it costs HOW much!?

[SilverBeam]

So my car wasn't running as well as it normally is. I took it to a garage that came highly recomended, and who I've been going to for a few months now. I got a full diagnostics, which came back with some surprising results.

Most of what they found out I already knew, but I wish they hadn't told me the prices.

New rear screen moter: $500
New front seatbelt buckles: $180 a pop (my airbag light turns on since the buckles are faulty. So I'll never know if something is really wrong with my airbag)
New O2 Filter: $400
New belts: $50
New Catalitic Converter: ... ready for this one? $3,000!!!

Now my car IS seven years old, so I'm cool with the fact that stuff needs to be replaced, but come on, five hundred dollars for a screen moter? As for the cat converter, I stumbled across some startling facts. Since our lovely sevens come with twin exhost, they have two catalitic converters. BMW does not sell the CCs seperatly, since they are so close together underneeth the car. A peice they cost 1,400. So together, plus delivery and work fees, it comes it just around three thousand dollars, even if only one of the cc's is broke.

I don't know how many people have come across this problem yet, but I'm posting this for further refrence as well. Since I'm only a kid, who can't aford to pay 3,000 dollars for anything right now, I knew that I would either have to find a better deal, or pray that no one called my car in for a smog check. I went hunting, and found out that Bavarian Autosport sales the CCs one at a time, for only 840 bucks. I called my garage and asked if I could use the after market cost, and they said no sweat.

I love my baby to death, but these repairs are getting outragess. I've taken her in four times so far this year, and this repair at 515 (O2 filter, belts and diagnostics) was the cheepest to date. I sure hope it doesn't keep at this speed. Once I get the new Cat Convert I hope that the repairs lay low for a while... at least until I need new tires. Oi.

[Dade]

You are saying o2 filter ? do you mean o2 sensor ? or are you talking about the air conditioning micro filter ?

[Stockman]

O2 filter? You mean air filter?

okay.. I need to let you in on a secret: www.bimmerparts.com
they have very cheap prices for parts... and I may look for another shop or try and start learning to do basic stuff yourself

belts for 50 isnt bad, the seatbelt sensors are a POS and do that.. rear screen motor I say dont bother

[The Beastmaster]

I usually order parts from Eurasian Automotive in Temecula as they have been one of the cheapest parts sources I have found. As for an aftermarket cat, it should be no problem.

As for co$t, wait til you find out what your rear shocks cost!

[MDabney]

Yeah these are high repair cost monsters but if properly maintained and shopping around, you can usually save a bundle. And by the way guys... if she has bad cats, then it is obvious she's talking about also needing to replace the four *O2 Sensors* @ $100 each, not micro-filters. Give the girl a break guys... ;)

Good luck with it Lauren.

[7SeriesSoon]

I believe the 1995 and previous models (OBD-1) only had (2) O2 sensors and the later models 96 on (OBD-2) had 4.

[MDabney]

Thanks Greg... then make that 2 @ $200 each, ouch. :confused:

[SilverBeam]

o2 Sensor... sorry about that ^.^;;

[SilverBeam]

Cool thanks, I'll try those places. Shocks.... which reminds me.... I think I need new ones >.<!!!!

[SilverBeam]

Yeah I know, I know, I'm getting all of the part names wrong. Sorry about that, I have yet to take auto, and unfortuantly my dad knows even less then I do. So yes, it was the O2 sensors that needed to be switched, and I don't know how many there are.

I'm definetly shopping around. The one I found from Bavarian is a good price, but if I can find one closer and even for a little less, then I'll be totally happy.

There are probublly a ton of halerious typos in this post... I'm sorry, I'm exhosted, it's been a long day :-P

[jsp98m3]

Hmmmm......

If she dates Demon Spawn, I could do the work on her car AND get him out of the house......

[Hyperion]

Jim you are horrible...

But you do have a point...

How much do you know about 7's?

[jsp98m3]

If it gets Alex out of the house, I'll learn.

I don't get it either. He's a good looking kid (at least I think so) all of the girls at school say hi to him when he walks by and he's got money to take them out. What's he doing on my couch?

[WJones]

Catalitic Converters are warranty for eight years under federal law. Check with you dealer if you purchased the car new.

[MDabney]

W,

I think it's also <~80K miles on that cat warranty... it sounds like she is well past that mark. :dunno

[SilverBeam]

I got my hopes up for like... two seconds. I didn't get the car new, I'm the third owner. So that takes care of that, plus I'm climbing though the 100 k's right now.

As for how much I know about the sevens.... probubly less then you boys. I know quite a bit, but definetly not as much as I would like to know. I know the engine sizes for most of them, and the excelleration of others. I know that the 745's have a surprisingly nice ride for having 19 inch wheels, and all who bought one but have the money for a 760li are stupid and should have waited. I know that I can comfortably fit a 6'3 Vasity werestler on the floor of my backseat. I know that no matter how the passanger seat is manoved, that I still can't get a good view out of that back window. I know that they collect dust more than any other car out there. I can point stuff out under the hood, and I know that while I have a lot more horses then a SLK, they can still beat me off the line.

... lol sorry I'm having way to much fun today. I had a blast at school today.


I need to start making a list of all of the guys who will come over to my house and help me with my car... I need to know how many cookies to make!

[Stockman]

Originally posted by little740girl
I know that I can comfortably fit a 6'3 Vasity werestler on the floor of my backseat.

LOL

:pimpflash

[Rob Levinson]

Originally posted by little740girl
New Catalitic Converter: ... ready for this one? $3,000!!!


Two words:

1) www.randomtechnology.com = 2 x $275 cats = $550

2) custom cat connector fabrication at a muffler shop < $300

(Okay, that was 14 words, but you get the idea.)

I love when stuff breaks... it's always an opportunity for something better to replace it!

- Rob

[MDabney]

Originally posted by segal3
little740girl - Where in SoCal are you?

~Matt Segal

umm Segal... you do know it's illegal to troll for 16 year olds online, right... :nono :rolleyes: ;)

[MDabney]

16 also, eh... sure Segal... a likely online story... quick, what year were you born... :stickoutt :rolleyes: j/k

... OK, you and Lauren have bimmerforums' blessings to get aquainted...

silly kids... :D ;)

[SilverBeam]

well lookie there you named all those places and STILL I'm not quallified to meet you ^.^

[SilverBeam]

1) www.randomtechnology.com = 2 x $275 cats = $550

Okay Rob can you give me the low down on this for me? Underneeth that it said some other part, would I have to buy both of them? Would the C.C. fit my car? You don't have to weld it? Is that a good or a bad thing? I think it sounds like it wouldn't be as secure if you didn't weld it in. Am I missing something with the whole bolt on aspect?

http://catalog.bmw-car-body-parts.com/?make=BM&year=1995

I don't know if that will bring up the right page. If you can find it, I don't know, but what does you guys think about that one? Lemon or a good buy??

[Rob Levinson]

Originally posted by little740girl
1) www.randomtechnology.com = 2 x $275 cats = $550

Okay Rob can you give me the low down on this for me? Underneeth that it said some other part, would I have to buy both of them? Would the C.C. fit my car? You don't have to weld it? Is that a good or a bad thing? I think it sounds like it wouldn't be as secure if you didn't weld it in. Am I missing something with the whole bolt on aspect?

What I am suggesting is that a little effort will get you a better result at a much lower price.

Random Technology makes really excellent performance catalytic coverters; in fact, I had one for my M5 Turbo.

I would get two of their 3" in/out cats, have a muffler shop weld up appropriate flanges (simply cutting them off your original cats would work), and be done with it. They will flow better, work every bit as good (if not better - the 3" in/out cats are designed for 7.0l racing motors), and certainly cost a lot less than what you were quoted for BMW cats.

Take every repair neccessity as an upgrade opportunity!


Originally posted by little740girl
http://catalog.bmw-car-body-parts.com/?make=BM&year=1995

I don't know if that will bring up the right page. If you can find it, I don't know, but what does you guys think about that one? Lemon or a good buy??

No idea - if you want to go that route, call them and ask who makes the product. See if a reputable name is attached, or it is simply a "white box" part from some unidentified factory competing on price.

- Rob
'98 725tds 6-speed :D

[MojoMoto]

I had my cats replaced last July so that I could pass smog. They're welded in place and it ran about $450. And since the muffler had to come off anyway - well, it seemed like a good time to swap stock for a Stromung!

Anyway, I had this done at a shop in Escondido - if that works for you little740girl, I can pass along their contact info.

- MM

[SilverBeam]

What I mean Matt, is that I don't live in that part of So Cal, so you are out of luck.

[SilverBeam]

Well I don't know, but I doubt I can get a better price then 340 (?? I forgot already) for a Cat Con (lol) plus.... I don't know, unwelded?? That doesn't seem very well fitting for me. The garage I go to is really good, so I'm not all that worried about the whole damn thing falling off or anythign like that (Unless I should be) I know that I want it to be a quick job, no jumping from place to place to place getting things just right for the cat con. I just don't have the time for this to be a long drawn out project. The one at that one site I posted, is cheeper than the other one. So... yeah. Does anyone either want to say anything good or bad about that one I found? Can anyone guess if it's good or bad?

[MojoMoto]

How did your mechanic determine that you needed new cats anyway? Did he perform a smog check? And did he mention if the cats are adversely affecting perfomance? If not, I'd hold off on replacing the cats until you next smog is due. This will give you some time to do a little research and shopping around. If you rush into this and end up buying cheap cats, they may go bad before your next smog check is due and you'll just have to replace them again.

- MM

[SilverBeam]

I brought my car in, complaining about a rattle underneeth the car. I knew it was something to do with the exhaust, from where it was coming from, but assumed that maybe a bolt was loose or something along those lines. I watched personally as he raised up the car, took out a stethescope, and gently tapped on the cats, as well as a few other things. He checked them thoroughly, and found that the left side cat was the one that was internally broken. He then consulted with the big-boss-man, who found out what a factory cat-converter would cost me. While I didn't have it smogged, when my cousin was following me, she told me that she had to put her air on recycle because I was stinking up her car. I'm to the point of praying I don't get a notice in the mail that I have to get my car checked, because its getting really bad.

[SilverBeam]

Originally posted by segal3
It's my parents paying for that Anthracite paint job...going to take 4-6wks and $4500, since they have to strip down to frame and all.
~Matt Segal

Your parents are buying you a new paint job?? I hope your paint is oxidized to the point that you can't tell what the original color is, because I'm sorry, that's not right. I'm going out and shopping for my own cat converter, not because my parents won't pay for it, but I beleive that it's my car, and anything that happens to it, I shoudl pay for. Thats what I told my mom when she tried picking up the tab for a five hundred dollar repair bill. I will let her get me my wheels, since she screwed them up in the first place (tweeked my beautiful chrome wheel so bad that no place can fix it) but come on, a fotry-five hundred dollar paint job!? I buy my own gas, I wash my car myself (or pay for it to be washed when I don't have the time), I bring it in to be serviced, and I put aside the money to pay for it all. That's the responcible thing to do, and I'm sure everyone here will agree. I have no respect for little rich kids who are given cars, and then bought everything that goes into them. I might have been given my car, but I don't expect my parents to give me a bumper to bumper warrantee on it now that its mine.

sorry if I'm sounding bitchy... I'm about to go to sleep after a very very long week.

[SilverBeam]

I can't find any bimmers on the random tec page. Is it just a guessing game or what? I suppose I'll be in the 9000 catagory. But I don't know, that just doesn't seem right to me. No offence, because I'm sure it's a great part, but I would rather have something that was made specificly for my car.

sorry for spelling errors... I'm tired to the point beyond thinking

[MojoMoto]

Originally posted by little740girl
I brought my car in, complaining about a rattle underneeth the car. I knew it was something to do with the exhaust, from where it was coming from, but assumed that maybe a bolt was loose or something along those lines. I watched personally as he raised up the car, took out a stethescope, and gently tapped on the cats, as well as a few other things. He checked them thoroughly, and found that the left side cat was the one that was internally broken. He then consulted with the big-boss-man, who found out what a factory cat-converter would cost me. While I didn't have it smogged, when my cousin was following me, she told me that she had to put her air on recycle because I was stinking up her car. I'm to the point of praying I don't get a notice in the mail that I have to get my car checked, because its getting really bad.

If there is debris rattling around inside the cat(s) then it/they are definitely bad.

You wont' get a notice for a smog check because your exhaust smells bad. The smog check is required every other year, and is due as part of your yearly registration. Assuming you just got the car then the smog check will be due approx. two years from your purchase/registration date and every other year thereafter.

So determine when your next smog is due and that will be the time-frame you have to research the parts/repair before you **must** have this repair done. Check out the Random Technology link that Rob pointed you to, that sounds like a pretty good deal. It's much less expensive to have new cats welded in as opposed to buying the original BMW parts - and given the price difference - it sounds like you could go through 5 or 6 sets of good weld-in cats for the price of the originals.

And as I mentioned previously - don't actually get it done until maybe a month prior to your smog check. That way the cats will be nice and new and should last at least long enough to get you through two smog checks.

Here are links to a few shops in the Southern California that I have used and liked:

Taylor Company Independent BMW Service (http://www.taylorcobmwservice.com/)

All German Auto (http://www.allgermanauto.com)

Good luck,
- MM

[MojoMoto]

Originally posted by little740girl
I can't find any bimmers on the random tec page. Is it just a guessing game or what? I suppose I'll be in the 9000 catagory. But I don't know, that just doesn't seem right to me. No offence, because I'm sure it's a great part, but I would rather have something that was made specificly for my car.

sorry for spelling errors... I'm tired to the point beyond thinking

I took a quick look at their site and I didn't see anything for BMW either, but that doesn't mean they don't make them. It might be worth giving them a call.

Is the shop you used a BMW dealer, independent BMW shop, local mechanic? Locate as many independent BMW shops as you can find in your area and call for prices. Get the breakdown for both the parts and labor, and get the name of the manufacturer and model of the cat they plan to use. Then research the part and find out how good it is; how will it affect your cars performance, how long will it last, etc.

- MM

[Tom Sederburg]

$4500 is avg. for a decent paint job.

Paying for stuff when you don't actually NEED to is stupid. If your parents are kind enough to paint your car for you take advantage. If you don't IMO your a moron.

But hey I BOUGHT all my cars so I figure anyone who wants to help me out? I'll accept donations. :D

Later,
Tom

[SilverBeam]

[i]Anyway, I had this done at a shop in Escondido - if that works for you little740girl, I can pass along their contact info.

[/B]

Thanks for the info, but Escondido, is just a bit far for me. I'm going to look into the Stromung exhost systems though

[SilverBeam]

[i]You wont' get a notice for a smog check because your exhaust smells bad. The smog check is required every other year, and is due as part of your yearly registration. [/B]

There is some 800 number people can call to report your car if it smells bad or is smoking up the place with bad exhost. i don't know how many states its in, but its definetly here in Cali.

[SilverBeam]

I go to an independent BMW shop. They quoted me on the factory BMW replacement part... which is a hellish price. That's the reason why I'm shopping around.

[Stockman]

Do this.. see if you have some mikes muffler or some exhaust only shop around..

Go there.. see what they say.. and get the price quote from them.. then ask how much it would cost to get your own cat installed by them..

I have had them say $20 for install..


I would not worry much about someone reporting you.. people are lazy.. remember?

[MojoMoto]

Originally posted by little740girl


I'm going to look into the Stromung exhost systems though

Keep in mind that the Stromung is an upgrade (about $700), and isn't needed to fix your cat problem. It's also louder than your stock exhaust, so unless you're in the market for a performance exhaust, you may not like it. That said, if you are in the market for a performance exhaust, the Stromung is very nice, as is the UUC twin exhaust.

[SilverBeam]

I found what I'm going to get. I took some advice from my mom and simply called Midas (no clue how to spell that one). I got a quote of 250-300 I'm definetly going there. My uncle got a catalytic from them a while back, and it works fine, what more is that he saved a bundle. I think that is just the best way to go.


And I wouldnt' be to sure on the lazy part, there is a lot of anal people out there. My dad calls on people all the time. My friend got called on too, so I would rather not risk it, and just get the problem before it causes me problems. Whats the point of going to get my car smogged if I know I won't pass? That's just a waste of sixty bucks.

[AaronM3]

wow.. bimmerforums own dating service extrodinare.... maybe we should set up " bimmerdate" or something like that.. where bimmerheads from all over the US can chat and get married online...etc etc.

[SilverBeam]

It took me long enough didn't it? Well today I finally got it together and got my new catalytic. Only cost me 250 too! So there is no more rattle under my car (WOO) Thank you all for all of your ideas and suggestions.

A Bimmer dating service eh? Works for me!

[MDabney]

Hey, welcome back Lauren... glad everything worked out for you with the cats...

[SilverBeam]

Thanks, yeah it works relitivly well. Damn cheep part doesn't fit exactly right though, so it's still a little noisy, but nothing as bad as before. It's more of a whine now, which definetly beats a full fledged rattle. I'm not going to worry much about it, unless it gets worst. Then I'll bring it back and see if they can do anything about it. For now though, that is one thing taken care of. I'm ordering my wheels tomorrow, and durring the week I'm getting a little bit of under the hood matainence done, and as soon as I get the go ahead to "borrow" my mom's card (she owes me mula) in order to order some parts online, I'll have a K&N Air Filter, clear side markers and parking lights, the taillights are too expencive for now. Once I get all that done, I'll take many many pictures. And start a new thread when I get that all too. Thanks for sticking with me though the trouble of getting that darn part. See you all on the board.

[M3formeM3foryou]

Hey Lauren, did Midas give you any sort of warranty on your new cat? If they did, and you think they did reasonably good work, well, I might just keep them in mind if I ever have to have this done.

I'm glad everything turned out well because I felt so sorry for you when I first started reading this thread. You certainly have my respect for maintaining and paying for your car.

[Bry]

Originally posted by little740girl


Your parents are buying you a new paint job?? I hope your paint is oxidized to the point that you can't tell what the original color is, because I'm sorry, that's not right. I'm going out and shopping for my own cat converter, not because my parents won't pay for it, but I beleive that it's my car, and anything that happens to it, I shoudl pay for. Thats what I told my mom when she tried picking up the tab for a five hundred dollar repair bill. I will let her get me my wheels, since she screwed them up in the first place (tweeked my beautiful chrome wheel so bad that no place can fix it) but come on, a fotry-five hundred dollar paint job!? I buy my own gas, I wash my car myself (or pay for it to be washed when I don't have the time), I bring it in to be serviced, and I put aside the money to pay for it all. That's the responcible thing to do, and I'm sure everyone here will agree. I have no respect for little rich kids who are given cars, and then bought everything that goes into them. I might have been given my car, but I don't expect my parents to give me a bumper to bumper warrantee on it now that its mine.

sorry if I'm sounding bitchy... I'm about to go to sleep after a very very long week.

Lauren, i don't think you should criticize Matt so much for his parents giving him a paint job. I know if I were given money to have my car painted, I would definately take up their offer!

Everything in life is unfair, I had to pay for my car (hey, I'm still working off the loan for it), and I have to pay for everything that I do, including my insurance. It is unfair to see others, especially people in high school driving $80k Lexus', but that is just how life goes, and you have to learn to accept it.

[SilverBeam]

Yeah... I guess. I realise that I was a little harsh on that. Sorry Matt, I was probubly just a little worked up since I was buying my own stuff. But bravo for you getting that new paint job. *thumbs up there*

[SilverBeam]

You know what? IT dawned on me only AFTER I left Midas that I should have asked about the warenty. I have all of the info in my car, so I should go and check it out. ^.^;;

[Dark Helmet]

I have to agree with Lauren... I see it all the time in parents adn kids in conjunction with my job. Creating habits of saving and budgeting at a relatively early age is critical to the success of long-term financial goals. Lauren will likely be retired before the rest of us at this rate!

Good Job girl... I wish I had more clients like you!!!!!

[Bry]

Originally posted by dasMafia
I have to agree with Lauren... I see it all the time in parents adn kids in conjunction with my job. Creating habits of saving and budgeting at a relatively early age is critical to the success of long-term financial goals. Lauren will likely be retired before the rest of us at this rate!

Good Job girl... I wish I had more clients like you!!!!!

I agree. Everything that I did with my parents when I was a child was dependent on if it taught me the "value of a dollar."

Some of the horror stories that I have heard about credit cards with teens when they go off to college could kill me! I think it is great that kids be taught a lesson in money, and I don't think it is right for parents to give kids everything. Although, there is the extreme where kids have to buy all their own food, clothes etc. I think there is a good relative average.

Sorry this got so off topic! :)

[SilverBeam]

I thought I posted this whole long thing about what I wanted to do with my life and how even though I try and have money, I never do since I am only getting minimum wage and I'm only working about 10 hours a week right now... but for some reason that whole long message didn't get posted... well that pisses me off. But anyways, because I don't want to write it out again, we'll just forget it. But anyways, a lot seems to be falling in place for my car. I got my rims (as you all can see) and she's running... okay. My car just informed me that I need to check my brake lining, which concures with what the garage told me last week when I got my oil changed. So heres the newest up comming repair on my car:
front brake pads and roders: $450
I need to have a chat with my mom about that one tonight, seeing that I can't aford that on my meager salery. I need to get that done soon. I also think there is something screwy with my transmition. It does this thing sometimes when I just stop, the RPMs drop to idling stance, then spike up to around 1500, before dropping back down. The whole motion makes the car learch, and my engine goes crazy over it. Sort of scary with she does it too. When I get my brake pads, I'm going to have them check into that one. Any ideas to what it may be?

[Ali]

best thing to do is get the cats off a salvage car, it'll be MUCH cheaper.

[MojoMoto]

Originally posted by little740girl
... So heres the newest up comming repair on my car:
front brake pads and roders: $450...

Maybe you can find someone from this board who lives in your area to help/show you how to install you brakes. It's very easy and you could save at least $250.

[SilverBeam]

really? Hum... good idea. I wonder if I have any friends who will know how to do it too. I'm not sure. I might just get it done @ the garage. After running around so much for the catalytic, I'm not in the mood for another long drawn out thing. Even with saving 250, I still don't have the money. I can only aford gas and coffee right now, both fuels I couldn't live without.

[SilverBeam]

I went a head and just had the garage do the breaks. It wasn't that big of a deal to do. Now the only problem is that my parents are starting to use the car against me. Saying how they put all of this stuff into it, just because I can't afford what she needs. I don't even know who owns the car any more! They side keeps switching. First it's their car and they just let me drive it, then it's my car and I make them put stuff into her. It's driving me CRAZY! So, yeah, I'm sort of not speaking to them right now because they cannot use the car against me. I spend way too much time, energy, and money on her for them to use her against me. I'm sorry guys, I know it sounds like I'm always complaining here, but this just pisses me off. It's to the point now that I'm about ready to call it quits and not spend a dime on her any more, start saving up for some little p.o.s. that I can call my own, and not have to worry about the politics of it all. Then again, on the other hand, I want to keep her up, so I can take her with me to college. :-p such a dilemma, but I'm sure I'll figure out something or another.

[Pepe240sx]

Man I also gotta pay for my own repairs too, all part of attaining money-management skills in the process. I saved up about $10K, but had to allocate $1400 to get my junky car fixed, since I work at a Italian restaurant delivering pizzas, because I use my junky car to make deliveries in. I'm putting the rest of the money towards getting the Lancer Evo and using the junky car as my source of income. It worked out well, although I wish my dad would've maintained teh junky car when he had it prior :-/

[SilverBeam]

Yeah, I know, it isn't cool is it? No matter how often I bring my car in, there always seems to be something wrong with her. she doesn't like starting right now, she does, she just hesitates a little too long. I hope it's not the oil, I just put a quart and a half in about two weeks ago >.< she drinks that stuff up!

Right now, I can't really save up money. I've been trying, but it's just not working. I got my biggest paycheck today (thank you thanksgiving weekend) and out of that, half will go to my insurance, a quarter to gas, and after that I'll probably spend the rest on Christmas presents, oil, and other junk like that. I know I should still try though, I need to get a savings account opened up soon.

I'm starting to see that taking my beast away with me to college probably isn't the greatest idea. I love her to death, no doubt about that, but what's the point if something is always broken. I'll see how much longer she holds out. A teacher of mine told me that when the monthly maintenance cost of your car cost a third of what the payment on a new(er) car would be, that you should get rid of it. I'm sure I already past that, but hey, it's a new month. Maybe nothing will break this month ^.^ I hope you get that lancer. I hear they are nice zippy little cars. What are you driving now?

I'm sleepy. Ciao!

PS: can anyone recommend oil that lasts? Right now I'm using the stuff my mother uses in the Porsche. Mobil 1 high performance synthetic oil. 25w-50, I believe (I'm not about to go out to the garage and check). I've been burning though it recently, the beast never seems to have enough. I don't know... maybe I'm spoiling her.

[Strahan]

Changing brands of oil isn't really the answer, if it's burning through oil like crazy the car has issues that need resolved. When you move it in the morning are there leak spots on the ground?

I sympathize with your plight. I had a 525i that I had similar experiences with. It seemed like every time I fixed one thing, something else would break within weeks. After shovelling around five grand into maintenance (I only paid eight for the thing hehe) within two or three months I traded it in. Hope you have better luck than I did!

[Pepe240sx]

if its leaking oil, its more likely that the timing cover gasket and the oil pan gasket needs to be replaced. gaskets are cheap;labor, however, isnt cheap.
my car was leaking oil and i thought it was the valve cover gasket that needed to be replaced, but it was instead the oil pan gasket. instead of taking it to a shop, which would've charged me 300 bucks for it, me and a friend of mine did it ourselves. saved me the 300 bucks
hehe
i got a '92 nissan stanza xe

[JVsBMW]

3000!!!! shit go buy some straight pipes for about $12 and put that shit on, it will sound tight and save a lot of gas!:buttrock

[SilverBeam]

No oil leaks, I just checked, there are only a few little spots, but nothing like even a quarter of a quart will cause… My mother (she knows nothing about cars, but it was hers before mine, so she may know what she's talking about here) thinks that it's either because the oil is 1. Synthetic or 2. For high RPM cars, and some how that is why my car is eating it up. I don't know myself; it didn't drink oil like this before that I know for sure.

[blueghost75]

The type of oil would have nothing to do with how much oil it eats up.....

If your tranny breaks, be sure to put a 6spd manual tranny in as a replacement :D ;) :evil2

[SilverBeam]

lol blueghost. I'd love to, LOVE to. Pricey though, don't you think?

[SilverBeam]

OH! and I know why she isn't starting up well, it has nothing to do with the oil. It's because my battery has issues. Lol, add that to the replacement list, eh?

[blueghost75]

well, if your tranny breaks like you think it might (the problem you described didn't sound like a tranny problem), then I think it might be cheaper to get a manual tranny. You might have to pay more for the installation though, I dunno. To me, it would be worth the extra cost if I had to replace it anyways.

[SilverBeam]

I don't know what that sudden serge of RPMs is about, I also don't know why my car just... turns off on me every once and a while. There are a lot of querks about my car I don't understand, The whole turning off thing while I idle might have to do with the battery, luckily though, it always starts up right away after it suddenly decides to die. It's only happened twice to me since I got the car, so it's not that big of an issue with me, I can handle having to turn my car on again, but I would like to figure that one out. I should bring my car in soon. I just got paid, so I can pay for some repairs. Right now the list is:
new battery and a new sunroof motor

My sunroof almost got stuck open on me when it was raining. I was parked in the parking structure at the mall when it started to rain. I always leave the sunroof cracked for ventilation. Anyway, when I went to my car it was pouring outside and the sunroof wouldn't close. All it did was make a loud "click" sound when I pushed the button. After a minute or so of trying it lurched closed a little bit. Took three different lurches for the sunroof to close completely. I haven't tried opening it since, especially since it's supposed to rain again Friday, and I really don't want it to stay all the way open for that downpour they are expecting.

I also got some car stuff for Christmas... so I could always wait until after Christmas for the stuff that needs to be professionally installed. Like the clear lights that I'm pretty sure I got. I'll tell you all the great stuff I got from BAS later.

[SilverBeam]

I just got my new battery today. It was more then I thought it would be, but still reasonable, so I went with it. $167.75 was the grand total of that one. I'm so glad I have a new one, the only problem now is that... I'M BROKE! I still have presents to buy, but over half my pay check (which lubricated my extremely dry account, I think I had thirty bucks in it when I cashed my check) went to that battery, sixty went to Christmas presents last night, another forty for gas... I don't know how I could burn though my check so fast, It hasn't even been a full week yet. Right now I have twenty dollars in my wallet, and 13 in my bank account, and I'm not getting paid until after Christmas. So this qualifies as being broke. Maybe I could ask my mom for some cash, I hate to do so, but I still need to get presents for three people, but hey, you know, this is Christmas and everything. I could ask for an early Christmas present with cash. Or I could open the envelopes from my grandparents under the tree, those have at least twenty bucks in them. Lol, I'm terrible I know, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

Oh and as for the sunroof, it's all better now. It was just a little sticky for some reason, but those gentle pushes last time around loosened something. It still makes a funny noise at one point while opening and closing, but it moves with ease. I won't touch that until it really gets stuck open. Hopefully that won't happen until summer though, when I won't have to worry about rain.

Merry Christmas everyone (if I don't get a chance to say so later)

[Strahan]

Originally posted by blueghost75
well, if your tranny breaks like you think it might (the problem you described didn't sound like a tranny problem), then I think it might be cheaper to get a manual tranny. You might have to pay more for the installation though, I dunno. To me, it would be worth the extra cost if I had to replace it anyways.

If I recall Simeon said he had to lay out around $20,000 for the six speed in his :)

[Strahan]

Actually I was in error. I went back and searched and found I was remembering a post by Rob Levinson regarding the six speed in his 750..

"The transmission conversion (including fabrication of new case, flywheel, driveshaft, mounts, software, etc.) is around $20K. Options like different differential gearsets and quaife can add another $800-$2000. "

Simeon, was that about the same for you? Or was it cheaper/more pricey on the V8 instead of the V12?

[blueghost75]

you got a new battery? Your car stalling does not mean the battery is dead.


I didn't realize it took a full $20k for his tranny and stuff. I would still do it though. :D

[Shoe Coupe]

how many miles do you have on your car 740 girl?

the idle surging thing could be from your spark plugs. I know mine did that and I threw some bosches in, took care of that problem!

took me 40 minutes to put them in

[SilverBeam]

Hey boys, catching up here. I'm at my aunt's house up in Fresno, this is my first chance to get online in over a week, I've missed quite a bit. I'm still on page three here, so who knows how many posts this will take.

First off... 20 k!!!! That's quit a bit more then I'm willing to put into my car. My baby won't even bring in that much if/when I sell it. So even though the idea is delightful, if my tranny does go, I'd probably just sell the car instead of trying to replace the transition. I don't know how an automatic compares to the price of changing the whole thing to a manual, but yeah... that is just a tad bit steep.

Anyone who is willing to put that kind of money into a seven series defiantly loves the series. My heart goes out to everyone who has done that. It takes serious devotion to drop that much into your car. I'd love to be able to do that, but when that time comes around, I'll get a little manual, apposed to making my land yacht into one. Hehe. Okay, I'm going back to reading the rest of the posts now.

Oh yeah: anyone has any idea about the whole RMP surge? I think my car turned itself off because of the low battery, but I won't be able to know if I'm right until it does it again, which has only happened twice in the 9 months I've had the car. They checked the alternator when I got the battery, and everything showed okay, just in case anyone was going to bring that up. I bet it was the battery.

[SilverBeam]

I have around 106,000 on her right now. Forgive me for not giving you a definite mileage; I'm kind of 500 miles away from my car right now. Hehe. Spark plugs eh? I'll check into that, I'm not too worried about it though, like I said, it's only happened to me twice in the past nine months. If she decides to go dead in the water again though, I'll look into it. I'm more concerned about the RMP surge. Again, that doesn't happen to often though; it’s scary when it does happen though.

Well, 10-12 is defiantly a better price, but then again: I can get only a few more then that for my car, so I don’t' think I'll be doing that. But you know; if my transition would be to go, I'd only be able to get peanuts for my car, so maybe I will fix it instead of junking it. The blue book is 16,000 on my car right now, and with every mile I put on it the value goes down.

I'm not expecting to get much for it two years down the road when I most likely will be getting a smaller car from college. I hate thinking about it though, turns my stomach to think about getting rid of my baby. I love my car so very much; I don't even want to think about the possibly of having to replace the transition. With all the major repairs I've done this year, the thought of another isn't very much fun. But hey, something’s going to go next, might as well start saving up for what ever it will be.

And my mom thinks that we aren’t loosing any money on my car, that’s a laugh. Oh well, she's attached.

[blw]

Your 740 sure is taking a lot of maintainance - I've got a 93 740 with 140k miles on it and haven't had to do nearly the same amount of stuff as you have.

I think you'll also find that the longer you have the car, the harder it will be to replace it for a reasonably equivalent price.

[blw]

Well actually, I'm also one of those E30 owners - I bought it from a guy who hadn't kept up the maintainance and I've just spent 5 months getting it back to par. But when I get finished with it in the spring time... :D

[SilverBeam]

I think my car needs so much because it's a first year model, and has all those quirks. Although everything that has been going out lately has lasted a reasonably long time. Except maybe the radiator, that's probubly my only true complaint. I can live with the repairs, becasue when you get right down to it, it's just like what Segal said, I can't get enough for my car to sell it, so I might as well make it the best I can. Then two years down the road, if she's still running well, maybe I'll keep her for college. I keep going back and forth on that one, I'm sure I'll figure it out in time though. I have a while still to decide if I do want to sell her or keep her for college.