BMW Questions.

I've bought my first and need to know a few things. The car in question is a 1985 635CSi. Discussed here: Link

1 Where to get parts. I've found a couple of online shops Who is the best to deal with as far as service and pricing? Service being the more important of the two.

2 Best plugs. I know some engines don't like particular plugs. What does a BMW like best.

3 Oil filters? It looks like this one uses a canister filter. Who makes the best? OEM? Aftermarket?

4 It's falling flat on it's face at 4500 rpms and pulls great at anything below that. Other than the fuel filter, what should I be looking for?

5 It has an annoying orange light flashing in the middle of the dash cluster. I know the front pads are just about done. Are they the cause of the light or does it have another issue?

6 The AC needs work. Any problems with changing it over to R134? Anyone done it?

That's it for now, though I'm sure I'll have others.

Thanks, Allen

I like eEuroparts.com and AutohausAZ for parts, I'm not goung to say either one is the best ever, but both have served me well.

There are plenty of parts distributors out there. Some have better prices on some items than other obviously. But overall I like using Pelicanparts, since they have the most organized and useful site, prices pretty comparable to other places, and shipping is free or very cheap on most orders. Plus they have good responsive customer service, etc and ship very fast, even if you're getting UPS ground across the country.

I've ordered parts from Blunttech and AutohausAZ as well, both of which were fine as well. I just think Pelican is the easiest site to find what you need and get it all in one place.

Don't have much input on the other topics, as I have e21/e30 which are pretty different :)

Before proceeding any further, get real used to using realoem.com for part info - it is a GODSEND. Also, plan on doing an auto trans fluid drain & fill with proper fluid if you haven't already.

1. Bmw2002.com (Ireland Engineering), pelicanparts.com, autohausaz.com, eeuroparts.com and turnermotorsport.com are all very reputable shops with good prices and great service.

2. Bosch or NGK OE-equivalent; skip the multi-electrode platinum garbage, you want good 'ol copper plugs.

3. OE or a reputable brand like Mahle, Mann, Wix etc. NOT FRAM.

4. M30s are not rev-happy engines. Clean your MAF and injectors (properly, off the car, not with bottled snake oil) and look into a performance chip or cam.

5. I'd have to see the light, but more than likely yes. Most BMWs have pad wear sensors, basically a wire cast into a plastic clip that grounds out when the pads are worn and trips the light. You replace them every time you do the brakes, they are cheap at $5 or so each.

6. Never done it but all the parts are out there.

irish44j wrote: There are plenty of parts distributors out there. Some have better prices on some items than other obviously. But overall I like using Pelicanparts, since they have the most organized and useful site, prices pretty comparable to other places, and shipping is free or very cheap on most orders. Plus they have good responsive customer service, etc and ship very fast, even if you're getting UPS ground across the country.

+1. You can save a few dollars on the other sites, but I found it is easier just to get it all from Pelican.

As far as oil filters, I use Mann, which are cheap if you get them mail-order when you are ordering other stuff.

I have a mid 90's E36, so that's about all I know that is applicable to the 6'er. But I will say it again - AWESOME CAR.

SlickDizzy wrote: Before proceeding any further, get real used to using realoem.com for part info - it is a GODSEND.

+1 quadrillion. Every car should have a website like that

Does the orange light say "CHECK"??

That is basicallly telling you to check your check panel and depress the button. The one with all the red LED lights. One of them is a button.

It will always have the "Brake Lights" light on upon start-up until the first time you depress the brake pedal. If it does not turn off after the pedal was depressed, then it means that one of the brake lights is burnt.

Also, I always buy my parts from Tischer BMW, their website is

www.getbmwparts.com

But a GREAT guy that knows BMWs insideout is Steve @ Bluntech. He is super nice and will have the parts out to you the same day. I believe he is a small outfit but his service is the best i have experienced.

www.blunttech.com

Also to check factory part numbers, you can see the BMW parts diagrams here:

www.realoem.com

Always use the last seven digits of your VIN number.

In reply to Slippery:

I'll try to shoot a picture of it tomorrow. It doesn't say anything. It a square light between the turn signal indicators with a small triangle on it.

There is also a square green light at the bottom of the cluster that is on. I'm not sure what it is either. It's not near as annoying as the flashing yellow one so it's further down the priority list.

SlickDizzy wrote: 3. OE or a reputable brand like Mahle, Mann, Wix etc. NOT FRAM.

What he said, plus...NAPA is also private-label Wix and Mann can allegedly be had there also, it might be overnight however.

Another vote for Blunttech, he can provide the OEM quality spark plugs and filters, along with most any other part that's still available. I'd pick up a Bentley repair manual for an e28 5 series, it's a very good manual and mechanically they're mostly the same as the 6 series.

^^

Toyman01 wrote: In reply to Slippery: I'll try to shoot a picture of it tomorrow. It doesn't say anything. It a square light between the turn signal indicators with a small triangle on it. There is also a square green light at the bottom of the cluster that is on. I'm not sure what it is either. It's not near as annoying as the flashing yellow one so it's further down the priority list.

Take a picture with both lights lit up and I am sure one of us will be able to tell you what they are. I am 90% sure the yellow blinking light is not a big deal.

On my e30, the green is for the foglights. Not sure there are any other greens.

Slippery wrote: On my e30, the green is for the foglights. Not sure there are any other greens.

Could be the service indicator.

Sounds like the Bmtroubleyou is much like my mercedes as far as parts go. I like autohaus az but for german cars I think core plus rebuild kit or core plus rebuilder is always going to be a great option for hard parts. Bosch quit making the correct plugs for my car so I use proper NGK plugs. My car had a brake light wear light issue that was caused by improper install of brake pad wear sensors. The pad sensors can get beat up and ground out to the caliper/rotor giving the light.

Good luck with it.

I prefer this to realoem personally.

I also second Blunttech for parts. Best prices, service, and shipping hands down.

all the suppliers mentioned here are good and bad none are perfect get to know them all. dicker with them on pricing also, i have gotten upto 50% of what they have quoted me.

the flashing yellow light is from th check panel as stated. it can be brakes or low washer or coolant or other things but you should be able to cancel it by just pressing the check button

if you look at photo its the panel to the left lower part of dash the center bottom button is the check clear button if you push that it should cancle the light

Not sure about a Bimmer of your vintage, but I've had great service from Bavarian, UUC, and Bimmerworld (all GRM sponsors, too).

One interesting thing that I found out buying oil filters for my wife's Merc that may apply to you. The first one I got was a NAPA Gold one I think, opened the box and it was a MANN. I then stopped at an indi Merc shop to get a wrench to take the top of the oil canister off. We were talking about oil filters and the guy at the shop looked up his price and it was half of what I paid at NAPPA for the exact same filter. I have since gotten all of my filters from him.

Blunttech wins. Their web sight was a breeze to navigate, their prices were inline with most others and free shipping.

Judging by the typos in the confirmation letter, I'm guessing it was actually sent by a person. I think the T on their keyboard sticks. Imagine, being glad to see typos in a email, just because you know there is a actual human being on the other end and not some mindless cyber being.

I started out on RockAuto, but damn the shipping was painful. $75 in shipping for $200 in parts. They are going to have to work on that before I order from them again.

I'll have to give Blunttech a try. I'm partial to www.bmaparts.com (code: spece30). Patrick and Yves are some pretty cool guys. I send them part numbers and they ship really quick.

Toyman01:

Nice grab!!