Posts tagged ‘BMW’
Say No To The Carwash, And Learn Up On Headlights And Bulbs
This weekend I gave the M3 a good hand wash, and I replaced the low and high beam bulbs. If you really care about your car, you should wash it yourself. Automatic car washes use recycled water, harsh chemicals and the track your car travels through the wash can easily damage your rims.
If you’re part of the 50% of new owners who lease BMWs you probably don’t care. But if you own your car you should find the time, even on a killer humid weekend like the one we just had here in the DC area. Here’s a thread from the M3 Forum that shows how passionate many are on this topic.
Get a good quality car cleaner — Griots Garage is a great source for any car cleaning and detail need, including a hand held waxing orbital buffer that saves a lot of time and effort. Find a wheel spray that doesn’t use acid, because that will eat away at your rims. Use a lot of water and keep the car wet until ready to dry off. Drying is a lot easier and faster using something like a jelly blade, although you don’t have to pay as much as the link suggests.
My E36 M3 has black plastic moldings, which can easily fade over time. After every other wash or so I like to hit all the moldings with Mothers Back to Black. It only takes a couple of minutes to wipe on with a paper towel and keeps the trim looking minty fresh.
I also decided to change out my headlight bulbs. It had been at least four years since I did so, and supposedly halogen bulbs lose brightness slowly over time. Since I was changing them anyway, I decided to see if I noticed any difference.
The subject of BMW lighting and automotive bulbs in general is truly byzantine. When you become interested in improving the lighting on your car, you really need to do your homework before pulling the trigger on any purchase. Part of what made this effort worthwhile for me was just how crappy the headlights were that came stock on my car. They were dim, made of plastic and downright dangerous on a dark night.
In BMW’s defense, a lot of U.S. federal regulations around headlights were obsolete when this car was introduced — this was over 15 years ago after all. Not so much in BMW’s defense, the U.S.-spec headlights were a lot cheaper to make than the ellipsoid projector headlights on the European E36 M3. After reviewing my options, that’s basically what I upgraded to — I purchased the headlights my car should of had in the first place from Turner Motorsports, made by original manufacturer (OE) Hella. (the black housing shown wasn’t available a few years back, I got chrome) As you can see from the link they were not cheap, but Hella and Bosch (another OE provider) are widely recognized as the highest quality headlight manufacturers.
Stealth Auto has a good video that clearly lays out the install, however I wouldn’t recommend the brand they are installing here:
To make the most of my investment I also looked into my bulb options. The Hellas take H7 bulbs for both low and high beams, and some came with the lights. But I found a bulb that burned brighter than typical H7s — brightness measured by Lumens — and whiter than most halogen lights — as measured by the Kelvin scale. Daniel Stern’s web site is a great resource for automotive bulb information. I like to use Osram bulbs made in Europe, Osram being the parent company of Sylvania.
In general halogen light is yellowish, with High Intensity Discharge (HID) lighting bright white trending to blue. But if the light gets too blue, the brightness actually goes down. The H7s I bought claim 2100 Lumens and just under 4000 Kelvin.
So with the Hellas ellipsoid lights and the 65w H7s I think I’m getting the best halogen has to offer, without upgrading to HID. There are options to upgrade my current Hellas to HID, but its not been high on my priority list. I’m not anxious to modify the headlights I have, even though a lot of guys on the boards have upgraded successfully and a guy I know has the HID version of my Hellas and says the output is amazing.
Swapping out the bulbs is easy. The high beams just twist to side and unplug, and the lows are held in place with two sprockets. The last picture below is a before and after shot, with the driver side bulbs replaced. It’s not dramatic, but I think you can see the beam is a little sharper and brighter than the old bulbs.
High Beams
Low Beams
Bulbs replaced on driver side, the light on the right side of this picture
Newer Model Review — BMW 335i
It’s past time for another wheel post, but (thankfully) neither the M3 or the 530 have given me much to write about lately. So I called up my good friend Rich this weekend to meet up and take a look at the black 2007 335i he purchased back in May with about 40,000 miles and with a Certified Pre-Owned (CPO) warranty. When he bought I suggested Rich not to spend extra for the BMW regular maintenance program, since BMW doesn’t do nearly as much maintenance now that they cover it, compared to the old days. Smart of Rich to buy CPO — new ones can push $50K with some nice options.
Mike Miller, Tech Q&A guy from Bimmer Magazine, sent me his “Old School” maintenance list a while back. If anyone would like a copy, just drop me a comment.
To use some BMW speak, the E90 body style seems to have been a hit with the public. That’s the nomenclature for the newest style of BMW 3 series cars, the the 3 series is the backbone of BMW sales in North America. BMW has been hit by the recession just like every business outside of bankruptcy lawyers, but not too dramatically. Sales of the 3 series in North America through October have totaled 75,459, compared to an October 2008 total of 97,329. They don’t break down sales by individual styles, or at least I don’t know where those numbers would be. Roughly 22% down — not that bad compared to some other auto makers.
Every BMW style car has a number. Recently BMW managed to make things more complicated by giving every body style a unique number. In the past, one style number was enough — for example, my M3 is an E36, as is every other 3 series of that vintage, coupe, sedan or convertible. Why did BMW change? Maybe the Germans just wanted it to be tougher to know the lingo.
So to be precise, I got to drive Rich’s E92 (for coupe) 335i today. It’s not hard to see why this car has been a hit. It’s a beautiful car, and it’s engine is a modern marvel. 2007 was the first year of the BMW N54 engine, an efficient 6 cylinder with two small turbochargers that puts out 300 horsepower while still getting 26 mpg highway. This engine now powers multiple BMW models — the 135, 335, 535, X6 and Z4.
Rich's 335i
Usually with turbos you feel the power boost hit at certain RPMs, but the power delivery from the N54 is very smooth. The car felt very luxurious, with a lot of options. There was a large display in the dash that showed the radio settings and GPS, and probably could be set for other stuff too using iDrive, sort of a computer operating system in newer BMW cars. Rich says it’s not intuitive and can be frustrating until you get the hang of it.
The car had an automatic transmission but you can switch to auto-manual and use paddles on the steering wheel. That sounded more fun than it was, I had some trouble getting used to the paddles but the auto gear changes were pretty smooth. Rich’s car has the sport suspension, and the it rode well but to me felt like a larger car. Maybe because my 530 also has a sports suspension, it felt to me like that car, not my M3.
The 335i is a beautiful and powerful car. The only thing I’d note was that I felt a little isolated from the road, the car was so smooth in ride and acceleration. Again it could be because I’m used to my M3, which Rich drove and agreed communicated the road very well to the driver. Later this year BMW is supposed to bring out a 2010 model with a diesel version of the N54, with even better mileage numbers. That could really be a market changer.
I still love my two BMWs, but I do envy the horsepower a bit. And, since BMW is very conservative with the boost they use for their turbos in stock format, an extra 40-50 HP is easy to achieve with some after-market software from several reputable vendors. Of course it doesn’t make that much sense living in an urban area, but I’d probably get it!
Now That’s Thinking with Your Dipstick — DIY Oil Change
Over the weekend I changed the oil in my ’99 M3. It was actually pretty easy, since I didn’t have to go under the car at all. I used an fluid extractor that I picked up from Griot’s Garage. It siphons the oil out via the dipstick column.
I don’t have access to a lift, and when I first heard about the extractor I checked it out on the boards. Others had used it successfully, so I pulled the trigger. As far as the filter goes, BMW uncharacteristically made that easy if you can believe it. Instead of on the side or below the engine, the filter is right there front and center when you open the hood. So I bought a Mann filter, seven liters of Royal Purple 5×30 — BMWs are very thirsty — and tackled the job Sunday.
Saw a couple of neighbors looking and probably wondering what the??
Takes about 15 minutes to get all the oil out, but after a few pumps it keeps going on it’s own. The new filter looked different than the Mahle filter in there, hard exterior versus soft filter. But slid in easily after removing the canister top with a 13mm wrench. Car took a little over six and a half liters of oil.
I had a little drama when I started the car after I thought I was done — lost some oil out of the canister top. It was because I hadn’t seated the rubber O-ring properly, just removed and fixed easily.
Guess you can tell old vs. new
Will drop off the used oil at my local garage Hollin Hall Automotive, good guys. Next up is changing the manual transmission fluid, although I may wait until spring. Read online the extractor can be used for that too, must find more information…
The Zen of DIY BMW Maintenance
This weekend my 2001 530 got a lot of attention. It was a very productive day — a vibration issue related to new rims purchased in late April was finally resolved, and I replaced both front ABS/speed sensors.
Before I dive into the details, a word about owning a BMW out of warranty. Unless you have enough money not to care about cost, you need to educate yourself about your vehicle. And be open to learning what you can tackle on your own (DIY — Do It Yourself), and what you can’t. Running to the dealership every time something goes wrong will land you in the poorhouse, and chances are you won’t be treated very well. Dealerships don’t want to deal with older cars, they want to focus on the people who will buy the new models.
Knowing what preventative maintenance is required to avoid problems in the first place is critical. That way when it’s something bigger that requires professional service, at least you know the particulars and can be an educated consumer. Unless you’re driving the car simply for the brand — in which case you’d probably be in a new car — embracing this fact can be fun. The car becomes a hobby, not simply a means of transportation. I’ve found a great deal of advice and support from Internet forums populated with folks who own the same cars, and run into the same issues. It’s a perfect example of the “wisdom of the crowd” dynamic, enabled by Internet access. You can find the links in my blog roll.
So first up was a vibration at highway speeds. In a prior post I described buying new rims and tires for the car. I was very psyched to give the car this refresh. The previous owner hadn’t bothered to clean or maintain the rims properly, and I needed to get my snows off the car for better handling: http://cparente.wordpress.com/2008/04/22/new-shoes-for-the-530/
Initially I was very pleased with the purchase. But I soon noticed that at highway speeds there was a significant vibration that hadn’t been there previously. I knew the tires had been mounted and balanced properly. I had the work done at a garage right in my neighborhood I’ve used before and that comes recommended by Tire Rack. Hollin Hall Automotive provided great customer service and continued to work with me at no additional cost while I worked through this problem. A big public thank you to them, and I highly recommend the shop to anyone in or near the Alexandria area: http://www.hollinhallauto.com/
I won’t go into all the arcane details. Monet was the company that made the rims, and I purchased through one of their resellers, The Wheel Connection. Monet was responsive via email, but it took some time for the problem to be identified. After eliminating other possibilities, it came down to the fact that the spacers sent with the rims were not fitting tightly enough, causing the vibration. Monet initially said it was the Wheel Connection’s responsibility, and they said it was Monet’s. I stayed patient, and persistent. Eventually Monet stepped up and sent me new spacers at no charge, as long as I returned the original set.
When they arrived I had my doubts, since they looked almost identical to the originals. But these snapped into the back of the rims beautifully, and have corrected the problem. Finally my car feels right at highway speed — solid and stable but with the driving feedback via the steering sport tuned BMWs are known for.
Thank You UPS!
Inserted into back of rim
One issue down, and one new one to go. A couple of weeks ago an error code popped up on my display. My ABS system was out, along with something BMW calls Dynamic Stability Control (DSC). The two systems work together via sensors that monitor wheels speeds at all corners, applying breaking and reducing torque in a split section if wheel spin or loss of traction is detected. The car can be driven safely without these systems, in fact DSC can be turned off via a button on the dash. But clearly something was wrong, and I got busy with some forum research.
Where sensor bolted into wheel hub
Other end -- note line of debris cleaned out of box
Sensor replaced
Happy Birthday M3
This month my M3 turns nine. She was built in April 1999, one of the last E36 M3s (BMW speak for the 3 series body style from 1992-1999) ever built. The design of the M3 version goes back to 1994, yet she’s still more fun to drive than 99% of the cars out there today. Only 39K miles, and I’ve done some tasteful mods that make her even better today than day one.
Today it’s all about horsepower — heck even the new Honda Civic (!!) can be had with 268 HP. The E36 M3 is much more about the entire package — handling, acceleration, feeling connected to the road. It came with 240 HP standard, so it wasn’t all about power. I’ve done a few things to goose that number a bit — software download, cold air intake and Dinan exhaust — but those add maybe 20 HP max.
Unless you’re buying only for the brand, part of the fun of owning a BMW is getting hip to some seriously arcane info. For example — in the 1990′s BMW made two versions of M3′s, one for the United States and one for the rest of the world. The non-US version had a different motor that produced more HP, as well as a few other variations like clear white lenses, elliptical headlights and floating brake rotors. (those differences can be easily addressed after-market) But the Euro version produced many of those additional horses very high in the RPM range, because it was designed for the autobahn. The US version has much better low end torque and acceleration, reflecting how Americans drive.
Still, this gives some people reason to criticize the US version, even — I’m ashamed to say — some who own them. This I’ve never understood — if you don’t love the car, if you’d rather drive something different, sell it to someone else!
Am I biased as hell on this issue — you bet! But I’ll close with two respected third parties. Edmunds.com called the 1999 (of course!) M3 the best sports coupe under $55,000. I especially like this line — “If you’ve got a pulse and even an ounce of automotive enthusiasm, you’ll know what we’re talking about:”
http://www.edmunds.com/bmw/m3/1999/?sub=coupe
And here’s Bimmer Magazine’s take from the June 2005 issue — text not available online:
“Some enthusiasts will always criticize the North American E36 M3 for lacking the more exotic and powerful Euro-spec engine, but that is simply nonsense. While there is certainly a noticeable difference in power once you rev both engines past their power peaks (particularly the 321 HP model), the 240 HP M3 is torquier at the bottom end, smoother at the top end and requires less regular maintenance. This makes it a sublime daily driver that gives up little in comfort or civility to a 325i or 328i, yet provides many more thrills on a twisty canyon road or racetrack.”
New Brake Pads for the 530
Not too much news on the car front lately. And that’s not a bad thing — when you own two BMWs long out of warranty, no news is good news. There’s no escaping the fact that these cars require preventative maintenance, an alien concept to many drivers today who have no interest in owning a car for longer than two or three years.
Unfortunately the previous owner of the 2001 530 was not a car guy at all, and while the mileage was low and I think the car was driven lightly it was also neglected in some ways. I had all the fluids changed soon after purchase, and new alternator and battery. Couple of weeks ago the car failed the VA state inspection due to thin front brake pads. Naturally my first reaction was irritation — c’mon man just extort the recently jacked up fee and give me my new sticker! — but then I thought the pads were no doubt original so properly were thin. And I hated how dusty the OEM pads were anyway, the wheels got dirty after a single day of driving.
So I went with PBX Deluxe pads. Excellent all around and very little brake dust. With a deadline of two weeks to reinspect and being really busy at work, I had Gary at Martin Motorsports put them on. But I’ve got my spring project lined up — I’m going to tackle the rears pads myself. We’ll see how that goes in a couple of months.
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