Nice to see a recovery instead of an autopsy. The latter are quite fun, but these days when cars are more expensive than they should be, it's good to see a good car be used rather than discarded.
Nice to see not everything is junked, scapped, or crushed. Keep doing you and don't worry about it. Your channel is great, and by your viewership that is confirmed.
Eric, you should feel a certain way about keeping this car on the road. Far too much in our society is treated as disposable. I'd say you're doing your part to help the planet
Those cars can actually be very reliable, sure youll have some typical bmw issues but the n52 is an awespme engine and the zf trans is bullet proof sorry for blowing up the comment section.. got excited. love your shirt btw.
The E90’s are notorious for oil leaks. I had a 07 328i, lasted me until like 190k miles before i said F it and sold it. Pretty decent generation, if you keep up with the maintenance.
When I worked in my dad's BMW shop he used to fuss at me for my propensity to overclean things - BUT, if any customers looked under their cars after a transmission service, they'd see a really pretty pan. I appreciate how you rescue these low-cost auction BMWs. People are so scared of them and yes, Index 12s will cost more than a retail colonoscopy but if you have some courage and some mechanical ability, they aren't too scary. Now, full disclosure, I'm rocking an overboosted E61 535xi that's cost me as much in maintenance as the purchase but hey, that's what it costs to gap M-cars in a grocery getter.
Bringing back BMW's from the dead. I'm guilty of doing this myself a few times and it's an awesome feeling because these cars are so great. All they need is a little love and care to bring out the quality that lies beneath.
If you can get them gently used where someone actually changed the oil and serviced everything on time, you can get a lot of car for your money buying 5-6 years old.
I use to manage a fleet of pickups and vans. I had lots of rotors that looked like these, hit them with DA and put pads on. By next oil change they were seated and worn into. If I was giving it to my wife to drive, I'd turn them to make the stop smoother.
You do a good service to the world. I’m 300,000 kilometers in to the wife’s SUBARU, and all I’ve replaced are wear parts, the rad, and that’s it. Oh, and it’s a CVT car!
I will defend a Subaru CVT, both of them. They are stout, servicable and knowledge to service them are accessible. They are the only CVT I will defend.
I bought a complete, running '74 BMW 2002 out of a wrecking yard 25 years ago. After a tune up and clean out of the fuel system it ran great. Still have and drive it occasionally.
Eric your Grandpa Ranger rescue inspired me as I had a Ranger new in 1991 and another in 2005 and as a recent Grandpa I have caught Pickup Truck Fever. But the beater I bought probably most resembles the F150 4.6l you recently killed. I hope mine withstands abuse like yours did.
I had two Ford Rangers, a 1982 model and a 2006 model. The first went 300,000 miles, the second went 171,000 before being totaled in a rear-end wreck. The pre-2011 Rangers were good trucks. I still see quite a few of them here in rust-free Texas. I do not have the same confidence in the new Rangers(or Maverick).
The brake lining sensors are deleted because they're not essential. The grinding sound when they run out of material is how you know its time to do the brakes. Turning rotors is hardly a thing anymore simply because they make em with just enough material that they're within a couple thousandths of minimum by the time you wear a set of pads out. Run em til they grind, replace the pads and rotors, pull the calipers and slide pins apart, clean and relubricate them. Especially if the slide pins are in blind holes.
I own a 2007 3 series in 2 wheel drive, with identical mileage. FRM module is a bit flakey, but other than that it's bullet-proof. Great car to gift/sell to a mechanically-inclined friend. Nice work Eric!
I thought maybe, maybe you were being a bit picky about changing the tires, then I saw them in the pickup... yeah, good choice. The rotors... My general feeling on those is I never change them unless worn below minimums or warped. concentric grooves, unless really bad ones, or horrible corrosion, I ignore them As to why this one was "abandoned" one post mentioned checking the correctional facilities...my thought was the morgue. Bit depressing that idea, but that's the way my mind works. :( Your T-shirt, "Give it to me Straight" Yeah, I've driven a BMW with a stick shift, (why would you put an auto in?) Also a Mazda 6. Close, very close. Only thing better than those is a Honda CBX... Holy s*it! Imagine a BMW straight 6 that's about twice as revy. Scary good.
Hah, I am the same way about obsessively cleaning anything I remove and replace on a car. I just can't not do it!! For the record, I really enjoy this type of video.
Really great that you saved it. It will make your buddy a good car for a lot of miles, especially since he is a mechanic and can fix little issues that come up.
I concur with your tire torque procedure. I don't have one of those fancy things. I use the star thing and tight is tight. If wheel starts shaking going down road I re tighten. LOL
Eric, just saw a video where oils were tested. The big thing i found amazing was, the more "Chains" used, the faster the oil viscosity changes. 30w oil can be 10w viscosity in 500 miles when subjected to large amounts of chain contact. > see why some use belts to oil pumps. FYI
Can finally relate to one of these! Ive got a E46 325xi with about twice the miles but is in similar shape to this one. Main things I would suggest looking out for is health of the drive shaft joints, Motor mounts, RTABs, and anything else made of rubber. Also those oil filter housings are always bad. new gaskets don't work very long either in my experience
BMW; seems I remember that stood for 'Best Motorcycle in World'. . or 'Break My Wallet'. . not sure which applies. Very pretty car, hope it goes to a good home and is appreciated.
I'm doing an oil pan gasket on my E39 528i right now. It's definitely a bit more of a PITA than it should be, considering BMW's seem to be notorious for leaky pan gaskets.
I was worried about the rear main seal when I did it on a junkyard save M52TU 528i that was sitting on top of a massive oil stain. But the pan gasket coming off in chunks made me feel better, some RTV on the bolts up the back near the TC and some prayers, it hasn't leaked or burned a drop in 7 months now, on a 285K motor. Did the other cheapo ones, OFH and vanos seals, and resealed the VCG at the same time. ATF was beyond disgusting. I got this car beyond dirt cheap and all it needed was maintenance nobody wanted to do on it.
Great cars but super expensive to maintain. I like that new scanner. Mine is 10+ years old and need to replace it. Preventative maintenance is super important. Well done!
E90 328s are low key the Toyota Camry of BMW. The n52 is a great engine. Take care of it and change the oil regularly and it will be solid. I have an e92 328 in stick and I feel that for a car that’s almost 20 years old, it’s as reliable as it can be. Plus it survived me learning to drive stick
Great Video. The E90 is really under appreciated in the market. Relatively easy to maintain, excluding replacement of the Oil pan gasket, N52's are great engines that will do easily 250K miles when getting their 5K mile oil changes. The body shape is timeless, interior holds up with time, they also do not rust when seeing some spray gun love if driven on salty roads. In a few years, the higher end models will start getting good money.
I take care of my cheap cars like I do the more expensive ones. They all need love. I like these videos. Edit: Owner in jail theory seems quite likely. That car was in no shape to be discarded like that.
It must have been maintained very well. My son bought a Toyota with a salvage title. I’m not 100% sure but I think the engine was replaced by the guy he bought it from. I drove it before he bought it, and it was a great little car. He drove it for five years. The only things he put into it were brakes, a couple of rotors ( I told him that his front brakes were going, and he didn’t pay attention. He learned his lesson.) a few light bulbs, and a couple front end alignments. Sometimes people don’t know what they’re getting rid of. He finally traded it in this year. It was finally starting to wear out at 19 years old.
> couple of rotors ( I told him that his front brakes were going, and he didn’t pay attention. He learned his lesson.) Holy crap... I had an '82 Toyota Tercel, with a rumbling noise in the front. It was my first car and I asked everybody, and they told me THAT NOISE IS JUST FINE! Nope. Learned my lesson too. Don't believe people about mechanical stuff... or anything at all. Unfortunately that was pre-Google and pre-UA-cam
@ same here on a 71 AMC Matador. Fortunately in those days, you could turn badly scored brake drums. That thing was a tank with a three speed stick shift, no power steering or brakes. I wore the thing out, gave it to my dad, and he wore it out some more. That 232 in line six was a good engine.
If you drop the subframe for the oil pan, just go ahead and replace the electric water pump and thermostat. Those only last 100-150k miles on the E90s. I loved my E90, but was just too expensive to operate above 80k miles. Plus the 6 speed automatic in mine was only so-so. Really wanted a manual. Picked up a F55 Mini to scratch my BMW itch. Similar overall feel, but has a manual and a lot cheaper to operate with the B38 engine.
A way I love getting stuck wheels off is put a pry bar (BLUE!) on a ball joint nut/bolt or a caliper (non painted) and just give it a teeny nudge, should pop the wheel right off rather than punching it or kicking the hell out of it
BMW is great to own or lease for a few years if your in that tax bracket. I bought a used “328i X Drive” spent more on repairs than the cost to purchase it. I ended up gifting it to a family member in need. Fun car in sport mode all wheel drive. It was expensive to fix because if you have a check engine light and go to “Conrad’s “ or some other local shop they can’t diagnose the problem because they don’t have the BMW software. So I had no choice but to take it to a dealership. It’s was technically out of warranty and I had too pay big bucks
There's so much info in the enthusiast community to help owners circumvent the stealerships for fixes almost entirely. INPA and ISTA are available on the high seas and are necessary to turn christmas lights on the dash into usable information. The cheapo generic aftermarket code readers that a lot of mechanics have are rarely useful. BMWs can be very much not expensive to fix and own, it depends on the model, how it is optioned and packaged, and the availability of parts, there is a degree of difficulty though, used BMWs are not something a non car guy should go anywhere near
I owned 3 bmw's and they all had over 200k miles. 1986 325es manual, 92 318 and a 98? 325ix. They never had any issues besides bad/old bushings. Never any dash lights besides pad life. Everyone hates on them but, i had good luck.
I'm pretty sure that was a '98. I had a 97? 318iS myself, unforgettable car. I didn't have the same luck with warning lights as you, but the car ended up outlasting them. Having saved it from the crusher, I sold it to the next enthusiast.
not in the same universe as the 2000's BM's which are quailty-disordered and so technically complex, inclding the engine top (vanos) that they are not ownable into super high miles. No mechanics in the US almost can do complex jobs like the Vanos Spring. As a decent shop, and likely they won't be able or willing to do it. The engine is fraught and stupid.
@@18_rabbit I think the reputation BMW developed for unreliability during those years really works in our favor since it keeps prices low. To me, one of the best things about old BMWs is the community of helpful people that drive & wrench on them. Used Bimmers are a great "bang for the buck" car, and one of the few RWD manuals that are still cheap enough to be a toy. I'm especially glad that Eric is one of us! I'm 100% with him on the Miatas too. Eric, if you're still reading these comments, keep up the great work!
I agree Eric the only one that lost was the person that walked away from that car. The person probably had financial issues and couldn't afford to get it out of the yard.
One thing that maybe should have been cross checked is the owner's name with the database of residents of local "correction" facilities. I can't think of a good reason to walk away from a basically nice car like this. Agreed it is only worth about $3200, but who has $3200 to flush down the drain.
'Car drives nice'... you must have different rubber mix with the Potenzas you get over there! Had a really new set on the 2008 Passat wagon I bought. Nice to drive, but really noisy and really 'twitchy' under heavy braking and in the wet. Put a set of Michelin Pilot Sport 4s on (been running them for years on my 2007 Jetta) and had a different car. Road noise dropped, car cornered and handled properly. 🤷🏼
New crush washer? In all my years of working on cars, professionally and on my own cars, I have NEVER replaced a crush washer. I have never had a reused one leak. Totally unnecessary.
Lol. Eric: I'm not fixing anything.
Proceeds to fix things 😂
We all know Eric has to fix things he can't leave anything alone
Many things.
Adam Sandler working on an old BMW in Missouri? You gotta love it.
An actually funny Adam Sandler though
His long lost twin better looking just not as successful.
@@landonfrey7369Or as tall.
🤣
He also sounds like him, how is that possible 😂
Nice to see a recovery instead of an autopsy. The latter are quite fun, but these days when cars are more expensive than they should be, it's good to see a good car be used rather than discarded.
I'm all about putting decent cars back on the road and avoiding unnecessary waste. I like these videos when you come across cars like this.
couldn't agree more! Like the founder of Patagonia clothing said, "the best thing you can do for the environment is buy second hand."
Junk yards are the original green, OG.
Nice to see not everything is junked, scapped, or crushed.
Keep doing you and don't worry about it.
Your channel is great, and by your viewership that is confirmed.
Poor abandoned cars need love too! 😅
BMW lives matter 😂😂😂
Please do more of these. The weekend teardown is great but i like the mid week car video
Wow! A UA-camr who actually knows the meaning of abandoned.
Eric, you should feel a certain way about keeping this car on the road. Far too much in our society is treated as disposable. I'd say you're doing your part to help the planet
I was desperate to see that bumper dent popped out!
EXACTLY! Just a "tap-tap-tap..."
Apply some heat, (heat gun low) should pop right out
Those cars can actually be very reliable, sure youll have some typical bmw issues but the n52 is an awespme engine and the zf trans is bullet proof sorry for blowing up the comment section.. got excited. love your shirt btw.
🤣🤣🤣🤣
Let the rotors ride!
Never save on rubber people. It ends up in accidents you don't want to happen.
Who are rubber people?
@@BartSarton
Punctuation:
rubber, people; it ends up
The E90’s are notorious for oil leaks. I had a 07 328i, lasted me until like 190k miles before i said F it and sold it. Pretty decent generation, if you keep up with the maintenance.
When I worked in my dad's BMW shop he used to fuss at me for my propensity to overclean things - BUT, if any customers looked under their cars after a transmission service, they'd see a really pretty pan.
I appreciate how you rescue these low-cost auction BMWs. People are so scared of them and yes, Index 12s will cost more than a retail colonoscopy but if you have some courage and some mechanical ability, they aren't too scary. Now, full disclosure, I'm rocking an overboosted E61 535xi that's cost me as much in maintenance as the purchase but hey, that's what it costs to gap M-cars in a grocery getter.
Bringing back BMW's from the dead. I'm guilty of doing this myself a few times and it's an awesome feeling because these cars are so great. All they need is a little love and care to bring out the quality that lies beneath.
If you can get them gently used where someone actually changed the oil and serviced everything on time, you can get a lot of car for your money buying 5-6 years old.
I use to manage a fleet of pickups and vans. I had lots of rotors that looked like these, hit them with DA and put pads on. By next oil change they were seated and worn into. If I was giving it to my wife to drive, I'd turn them to make the stop smoother.
Replace that front bumper and you’ve got a good looking car.
You do a good service to the world.
I’m 300,000 kilometers in to the wife’s SUBARU, and all I’ve replaced are wear parts, the rad, and that’s it. Oh, and it’s a CVT car!
I will defend a Subaru CVT, both of them. They are stout, servicable and knowledge to service them are accessible. They are the only CVT I will defend.
No timing belt/ chain replacement? There good cars, just alittle noisy cold.
@@memyselfandi3925 Timing belt is a wear part.
Good to see Blue get a day off!
Rumor has it Blue went on a Bahamas Cruise.
Love these midweek videos, nice little transition between teardowns
Splash shield? You mean tertiary oil pan, right? Glad to see the follow up on this car. Thank you for posting.
“It’s hot. It’s like I drove it.” is peak Eric.
I bought a complete, running '74 BMW 2002 out of a wrecking yard 25 years ago. After a tune up and clean out of the fuel system it ran great. Still have and drive it occasionally.
You are very kind to your friends.
Don't ever stop. 👍
Erics tee-shirt at the end had me thinking "that's what she said" 😀 😀 I have to get myself one of those tee-shirts ! 😀
We all need a friend like you.
the rear brake sensor connection plug is behind the wheel arch lining 👀
Eric your Grandpa Ranger rescue inspired me as I had a Ranger new in 1991 and another in 2005 and as a recent Grandpa I have caught Pickup Truck Fever. But the beater I bought probably most resembles the F150 4.6l you recently killed. I hope mine withstands abuse like yours did.
I had two Ford Rangers, a 1982 model and a 2006 model. The first went 300,000 miles, the second went 171,000 before being totaled in a rear-end wreck. The pre-2011 Rangers were good trucks. I still see quite a few of them here in rust-free Texas. I do not have the same confidence in the new Rangers(or Maverick).
The brake lining sensors are deleted because they're not essential. The grinding sound when they run out of material is how you know its time to do the brakes. Turning rotors is hardly a thing anymore simply because they make em with just enough material that they're within a couple thousandths of minimum by the time you wear a set of pads out. Run em til they grind, replace the pads and rotors, pull the calipers and slide pins apart, clean and relubricate them. Especially if the slide pins are in blind holes.
I own a 2007 3 series in 2 wheel drive, with identical mileage. FRM module is a bit flakey, but other than that it's bullet-proof. Great car to gift/sell to a mechanically-inclined friend. Nice work Eric!
Makes me feel great that you kept (yet another) car from the shredder. Legend!
Love to see this decent BMW get to live another life!
Love the slow expanse on videos we have seen seems like your more open to showing us different things as time goes on and I love it
I thought maybe, maybe you were being a bit picky about changing the tires, then I saw them in the pickup... yeah, good choice. The rotors... My general feeling on those is I never change them unless worn below minimums or warped. concentric grooves, unless really bad ones, or horrible corrosion, I ignore them
As to why this one was "abandoned" one post mentioned checking the correctional facilities...my thought was the morgue. Bit depressing that idea, but that's the way my mind works. :(
Your T-shirt, "Give it to me Straight" Yeah, I've driven a BMW with a stick shift, (why would you put an auto in?) Also a Mazda 6. Close, very close. Only thing better than those is a Honda CBX... Holy s*it! Imagine a BMW straight 6 that's about twice as revy. Scary good.
Hah, I am the same way about obsessively cleaning anything I remove and replace on a car. I just can't not do it!! For the record, I really enjoy this type of video.
Your buddy is getting a great car at a very good price and should be VERY appreciative! Good catch!!
A special mid week treat!!
I absolutely love my $500 220k N52 E83, these things have aged amazingly
Great video .
I like mystery car's.
I had one and I found a key in the trunk under the spare tire.
Basically a master class in how to inspect a car with an unknown history. Awesome.
It will be fine,Eric 🙂
Eric - sounds like you are a great friend to have! Love your content.
Really great that you saved it. It will make your buddy a good car for a lot of miles, especially since he is a mechanic and can fix little issues that come up.
I concur with your tire torque procedure. I don't have one of those fancy things. I use the star thing and tight is tight. If wheel starts shaking going down road I re tighten. LOL
I love being a winner. Thanks for the cool look at a BMW video.
Eric great environmentalists saving one vehicle @ a time 👍
Very nice to see this one saved. Great work.
These videos are nice also. Keep them up. It is just fun to catch and you always learn something. Thanks
Eric, just saw a video where oils were tested. The big thing i found amazing was, the more "Chains" used, the faster the oil viscosity changes. 30w oil can be 10w viscosity in 500 miles when subjected to large amounts of chain contact.
> see why some use belts to oil pumps. FYI
Can finally relate to one of these! Ive got a E46 325xi with about twice the miles but is in similar shape to this one. Main things I would suggest looking out for is health of the drive shaft joints, Motor mounts, RTABs, and anything else made of rubber.
Also those oil filter housings are always bad. new gaskets don't work very long either in my experience
Use a thin layer of good sealant on both sides of the new gasket...just to show there are no hard feelings?
BMW; seems I remember that stood for 'Best Motorcycle in World'. . or 'Break My Wallet'. . not sure which applies.
Very pretty car, hope it goes to a good home and is appreciated.
Love it ! always good to see something done in the right way. To many times no one wants to save something.
Yes, extra videos! Thanks Eric!
I like Happy Endings - Good Job
Love that you saved a good car, and a BMW at that. Very much enjoyed watching you go through it.
I'm doing an oil pan gasket on my E39 528i right now. It's definitely a bit more of a PITA than it should be, considering BMW's seem to be notorious for leaky pan gaskets.
All german cars leak everything they can, and yes that includes electricity.
I was worried about the rear main seal when I did it on a junkyard save M52TU 528i that was sitting on top of a massive oil stain. But the pan gasket coming off in chunks made me feel better, some RTV on the bolts up the back near the TC and some prayers, it hasn't leaked or burned a drop in 7 months now, on a 285K motor. Did the other cheapo ones, OFH and vanos seals, and resealed the VCG at the same time. ATF was beyond disgusting. I got this car beyond dirt cheap and all it needed was maintenance nobody wanted to do on it.
Great cars but super expensive to maintain. I like that new scanner. Mine is 10+ years old and need to replace it. Preventative maintenance is super important. Well done!
When are we gonna get some merch from this channel!! 😅
As per usual, another great video. Cheers Sir
E90 328s are low key the Toyota Camry of BMW. The n52 is a great engine. Take care of it and change the oil regularly and it will be solid. I have an e92 328 in stick and I feel that for a car that’s almost 20 years old, it’s as reliable as it can be. Plus it survived me learning to drive stick
Rotors look fine, change em when they fall off, crunch, grind, or warp. ;)
Those rotors look mint, compared to any of mine after five NH winters.
Good project; saving such a car is worth your time - & ours!
Great Video. The E90 is really under appreciated in the market. Relatively easy to maintain, excluding replacement of the Oil pan gasket, N52's are great engines that will do easily 250K miles when getting their 5K mile oil changes. The body shape is timeless, interior holds up with time, they also do not rust when seeing some spray gun love if driven on salty roads. In a few years, the higher end models will start getting good money.
265k miles on my Z4 3.0si. Cosmetically iffy, but mechanically sound! The N52 is a fine motor when the oil leaks are addressed.
Win win win Michael Scott would approve
I take care of my cheap cars like I do the more expensive ones. They all need love. I like these videos.
Edit: Owner in jail theory seems quite likely. That car was in no shape to be discarded like that.
It must have been maintained very well. My son bought a Toyota with a salvage title. I’m not 100% sure but I think the engine was replaced by the guy he bought it from. I drove it before he bought it, and it was a great little car. He drove it for five years. The only things he put into it were brakes, a couple of rotors ( I told him that his front brakes were going, and he didn’t pay attention. He learned his lesson.) a few light bulbs, and a couple front end alignments. Sometimes people don’t know what they’re getting rid of. He finally traded it in this year. It was finally starting to wear out at 19 years old.
> couple of rotors ( I told him that his front brakes were going, and he didn’t pay attention. He learned his lesson.)
Holy crap... I had an '82 Toyota Tercel, with a rumbling noise in the front. It was my first car and I asked everybody, and they told me THAT NOISE IS JUST FINE!
Nope. Learned my lesson too. Don't believe people about mechanical stuff... or anything at all. Unfortunately that was pre-Google and pre-UA-cam
@ same here on a 71 AMC Matador. Fortunately in those days, you could turn badly scored brake drums. That thing was a tank with a three speed stick shift, no power steering or brakes. I wore the thing out, gave it to my dad, and he wore it out some more. That 232 in line six was a good engine.
Awesome to see another car put back on the road. Love ya brother
Give it to me straight shirt. That's cool. Enjoyed this one, thanks for the insight.
More of these please and thank you.
If you drop the subframe for the oil pan, just go ahead and replace the electric water pump and thermostat. Those only last 100-150k miles on the E90s. I loved my E90, but was just too expensive to operate above 80k miles. Plus the 6 speed automatic in mine was only so-so. Really wanted a manual. Picked up a F55 Mini to scratch my BMW itch. Similar overall feel, but has a manual and a lot cheaper to operate with the B38 engine.
A way I love getting stuck wheels off is put a pry bar (BLUE!) on a ball joint nut/bolt or a caliper (non painted) and just give it a teeny nudge, should pop the wheel right off rather than punching it or kicking the hell out of it
BMW is great to own or lease for a few years if your in that tax bracket. I bought a used “328i X Drive” spent more on repairs than the cost to purchase it. I ended up gifting it to a family member in need. Fun car in sport mode all wheel drive. It was expensive to fix because if you have a check engine light and go to “Conrad’s “ or some other local shop they can’t diagnose the problem because they don’t have the BMW software. So I had no choice but to take it to a dealership. It’s was technically out of warranty and I had too pay big bucks
There's so much info in the enthusiast community to help owners circumvent the stealerships for fixes almost entirely. INPA and ISTA are available on the high seas and are necessary to turn christmas lights on the dash into usable information. The cheapo generic aftermarket code readers that a lot of mechanics have are rarely useful.
BMWs can be very much not expensive to fix and own, it depends on the model, how it is optioned and packaged, and the availability of parts, there is a degree of difficulty though, used BMWs are not something a non car guy should go anywhere near
Glad to see one saved.
I owned 3 bmw's and they all had over 200k miles. 1986 325es manual, 92 318 and a 98? 325ix. They never had any issues besides bad/old bushings. Never any dash lights besides pad life. Everyone hates on them but, i had good luck.
I'm pretty sure that was a '98. I had a 97? 318iS myself, unforgettable car. I didn't have the same luck with warning lights as you, but the car ended up outlasting them. Having saved it from the crusher, I sold it to the next enthusiast.
not in the same universe as the 2000's BM's which are quailty-disordered and so technically complex, inclding the engine top (vanos) that they are not ownable into super high miles. No mechanics in the US almost can do complex jobs like the Vanos Spring. As a decent shop, and likely they won't be able or willing to do it. The engine is fraught and stupid.
@@18_rabbit I think the reputation BMW developed for unreliability during those years really works in our favor since it keeps prices low. To me, one of the best things about old BMWs is the community of helpful people that drive & wrench on them. Used Bimmers are a great "bang for the buck" car, and one of the few RWD manuals that are still cheap enough to be a toy. I'm especially glad that Eric is one of us! I'm 100% with him on the Miatas too. Eric, if you're still reading these comments, keep up the great work!
I’m really enjoying watching these types of videos
You fixed the one thing that never gets used on a BMW.
The turn signals STILL intermittent....even when FIXED?
Good going Eric
This video reminds me of someone else, i think we can call you the BMW Wizard now Eric.
Nice find! This should serve its next owner for quite a while.
That shirt is fantastic
I agree Eric the only one that lost was the person that walked away from that car. The person probably had financial issues and couldn't afford to get it out of the yard.
12:03 Personally, I probably would recommend new rotors because of the lot rot, even though it looks like they got pretty well scrubbed of it.
One thing that maybe should have been cross checked is the owner's name with the database of residents of local "correction" facilities. I can't think of a good reason to walk away from a basically nice car like this. Agreed it is only worth about $3200, but who has $3200 to flush down the drain.
Also check the obituaries
Thanks for the mid week upload Eric!
Have to say, I prefer the donkey kick; but the Tarzan kick obviously worked.
In england brake disks used to be stamped with minimum thickness. Maybe those are too. Have to clean off scale obviously 😅👍🏴
You are a really good friend
'Car drives nice'... you must have different rubber mix with the Potenzas you get over there! Had a really new set on the 2008 Passat wagon I bought. Nice to drive, but really noisy and really 'twitchy' under heavy braking and in the wet. Put a set of Michelin Pilot Sport 4s on (been running them for years on my 2007 Jetta) and had a different car. Road noise dropped, car cornered and handled properly. 🤷🏼
I love these videos so much!
You do a great job, I like watching all videos. I am just a weekend Mech enjoy being able to change a battery, yeah right,lol!!!😅
I'm working on a 2011 e90 right now. Good vid🔥💯
i like the variety of videos you produce
Just love all the recovery, rebuild, and "will it run" videos. Please keep doing them!
Your a good friend.
New crush washer? In all my years of working on cars, professionally and on my own cars, I have NEVER replaced a crush washer. I have never had a reused one leak. Totally unnecessary.
May as well do it all if you're dropping that sub frame, motor mounts/water pump/thermostat...the works
Hahaha....
For some of us, BMW and maintenance puts a maniac smile in our face .....
U can’t own an out or warranty without knowing how to turn wrenches. It will send u to poor house 😂
You are so talented. 😊