mustang_john

Did you ever find out the cause of the white smoke from the exhaust?

Can someone please tell me how to access the recess under the tonneu were the hood lives when its in the stowed positiion. I strongly suspect that the drain holes are blocked and after watching a few videos on you tube it seems the easiest way to clear them is from the hood well. Unless someone knows a better way. Thanks in advance, John.

Hi guys, I have a boot spoiler that I need to fix to my E36 saloon, it's the small BMW OEM spoiler, not the M3 variant. I am unsure as how to fit it, namely were and how the bolts will pass through the skin. If any one has the same spoiler, could they post some pics of the under side of the boot lid so I can see how it is fixed. Thanks in advance. John.

Hope so buddy, coz I'm totally stuffed if it's not!

Update, fitted a new Febi oil pressure switch yesterday, then took her for a blast up the motorway. Once back at idle the light stayed off, so touch wood and fingers crossed, she's back to her old self again. Merry Christmas :) John.

Thanks for the above guys, gonna pick one up tomorrow, everything crossed as I will be stuffed without her!!!

Hi guys, Hope someone can give me some ideas as I recently lost my job and can't afford to throw money it this....... My trusty old workhorse threw up the red oil pressure warning light yesterday. She's covered 207K miles, does not use any oil, never smokes, rattles or rumbles. The dipstick shows about a millimetre below full. Her last oil change was about 2k ago, filled with quality 5W/40 and a Unipart filter with new O-rings. The warning came on after a longish journey, first one we done for some time. The light only comes on at idle when the engine is warm. Goes off by about 900rpm. The temp gauge is slap bang in the middle and never moves, and there's plenty of coolant in the radiator. I am gonna try a new oil sender switch as that's cheap and easy to get to, ish! So basically any advice or thoughts from you would be most appreciated as I am dreading the prospect of having to get a fresh motor, as I have neither the funds nor the tools or ability these days to swap an engine. Cheers and thanks in advance . John on behalf of "Betty the Beemer"

Yes, just swapped the entire unit.

Swapped over the ecu's and with the old ecu mated to the "new" pump, it stops running, new ecu mated to old pump and it runs, so I am hoping, (famous last words) that once the codes are cleared again, that will sort it as the original fault was faulty pressure sensor in the hydraulic unit. Either way it's outa my hands now as I have to go home tomorrow. So everything crossed please everyone.

I agree, but would add to run the engine long enough for it too warm up completley, better still, if the weather is fine and dry, wrap up warm and get out there with the roof down, and have some fun :)

Your local Unipart might abe to send your unit to AMK for a recon, worth a try?

Have now managed to speak to a BMW mechanic at my local maindealer. As the car is a 51 plate, there is no ABS relay, all the controls are apparentley built into the control unit on the back of the abs pump. So the plot thickens still further :(

Ok, bled the brakes, pedal solid, but abs pump still running continuously. Took the pannel off were the relays are on nsf in the engine bay, removed each relay in turn, to no avail. The pump still runs constantly. So where the heck is the ABS pump relay? Was told by my local main dealer up home that the pump does not need coding, now been told by FAB and other BMW specialist that it needs to be "aligned" to allow a specific bleeding proceedure. I am now at a loss as I need to go home tomorrow. The only thing positive is that I know this abs pump works as you can hear it!!!!! Hope someone can help, the car is in St Austell, Cornwall if anyone reading this is local and could help. John. :(

Yes, the first thing I did was disconnect the battery before comencing the job. I will bleed the brakes up in the morning and try it again. cheers.

Sent you a pm, cheers, John.

Hi guys, I need help PDQ! I have had to replace the abs pump on my daughters E46 compact. Got a second hand unit from FAB. I swapped it over easy enough, but as soon as I reconnected the battery the pump began to run uncontrolably, depsite the keys out, engine off. My problem is I don't know why this should be, and am returning home on Saturday and need to get this sorted asap. I am wondering if, seeing that the new pump is empty of brake fluid, could it be trying to prime itsfelf, as did not get as far as bleeding the brakes up, not wanting to have to do this twice if the pump if faulty. All help very much appreciated. John. Update, been trawling the web and there seems to be a lot of posts pointing towards the ABS relay failing in an energised state, thus causing the ABS motor to run till it fails. This sounds logical, but were the heck is the ABS relay?

Done it :D got one of flebay, at least one person on there read his emails! Thanks anyways.

tried all my local breakers, no joy :( the link you posted takes me to an ebay auction from 2012. Is that right?

Hi all, after 200500 miles my airflow meter has died and I am struggling to find a second hand one. Tried ebay and the people selling on there are not answering emails. FAB recycling out of stock and a place who shall remain nameless in Yorkshire, well!!! The part I need is the Bosch, vane type, not the hot wire type. BOSCH Part no. 0280202134 BMW Part no. 1 734 655 9 If you can help, please PM me as soon as! Cheers, John.

I'd check the trailing arm bushes as well, when they went on my E36, the car was noticably lop-sided!

Cheers, had a quick nosey to make sure that i actually have a hedgehog, yes it's there, seems easy enough to replace. Just need to get xmas out the way the get one. Thanks again, John.

Right, here goes. Took the scuttle cowel off and had a nosey around. I could not see any wires to unplug, nor could i work out how to remove the wiring and trunking box that spans the bulkhead. So I was not able to test the motor, but...... Whilst the covers were off, I turned on the ignition to make the flaps on the sides of the blower retract whilst in air-recirculate mode. As soon as i hit position 3 on the ignition, the blower sprang to life! The controls seemed back to normal. So i put everything back together again and went out shopping. All the while the blower worked. Coming back to the car after about an hour and half, and the blower had failed again. Within half a mile it started up and worked till i got home. I have read on another forum that the hedgehog is suseptible to cold. Being that we've had a cold snap, is this just a coincedence? I really can't afford to start shelling out for parts willy nilly and would appreciate as much help as i can get. Thanks.

Cheers, will take a nosey tomorrow. Thanks.

How can i find out which it is without buying replacments for both? Is the blower easy to get at?

Hi guys, just stumbled upon this thread and wondering if i got got same heater problem. Put car away in garage last night and it was working fine. Came to the car today and the blower started really slowly, then stopped and is now not working at all. All the controls on the digital display seem ok. You can hear the flaps moving behind the dash as you adjust the temp and settings from floor to screen etc. Just no fan. There seems to be a consensus that it is the "hedgehog" that is the lilkely cullprit. Does this sound likely and were is it on a 318i E36? Cheers in advance. John.