Hey all,

Happy to say that I got in my first BMW, a '07 328xi with 80k miles.

Engine:

- 3.0 inline 6

Options/Features:

- Titanium silver

- dakota leather

- premium package

- automatic trans

- moonroof

I am wondering if there is anything I should do to the car immediately to prevent any future issues?

What I know about the car:

- 1 owner

- Yearly oil/ maintenance changes

- one break job at 50k

Currently, the ride is awesome aside from a possibly loose ball joint on the left front.

Thanks for any advice.

Hi mate welcome to the club and forum .

Just keep that service history up to date and have Any small issues addressed as soon as possible to prevent them escalating into major issued

Welcome to BMWOC :)

Is it a "Knock" or steering-wander?

Welcome, Enjoy your new car and the forum.

Welcome to our community mate, your motor sounds absolutely gorgeous! Get a picture up ;)

Is it a "Knock" or steering-wander?

Exactly my next question.

BMWs eat steering components so if your savvy with ya toolbox, get a pry-bar between the bushes and check for excess "Give" B)

Daz

Hiiii!

Hi mate welcome to the club and forum .

Just keep that service history up to date and have Any small issues addressed as soon as possible to prevent them escalating into major issued

Much appreciated.

Welcome to our community mate, your motor sounds absolutely gorgeous! Get a picture up ;)

Exactly my next question.

BMWs eat steering components so if your savvy with ya toolbox, get a pry-bar between the bushes and check for excess "Give" B)

Daz

Hey Daz, not savy enough to know this is a good way to check, lol. I'll give it a go though. These are exactly the types of things I was hoping to learn talking with you all, thanks.

I'll post a picture later today.

Is it a "Knock" or steering-wander?

Thanks for kicking off the investigation. I am basing my worries on experience with my old probes and integras. The ball joints started at a click, then the steering got loose. As for the condition of the BMW, seems like its very early stages, I noticed a slight "pop" when I went over a large speed bump. Otherwise, I don't hear it much.

Welcome, Enjoy your new car and the forum.

Thanks, looking forward to hopefully learning a bunch and getting confident enough about the cars to start sharing at some point.

Hiiii!

Hello!

Welcome to BMWOC :)

Thanks, sure is a nice welcome from the community.

Yeah we not a bad bunch really ;) !!

Welcome to the forum matey :)

Bushes will look tired aswel as feel tired when you apply pressure to them with the pry-bar. They should be firm yet have SOME give. If they move really easily and looked cracked and overall "Nasty", you know that's next on the to-do list.

Another easy way to tell is if you grab the drop-link with your hand, You should not be able to move it with your hand. IT should be stiff. If your able to manipulate it's position with your hand, it will need changing in my opinion. Usually a good indication to when the other bushes were looked at..

Generic look at a drop-link from google..

Daz

Welcome to the club :)

Bushes will look tired aswel as feel tired when you apply pressure to them with the pry-bar. They should be firm yet have SOME give. If they move really easily and looked cracked and overall "Nasty", you know that's next on the to-do list.

Another easy way to tell is if you grab the drop-link with your hand, You should not be able to move it with your hand. IT should be stiff. If your able to manipulate it's position with your hand, it will need changing in my opinion. Usually a good indication to when the other bushes were looked at..

Generic look at a drop-link from google..

Daz

That's definitely helpful, thanks. I'll probably try to warm the garage up this weekend and see what I can find out. It's a balmy 11 degrees in Michigan this time of year...

That's definitely helpful, thanks. I'll probably try to warm the garage up this weekend and see what I can find out. It's a balmy 11 degrees in Michigan this time of year...

And I have been stripping an engine in -3 today....

And I have been stripping an engine in -3 today....

And now you're making me feel awful about myself, haha.

And now you're making me feel awful about myself, haha.

So you should, so you should lol