Life With An Old BMW

Recently I made the drastic decision to kick my Honda Accord to the curb.  In hindsight, this was not the wisest choice, but I'm still a happy camper.  The new car is a 1997 BMW 328i sedan, black over tan leather, with a 5 speed manual.  Due to

Recently I made the drastic decision to kick my Honda Accord to the curb.  In hindsight, this was not the wisest choice, but I'm still a happy camper.  The new car is a 1997 BMW 328i sedan, black over tan leather, with a 5 speed manual.  Due to it having a few "pre-existing conditions" and an intergalactic 166,000 miles on it when purchased, I got it for a steal.  This turned out to be a blessing.

Being a 1997, it's an OBD2 car, which means it features the newer "M52" family of engines.  I've long been a fan of BMW's naturally-aspirated straight six engines, and this is a pretty good one.  2.8L, aluminum 24v twin-cam head, VANOS (variable cam timing), direct ignition, electronic traction control - it's a pretty modern motor, but not so fiendishly complicated (like more modern BMW's) that it's beyond the skillset of a shade-tree mechanic like myself.  At 191bhp and 203lb-ft of torque, it's pretty stout as well.  Body's in great shape, doesn't burn any oil, transmission and clutch are good, but with anything this old and German, there's some work to be done.

And maintenance/repairs on an old BMW is like a Hydra.  You fix one problem and notice three more.  I'm trying not to let my anal-retentive side get the best of me and go overboard making it perfect, but sometimes it's tough.  Here's a bit of a list of some of the things I've replaced, repaired and adjusted.

Under the Hood

Standard maintenance items were first.  BMW oil changes are both a pain (cost-wise) and a delight (simplicity wise.)  On the downside, this engine takes 7 quarts of synthetic oil.  That's a lot of oil.  It also takes a paper filter that goes into a built-in housing, which for some reason is more expensive than the more normal spin-on type filters that most every other car uses.  On the upside, the drain plug is easy to reach, and the filter housing is on top of the motor, in a relatively easy-to-reach place.  Of course, it takes a gigantic Hex socket to get it off.  The spark plugs were looking pretty ragged, so a new set of NGK twin-tip platinum plugs went in at the same time as the oil change.

All the coil packs are held down with two bolts and a pretty stout clip, but otherwise nothing more arduous than your normal Honda.  Well, that last one is halfway under the cowl, but didn't really present any kind of a headache.  The serpentine drive belts (an outter for the A/C, an inner main for the water pump/fan, alternator, and power steering) were looking way past their sell-by date, so a new set of Dayco poly-rib belts went on.  These are snap to change; just drive the car up on ramps and do them from the bottom.  The E36 and newer BMW's all have automatic belt tensioners, which makes like so much easier.

While I had the belts off, I noticed that the pulley wheel on the tensioner for the main belt was wobbly, so I picked up a new tensioner assembly.  After finding out that the old-style mechanical (internal spring) tensioners are obsolete, I went about converting it to the more modern hydraulic tensioner, which uses a little tiny shock absorber to keep tension on the belt.  Since I'm a lazy prat and don't like to take apart things I don't have to, I left the fan and upper radiator hose on and did this one mostly blind.  Fun task.  I also replaced the fuel filter, which is a lot easier/cheaper on this generation than later BMW's, which incorporate the fuel pressure regulator into it.  They thankfully put it under the rocker panel behind the driver's side front wheel, so it was a matter of removing a few screws for the cover, undoing some worm-gear clamps, and not spilling gas everywhere.  Hint: pulling the fuse for the fuel pump and crank the engine a few times helps to minimize gasoline loss.

More things in the intake tract needed attention as well.  A replacement air filter went into the airbox, and the restrictor/baffle came out for a few more horsepower and extra sound.  I cleaned the MAF (Mass Air Flow sensor) just to be safe, replaced the boot between the MAF and the traction-control throttle body since it was torn and creating a vacuum leak, and cleaned both throttle bodies around their hinges so they turn freely.

...Both throttle bodies?  Yes.  The 328i has a traction control system called ASC+T, and it's somewhat unconventional.  While Traction Control systems on most cars function by independently applying brakes to the spinning wheel, this system has a throttle body that's always open, in front of the main unit.  When it senses slip, it closes to a varying degree to limit intake flow, and thus power.  It's typically German in the over-complicated nature of subsystems - later 3-series models went to a drive-by-wire throttle which just closes the main throttle body to limit power.

I also discovered that the idle control valve - which meters airflow below 20% throttle load - was completely gummed up with carbon deposits.  After cleaning, lubricating and reinstalling it (not a fun job), it still wasn't functioning - apparently a few thousand miles of the electric motor inside trying to actuate the stuck valve had killed the motor - so out it came again to be replaced with a new one.

I also changed the transmission fluid (1.5qts of GM Dex/Merc ATF, oddly enough) and rear differential fluid (2 qts of Mobil 1 75w-90 synthetic gear oil)  to be safe.  While the transmission fluid was hardly a hassle, the differential was.  In their infinite engineering wisdom, BMW only left about 2 3/8" of clearance between the fill port (upper plug) and the front of the spare tire well.  Meaning the regular 14mm Allen sockets you can get at auto parts stores are about an inch too long  to even go into the plug, much less get a wrench on the back of them.  I ended up ordering a set of "stubby" 3/8" drive Allen sockets off eBay to change the fluid.

There's always more to take care of and fiddle with, but short of a high idle condition I'm still trying to figure out, everything under the hood is good for the time being.

Interior and Electronics

The interior was in remarkably good shape considering the age and mileage.  Sure, the driver's seat has some cracks in the leather, but I'm not bothered.  What did bother me was the illegible OBC (On Board Computer.)  This is a small computer display below the HVAC controls which shows outside temperature as well as warnings light brake light failure, etc.  More on this later.  About 20% of the pixels themselves were showing up, and it had two dead light bulbs.  While it's useful, the $225 cost of a remanufactured unit put it deeply into "just not worth it" territory.  Thankfully, there's a great DIY Fix online.  Which involves a $6 roll of double-sided tape and pulling the computer itself apart.  After a bit of fiddling, about 95% of the pixels came back - not perfect, but I'd rather spend that money on something useful.

Another odd issue was the constant "brake circuit failure" warning OBC was displaying, as well as the approximate 50% success rate of the rear brake lights turning on with the brake pedal.  Turns out this was nothing more complicated than a busted brake light switch.  This switch is behind the brake pedal in the footwell; it's a simple open-close button switch.  When you push the brake pedal, the button releases and completes the brake light circuit, turning them on.  Replacing that, cleaning some crud off of one of the brake light contacts, and replacing a 10 amp fuse got all of the lights working, so no one will run into me when I'm stopping at a red light.

More annoying issue: while the A/C fan (blower motor) itself seemed to be functional, and the A/C blew cold, the fan would only work for the first few minutes of operation before shutting off.  This was traced back to a failed A/C Blower Motor Resistor, which sends variable amounts of voltage to the blower to change the fan speed.  Again, another fix involving crawling under the driver's footwell and laying upside down, but worth it to having working A/C in North Carolina heat!  I also replaced the cabin air filter, which looked like it had an entire cat in it.  This was another lay-on-your-back-and-fiddle exercise - it really seems like the filter was an afterthought - but yielded much more airflow and eliminated that musty old-car-A/C-smell.

Other little things in the interior - a headlight switch bulb, an ashtray bulb, routing an iPod cable - and I'm done.

Suspension, Brakes, Bushings

An E36, even an old one with the 'standard' (squishy) suspension is a sharp-handling car.  Mine, however, had some bump steer over small road imperfections, and a shimmy between 10 and 30 mph.  This was traced to worn-out front lower control arm bushings.  Since my general rule of thumb is to replace a worn-out part with a better one, the old torn rubber bushings came out and were replaced with polyeurothane Powerflex bushings.  The steering gained a lot of it's natural heft back, there's no bump steer or shimmy, and straight-line stability is highly improved.  Bushings end up getting quite worn out after this many miles, but it's a gradual failure rather than an instant one, so sometimes it's not noticed.  Replacing worn bushings is one of the best low-cost improvements you can make to an old car.

The front brakes were utter garbage; the car would stop, sure, but not very well.  They were also grooved like an old-school record, and the pads were about done.  I've gotten pretty hand at brake jobs, so this was pretty simple.  A set of ventilate Brembo blanks, and Akebono Ceramic pads had the car stopping like it should pretty quickly.  Much better looking, too.

Another DIY project was re-adjusting the rear hand brake.  The E36 is unusual in that it uses a drum mounted inside of the hub as a parking brake, and discs to actually stop the car.  You basically raise the rear of the car on jack stands, remove the wheels, and pry the pads out a bit so the rotor spins freely.  Then you go into the interior, pop up the handbrake boot and loosen the retaining nuts.  Then, you look through a lug hole, turning each hub until you can see a tiny sprocket.  Turn it with a straight screwdriver until the rotor won't spin freely any more, then back it off half a turn, replace the wheel, and repeat on the other side.  Result?  The handbrake went from going all the way up and not doing anything, to going up five clicks and locking tight.  $0!

Everything Else

One of my favorite things about BMW's is how they sound.  That multivalve straight six howl is just amazing, and I wanted more.  So it wasn't long until I decided the exhaust needed to be done.  Now, you can pay a reputable company close to a grand to send you a pretty off-the-shelf exhaust... Or you can pay a local exhaust shop to make you one for a lot less than that.

This is a pretty simple system, new from the crossover pipe back.  BMW's come with true dual exhausts from the factory - two exhaust manifolds (one for 1-3, one for 4-6) with dual pipes, dual cats, dual everything except the muffler.  This one eliminates the resonators, bumps the piping diameter up from under 2" to 2.25" for both pipes, and the Magnaflow twin in, single-out muffler is quiet under low load, raspy and metallic when you're getting on it.  In addition, the old exhaust and muffler was heavy - this setup is probably around 50lbs lighter.  The old muffler had a vacuum-actuated flap that kept one exit blocked off below 2,500rpm or at low load to keep it quieter; this has none of that.

The stock headlights are a bit lacking, so a set of Sylvania Silverstar Ultra low-beams put out brighter, cleaner light for night-time driving.  I've got to get around to fixing the right-side adjuster in place, as it keeps drooping down towards the road - not terribly useful.  And I've got a set of tinted turn signals and corner markers on the way; I've never particularly liked the amber colored turn signals that were so prevalent in the 90's.  These along with yellow-tinted fog lights will have it looking a little meaner.

What's in store in the future?  Well, the 168,000 mile suspension is quite tired (but pretty darn good by my standards; I'm used to a Honda Accord!) so if I come across a good deal on some Konis or Bilsteins I'll probably jump on it - also on the lookout for Eibach springs, an H&R rear sway bar, and maybe some new front ball joints.  I'm perfectly happy with how much power the engine makes, but converting back to the older OBD1 intake manifold (from the 2.5L 325i), a bigger throttle body and a good intake matched with a Conforti tune can yield nearly 40 extra horsepower at the wheels.  The 3.15:1 open differential is nice for highway cruising, but the 3.91:1 M3 LSD would be a lot more fun.  But mostly I'll be fiddling, fixing, and enjoying driving a car I've always wanted.

Would I recommend something like this to those that aren't mechanically inclined?  Oh, heavens no.  You'd go bankrupt keeping an old BMW on the road if you didn't do most of your own work and shop around for parts.  The pricing at the BMW is ludicrous: $311 for an Idle Control Valve you can get shipped to you free online for $125.  $204 for the A/C Voltage Regulator, shipped to you free for $52.  $14 light bulbs, etc.

But the car is great to drive.  The 2.8L six doesn't have a lot of power by today's standards (a base model 2.4L Hyundai Sonata has more horsepower), but it's got a lot of low-end grunt.  The shifter is typical BMW - long throw, slightly ropey, yet somehow you never miss a gear - perhaps a B&M quickshift and some Delrin bushings later this year?  It's an excellent highway cruiser, happily purring along at 75mph on the interstate with the auto climate control doing it's thing, but it's also fun to horse around on back roads in 2nd and 3rd.

Overall, it strikes a nice balance.  My 1988 Saab 900 SPG was just too eccentric, unreliable, and hard to find parts for - although I loved it anyway.  My 2007 Accord had the opposite problem - although nothing ever went wrong (short of warped discs when I bought it), it was absolutely joyless and boring to drive and own.  This is a nice compromise between the two; falling almost exactly in the middle for age as well.

You'll be hearing more about the BMW (which I've nicknamed Heidi, because she's German) in the coming months.  You haven't yet because I've been busy fiddling.  Stay tuned!

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