IS300_DJ
01-06-2010, 07:29 PM
Well I browse craigslist a lot, I have found many deals on craigslist, but this by far tops them all. I found the ad maybe 20 minutes after it was posted, and the guy was moving 2 days after he posted it. I found it on a Sunday night, bought it on Monday, and he moved Tuesday morning. So it was just one of those crazy timing things.
I forgot to mention I have been in Las Vegas for the past month or so for work and my sister lives there. So being out here, the car was very clean, maybe 3-4 small scratches and I think only 1 ding, which is very small. Interior is also very clean, light cracking on drivers seat leather, but I would guess the sun out here would do it. Nothing major though.
Anyways onto the car, its a 1999 328i with 122k miles. Its titanium silver, with black leather and the seats are heated also. This car was the primo 3 series model in 1999 as the 330i was not offered yet. Did I mention the car was a 5-speed, AWESOME.
Now there were a few problems with it, nothing major. It had this hiccup at lower rpm and he though it was the Vanos seals (BMW's variable valve timing), which sounded right. They are a very common failure on e46's, and they cause similar problems that the car was having. And the heat/AC didn't work but the blower did, along with the turn signals not blinking on the dash but working outside of the car, strange. Oh and the CD changer didn't work also. I also noticed that the aux. fan instantly kicks on as soon as you turn the key on.
All of these problems weren't enough to keep me from purchasing the car for $3200! He was asking $3500, and I had the balls to offer him even less, because I knew of his situation. SOLD, got cash the next day and drove it home.
Of course I instantly bought all sorts of maintenance things, new plugs, air filter, oil and filter (mobil 1), and fuel filter. I also seafoamed it, as I am a believer of seafoam. Fresh plugs, still a little miss, and still had the CEL on. So I got it read and cylinder 2 misfire was the code, I went on a limb and bought a new coil pack for $90 and boom instantly fixed the hiccup. Pulls very clean now and CEL went away. GREAT! Problem 1 solved.
Onto the electrical issues, did a bunch of research and BMWs comfort featurs (interior things like radio, heat, etc) are all tied into a Kbus system. The way its set up is kind of like xmas lights. When one bulb burns out a bunch of others go out also. So I tore into the wiring and figured out what wire was making everything else haywire, something with the radio. Now I got everything working properly, heat/ac and the blinkers, but no radio now. No problem a double DIN should look nice in it.
Then there was the aux fan that always ran. Well I figured out instantly that it was wired direct to the fuse box when I was messing with the wires. I also found a receipt in the car from Total Car Care (very common chain out here), and it was $90 for a diagnosis that the fan relay was bad, and another $200 for a new fan relay. I feel bad for the previous owner because he got RAPED. All they did was ghetto rig the wiring so that the fan ran all day everyday when the key was turned on. Damn shady car places.
I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the car yet, I might daily drive it, or flip it and make double my money. Or I might sell it to my mother as she needs a car, and I know she would love it.
Onto the pics...
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b25/yamadjs08/17472_217967150741_782870741_292517.jpg
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b25/yamadjs08/17472_217967160741_782870741_292517.jpg
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b25/yamadjs08/17472_217967170741_782870741_292517.jpg
Disregard the glove box on the floor, this is when I was messing with the wiring.
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b25/yamadjs08/17472_217967195741_782870741_292518.jpg
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b25/yamadjs08/17472_217967215741_782870741_292518.jpg
Sorry for the book, but I was bored haha. :sleep:
I forgot to mention I have been in Las Vegas for the past month or so for work and my sister lives there. So being out here, the car was very clean, maybe 3-4 small scratches and I think only 1 ding, which is very small. Interior is also very clean, light cracking on drivers seat leather, but I would guess the sun out here would do it. Nothing major though.
Anyways onto the car, its a 1999 328i with 122k miles. Its titanium silver, with black leather and the seats are heated also. This car was the primo 3 series model in 1999 as the 330i was not offered yet. Did I mention the car was a 5-speed, AWESOME.
Now there were a few problems with it, nothing major. It had this hiccup at lower rpm and he though it was the Vanos seals (BMW's variable valve timing), which sounded right. They are a very common failure on e46's, and they cause similar problems that the car was having. And the heat/AC didn't work but the blower did, along with the turn signals not blinking on the dash but working outside of the car, strange. Oh and the CD changer didn't work also. I also noticed that the aux. fan instantly kicks on as soon as you turn the key on.
All of these problems weren't enough to keep me from purchasing the car for $3200! He was asking $3500, and I had the balls to offer him even less, because I knew of his situation. SOLD, got cash the next day and drove it home.
Of course I instantly bought all sorts of maintenance things, new plugs, air filter, oil and filter (mobil 1), and fuel filter. I also seafoamed it, as I am a believer of seafoam. Fresh plugs, still a little miss, and still had the CEL on. So I got it read and cylinder 2 misfire was the code, I went on a limb and bought a new coil pack for $90 and boom instantly fixed the hiccup. Pulls very clean now and CEL went away. GREAT! Problem 1 solved.
Onto the electrical issues, did a bunch of research and BMWs comfort featurs (interior things like radio, heat, etc) are all tied into a Kbus system. The way its set up is kind of like xmas lights. When one bulb burns out a bunch of others go out also. So I tore into the wiring and figured out what wire was making everything else haywire, something with the radio. Now I got everything working properly, heat/ac and the blinkers, but no radio now. No problem a double DIN should look nice in it.
Then there was the aux fan that always ran. Well I figured out instantly that it was wired direct to the fuse box when I was messing with the wires. I also found a receipt in the car from Total Car Care (very common chain out here), and it was $90 for a diagnosis that the fan relay was bad, and another $200 for a new fan relay. I feel bad for the previous owner because he got RAPED. All they did was ghetto rig the wiring so that the fan ran all day everyday when the key was turned on. Damn shady car places.
I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the car yet, I might daily drive it, or flip it and make double my money. Or I might sell it to my mother as she needs a car, and I know she would love it.
Onto the pics...
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b25/yamadjs08/17472_217967150741_782870741_292517.jpg
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b25/yamadjs08/17472_217967160741_782870741_292517.jpg
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b25/yamadjs08/17472_217967170741_782870741_292517.jpg
Disregard the glove box on the floor, this is when I was messing with the wiring.
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b25/yamadjs08/17472_217967195741_782870741_292518.jpg
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b25/yamadjs08/17472_217967215741_782870741_292518.jpg
Sorry for the book, but I was bored haha. :sleep: