Changed the rear pads. Easiest job I have done on the car so far.
Make sure you chock the front wheels as this is obviously a rear wheel drive car and therefore nothing will lock the front wheels as simply as putting it in gear, like on a front wheel drive car.
Wheel off, two bolts on the back of the caliper off and the caliper comes off.
Remove the old pads. I tend to clean the area up a bit, where parts mate, i.e. where the pads sit in the caliper carrier; I just clean it up with a wire brush to remove accumulated crud.
Push the piston back into the caliper to make room for the new thickness of the new pads. This was actually as easy as pushing it in. Usually you have to wind the rear pistons in, applying pressure and turning it, but these just pushed in; nice.
I also like to pull the caliper sliding pins out to ensure they are clean and free moving. I clean them up and apply some fresh grease and put them back in the carrier and ensure they are lovely and slippy :)
Insert new pads, re-attach wiring to sensors and put the caliper back in place. Re-insert the bolts, refit the wheel, job done!
Sunday, 14 March 2010
Wednesday, 3 March 2010
168,570 Miles
Just the day I went on paternity leave, we were luckily just getting home when the car started making a very funny noise and I could feel it too. It was an awful rumbling noise accompanied by vibration from the engine being felt through the steering wheel. Not nice. I had grim thought when listening to it at first thinking, oh no maybe the crank bearings have gone, as it sounds like a horrible, low down, internal knocking noise.
As I had just started paternity leave I luckily didn't need to go to work, so the next day I limped to the garage and asked someone to have a quick look. The very helpful people at TS Motors, Watford, had a quick look and spotted the obvious that the water pump had gone. The symptom being the rad fan, which is mounted to the pump on the front of the engine via a viscous coupling, was wobbling all over the place.
I was quite surprised, but also relieved, but the thought that the water pump had gone didn't cross my mind initially as the system had not lost any water. Usually, if the bearing fail in the pump, it tends to dump all its water in one go and you over heat. So I was surprised this had not happened. Anyway, looking at it, it was obvious as the fan was just flopping about, I knew the part wouldn't be too expensive, just a labour intensive job, i.e. lots of labour charge.
I would ordinarily do a job like this myself at home, but seeing as we had just had a new baby, it was not really convenient, so I booked it in to the garage to have the work done.
Whilst in the garage, I wanted them to do a few other jobs, seeing as it would be on the ramps. I needed to change the glow plugs, as the engine was becoming very reluctant to start, cranking for 30 seconds plus easily to get started. The cold winter had finally taken its toll and killed them off. The poor starting was becoming a major problem, especially when leaving for work at 0630 when all is quiet and then there's me cranking for a minute!
Also, unfortunately, I suspected the lower front control arm bushes had gone again. I could easily shove the front of the wheel inwards and see the bush flexing far too much. The car had not been handling brilliantly even after changing all the control arms only 2 months earlier. I think it is down to one of two things: Either I fitted them incorrectly or the components were inferior/faulty.
The only way I could think I fitted them wrong was if they were super sensitive to being tightened up with the arms in the correct orientation. You are supposed to tighten the bolt through the bushes with the arms positioned as if the car is at rest on its wheels on the ground, so that in most situation, the bush is not twisted, only temporarily with movement away from the rest position of the suspension. I tightened mine up with the hub jacked up, not literally with the wheels on the ground, so I could only think the angle was not quite right, but I find it very difficult to believe this would cause the bush to fail within two months.
The other idea is inferior or faulty components. I doubt they were faulty. Its possible but very unlikely really. So perhaps inferior. These were the cheapest option arms I could find, only 20 GBP each. I am sure I had read somewhere someone saying that you should really use OEM parts, like Lemforder, other wise cheaper alternatives will just fail quickly and end up costing you more in the long run. I will let the garage choose whatever arms they like and see how it goes.
So all in all, water pump, glow plugs and lower front control arms replaced, in a day's work. Wasn't too costly either, although 90% of it was labour, as usual, which makes me a bit sick knowing I could do it for free. But it was convenient to be free for a day instead of tied up outside with the car.
Got the car back and it starts on the dot, even when cold (very nice!), obviously no more noise from the water pump and handling seems.... better, still not perfect but better. Still things to investigate in that area I think.
Also on my to do list....
Side note... fitted some new interior lights as the ones I had were very basic, as in no map reading lights and no switches at all on the rear ones for someone to turn it on in the back to read. So I got some new ones from someone breaking a 535i which had individual map spot lights and switches in all four positions.
As I had just started paternity leave I luckily didn't need to go to work, so the next day I limped to the garage and asked someone to have a quick look. The very helpful people at TS Motors, Watford, had a quick look and spotted the obvious that the water pump had gone. The symptom being the rad fan, which is mounted to the pump on the front of the engine via a viscous coupling, was wobbling all over the place.
I was quite surprised, but also relieved, but the thought that the water pump had gone didn't cross my mind initially as the system had not lost any water. Usually, if the bearing fail in the pump, it tends to dump all its water in one go and you over heat. So I was surprised this had not happened. Anyway, looking at it, it was obvious as the fan was just flopping about, I knew the part wouldn't be too expensive, just a labour intensive job, i.e. lots of labour charge.
I would ordinarily do a job like this myself at home, but seeing as we had just had a new baby, it was not really convenient, so I booked it in to the garage to have the work done.
Whilst in the garage, I wanted them to do a few other jobs, seeing as it would be on the ramps. I needed to change the glow plugs, as the engine was becoming very reluctant to start, cranking for 30 seconds plus easily to get started. The cold winter had finally taken its toll and killed them off. The poor starting was becoming a major problem, especially when leaving for work at 0630 when all is quiet and then there's me cranking for a minute!
Also, unfortunately, I suspected the lower front control arm bushes had gone again. I could easily shove the front of the wheel inwards and see the bush flexing far too much. The car had not been handling brilliantly even after changing all the control arms only 2 months earlier. I think it is down to one of two things: Either I fitted them incorrectly or the components were inferior/faulty.
The only way I could think I fitted them wrong was if they were super sensitive to being tightened up with the arms in the correct orientation. You are supposed to tighten the bolt through the bushes with the arms positioned as if the car is at rest on its wheels on the ground, so that in most situation, the bush is not twisted, only temporarily with movement away from the rest position of the suspension. I tightened mine up with the hub jacked up, not literally with the wheels on the ground, so I could only think the angle was not quite right, but I find it very difficult to believe this would cause the bush to fail within two months.
The other idea is inferior or faulty components. I doubt they were faulty. Its possible but very unlikely really. So perhaps inferior. These were the cheapest option arms I could find, only 20 GBP each. I am sure I had read somewhere someone saying that you should really use OEM parts, like Lemforder, other wise cheaper alternatives will just fail quickly and end up costing you more in the long run. I will let the garage choose whatever arms they like and see how it goes.
So all in all, water pump, glow plugs and lower front control arms replaced, in a day's work. Wasn't too costly either, although 90% of it was labour, as usual, which makes me a bit sick knowing I could do it for free. But it was convenient to be free for a day instead of tied up outside with the car.
Got the car back and it starts on the dot, even when cold (very nice!), obviously no more noise from the water pump and handling seems.... better, still not perfect but better. Still things to investigate in that area I think.
Also on my to do list....
- Tailgate gas struts all needed replacing.
- Air/con not working
- Heater still giving me hot air only
Side note... fitted some new interior lights as the ones I had were very basic, as in no map reading lights and no switches at all on the rear ones for someone to turn it on in the back to read. So I got some new ones from someone breaking a 535i which had individual map spot lights and switches in all four positions.
Saturday, 30 January 2010
167,000 Miles
Oil and filter change. Never seen so much oil come out of a car... but then I am used to cars that use their oil. This car dumped what looked like its full 6.75l of oil, hopefully indicating that it doesn't use/loose any oil. I hadn't changed it since I bought it (bad, I know) and who knows how many miles before I had it it had been changed, so it had done at least 15,000 on the last oil without loosing any.
I do try to change oil at a maximum of every 10,000 miles.
Noticed turbo heat shield has come away. It just a bent piece of steel covered with mesh type type... looks like it just fatigued at one of the bends. Will make up a new piece out of some stainless or something.
Also have bought new anti-roll bar drop links, as the current ones are bad, making a noise as they are very worn and I think now effecting handling again... going around bends that make the car want to roll, it suddenly tries to snatch into the corner. So changing these will be interesting to see if it is them causing this. If not then I'll be damned as I have changed every joint and bush at the front end now.
I do try to change oil at a maximum of every 10,000 miles.
Noticed turbo heat shield has come away. It just a bent piece of steel covered with mesh type type... looks like it just fatigued at one of the bends. Will make up a new piece out of some stainless or something.
Also have bought new anti-roll bar drop links, as the current ones are bad, making a noise as they are very worn and I think now effecting handling again... going around bends that make the car want to roll, it suddenly tries to snatch into the corner. So changing these will be interesting to see if it is them causing this. If not then I'll be damned as I have changed every joint and bush at the front end now.
Monday, 18 January 2010
BMW Log - Front End Sorted-ish
Well I was right, the tyres were badly out of alignment and scrubbing badly... so badly the front two tyres wore almost completely smooth in 5 days (~500 miles)! So not only a puncture to replace but now the front two tyres so it had to be new tyres all round. Now I am glad I had already replaced the wheels so I could at least buy normally priced/sized tyres. Still not what I wanted to be doing right now.
The tyres were shocking... I was shocked!
So (in the snow) I changed the tie rods, just in case they were not good before going for 4-wheel alignment. As always, should have been a simple job, just wheel off, undo two nuts holding ball joints on either end of tie rod and pop the joints out. But of course things never go smoothly on cars; the inner joints were impossibly seized. The nuts came off fine, but trying to separate the joints out the knuckles proved hard. Once again I broke another ball joint separator tool (the scissors type) so went and armed myself with a couple of alternatives, the fork type (which you hammer between the joint to 'wedge' it out) and a claw type with a bolt to screw onto the joint stud. Access was awkward and I ended up using the fork wedge type to free them but it took about half an hour of constant hammering with a lump hammer and plenty of heat from the blow torch. Advise here is to cut and remove the rubber boot if you are trying to use the fork wedge separator type tool so that the tool is acting metal on metal. The rubber will cushion the blows from the hammer and not work. After an hour or so both sides had been replaced with new tie rods.
Next morning I go to Blackboots for my 4-wheel alignments (thru lots of snow!). When I get there, they get it up on the excellent Hawker Laser alignment system and show that everything except for toe is OK. Also, they tell me there is no other adjustment on this car! Therefore 4-wheel alignment is not possible. this just strengthens my hatred/mistrust of large 'fast-fit' organisations! So a bit of a waste of time. Well they aligned the toe but there was no need for the fancy laser alignment as all. So when 'fast-fit' told me the car needed 4-wheel alignment, they were either trying to rip me off or didn't know what they were talking about. Both alternatives are not good. I wonder if the guy was there that day they would have done the 4-wheel alignment (obviously realising they couldn't adjust anything except toe) and charge me for it!?! Still anyway, drives a LOT better now. There is still knocking from the front but this is now just the anti-roll bar drop links, which are an 'easy' quick fix and cheap and will not put the car out of alignment again, so they can be saved for a rainy day (preferably not raining). Also it still feels a little vague, like there is play in the steering mechanism but this is to be expected on an old car and I have read ways of taking up this slack, so I might look into that one day.
New tyre:
So (in the snow) I changed the tie rods, just in case they were not good before going for 4-wheel alignment. As always, should have been a simple job, just wheel off, undo two nuts holding ball joints on either end of tie rod and pop the joints out. But of course things never go smoothly on cars; the inner joints were impossibly seized. The nuts came off fine, but trying to separate the joints out the knuckles proved hard. Once again I broke another ball joint separator tool (the scissors type) so went and armed myself with a couple of alternatives, the fork type (which you hammer between the joint to 'wedge' it out) and a claw type with a bolt to screw onto the joint stud. Access was awkward and I ended up using the fork wedge type to free them but it took about half an hour of constant hammering with a lump hammer and plenty of heat from the blow torch. Advise here is to cut and remove the rubber boot if you are trying to use the fork wedge separator type tool so that the tool is acting metal on metal. The rubber will cushion the blows from the hammer and not work. After an hour or so both sides had been replaced with new tie rods.
Next morning I go to Blackboots for my 4-wheel alignments (thru lots of snow!). When I get there, they get it up on the excellent Hawker Laser alignment system and show that everything except for toe is OK. Also, they tell me there is no other adjustment on this car! Therefore 4-wheel alignment is not possible. this just strengthens my hatred/mistrust of large 'fast-fit' organisations! So a bit of a waste of time. Well they aligned the toe but there was no need for the fancy laser alignment as all. So when 'fast-fit' told me the car needed 4-wheel alignment, they were either trying to rip me off or didn't know what they were talking about. Both alternatives are not good. I wonder if the guy was there that day they would have done the 4-wheel alignment (obviously realising they couldn't adjust anything except toe) and charge me for it!?! Still anyway, drives a LOT better now. There is still knocking from the front but this is now just the anti-roll bar drop links, which are an 'easy' quick fix and cheap and will not put the car out of alignment again, so they can be saved for a rainy day (preferably not raining). Also it still feels a little vague, like there is play in the steering mechanism but this is to be expected on an old car and I have read ways of taking up this slack, so I might look into that one day.
New tyre:
Wednesday, 6 January 2010
BMW Log - Aftermath of changing Control Arms on the BMW
Well after changing the control arms on the BMW to sort out worn bushes, as ever, I have inevitably introduced new problems. To be expected really... any suspension component work is always likely to throw the wheel alignment out on a car, I just didn't realise how sensitive BMWs are to badly aligned wheels.
Don't know if it is a rear wheel drive thing or just BMWs setup, but it drove absolutely terrible after changing the arms... literally felt like I had octagonal wheels, which were trying to pull me strongly left and right... any which way but straight. I made a b-line for a garage to get some tracking done... on sunday, my only option was that really 'quick' place, which I would never usually use for different reasons, but this was an emergency.
I found out that BMWs need 4-wheel alignment and that the guy capable of doing it wasn't in that day. Kind of fortunate in a way as I intended doing more work on the car (tie rods) so didn't want to spend all the money on 4-wheel alignment only to take it apart again soon.
So I asked them just to do 2-wheel alignment, just to get it drivable. It did make a difference and I could use the car, but either it is still mis-aligned, or the tie rod ball joints are bad as it is still handling like I am driving through SEVERE side winds on ice, pulling left and right all the time.
I am probably scrubbing tyres badly and am trying to make it through one week until I can change the tie rods and get 4-wheel alignment. I am booked into Blackboots in Chesham for 4-wheel alignment and have heard good things about these guys, so am looking forward to getting it all sorted and having a car that is a pleasure to drive again.
Oh and just to rub salt in the wounds... on my way to work today I got a poxy puncture!!
Got onto the motorway, car making a very odd noise... left it for a bit thinking it was just to do with bad tracking, but go to the point where driving was very difficult and noisy and just wrong. Pulled onto hard shoulder and found nearside rear tyre shredded and hanging off!! F*cker!!
This was also on the morning when we had snow... so there I am 7am, hard shoulder of the M1 changing a poxy wheel in the snow... not happy...
So not only am I skint from all the control arm work...I now have to buy new tyres... minimum I want to buy a pair... can't afford 4 all at once. How joyous life is at the mo.
Happy new year.
Don't know if it is a rear wheel drive thing or just BMWs setup, but it drove absolutely terrible after changing the arms... literally felt like I had octagonal wheels, which were trying to pull me strongly left and right... any which way but straight. I made a b-line for a garage to get some tracking done... on sunday, my only option was that really 'quick' place, which I would never usually use for different reasons, but this was an emergency.
I found out that BMWs need 4-wheel alignment and that the guy capable of doing it wasn't in that day. Kind of fortunate in a way as I intended doing more work on the car (tie rods) so didn't want to spend all the money on 4-wheel alignment only to take it apart again soon.
So I asked them just to do 2-wheel alignment, just to get it drivable. It did make a difference and I could use the car, but either it is still mis-aligned, or the tie rod ball joints are bad as it is still handling like I am driving through SEVERE side winds on ice, pulling left and right all the time.
I am probably scrubbing tyres badly and am trying to make it through one week until I can change the tie rods and get 4-wheel alignment. I am booked into Blackboots in Chesham for 4-wheel alignment and have heard good things about these guys, so am looking forward to getting it all sorted and having a car that is a pleasure to drive again.
Oh and just to rub salt in the wounds... on my way to work today I got a poxy puncture!!
Got onto the motorway, car making a very odd noise... left it for a bit thinking it was just to do with bad tracking, but go to the point where driving was very difficult and noisy and just wrong. Pulled onto hard shoulder and found nearside rear tyre shredded and hanging off!! F*cker!!
This was also on the morning when we had snow... so there I am 7am, hard shoulder of the M1 changing a poxy wheel in the snow... not happy...
So not only am I skint from all the control arm work...I now have to buy new tyres... minimum I want to buy a pair... can't afford 4 all at once. How joyous life is at the mo.
Happy new year.
Monday, 4 January 2010
Tuesday, 10 November 2009
BMW Log - New Wheels
The original alloys that came with the car, although I like them a lot as they have the original style and feel of the original car, are actually very annoying in as far a they are metric. This means tyres are a problem.
I had a niggling feeling there was something to look out for to do with the wheels but I couldn't think what it was. Then whilst visiting a tyre place with the BMW but not to get tyres for it, the owner informed me that if I wanted new tyres for it I would be looking at very expensive tyres. I think Michelin are the only manufacturer supplying them now and I have heard varying costs in the region of 175 to 250 GBP per tyre!
The tyres are 255/55/R390 and its the R390 which is the give away that it is a metric tyre. Metric as in metric radial dimension as opposed to the more commonly used imperial measurement in inches, e.g. R15", R17" etc. For my tyres, 390 / 25.4 = 15.35". I believe a lot of E34s were later sold with imperial wheels of the same style, so perhaps I just got unlucky.
The best solution the garage suggested was to get part worns; find them second hand or from a scrap yard or better still get rid of the wheels. So this is what I did. I kept my eye on ebay for a while and finally found a suitable set of 4 wheels with still legal tyres.
The new wheels are from an E39 so I am happy to use these as they are at least original BMW 5 series wheels and I am very happy with them. I don't think they look out of place too much on the car, I didn't want to end up with something that looked wrong on the classic look of the E34 Touring. And of course the best bit is that they are 225/55/R16... a standard size that will allow me to buy normally priced tyres from anywhere.
Even though the front control arms on the car are badly worn and affecting handling quite a lot, the old wheels and badly worn tyres were obviously having a negative effect too. The handling is noticeably better just with decent tyres/wheels. There is not as much vibration at speed on the motorway and low speed rhythmic groaning I was getting (sounding like a worn wheel bearing) has gone.
The tyres are 255/55/R390 and its the R390 which is the give away that it is a metric tyre. Metric as in metric radial dimension as opposed to the more commonly used imperial measurement in inches, e.g. R15", R17" etc. For my tyres, 390 / 25.4 = 15.35". I believe a lot of E34s were later sold with imperial wheels of the same style, so perhaps I just got unlucky.
The best solution the garage suggested was to get part worns; find them second hand or from a scrap yard or better still get rid of the wheels. So this is what I did. I kept my eye on ebay for a while and finally found a suitable set of 4 wheels with still legal tyres.
The new wheels are from an E39 so I am happy to use these as they are at least original BMW 5 series wheels and I am very happy with them. I don't think they look out of place too much on the car, I didn't want to end up with something that looked wrong on the classic look of the E34 Touring. And of course the best bit is that they are 225/55/R16... a standard size that will allow me to buy normally priced tyres from anywhere.
Even though the front control arms on the car are badly worn and affecting handling quite a lot, the old wheels and badly worn tyres were obviously having a negative effect too. The handling is noticeably better just with decent tyres/wheels. There is not as much vibration at speed on the motorway and low speed rhythmic groaning I was getting (sounding like a worn wheel bearing) has gone.
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