Project 325is was introduced in March. The goal is an excellent all-around daily driver, comfortable on a 40-mile commute yet fun to drive and able to perform through extended track lapping sessions in triple-digit weather. The foundation for both those objectives is reliability, so this installment is about the basic stuff: updating maintenance on a 100,000-mile car and looking after standard E36 trouble spots. Nothing cosmetic has been done yet, because a scraped bumper will never leave a person stranded.
My treatment of a "new" used car stems from my experience with a Fiat in high school. I expected to have to work on it regularly but hardly ever did, because the seller had taken the time to replace ignition parts, belts, hoses and other details that could wear and decay. If that car could be made reliable, applying a similar program to every car is a good idea.
There is an economic balance to be struck. Paying someone else to do the work may be expensive enough that one would be better off just buying a newer car that needed less of it. I do as much of my own work as possible, partly because I can't afford to pay someone I trust to do it right and partly because I am a control freak and must know exactly what was done and how. I have also developed a deeper appreciation for the engineering of the car. Most normal service procedures are almost trivial, while less usual tasks can be a real bear, requiring three unrelated items to be removed before accessing the desired parts.
Import Parts Specialists supplied...
Import Parts Specialists supplied many of the OE replacement parts needed to get the car's maintenance in line with friendly service and in a timely manner.
It's always best to use parts from BMW or OE suppliers such as Bosch, Mann, Continental and Mahle whenever possible. I worked with Import Parts Specialists, Inc., a supplier of original equipment parts and accessories for many European marques. IPS opened in 1993 and has provided online ordering since 1996. It even stocks some basic upgrade lines such as Red Line Oil and Zimmerman cross-drilled brake rotors. Of all the companies involved with Project 325is so far, IPS provided the most prompt service with the least follow-up required, and its pricing is impressive.
Start with filters: air, oil, fuel and the cabin air microfilter. Electrical parts come next: spark plugs and the oxygen sensor. The reduction in fuel smell at the first cold start confirmed the latter was needed. The fuel injectors were cleaned by R.C. Engineering to ensure everything was without fault and arrived back at the office three business days after being mailed. The calibration report showed the flow initially ranged from 161-169cc/min, with four having a "good" spray pattern and two dripping. After cleaning, the flow was 169-171cc/min, with all injectors having an "excellent" pattern. That's enough to matter when we start splitting hairs on the dyno. evosport, the performance shop that has been so helpful with Project M3, will do a compression leak-down test as well, but changing deadlines prevented that from happening yet.