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BMW 3-Series Maintenance and Repair

5349 messages,  Last post on Apr 30, 2013 at 3:31 PM

You are in the BMW 3-Series Forum.

What is this discussion about? BMW 3 Series, Sedan

    
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Messages Page 227 of 535

#2259 of 5349 akajimbo by div2

Aug 24, 2005 (7:21 pm)

The first thing I would do is clean the battery cables/terminals and then load test the battery. My money's on the battery. For what it's worth, BMW batteries are not truly maintenance free; the electrolyte level needs to be checked every six months. I've followed that regimen on my 1995 318ti and 1997 528i-and both still have their original BMW batteries. If your battery is bad, don't waste your money on a BMW replacement battery; for some reason they never last as long as the OEM units. Buy an Interstate Mega-Tron. I think your car uses an MTP-91.

#2260 of 5349 Re: MR Shiftright [selm] by Mr_Shiftright HOST

Aug 24, 2005 (7:31 pm)

Replying to: selm (Aug 24, 2005 5:01 pm)
I'd do two things so that you aren't replacing clutches every 3 months.
 
One, I'd teach her what a tachometer is and how to use it as a shifting aid.
 
Two, I'd teach her how a clutch works (I can see her eyelids closing as you sit there at the kitchen table with two dinner plates). That way she knows what is going on as she works the pedal and the shift lever.
 
By using the tach she will never short-shift or over rev, and by knowing how a clutch works she won't ride on the clutch pedal or try to hold the car on a hill with the clutch----all clutch killing habits.

#2261 of 5349 Re: MR Shiftright [Mr_Shiftright] by selm

Aug 25, 2005 (7:45 am)

Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Aug 24, 2005 7:31 pm)
Thanks. I hope this will help. The last time we tried she stalled the car walked oout of it and said "I don't know why anyone would want to drive one of these things." Alright, I will stop digressing and let the forum continue for its original purpose.

#2262 of 5349 Re: MR Shiftright [Mr_Shiftright] by odessit

Aug 25, 2005 (7:51 am)

Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Aug 24, 2005 7:31 pm)
Mr Shiftright. I know that I am off the topic but it seems like you can explain things very good. I never drove stick before and now trying to get a feel of steptronic in manual mode (I have 325i 2006). Can you give a short lesson please? If you don’t want to waste space here simply email me. I am driving in manual mode few weeks now and think I got it more or less. But still prefer to see some guidelines and suggestion from someone who really knows how to do it. Simply afraid to break the transmission. Also want to do it right to keep gas consumption to a minimum.
thanks
mike

#2263 of 5349 Re: MR Shiftright [odessit] by Mr_Shiftright HOST

Aug 25, 2005 (8:40 am)

Replying to: odessit (Aug 25, 2005 7:51 am)
This is also a tachometer issue....you can't break anything with a tiptronic (oops, that's Porsche) as the computer won't let you over-rev or downshift at the wrong time. Some manumatics are really slick--they actually reve the engine for you as you downshift so that your engine and transmissions speeds are matched.
 
So just watch your tach and shift before red-line each time. It's pretty simple. As for downshifting, you just have to experiment...the idea is that when you are say in 4th gear, you watch your tach and if it drops too low ("too low" is different say for your car than mine, which is a V8)...let's just say in your car 2,000 rpm is "too low",....then you downshift and you'll see the tach jump up to...oh maybe 3,300 or so....whatever...the idea is to use the tach to learn what is "too low" in any gear and what is "too high"...personally, if you are over 4,000 rpm in any gear, downshifting gets tricky, as you'll run way up over 5,000...which is okay for a BMW certainly but you want to avoid what we call "compression braking"....where you downshift at a high rpm and the engine braking is severe.
 
I never recommend downshifting to "brake" a car....if you have a red light or stop sign or a stopped car in front of you, don't be downshifting to slow the car down. Downshifting is to gain advantage for some purpose
 
So don't pick a low gear unless you are going to DO something with it.

#2264 of 5349 Re: MR Shiftright [Mr_Shiftright] by odessit

Aug 25, 2005 (9:17 am)

Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Aug 25, 2005 8:40 am)
Thanks a lot. This is very much appreciated.

#2265 of 5349 Re: Need advice on 2002 BMW 325XI [holeinone] by jbuchanan

Aug 30, 2005 (7:03 pm)

Replying to: holeinone (Aug 23, 2005 2:26 pm)
Hi a few days later,if you think BMW dealers hold their noses high just buy a mercedes and deal with those service writers.every writer I've delt with thinks they are better then you.
 
     jbuchanan

#2266 of 5349 BMW STARTER PROBLEM by fawn

Aug 31, 2005 (9:57 am)

Replying to: jbuchanan (Aug 30, 2005 7:03 pm)
Hi - I hope you can help me out with this problem(s). I’ll try to explain it as best as I can.
 
Lately, my car will not start and the check engine light comes on. The first time I took it to the mechanic, he plugs the computer in and it tells him to replace the crank shaft sensor. I take it home, drive it for a few more days and the same things happen. The car won’t start, the check engine light comes on. When I try to start it, no sound, nothing happens. I do this same routine for a few more times and eventually, it will start. So I take it back to the mechanic and he struggles with it and says that he needs to replace the ignition starter. So he did. I take it home, drive it for a few days and same thing happens. On the 3rd day or so, I drive it for over 20 miles, park it for an hour, come back and try to start it and it won’t for the first few tries. Eventually, it starts, but now when I press on the gas until it passes 2rpm, I release the gas, the car dies. I do this a few more times and it doesn’t improve. I let the car sit for 15+minutes, try starting it again and it does. Now the check engine light is on. The mechanic plugs in the computer, runs the diagnostic test, nothing comes up and when he unplugs the computer, the check engine light goes off. The mechanic sends the car home with me and says he can’t figure it out.
 
Have you heard of this happening before and what was the problem?
 
Please help, Fawn.

#2267 of 5349 fawn by div2

Aug 31, 2005 (11:58 am)

What year and model is your BMW? Regardless, it sounds like you need to find another mechanic. Was the battery ever load tested? How about the charging system? Were the main relays tested against known good ones? Did he check the idle control valve(assuming your BMW has one)? The ECU? Can he spell ECU?Your best bet is to find a qualified BMW tech who can diagnose a problem-as opposed to simply throwing parts at it.

#2268 of 5349 Re: Need advice on 2002 BMW 325XI [jbuchanan] by holeinone

Sep 01, 2005 (9:42 am)

Replying to: jbuchanan (Aug 30, 2005 7:03 pm)
erickpl and jbuchanan, i'm not saying Mercedes will be better. i will switch just based on principles. that's how i behave. if a credit card company give me lots of hassles, i'll just close my account. trust builds over a lifetime, but it take just one event to destroy.

Messages Page 227 of 535

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