New member and new BMW owner myself

[Richard Cranium]

Well I'm in a very rare situation I think. I just bought myself an almost new 1994 BMW 325i convertible!! Now I know your saying "New!" It's 23 years old!! Yes it is but... it has 28k original miles her!!! She is absolutely amazing mechanically!! The interior needs a lot of help but otherwise she is smoking hot!! Anyway I have a few noob questions for you guys. Is the Bentley manual better than the Haynes or whatever?? I'm gonna take her for a 30k service and I was wondering if running Z-max in the engine and transmission?? Where might I look for doing a VIN check?? You know what came on the car optionwise?? Can anyone give me a tip on getting the convertible top up to speed again.
Well hello all in this forum! This is the first of many posts to come. 🙂 Thanks for all the wonderful help you all give everyone.

[TheProdistini]

I apologize for jumping into your post as I'm new here. I registered and looked everywhere for the option to
create my own post but could not find it. Perhaps it's because I'm on a phone or maybe because I need to participate a few times before they will allow me to make my own posts. Either way I have a 2006 x3 m sport. I have two problems. The first is my bank1 and 2 lean codes. Here's the list of things I've done to the car in an attempt to clear them. Replaced the PCV system (I thought maybe there was a vacuum leak taking place. 2. Replaced plugs, coils, valve cover gasket, cleaned mass air flow. Checked the oxygen sensors and they seem okay. The car runs fine and gets the exact same gas mileage as it's quoted to get online. It never Acts up. The only thing it does and very rarely is on startup sometimes regardless of whether it's sat for a few days or I drove across country, sometimes it will take just a tad too long to start. But once it does, it's flawless. My next steps were going to be, a smoke test to find vacuum leaks. Or replacing the mass and the 02 sensors just to see if it fixes the problem. Also, every time I clear the codes they stay gone until I put about 1000 miles on the car. Then the light comes on and stays on until I use a scan tool and reset it. On to my second problem. The car has Bluetooth. The module is in the trunk and hooked up. I have the code. I should be set right? Wrong! The button doesn't do anything, the videos on YouTube show the car automatically goes into pairing mode when the car is turned on but mine does not. I do not have the heads up display for the navigation. Just the business cd. I have tried disconnecting the unit to reset it or something. I have tried every video on YouTube. I have searched the hidden menu for an unlock option. I have disconnected the battery for extended amounts of time in hopes that it would re sync with the head unit. To no avail. I love this car and everything about it. I have almost 300,000 miles on it and it still drives like it we're new minus the check engine light that I swear is on just to irritate me. Anybody with some insight or even a possible idea to either problem please contact me! To the original poster again, I am sorry for stealing your thread but I could not find an option to create my own.

[jc43089]

Welcome, the Bentley is much more thorough and accurate than a Haynes manual. Skip the "cure all" additives and just change the oil regularly with a quality synthetic, I use Royal Purple HPS but there are several others, Amsoil, Redline, etc, not starting an oil brand war. Is the transmission an automatic? Either way I would change the fluid. Cooling system parts should be replaced and do a coolant flush, stick with BMW blue coolant. Realoem.com is your friend for parts searching. Some good online parts sources are FCPEuro, Pelican parts, Bavarian Autosport. Lets see some pictures!

[OldBavarian]

Congratulations on the purchase. I am a first time BMW owner myself, and I never thought I would own one.

The Bentley is light-years ahead of the Haynes, it's a good investment and if you ever go to sell, it shows potential buyers​ you really cared about the car. Most Bentley specs are available online too via forums.

Definitely change the fluids out, additives are not necessary, but Liquimoly makes decent stuff if you want to add something anyway. If it's an automatic, definitely change the fluid on it, don't believe that 'lifetime fluid' smoke that BMW tried to blow up everyone's ass. Most of the auto transmissions that these cars have were made by GM and use regular Dexron III fluid.

Cooling system parts should be replaced as preventative maintenance (ask me how I know). Water pump, hoses, thermostat, overflow tank, and radiator.

Here's a good VIN decoder- https://www.bmwvin.com

Good luck!

[Eric93se]

Hopefully your water pump is not 23 years old!!! LOL

Where are you going to take it for a 30k service?! I hope not BMW, you will get hosed! Skip the service and just fix it when it's broke! But do change all the fluids and upgrade the water pump, I use the new composite one, others choose the aluminum one. For Cali, use a 10w-40 syn oil.

[B320i]

Impressive! Please post some pictures when you can.

To reiterate what others have said, skip the engine and transmission additives. They're snake oil and aren't worth your time or money. BMW never recommended their use, and unless the engine is a writeoff anyway, you should avoid them altogether.
Engine-oil wise, any xw-40 or 50 will suffice in California - the Owner's Manual for the European vehicles of this time were far more liberal with oil specifications. You may use an xW-30 ONLY if it carries the ACEA A3/B3 (or B4). My car is on its second change of a synthetic 10w-50 made by the Australian company "Penrite." Personally wouldn't bother with Mobil1 0w40 ever again, induced too much valvetrain noise and VANOS rattle.

Mine has seemingly preferred Shell Rotella 5w40 when I ran that a couple of years ago. My next change is Valvoline EngineArmour 15w40, a semi-synthetic oil carrying A3/B4 approval, when oil costs AU$30+ for 5L of even cheap mineral oil, getting that at $17.98 for 5L was a big win.

As for the transmission, there should be a sticker on it somewhere advising the correct fluid. Some automatics required special fluid other than Dexron, but that may have been the later model years.

Brake fluid is a bi-annual item. If there is no history of it, CHANGE IT! Brake fluid is hydroscopic, so it absorps water over time and becomes ineffective.
Coolant is another biannual item. Drain it out of the block, and radiator. Flush with distilled water, refill with BMW Coolant. On the topic of the cooling system, it is quite likely nearly 23 years old. Be wary of swollen hoses or coolant consumption, I'd personally be budgeting to replace the lot. Not to say most of the hoses (bar radiator and the four-way hose) in my E36 aren't all 1993-vintage, but it pays to be vigilant.

Depending on how mechanically-inclined you are, you may wish to take the vehicle to an Indy just to have a safety inspection done on suspension and braking components.

[Richard Cranium]

Thanks for all the help guys!! This is my girl!!!

[jc43089]

Is it Arctic Grey? Looks nice and shiny. What's up with the peeling on the headrest?

[JDStrickland]

https://www.bmwvin.com/

Input the last 7 digits of your VIN.

[JDStrickland]

THE TOP
It is common that you unlatch the windshield header then push up on the front section of the roof as you operate the button. The roof does not raise itself from the closed position very well and you must help it. Once it gets going, it will complete the journey into the storage compartment by itself.

The storage compartment lid and the trunk lid have interlocks that work as a fail safe to prevent a costly collision. The trunk does not open if the roof is not closed, and the roof will not open if the trunk lid is not closed. If you look along the bottom edge of the trunk lid you will see some plungers sticking out. One of these is the interlock for the roof. I forget which one, but I could find it on my car if I needed to. The storage compartment interlock is on the passenger side. While the compartment lid is open, you can easily see the switch on the right side of the car. There are two rubber covers in the floor of the storage compartment, these are the tops of the shock absorbers. Take the covers off to expose the top of the shocks.

You can go in eBay and do a search for BMW E36 OEM 17-INCH WHEELS and see what factory wheel packages might be available that are superior to the wheels that you have. Factory fitment is a 17 x 7.5JJ wheel with 41 mm of offset. This wheel is a direct fit to your car with absolutely no modifications needed. You can fit this wheel package with a 225/45x17 and make a huge improvement in the appearance of your car.

Here's a set of wheels that I found for my car, http://www.ebay.com/itm/OEM-BMW-E36-...5Y~PdC&vxp=mtr (this is not MY set, it's a set like the one I got for my car.)

This is a link to the many factory wheel packages, http://www.bmwstylewheels.com/bmw/68. Style 68 is very popular. My wheels are Style 22. There are a few wheel styles that are staggered -- the rear wheel is wider than the front. You can use these from the E36 and E46, you should steer clear of wheel packages that are for different models. Your car is an E36, the E46 is the next model from 1999 to about 2006.

Bookmark www.realoem.com. You can input the last 7 digits of your VIN and this will tell you all of the parts it took to make your car at the factory. You can use this information at the many aftermarket sources for parts, or for parts at the dealership parts department. You can click on the part number of the parts you find and this will take you to a cross reference of the other models that use the same part. This is handy if you are going to the junk yard for parts, you will have a longer list of donors to search through.

[Richard Cranium]

No it's that metallic green color. The car is in incredible shape except of course the interior. Which is hammered!! �� For the price I paid I can afford a new interior. That is the second thing I'm gonna buy. The first things will be the consumables, you know oil, trans oil, coolant, pads and rotors. I guess I should change the water pump since it is the original. I would hate for it to go out on me. Knock on wood but I've been driving it for a little while now and have put a little over 750 miles on it so far. ��

[OldBavarian]

No it's that metallic green color. The car is in incredible shape except of course the interior. Which is hammered!! �� For the price I paid I can afford a new interior. That is the second thing I'm gonna buy. The first things will be the consumables, you know oil, trans oil, coolant, pads and rotors. I guess I should change the water pump since it is the original. I would hate for it to go out on me. Knock on wood but I've been driving it for a little while now and have put a little over 750 miles on it so far. ��

Definitely change that water pump out. The originals were plastic and have a tendency to grenade and clog up the coolant system. The I just had a metal one fail after 10,000 miles, so I went with an OEM composite one from the dealership this time.

[FiberFast]

Dear God 28k? Restore and vacuum bag it for austerity. Really though, give it a good look over. Suspension, bushings, anything that rubber that could degrade over time.
Congrats on the car, 28k sounds amazing!

[Richard Cranium]

Thanks... yeah I'm gonna do liquids first then rubber and brakes. The car is so much fun I can hardly stand it. It also seems the BMW gang is almost as fanatic as the corvette guys. That's a good thing!! Oh yeah I forgot to mention... this thing even has the little flashlight in the glovebox. Can you you believe that!! No it doesn't work but I've already found a DIY fix on here using search. Should only cost about 10 bucks to fix and like 20 min. of soldering. I love this forum and you guys make it all possible!!! Thanks guys...

[Pelican Parts]

Welcome to the forum! I'm attaching a link to our site's DIY tech articles on the E36 platform - I think you'll find it helpful when doing any maintenance or repairs. Please let us know if you have any questions!

BMW 3-Series E36 (1992-1999) Technical Articles