09May2011
E90 325i Oil Change
Knocked this car out tonight. Simple oil change and inspection was due. Mmmm pretty. After removing the oil filter housing, there are 2 o-rings to replace along with the filter. When you pull the filter, you will want to suck out the remaining dirty oil. And to drain the oil, underneath a trap door, is the 17mm oil drain plug. Drain the oil, replace the copper drain ring, and fill with some fresh BMW longlife 5w-30 🙂 Weeeeeeeeee!
The boxster got picked up yesterday, and this was left in it’s place, lol. I had a list of small stuff to go through to get this thing up and running in tip top shape again. The gauge cluster had some issues. The battery light, service light, brake wear light, etc were all on. The tach and fuel economy gauge no longer worked either. The tach and FE give it away. The service indicator board in the instrument cluster is …
08Dec2010
More trim work and finished shifters
Been doing some painting over the last couple of days on the front grills on the M. I sanded everything down and recoated with 2 coats of black trim primer and then finished it with 2 coats of black chip guard. The slightly textured look helped to hide any imperfections in the original chrome grill, as well as gives a more resiliant barrier to chipping. I also removed the center hood grill as it was starting to look gray. Out …
05Dec2010
ZR3 Laser Shifters
I finally got around to removing the Escort ZR3 laser shifters from the Dragon when I had it home. I will be installing these in the M as it will be the one seeing street time. Friday night I started the job. It is amazing how much time you can burn installing the built in units, lol. Radar and laser detection is covered with the V1. Started with the rear. Ran the wire from the license plate area, inside the …
19May2010
BMW M3 rear diff and trans. service
Had a buddy bring over his beautiful M3 the other evening to change the gear oils. Not a big job, but a littler tricker to get in the air than the Porsche’s are, but after a couple hours he was back on the road. Most of the transmission experts I have talked to in the German auto world recommend changing your drive gear fluids annually. The transmission says lifetime fluid on it, but that is a joke IMHO. Nothing kills …
21Feb2010
2004 BMW 330Ci Service 2
Ok, I’ll promise to stop being lazy and keep the blog updated in my spare time, lol. Right now one of the current projects is a 2004 BMW 330Ci that I am doing a service 2 on along with some other maintenance. The owner is moving to Arizona, and wants the car in tip top shape in the hotter climate. And the pile of parts we have to go on the car. List of things we are doing: Radiator Coolant …