BMW Autocar

I last replaced the rear brake pads and rotors on my 1995 BMW 325is back in early 2003. I’ve since put 100k on the car and figured that it might be time to do this job again. Of course, front brakes don’t last nearly as long…but that is because that’s where the majority of the [...]

Another infamous E36 BMW minor malady is the display of messages such as ‘Brake Light Failure” or “Brake Circuit Failure’ by the OBC. Sometimes you’ll get ‘1 Brake Light Fail’ as well. There are a few basic reasons why this happens, and how you can fix these problems. First of all, if your E36 OBC [...]

If you have ever flushed, drained, or otherwise changed the coolant in your E36 BMW 3 series, chances are you are sporadically encountering a ‘Check Coolant Level’ message displayed on your onboard computer display. No, this probably doesn’t mean you forgot to tighten the block drain plug or the radiator drain screw. In fact, [...]

The E30 BMW 3 series platform has remained incredibly popular as a reasonably low budget European small car performance platform some decade and a half after production ceased, with hundreds of thousands of examples still registered and seeing daily driver or weekend track car duty. The beauty of the E30 cars lies in its ruggedness [...]

BMW’s previous two generations of 3 series cars (sedan, coupes, and convertibles) are extremely popular. There are many thousands of them on the road. The oldest E36 BMW’s are now 15 years old and often have well over 150,000 miles on them. The oldest E46 3 series’ on the road are now 8 years old [...]

E30, E36, AND E46 3 series BMWs are notoriously hard on their rear shock mounts, or RSMs. How do you know when your BMW’s rear shock mounts are worn out? The easiest way is to listen for any clunking sounds emanating from the rear suspension while driving. What actually happens to the oem BMW rear [...]

* This article pertains to most BMW models, especially the E30, E34, E36, and E46 cars, but is relevant to all BMW models whose control arm bushings are pressed into eyelet ‘lollipops’.*
Any time you replace the control arm bushings on your BMW, you have to get the old bushings out of the lollipops and press [...]

Note: This repair applies to all E36 BMW models with six cylinder engines, including all 325i, 325is, 325ic, 328i, 328is, 328ic, 323i, 323is, 323ic, and M3 models. Four cylinder engine E36 models may have slightly different exhaust routing, clamps, gaskets, and hangers. Be sure to consult the Bentley service manual if you have unanswered questions [...]

Those who have been following my BMW repair and information site may have read about my recent attempts to track down and eliminate mysterious shuddering under braking that has continued unabated in spite of recent ball joint, tie rod, and tire replacements. I had last replaced the front pads and rotors roughly one year ago. [...]

Look through any BMW message board or forum and you will hundreds of posts regarding recurring front end shimmy/shake/vibration during braking. Now, it is certainly true that older models, particularly the E24 6 series, E21 3 series, and E28 5 series had some issues related to the steering components and bushings, but I would estimate [...]