This is what happens when you search for BMW parts on Craigslist...

I am constantly searching Craigslist since I work in front of a computer and need to blow off a little steam every now and then. Last week an ad popped up with the following title "E46 BMW 330 Parts available". The gentleman was parting out a car that he had purchased from a charity. The charity got possession of the car as a donation. The current owner thought that he would try to fix the blown engine, then lost motivation and decided that he could make his money back on the parts.

I was on the hunt for a gray sunroof fabric shuttle and the brackets and ducts for an M-Tech II front bumper I had purchased for the touring. With no accompanying pictures on the ad, I inquired about the condition of the interior and exterior of his parts car. He responded with the following pictures:

Whoa! That's perfect: I might be able to get the bumper and all the ducting for my bumper project. But hang on, it was obvious to me that this was the ZHP version of the 330i and it looked pretty good. I sent another email asking about the ZHP trim, shifter, head, etc. and scheduled to drop by after I got off of work. I also asked what happened to the engine. This was his response:

"The VANOS is shot, I think.  I'm not sure, I bought it off an organization that took it in as a donation.  You can listen to it yourself.

If you want to buy the whole carcass, you can have it for $1500.  Moving it is up to you."

Ummm... SURE! I was pumped to get there and check it out. In addition, he said that he would pull the ad until I let him know whether or not I wanted it.

Well, I loaded up the Mrs. and the kiddos and we scooted over there as soon as I got off work. When I first saw it I was pretty excited. It looked great with the exception of a few small details. There were little dings in the body, the brakes showed that it hadn't moved anywhere recently, there was a clear bra that was yellowed and cracked, and the interior was a mess. I toured around and found that someone had taken out all the tools from the tool kit and removed the spare wheel.Yet, the original owners must have cared for it. The leather was still pretty supple and the paint protection car bra was evidence that they initial cared about it's appearance. Here comes the catch... after checking out the engine bay I jumped in the pilot seat and tried to fire her up. Nothing. The starter cranked hard, but nothing happened. The only thing that started were the wheels in my head. I started thinking about all the possible solutions and doing quick math to determine if it was worth the trouble. I expressed my sincere interest in the car and arranged to return with some tools to discover if the engine was salvageable.

I returned with an arsenal of tools and diagnostic equipment. The owner left the keys in the glove box, since he was going to be out away for the day and welcomed me to do what ever I needed. I started with the fuel delivery system and worked all the way through the ignition system in 45 minutes. It was exhilarating to hear it jump to life and rev. But, it also billowed out white smoke. A lot. It was definitely white, but didn't have a sweet taste to it. I shut down the engine and sat back in the driver's seat. This could mean a whole myriad of problems; CCV? Blown head gasket? Warped head? Cracked block? Or, it could be moisture from sitting too long. I checked the fluids. The coolant was fine (nice!) but the oil was really low. Luckily I brought a 5L bottle of Mobil-1 0W-40. I topped her off and decided to see if the white smoke was just something that would burn off. Nope. After 15 minutes the temperature looked great but the neighborhood was filled with a thick smokey haze.

I ran out of time but arranged to return within a couple days to do a compression test on the cylinders and make my decision. My wife and I talked about it's pros and cons that evening and we both decided to pursue it. I arranged with a friend (whom I also meet on CL) to use his garage, since it couldn't be parked on the street without being registered. Talked with my dad about the registration and title transfer particulars since I am still a permanent resident in another state, and finally with another friend that agreed to loan me his Dealer Plates if I deemed it able to drive home. Everything just worked out so smoothly, not to mention the garage was powered, heated, had 24-hour access, was across the street from an Advanced Auto Parts store and had a 4-post lift!

Over the phone, I told the owner about my uncertainty of the condition of the engine and he quickly offered the car to me at $1,200 to close the deal and be done with it. Last night I meet with him, exchanged some cash and signed some paperwork. My wife checked all the tire pressures with a bike pump and affixed the dealer plate to the back of the car. We then drove--horrible, horrible brakes, smoke and all--to the garage. I ordered all the parts for a CCV replacement, OFHG, and new fluids the same day I purchased her.

I took her out this morning for a quick wash at the touchless car wash, to my surprise there was no smoke coming from the exhaust pipes!

I am happy to present my new $1200 ZHP.

New England in the Winter

We have received a record-breaking 6 feet of snow this winter with snow storms forecasted in the near future. So far, this has been the 8th most snowfall Boston has ever received in a winter in recorded history!

As for the 325xiT? This thing is an absolute beast in the snow! I never thought that the xi platform was that good, but boy was I mistaken. There are times when I lose traction on the road, but even in those times the car is very predictable. I couldn't be more pleased.

Time to treat this girl with some gratitude. I have been slowly accumulating parts, either through amazing deals (AL Bi-xenon Headlights on Craigslist) or through parts trades from our dearly departed 325is (black, powered, memory, leather sport seats).

See that mound of snow! Most of the driveway snow was hand shoveled over the fence to the left. 

AL Bi-Xenon headlights to replace the ZKW halogen headlights.

A new chapter has begun...

I know many of you have been waiting eagerly for years for our next post. The wait is drawing to a close. More updates soon.

Ground Control, Baby!

Might be getting some Ground Control coilovers within this week.

BTW- for free.

DIY: E36 Roof Ledges- The Poor College Version

One thing that has been killing me on my Boston green E36 is the window trim. The trim that is located directly about the door openings is called a roof ledge. The trim comes from the factory as a thin metal piece coat in some sort of rubberized paint. Over time the rubber paint fatigues and starts to split. For me, the splitting started about two years ago. This is what it looks like.

Over the last two years this eye sore has cantered to the point of sourcing new roof ledges. I started by calling BMW of Pleasant Grove. I never really get the feeling that they treat you like they should. They always treat me like I am some stupid little kid with an old E36. To some extent they are correct, but I would appreciate them not letting me know.

BMW of Pleasant Grove wanted $143 per trim piece! I was not about to pay over $300 for a cosmetic piece of trim. I started to search other places that I thought would have competitive prices. TischerBMW or online at getBMWparts.com wanted the lowest at $81. I then searched bimmerforums.com to see if anyone had any further suggestions to remedy my plight. Most of the leads that I obtained from members on the forum lead to dead-ends as no one wanted to ship me a set due to the high probability that they would break.

I was faced with the option of forking over some serious coin or...

BAM! Electric tape to the rescue. I had remember reading something about it on the forums long ago. I thought that I would give it a try. I was impressed at how easy it was to do--it took no longer than five minutes and was probably the cumulative price of... 3 cents. I figure I have nothing to lose. Here are the afters...

You might be able to tell that it is tape you you were really close, because I didn't prep the surface at all. I have read about how others will sand down the surface, which is reflected through to the surface of the tape. If have lots of cracks and bumps in the original trim, these will surface after you lay down the electrical tape.

Overall, I thought it made the car look ten years newer and an excited to see if Rachel notices a difference.

DIY: E30 Fuel Filter and Hose Replacement

When Rachel came home from work she told me about how a lady stopped her and wanted to let her know that there was a significant gasoline leak on the underside of her car. She also stated that the gas gauge was reading 1/2 full, when we had just filled it two days ago.

I went outside and had her start up the car. Sure enough, there was a problem with the fuel lines, and it wasn't just a leak: it was a downpour! We decided it would be best if she didn't drive it to work. I instead stayed home from the library and worked to solve the problem. Here is how I solved it.

Tools Needed:

• Car jack
• Jack stands
• 10mm socket and ratchet
• Phillips screwdriver
• Flat-head screwdriver
• Safety goggles
• Waste bin- to catch spill-off gasoline

Procedure:

1. I lifted the car with the factory jack and then supported it with jack stands. I would never work on a car without properly supported! I would never rely solely on the factory jack to support the vehicle, especially if I were under it. If I were already planning on replacing the fuel filter I would have removed the fuel filter relay and purged the fuel lines of any residual gasoline. However, I wasn't sure what was the problem.
   


2. I had Rachel turn over the ignition to the accessory setting. I was hoping that this would activate the fuel pump and we could see where the fuel was leaking from. We waited and it did nothing. So she turned over the engine. As soon as the car fired up, which took longer than normal, it was evident that the fuel leak was in the same location as the fuel filter. The gasoline was spewing out. Even though we only have the engine on for about 8 seconds, we watched as approximately 1/2 cup of gasoline spilled out and was gathered in our waste container.
3. Disconnected the negative battery terminal.
4. Just in front of the fuel tank is a plastic panel. Using a 10mm socket and a Phillips screwdriver remove the plastic panel.


5. Located underneath the plastic panel is the fuel filter. Often, as in our case, the rubber hoses that connect the various fuel lines become brittle as they age. This was the case with the rubber hose between the fuel sender and the fuel filter.




6. Unscrew the clamp that is holding the fuel filter in place.
7. With Vise-Grips, clamp the rubber hoses that are on either side of the fuel filter. They only have to be strong enough to stop the flow of fuel from the tank or from the front of the car. This means that the tension on the clamp should not be enough to pinch the lines. In our case, the main purpose we were doing all this work was because of bad rubber lines.


8. Loosen the hose clamps on either end of the fuel filter. If you are replacing the rubber hosing (which I would recommend). loosen all the clamps of the hoses you are planning on replacing.
9. Before you remove anything make sure to take note of the orientation of the fuel filter. You will want to reinstall the filter so that the arrow is pointing towards the engine.


10. Now remove the hoses and filter and collect the excess gasoline trapped in the filter drain into a waste bin.


11. Replace all the old rubber hoses with new hose and tighten the clamps. Install the new fuel filter.


12. Reinstall the plastic covering.
13. Lower the car, reconnect the battery and reinstall the fuel pump relay (if you removed it). When you attempt to restart the car it may take some time for the engine to eventually turn over. This is because you purged the lines of all fuel. It will take some time for the fuel pump to move the fuel towards the fuel injectors.

It was a pretty simple fix, and in the same time I was able to change the oil, something that was needing to be done anyways.

Gran Coupe Prototype

It is always fascinating to see where car design begins with the initial sketches and ideas drawn on a piece of paper. Most of the time, these drawings lead to an actual concept, while other times they end as being just another designer’s unfulfilled vision.

Last month, BMW unveiled their latest concept, Gran Coupe, one of the most exciting concepts we have seen from BMW in years. Compared to the Vision EfficientDynamics Concept shown at Frankfurt Auto Show in 2009, the BMW Gran Coupe Concept displayed a design closer to a production model.

The demographic target for this vehicles is well defined already by some of BMW’s competitors: four-door coupe buyers looking for an elegant, sort of extravagant design, luxurious interior and driving performance. Mercedes-Benz CLS and Audi A7 fall under this segment as well.

(Article taken from bmwblog.com)

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day!

During all the commotion of Mother's Day Kyle and Joyce found a little time to pay us a visit. It was so good to see them again. While they were here Kyle fixed a rock chip in my windshield and I swap a polish set of headlights onto his car. I still believe Kyle owns the cleanest Dakar M3 I have ever seen. Can't wait to drive through St. George, or work miracles with my schedule to make it to Bimmerfest in California.