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Replaced Amazon FPR with Radium unit. Pretty handy tool less adjustment, but that means someone can change my fuel pressure with the flick of a finger. Lol. No ideas people!!
I think my list of cheap Chinese items is gone or very very small. They’ve all failed me. lol
… and finally went for a drive today fuel pressure was less stable then the Chinese one! Get back home and I see a difference of 8psi from cold to hot at idle. Do some troubleshooting and the fuel pump blows a fuse. Must have been on its way out. It’s all making sense now. Maybe that China Part was still good. lol!
I just need a place to vent, so if you don't want to read somebody bitch and moan, please skip.
Spoiler!
I had a Miata that I enjoyed a lot, and then my family size grew by one. My criteria for a replacement car was that it had to be manual, RWD, convertible, and seat at least 3. I ended up with a BMW N52 E88. I've never owned euro before because of its reputation for being unreliable and costly to fix. Nevertheless, my choices were extremely limited and here I am. I also like to work on my own cars. It keeps the costs down, and since I work a desk job, working with my hands and taking care of my own car is something that I enjoy, or at least so I thought.
When I bought the car, there were some normal maintenance items due, and everything on this car has just been more frustrating or annoying than I'd like. Oil pan gasket requires dropping the subframe, and I didn't have an engine brace, so I paid somebody to do that. Might as well throw in some new M3 control arms since the bushings were going on them anyways. Of course, this means needing an alignment. I take it to the shop - sorry buddy, your tie rods are seized and we don't carry any in stock. Fine, I'll limp home and replace them myself first before I bring it back.
The mechanic that replaced my oil pan gasket says the starter is probably the top of the list next. I get through this, but not before dealing with a dozen+ different kind of connects and terrible placement of brackets holding a spaghetti of hoses and wires throughout. That back PCV hose clip was the worst.
Next, I'm thinking I'll take care of the valve cover next, but discover the PITA process to remove the valvetronic motor. What the fuck BMW. Okay I'll put this on pause to do more homework and learn about it. Nope. CEL light time. I pull the code, and it's now complaining about the downstream O2 sensor. Fine, I'll order all 4 cuz the others are probably not far behind anyways. Then, after a few days, the light goes away by itself. God damn it, I'll do the downstream ones anyways. I get to spraying the sensors with penetrating fluid, and while I'm down there, I get greeted with a new control arm with some fluid on it. I look up, and the front left strut is leaking. Of course that's not the only leak, one area of the valve cover is leaking more than I thought and I've lost some new oil already because why not.
After ordering around $500 of O2 sensors, I placed another order for a Bilstein B12 Pro Kit and a bunch of other smaller related items. My wallet hurts, but I guess a suspension overhaul is what's next. I can't wait until I sell this thing and get back into a Miata one day. Or maybe I would've been better off with an older E46, or fun car-less for a while.
I didn't know what an M52 E88 was, so I searched it up and the first hit is another guy complaining about his too.
I keep being tempted by BMWs, especially after watching a bunch of M539 Restorations recently and seeing how DIY friendly some of them are or aren't and what the common weak points are. But I've noticed him making comments about random new faults his cars have. If his beautifully maintained cars are still spontaneously problematic then it seems unlikely you can properly bulletproof one.
__________________ 1991 Toyota Celica GTFour RC // 2007 Toyota Rav4 V6 // 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee
1992 Toyota Celica GT-S ["sold"] \\ 2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee CRD [sold] \\ 2000 Jeep Cherokee [sold] \\ 1997 Honda Prelude [sold] \\ 1992 Jeep YJ [sold/crashed] \\ 1987 Mazda RX-7 [sold] \\ 1987 Toyota Celica GT-S [crushed]
Quote:
Originally Posted by maksimizer
half those dudes are hotter than ,my GF.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RevYouUp
reading this thread is like waiting for goku to charge up a spirit bomb in dragon ball z
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Originally Posted by Good_KarMa
OH thank god. I thought u had sex with my wife. :cry:
My wife’s old 128i is dealership maintained. It’s basically perfect. But there’s always 2-3k worth of work on the table every time we go into the dealership.
List of shit I’ve ignored
- strut stops have worn out. Need replacements
- power steering res weeping
And some other shit I don’t recall. Either way about 2k worth of work left according to the dealer but even they told me to ignore this until later.
The power steering reservoir leaking is common and I have it too. I normally take exceptional care of my cars but this hasn't even registered on scale of crap these cars produce. If you end up doing the bump stops you might as well replace the struts too while it's taken apart. If they're the originals it's probably a matter of time before they leak. I love that a dealer maintained that's "basically perfect" has a never ending to-do list.
My wife’s old 128i is dealership maintained. It’s basically perfect. But there’s always 2-3k worth of work on the table every time we go into the dealership.
List of shit I’ve ignored
- strut stops have worn out. Need replacements
- power steering res weeping
And some other shit I don’t recall. Either way about 2k worth of work left according to the dealer but even they told me to ignore this until later.
Quote:
Originally Posted by headhunt3r
The power steering reservoir leaking is common and I have it too. I normally take exceptional care of my cars but this hasn't even registered on scale of crap these cars produce. If you end up doing the bump stops you might as well replace the struts too while it's taken apart. If they're the originals it's probably a matter of time before they leak. I love that a dealer maintained that's "basically perfect" has a never ending to-do list.
I think these are simply factory features. I can't think of a BMW product that doesn't come with these two features.
So far my experience of a surefire BMW experience are leaking rear diff seals, at least all the modern ones seem to do it. The M3 is a known common problem, but mine just doesn't have enough mileage for it to happen. The X3 had it done, and I'm expecting the X5 to have the same problem.
I had slightly leaking rear struts but they seem to have stopped leaking as it hasn't been brought up the last few years of service now lol.
Currently a slight leak at the rear main seal too which sounds $$$
__________________
Quote:
Originally Posted by skyxx
Sonick is a genius. I won't go into detail what's so great about his post. But it's damn good!
2010 Toyota Rav4 Limited V6 - Wifey's Daily Driver
2009 BMW 128i - Daily Driver
2007 Toyota Rav4 Sport V6 - Sold
1999 Mazda Miata - Sold
2003 Mazda Protege5 - Sold
1987 BMW 325is - Sold
1990 Mazda Miata - Sold
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