What have you done to your E70 today?

[ard]

Good on you.


many (many) years ago I did one tire with a tire iron, screwdriver, hammer and some wood. On the side of a road in alaska..took hours. Lucky it was a tube, all we had was a bicycle pump.

[Attacking Mid]

I have changed lots of tires in my life by hand, but my wife's E83 was my first failure. I could not break the bead to save my life (though I didn't try the HF tool). Since then, I have reluctantly accepted the cost of letting the tire shop mount/dismount my BMW tires. I still do it manually on things like my travel trailer, etc. If you know what you're doing, it's not terribly difficult. I DO have a serious set of Snap-On tire irons, however.

AM.

[andrewwynn]

If you are going to dispose of the tire anyhow, break the bead by driving over the sidewall with the front tire of a car and cut the bead with a Sawzall.

For a smaller tire like a trailer tire you can get the tire over the rim by jumping on the sidewall.

Some carb cleaner can seat the bead. It's a little terrifying the first time.

[Toothbrush]

Originally Posted by ard

Good on you.


many (many) years ago I did one tire with a tire iron, screwdriver, hammer and some wood. On the side of a road in alaska..took hours. Lucky it was a tube, all we had was a bicycle pump.

Thanks, I wouldn't have attempted half of what I've done on this vehicle had it not been for this forum and it's members. I think I've read all of your posts here and elsewhere on alignment

Originally Posted by Attacking Mid

I have changed lots of tires in my life by hand, but my wife's E83 was my first failure. I could not break the bead to save my life (though I didn't try the HF tool). Since then, I have reluctantly accepted the cost of letting the tire shop mount/dismount my BMW tires. I still do it manually on things like my travel trailer, etc. If you know what you're doing, it's not terribly difficult. I DO have a serious set of Snap-On tire irons, however.

AM.

I tried the jack+strap method and couldn't break the bead even with the tire squished almost to the other side. After many many tries doing that and failing, finally broke down and got the bead breaker from HF. Had I started off that way, it would have saved a ton of time (and sweat, tears, $%#@! :P ).

*I generally hate letting strangers man-handle my vehicles, but I had originally planned to just take it to the shop until my wife was all "hey, can't you do that yourself?" (not in a negative way).

Originally Posted by andrewwynn

If you are going to dispose of the tire anyhow, break the bead by driving over the sidewall with the front tire of a car and cut the bead with a Sawzall.

For a smaller tire like a trailer tire you can get the tire over the rim by jumping on the sidewall.

Some carb cleaner can seat the bead. It's a little terrifying the first time.

Not ballsy enough to try the wood method, though I did read/watch a ton of sites on that method. The jack+strap method was worrying enough for me.

*As young 20something I had a 92 Daytona and needed the brakes done so took it to Goodyear. I bought it used in 97 (I think) and hated the exterior look but the seller convinced me to sit in the drivers seat and I couldn't walk away after that. The car had 36K miles on it and the service tech/sales person took one look and me and must have decided I'd pay for anything, then proceeded to explain to me how it needed a complete set of brake lines and a bunch of other stuff I don't remember. I don't live in the salt/rust belt and neither did the car, plus, the previous owner had taken very good care of it. I looked at him with a bit of confusion and then promptly asked for my keys back and walked out. Sadly, an older gentlemen in a Crown Vic ran a light not long after and totaled it out for me. I've owned many vehicles, but that's the only one that I miss.

[Redbaron]

Replaced my failed heater control valve, which will hopefully fix the a/c problems I had been experiencing during the summer.

[SF2000x5]

Curious to know if that fixed your ac. I went with a generic part and it’s either cold or hot, doesn’t really like being in between.


Had a flat, $40 for a tire patch these days..

[Toothbrush]

Was having odd starts intermittently with odd changes in voltage while idling/running so starting doing some digging and checked the IBS and it had some corrosion/tiny bit of rust here and there. I cleaned that up along with the post, which definitely made a difference. I've read where some replace it with each new battery, not sure about that, but I'll probably get a new one with the adapter as it appears to be original.

Additionally, I stumbled across posts about grounding straps and figured I'd take a look at those just to make sure I didn't start down a 'throw-parts-at-it' mode. Took a while to find the actual location of part #1 (12427557027) in the diagram as there's not a lot of good info on it. Even more difficult was trying to figure out how to remove it for inspection and be sure I could put it back on after removal.

Eventually figured out access that worked after removing a few too many plastic panels. for the end connected to the chassis, it's easy, you just go through the drivers side wheel well (pictured). The end bolted to the engine was much, much, much more difficult. I found one video of someone reaching from the underside just behind the stiffening/reinforcement plate but he didn't show enough to fully grasp the route he must have twisted his arm to access it. So, after many attempts, finally remembered I have a long extension and decided to try from the engine bay between bank 2 and the heater vavle area. Unfortunately, the bolt isn't straight up and down so a swivel socket was necessary and I had to be very creative with getting the bolt back on, through the strap, and hold it in place long enough to put the nut on from the top side.

Used several techniques, but the one that ended up working was a bit of hot glue, a thin metal strip from a long forgotten non-BMW project, and some extreme patience. My help said it was worse that doing the valve covers. Ultimately worth it though. Was able to inspect the cable for damage, clean off 15+ years of oil/grime that made it look like it was covered in heat shrink and clean up the connection points. Looked decent enough to reinstall after cleaning and it does start better. Haven't had a chance to see if it got rid of a couple of obscure codes that have been reported since I bought this vehicle .

I did check the hood ground, the exhaust ground and have looked at the fuel rail to valve cover grounds so many times I can't count. All of those are fine. The exhaust strap is super easy to get to, it's on the drivers side just under the bumper near the muffler.

[dgdavidson]

I replaced the Exhaust-Gas Pressure Pipe BMW-13627812806. Only took about 30 minutes and the thing was completely blocked. Hopefully this will cure those codes I've been getting.

[andrewwynn]

Changed the oil.

Votex - Made in USA - M12 X 1.5MM Stainless Steel Quick Valve Oil Drain Plug - Part Number SMQDP010-1 https://a.co/d/4vXNCil

Step one swap plug with quick valve so I could drain directly into jugs.

To swap the plug before draining hook up shop vac to the oil fill so I didn't have to drain oil one last time into drip pan.

I put on both mine and wife's car.

[Toothbrush]

Two questions:

1.

Originally Posted by andrewwynn

To swap the plug before draining hook up shop vac to the oil fill so I didn't have to drain oil one last time into drip pan.

Does the shop vac trick work? I've seen a tips and tricks type video once for that but never tried it. I don't want oil in my shop vac.

2.

Originally Posted by andrewwynn

I put on both mine and wife's car.

Guessing you checked this product out for issues with failure (leaking). Any concern here? Almost seems extra ballsy to add another point of failure for an oil leak to a BMW.

Seriously though, seems like a very cool 'upgrade'. No more pig blankets, shop towels, etc, etc, etc.