» Site Navigation | | » Recent Threads | | | | | | 06-12-2014, 11:47 PM | #1 | Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2014 Location: Long Beach, CA Posts: 3 | New 318 owner need a little advice I just bought a 95 318ti. I just replaced the air conditioning belt, and changed the oil. The recommended oil is a non synthetic 15/40, but when looking through the service records it has been given a 20/50 for quite a few years. I went ahead and used a 20/50, but i'm wondering if that's ok considering I live in socal. Or if I should switch to synthetic 5/30 like most bmw mechanics recommend. And when replacing the filter I had to buy one for a 96, as the original one I bought was to big. Is this normal and how can I tell the difference between an m42/m44? I'm going to change the serpentine belt, pads and rotors next, and the headliner is saggy so i'm going to re-glue that. And is there any advice or quirks you guys can tell me about the car I should look into? and maybe some things I should do preemptively just for the health of the car? I would greatly appreciate any and all advice. | | | 06-13-2014, 03:24 AM | #2 | Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Wichita Falls, Texas Posts: 1,364 | Welcome! I live in hot north Texas, and I run Mobil 1 10-40 year around. My opinion is that any of the oil weights you mentioned would be fine, but I would definitely use synthetic. Unless the car came with a detail service history, the first thing I would do is to change all the fluids and filters in the car. Main thing to do to avoid major engine problems is to keep the cooling system in tip top shape by replacing some parts such as radiator, water pump and the two plastic water pipes before they fail. Overheating a ti engine will get you a blow headgasket at best or a ruined head at worst. Watch the water temp gauge and if the needle ever goes past half way, pull over asap and find out what the problem is. I have learned through bitter experience that floppy headliners can never be glued back successfully. Just take the entire headliner out of the car and start over again. It really isn't difficult. I see that you are from Long Beach. In the summer of 1968 I roughnecked offshore in Long Beach harbor. Yes, I am that old! Cheers, John | | | 06-13-2014, 06:57 AM | #3 | Senior Member Join Date: May 2013 Location: Seattle Posts: 513 | I have a m44 and by mistake bought a m42 k&n. The m42 has one dimension that is the same but is about 3" shorter in the other dimension than the m44. Edit: whoops somehow read air filter. If I didn't contribute useless information I'd contribute nothing at all. Last edited by BRADESTAR; 06-13-2014 at 04:34 PM. Reason: Tired eyes | | | 06-13-2014, 10:25 AM | #4 | Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: SW Florida Posts: 4,275 | There were two oil filters used in 1995. If you have a black plastic oil filter housing cap...it's the same filter used in the 1996. If it's the metal cap...it's the early 1995 filter you'll need. I'm guessing you found yours to be the black plastic cap. __________________ Sean 1995 Active | | | 06-15-2014, 06:51 AM | #5 | Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2014 Location: Long Beach, CA Posts: 3 | Yes it was the black plastic cap. And it was really hard to get off. I had to take the radiator hose off, and use a huge crescent wrench to get it off. and now im worried, as when I drove to the auto parts store to get coolant to replace what was lost. I had just put water in, in the meantime, it got a little hot. I let it cool for 30 minutes, and refilled it with coolant but it read hot on the drive home, which is about 4 minutes. I haven't started it again, as I got a ride to work, so in the morning i'm hoping nothing bad has happened. | | | 06-15-2014, 06:52 AM | #6 | Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2014 Location: Long Beach, CA Posts: 3 | So I'm thinking if nothing is wrong, do an entire coolant flush, and do as suggested and just put in a new radiator just to be safe. | | | 06-15-2014, 08:00 AM | #7 | Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Sacramento, CA Posts: 2,451 | If you lost much coolant, make sure you bleed the system well as overheating is not cool with these cars. Look in the DIY section as there is a good write up there on proper bleeding. Regards and congrats on your new TI! __________________ 1998 318ti Sport - "Cali" Schwartz II/Schwartz sport interior, Cali top 1998 318ti Sport - "Max" Schwartz II/Schwartz sport interior, S52 1997 318ti Sport - "Tiny" Schwartz II/Schwartz sport interior 1995 318ti Active - "Blanca" Alpineweib III/Schwartz leather interior Other Current Bimmers: 2006 530i / 2000 2.3L Z3 / 1997 1.9L Z3 / 1999 540it 1997 318ti Sport - "Huera" - RIP 1995 318ti Active - RIP 1995 318ti Sport - "Tiny" Sold 1994 325i Sedan - "Jade" - Sold 1991 318ic - "Bert" - Sold 1985 635csi sold 1984 533i "Max" Sold 1984 318i sold BMWCCA #160411 SUPPORT 318ti.org! CLICK THE LINK ABOVE! Hosting a forum like this is not free. 318ti.org is one of the best BMW forums on the web because it is member supported, not vendor supported. The cost to become a Supporter is a nominal $10.00... A YEAR! DO IT! 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