Unofficialbmw.com

[gr8acclaim]

Hey folks,

You are my go to guys for all things BMW. I have just bought a 1991 325i and of course the odometer doesn't work. No surprise to anyone. I looked at BavAuto.com and found the gears (4 for my MotoMeter set) at $25 each. $25!!! Found a link in another post for another place, odometergears.com, and they have a bargain price of $85 for the set.

COME ON! We're talking weensie little tiny plastic doodads that they can make in China for pennies -- probably even less... Is there ANYWHERE ELSE that these little buggers are cheaper??? Is there anyone who has found them at a reasonable price, or does anyone have a USED set of the replacement gears?

And how does a company like BMW, which makes a motor which can run 3 or 4 hundred thousand miles, end up with such crappy little gears in the first place? What's up with THAT?

Alright, that's all my ranting and whining. I would very much enjoy hearing someone say they found a super cheap-o bargain price somewhere...

NOTE: Edited this post just now to add that my temp and fuel guages don't seem reliable either, and while everyone says, "Just tighten the nuts and see if that helps, well... Mine didn't have any nuts at all!

Also found a dead bug inside one of my unused idiot light holes -- looks like a cockroach to me... Do you think it's a GERMAN cockroach?
_________________
1992 Plymouth Sundance Duster -- 263,000 miles -- RIP due to rust;
1991 BMW 325i -- 158,546 miles (plus ? miles when the odo didn't work!)

[85-325e]

Howdy...

First of all, you're talking about parts that are suseptable to heat and humidity issues. The engine has metal parts, but my guess is that metal wheels may have been too noisy or that maybe the plastic gears are more flexible.

These cars are great, but there are definitely silly cheap little parts here and there. They're 25 years old... that's not a bad run!

On your cluster, you probably have to resolder all of the contacts ont he bottom of the cluster circuit board.

On the gears, yes, they're expensive but search around and you may find someone on eBay selling sets. Think of it this way... spend the $85, do it right, and not worry about it again for another 25 years !

Some replacement parts for the car are very reasonable, but specialty parts are another thing completely. And anything for a car that's been discontinued for almost 20 years is always more than a run of the mill part for a current car.
_________________
Cosmo - 1985 BMW 325e, Single Owner, 265,000+ ORIGINAL miles and still going strong! But now on the East Coast and the salt air corrosion is eating my beautiful car alive...

[Bimmerboy1989]

They may be able to make them in china for pennies, but why would they? how many people are fishing around for E30 gears? The odometergears.com ones are from a local guy who made injection molds of the original. They are well made. I have had a set for over 6 years and have had no issues. They were only 75 dollars back then. Although it's better than 600 for a speedo....

[dale]

Here is an old post by Billo with a great response by Haber on the subject of these gears.
http://www.unofficialbmw.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=2112&highlight=

Most of the other gauge issues can be fixed by reflowing the solder joints on the back of the cluster.
#1 cause of '80s German electronics being flakey is cold solder joints.
_________________
http://www.unofficialbmw.com
UnofficialBMW.com Webmaster
dale@unofficialbmw.com
sold in 2016
87 325 5spd eta

[m78]

If all of your gauges seem to be acting up, you may have to replace your SI board batteries.


And on the subject of those gears, I 100% agree. The price for those gears is astronomical, and a complete gouging. Does NASA spend as much for "gears" for the space shuttle odometer?

I decided to simply replace the whole cluster. calculated the mileage difference, and haven't looked back. (Even got a euro cluster for less than one lousy gear).
_________________
Lachssilber Metallic 203 1988 325i sedan with 200,xxx miles

Top Speed 220 km/h

(OO=00=OO)

[Ken Juul]

I've been to his house and seen the set up. He has at least $10K, probably more, invested in machinery. Hard to have a profitable business if you give the products away.

[gr8acclaim]

Dale,

Thanks for the reference to the older post. I would give that a shot myself but all my gears are done. They are all mushy and waxy from the reaction with the lube.

And as for the guy selling these replacement gears, I don't fault him for trying to make a buck, but frankly I'm cheap, and no one can fault me for trying to save a buck. Penny saved is a penny earned after all!

Also I would like to say that parts for older cars are not necessarily more expensive than parts for new cars. My experience has shown that in a lot of cases it is quite the opposite. Of course if you are talking about buying genuine dealership parts in NOS condition, that's a different story, but with these gears that is not what we're talking about.

And I honestly will probably end up buying a set of gears though I hate to. I tried the cluster replacement with my last E-30, and even built a 3rd cluster out of pieces and parts I got off eBay, but nothing lasted more than a couple hundred miles before I was back to mushed, stripped gears again.
_________________
1992 Plymouth Sundance Duster -- 263,000 miles -- RIP due to rust;
1991 BMW 325i -- 158,546 miles (plus ? miles when the odo didn't work!)

[dale]

Amazon.com announced a new industrial supply store today.

They sell small brass and plastic gears

http://www.amazonsupply.com/s?savedSearchKeyword=&keywords=&page=1&size=20&searchNodeID=16412081&ref_=sp_s_node_16412081&x=0&y=69

I wonder if we can put together a list of sizes for the 4 odometer gears and find those part numbers on this site.

Haber says:

[tncean]

Has anyone used Garagistic products? Think it was like 17$ plus s/h?
t