UGH. I love my car but some things on it are a major PITA!

[GDJ]

Just had to vent.

Okay, my ride is a 1998 BMW 318i. It's a fun car to drive. It handles like it's on rails, it's light, quick (even with the 4 cyl 1.9L DOHC single VANOS engine) and it's pretty decent on gas.
It has 266,000 km on the odometer, so it's expected that a few things are going to wear out and need replacing, right?

Well, it's brakes and wheel bearing replacement time. Rear end bearings are growling on the passenger side like a bugger, and the front drivers side bearings has a flat spot (after changing the rotors and pads, the steering wheel still has a subtle side to side wiggle as you are going down the street (3/16")). So ordered the parts online, everything came in on time. All is good, right?

OKAY! Jack up the car on frame stands, rip the wheels off, calipers off, rotors, and pulled off the bearing cover. Grab my 1 7/8" socket to pull off the drivers front bearing and hub assembly.......and it's a 12 point nut. I have a 6 point socket. FUUUUUUUUU*************. Pull off the passenger side, same deal. So I need to call my Snap-On or Mac guys to buy a 12 point socket. Not a huge deal, but a PITA!!

Okay put it all back together, and start tackling the rear. Rear passenger side is the side with the noise, so tackle that first.
Off comes the wheel, caliper, rotor, and yep a 30mm 12 point nut. I have a socket, so no problem. Have a look, and yep E12 torx bolts for the axle to rear diff flange. No problem, brought my E-Torx socket set from work. Easy, right?

The sockets were too fat. They won't go on the bolts. I have impact 3/8" drive sockets. I would need standard chrome E-Torx sockets. SH**!!!
Okay, a 3/8" 6 point socket will grab a E12 bolt fairly well, and it feels snug. I remove all the bolts on the Axles, whip off the 30mm hub nuts, and the axles slide out of the splined hubs. Go to the inside and tap out the center hub out of the bearing (bought new hubs and bearing kits) and it came out with not much effort. Hey, I got my fancy puller I rented from a local BMW dealer (with a BIG deposit on it) and go to pull the old bearing out. Everything looks like it's going to pan out, right?

The puller doesn't fit. They didn't give me a puller for a E36 chassis 3-series. I don't know what puller they gave me, but it's too small.
So I had to rig a puller from a macpherson strut spring compressor, some washers and out the bearing comes.
Oh yeah, and the new hub nut is too small, so I had to reuse the old nut (NOT preferred, but it came off cleanly, and I was able to punch in new tabs to lock it down so it will work fine).

All I have to do this morning is torque all the axle nuts down, put back on the rear sway bar frame mounts, and the exhaust pipe (about 1 hour). I only got one corner done because of alot of messing around, some of it my fault, but some of it bad information on the web, some bad info in manuals, wrong parts, and wrong tools.

Like I said, I love my car, but some things on it are a MAJOR PITA.

For the most part, BMW's aren't bad to work on...........really!

 

[Reddwarf]

That sounds like some major work! Impressive. Wish I knew how to do that work, would save me a lot of money! Back in my salad years I had a VW Rabbit and later an Alfa Romero that I was able to work on. Not to the level you are doing, but I did a fair amount of repairs. Now days I've no clue or equipment for the job. I have a 2003 Jaguar S-Type V8 and getting repairs is outrageously expensive!

 

[GDJ]

That sounds like some major work! Impressive. Wish I knew how to do that work, would save me a lot of money! Back in my salad years I had a VW Rabbit and later an Alfa Romero that I was able to work on. Not to the level you are doing, but I did a fair amount of repairs. Now days I've no clue or equipment for the job. I have a 2003 Jaguar S-Type V8 and getting repairs is outrageously expensive!

Jag's aren't cheap at all, then again neither are BMW's. Audi's are worse. Mercedes Benz, you might as well re-mortgage your house and trade in a left nut too. I haven't had the pleasure of wrenching on a Alfa (or any Italian car for that matter) but I imagine that signing over your first born is close to being in order ($$).

It really pays to shop around for parts. I picked up:

-Front and Rear Rotors
-Front and Rear pads
-Front hub/bearing assemblies (X2)
-Rear bearing kits (x2)
-Rear Hubs (x2)
-Front caliper rebuild kits (x2)
-Rear caliper rebuild kits (x2)


....for just under $900 CDN online. If I went local (BMW dealer, NAPA, Canadian Tire) the bill would have been $2250.

 

[Reddwarf]

When I owned the Alfa is was not expensive. A 1975 Spider. Broke down all the time so I finally had to sell it. Wish I still had that car! Yep, BMW, Jag, Benz, and Audi's are expensive to maintain. I bought my Jag used in 2005. They don't hold their value well so I was able to get a good deal. However, I did not factor in the expensive maintenance, high octane fuel and even tires! It has been a good car and not cost me a lot until recently. The fuel pump and a sensor had to be replaced at a cost of $2,400! I need a new AC compressor and was quoted $1,900!

Seriously thinking of selling it and buying a Fiat 500.

 

[GDJ]

When I owned the Alfa is was not expensive. A 1975 Spider. Broke down all the time so I finally had to sell it. Wish I still had that car! Yep, BMW, Jag, Benz, and Audi's are expensive to maintain. I bought my Jag used in 2005. They don't hold their value well so I was able to get a good deal. However, I did not factor in the expensive maintenance, high octane fuel and even tires! It has been a good car and not cost me a lot until recently. The fuel pump and a sensor had to be replaced at a cost of $2,400! I need a new AC compressor and was quoted $1,900!

OUCH!! That's about 2X what I would have paid for the BMW, even at the dealer.

Seriously thinking of selling it and buying a Fiat 500.

I have not heard anything bad nor good about them. Only a few people in my neighbourhood has one, but so far the consensus is "It's great and really fun to drive!"

Myself, if family wasn't a issue, it would be either a new Mazda MX-5 Miata (drove one. A true sports car. Light, rippy, and quick) or a BMW Z4 (again light, VERY quick, and goes like a ape on steroids). But, the new BMW 1 series are quite good.

EDIT: My car is back to what it should be: Smooth and quiet. Still have to change out the other 3 hubs and bearings, but at least I don't hear the RAAWWWRRRRRAAAWWWWWRRRRRRAAAWWWWRRRR out the back end. So life is good for now!

 

[JPVegh]

I've owned many FIATs in my time, 850s, 128s,X1/9s, 124s and a Spider 2000. They were all very easy to work on. Mechanically they are very sound cars, they do have problems with the electrics and the bodies rot like crazy. Of course this is all based on cars that were 1988 and older, the new ones may be made of better steel and have the electical problems ironed out. I'm pretty sure I'll never own another FIAT. If I ever get the urge to own a another light sports car I think I'll get a Lotus. Gotta love the handling of a mid engine two seater.

I'm waiting on a new hub assembly for my wifes Chevy right now. Should be here within the next couple of days. Not a big job but not looking forward to knuckle busting in the summer heat. Seems like these things always break down when it's either hot as hell or colder than a witches...