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E36 Problems

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Ok well...................

Today we went to Dunedin, and then we had to come back because of the alarm in our house went off twice (robber/fire alarm), so we rushed back to check it. Of course we were driving quite fast through Milton sometimes at 6000rpm. We were only driving about 100 k on the open road, then going faster to pass people.

When we checked the alarm, there was no robbers. So we went to go see a friend and then we come back. There is oil leaks in the drive way ( a few drops in random places). Its kind of pinky orange, some of the oil is in the shade and its hard. When the car was parked in the car port, we reversed it out and checked on the ground for oil, sure enough there was a few drips sitting nicely on the leaf. We then lay on the ground and had a look under the car, there was a bit of oil underneath it. Dad reckons its transmisson fluid, or steering fluid. We have had a problem like this before, but i'm not quite what part was leaking. It was fixed at BMW, but now we have (possibly) the same problem. Many things have been apparently "fixed" at BMW but then we have to go back and get them fixed again.

Can someone please help us out a bit to what it might be, it would be really appreciated. Mum is questioning how good BMW's are, and its kind of sad that she is :( . So i need to assure her that its just this car.

Another prob. When braking down hill and sometimes on the flat the steering wheel starts shuddering, but not the brake pedal.This problem was also about 5 months ago, can brake pads wear that quickly?

Thanks

Emma

Edited by BMW POWER

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Another prob. When braking down hill and sometimes on the flat the steering wheel starts shuddering, but not the brake pedal. We had that problem before, and it was the pads. This problem was also about 5 months ago, can brake pads wear that quickly?

Thanks

Emma

That can also often be the actual discs bcoming warped .... braking too much ... many cars in australia seems to do that... i dunno why ...

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... many cars in australia seems to do that... i dunno why ...

Bro, that sh*t comes as a no cost factory option on a lot of Commodores and Falcons. Brake shudder is one of the few memories that I have of the late 90s cars of above.

Whats the stuff that drips from the air con after its been on, if you had it on (I have't actually taken any notice of it before)

Edited by E30_318i

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pinky fluids in your BMW..sounds like power steer fluid...

i think i may have a very small steering fluid leak too...but i think its just the hose clip on the Reservoir is not tight enough.....slowly oozes its way down the hose and drips on the ground...so minimal i cant even be assed getting on my back to fix.

you people are aware that most normal mechanics can fix your BMW..its just an engine ..same as all cars.

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Whats the stuff that drips from the air con after its been on, if you had it on (I have't actually taken any notice of it before)

well provided your AC isnt leaking its just crappy water condensation...just like on my burbon glass..but less tasty...

and if it is leaking..you wont have to worry about it for long..coz soon your AC wont be going anymore..no gas-no work-no leak

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Bro, that sh*t comes as a no cost factory option on a lot of Commodores and Falcons. Brake shudder is one of the few memories that I have of the late 90s cars of above.

Whats the stuff that drips from the air con after its been on, if you had it on (I have't actually taken any notice of it before)

I was actually taking about japanese cars btw ..

anyway .. is it normal for AC to be leaking condensation on new cars ? well semi-new car ... ? only when i've turned on the cold ac tho ..

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The brake shudder may be caused by worn control arm bushings? My car does it as well, and thats with reasonably new brembo rotors, so it shouldn't be warped rotors. If it is i'll be pretty pissed of.

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you people are aware that most normal mechanics can fix your BMW..its just an engine ..same as all cars.

that is so true, ur betta off taking it somewhere else. usually alot cheaper and sometimes better mechanics, bmw technicians dont even have a qualified auto electrician.

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that is so true, ur betta off taking it somewhere else. usually alot cheaper and sometimes better mechanics, bmw technicians dont even have a qualified auto electrician.

Not necessarily true

Depending on the problem, you're best bet is to go see a BMW mechanic, not necessarily a BMW centre mechanic but someone who really knows BMW's and can pinpoint the cause of problems with relative ease.

While they may charge more, they can probably fix the problem quicker and not mis-diagnose it. You always hear of horrow stories of mechanics f**king ppl around simple due to trial and error which in the long run is extremely costly.

The other thing is knowing how everything fits together, you don't want to end up with bits that didn't go back in simply cause the mechanic couldn't remember where it went :blink:

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Not necessarily true

Depending on the problem, you're best bet is to go see a BMW mechanic, not necessarily a BMW centre mechanic but someone who really knows BMW's and can pinpoint the cause of problems with relative ease.

While they may charge more, they can probably fix the problem quicker and not mis-diagnose it. You always hear of horrow stories of mechanics f**king ppl around simple due to trial and error which in the long run is extremely costly.

The other thing is knowing how everything fits together, you don't want to end up with bits that didn't go back in simply cause the mechanic couldn't remember where it went :blink:

Carl is bang on right.

Cheers

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The gas in AC is freon.

It is normal for AC's to have condensation - it is why they also help dehumidify the air too. When the moist air around the unit sools as the aircon unit cools, the water condenses and you get condensation. the more humid the climate, the more condensation.

Pink/red is transmission fluid or brake fluid.

I am a little bit unsure of why it has gone hard in the shade - unless it is some leftover melted McDonalds or something lol.

Can you get some digital pics of said fluid?

Otherwise I can't help.

The reason why brake disc warp is worse in aussie is partly to do with the heat combined with the large distances to travel I think.

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Just thinking about it, didn't alot of the earlier E36's have problems in regards to power steering aswell as other common faults?

You're mum's right in regards to your car, alot of the early E36's didn't have the running quality you'd expect.

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Thanks everyone.

The problem is that there is pinkish sh*t lying round and then definite BLACK oil .

Its been booked in for 9:15 tommorow, and damn i can't go cos i have school (theres a hotish guy there u c :D ) :( but i'll ask Mum what it was when i get back, and will post it up here.

New digi cam will be up and running this weekend, its an Olympus 4.0mp so hopefully it'll do the job.

I'll also post pics in the rides section, cos i have noticed the car has mysteriously vanished :ph34r:

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that is so true, ur betta off taking it somewhere else. usually alot cheaper and sometimes better mechanics, bmw technicians dont even have a qualified auto electrician.

Acutally Cooke Howlison does have an qualified auto electrician ... supposedly one of the best ones ...He got sent away to germany or something for it .. ugh .. i can't remember too well ... Emma do you remember ?

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Acutally Cooke Howlison does have an qualified auto electrician ... supposedly one of the best ones ...He got sent away to germany or something for it .. ugh .. i can't remember too well ... Emma do you remember ?

Um i think it might have been Brian... or is he still there? Ugh i dunno aye, i don't spend a hell of a lot of time there (although it would be wicked)

I know most of the peoples names..... but yeah.......

I thought they were all rounders there.... a bit of this a bit or that...

Ali who is the Mini specialist there? Or is that just all rounder as well...........

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Um i think it might have been Brian... or is he still there? Ugh i dunno aye, i don't spend a hell of a lot of time there (although it would be wicked)

I know most of the peoples names..... but yeah.......

I thought they were all rounders there.... a bit of this a bit or that...

Ali who is the Mini specialist there? Or is that just all rounder as well...........

Yes it is Brian that i'm talking about ... and i don't think there is a specialist for the mini's .. they just all work on what ever i think ... maybe you could investigate that one .. haha ... i think Brian is still there too .. Brian is the main one that works on all the electrical components ...

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Didn't Brian get tec or the year award as well?

Ok

Juts got home from school, and straight away asked Mum is the car ok (typical me) :lol:

1. Transmission bolt leak. Fixed

2. Warped discs. The warped ones were after market ones, so BMW put BMW Original ones back in.

So it turns out you guys were right :thumb:

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Ha me too... Its all good.. Didn't know what to expect when i walked around the corner and into the driveway....

But the black beast was there as usual :P

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Hey bmw power, how much were the rotors to buy. I need to replace my disc pads in bout 1500 odd K's, so was just going to throw pads in myself. Been wondering about the rotors, because on my last service sheet, it said:

" Disc pads and rotors need replacing next service"

WTF?? What happened to throw new pads in and off you go??, or is this a bimmer shortfall?

Cheers

Edited by 318is

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Been wondering about the rotors, because on my last service sheet, it said:

" Disc pads and rotors need replacing next service"

WTF?? What happened to throw new pads in and off you go??, or is this a bimmer shortfall?

Cheers

probably cause you still had plenty of brakes and rotor's left till your next service ...

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