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

General conversations about BMW E28s and the people who own them.
rmiddendorf
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Post by rmiddendorf »

davintosh wrote:Image
This doesn't seem like a part that would break. Do you think it was a factory defect or neglect somehow? Mind you it looks like a power window regulator bracket to me but I'm not really sure what it is.
rmiddendorf
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Post by rmiddendorf »

I drove Bella, my E90, to she shop to have the brake fluid flushed. Call me what you want, but paying them $100 so I don't have to worry about air bubbles in the lines is worth it to me.

They're also going to evaluate the battery since it is 5 years old. Hopefully I don't need a new one yet, but if its close I don't want to involve another trip to the shop.

Yes, that's right, the battery in an E90 is a dealer change item. Or, in my case, pay a good shop to do it. I really do thank my shop for keeping me in line with these cars. But I'm trying to venture out and to a little more myself, so there's some progress there.
slammin_e28
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Post by slammin_e28 »

Did a compression test on the 325i. Came back surprisingly good. Going to re-do it tomorrow to confirm results.

Drove the e46, leaky headers and all. It's back to DD status as the brake bomb in the e28 took a dump. :facepalm:
Blue Shadow
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Post by Blue Shadow »

Dove in again on the loose steering in the Jeep.

This vehicle has the standard GM tilt steering column and the bolts that hold it all together are all the way up on there, somewhere. Tried before but didn't have the time. Now that inspection is due and the weather is warmer, I have the time to get to the bolts and glue those bastards in place.

Damn near did not get the second pivot pin out, but after putting a bunch of force on it, letting it sit for an hour and then starting over it began to come out. I am now at the point of the video and will start there when I next work on it.

http://www.bc4x4.com/tech/2009/jeep-steering/

who the fuck thought this was a good design not specifying some serious thread lock on assembly?
Cactus
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Post by Cactus »

rmiddendorf wrote:I drove Bella, my E90, to she shop to have the brake fluid flushed. Call me what you want, but paying them $100 so I don't have to worry about air bubbles in the lines is worth it to me.

They're also going to evaluate the battery since it is 5 years old. Hopefully I don't need a new one yet, but if its close I don't want to involve another trip to the shop.

Yes, that's right, the battery in an E90 is a dealer change item. Or, in my case, pay a good shop to do it. I really do thank my shop for keeping me in line with these cars. But I'm trying to venture out and to a little more myself, so there's some progress there.
It takes a wise man to flush brake fluid regularly. It takes a cheap man to do it himself. Heck, if you waited till this weekend I could have driven up and done the hard part (getting under the car with a bleeder bottle) for you. And that would have only cost a bottle of fluid and some Yuengling. I haven't worked on E90's, but I highly doubt the brake technology has changed much since the 80's. At least in terms of the hydraulics.

It's not usually the air bubbles you have to worry about, if you had any, chances are you'd feel them. The pedal would get spongy. Usually they recommend you bleed the system every couple years because brake fluid is hygroscopic, and boils much sooner when even a little water gets into it. Keeping it fresh and dry not only keeps the steel lines from corroding, but keeps brake performance up.
austin8753
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Post by austin8753 »

Cleaned and conditioned the seats in the E39, then took it for a drive and wondered why I don't drive it more.
AlpinaE24
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Post by AlpinaE24 »

Image

Image :banana:
1st 5er
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Post by 1st 5er »

AlpinaE24 wrote:Image

Image :banana:
Wish I had a lift. :bawl:

[size=0].[/size]
AlpinaE24
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Post by AlpinaE24 »

It sure does make it easy, by the way I got the door on the touring and it looked great. Thanks again
1st 5er
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Post by 1st 5er »

AlpinaE24 wrote:It sure does make it easy, by the way I got the door on the touring and it looked great. Thanks again
Your welcome.

Glad you guys made it home safely.
rmiddendorf
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Post by rmiddendorf »

Cactus wrote:It takes a wise man to flush brake fluid regularly. It takes a cheap man to do it himself. Heck, if you waited till this weekend I could have driven up and done the hard part (getting under the car with a bleeder bottle) for you. And that would have only cost a bottle of fluid and some Yuengling. I haven't worked on E90's, but I highly doubt the brake technology has changed much since the 80's. At least in terms of the hydraulics.
Although I suspect you're correct with the technology comment, if you get an air bubble in the ABS control module (or whatever its called now) you need to use a 'special tool' from BMW to get it out. And then I think you also need to plug into the OBC to tell it that you fixed the air bubble. So there's a bit more of a risk.

However, I can reset the service light myself.
cddallara
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Post by cddallara »

Took my 4Runner in for an alignment. First time I've ever done that. $90.00 :shock: But, still cheaper than replacing the 2 front tires that I probably can't get in that size anymore :( (the metric equivelant of 33x10.5x16 )
Turns out the toe in was an inch and a half off.
Rich Euro M5
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Post by Rich Euro M5 »

AlpinaE24 wrote:Image
1st 5er wrote: Wish I had a lift. :bawl:

[size=0].[/size]
You can buy a lift for around $3K, but I suspect the cost of laying a slab and erecting a building to house the lift is problematic.

Rich
davintosh
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Post by davintosh »

rmiddendorf wrote:
davintosh wrote:Image
This doesn't seem like a part that would break. Do you think it was a factory defect or neglect somehow? Mind you it looks like a power window regulator bracket to me but I'm not really sure what it is.
From what I've read online it's a pretty common failure point. The black doodad that's bolted to that bracket is the door lock actuator, and it pushes on the door latch mechanism. The bracket is made of pot metal, and the break is likely caused by a sticky door lock mechanism causing extra twisting on the bracket. While I had it out, I could see several ways the thing could've been designed & built differently/better to prevent this sort of thing.

I did get the door put back together last week, but now I need to open it up again to adjust the actuator and/or the microswitch on the lock. The key will unlock the doors, but the driver's door actuator doesn't push the lock button all the way up, and when I pull on the door handle the latch opens but then slams shut again when the actuator yanks down on the lock.

Before I do that though I plan on cracking open the original door lock mechanism that came out of the car, cleaning it up & re-lubing it. The replacement I put in there works, but it works differently; with the door open I can't push the door lock down, whereas I could before. I asked around and it sounds like the newer lock is what most people have, and it's designed to help keep people from locking their keys in the car. I would never do that though ( :roll: ) so I'm going back to the original's functionality.
1st 5er
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Post by 1st 5er »

Rich Euro M5 wrote:
AlpinaE24 wrote:Image
1st 5er wrote: Wish I had a lift. :bawl:

[size=0].[/size]
You can buy a lift for around $3K, but I suspect the cost of laying a slab and erecting a building to house the lift is problematic.

Rich
...and then there's the HOA. :evil:
Been trying to figure a way around them for some time.
davintosh
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Post by davintosh »

1st 5er wrote:
Rich Euro M5 wrote:
AlpinaE24 wrote:Image
1st 5er wrote: Wish I had a lift. :bawl:

[size=0].[/size]
You can buy a lift for around $3K, but I suspect the cost of laying a slab and erecting a building to house the lift is problematic.

Rich
...and then there's the HOA. :evil:
Been trying to figure a way around them for some time.
HOA? Non comprendo. :dunno:

http://www.mye28.com/viewtopic.php?p=839788

The MaxJax Portable 2-Post Lift is about $2,000, and supposedly works in garages with 9-foot ceilings. From what I understand, it doesn't require the slab to be reinforced, but even so, installing a 12" footing of decent depth would be a prudent precaution against things going horribly wrong.
1st 5er
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Post by 1st 5er »

davintosh wrote: HOA? Non comprendo. :dunno:
Let me Google that for you. :D
slammin_e28
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Post by slammin_e28 »

1st 5er wrote:
davintosh wrote: HOA? Non comprendo. :dunno:
Let me Google that for you. :D
Wikipedia wrote:Hoa refers to a minority in Vietnam consisting of persons considered to be ethnic Chinese (Han Chinese).
:dunno:
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

JK ;)
Gelatinous
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Post by Gelatinous »

I continued my search for 6" wide fender flares for my samurai, considered pulling the back seat from the XR4Ti and stared at the '68 Dart... must be time to fix it's brakes soon
philip1
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Post by philip1 »

I paid road tax on the stupid thing. What ever possessed me to buy a Saturn new :roll:
AlpinaE24
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Post by AlpinaE24 »

Rich Euro M5 wrote:
AlpinaE24 wrote:Image
1st 5er wrote: Wish I had a lift. :bawl:

[size=0].[/size]
You can buy a lift for around $3K, but I suspect the cost of laying a slab and erecting a building to house the lift is problematic.

Rich
Out here in desert country a lot of people just put lifts in the yard or driveway :rofl:
kway
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Post by kway »

Immobilized our '01 Subaru Forester:

Image

It's getting head gaskets, timing belt, water pump, etc. This car is stupid easy to work on, kind of like a lawn tractor. I only needed a handful of tools and barely a glance at the Chilton manual to tear it down.
cvillebimmer
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Post by cvillebimmer »

kway wrote:Immobilized our '01 Subaru Forester:

It's getting head gaskets, timing belt, water pump, etc. This car is stupid easy to work on, kind of like a lawn tractor. I only needed a handful of tools and barely a glance at the Chilton manual to tear it down.
That's good to hear. How many miles on it? We have an '04 XT with ~70k on the clock. I know this isn't a turbo, but curious how long the HGs lasted. I'm sure I'll be doing this, but hoping not until 200k.
rmiddendorf
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Post by rmiddendorf »

We had 05 and newer Foresters at ABC6/FOX28 and they seemed to be mostly reliable. They would usually throw a CEL sometime between 70-120k miles, and the A/C compressors were known to conk out at about the same time, but other than that they were decent cars.

That engine bay looks easy to work on. I don't remember- is the intake manifold one piece or two?
Cactus
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Post by Cactus »

Last Thursday I sold my Saab 900s. It won't be missed.
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