Project 'Modern E36' - My 2009 BMW 128i

[Jake]

Mileage: 54,980

Had a few minutes last night so I rotated the tires front-to-back. I figure every 5k miles is a good interval for that. Took the opportunity to Sonax the barrels of the wheels while they were off. Got them pretty clean, forgot to take an "after" photo but this was the "before:"



Rotating the tires makes the TPMS freak out, I guess because the sensors got moved around. However, the iDrive will alert you as soon as you start the car, and all you have to do is click "OK" to reset the system.

[Jake]

Mileage: 55,600

The E82 was super grody. A basic wash was only doing so much - there were tons of bugs and other things stuck to the paint and the red seats were very dirty (lots of dirt ground into the leather's grain). So, I did something entirely unlike myself and went on a detail spree yesterday.



Started off by vacuuming the interior, including the crevices of the seats. Then I applied Leatherique Rejuvenator Oil to front/rear seats and steering wheel - Dan would be proud, I got some gloves on and rubbed that stuff in by hand. Closed the windows and sunroof and let the car "bake" for roughly two hours.

While the interior was baking, I turned my attention to the exterior. Washed the wheels, washed the paint, claybarred the entire car, and finally hit it with a black-paint-friendly spray wax. It's still not perfect (really needs a polish, which I don't want to attempt myself... yet) but it's WAY better than it was before.

After finishing up the paint, I opened up the doors again and followed Dan's "leather care" thread on here. Basically, fill a bucket with the hottest water your tap will allow, soak a microfiber and scrub the seats. Then apply the Leatherique "Pristine Clean" goop and work it in with a brush. Then apply leather conditioner of choice.

The seats are markedly cleaner now. They are a brighter red (they were turning a "brick" color from all the dirt...) and a bit softer. This is the bucket I was soaking my microfiber in... keep in mind, this water was clear when I started, and this is what I was sitting on every day:



Went to a friend's BBQ in Ballston yesterday and snapped a few quick iPhone photos on the way out:









New center caps for the wheels are coming soon...

[.RJ]

Looking great - I have a buffer and a ton of polishes, you're welcome to use it if you buy some pads. Porter Cable & Menzerna products are pretty much idiot proof.

[interfooler]

Ahh, nice. Always amazing how much a little TLC can transform a car. Really need to hit mine with some compound and get a new vacuum for the interior

[Jake]

I was missing one center cap, and the other three were scuffed up and pretty nasty. My parents' early birthday gift to me was a set of pimpy new BBS 'caps, red with gold BBS lettering. I'm a fan. Now the car needs more low (which will happen in the next six months or so).

Mmm.

[Jake]

Mileage: 57,770

Replaced the drive belt tensioner last night, after having my technician friend at the dealer tell me it was starting to sling grease and not tension as well as it should. He told me that a few months ago, so I figured it might be good to spend the $77 and just get this done before winter hits and my drive to work on cars goes down a bit.

Easiest. Job. Ever.

Four T10 bolts let you remove the "air collector" - the plastic tube that shoots air from the kidneys over to the intake. Take a T60 and remove tension from the drive belt, and slide the belt off the tensioner (it can stay wrapped around the other pulleys). Then use an E14 socket to remove the tensioner. Boom, done.

You're supposed to use a new bolt, as they are aluminum and stretch-with-torque or whatever. So, I did.

Old one looked a little grody:

[Jake]

I swapped the winter wheels (skinny 7.5" DSII's) on the car last week, since there was a threat of snow the day before Thanksgiving. NoVA managed to escape 90% of it, clearly because of my last-minute wheel-swapping.

Spent yesterday afternoon working on stuff because of the weather, and gave her what is probably the last wash of the year. Early 2015 plans need to include a good polish of the paint. It's nasty up close.

[Jake]

Mileage: 59,xxx - One Year Update

Just realized I've owned this thing for a year and two days. Amazing how time flies.

I've put 15k miles on it in the past year, it's seen Summit Point and VIR alike (once each) when the M3 was down, the seats and Logic7 sound are both still kickass, and I really enjoy it as a commuter that I put a ton of miles on each day. I'm doing 40 miles round-trip right now so comfort and decent-enough MPG are both key. It seems to average about 21 mpg on my crappy commute and about 28-29 on all-highway drives.

Brakes are probably due soon but will be covered by the BMW service plan that's on the car. I replaced the drive belt tensioner, did the 50k fluid rodeo, and need to do the oil filter housing gasket.

Alas, once I move closer to DC in the spring, I don't know how long this will stick around. My commute may change to a Metro train, which means I could have a lower-MPG SUV that would tow the M3 around and cost me far less to own/operate if I don't DD it. The lower payment (or hell, no payment if I go cheap enough) is really enticing.

I do really, really like it. It's impractical with the long doors and being not-a-hatchback. It's not the prettiest belle at the ball and has a lot of weird body lines all over. And every time I leave work by myself (sorry DJ, but 66 West doesn't have the same je-ne-sais-quoix) and hop on the GW Parkway, winding out the straight six to 7k rpm, with the heated red leather seat blazing, sunroof/windows opened and music up, I feel like a million bucks. It's a tremendously good car that I think is very underrated by a lot of people, in favor of the turbo cars of the same era.

[RawrImAMonster]

It's impractical with the long doors

Ha. Try driving a firebird for 7 years then tell me about long doors.

Now that I think of it, there might not be a "modern" car with longer more obnoxious doors than the 4th gen F-bodys.

[.RJ]

An F-body is not a modern car :lol:

Jake, I need a test drive before you sell the car.

[Jake]

It's impractical with the long doors

Ha. Try driving a firebird for 7 years then tell me about long doors.

Now that I think of it, there might not be a "modern" car with longer more obnoxious doors than the 4th gen F-bodys.

F-body doors are so long they wobble on the hinges.

Wait, maybe that's just a GM thing.

[Jake]

Jake, I need a test drive before you sell the car.

I'm around most of this weekend, text me brah.

[.RJ]

Jake, I need a test drive before you sell the car.

I'm around most of this weekend, text me brah.

[RawrImAMonster]

An F-body is not a modern car :lol:

Jake, I need a test drive before you sell the car.

That's what the quotes were for. When I say modern I meant last 20 years.

Also, I'm kind of surprised the gas mileage isn't different between the 128i and 135i.

[SlimKlim]

An F-body is not a modern car :lol:

Jake, I need a test drive before you sell the car.

That's what the quotes were for. When I say modern I meant last 20 years.

Also, I'm kind of surprised the gas mileage isn't different between the 128i and 135i.

I'd be willing to bet that yours sucks down quite a bit more fuel when you hit the go pedal than his does.

[RawrImAMonster]

An F-body is not a modern car :lol:

Jake, I need a test drive before you sell the car.

That's what the quotes were for. When I say modern I meant last 20 years.

Also, I'm kind of surprised the gas mileage isn't different between the 128i and 135i.

I'd be willing to bet that yours sucks down quite a bit more fuel when you hit the go pedal than his does.

Oh yeah it would have to. But I average 21 just around Harrisonburg and 28-30 on trips to richmond.

[Jake]

Mileage: 60,680

Well, the car is "sold." I put it in quotes because although I've received a deposit, my credit union won't get the remainder of the money until tomorrow, and the car is still at home. A guy from Montana found the listing on Bimmerforums and bought the car sight-unseen, only asking a few questions about some maintenance and doing a FaceTime video chat at my suggestion (so I could "walk him around" the car and show the couple of paint imperfections and so on).

One thing I promised the buyer I would do, since I already had the part, was replace the oil filter housing gasket. I didn't realize how bad of a leak it had going on until I pulled things apart last night. The new gasket was $23 and I just saved the new kid a lot in labor costs.



Pretty simple job, similar to the E36. Air intake gets removed, drive belt gets taken off of the alternator, alternator removed, oil filter housing removed. There is a coolant line that has to come off - because yes, cooling lines run through the OFH - so you can remove one of the bolts. I only spilled a little coolant, thankfully.

The buyer is talking to a shipping company now to figure out when the car can be picked up. It's either going away on Thursday or sometime next week.

Sadness. Didn't want to sell, but a 1-series satisfies roughly 0% of my needs right now, and thus makes little sense to keep. And I do like that big blue Yukon.

[Senor_Taylor]

And I do like the feeling of driving something different

I feel this is the more true statement.

[Jake]

And I do like the feeling of driving something different

I feel this is the more true statement.

Trust me, if the 1-series had a tow rating of like... 6,500 lbs, I could have kept it. But one small wreck at VIR and the constant feeling of slowing down on purpose out of "what if I can't make it home" fear is really crappy.

[ScottyB]

pour a little synthetic oil out for the homie


i really like underdog/overlooked good cars and this was a good one IMO. i think it had a pretty awesome stay with you and let's hope the new guy keeps the shiny side up for a long time.