1997 328i Maintenance Questions - BMW Forum

Larry Horne · 10-10-2005, 09:24 PM

OK, I've finished fixing up the Saturn I bought and am ready to hit the Beamer.

I had the Level I and II services done as the dealer would recommend. The car now has 140,000 highway miles on it.

What should I do as far as maintenance is concerned? I have never replaced the wires, plugs (maybe early on), etc.

I think the belts have been replaced.

The car is in excellent condition and I want it to last forever. I do have a Service Engine light that the shop says is the cat converters but I have not seen any change in MPG so I have let it go.

What are your recommendations on maintenance and where is best place to get resonably priced parts?

Lar

komodo · 10-10-2005, 10:47 PM

I also have a 1997 328i.

If you know exactly what parts your looking for, Turner Motorsports (www.turnermotorsports.com), Bavarian Autosport (www.bavauto.com), and Zygmunt Motors (www.bimmerparts.com) are some good places to start looking. If your looking for a new cat, bavauto has them for about $560, but if you look around a bit, you can probably find a better deal. As for other things to check out, being a new car, look at this guide to buying a new used e36.

Hope that helps.

SpeedInfusion · 10-10-2005, 10:57 PM

u said u had level 1 and 2 service done? im assuming thats inspection 1 and 2 and if thats the case most of ur maintenence should be taken care of if im not mistaken

Hamfisted · 10-10-2005, 10:59 PM

Get a code reader so you can more accurately assess the Check Engine Light. The Actron 9135 is a great reader and you can find one on Ebay for under $100. It'll work on the Bimmer as well as your Saturn. Sparkplugs (Bosch Platinums...) and air filter are always a good place to start. Your stock struts and shocks are most likely trashed, a good set of Bilstein HD's will improve your car's handling and ride. How are the brakes? Pull the front wheels off and inspect the pads. If there's less than a 1/4" of skin left replace them with some new ceramics. The list can grow pretty large pretty fast, it just depends on what you want to spend.

Mike

Dudesky_E36 · 10-11-2005, 07:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Larry Horne

The car is in excellent condition and I want it to last forever. I do have a Service Engine light that the shop says is the cat converters but I have not seen any change in MPG so I have let it go.

The catalytic converters will make noise when they go bad, so this may not be your problem. I'll bet you just need new oxygen sensors.

Larry Horne · 10-11-2005, 11:15 AM

In order:

Yes I was refering to Inspections I and II but it was many miles ago. If I remember correctly Inspection I was done under warranty or right around the end of the warranty period (36,000) and I'll have to pull the records to see when II was done. NTL it had to be over 60,000 miles ago since I'm over 140,000.

I'll buy the code reader and start trouble shooting from there.

I have replaced the front brakes and rotors twice most recent with BMW OEM discs, wear sensor and pads.

Shocks and struts have never been touched. Is there a good test for them? In the old days a shock would continue to bounce if bad.

Only minor repairs to the car thus far (water pump (2 or 3), T-Stat and housing, radiator, belts, hoses, oil and filters). Replaced radio with OEM due to LED burn-out and the OEM CD player was replaced once (piece of #*it!))

Don't get me wrong, I do regular PM on her but now that I've retired the 8 MPG Chevy Tahoe, my wife drives it daily to work (approx. 20 miles RT) and I was getting roughly 28 MPG highway on it but now its to 22-23 city. I want her to last another 140,000 miles

Lar

Larry Horne · 10-11-2005, 04:31 PM

Hamfisted:

I found this thread referencing the OBDII port. You wrote it. http://www.bimmerwerkz.com/forum/sho...ht=code+reader

Can't wait to get home and read them.

Lar

Larry Horne · 10-11-2005, 08:07 PM

Codes:

1421
P0430
P0420

recommendatioins?

Hamfisted · 10-12-2005, 12:04 AM

The 1421 code is "Secondary Air System Bank 1", there's probably a vacuum leak or something letting air in that's not being measured by the MAF sensor. That will throw the Cats off and give you the 420 & 430 codes. How does the motor run? Look for vacuum leaks in any hoses or the ducting from the air box to the throttle body. Clear the codes and see if they re-occur. Get some Berryman's Chemtool spray (Walmart) and clean out the throttle body and butterfly plate.

Mike