bcarey

I've got a very slow oil leak from a couple of head bolts (showing one below). I'm getting kind of tired of the oil burning on the exhaust manifold. 

Any tips on stopping this leak? Can I pull the bolt, clean it, and re-insert with a bit of loctite on the threads?

Thanks!

I'm starting to line up my spring/summer project, upgrading my suspension and lowering the car a bit. What you guys have done here is awesome, but I'm taking a more stock approach, using what I already have to save a few bucks. That means stock 13" steelies and the shiny hubcaps, most likely on a set of 185/70/15s. 

I love what eastsidebimmer has done (http://www.bmw2002faq.com/topic/71097-the-stance-thread/page-26#entry33199) but I haven't seen much on stock 13's on this thread. Anyone holding back, or can you point me to another thread?

Thanks!

Hi Maurice (schoir), Hans, Scoyote and Xferboy,

Thanks to all of you for the help. It turned out that it the neutral switch was toast. Here's how I found out:

I gave up with diagnosing the car in the cold, and dark (I have a toddler, so work hours are scarce) and towed the car to my mechanic to have this sorted as well as a few other planned items. My mechanic discovered that the transmission gasket – which he had replaced a few months prior – wasn't fitting quite right, and ATF leaked into the switch and killed it, which is probably why I wasn't able to override it. He swapped it out, and the car started right up. He also fixed the gasket (he corrected a warp in the pan) and did all that work for free. 

Anyway, I just wanted to let you guys know that you nailed the diagnosis. Thanks so much for your help! 

Cheers,

Bjorn

I'm still kicking myself for letting a fjord 74 tii get away for $6500 last year.

Nice driving!

I got BMW seals through Blunt. Same or better price as the dealer, and better service, too! 

I'm glad I asked! Especially appreciative of your input, Mlytle, as I had taken the E46's place in your driveway as a stamp of approval. I just need the occasional reliable ride – I bike to work most days – with airbags for my kid, and was hoping that the offspring of my beloved 02 would fit the bill. I suppose any 10+ year old car with 100k+ miles will have some mix of these problems, but the inclusion of the computer is the real kick in the pants. The search continues. 

Hi Mike,

I have a 73, though I'm not sure what years my bumpers came from. The rear bumper has brackets that seem to match up to the holes, and it came with a handful of hardware. For the front bumper I picked up some euro brackets, but I haven't mounted them yet, so I'm hoping they fit.

Thanks!

Bjorn

Thanks, Esty. That's exactly my plan. What I'm asking is whether anyone has put together a handy shopping list of these parts, so I only have to make one trip to the store. Thanks! 

My car was bumperless when I bought it, but I'm laying the groundwork to solve that issue. I picked up a long euro/tii bumper, and although it came with brackets, it didn't come with the full assortment of nuts/bolts/spacers. Since I have a bunch of the hardware and I can sort it out from the various diagrams, I would like to avoid buying the $50+ full hardware kit and just pick up a few of the individual pieces at the hardware store.

Perhaps I just missed it in the search, but has anyone come across a list of the required parts and their sizes?

Thanks!

Hi all,

I'm contemplating picking up a 2000ish 3 Series, probably a wagon, as a back-up driver/grocery getter. There are some seemingly good deals for 2000-2003 cars in my area right now. I heard that some years were made outside of Germany, and weren't as reliable? Do you have any buying tips, or anything particular to these years/models that I need to keep an eye out for? Assume the car will have 100k+ miles.

Thanks!

We have a 2012 A4 wagon, and it's a blast to drive and very reliable. We didn't test it against a BMW, but if I recall that's because the BMW's backseat was a little too narrow to fit a car seat and two adults very comfortably.

I'm thinking of doing a road trip with some college friends, starting in San Diego. Do any of you know of a place to rent a VW camper van in that area?

Ha, I pointed out the uneven trim line to my wife, to which she replied, "dork." We both agreed which of the two cars was sexier, though. Hopefully this commercial reminds folks what a cool-looking little car the 02 was/is.

Ha, I pointed out the uneven trim line to my wife, to which she replied, "dork." We both agreed which of the two cars was sexier, though. Hopefully this commercial reminds folks what a cool-looking little car the 02 was/is.

I've had good experiences ordering things from Blunt that aren't even listed on his site. They came promptly and at a better price than where I could get it elsewhere.

I'm looking for the lefthand stalk and switch unit to control the high/low beam lights on a 1973 automatic.

Location: palo alto, ca

Saw another BEAUTIFUL specimen on the Stanford campus today. A schwarz tii, looked like a 73, fresh paint, recaros, cibies. Just everything perfect. WHO ARE YOU?

Maurice, Hans, Scoyote and Xferboy,

Thanks for all the additional advice. I'm hoping to give the bulk of these tests a crack tomorrow night. I'll keep you posted. 

Thanks again,

Bjorn

I finally had a chance to give Maurice's trick a try today. No start, but a new noise, though not quite how I expected.

Here's the photo of my starter.

I hooked the negative cable up to the spade (green) as instructed, and the positive cable up to the positive terminal (red) and got nothing. Not even a click of the solenoid, as I had been getting before. On a whim, I then hooked the positive cable to the post circled in blue, with the negative still connected to the spade, and although the car didn't start, it sounded like the starter engaged a little. It didn't crank, but I got more of a "clunk clunk" sound.

Any thoughts on this, or what I should do next?

Thanks! 

There's a nice inka squaretail with a roof rack that I see parked on campus at Stanford once or twice a week. I keep wanting to leave a note on the windshield, but the driver is usually in the car taking a nap, and I don't want to disturb him. Anyone know who this might be?

Hans, Maurice, thanks for the advice. I'll give this a (very careful) go when I get home tonight. I'm really hoping that this will sort out the issue, and that I'll have something positive to report back.

Cheers,

Bjorn

Yes, I checked and cleaned the fuses (they were all in good shape) as well. 

Just a quick update. I got my charger and voltmeter back last night. Charged the battery to 13+, and still no headlights. (Wipers, instrument cluster, running lights etc work.) I checked the voltage from the battery to the end of each cable as suggested above, and got readings that were also in the 13+ range. Cleaned terminals and contacts and still nothing; no headlights, and just the click when I turn the ignition.

I might swap the battery cables this week, on the off chance that the reading at the ends of the cables was incorrect. (I might have done it wrong. What's the procedure?)

The weird thing is that everything fired up fine before I added coolant to the radiator. Then the trouble started. I thought perhaps the engine lurching for the first time in months on that initial start could have dislodged something, perhaps at the alternator, so I checked and wiggled as many wires as I could. 

Any thoughts other than this? It seems I have a more fundamental issue than just a potentially toasted starter... 

I'm really grateful for all your help.

Hi Ray,

I'll give all my connections another look, but I scrubbed all the points yesterday. I'm getting instrument and parking lights to turn on, so some juice is getting through. I loaned out my voltmeter, so I'll have to wait a day or two before I can check the voltage/amperage.

The thing that still gets me is that it started just fine one minute, and then nothing the next.

Thanks again for all your patience.

Thanks for all the advice, all.

I tried rolling it a few feet, starting in neutral, seatbelt on, etc, and the same problem persists. Now, though, the headlights won't come on (and today the left stalk broke off from the column, the problems keep piling on!). They did come on with the previous older battery. Do I have a new problem, or is it possible my new battery is junk/too small?

I don't have the tools to do the jumper option, but I guess that's my next step.

Thanks again for your help. I was planning a nice drive for this weekend to test out the other work I've done, so being stuck in my garage is a little discouraging.