I've been lurking on this site for nearly a year and post my occasional $0.02. I've found a lot of useful info here so, I figured I'd just say hello and show my car to anyone who might be interested in seeing another M42 that has an owner who's trying to treat her right.
I bought the car back in May of 2011 for $2,000 (It's a '91)
The Bad...The car had an unknown number of miles, idle that was all over the map, oil leak, bouncing temp gauge, bad front brakes, worn tires, non-working A/C
The Good...The car has a clean title, body is very straight, clean interior, slight drop on eibach springs, no rust California car, 4-doors (this was important to me), strong pulling motor
Previous owner said the timing components had been changed within the last year, but I wouldn't be surprised if this wasn't true. I probably over paid, but either way, I love working on and driving this car. This is my daily driver in every sense of the phrase. I use it for everything, from getting to work, to taking my kids to practice, running errands and taking small road trips. She gets used 7 days a week and so far she's treated us well. Well enough that I was able to convinced my wife to get an '89 325i that she now uses as her daily driver.
I'm keeping a spreadsheet on everything I'm doing to her. Here's what I've done this past year...
VitalsRe-torqued oil pan housing bolts (found 2 in the pan, and 2 that were loose)
New oil pan gasket
New oil filter housing gasket and adapter o-ring (solved the oil leak)
New front rotors and pads
Performed the "Mess Under the Intake" fix (solved idle issue)
New vacuum hoses
New intake boot
Cleaned the upper and lower intake, throttle body, ICV and injectors
New fuel filter
Tightened ground behind temp gauge (solved bouncing gauge)
Semi-VitalReplaced transmission oil (80w90 Swepco 201)
Replaced differential oil (80w90 Swepco 201)
Replaced spark plugs (NGK BKR6EK 2288)
Replaced all accessory belts
Replaced the voltage regulator on the alternator
Recharged AC (solved A/C issues)
ExteriorPainted chrome trim black
Added fog lights
Replaced broken antenna with a stubby seated on 318ti base
Replaced black basket weaves with silver ones with new tires
Replaced front and rear badges (these were used but in decent shape)
Replaced broken clips on front "i" lip
Interior Replaced airbag steering wheel for BMW sport steering wheel (3 spoke)
Replaced gear shifter
Replaced interior courtesy lights
Replaced all lights behind dashboard and heater control panel
Replaced stock window switches with E36 window switches
Added tweeter pods, premium kick panel and rear deck speakers
Replaced odometer gears (for some reason it only works intermittently)
New rubber floor mats for an E90 we used own. (decent fit)
Parts purchased but still have to doSteering rack boots
Tie rods
Sway bar bushings
Sway bar links
Control arms
Control arm bushings
Inner and outer ball joints
All the above mention parts came out to a little more than $1000. I've religiously changed the engine oil, oil and air filters every 3 months. Since the odometer is broken, I recently kept track of all my trips for 2 full gas tanks and then I mapped out the distances using google maps. I'm currently averaging just a little north of 27MPG with mixed driving (freeway and city streets). I think that's about it.
This is the 6th BMW I've owned;'95 E36 M3, '01 E39 530i, '08 E90 335i, '10 E70 X5, '89 E30 325i, '91 E30 318i (we still own the last 3 on the list) and I have to say it's been my favorite, not to mention cheapest (so far).
Before (sitting in previous owner's driveway)
After
Topic: Marauder42 (Read 3865 times)