Messages

1

Exterior / Broken passenger door glass

« on: January 08, 2011, 11:15:14 AM »

I went ahead and asked the dealership to order the replacement window. Tax and all, it's going to be just under $100US. The man at the counter said the order might not be fully finalized until Monday depending on part availability, but he thought I'd have the part in hand no later than Thursday. I'm just afraid I'm going to get another call about how the part has to be sourced from a classic supplier and it's going to be over $400...

As far as junkyards go, yeah, we have them around here and a few of them specialize in Euro cars. But none of them had any E30 coupes. Just the 4-doors.

Thanks for the advice on how to change out the glass. I'm looking forward to the job, actually, and having a car that's not freezing cold inside.

2

Exterior / Broken passenger door glass

« on: January 07, 2011, 10:55:05 AM »

A couple of nights ago, some thugs broke out the passenger side door glass of my 1991 318is :mad: Just as an aside, it seems odd what they took vs. what they left. In-dash radio (Kenwood) and the extra radio sitting in the floor (Pioneer) weren't touched. They raided the glovebox and took my GPS unit (older Garmin Nuvi 750). They also took a small lamp and package of lightbulbs that were in a bag in the back seat, and one of my favorite winter coats. I filed a police report and all that, but don't feel very optimistic.

Anyhow, I'm trying to track down a replacement window. A couple of glass places in town have quoted me around $225 just for the glass. One place initially seemed pretty reasonable at around $150 for the glass, but then called me back and said that the glass was having to come from a classic glass supplier, and that the price plus freight was going to be over $300.

The realoem.com website shows a price for the glass at around $145. So, I called the local BMW dealer to ask them a price since they seem to use the same price as that website. Their price came out to around $100, which seems almost too good to be true.

So, I'm thinking about ordering the glass and doing the job myself. Anyone out there ever done this before? Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated.

Thank you,
-Bill

3

Electrical / Keyless entry fails to function

« on: November 23, 2010, 09:49:58 AM »

Sorry to be so long in replying. It ended up being an issue like what romeomike said. The fobs needed to be paired, and that's how it was done.
The gadget's surprisingly inexpensive and worked fine till I ran the battery down.
Thanks to all those who replied to this.
-Bill

4

Electrical / Keyless entry fails to function

« on: November 10, 2010, 10:15:03 AM »

Hey everyone,

The car in question is a 1991 318is that I bought a couple of months ago. Been a great car so far.

I bought it from a friend, and he'd installed an aftermarket keyless entry system. I'm not sure about the brand or model name, but the keyfob says the following on the back:
ATV FCC ID: L2MK9310 Omega R&D Inc, 401"
It's a two-button fob, with the small button serving to lock the doors and a large button that unlocks. The trunk also locks and unlocks in response to this. There is no alarm function. Just keyless entry.

A couple of days ago, I walked off and left the headlights on, and ran the battery down. I got a jump, drove home, and hooked the battery up to a 2-amp charger overnight. I left it installed in the car while charging.

The next morning, the charger indicated the battery was fully charged, and the car fired right up. But it wouldn't respond to the keyless entry fob. I have two of them, and neither one got a reaction.

Did running the battery down erase some kind of programming in that unit, or even kill it?

Frankly, I'd almost rather remove it and just lock/unlock the car using the trunk lock. I'm just not sure where to look for any modules to remove. My friend says that keyless entry is really easy to install on these cars because they're pre-wired for it, but once again, I've never done it before and don't know what to look for.

Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated.

Thank you,
-Bill
1991 BMW 318is Brilliantrot, "Greta"

5

General Topics / Question about '91 318is a/c

« on: September 17, 2010, 10:58:55 AM »

So far, it just looks like I didn't pressurize the system high enough. My dad showed me what I was doing wrong and I took it from there. We had a cool morning yesterday, and it was blissfully cold on the way in, and worked well enough driving home in hotter temps. At least it is capable of working.

6

General Topics / Question about '91 318is a/c

« on: September 13, 2010, 10:56:29 PM »

Kind of an update:

Got the car up on ramps to have a closer look. Compressor isn't like the ones alot of people talk about on here where the belt tension is set with a tensioner pulley. It's done the old fashioned way where the compressor is pulled against the tension of the belt, and bolts are tightened to keep it in place.

It was about to fall off the car. The bolts holding it in place were quite loose and allowing it to shift. I took care of all that.

I saw bubbles in the sight glass when I switched the system on. That's a sign that the fluid's low but circulating, right?

I've added 134a and checked its pressure. Hard to say if there's much improvement. We'll see during the afternoon drive home tomorrow.

7

General Topics / Question about '91 318is a/c

« on: September 13, 2010, 02:52:52 PM »

Hopefully this is the right place for a thread like this.

Anyhow, I just became the proud owner of a 1991 318is with 192k on the odo. I bought it from a friend who'd done quite a bit of repair work to it. It looks pretty good and runs/drives like a champ. My friend replaced most of the suspension parts and lowered it, so it looks pretty good too.

Down here in the humid South, air conditioning is hard to live without. The car has a compressor and all parts seem to be present. But the a/c doesn't cool well at all, and I have a few questions:

1) The compressor pulley looks like it has two belt grooves on it, though I can't see where more than one belt would come from, nor do I see anything that would need to be driven off the a/c compressor pulley. Any good reason for this?

2) When I first turn on the a/c, it sounds like the compressor belt is squealing badly. The compressor does turn, however. Is this the sign of a worn-out or loose belt? My friend told me how to go about tightening the belt.

3) Dad and I tried to work on it Saturday, though the squealing belt was a curious problem. He has all the gauges to check a/c pressures, and initially, the system pressure was high enough to allow the compressor to turn, but low enough to hinder operation. He added some 134a, as that was what was in the system. the pressure got high quickly, and then stayed there when I shut the system off. Is this a problem?

I'd like to get the system working, though funds aren't unlimited right now. Any advice or suggestions would be welcome.

Thank you,
-Bill