My 1992 BMW 325i Page
Well, I obtained another vehicle which will be my daily ride in a few months when I get rid of my Honda. (my lease on it runs out March 1998). I wanted to have something lined up and ready. Therefore, I decided to start looking early. After an unfortunate incident with a 1987 Mercedes 300E (which was represented as 56k original miles but I later found out the odometer had been replaced) I returned it. The only reason I found out is because there was a paper in the glovebox to that effect. (guess they forgot to pull it out before selling it to me - suckers!) :) As a result, the dealer was forced to take the car back. Funny to think if I hadn't found that paper I would've never known and been totally happy with it. (and sold it to someone else down the road without knowing) Anyway, I went to a reputable dealer here in Cincinnati (Jake Sweeney Automall located in Cincinnati, Ohio which includes a BMW dealership) and purchased my car, a 1992 BMW 325i. I just got it the other day, so I have no pictures of it yet. My 1996 Honda Accord will be my daily driver till March so I won't be driving it much till then. This will permit me to have various issues (cosmetic and mechanical) taken care of before I start using it much. I will post a picture out of the ad in which I bought it. I will also keep a log of everything I do to it below.
Now a brief description of the car.... it's a sedan, Bronzit Beige metallic in color. The car is an automatic, has tan leather, sunroof, AM/FM cassette w/10 speaker stereo and BMW 6 disc cd changer in the trunk. (a Pioneer) The car has a control center w/ambient temperature, heated seats and all power accessories. The interior is in amazing shape considering the age and mileage of the car. The car has 116,000 miles on it as of the time that I purchased it. The dealer had just installed a new air conditioning unit in the car at a cost of $900. He also changed the oil and gave the car a quick look over, but none-the-less decided not to put anymore money into the car himself. (after he got stuck fixing the A/C I doubt he was going to make much profit on the deal). I will post more as I get to learn the car better and figure out more details. Below I will keep a log. The car needs various things which I'll have to attend to over the next few months.
Some
Pictures of my car are finally here!
Note: These pictures were taken with a relatively cheap disposable camera. Sorry for the poor image quality. I will take some more pictures of the car in the near future following a trip to the bodyshop next month.
Log
10/30/97 - Picked up the car today. Have to go back on Saturday to get the paperwork finalized and taken care of. They also have to put a temporary tag on the car. I also put some leather conditioner on the seats. I'll need to clean the inside out more and do the exterior when it stops raining so much.
11/1/97 - Well, took care of the paperwork today. The car is now mine, with a new 30 day tag on it. After wrapping up things at the dealer, I stopped at a local auto parts store to make a couple minor (and cheap) purchases for the car. What were they? A rear tail light bulb and a license plate light. Both which were a piece of cake to put in myself obviously.
11/3/97 - Today I went and bought a foglight bulb for the car to test the assembly on the lower right front of the car. I confirmed that it works, but the lense is cracked. Thought about locating another lense, but decided I'll just go get a new assembly from the dealer and save this working bulb in case I need an extra one of these days.
11/6/97 - Dropped the car off at the BMW dealer today. They are going to take a look at the car and get back to me on what needs to be taken care of on it. The things that I reported were the headliner, window switch lights, trip computer display, hood roundel and wheel stickers among others.
11/7/97 - BMW dealer called today and said that they looked over the car and found that in addition the rear brakes needed replaced. Since I had just bought the car from one of their branches, they agreed to pay for this. I was also told of a broken strut mount. The on-board computer will need replacing, window switch replacements, hood roundel, wheel stickers. They are going to go ahead and do the work.
11/9/97 - Gave the dealer a call, everything on the car checked out ok, except they discovered the emergency brake pads needed replacing and the O2 sensor needs replaced. They car will be there till Wednesday cause they don't have the sensor in stock. No bother since I don't need the car for a few months anyway. Glad I'm getting this stuff dealt with while I have another car. Of note, the other day I went to the other BMW dealer in town (The BMW Store here in Cincinnati, Ohio) and received much better treatment in their parts department. From now on I will take my car there when I get it back. I bought some black front bumper trim, glovebox flashlight, and battery cover for trunk (was missing from car) and a right front foglight. Can't wait to get the car back so I can deal with the bodywork. (dent removal and scratches on rear bumper) He does interior stuff too and I'll have him deal with the head liner and passenger door panel. Till I get my car back I'll just have to wait. At least the title showed up the other day in the mail so I can go get some plates for it.
11/15/97 - Yesterday I installed my license plates and protective covers on my car. Had to get some new screws for the plates as well. Looks much better with them installed. Today I purchased a replacement brake light bulb because one of them the filament was only intermittently in tact causing the brake light failure message to come on. I'm hoping Monday to get the right front foglamp installed.
11/21/97 - Well, today I decided to change the bulbs in the instrument cluster because the old ones while working, were a bit on the dim side. Getting the cluster out wasn't really that hard. A quick trip the BMW dealer for bulbs and I was in business. Much better now. I also tucked the headliner back up in the back of the car. I hadn't taken a very close look at it, but upon closer inspection found I could put it back up myself. The former owner had a cell phone in the car apparently and had the wire running though there, took it out and forgot to put it back. It just tucked back up and is perfect now. That made me feel a lot better. Next issue I'll probably end up addressing is the headlight covers. By the beginning of the new year I'm hoping to have the car in the bodyshop having the dings removed from it. Since it's not serious and I'm not driving the car much right now I'm just going to wait and deal with some of the other minor issues instead. After I get the work done I will get some pictures. (Hopefully the weather will be better then too)
12/3/97 - The other day I did a couple minor things. Fixed a loose rear door trim panel and WD40'd the door hinges because they were a bit stiff. Easy stuff that I felt a lot better about having dealt with it. I called the BMW dealer and ordered two of the wrenches missing from the tool kit, along with a polishing cloth and the foam padding. Total cost should be around $20 which isn't as bad as I would've expected. I'm looking forward to the chance to get my car into the shop to get the bodywork taken care of soon. The clearcoat is gone in a couple spots, a few dings, scratches, and most serious a minor crease in the hood/grille that will have to be fixed. In general the pervious owner was just a little careless. Luckily it was nothing major though and the interior is in excellent shape overall. I also have to get the headlamp covers replaced. The clear plastic polish and cleaner helped a lot as a temporary fix but since they are pitted they will ultimately need to go. Christmas is coming up so perhaps I'll get a little something for my car... maybe a performance chip. :) I'm not planning on modifying this thing, but a chip to boost torque and horsepower a bit with no other modifications would be a nice bonus. I got only the second tank of gas (only 93 + octane) for the car since I got it the other day. Seems to be doing pretty well in that regard. I've only driven it a few hundred miles though as I'm using my Honda as a daily driver till I turn it in.
12/9/97 - Today I went to The BMW Store and picked up the various tools for my tool kit (2 wrenches, rag and pads). While I was there I couldn't help but buy a couple chrome exhaust tips ($25 each) since I thought the black pipes sticking out the back looked plain ugly. Got a rubber mallet and pounded them on myself. The cars exhaust looks so much better now. I had thought about getting a new one, but this one is in very good shape and will last a few more years so I decided to just dress it up instead. Still can't wait to get the car into the bodyshop. I am going to hold off on the performance related stuff for now and focus on the cosmetic junk instead. I'm thinking a set of Euro headlights are in my future sense my cloudy, pitted plastic headlights are a lost cause. They are about $400, but are made of glass so I won't have to go though this again. I'm also considering some window tint, perhaps this spring. (35% on the sides, 50% on the back window)
12/15/97 - I just completed the installation of a new HVAC cam gear for the heating/cooling system which allows for better air flow. This is BMW part # 64118391298. Now I can have air to the floor and out the vents at the same time, with the previous configuration this wasn't possible. While I was at it and had the glovebox out, I replaced my microfilter as well. Getting this stuff done took me about an hour to do, and a lot of patients. I probably won't bother replacing the microfilter myself ever again... I'd save that job for the dealer instead. :) Fortunately, it only needs to be done every 2 years or 15k miles. (though many leave them in there a lot longer than that) At that rate, I'll probably only have to change it one more time while the car is under my ownership. The old filter was dirty, the cars airflow seems much improved now between the cam gear and new microfilter. I have also realized the advantages to joining the BMW CCA club and will be sending in my $35 yearly dues shortly. This gives you a years subscription to The Roundel and a major break on service and parts at the dealer. (The microfilter was normally $32, but I paid $20 with the discount!)
12/19/97 - I paid my dues for a 2 year membership to the BMW CCA. Am looking forward to the monthly issues of the magazine, and even more so the 25% parts discount I will get at the dealer. :) The membership should more than pay for itself in that regard. Put some air in the tires today but not much else. I am going to check and see if some photos I took of the car are ready for pickup. I will post them here if all goes well. I wanted to have some preliminary pictures before the car goes in for bodywork. The only things I've done cosmetically are new front end trim and the chrome exhaust tips.
1/14/98 - Well, it's been awhile since I've had anything to report... but now I do. I am getting the body work done on my car next week if all goes well. I got an estimate from two excellent places that work on high brow cars (BMW, Porsche, Mercedes, etc). Both within $100 of each other. It's going to cost $2,500 to get the work done. I've also ordered some extras when I'm going to have installed. These include new front headlight assemblies (the covers) which were completely shot... this should make the car look much better in itself. I also ordered front and rear mudflaps and a wind deflector for the sunroof. Should look great when I get it all done. I also got a new set of manuals for the car, as my old ones were in poor shape. I'm getting a set of Harmon Kardon mid range speakers for the front doors since the originals are cracked. I'm looking forward to seeing them installed! The seller is giving me a very good price on them, so that should help cover the cost of installation. I've gotten the name of an excellent place for the window tinting when I get to that point as well. All this won't be cheap... I'll have more in the car than it's worth... but I will still come out ahead in the long run I believe. The headlight assemblies won't be in till Tuesday, so I will have to wait till then.
1/26/98 - The other day I went and picked up my parts for my car. Cost me about $250 with my discount. Now I am ready for the bodyshop. I got 3 estimates, all very close to one another. I know where I'm doing and tomorrow I'm going to give the guy a call to set up a time. I figure the car will be gone for at least a week, possibly longer.
1/29/98 - I fixed the resistor issue with the climate control blower today. It was a piece of cake. I had bought the replacement part, and removed the lower driver's side kick panel to install it, when I noticed the cable leading to it was unplugged! I plugged it in and everything worked great. It seems the guys who had worked on the AC awhile back had forgotten to hook it back up. I returned the $35 resistor to the BMW dealer for a refund. I will use the money towards something else. I am very happy I was able to fix that problem for nothing. On the negative side, I found out the Harmon Kardon speakers will not fit in my car... connections are different than the Nokias. I might just get new factory speakers. I called the dealer and there are two types though, so unless I take off the door panels to look at them, I won't know which type is installed. The other alternative would be to consider a set of those MB Quarts. Since the issue is merely cosmetic, I will hold off on it for the moment. If anybody out there has some front door speakers that will work (Nokia or MB Quart) in beige, please let me know!
2/2/98 - I dropped the car off at the bodyshop today... it is going to be repainted, one rim replaced (bent), and new headlight covers, mud flaps, and wind deflector will be installed. Cost is $2,625. Not cheap, but the car will be like new when he's done with it. The bodyshop guy does great work... having done my dad's previous Mercedes, my mom's previous Volvo, and my Honda Accord's bumper last summer. The car will be gone at least a week and a half. I will check back then. I suspect the next stop will be the window tint place.
Links
BMW of North America (BMW's official North American page.)
Dale Beuning's BMW Page (Most definitive page dedicated to the BMW E36 I have been able to find.)
The BMW Store (Located where I live in Cincinnati, Ohio. My preferred dealer and parts source.)
(Great club, highly recommended
for anyone with a BMW, though ownership isn't required.)
My Other Cars I've driven in the past page....
Last Revised 2 February 1998
© 1998 John T. Ward
