Zfrk's baby: 1997 328i- 30K/mi update

[ZfrkS62]

That's right, I'm finally making a topic in the parking lot after months of searching

Saturday, I went over to a co-worker's house and checked out his '97 328i that he had been trying to sell for awhile. The people that did come look at it were either too scared of the 206,000 miles on it, or wanted to make payments.  The mileage doesn't bother me at all, not because I can fix what fails, but because he had already fixed everything. Clutch, oil leaks, whatever. He even put M3 control arm bushings on it.

So, after a short test drive, I offered him $3500 which he took. Another $162.25 for licensing and title, I was on my way home with my "new" black on black, 5 speed, 328.

I honestly didn't think I'd find such a late 328 for so cheap, especially after the nightmare of checking out the coupe (see my shopping list thread)

and now the pics:

[sentra_dude]

Cool man, looks very clean for a car that old and with 206K on it! Hope you enjoy it. 

[ZfrkS62]

Cool man, looks very clean for a car that old and with 206K on it! Hope you enjoy it. 

The front end has been essentially sand blasted of it's paint, but I'm so relieved that I was able to find something for a reasonable price (It would have taken something IMMACULATE to relieve me of my full 5,300 smacker car fund) I'm really not going to complain one bit. I didn't even know until after I bought it that it had a 6 disc changer in back. Haven't checked to see if it works yet, but then again I'm not sure I'm going to keep the radio stock or swap in the Aux input capable stereo from the 'yota.

Haven't named it yet (never bothered naming the Corolla) but for some reason Genelle is popping in my head.

Oh yeah, no mods planned for the near future either. 

[Schwalbe]

Congrats Zfrk for your new purchase.

I missed probably the old story behind it, but is it your daily car or your future racing car project ?

I remember during the 90' this E36 328 was the model that everybody wanted because the E36 M3 was too expensive. 

[Skaala]

congrats! for 206.000 miles I must say it looks very good!

[Stoffie]

Congrats! Nice car 

Given the proper maintenance, those 6-in-lines can go at least double that mileage (if the vanos doesn't act up that is)

[ARMAN]

kewl looks good on pictars, for you theres nothing you can fix on it yourself. I kinda like the sedan version even wanted to by m3 sedan 2years ago right before leaving last job.
As far as I heard it has full aluminium block( ) and need to be properly warmed up before driving the nutts off, very good engine next best thing after M3 *approved by ARMAN*

[danidmas]

And I thought my car needes a replace after 100,000 miles...


Looks pretty nice considering it has covered twice that figure! 

[ARMAN]

^^yea the biger is the car the biger is milege, my 5series passed 300tkm 

[ZfrkS62]

Congrats Zfrk for your new purchase.

I missed probably the old story behind it, but is it your daily car or your future racing car project ?

I remember during the 90' this E36 328 was the model that everybody wanted because the E36 M3 was too expensive.

Here's the link to my previous thread http://www.theautounion.net/index.php/topic,6535.0.html

The Corolla will be relegated to race prep after the winter is over, as I may need it in the icy conditions that they're projecting for this year. Which is a good thing, because I've recently discovered a water leak into the cabin that's soaking the carpets and smells horrible.

Congrats! Nice car 

Given the proper maintenance, those 6-in-lines can go at least double that mileage (if the vanos doesn't act up that is)

VANOS issues are about 80% maintenance related. If the oil changes are neglected, chances are the oil galleys will plug up. This one, I don't think was.

I take back my statement of not having any mods planned. I looked at the trailing arm bushings today and they are damn near useless at this point, so I'm going to look into some solid bushing replacements. I don't plan on treating this one like I do the Toyota, but let's face it, my right foot doesn't know what my brain is doing

[stmoritzer]

have fun with it 

[stradale]

Congrats on your new car, Z!!

The 2.8 is a great engine. As I probably don't need to tell you  , they're pretty much bulletproof if well serviced and handled. You won't get bored soon with the glorious sound of the straight six and its smooth delivery.

I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun with it.

[sameerrao]

Congrats Z 

You need to take some 3 wheeling shots of it for old time's sake.

[Phobo]

On sunday me and a friend also bought a 328i for him. Also a 97build car if I remember correctly only that it was a coupe, cheap like hell and rusted (not quite sure but I think we will rip all the good parts out of the car).

good luck witht he car - hope you´ll enjoy it.

[ZfrkS62]

Today I did something I didn't think I would. My state has been hit with an early snow "storm" and this morning it was clear, but about halfway to work, I started seeing little white flakes illuminated in the headlights. I figured it would flurry a little and then be gone by the end of the day, but by about noon, I knew that wasn't going to be the case.

Sure enough, by the time I left work at 6:45, traffic was a nightmare. My usual on-ramp was stuck solid and uphill, so I knew that wouldn't work. I ended up taking the back road to another on ramp which was easier said than done, since I had to go up and over a large hill to get there. The street I figured would be safe to go down is one of the main roads to the hospital so it should have been cleared. Emphasis on SHOULD HAVE BEEN. The first thing I saw was a Subaru and a Mercedes spun out trying to go up the hill. Yes, a Scooby was stuck. It only got hairy once on the way down. Thank god for the ABS.

Somehow I managed to pick the one on ramp that every damn bus in the state was also using. 20 minutes later I was creeping onto the freeway at 5 mph. And would be stuck at that speed, off and on, for the next 2 hours. All in all, I was impressed with the way the tires stayed stuck to the ground. The whole time I think the ASC light got mad at me about 4 times. Once traffic finally cleared up, I was able to relax and just cruise, though I admit it was tough staying under 45mph (doesn't sound fast, but after 2 and a half hours of the speedometer needle not moving, I felt like I was flying).

Handling, thank god, is predictable as hell when the car starts sliding. That didn't happen until I was almost home and turned down the 3rd to last street. Tires wouldn't bite so I slapped the gear box into neutral and immediately I was going straight again. Walked in the door at 10:45, exhausted as fuck. 

Still think I prefer the front-wheel drive of the Corolla in this shit though 

[ARMAN]

and from all those letters in the story theres none about how you took all the corners sideways?

i agree that FWD is easyer to drive in snow thow

[ZfrkS62]

yes. In 4 months I have racked up 5,000 miles already. I really thought I'd be paying a lot more for gas since this thing wasn't going to get the 35mpg the Corolla did, but I'm not doing that bad. since purchase, I've been averaging 28mpg, and the other night there was no traffic on the way home and managed 31mpg (which included a couple of touches on the 80mph mark)

Haven't had any real issues aside from replacing the worn out trailing arm bushings, air intake boot and another fog light. I do have the check engine light popping on every now and then but I know what the issue is and how to fix it. I'm just lazy I'm also trying to figure out why my RPM's are hanging during shifts.

I am wishing though that it wasn't black. Damn near impossible to keep it clean

[ZfrkS62]

Yes, I've racked up 30,000 miles since November 2010.

70 miles, round trip commute. 5 days a week. 350 x 4 weeks a month = 1400 miles a month.

So far, I've replaced:

-the trailing arm bushings (needed before i bought it)
-the check engine light has popped off and on since about 5,000 miles in. I've replaced two parts related to it, but recently I've discovered the carbon canister is shot which has prevented me from fueling the vehicle properly over the last two tanks. (temporarily resolved)
-the light bulb for the backlighting in the clock
-the light bulbs for the parking brake light and check engine light and some backlighting in the cluster
-several fog light lenses and a bracket
-one fog light bulb and a low beam headlight bulb
-alternator
-set of tires

Due to my parking brake light being out, I also need to replace the parking brake shoes and hardware when I replace the rear brakes..

So, the fog light lenses. Why the hell BMW thought that putting glass lenses 3 inches off the road surface was a good idea, is beyond me. Seems like a silly oversight if you ask me. I've probably replaced the passenger side fog-light 3 times, and the driver's side twice due to rocks and debris finding them on the freeway. I've also not ruled out thermal shock (glass hot due to halogen lights being on and suddenly cooled due a puddle which is not in short supply here). I finally got sick of it and got some polymer covers for them and until two weeks ago, hadn't had a problem. What happened two weeks ago? A free range chicken in the neighborhood crossed the road. Right in front of me. I ended up catching it with the right fog light, knocking it out and breaking the mounting bracket. I found the light in the grass, almost directly in line with the bloody, feather coated spot in the middle of the road. While the incident ended up costing me 86 bucks, the image of the explosion of feathers, when the carcass finally popped out the back of the car,  in my rear view mirror. It was similar to when they shoot, or rip a pillow in cartoons.

Last week though, I was about to tear what little hair I have left, out. When I got my car into the shop to check why I couldn't refuel my car anymore, I realized the CD player was still going. The electronics were acting is if the ignition was in the Accessory position. Ok, fine. 236,000 miles, an ignition switch was inevitable. So I thought. As I was plugging in the new ignition switch, I notice the electronics are still on. Something else is wrong. Very wrong.

I started pulling relays while trying to remember whether or not E36's used a relay to cut power to the car. (Hint: they don't). Now I'm pulling fuses related tot he systems that were still on (Radio, CD Changer, Instruments, Clock). The problem, as it turns out, is that I'm re-installing the fuses as I'm discovering they are not the culprits. After one of the older techs walks by and sees me flipping through the electrical schematics, we come tot he conclusion that I have a genuine short to power somewhere. By checking the vehicle side of the ignition switch connector, we determined that the purple wire, which is supposed to be live in positions "Run" and "Start" (KL-R and KL-50 for those of you who understand BMW's asinine naming system) was live. Given that the ignition switch was disconnected, this meant the power was being back-fed into that wire. After a check of the schematic, it turned out that that wire in question powered fuses 42-46. Next step was to pop out every one of the fuses out and check to see which circuit had juice. Turned out, fuse 43 was getting power and redistributing through the other circuits on the Run/Start circuit. (Oddly enough, I helped AE86_16v with a short to ground on fuse 43 in his '97 M3 a couple of years ago) Now that I knew which circuit to look at, the next step was to isolate whether my fault was at the front or the rear of the car. There is a connector under the left kick panel in the footwell that sends power to the rear of the car. After disconnecting that, I still had a problem, so in 30 seconds, I eliminated an entire half of the car. This left 2 possibilities. Either the General Module was somehow powering this wire, or the connector in the center console for the cell phone (my car doesn't have a cell phone, but it is pre-wired for the option). After tearing out the glove-box, I disconnected all of the connectors. Guess what? I still had power.

Now things are about to get hairy. At this point, I have the left and right lower halves of the dash torn apart, plus the steering column trim and left side A-pillar kick panel removed.

There is a box on the left side behind the dash that has most of the splice points for all the different circuits. These are done in the form of comb connectors where one wire comes in supplying the power for all the other wires connected to it, like the prongs on a fork. I find the one for my troubled circuit (a small group of purple/white wires) and watch my meter as I pull the wires off, one at a time. When the meter drops from 12,6 volts, to 0, I'll have my offending wire. Luckily I found it on the first try. According to the schematic, the only other part on the circuit right now is the cell phone connector, so out comes the cup-holder section of the center console. The connector in question is stored at the base of the folding arm rest. Under the cup-holders. 15 years of spilled coffees and cokes have probably corroded the connector and created my problem. Sure enough, there was a nice coating of coke syrup on the outside of the connector. After cleaning it off and clearing out the pins, I still had a short 

By this point it's about 7:30pm and I'm still at work. I started chasing this around 4pm and I've only managed to narrow down my circuit but not my short. After throwing all of the big parts in the back seat, I refer back to my schematic and see if i can figure out which fuse is providing the power for my short. Come to find out, Fuse 33 is hot at all times and powers the red/white wire next to the purple/white one that has led me to this point. Option seems easy enough. Pull the fuse and drive home that way. Yeah, no. Fuse 33 also powers the left side parking/tail lights...

Fast-forward to 9pm when I pull into my garage, grab a some tools and start tracing my wiring harness. Out comes the board computer and lower half of the center of the dash. I'm expecting the short to be next to the heater box or dash frame. Strangely, grabbing the wiring harness and wiggling it isn't changing my voltage readings on the short. The wiggle test is a proven method of finding a short, so this wasn't making any sense. Fuck it. I start pulling the purple/white wire out of the harness. By the time I get to the front of the heater box, my voltage hasn't changed one fucking tenth of a volt. Now I feel like a retard. I tear apart the cell connector and find out that the red/white wire, after all those years of being spilled on, has corroded and started falling apart. The pieces, bridging it and the purple/white wire. One firm tug on the red wire and out comes half of the pin, and away goes my short.

Since the BMW cell phone is no longer available, and the original cell phones were all analog anyway (all wireless phones and tv broadcasts have been required to be 100% digital for a little over a year now in the US), the best solution was to completely remove the connector from the vehicle. I finished pulling the purple/white wire out, cut the remaining wires and folded them back into the harness.

By the time I got done reassembling my car, it was 12:37am. My alarm goes off at 5:30am...

TL;DR- One-off short to power in an obsolete, un-used circuit caused me 8 and a half hours of grief, for a type of problem I will likely never encounter again..FML

[ARMAN]

explosion of feathers haha  

irritating electrical bugs like this are the worst due to the age of car it can be anywere, luckily bmw's electronics is not that bad comparing to other non german brands