Spent the day hanging over the indy’s shoulder
This is way more than most of you want to know, but I am so excited, I just have to share. Those of you who have been reading my posts for a while now that I am always pissing and moaning about not being able to find a mechanic worthy to work on my car. And people on this board always tell me I have to work it myself to be satisfied, which pushed me enough to buy tools but enough not to use them. Well I found a great Indy and had a great day watching every move.
What the Indy was like
I went to La Jolla Independent. It is about 20 miles from my house and not convenient to get to, but was it ever worth it. The place looks like a junkyard so you are definitely not paying for the cappuccino machine. The reason it looks like a junkyard is they are the leading coupe restorer in the county. They just finished restoring coupe to the tune of $106,000. People pay for their cars to sit on their lot until LJI can get to them. They also sell used and hard to find parts on the Internet. The mechanic who worked on my car had posted on this board briefly back in October—sdlongboarder (aka Chris).
What I was looking for
What I had been looking for was someone who would listen to my car and drive it and be able to identify and diagnose problems on this basis. Someone who has seen a lot of e34s and recognizes instantly what is wrong. I got it. I went on the test drive with Chris and he could hear my brake notice, my suspension noise, identified a transmission problem and a probable need for an alignment, and an issue with the short shifter. When we got back, he worked on the car outside of the bay so there would not be a problem with their insurance if I were in the bay. He explained to me what he was doing and identified all the engine parts for me. He showed me parts needing replacement now, things that will be needed in the future, and told me places to watch that problems could develop. Then later on, I was able to inspect the underside of my car when it was up on the lift.
Felt totally validated for buying this car
Valve cover came off—Chris: “Hey guys, look at this.” Me: “What?” “How clean this is. This car has had regular oil changes. Usually it is carmalized and this is really clean.” A little later they sent the salesman from the BMW dealership over to look at my valve cover (he was having his car worked on there cause he doesn’t trust the dealers service. Ha).
Other mechanic, Spanky: “You could eat off that engine bay”
Chris: “This car has lots of new parts. The fan clutch was 04. It has new belts and hoses. It has a new giebo and new tranny mounts. The suspension is good. The brakes are good. The clutch is great. It must have been garaged because for an east coast car it doesn’t have any rust except the muffler.”
Owner, Carl: “We don’t see many cars that impress us with their maintenance like this one.”
Other mechanic, Gary: “That is the best engine. That was the peak of BMW engineering. They don’t make cars like that anymore. 535s are the best and 5 speeds…And those wheels…do you know how sought after those are?
What the Service II did find
The cap and rotor needed to be replaced, as did one hose. There were platinum plugs (eek). The differential oil was kind of dirty. There was automatic transmission fluid for the manual transmission. The fuel filter was way overdue for replacement as the gas that drained out was pretty dirty. I got the coolant changed to BMW blue. Switched the oil weight from 10-40 to 20-50, which seems more appropriate for our temp range of about 40-90. The brake noise is just the way the Metal Masters are. And some oil got rid of my suspension squeak. The engine sounds wonderful after the valve adjustment.
Got the brake light sensor replaced and the door actuator fixed. Wow—was it humbling to see the door and the lock taken apart. Everything works and is wonderful. Advised me to forget about getting the code function in the OBC fixed and just get the bmw alarm installed.
All of this for $658. The labor was a mere $425. Is that a deal or what? And look at the education I got. And it was a full day of entertainment talking with the mechanics, owner, and other customers who were for the most part all interesting characters.
In my future
I have my next years repair plan. I will need new tie rods as they have a small amount of play in them. There is a minor leak from the power steering pump. I will probably be due for a radiator. Got a do it yourself suggestion for my low beams. Will replace the door brakes with the kit from Koala.
Santa is going to bring me a stainless steel muffler—just have to decide which brand.
Intangible benefits
I have graduated from the totally clueless to the somewhat clueless. I was able to understand the thread on coolant bypass and the throttle body today and that was not true before today’s education. I think I could do a tune up myself now. And now I have mechanics that know me and I know them and I would trust without being there. I can deal with them by phone now with complete trust.
It was a BMW fairy tale day. I fell in love with my car all over again. And now that I have external confirmation of how great my car is, I think I should get some more votes in the virtual car show.
Dinan chip, Bilstein sports w H&R, RD sways, RD strut brace, 750 bushings, Zimmermans/MetalMasters, O.E. M Pars, Eisenmann muffler
Grand Master
Originally Posted by Gayle
Another beautiful engine picture. Did you just rebuild your engine?
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