It’s been relatively quiet on the M car front lately. I purchased new summer tires for my M3, and I had to redo a front sway bar link that blew out shortly after install. I added a far superior, aftermarket drink holder solution to the M5. And unfortunately, I ran into my first DIY fail […]
Last weekend was a busy one on the BMW DIY front. I replaced the front sway bar end links on my E46 M3 at a DIY/block party hosted by RevTech Performance. I also installed a brand new set of OE European Hella headlights for my E39 M5. I had noticed the worn end links during […]
This weekend I attended another DIY event organized by the National Capital Chapter of the BMW Car Club of America. Craftsman Auto Care, owned by Matt and Judy Curry, generously hosted the club at their Merrifield location. I took my 2006 M3 and a short list of maintenance items, nothing too ambitious. It had been […]
Earlier this month I stupidly pulled the front bumper cover off my 2006 M3. It took the better part of the month to repair. The delay was caused by travel, some miscommunication with the repair shop, the holidays and parts availability. Nothing is ever simple with BMWs so I was expecting some complications and was […]
It was a rough Monday after a nice Thanksgiving holiday break. My head hangs in shame as I type because I accidentally pulled the front bumper off my E46 M3 yesterday morning. I drove too far over one of those parking lot spacers, and when I reversed it came almost totally off. A stunningly stupid […]
Last weekend BMW of Sterling hosted the club for a DIY event. It’s a beautiful facility and they always make it a great experience. We’re careful not to bug the staff while they are working but foreman Tony was very accommodating if anyone was stuck or needed a question answered. My sister-in-law was visiting and […]
Last week I did an old school oil change in my driveway. I use that term because I’ve become very used to handling DIY work at the events organized by the local National Capitol chapter of the BMW Car Club of America. But of course COVID-19 changed all that and there hasn’t been an event […]
Things have been slow on the BMW maintenance front due to the corona virus and sheltering in place. Club DIY events were canceled in March and there is no update on when they will restart. Fortunately neither of my cars require any scheduled maintenance at the moment and I’m putting fewer miles on them than […]
Over the Thanksgiving holiday I installed a stock air intake in my 2006 BMW E46 M3. When I bought the car in 2014 it came with an aftermarket cold air intake (CAI). Replacing the CAI had been on my project list for a while. The CAI name is a misnomer – most of them become […]
This weekend my E46 M3 got some important preventative maintenance. Working with a guy from M3Forum who specializes in this work, we locked down the Vanos system on my car. Vanos is an abbreviation of the German word for the variable camshaft timing system. The system on my S54 engine adjusts the timing of both […]
Over the Memorial Day weekend I tackled a DIY project that had been on my list for a while. I replaced the driver side door handle on my 2006 BMW M3. The silver coating on the handle flaked off somehow as I opened the door one day. Since this obviously didn’t affect the car performance-wise […]
This weekend was the first BMW CCA National Capital Chapter (NCC) DIY date that worked for me this year. BMW of Sterling hosted the club on Saturday and I was able to do some simple maintenance on my E46 M3. I changed the oil and the coolant. To drain the coolant the traditional way in […]