got the new(er) alternator from Jess, got the old one out and the new one in, while trying to throw the belt back on I found out a bit of a surprise...

http://www.318ti.org/gallery/data/868/1025002006.jpg

Anyone got a spare tensioner pulley they want to throw in the mail for me? lol.

Also got these from eBay, gotta find a time to install them, too.

http://www.318ti.org/gallery/data/86...1025002019.jpg

Finally replaced my squid.

I "installed" a Wheelskin leather steering wheen cover yesterday. For the record, it's the best...also forthe record...It takes FOREVER...

Tomorrow...K&N air filter and Bosch cabin air filter.

OOPS...Today, Rainex top of thew line wiper blades...eh...Good but not worth $20 a blade!

I had the spinning lock tumbler syndrome. I was rolling out ghetto fab style use a screwdriver to start the Ti. So I found a couple fixes:

1. Youtube video - take out tumbler, drill hole, use screw as a set screw, replace tumbler

2. Install a couple switches.

I opted for choice#1 with a modification:

Instead of removing the lock cylinder ( I couldn't no matter how much I fiddled with it) I simply drilled in the same spot the video suggested. One smaller to a larger bit. Installed screw which prevents the lock cylinder from spinning around.

Anyways this fix required a drill, pair of pliers (you want to turn your key all the way to off and use the pliers to turn the tumbler back to its reset position), a metal tapping screw, and flat head screw driver.

Cost me $5

Fixed the front cup holders in the E39 Touring. Waiting for more parts now to fix up some other bits and peices :)

I'm jealous... e34 Tourings don't have any cupholders!

The ti is almost finished with the new Z3 steering rack and rebuilt vanos! Just need to get it on the alignment rack.

removed some more weight and installed the lm-2

Today I did ball joints (control arms), 1996+ M3 control arm bushings and tie rods. All Lemforder/Sachs/ZF stuff. The P80 rubber emulsion will dry overnight (hopefully, it's cold) then I will try an alignment with the new toe adjustment plates I got on eBay. I even loaded the car as instructed!

I had a clunk up front on slow bumps so I just assumed it was the ball joints. Thought I'd do the tie rods while I was in there since they originals. I'm at 199,000 miles. The control arm's ball joints didn't seem too bad (85,000 miles on these Lemforders) but they will probably have to be changed before too long, knowing how E36s go.... The outer ball joints on the tie rods were bad. One was totally gone with a torn boot and all. The other wasn't too great either but the boot wasn't torn. The inner ball joints had no play that I could feel by hand.

I did notice the ball joint on one of my front sway bar links is bad, so I just ordered a pair from Pelican.

Neat cars. Still getting used to it. I'm sure your e34 is also a car to admire :)

Just replaced the BMW logo on the wheels and also put the ///M logo on the replicas.

Also found out the M5 wheels look great, but are a bitch to clean lols

Forever blacked some of the black external plastics which looked like they were starting to fade.

Wow...You guys are doing some exciting stuff! I've been doing less ambitious stuff, but I'm planning engine mods. in the spring... So far my favorite improvement has been, oddly, the new windshield. Actually, maybe I should have started another thread, because was a surprise...

I took my 1998 318ti Sport to get instpected after only having owned it for 2 weeks. I said to myself..."you know this thing is going to need SOMETHING"...After all, I bought it out of town, so I couldn't have my mechanic look at it. I've done this before, but you have to expect that it very well might need SOMETHING when you buy a car that way...

Granted, I replaced the windshield (which wasn't cracked, but was not clear at all), 2 tires, yada, yada...but I did nothing to the brakes or anything else... Well, I was thrilled to find that the car passes inspection with flying colors, and my mechanics (the shop I go to is 2nd generation, the "founders" are the fathers of both of the owners...all 100% German, by the way). My mechanic is also very picky.

So, the great news is, it needed NOTHING!!! This is the first time I've EVER bought a used car that didn't need SOMETHING when I brought it to a mechanic.

I'm the 3rd owner of this super clean 318ti. It was purchased by the second owner (it was a trade in to Princeton BMW, where it was originally purchased)...as a BMW Certified vehicle about 28K miles ago. She owned it for about 5 years. The second owner also kept up the service, and the car was garage kept since new. STILL...I was getting ready for AT LEAST a $500-700 bill when I brought it to be inspected...Brakes, rotors...SOMETHING had to need to be replaced... Instead, I only spent $90...and that included $10 for installing my K&N air filter!!!

Get this...I even have several thousand miles left before it needs an oil change (sytnthetic)!

Maybe I shouldn't have said all this...Watch it NOT start or fall apart this morning!!!
I don't think so, though...

Hahaha awesome bimmerfun :D

Good to hear you found a winner! :)

Thanks, RAiMa! There is something endearing about these little BMW's that you have to love. There are tons of them in Europe, but you really don't see that many in the US.

Wow...that was redundant, but you get my point...They're cool little cars!

I dunno about 'tons', I think Compacts accounted for less than 20% of e36s sold in Europe, and I think the figure is quite a bit lower for the e46 (blame the Rover headlights and Lexus tail-lights, lol) so relatively speaking they are still something of a rarity, especially the M-Sport models. Admittedly mainland Europe might be another story, going by the YouTube clips of people doing doughnuts in car parks they all seem to have found their way into the former Eastern Bloc - Poland, Czech Republic, Lithuania etc etc. I suspect this is because they have all been exported from Germany. The German government boosts their car industry by making it much more expensive to run a car once it's more than about five years old - plus they have a 'scrappage' type scheme where the government subsidises a few hundred towards the cost of a newer car when you are taking an old one off the road. In practise this means that loads of fairly low-mileage cars in decent condition are shipped out of the country and sold elsewhere, although the practise is often condemned as being unnecessarily wasteful of resources...