Tag Archives: cars

Automobiles, cars, Project BMW

Raindrops keep fallin’ on my head

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My windshield wipers didn’t work right. Everything was OK except the interval setting didn’t do anything unless I moved the moved the little wheel. Then, it only wiped once until I m over the wheel again. I lived with this for well over a year before I got around to googling for a solution. The likely culprit was the wiper relay. That’s a $100-part!

The relay is in the back right corner – brown box.

I was able to push, pull, rotate, lift, yell, and adjust enough to get my fingers on it.

A week ago today, I found where the relay is hidden under the hood. I took it out. It’s big and can be disassembled. I slipped two thin knives into the relay where I could see two locking tabs that hold the inside in the outer shell and easily pulled it apart. It’s a completely mechanical relay. The contacts get a carbon build up and stop working.

I cut a very thin piece of 1000 grit sandpaper and gently cleaned each of the two contact faces. I put it all back together, hoping for the best. The best was not to be…

The relay lives in a very awkward corner. I dropped it. It landed about three inches (75mm) below its socket. My fingers did not fit well. I accidently pushed it deeper. Frustrating!

The empty socket is on the right. Note the orientation of the slots. The open space in the middle with where the relay fell.

Two days later I tried to get it out again. I used duct tape wrapped around the end of a ruler. I tried to tie a loop of dental floss around it. Finally, with a hacksaw blade I was able to push, pull, rotate, lift, yell, and adjust enough to get my fingers on it. All this only after removing two other wire bundles. This took two unhappy hours. But, I got it in the right place. The wipers worked.

I had to wait from Sunday until today (Thursday) to test everything in the rain. It worked. Yay! I saved $100!

cars

BMWs I have owned

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I HAVE OWNED four BMWs, one of which I still have. In the process of owning these cars, I’ve become an avid tinkerer on them.

The first was a 1992 525i Touring (Station Wagon/Estate Car, depending one where you call home). I was recently arrived in Germany and needed a car. One of the guys in the office had committed to buying a car from someone who was leaving. His family didn’t like the car, so he needed to find a new buyer. I became the owner of a then 19-year old gold car. I paid $2,000 for it. It needed work.

I ended up having much of the work done, though in retrospect, had I known then how much DIY info is available online, I could have done a bit more. All in all, I was happy with the car. When I left Germany in 2013, I sold it for $2,400 as a much better car then when I bought it. It’s my understanding that at least as of early 2017 the car was still seen in action around Patch Barracks in Stuttgart Germany.

In 2015 I was back in Germany. I needed a car. An Army friend was leaving and had a 1999 318i Touring to sell. I bought it for $1,300. It needed work. Lots of work. I did all of it myself. After about a year, Melissa and I stumbled across what was going to become the next car. I bought number three. Number two several weeks later sold for $2,000 as a much, much better car than when I bought it.

Number three was a 2003 325i Touring I bought for $3,500. It needed work. Again, lots of work. It ended up being the nicest car I had ever owned at the time. I put many long weekends and evenings into fixing problems and replacing worn parts. One of the guys at the base Auto Skills Center laughed once when I told him what I wanted to do. Really. When I was done changing the crankcase ventilation valve, I told him if I ever suggested anything that painful again to stop me before I started! I put just over $1,700 in parts into the car. The labor was pretty much just my own sweat.

I was getting ready to leave Germany and found myself wishing I had purchased a US specifications car. With all the work I had put into it, I would have gladly brought it home with me. I found a US model 2004 BMW X3 that had lots of potential, but the seller/owner and I couldn’t come to terms on it. I sold the car for $4,200 as a really, really, really nice car and put the money in the bank.

Two days ago I got an email from BMW inviting me to test drive a new, 2017 X3. I had to laugh because I was on the way home with a 2006 X3! It needs work. Not a lot of work. It will allow me to tinker and improve another car. This one I will likely drive for a number of years.

None of the first three cars was intended to be a “flip” car, but it worked out that way. This time, I expect I’ll drive the X3 for a few years. This blog will be the story of how it gets better. I hope you enjoy reading about the projects as much as I expect to enjoy doing them!