BMW DIY advice, and the occasional critique of the company
This weekend I tackled an irritating issue with my BMW 530i. I had a problem with the air conditioning, and the recent heat wave pushed this problem into the urgent quadrant. Summer time in DC, plus my wife complaining about it meant I could no longer use the time-tested technique of ignoring the problem. The […]
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 […]
This month my 1999 M3 turns 11. She is one of the last E36 M3s built, since production of the M3 coupe ended in April of 1999. She has her quirks, but she’s a great car built just before cars became computers on wheels. I share how I feel about her in this birthday post […]
Last weekend was beautiful in the DC area, and a great time for a little car spring cleaning. I took the snow tires off the 530, swapped out the interior rubber mats for carpet and gave her a thorough hand washing. For the M3, I needed to wash her and then remove the lip spoiler […]
If there is one thing that working on your car instills in you, it’s a little humility. You never know when a task will be tougher and more frustrating than advertised. Such was the case earlier this month when the brake light circuit error started flashing across the display screen of my 1999 M3. The […]
The blizzard of 2009 took me a little by surprise, as it did many DC area residents. Yes, the media was reporting on the possible snow totals for a couple of days but the media here always hypes snow. Between work and Christmas shopping, I had put off putting the snow tires on the 530. […]
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 […]
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, […]
Last weekend I got a couple of quick, fun DIY projects acccomplished. In my previous wheels post I said I needed to give the M3 some attention, but again these were focused on the 530. A little BMW esoterica — the 2001 530 was the first class of BMW car that came with the now […]
Happy Labor Day to all. It’s an especially fun one for me since I’ve finally completed a project on the 2001 530. But it took an incredible amount of time, I started this project at the beginning of the summer. Here then is the story. I have wanted to freshen up the 530 bumpers for […]
This is a combination Wine and Wheels post. Gabriele got a new (to us, anyway) car, and in celebrating we discovered a fantastic Zinfandel. First the car. There was only one thing wrong with the white Murano we purchased last year — the former owner had been a smoker. Despite some kind of treatment the […]
Last month driving home from Silver Spring on a Friday night I was side-swiped by some guy in a minivan. The hit wasn’t major, he gave me a glancing blow as he cut me off in traffic. But it looked horrible, with damage and scratches down the back two thirds of the driver side. I […]