BMW DIY advice, and the occasional critique of the company
Things have been quiet on the BMW M car front for me lately. That’s a very good thing to be able to say, but it hasn’t left me much to write about on the Wheels front. Last week a small issue surfaced that reminded me some DIY fixes can be very simple. The driver side […]
BMW November sales numbers for North America have just been released. Month to month sales were down 2.3 percent, though year to year BMW sales are still up 9.7 percent. It’s been a good year for BMW but sales have definitely cooled since I looked at the March and May sales numbers. Looking behind the […]
The rubber window trim around the front and rear windshields of BMWs can cause owners heartburn. Sometimes called molding or gaskets, the rubber can dry up and deteriorate quickly, seemingly faster than on other cars. Here’s a long and passionate thread via Bimmerfest that stretches back to 2006 on the topic. The window trim doesn’t […]
Earlier this month I wrote about selling my 1999 M3, after almost 11 years of ownership. Here’s the car that made that happen — my “new” 2006 Interlagos Competition Package E46 M3. The purchase happened quickly, and involved a lot of serendipity. I wasn’t in the market for an E46 M3, which is the BMW […]
A personal era closed out this past weekend. After almost 11 years of ownership, I sold my 1999 BMW E36 M3. It only has 62,500 miles, and is in pristine condition. Not only was it in great shape with loads of preventative maintenance, but over the years I made incremental improvements — performance software, exhaust, […]
This past weekend I attended a car show at River Farm, located off the George Washington Parkway in Alexandria. It’s a beautiful property on the banks of the Potomac river, and is the headquarters of the American Horticultural Society. The focus this morning however was cars, and there were some beauties. All makes were welcome. […]
Welcome to part two of my interview with BMW enthusiast Paul Valliere. (You can listen to part one here.) In this conversation Paul and I hypothesize about the future for old-school BMW enthusiasts like ourselves. Here’s a heads up on my take written in 2011, and Paul raises some issues I hadn’t considered. We also […]
Today I’m publishing part one of my interview with Paul Valliere. Paul is a long-time BMW enthusiast who owns three classic BMW M cars, one of them being the Euro-spec E36 M3 pictured above. Only 45 of these vehicles were imported to North America in 1994, and Paul has the official number one. Bimmer magazine […]
This past weekend I repaired a small but annoying issue on my 2002 BMW M5. The rear corner sunshade on the driver side had cracked and lost all tension, leaving the shade flopping loose. Not the most serious of issues that could crop up on this car by a long shot. But it looked sloppy […]
I’ve been publishing Work, Wine and Wheels articles since 2008. I started the site in part to acquire the hands-on skills necessary as the nature of communications work changed dramatically. I counsel clients on how to become online publishers, so I needed to learn how to do it myself. The site has been very successful […]
Last weekend I did an easy but important piece of DIY maintenance. I removed, cleaned and reoiled the Conforti cold air intake (CAI) on my 1999 BMW M3. Two years ago I had to replace the foam filter as part of a full DIY tuneup. I needed to replace it because I never cleaned it, […]
This past weekend I gave my 2002 E39 M5 a thorough inspection. I also changed the oil and swapped the tires side to side to even out the wear. All the fluids were changed last year, so I knew I was in good shape on that front. I’ve now owned the car for over three […]