Monthly Archives: December 2017

Cars

Oil change

TODAY I DID the first oil change. Interesting time spent under the car.

The mechanic who did the pre-buy inspection told me it looked like the car had a leaky oil pan and a leaking transfer case seal. I guessed that that was not really the case; I assumed the engine was just oily from the typical BMW leaks. That may well be the case, but at least part of the problem was much easier than that!

Whoever did the last oil change did not use the washer/gasket that goes on the drain plug to keep it from leaking. Swirling air under the car spreads that slowly dripping oil all over the place. Really, ALL over the place!

I had the engine pressure washed a few weeks ago. I’m not sure if what I saw today was fresh since then, or simply residual oil from a less than complete cleaning. At the auto craft shop in Wiesbaden I pressure washed cars a few times. One inspector commented that he had never seen a car of that vintage (’99) that clean underneath. I wish I could find a place to do it myself here. Or, at least find someone who can actually get under the car. Well, we’ll see…

OK, back to the oil change. Yesterday, I stopped by the car parts place to buy oil. Last night I realized I need 6.9 quarts/liters of oil but only bought 6. Got another bottle today. There was no wait at Auto Skills when I got there, so straight on the lift. That’s when I noticed how oily it still was under the car. Actually, it wasn’t quite that dramatic; before I lifted the car I loosened the lid on the oil filter housing to ensure no vacuum hindered draining. I might take an hour instead of 30 minutes at a “Quickie Lube” place, but I do better work!

So, old oil out. Drain plug with washer in. Old filter out. New filter in. New oil in. Everything clean and checked for leaks. Done. Boom!

This weekend I had actually planned on replacing control arms, ball joints, sway bar links, and sway bar bushings, but it was a yucky day and I wasn’t feeling too enthusiastic. Plus, I’d like to make a video of it, and I haven’t unpacked the box from Germany with the microphones and other video accessories. Gotta do it right if I’m going to make a video and get rich on YouTube…

The title picture above is just showing the odometer so I can keep track of when the next oil change will be due. The pictures below show the control arms (“pipes” left and right) and the ball joint (center, above right side control arm with the star shaped bolt head).

Close up of the rear of the left front wheel. You can see the two control arms and ball joint.
The rear of the left front wheel. You can see the two control arms and ball joint.
Cars

Don’t lose your license

THE GUY I BOUGHT the car from removed the license plate. I drove home w/o one. I was passed at one point by a police car, so it’s clearly not a big thing. Unfortunately, the guy kept the screws that hold the plate in place. I stopped at a car parts place on the way to register the car a couple days later. The screws were the wrong size. I stopped at a different place. Google to the rescue.

The frame has come loose on the left side. It could easily fall off.

A few days later I went through the car wash. The license plate was half off the car! Closing the lift gate or going through a car wash was enough to cause the left half of the plate holder to fall free. This became the first repair.

New part from BMW, torx screws from the license plate, the torx driver, and a phillips head screwdriver. All you need.

This was a five-minute job including washing the part of the lift gate covered by the license plate. The license plate is attached to a frame with four screws. The frame is attached to the lift gate with two screws that go into plastic plugs. The left most plug was worn/damaged enough not to stay snapped into the sheet metal. Perhaps this has been a problem for BMW, the new part is a big chunkier than the old one. I reinstalled the frame and reattached the license plate. Now it’s time to hit the carwash!

New part on the left, old on the right – called a plug-in nut.

The part is called a “plug-in nut” and has BMW part number 51188242693.