alternator might have damaged the battery...

After my appointment I checked the battery voltage, and it was down to about 10 volts. Jump started the car and when running showed about 14.5 volts at the terminals. Drove the car to Batteries Plus, and the battery tested bad, so $118 later, it's all better.

Tonight I broke down and took the winter tires off and put the summer treads on. If it snows in the next few days, I'll accept full responsibility.

davintosh wrote:I hope this is the end of the 318Ti saga... I decided yesterday that the car should stay here for a few days, just to make sure no other little problems cropped, and if they did, so I could take care of them. Went out to drive it to the doc's office (weekly PICC line dressing change) and it wouldn't start; battery was dead. I had wondered whether the dying alternator might have damaged the battery...

After my appointment I checked the battery voltage, and it was down to about 10 volts. Jump started the car and when running showed about 14.5 volts at the terminals. Drove the car to Batteries Plus, and the battery tested bad, so $118 later, it's all better.

Tonight I broke down and took the winter tires off and put the summer treads on. If it snows in the next few days, I'll accept full responsibility.

After giving batteries plus 3x to rebuild my DeWalt battery and them failing 3x, I won't go there anymore.

Honestly, I've had good luck with kragen/oreilly's batteries

I worked on my lawn mower last weekend. Replaced the half dead deck belt and the blades with some new Gator mulching blades. Put in a new battery since the old one wasn't holding a charge anymore and away we went. First mow of the year...

Then the fuckin' dandelions showed up.

Punks.

Giving thought to buying another one, if only to steal the seats, fix it, and flip it. This car came up for sale on the local CL yesterday, so I gave the seller a call & stopped by for a look yesterday.

1995 BMW 525i - $700 (SIOUX FALLS SD)

THIS BMW RUNS GOOD BUT IT GETS HOT SOMETIMES.IT HAS OVER 350.00 WORTH OF NEW PARTS ON IT.IT HAS POWER LEATHER SEATS- SUN ROOF-MIRRORS-WINDOWS.COME TAKE IT FOR A DRIVE AND AND MAKE AN OFFER.PLEASE CALL BILL (do not text). @ 605-xxx-xxxx

The overheating problem appears to be an improper cooling system purge; the owner has had a joe-blow shop working on the car, and the mechanic admits to knowing nothing about BMWs. There's no oil in the coolant or vice-versa, and no weird crankcase pressure problems. Car runs & pulls decently (for an auto) and drives well. New tie rods are on it, and it was just aligned. The wheels are butt-ugly and would definitely be swapped out with a set of Style 2s, and these things sold separately. The body is in decent shape; one ding with surface rust near the right rear tail light, and the usual door-bottom rust, but not bad. I couldn't get the shifter to go down any lower than S3(? don't know the slushboxes) but also noticed about $5 in change rattling around below the console, probably gumming things up. The big appeal is the leather; it's nearly perfect, if heavily coated with ghetto shine. I've learned that the e34 front seats will bolt up in an e32 (which is where I'd like to put them), but the wiring may differ slightly between the two. My car has a parchment interior, and this one has schwartz, which is ultimately what I'd love to have in my car. The rear seat won't fit -- at least without leaving some ugly gaps -- but I figure a decent schwartz rear seat will be easier to find than fronts.

Not sure if the CFO will give the nod on this one, but I think it's worth a try if I can talk it down a couple hundred $$. Might be good to rescue one this once! Or a good object lesson.

BTDT Dave, even bled the system on site and drove it home.
Glad you're feeling up to it.