Search and Aquisition of My Son's First Car

[NeedForBoost]

New guy here but long time car guy (especially turbo cars) My 15.25 year old tenth grader has never really shown much interest in any of my cars even tho he has seen me wrench on them his entire life. But maybe because of the thought he will have his permit soon (or the testosterone?) he is suddenly excited about cars-specifically his first one.

Couple months ago he tells me that hes been looking on the web to pick what kind of car he want's, I try to contain my excitement that he and I will have something in common now (I just don't dig Xbox or Overwatch or whatever game it is this month he has that sucks up 8 hours at a time) and lay down a few rules. It has to fit the budget. He has to keep up his grades and stay on the mostly strait and narrow. And of course I have to approve it. He's always been a kid about the 'look' of something over how it functions so I have some angst over what he's gonna want.

First he shows me some pics of a late 90's Integra Type R. Hmm, not a terrible car but I've never owned a Honda that has four wheels and I know they are gonna be like hen's teeth to find. Pass. a few days of sulking on his part before he gets over it. Kinda like your first crush I guess, tough to think of what life will be like without her

Next pic he shows me is a beautiful decked out Silvia drift car. We discuss it some and I point out that the steering wheel is on the right side of the car and that they don't actually sell that car here. But I don't hate Nissan cars so I suggest he looks at 240SX's, the US equivalent. Turns out he likes those too. We spend a week or so on the hunt. It also turns out that finding a stocker is tough, they've all been either turbo swapped or LS swapped. I already have a few cars that I'm not currently driving because they don't meet the standards of the Cali SmogNazi's(mostly visual stuff like large intercoolers or adj fuel pressure regulators) and we don't need another smog problem car. Eventually thru a friend I do find a nice stock 96 that's not north of $10K(no really, these guys think they are made of Platinum or something!) We go look at it, he's not a fan of the green and the headlights and taillights are 'wrong' It seems he has only been enamored but the 97-98 only S14's , yeah kid, that won't be hard to find. So after a few more days and many online searches we give up on those.

Then he sends me a pic one night of a Delorian with 1800 miles on it and waaaay out of the budget. Uh, no and no son.

So I ask him if he has looked into 3 series BMW's, he hadn't but does like the way they look(all that matters to him right?) especially 4 door cars. He's looking mostly at 90's cars but I have always been sweet on 06-11 E90's so I steer him that way. BMW sold like 200,000 335i's a year so they are plentiful compared to what we've been searching for. But in our range it appears that most are salvaged cars. Not a total deal killer, I'm not really worried about resale for a car that might not survive his first few years of driving.

First one we go see a couple weeks ago(75 miles away in NoHo) has been hit hard in the rear and I noticed the fenderwell body is 1/2" closer to the right rear tire than the left. Hmmm But on the test drive the rear end is crabbing 15 degrees to the left, every warning light on the dash is on, and has a bad boost leak. Pass.

Next one in Glendale has the rear suspension completely collapsed and the from the side view the rims ae up inside the fendewell. Also a pass.

THen I find an 08 in Upland that now actually salvaged, has 'only' 116K miles and is Charcoal, my favorite color. It's owned by a dealer/flipper that doesn't have an actual lot but a small one chair 10X10 office and auction cars parked in the parking lot. its rough, been repainted not very well, has filthy interior that smells of sweat and old food, AC doesn't work(or the heat for that matter, blower motor isn't working), has the Brake warning light lit on the dash, and it drops a cylinder or two under heavy boost(hey, at least this one makes boost!)

So why even consider this one? Three little words. Twin Turbo BMW(those are good words but JK) Father Son Project


So far all we have done is wash/vacuum/attempt to deodorize it and change out the plugs. I had to buy a 12point 14mm socket and modify it just to do that, it's gonna be a learning curve for me as I've never worked on a 'modern' BMW(had a 90's 735 a few years back) but at least Jagger is doing it with me Plugs fixed the stumble by the way, it has some serious spank now There's a million things on the to do list but getting new Falken Azenis tires tomorrow and fluids this weekend. Even have a line on an '09 that is being parted out that has nice interior pieces. Gonna be a fun project and a great car that I'll be happy driving if he lets me


Hmm, can't post pics, do I need a paid subscription or like a 5 post minimum?

[White94RX]

Good luck with your project. 116k is totally fine if it was maintained properly.

[NeedForBoost]

Good luck with your project. 116k is totally fine if it was maintained properly.

The gaps on the plugs were huge and they said BMW on them. I was thinking they've never been changed? Oil is filthy, gonna do that and flush it out with 4l of oil, run for a few minutes and change it again tonight. Same as I do on all the turbo cars that have the dreaded dark oil. Just got the new trans pan/filter yesterday and 12lites of fresh ATF, I like to change ALL the oil when I do a trans service although it looks like the trans cooler lines are swedged fittings? That could complicate the flush some. I'd say previous owner did NO maintenance but if it was a clean well maintained example we wouldn't own it Do you know if there is a vent tube on the trans White94? THat's usually a good spot to fill with fluid, pumping it all in from the 8mm allen plug wont work well.

[White94RX]

There is no vent tube, or anything that I know of. The only way to fill it is through the fill hole (the 8 mm allen on the side of the tranny). Put in as much as you can without the engine running, then start the engine and continue filling until it runs out of the fill hole. Believe me, as a dealer tech, I really wish there was a better way.

[NeedForBoost]

Uh oh, a setback this afternoon, a big oily now I can't drive the car kind of setback

Just got around to changing the oil, it was black, thick(3 bottles of stop leak maybe? Usually black oil is thin and worn out) and ugly. New Wix filter(great spot for a filter BTW) that came with cap O Ring, small center O ring for filter cage, and a crush washer for the drain plug. Great filter, I recommend it! Anyway, whenever I change oil on a car and its abused or nasty, I drain the old oil, fill with new cheapy oil and 4 ounces of Marvel Mystery Oil. Run it for 2-3 minutes and drain it again and refill with the good oil(and a half bottle of lucas beak in additive). I've don't it dozens of times and it really cleans up the oil. So when I went to drain the cheapy oil out after the 3 minute run there was oil everywhere, like a basketball sized puddle It's dripping in two places off the oil pan, both on the drivers side kind of front of the pick up sump and down the back where the block meets the trans(I took pics but I can't post them yet, do I need to be a contributing member here?) I was thinking rear main seal but there isn't any coming out of the rubber plug for the trans window. Was losing the light so I just threw in the towel til tomorrow when I'm gonna pull the cowl, airbox, intake manifold(if I have to) until I can see where it's gushing from. My suspicion is whatever leak it had that the P.O. put in all the stopleak for just came big time unplugged withy the fresh oil and Marvel.

Any likely culprits I should be looking for? It's a powerful enough fast drip that I think it's a pressurized source, not like the VC gasket. New project cars are always an adventure...

[MauiM3Mania]

Hmm, can't post pics, do I need a paid subscription or like a 5 post minimum?

Ten posts. Ten posts without excessive emoji usage. No, just kidding. Ten posts.

[NeedForBoost]

Gothcha Maui, thx for the info for the N00B. post # 6...

[NeedForBoost]

And 7...

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Could get silly...

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Would rather just pay $10....

[White94RX]

Sounds like you might have pinched or cut the o-ring on the oil filter housing. Unless you messed up the drain plug somehow, it's the only other thing you touched. And it's under pressure.


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[RocketSurgeon]

Check the oil filter housing gasket, and the oil cooler gasket (if equipped). I had a rear main seal leak on my 2007 that was a real gusher. My rear main seal would lay down a football-sized slick in 2 or 3 minutes, and it would get all over the downpipes and smoke.

[NeedForBoost]

Great suggestions to check guys, I couldn't face it yesterday so I went to Cruisin For the Cure, 2500 cars at the OC fairgounds. Strangely no Barvarian Motor Werks cars tho I'll check those places today, crossing my fingers it's not a rear main, the prospect of *another* car with the drivetrain out isn't appealing

[NeedForBoost]

Sounds like you might have pinched or cut the o-ring on the oil filter housing. Unless you messed up the drain plug somehow, it's the only other thing you touched. And it's under pressure.


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You NAILED it 94X! Just checked it in the bright sunlight and sure enough, the new filter cap O ring I replaced is pinched on the backside. I took a pic but still don't have a 'manage attachments' box to post pics like I do on other V bulletin forums. Maybe they want 15 posts outta me for my rookie mistake I owe you a cookie Bro You made my day and week!

[NeedForBoost]

So the oil gusher is fixed and I guess the old adage applies, if something doesn't seam quite right, it usually isn't. When I was changing the oil I found 2 new O rings in the Wix filter box, a small one for the tip of the cage and a large one for the cap itself. When I pried the old O ring out from under the cap it was ancient and rock hard with no stretch left in it. I thought to myself, kind of a strange place for an O ring in a 'squish' zone. Losing the light I hurried thru the install, put the new O ring where the old one was and finished up(creating the leak) Looking at it in the sunlight today I noticed there in another O ring in a groove about a half inch closer to the threads of the cap. Uh Oh, that's where its *SUPPOSED* to go, not squished under the cap where I removed the old one from. So I removed the 'other' one from the groove and put mine there instead. Leak fixed. There were TWO O rings on the cap when I got the car, is there supposed to be a second thinner 'squish' O ring under the cap?


35 or so miles of 'Spirited' driving today, motor is liking the new oil and plugs and the chassis loves the new Falken Azenis tires. I wanted a little more sidewall so I went with 225/50/17 instead of the 225/45/17's that were on the car. FIlls the wheelwells a lil better too

Next question, the interior is/was pretty trashed when I got the car so I found a 4 door '07 that was being parted out in LA. For $550. I got a new drivers seat(mine didn't go forward/backward) a new center console, and four new door panels(someones dog used the originals for chew toys). After changing the drivers seat out(everything works now) I have an airbag warning light and a seatbelt waning light illuminated on the dash. Is the module under the seat 'coded' for the car? Can the lights be reset? The main plug is nice and secure and all the seat position motors work so I don't think that's the problem?

Seeing as how I have a manage attachments button now(sweet!) I'll post some pics that go back a couple weeks.


1)Had to make a tool to change plugs, 20 minutes of grinding on a 12pt 14mm socket body!

2) Fist time at Cars and Coffee in south OC

3) some interior change out in progress

4)Love the door handle LED's at night, this was the fist nighttime drive in the car

5) my finger is pointing to where I screwed up the O ring placement, can see it squish out the back side.

EDIT: That's not the order I attached the pics, oh well, disregard numbers. All the V bulletin forums are a lil different

[slides]

Awesome, good to know how poorly maintained these cars can be and still come back with a refresh kit.

[Pilgrim]

Got the message on that plug socket. Last year I ordered one for my E91 along with the spark plugs. I suppose that we were due for a new style spark plug since the older models/sizes had been around since the 50's.