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Sedans BMW 3-Series BMW 3-Series Maintenance and Repair
4446 messages, Last post on Nov 29, 2009 at 12:04 PM
You are in the BMW 3-Series Forum. Your Hosts are pat & karens
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Replying to: tsj3 (Jan 28, 2008 9:39 am) |
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Replying to: roadburner (Jan 08, 2008 11:59 am) I appreciate the advice. I am leaning toward getting a used engine with 80-100K miles on it - I've looked on sites such as car-part.com and prices range from $350 -$1000. I figure another $1000-$1500 in labor. Do you think I should stick with a 4 cyl engine vs 6 cyl? I am thinking the 4 cyl will be more cost effective and would theoretically have less issues since that is what is in the car to begin with. I have found a guy that works on various makes - not specifically BMWs - that is interested in performing the work on the side- my usual shop seemed to be extremely expensive. Any concerns there, or is the job easy for someone familar with that kind of work regardless of make? Thanks.
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Recently I took my 2007 328xi to have a scheduled oil change. At the time the car had 14,800 miles and was 11 months old. The dealer read the car's computer data from the key fob and told me the car still had 2,800 mile to go before a change was indicated but said despite this it could be done after the car had its first birthday. Since I had erroneously assumed that the change would simply be done at 15,000 miles I now started to track the miles remaining until a change was indicated. What I noticed was that the miles until a change was due were going up! Shortly after the car was a year old I returned to have the oil changed at which time I pointed out that the indicator now suggested that there were 11,000 miles remaining until an oil change and not due until 10/2010. (No I had not played with any settings). The dealer said there was a TSB on this issue and not only replaced the oil but also upgraded the software. IDOC |
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Replying to: bslate (Jan 29, 2008 12:45 pm) A 4 cylinder swap will obviously be an easier procedure. If you are happy with the performance I'd stick with it. I have found a guy that works on various makes - not specifically BMWs - that is interested in performing the work on the side- my usual shop seemed to be extremely expensive. Any concerns there, or is the job easy for someone familar with that kind of work regardless of make? The guy you found might do excellent work -who knows?- but it has been my experience that you are almost always better off using a tech who knows BMWs. The swap procedure is pretty straightforward, but think about it: Will that guy have the proper torque specs? Or even care? Does he know how to bleed the M42/M44 cooling system? Does he know that he MUST use BMW coolant? Will he bother to get the proper copper nuts to use on the exhaust system? You know what they say about a jack of all trades...
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Replying to: roadburner (Jan 30, 2008 11:27 am) If it was Chevy-Ford-Pontiac, I'd say sure. |
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Is this a possible DIY w/o complications?
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Replying to: achap98991118 (Jan 31, 2008 1:15 pm) The job isn't all that difficult. Here's the step by step procedure for an E36 3 Series- the procedure for your 323i will be about the same.
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Replying to: roadburner (Jan 31, 2008 4:30 pm) Are the Bentley BMW maintenance manuals that are often suggested on these boards anywhere near as good as this?
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Replying to: cdnpinhead (Feb 01, 2008 5:06 am) |
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Replying to: cdnpinhead (Feb 01, 2008 5:06 am) Mr. Shiftright is correct, the Bentley manuals don't have as many illustrations, but I still consider them to be the best collection of reference material short of an official BMW CD.
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