There are two parts of the lower control arm on E39 models like the BMW 525i that will wear out: the ball joint and the bushing. To test these parts, raise the front end of the car so that the...
The vivid colors of the descending sun fade to black and are replaced by a star covered sky. The cool night air races through my fingers as I pull my hand back into my girlfriend’s Saab 9-3. The torture that has been the last hour of my life is finally nearing an end. My heart is beating like a...
Extended oil change intervals are defying age-old myths about how long oil will last. Not only do they save money by reducing the amount of oil changes your vehicle needs, but they reduce the amount of waste oil coming back to recycling facilities. When a BMW indicates its oil is spent, how do...
Cars have come a long way in the last 20 or so years. Things like OBD (On Board Diagnostics) make repairs easier to diagnose as most codes will point you in the direction of the problem immediately. There are exceptions to this of course as some problems are more complicated than others but for...
Preventive maintenance always sounds good, but when you have a failure of a worn-out part you want to be careful and review other items that might have been damaged or stressed by the initial failure. In my case, the serpentine belt broke while on the freeway. With the battery light on, the...
Power windows on the E53 BMW X5 have became known for failing with age, often leaving the window jammed in the fully down position. Earlier BMWs tended to use a 'scissor lift' style window regulator, but around the time of the X5 BMW started moving to a cable & pulley system. There are...
Drive belt tensioners are a sometimes overlooked maintenance item, and if your car has 100K-200K miles on the clock then it could need replacement. As the name suggests the job of the tensioner is to keep tension on the drive belts on the front of the engine that link components suggest as AC...
In the quest for performance, few bolt-on modifications are as universally loved as the cold air intake. Aftermarket cold air intakes can manifest in many forms, ranging from stock-like looks and performance, to complete intake replacements that utilize none of the car's original components. The...
There are many things one can do to a BMW 328is to give it better performance and better sound, and my favorite is installing a performance catback exhaust. The exhaust on your car is usually broken down to three sections; header/exhaust manifold, mid-section (where the catalytic converters and...
The transmission mount bushings on the E36 like the BMW 325i are rubber, and like most things rubber, they tend to wear. Rubber is used in cars to reduce vibrations, and after many years and many miles the rubber tends to break down and deteriorate. While driving a stock BMW, it's possible to see...
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