07Apr2012
Thumper Carrier Bearing Repair
Had to do some daily driver repair the other day on Thumper. With 200k miles on it, it was starting to make a very loud thumping at low speeds upon acceleration. After some investigating, I found the drives haft carrier bearing had blown apart and needed replacement. Up on top of the exhaust and heat shield is the drive shaft. With the exhaust removed, and the heat shield out of the way, you can get to the 2 piece drive …
07Feb2012
BMW X5 Suspension and Oil Leak Repairs
Had this 150k mile X5 come in today with a few issues. The rear tires are wearing very unevenly, and we spotted the upper rear control arms having excessive play in the ball joints, so we will replace those tomorrow. Hard to see, but the upper rear arms are the issue. After pulling the lower pan, I discovered the oil pan was coated in oil. Not often a pan leaks in these cars, so I followed the leak upwards. Turns …
23Jan2012
530i 60k Service
Had this 530i come in for it’s 60k service today. Being an 04, it was time to get the fluids flushed and the filters changed. Step 1: Drain the oil. Step 2: Make big oil mess. Step 3: Drain the coolant and get fresh coolant in. Lifetime coolant? LOL But, we do replace with the proper BMW blue coolant. Then it was time for filters. The air filter here. And two pollen/cabin filters here. Notice the new and the old. …
18Jan2012
323i Throttle Body Completed
Finished up the 323i throttle body install the other day. Pretty straight forward going back together, except that we tossed the crappy old torn rubber intake boots in favor of new boots. New throttle body ready to go on. TB installed with new rubber intake boots. Since the car came in on a flat bed, I didn’t really know the condition of the car. Once it was running, it was discovered it had a large oil leak and a significant …
17Jan2012
BMW 323i EML and CEL Light
This poor little thing was towed in with an EML light and check engine light on. The EML light typically relates directly to the throttle body being bad (internal TPS sensors on this model), and the CEL revealed a list of about 9 codes ranging from secondary air injection problems to MAF sensors to cam sensors to O2 sensors. Yuck. But, to get it back on the road, the EML was the main issue, so I ordered in the new …
12Jan2012
BMW 325is Throttle Repair
This was a quick in and out project that came by the other day. Car lost all power and wouldn’t take throttle. Turns out the bushing in the gas pedal had rotted out and the cable slipped out of the lever. A new bushing and we were back in business. Driver under panel removed to get at the bushing. Hard to see, but the cable is just kind of flopping around in the hole. And the rotten bushing.
12Jan2012
Chump Car Cage Fabrication
Richard came by today to start the install of a roll cage for his future BMW chump car. With the benders, notchers, and welder out, the guys went right to work. Interior gutted and ready for the cage install. Wes bending steel by hand…….. Ok maybe he had some hydraulic help. The rear main hoop bent to shape and size. From there the diagonal bar was mocked up for the rear hoop and cut to fit. The tubing notcher in …
26Nov2011
BMW 330xi Power Steering
Knocked out some work on this 330xi the other day. The power steering rack was completely blown out, and since it had been driven dry, the pump was also shot. Nearly 200k miles on the clock, it definitely needs some work. Didn’t get many pictures of the rack R&R as my hands were covered in ATF most of time time, but it involves lowering the subframe down to get access to the rack. Once the subframe is down and suspension …
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 …