| Steinbauer Project! The BMW 635 CSI |
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21 May 15: (243,860) It has been a while since I worked on the car. Summer wheels were installed on 1 May 16 (243,600) and I thought it was
time to upgrade the rear suspension. I changed out the stabilizer links and bushings as well as the differential mount. I have no idea how old
they were. In the process I also realized that I have this vibration again and sure enough, it is time for the center support bearing again(!). On
28 May 16 I plan on changing the transmission mounts as well since I am down there anyway.
time to upgrade the rear suspension. I changed out the stabilizer links and bushings as well as the differential mount. I have no idea how old
they were. In the process I also realized that I have this vibration again and sure enough, it is time for the center support bearing again(!). On
28 May 16 I plan on changing the transmission mounts as well since I am down there anyway.
24 June 2016: Changed the center support bearing! Odometer reading is 244,760 Miles
30 July 2016: Noticed some vibration in the drive shaft and thought that the center support bearing already died on me. Inspected the drive line and noticed
that one of the six bolts on the guibo was lose and one side of the bearing slipped back. Tightened the bolts and redid the bearing.
Want to have a good workout? Replace a lower control arm (11)! Rick changed the last one out 2 years ago but the bushing was too old since I had those
control arms pretty much since I had the car. There was just never the need to install them.
30 July 2016: Noticed some vibration in the drive shaft and thought that the center support bearing already died on me. Inspected the drive line and noticed
that one of the six bolts on the guibo was lose and one side of the bearing slipped back. Tightened the bolts and redid the bearing.
Want to have a good workout? Replace a lower control arm (11)! Rick changed the last one out 2 years ago but the bushing was too old since I had those
control arms pretty much since I had the car. There was just never the need to install them.
A undertaking like that is not that easy. Had to take the brakes out and disconnect the strut. My biggest fear did
not come true, I could easily undo the nut holding the control arm in place. The problem came in when the nut was
off and the connector did not come out even with the separator. To make that happen, I had to heat the
surrounding piece with a blow torch and still beat the daylights out of the poor separator. Took a lot longer than
expected. The new control arm connected right away since the surrounding piece was still hot. I held it in place and
could torque down the new nut without any problems at all.
Also cleared out the windshield washer jets and readjusted them. Happy motoring for now!
not come true, I could easily undo the nut holding the control arm in place. The problem came in when the nut was
off and the connector did not come out even with the separator. To make that happen, I had to heat the
surrounding piece with a blow torch and still beat the daylights out of the poor separator. Took a lot longer than
expected. The new control arm connected right away since the surrounding piece was still hot. I held it in place and
could torque down the new nut without any problems at all.
Also cleared out the windshield washer jets and readjusted them. Happy motoring for now!
28 August 2016: Going to my sleep study, with a dark parking lot missed the dip and damaged the front spoiler. Not the first and
certainly not the last time this happened so I thought it is not a big deal. After I got out of the sleep study I noticed that the oil pressure
light was flickering on the way home and this was not the first time that a warning light came on, Got home and parked the car in the
garage. Later, when I came out I saw this:
certainly not the last time this happened so I thought it is not a big deal. After I got out of the sleep study I noticed that the oil pressure
light was flickering on the way home and this was not the first time that a warning light came on, Got home and parked the car in the
garage. Later, when I came out I saw this:
As it turned out, the oil pan cracked. For some time now I wanted to change out the sub frame and the
oil pan gasket. An oil change was also due as "luck" would have it. Timing was also alright since I was laid off after the contract with
CACI International ended and they down sized. I had the time and got to endure the PITA this entails. Below are some pictures from
the underside of the engine and the old sub frame which really needed to be replaced. In the process I got some air into the power
steering circuit. No idea how that happened since I did not open anything there.
oil pan gasket. An oil change was also due as "luck" would have it. Timing was also alright since I was laid off after the contract with
CACI International ended and they down sized. I had the time and got to endure the PITA this entails. Below are some pictures from
the underside of the engine and the old sub frame which really needed to be replaced. In the process I got some air into the power
steering circuit. No idea how that happened since I did not open anything there.
19 November 2016: Noticed that I had to pay the price when you switch out the cross member. The alignment went way off and I shredded the tread off the
tires. Good thing that I put my winter wheels on now. The windshield washers needed attention as well since the wipers only worked on fast. Swapped the relay
out and all is fine now. Changed wheels as well at 247,000.
19 February 2017: Nothing major, just an oil and filter change at odometer reading 250,000 miles.
18 March 2017: Been noticing spots in the drive way and thought that someone's car is leaking until I found out that my power steering hose was leaking.
Looks like a simple task. Unscrew it from the pressure regulator and the other end from the pump. Not so fast! You have to take the overflow reservoir off and
take the alternator out. Granted, maybe I could have taken the power steering pump off but I thought that it may be harder to unscrew the hose from the pump
if it is not mounted. Now taken the hose off the regulator is not that hard but getting it back on is! Took me a lot longer than expected since I never graduated
from Basket Weaving 101. Finally got it all back together and investigated a possible fuel leak between the pump and the filter. Replaced the hose there and
hope that was the problem. While under there I noticed that the CV Boot is cracked! After looking around, turns out that this explains my puff of smoke that
came out on and off. Not so much in the winter time because the grease is cold. When the weather is warmer, the grease is more likely to drop on the hot
exhaust. There goes the theory with the smoke, Certainly does not seem to come from the engine since, in order to avoit a puff of smoke I pressed on the gas
pedal before taking off but there was no smoke. CV Boot is on order and will be fixed soon.
8 April 2017: After we had a few nasty weekends I finally got to swap out the output shaft, It is always nice when you have an extra one where you can do the
CV boot replacement ahead of time and just swap them out later. There were actually no complications and I was done in no time. When I took the Allen head
bolts off I put them into a cleaning solution to get rid of all the grease.
18 April 2017: Changed from Winter to Summer wheels. Odometer reading 252 400
12 Aug 17: Oil and filter change at 256,374 miles
30 Sep 17: It has been very foggy a few morning in a row so I decided to mount the front spoiler with the fog lights even though the entire thing was not ready
to be mounted. It needed more sanding but that can wait til next year spring,
3 Nov 17: Changed from summer to winter tires at 259,078
23 Nov 17: New approach to dash board repair/restaurantion.
27 Jan 18; The dash was sitting out in the elements and still looks very good. Maybe I put it in and see how it goes. Changed the oil and filter at 262,000.
Also changed the air filter as well.
30 Apr 18: Changed from Winter to Summer tires at 265,500 Miles. Last Winter for those tires. One, they are bald in the inner edges and on top they are from
2012!
2 Jun 18: Oil change at 267, 200
23 Jun 18: Spark plug change at 267, 500, It was time!
3 Jul 18: Tightened the screws around the oil pan which
does not seem to be a big deal until you get to the rear
part where you have very limited space and also have to take off the cover between the engine and the transmission. I actually wound up using one of the on
board BMW tools (10 mm) to get to the bolts in the rear since a regular 10 mm socket did not fit in this tight spot. Nevertheless, got that done and then took on
the rewiring of the stereo! Seems as BMW is a sourpuss when it comes to eliminating the fader switch. Even though I checked each speaker wire for continuity,
there seems to be still some cross overs somewhere in between. Long agony short, I would up running new speaker wires! Should have done that in the first
place!
7 Jul 18: Since I checked for fuel pressure on Igor and it looked like he had no pressure at all, I also checked on Fritz and it turned out that the test equipment I
rented from O'Reileys did not work. I gave Fritz's engine a bath and afterwards finished up the speakers. Excellent sound to the excellent music provided by
Bob!
15 Aug 18: The time has come again where the drive shaft went belly up! Ordered a new drive shaft on Monday in the hope it would be here by the weekend.
Guess I was wrong! Arived today and I installed it right away. Odometer reading is now 269,865 (which is just about 300,000 actual miles.). Installed a new
drive shaft with a center support bearing and a new guibo.
31 Aug 18: Since the turn signal was acting up and I found a turn signal switch (with OBC control) at the Upull I thought I take care of that. I did and it works
nice. It may have been just the relay but if you can get a turn signal switch with a new relay attached, go for it!
4 Sep 18: While putting in the restored seat, I noticed that the seat keep blowing out the fuse. Thinking it was the seat, I changed out the frame. No such luck.
The problem seems to be in the harness. The plan was to take out the seats and swap out the carpet which has been the plan for the longest time. First I
checked the harness but could not find anything obvious.
6 Sep 18: Took a closer look at the harness, maybe I can find something. I decided that I just put in the restored seat and move that into the position that I
want with connecting the motors directly to power. Problem solved! I do have a new(er) carpet but decided to postpone the problem until some other time.
More important at this time was to fix the CV Boot on the passenger side (at 300,000 miles). Done that without any major complications.
27/28 Sep 18: Took the Ghost Town trip with Robert. Drove 800 miles in just 2 days! Scenery was wonderful since the Aspens turned yellow and the
mountains are spectacular! No complications but we do need an oil change.
1 Oct 18: Must have had too much energy and tore the door handle apart. "No Problem" I thought since I do have spare parts. Turns out that I only had an
inner door handle for the passenger side. Had to do some German ingenuity when I noticed that it was just the housing. Took the inner door handle assembly
apart and just switched the left and the right handle and the problem was solved!
6 Oct 18: Changed the oil, oil and air filters at 271 180 odometer reading
3 Nov 18: Odometer reading 272 780, changed from summer to winter wheels. Topped off the transmission and swapped out the old, cracked front spoiler
with a new one that almost matches the color of the car.
24 Mar 19: Still have the issue with the occasional puff of smoke and remembered the spark plug #6 was all oily so I thought that maybe the ignition cable is
faulty. Put in another one but the puff remained. The next choice would be the connection to the injector. For this I should replace the harness. I do have an
extra one but save this for warmer weather.
3 May 19: Sad news! Got in an accident today and the frame of Fritz is beyond repair. Yes, this is the end! Search for a replacement started.
tires. Good thing that I put my winter wheels on now. The windshield washers needed attention as well since the wipers only worked on fast. Swapped the relay
out and all is fine now. Changed wheels as well at 247,000.
19 February 2017: Nothing major, just an oil and filter change at odometer reading 250,000 miles.
18 March 2017: Been noticing spots in the drive way and thought that someone's car is leaking until I found out that my power steering hose was leaking.
Looks like a simple task. Unscrew it from the pressure regulator and the other end from the pump. Not so fast! You have to take the overflow reservoir off and
take the alternator out. Granted, maybe I could have taken the power steering pump off but I thought that it may be harder to unscrew the hose from the pump
if it is not mounted. Now taken the hose off the regulator is not that hard but getting it back on is! Took me a lot longer than expected since I never graduated
from Basket Weaving 101. Finally got it all back together and investigated a possible fuel leak between the pump and the filter. Replaced the hose there and
hope that was the problem. While under there I noticed that the CV Boot is cracked! After looking around, turns out that this explains my puff of smoke that
came out on and off. Not so much in the winter time because the grease is cold. When the weather is warmer, the grease is more likely to drop on the hot
exhaust. There goes the theory with the smoke, Certainly does not seem to come from the engine since, in order to avoit a puff of smoke I pressed on the gas
pedal before taking off but there was no smoke. CV Boot is on order and will be fixed soon.
8 April 2017: After we had a few nasty weekends I finally got to swap out the output shaft, It is always nice when you have an extra one where you can do the
CV boot replacement ahead of time and just swap them out later. There were actually no complications and I was done in no time. When I took the Allen head
bolts off I put them into a cleaning solution to get rid of all the grease.
18 April 2017: Changed from Winter to Summer wheels. Odometer reading 252 400
12 Aug 17: Oil and filter change at 256,374 miles
30 Sep 17: It has been very foggy a few morning in a row so I decided to mount the front spoiler with the fog lights even though the entire thing was not ready
to be mounted. It needed more sanding but that can wait til next year spring,
3 Nov 17: Changed from summer to winter tires at 259,078
23 Nov 17: New approach to dash board repair/restaurantion.
27 Jan 18; The dash was sitting out in the elements and still looks very good. Maybe I put it in and see how it goes. Changed the oil and filter at 262,000.
Also changed the air filter as well.
30 Apr 18: Changed from Winter to Summer tires at 265,500 Miles. Last Winter for those tires. One, they are bald in the inner edges and on top they are from
2012!
2 Jun 18: Oil change at 267, 200
23 Jun 18: Spark plug change at 267, 500, It was time!
3 Jul 18: Tightened the screws around the oil pan which
does not seem to be a big deal until you get to the rear
part where you have very limited space and also have to take off the cover between the engine and the transmission. I actually wound up using one of the on
board BMW tools (10 mm) to get to the bolts in the rear since a regular 10 mm socket did not fit in this tight spot. Nevertheless, got that done and then took on
the rewiring of the stereo! Seems as BMW is a sourpuss when it comes to eliminating the fader switch. Even though I checked each speaker wire for continuity,
there seems to be still some cross overs somewhere in between. Long agony short, I would up running new speaker wires! Should have done that in the first
place!
7 Jul 18: Since I checked for fuel pressure on Igor and it looked like he had no pressure at all, I also checked on Fritz and it turned out that the test equipment I
rented from O'Reileys did not work. I gave Fritz's engine a bath and afterwards finished up the speakers. Excellent sound to the excellent music provided by
Bob!
15 Aug 18: The time has come again where the drive shaft went belly up! Ordered a new drive shaft on Monday in the hope it would be here by the weekend.
Guess I was wrong! Arived today and I installed it right away. Odometer reading is now 269,865 (which is just about 300,000 actual miles.). Installed a new
drive shaft with a center support bearing and a new guibo.
31 Aug 18: Since the turn signal was acting up and I found a turn signal switch (with OBC control) at the Upull I thought I take care of that. I did and it works
nice. It may have been just the relay but if you can get a turn signal switch with a new relay attached, go for it!
4 Sep 18: While putting in the restored seat, I noticed that the seat keep blowing out the fuse. Thinking it was the seat, I changed out the frame. No such luck.
The problem seems to be in the harness. The plan was to take out the seats and swap out the carpet which has been the plan for the longest time. First I
checked the harness but could not find anything obvious.
6 Sep 18: Took a closer look at the harness, maybe I can find something. I decided that I just put in the restored seat and move that into the position that I
want with connecting the motors directly to power. Problem solved! I do have a new(er) carpet but decided to postpone the problem until some other time.
More important at this time was to fix the CV Boot on the passenger side (at 300,000 miles). Done that without any major complications.
27/28 Sep 18: Took the Ghost Town trip with Robert. Drove 800 miles in just 2 days! Scenery was wonderful since the Aspens turned yellow and the
mountains are spectacular! No complications but we do need an oil change.
1 Oct 18: Must have had too much energy and tore the door handle apart. "No Problem" I thought since I do have spare parts. Turns out that I only had an
inner door handle for the passenger side. Had to do some German ingenuity when I noticed that it was just the housing. Took the inner door handle assembly
apart and just switched the left and the right handle and the problem was solved!
6 Oct 18: Changed the oil, oil and air filters at 271 180 odometer reading
3 Nov 18: Odometer reading 272 780, changed from summer to winter wheels. Topped off the transmission and swapped out the old, cracked front spoiler
with a new one that almost matches the color of the car.
24 Mar 19: Still have the issue with the occasional puff of smoke and remembered the spark plug #6 was all oily so I thought that maybe the ignition cable is
faulty. Put in another one but the puff remained. The next choice would be the connection to the injector. For this I should replace the harness. I do have an
extra one but save this for warmer weather.
3 May 19: Sad news! Got in an accident today and the frame of Fritz is beyond repair. Yes, this is the end! Search for a replacement started.
