A Newby & a Chick... Thinkin I'm Not Gonna Fit In Here

[redhottaudrey]

Hey Guys, so after test driving the 97' 318ti 3 separate times I fell in love... a hella lot easier to do with this car than the guys I've been meeting lately.

I'm buying it tomorrow and then I get to start on all the little repairs. I'll try to put some pics up tomorrow.

Any advice as to where I should order a passenger window regulator?

And the rear speakers are blown & i've got to have a CD player... can i get a stock upgrade from a BWM dealership or are there some other options?

The car is in great condition and I'm planning on keeping it mainly stock and classy but if you guys have some advice for upgrades, I'd appreciate it.

Anybody in the ATL area?

[SDKmann]

Why would you think that you wouldnt fit in here? We love all ti owners. Check your local junkyards for the window regulator if you dont want to go to the dealer. As for mods Id definitely start with a nice set of wheels and tires and then do my favorite mod, the VW MKIII lip (search that in the knowledge base to find out more).

[roadrash]

Originally Posted by redhottaudrey

after test driving the 97' 318ti 3 separate times I fell in love... a hella lot easier to do with this car than the guys I've been meeting lately.

LOL... I feel your pain on that one. I like my car more than most women I've met in a long time.

Originally Posted by redhottaudrey

And the rear speakers are blown & i've got to have a CD player... can i get a stock upgrade from a BWM dealership or are there some other options?

There are various audio upgrades/solutions, none of which I remember off the top of my head. I know there's an adapter available that allows you to use a larger speaker in the rear, but I think it's sold in Europe. Your best bet would be to do a little searching here.

Originally Posted by redhottaudrey

I'm planning on keeping it mainly stock and classy but if you guys have some advice for upgrades, I'd appreciate it.

Thank you for taking the "classy" route! Suggested upgrades would depend on the trim package of your car. Do you know if it's a base model, or has the Active or Sport package?

There are a few Atlanta folks here, I'm sure you'll stumble upon them soon. I actually found my car on the SE side of Atlanta, can't recall the town at the moment... duh.

I'm also unsure why you'd think that you won't fit in here. You've already got one thing in common with everyone here.

[Borg561]

Originally Posted by roadrash

I'm also unsure why you'd think that you won't fit in here. You've already got one thing in common with everyone here.

Ditto. We all love the ti, and I'd say the majority of us love women, so I think you'll fit in just fine. Just beware of Pauly (aka, ti-Freak).

In regards to the window regulator, junkyards would be the first place to check. One thing to keep in mind is that our window regulators are the same as the ones in the sedan and wagon, so you don't have to just look for a ti. Any E36 compact, sedan, or wagon (which is pointless to look for since they didn't sell them in the US) will work.

If you can't get a decent one from a junkyard, you can probably get them from the dealership. Not sure about cost, but realoem.com lists it for just over $100. If that doesn't work, you can always get one from Bavauto.com or pelicanparts.com. Just checked prices, Bavauto wants $90 + shipping, Pelican wants $104 + shipping. Part number you're looking for is 51-33-1-977-610. If the regulator arms aren't in terrible shape, you might even be able to fix it without replacing the regulator. Check out Cooljess76's permanent fix how-to here. Sean fixed my driver's side regulator when I was out in Denver a few weekends ago and it was twisted a lot. It's held up so far since then (thanks again Sean )

Oh, and welcome to the org. When you get the chance, many of us would love to see pictures of your car.

Edit: Rendoll is parting out his ti and just posted up the passenger window regulator. Thread is here. Might consider posting there or PMing him to see how much he wants for it.

Justin

[thesk8nmidget]

you will fit in just fine we have had our fare share of girls on here and still do.
they are so active anymore but i actually bought my club sport from a girl on this forum.

for updates of the cd player a bmw cd player runs at minimum 200 dollars and it is a cd43 or business cd player.
bimmerforums has them for sale usually. or you can go a different route and but an aftermarket one or buy a cd changer which is already pre wired in your car if you have the stock tape deck.

[zboot]

Originally Posted by redhottaudrey

Any advice as to where I should order a passenger window regulator?

Rendoll911 has one available. Send him a pm.

http://www.318ti.org/forum/member.php?u=1187

[naustin]

Ti girl and a looker to boot! Welcome to the forums. Always good to see there's another ti in the world. Good luck on the regulator, i have an extra.. but i think im gonna hang onto it since they seem to go out regularly . I'm just stingy like that. I'd say just go aftermarket on the radio will be cheaper, trick is finding one that doesnt trash up the bmw feel on the inside.

[thesk8nmidget]

i just posted my old deck for sale in a new thread. reason for sale is i wanted original bmw parts on my club sport. the deck is great and does everything you could ever need.

[ATF]

+1 on buying a window regulator from a 3rd party. A lot of guys have some parts cars and I'm sure will be willing to sell you one. As for the rear speakers, unless you got an OEM replacement, they're pretty hard to replace because they're not an industry standard size. You could put new speakers in your deck.

[Marv17]

welcome. you'll do fine here. we're a bunch of guys that love the ti, women, and of course helping each other out. so you have nothing to worry about here. Like everyone else said try to look for a window regulator from a 3rd party, members, from this forum. I'm sure i saw like 2 of them for sale recently, or even ebay. Unless you want to give it a go to see if you can fix the one you already have if it isn't shot yet.
as for the head unit - it shouldn't be that big of an issue to find. just find someone nice enough to put it in for you if you don't know how that wouldn't charge to high. Since you said you have to replace the rear speakers you should know that they are 4inch speakers if I'm not mistaken. however, if you go to a private shop they can probably fabricate you an adapter to fit a 5.25 inch speaker to match the front speakers. Good luck, and again, welcome.

[redhottaudrey]

So this is where all the nice guys are hiding- under the hoods of their cars, haha. Thanks for all the help!

Guess I should actually buy the car before I try to order everything to fix it... going to the dealership in a bit! I haven't been this excited since... yea, it's been a while. I'll have pics up as soon as I wash it!

So how do I know if it's the regulator or the motor for the window? I assumed it was the regulator since everyone seems to have problems with that. It's just stuck in the closed position...

[cali-ti]

you'll likely need to pull the door panel and take a look.

[BakeR318]

It had to be done.


OH! Welcome to the forums...congrats on the ti

[96cali]

Hey welcome to the org. Post up some pics of the car and that will get everyone to chime in with suggestions. Generally things here are a bit nicer and helpful than other, bigger forums. Hope you buy and stick around.

[aceyx]

Originally Posted by redhottaudrey

So how do I know if it's the regulator or the motor for the window? I assumed it was the regulator since everyone seems to have problems with that. It's just stuck in the closed position...

That's a common approach if it only breaks when it moves--don't move it.

More than likely they just pulled the plug off the motor, effectively locking the window up. Unless there is a clicking or burning (copper) smell, the motor is probably fine. One thing you probably want to order with the regulator is new clips, two per side.

It's a pretty easy replacement to do but you may need a few odd tools like a T20 torx and a small chisel (to remove the rivets). There are various writeups here regarding the regulator, and I have a walkthrough in my gallery on how to remove the door panel.

My suggestion is that during installation, clean out all the grease from the tracks attached to the window (use a degreaser) and instead use spray teflon lubricant ($6 at Lowe's/HD) to allow the clips to slide in the track.