What'd you do to your BMW today?

[Eagle 1677]

So just another baller on a budget special

[Jacko 2158]

20 hours ago, Eagle said:

So just another baller on a budget special

Not really. Just another one of the umpteen squillion people who go to a car dealer and buy a car, and expect to be "fully serviced" and good to go. Any PPE would have flagged it on any of the 100s of e90/N52 common problems, of which this one has them all.  Big problem with these cars is the price of fixing them, even for basic stuff the price of parts is often 1/4 the price the paid for the car... which many arent prepared for.

This thing has had a lot of work done on it by a "real" professional mechanic, new starter motor and water pump for sure, and the butchery that was left by them is amazing (the intake manifold is siliconed to the head... I guess they didnt replace the  O rings...). The waterpump is "new" as it has "new" written on it in wreckers pen, however the thermostat is original and throwing errors. Apparently the oil was "topped up" by the same mechanic, I guess they didnt realise the bar graph on the dash represents 1 litre, and not 6..

Really reinforces the crazyness of buying a car based how many numbers are on the odo, it means jack sh*t  

Edited July 25, 2019 by Jacko

[E30 325i Rag-Top 2963]

Loving the self tapping screw and bent split pin holding whatever it is in place. Always a great sign that a craftsman has been at work.

[Jacko 2158]

4 minutes ago, E30 325i Rag-Top said:

Loving the self tapping screw and bent split pin holding whatever it is in place. Always a great sign that a craftsman has been at work.

Its actually a staple, the rest of the cover must have been stapled to it at somepoint... also note next to the self tapper, the old self tapper which must have been rounded out.. and then had the head cut off

[E30 325i Rag-Top 2963]

Nothing interesting to report from my recent late night garage stints, I'm now very bored with wet sanding primed FRP panels and scraping underseal out of the wheel arches. Likely to bust out the angle grinder and welder to relieve the boredom in the next day or two.

Humourous story though, managed to slice the end of my finger open on a spiky spot weld whilst scraping the underseal, once I stopped it bleeding I then put some cure-rust on a couple spots in the arch - which really f#$king stings in a cut finger (ask me how I know this..) and then proceeded to double down on this with methylated spirits when cleaning it off.

Remind me again how old cars are "fun" and "enjoyable", I seem to be missing that bit..

[Olaf 3340]

Nitrile gloves.  Won’t stop most of the cuts, though they will keep the chemicals out.

[M3AN 4016]

15 hours ago, Olaf said:

Nitrile gloves.  Won’t stop most of the cuts, though they will keep the chemicals out.

And the sweat in!

I use them for sure but if you're working with your hands above your face expect to be dripped upon!

[Olaf 3340]

Wow, you must get very sweaty hands.  I use them, and they’re a bit slippery when I get them off.  But never to the extent they’re dripping on my face when I’m under a car with hands raised.

80’s style terry toweling sweat bands just wouldn’t be practical, eh. ?

[BreakMyWindow 1878]

18 hours ago, Olaf said:

Nitrile gloves.  Won’t stop most of the cuts, though they will keep the chemicals out.

Except for brake cleaner

[Olaf 3340]

Yeah just bloody dissolves them eh.

[Olaf 3340]

And on 80’s style terry toweling sweatbands, imagine the fashion colour clashes?

Orange ‘fish skin’ nitrile gloves, white with red and white striped sweatbands, khaki army surplus overalls, yellow-framed safety glasses, and brown steel capped safety boots.  Heavens! ?

[E30 325i Rag-Top 2963]

19 hours ago, Olaf said:

Nitrile gloves.  Won’t stop most of the cuts, though they will keep the chemicals out.

Yeah, too bloody lazy to put the gloves on, got a box in the garage for just such an eventuality - if only I'd thought of it sooner.

Probably should have put one of the face masks, that are next to the gloves, on as well but I seem to have become a full blown naturalized Kiwi and H&S = she'll be right mate!

[Eagle 1677]

On 7/25/2019 at 1:56 PM, Jacko said:

Not really. Just another one of the umpteen squillion people who go to a car dealer and buy a car, and expect to be "fully serviced" and good to go. Any PPE would have flagged it on any of the 100s of e90/N52 common problems, of which this one has them all.  Big problem with these cars is the price of fixing them, even for basic stuff the price of parts is often 1/4 the price the paid for the car... which many arent prepared for.

This thing has had a lot of work done on it by a "real" professional mechanic, new starter motor and water pump for sure, and the butchery that was left by them is amazing (the intake manifold is siliconed to the head... I guess they didnt replace the  O rings...). The waterpump is "new" as it has "new" written on it in wreckers pen, however the thermostat is original and throwing errors. Apparently the oil was "topped up" by the same mechanic, I guess they didnt realise the bar graph on the dash represents 1 litre, and not 6..

Really reinforces the crazyness of buying a car based how many numbers are on the odo, it means jack sh*t  

Could write an essay about all that but it would be preaching to the choir, DYOR and check yourself before you wreck yourself sums it up. If he's still on the original tank of petrol the car came with then fair enough. Good majority of hack jobs are done because the customers wants the car back ASAP and wants to spend as little of possible. Id say most mechanics like using new parts and its easier and less change of call backs.

10 hours ago, M3AN said:

And the sweat in!

I use them for sure but if you're working with your hands above your face expect to be dripped upon!

 

You get many uses out of them and they provide the right amount of feel with protection. They only really fail when they get ripped on sharp connector plugs, corners etc

Edited July 26, 2019 by Eagle

[Mad_Max 233]

22 minutes ago, Eagle said:

Good majority of hack jobs are done because the customers wants the car back ASAP and wants to spend as little of possible. Id say most mechanics like using new parts and its easier and less change of call backs

As an ex mechanic, I agree completely with what you say there. We used to tell customers they had 3 choices:

1 - Fast
2 - Cheap
3 - Done correctly

They could only pick 2 of those options, for just this reason. Do it right the first time, it saves you more in the long run.

[M3AN 4016]

Why can't I have all three? I read you can on the internet!

Oh, and I want to supply my own parts.

 

[Mad_Max 233]

26 minutes ago, M3AN said:

Why can't I have all three? I read you can on the internet!

Oh, and I want to supply my own parts.

 

Hahaha dude, you pay me enough and you can have anything you want ?????

[dirtydoogle 383]

8 minutes ago, Mad_Max said:

Hahaha dude, you pay me enough and you can have anything you want ?????

I'd do anything for $20

[Mad_Max 233]

5 minutes ago, dirtydoogle said:

I'd do anything for $20

Fly down and reline my entire house and I'll pay ya $20 ????

[Gaz 1062]

1 hour ago, dirtydoogle said:

I'd do anything for $20

I believe it was the Romans that said, I'm not gay but $20 is $20

[hunter 408]

I took the E39 to Caffiene and Gasoline track Cruise, at Hampton Downs. Was super fun and will definatley be going again.

Cooked the Brakes a bit so will need better fluid for next time and possibly pads, thye were due for a change soon anyway.

 

 

 

[Breaker 980]

Front wheel bearing replaced on the 740, so now I have a 46mm socket. Bloody nut was on hellish tight as well. Nice and quiet running now

[hunter 408]

Replaced the sliding arm rest handle and tray. The rubberized coating was peeling and gross. thoughts of recoating went out the window when I saw the price of the stuff was more than parts from fcp. 

Before and after attached. 

 

Plus treated all the door seals to a clean and protect plus wrapped strike plates with some insulation tape to try and locate / stop rear cabin rattles

Edited August 11, 2019 by hunter
Did more stuff

[hqstu 780]

The 330 clubsport is now in assembly phase after all the dirty work is done...

[hunter 408]

After the E39 developed some rear interior rattles i went  on the hunt for solutions from adding foam rings to door clips, replacing some clips , lubed the door card edes where they contact the door frame....all with no major change

I even contemplated pulling the rear deck out again to investigate where the heck the creaks and rattles were coming from. As an avoidance tactic to that i trawled various forums on the subject of E39 rattle solution i came across this forum link, https://www.m5board.com/threads/fix-for-creaking-and-rattling-doors.137711/page-3

the tips in here about performing some TLC on door seals and rubber bits and adding strips of insulation tape to the strike plates to ensure a ever so slightly firmer latch was life changing,   

After doing this the interior is rattle free.

Edited August 16, 2019 by hunter
spelling

[treone 649]

Replaced the 'upgraded' JVC 4" speakers with some Rockford Fosgate Power Series 6X9's speakers in the rear deck of the M3. Huge improvement ?.