What did you do to your car today?

[familytruckster]

Replaced the water pump... again.

And gave up on fixing the car. Gonna drive it until it stops moving. Already spent too much money and time on this piece of crap.

[Davidoff]

filled it up with gas .. damn .. this thing gets 8.5 /100 ... that a change frommy fd x7 .. ~20 ifimnice to it .. lol

[familytruckster]

Took it to get the emissions test... Somehow it passed.

[JunpoweR]

Originally Posted by roadrash

I've got a CF gauge cluster cover. If I could figure out how to SAFELY get it out of the cluster, I'd sell it to ya.

PICS!

And do you have tools?

[JunpoweR]

Put the 318Ti.org stickers on today!

[Whiplash71]

Mounted type 35's today - damn she looks sharp! Love my Ti.
Next up - putting the engine back together. ; )

[cooljess76]

Originally Posted by familytruckster

Replaced the water pump... again.

And gave up on fixing the car. Gonna drive it until it stops moving. Already spent too much money and time on this piece of crap.

What caused the water pump to fail in the first place? I ask because they are a rather simple design. There's not much that can fail on them besides the bearing wearing out or the impellar breaking(if you have the older plastic impellar model). Did you replace it with a new OEM water pump? What was the cause of the second pump failing? Was it a leak or an actual failure? Did you replace the o-ring? Did you pry the old one out of the aluminum timing cover and perhaps mar the material around the sealing surface?

Just seems like you're having some terrible luck with your Ti. Maybe the Ti just isn't meant for you. Although I find it rather odd that a large percent of the forum consists of kids under 20 years old and somehow they manage to keep their 15 year old Bimmers on the road Ti's can be great cars if they're taken care of. Like any old car, they'll require maintenance and repairs more frequently as they age. Sounds like the previous owner of your Ti skipped out on some of the upkeep. Whatever you get into next, I hope it doesn't tap into your wallet as much as your Ti has. Best of luck and best wishes

[familytruckster]

This car has a horrible history...previous owner had it for 400 miles before over heating and destroyed the motor. Before that it looks like it sat for about 7 years with the top end of the motor in the trunk. This thing sure wasn't well maintained, everything is shot. I already replaced the motor, the whole cooling system, all the vacuum lines, brakes, all of the sensors (except the MAF), the rear bushings. The trans is going out, the rest of the suspension needs to be replaced, and there is something wrong with the engine control. I was really psyched to get an e36, I always wanted one, but damn this one is a piece. I've had lots of old cars, I'm cheap-and old, and really damn grumpy and have better things to spend my money on, like a mortgage, feeding my kids...


No idea why it failed, it was leaking coolant around the shaft and being slung from the pulley. It was a Graf, new o-ring and all. Which I put in because I wanted to completely redo the cooling system before putting the car on the road, due to unknown history of the used motor.

[cooljess76]

well it sure sounds like you've given it your best. It's just a shame that all of your hard work will be for nothing. Have you considered buying another Ti, perhaps one with less problems? Atleast this way you can still benefit from your experiences and heck, you'd have a whole parts car at your disposal, lol.

[Jean H.318TI]

wash her

[matt4068]

dahamler
that is one hec of a wagon! i'd ride that around for sure!!

broke 199100mi today. gettin close to the 200,000 mark...

[familytruckster]

Originally Posted by cooljess76

well it sure sounds like you've given it your best. It's just a shame that all of your hard work will be for nothing. Have you considered buying another Ti, perhaps one with less problems? Atleast this way you can still benefit from your experiences and heck, you'd have a whole parts car at your disposal, lol.

Yeah, sure wish I could have had more help with troubleshooting it. Not just be berated because I am frustrated with it.

I'll just run it until it dies, I don't have the money to buy another car. (I've blown almost 3K in the last few months on the ti) I'll just fix the wife's old POS Hyundai and drive that.

[cooljess76]

Originally Posted by familytruckster

Yeah, sure wish I could have had more help with troubleshooting it. Not just be berated because I am frustrated with it.

I'll just run it until it dies, I don't have the money to buy another car. (I've blown almost 3K in the last few months on the ti) I'll just fix the wife's old POS Hyundai and drive that.

Well dang. I fully understand your frustration and sympathyze with you on the financial issues. Seems money is a sore spot for everyone right now. I will say that you're almost there and if a little encouragement will help out, I'd like to offer it. I have a spare set of shocks and struts laying in my garage. They're not blown, but they only have a little life left in them. You can have them for free if you want to cover shipping. I know Bluebimma(Tony) has a couple transmissions laying around in his garage. He's selling them for really cheap, I think he even said free if you're willing to pick it up. ECU's cost about a hundred bucks and you might be able to bypass the EWS in order to save money having it realigned. Hang in there man. Don't get too worked up, afterall it's just a car. I haven't driven mine in a couple years, but from what I remember they're really fun

[JunpoweR]

I been driving mines every day! haha

[RAiMA]

Installing larger fuel pump She's almost finished