Wifi and Rust Repair

It’s Friday!  And what a busy week it’s been here at the shop!  Before we get down to bimmer business, just a little note.  Reggie’s Motorworks is excited to announce that we now offer free wifi internet access to our guests while you wait on your car to be serviced!  Whether it’s work, socializing or just passing the time, we want to make your time here with us as relaxing as possible.
The gauges weren’t functioning properly on this 1996 BMW 530i.   Luckily, it turned out to be just an electrical issue, and not a problem with the gauge cluster!

This 1996 BMW 328i came came in for a few reasons: no heat was coming from the HVAC system, no washer fluid sprayed when the switch was depressed, and there was a squeak in the front end.   Reggie inspected and will replace the blower motor to solve the first issue.

Installing a new washer pump:

As for the squeak in the front end, new sway bar links were in order:

As you can see in the photo on the left below, the bushings in the sway bar links were toast:

This 2001 BMW 530i needed its headlight transformer replaced:

The owner of this titansilber metallic 2001 BMW 325i heard some noise coming from the rear of his bimmer.

One of the rear shock mounts had basically blown apart (below, right).  Since the condition of the other shock mount was unknown, and had only been installed last summer at another shop, replacing the other one only made sense.  We are still not sure why the one shock mount failed, but we did not want that to happen to the other one!

After replacing both shock mounts, Reggie tightens the rear shocks in place:

This bimmer was missing its jack pads, so Reggie installed new ones:

Last week we gave a little preview of the project Reggie would be working on this week.  The 1990 BMW 325i, below on the left, was in need of some rust repair along the rear driver side quarter panel, as well as on the lower valance.   The original plan was to use some metal from the “donor” bimmer, a 1991 BMW 318is, pictured below on the right.

Rust along the rear quarter panel on the driver side:

No rust on the “donor” bimmer:

When taking a much closer look at the rusty BMW, Reggie was able to put his hand through a hole in the trunk…not good!  How did this happen?  Good question!  The sunroof had been draining into the quarter panel  –  the hose had not been reconnected after being in an accident.  Moreover, the panel had not been welded into place properly.

Here is what the hose from the sunroof is supposed to look like when it is properly connected – the passenger side was just fine:

Reggie gets to work removing the back bumper  on the donor 318is.  After further inspection, there was just a bit more rust on the donor panel than Reggie would have liked.  So at this point, the original plan was in limbo.  Good news: We found a replacement panel in stock from BMW!  Bad news:  It turns out that the replacement panel that was thought to be in stock actually did not exist.  Their was a glitch in their inventory.  More good news:  We have found a replacement panel that really does exist!  Bad news:  This panel is in Germany, and could take as long as a month for it to arrive here!   Alas, all hope is not lost!  We’ll find out soon what our next move will be, so until then, we’ll move on to some mechanical work.  Update: We’re going back to the original plan!

The rear suspension will be reconditioned while in the shop.

Once the rear suspension is lowered…

…Reggie will replace the subframe bushings and differential bushing:

Back to the rust repairs!  Reggie removes any rust in the affected areas using his grinder:

Next, Reggie works on removing the rusty area around the wheel arch. He is center punching the spot welds so that the spot weld cutter will stay centered on them:

Here’s a look at the rust on the passenger side lower valance, a really common rust area since it’s below the battery box:

Jumping back to the work on the rear suspension, Reggie tack welds slotted camber and toe brackets to the subframe:

That’s all the time we have for now, we’ll be back next Friday for more!  Have a great weekend!