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Morzada

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Posts posted by Morzada

  2. Wheel Restoration/repair

    in General Technical

    Posted

    Anyone know a good place in/near Madison to get wheels refinished?  I just picked up a really nice E36 M3, but three of the rims have some pretty decent curb-rash.  I also found a service note in the maintenance log that talks about a bent wheel that might explain a slight vibration that I detect (but attributed to deferred suspension maintenance).

    Thanks!

  5. What to do? (Warning: long e36 content)

    in Members BMWs

    Posted

    I have reached the point where I am asking myself whether to keep and fix or sell and upgrade.

     

    Back story:

     

    Nearly six years ago I purchased a '96 328 convertible (MT, sport package) as a project car.  Price was comensurate with condition, but nevertheless, I bought a little more project than I expected; car was very neglected - SRS light on, Brake waring light on.  Had 18" aftermarket wheels, bald tires (no spare, but a can of slime.  Sheesh), shot RTABS - and wheel locks with no key.  I drove it back to Madison from southern Illinois in a rainstorm and was white-knuckling the whole way.  Through the whole Rockford exchange - in heavy downpour - in traffic - the ASC light was flashing and the buzzer going off, car was very squirrely.  Rained throughout the night and completely flooded the foot wells; front and back - stowage compartment drains were plugged AND the tonneau trim at the back edge was missing so there were about 10 3/8 holes draining right into the compartment all night.  Oil leaks (I know!), coolant leaks, power steering leaks (again, who'd'a thunk), and vaccuum leaks. 

     

    Worse still there was an intermittent hesitation that stumped me for three years until I caved and brought to the dealer, who, while they were unable to solve it, inadvertantly pointed me in the right direction; as a 'courtesy' they did the routine inspections (brakes, fluids, etc.) and told me my battery was running low on charge.  Later, at home, I thought to look up the battery specs, so I stopped short of the garage (so as to get better light) but left the car running.  For whatever reason when I went to look at the battery I gave it a shove (battery was missing tie-down) and heard some nasty crackling and the car stalled.  I pulled back the trunk carpet and found the main power lead was missing about two feet of insulation on the side laying agaist the body.  I can only guess this was the fault of a short caused by a ghetto stereo install.

     

    Fast Forward:

     

    Replaced check engine light bulb! (Light ON!)

    Replaced secondary air pump (Light OFF - most of the time...every hesitation turned it back on...)

    Replaced power steering hoses (Leak Gone)

    Replaced transmission fluid & teflon-taped the bung (screwed up my torque figures, but Leak Gone)

    Replaced differential fluid
    Replaced wheels with OEM style 55s,

    Replaced RTABs,

    Replaced front/rear rotors/pads/sensor (added major scar to back of my right hand, but Light OFF!)

    Replaced front control arms & FCABs

    Replaced both tie rods

    Replaced shocks/struts (Billstein HD's)

    Spark Plugs & Boots,

    Crank angle sensor, camshaft sensor, TPS (trying to find that damn hesitation)

    Smoke tested intake, replaced intake elbow

    Cleaned ICV

    Replaced fuel filter

    Replaced cabin air filter (Holy God!)

    Replaced driver seat belt receiver

    Replaced fuel pump (didn't fix the hesitation!)

    Replaced oil filter housing (Leak Gone)

    Replaced CCV

    Replaced water pump and thermostat

    Replaced radiator drain plug (Leak Gone)

    Replaced valve cover gasked (shattered into a million pieces (shop-vac'd valve train) - Leak Gone)

    Replaved all four 02 sensors

    Cleaned and flow balanced injectors

    Flushed power steering system

    Replaced Battery (& put new insulation on positive wire - Hesitation Gone!!!!)

    Replaced driver sear recline gear (boy reclined the seat all the way down and into the back seat, and shredded the gear - while on a trip to my parents farm 250 miles away from home!).

    'Defeated' passenger occupancy sensor with resistor-diode trick (SRS light OFF! - no dash lights!)

     

    So the dilema.  I obviously have put a lot of love into the car, and for its part, it really hasn't let me down.  It was what it was when I bought it, and it has rewarded me for the work I've put into it.  I don't mind the time and the only part of the money I regret are the few times I buckled and paid to have work done on it that I later felt I could have taken on myself (although, in truth, I would have 'paid' more in anxiety trying to actually do the work at the time).  Probably 90+% of the work I did myself and it has been a great learning experience.  However, now I'm left with body work.

     

    The paint is still shiny, but there are tons of swirl marks and a number of pretty deep scratches. There are about 10 various dings, three of which a pretty noticable from the right angle. The valance below the trunk is pretty rusty and there are two spots of rust on the rear quarters (although these are pretty stable and not too noticeable).  The driver door had been brutalized by a P.O. (I suspect during the ghetto stereo install, there was some odd debris inside) and has a 'paint-canned' ding.  The passenger door, I just noticed, is starting to rust along the bottom.  The best quote I've received is $2,000 for repair work and paint.  The body gets a 7 out of 10.  Interior is really not too bad.  I've replaces the steering wheel, a bunch of the vents, driver seat (now no tears), floor mats, and a while back I stumbled across a red-hot deal and replaced the door panels with some very good condition coupe panels. About the only legitimate flaws (for a 'driver' car of its age) is some bubbling on the rear armrest/speaker panels (which I'm fairly confident I can reglue) and some age-shrinking on the outer shoulder areas of the front seats - it's probaby an 8.5 or even a 9 out of ten 10 (oh yeah, I also scrapped the ghetto stereo and have a nice color-matched display in-dash CD/MP3 player with Ipod controls, replaced all 8 speakers, added a custom sub in the ski pass powered by two well balanced amps in the trunk - nothing crazy, but very nice sounding, especially for a convertible). 

     

    So - advice?  Sell and upgrade, or bite the bullet and fix the body?

     

    Having written this, I'm growing nostalgic.  Also, being that its a '96, I'm pretty sure next year I could slap a hobbyist or collector plate (or whatever they're called) on it, which has a certain appeal.

     

    Or I could sell.  A replacement is a given - and 99% certaintyy of another BMW, 90% certainty of another convertible - I would probably go M3, if I could find a manual.

     

    What to do?

     

    As a related side topic - there is a guy up in Beaver Dam, not too far away, who has an alpine white driver door for sale for $100.  Says its mint.  I could pick that up and, supposing I strip it down myself, I could probably get it repainted for another $100.  If I could work out the same deal for a passenger door - I could call it $400 for the doors and cut my body work costs down to $1200 (I got a quote for just the dings, paint swirls, and rust repair).

     

    I'm sure you all have opinions.

  9. crappy e36

    in General Technical

    Posted

    I doubt you need better bushings. You probably just need new bushings.

    Likely candidates are rear trailing arm bushings. How does the tail feel coming off an exit ramp fast? If it feels like oversteer or crabbing, the RTABs need to go.

    Rear upper shock mounts often go bad, but I don't know that they'd make your suspension feel soft.

    Another likely one is the front control arm bushings. If the steering isn't precise these are candidates. Really the entire front control arms are probably due (ball joints and whatnot). Finally, in the front look to the outer tie rods and an alignment.

    Good luck.

  16. Another New Member

    in BMW Discussion

    Posted

    I only found out about this group a couple days ago on Bimmerforums.com when Kalib0y posted the link in the Wisconsin forum, otherwise I would've been here sooner.

    My car is pretty sorted, but not completely yet. New fuel pump going in in the spring. Then I'm moving on to some body issues - couple of door dings and some paint touching up.

    Sadly, the car is in storage for the winter, although the Porsche I keep seeing drive through the neighborhood suggests I may have stored it too early...

    I'll put up some more photos after I figure out where/how to host a decent size image.

    Thanks,

    EJT

  17. Another New Member

    in BMW Discussion

    Posted · Edited by Morzada

    Lemme See...Not really all that new to BMWs. Owned mymy '96 328 'vert since October 2009. Prior to that my 'fun' cars included two miatas and a CRX - so its been a change from Japanese tuning. I've been pretty well through the car in the past two years;

    Replacement wheels w/new tires (thanks craigslist!)

    New shocks/struts/RSMs

    New control arms/control arm bushings/tie rod ends

    New rotors/pads (all four corners)

    Replacement secondary air pump/valve

    new plugs and connector boots

    new water pump/thermostat/housing/various hoses

    New crank/cam sensors

    Replacement steering wheel

    Replacement driver seat

    Fixed various burnt-out bulbs in the dash and OBC

    Replaced oil filter housing gasket

    Replaced valve cover gasket

    I've been reasonably active on Bimmerforums.com (and you'll see at least one post from me on each of the above topics...)

    Located in Madison.

    I've got a pretty complete tool set, code readers, and various write-ups for E36 (mostly 6-cylinder stuff) and I'm willing to help on projects.

    post-749-136211546834_thumb.jpg

    EJT

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