Windscreen cracked

[dreab_boy 0]

Saturday night on the way back from auckland there were some roadworks going on, they must have just laid the gravel cause it was very loose so anyway it must of got a chip right on the corner of the windscreen and i have not noticed this till today where the crack has grown and its a good 10 cm long.

I got a 96 323i 2 door coupe, how much would a new screen set me back? i will ring the glass shops tomorrow.

My estimate is that it will be around $500-$600 mark. Thats the windscreen.

Now last week i took the car to bmw for oil service, after they did that they said to me that there are couple of things that are wrong with the car- minor stuff. Now i have asked him to give me a quote to see how much it would cost and this is the email today outlining the price.

1. renew wiper blades $45

2. Renew air filter $63

3. Renew fanbelt $133

4. Renew front indicator bulbs $ 30

5. Strip check and adjust handbrake.$170 note if parts are needed for handbrake will be extra cost.

The wiper blades and bulbs i can do my self for fraction of the price, but im not sure about the fanbelt- he said that the A/C fanbelt was cracked and needed replacing, the ac runs mint. Should i even bother about getting that done?

My handbrake is very very week and i park on a slope even though i pull the handbrake as far as i can the car still slides forward untill the park gear engages, i know this is bad for it but i cant afford to get it fixed atm and that $170 is just to look at it. Im no expert on cars but im sure it is only the handbrake cable that needs to be tightened. That i can take to any local mechanic and they can do it a lot cheaper.

And one more problem that shows up is everytime you turn the car with the lights going it always says on the small screen tail light failure but all the rear lights are working, is it just the sensor broken or something?

[Cale 36]

Give the forum sponsors Ray (HellBM) and Gavin (Euro-Italian) a ring, they may have a windscreen. $500-600 seems pretty steep. Check that your windscreen isn't covered in your insurance. I can get a new windscreen without paying any excess.

I wouldn't bother with a/c belt unless you're going to use it with summer coming, again you could probably do this yourself easily by undoing a bolt and releasing belt, then replacement is the opposite.

Airfilter would be pretty simple to replace yourself, again a forum sponsor may sort one out for you.Look here under Maintenance

Handbrake should just need tightening, I don't know how e36's work but it may be just tightening nuts under h/brake lever, or it might just need new brake pads.

[elmarco 56]

Wiper blades, air filter and bulbs are easy enough to do yourself. But get someone that knows to do the A/C belt and handbrake. You can't afford to ignore aged belts - if they fail they can make a mess and damage all sorts of other things. Not sure about the E36's but if it is anything like mine, it is a mission to get to the belt so worth paying an expert to do it. Belt tensioners can be a bastard to work with too - so be warned that doing an A/C belt by yourself could be a mission.