E92 328 “Sabine”

In reply to Slippery :

They are BMW branded, made by Thule. I will check for part numbers and update this post.

EDIT: This is it

Yesterday, upon first press of start button, I was met with... nothing. Yep, clutch is pushed and key fob is inserted. WTF?!?! Press again, and she starts right up. Leaving the driveway, VDC light comes on. Get where I'm going, kill the engine, and I get this fun warning:

Hmmm.

So I plug in the scanner and see all sorts of steering angle sensor over-and under-voltage faults, as well as the "calibration lost" I was expecting. I've heard that the SAS is particularly sensitive to voltage out of range issues, so I used the scanner to check battery and alternator. Results? Both were OK. So I go to start the car and on first press of start button I get nothing. Starts on second press, and transitions to 100% electrically dead as I let the clutch out. Well, that shouldn't be too hard to find. I'll start with checking battery connections.

only no I won't, because the battery is in the trunk and there's no mechanical trunk release. So I pop the hood and connect the battery charger just to power up the trunk release, and WTFGDSOB I hear relays clicking. This is odd because the battery charger is not plugged in. Pop trunk, check battery cables, find B+ connector is loose on battery. It took about 3/4-turn to tighten, and of course that solved the problem.

not gonna lie, when she went dead I broke out some swear words that I haven't used in a long time. But it seems that all is well, (BMW qualifier) for now.

:shudders:

:finish's reading:

:cheers quietly:

AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) said:

But it seems that all is well, (BMW qualifier) for now.

That's good. And LOL

Any modern BMW electrical trouble that can be solved with tightening a terminal requires you to thank the Teutonic Electron Gods with a nice Hefeweizen. 

^ yeah what he said!

Another non-dramatic update. She hit 80k on the way to Patrick's the other day:

and today she got her first oil change since joining my fleet:

I love this car, perhaps irrationally so. She makes me smile before i even turn the key. I'm looking forward to many years together.

Last glamour shot of 2021:

Pulled those magnificent BBS 18s and slapped on the winter special 16s with 205/55 Dunlop WinterSport4's. But it's never that simple, is it? The WS4 is a directional tire, and as I received them all four were mounted for right side. So I spent a couple hours in the shop at work today, fighting with beads that have been seated since 2014. I did prevail, but not without a little swearing. Anyway, here she is with the shoes she'll be wearing til Easter:

Tires are already 7 years old?

In reply to docwyte :

Indeed. I'll run winters a couple years older than summers because they generally don't see temps / speeds / loads that summers do. PO didn't drive much on them (obviously).

AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) said:

Drone shot or are you on the roof creeping on babushka?

In reply to wawazat :

I noticed a lack of E92 in the picture but figured he's old so I'll just humor him.

Good job Angry! Keep up the good work!

No babushka this time. Pic is from upstairs window; E92 is blocked by garage.

In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :

Hey I just went and bought a BMW in this slush today! (A convertible of all things )

Can the TPMS be turned off completely?   I hate that system on any vehicle.    Typical way over the top gov't reaction to a human caused problem.

With the Sube out of action, I had to choose which vehicle to drive into a winter storm warning in the UP to pick up AK1 from school. Naturally I went with RWD and low ride height. The drive up was uneventful, but there was a good 3" of wet snow when we went for breakfast:

and another 2"+ fell just during breakfast. So we cleared her off and beat feet for I-75 South. There was some pretty good wind out of the west for pretty much the whole drive, but it was never an issue. I got this ice goatee pic at a rest stop about halfway home:

overall I'd have to say that RWD plus proper winter tires, in this case Dunlop WinterSport 4D, is a good-enough solution until ground clearance becomes an issue. Also hit 83k on the ride home.

Sabine FTW. 

I like that you were going 83 mph when you rolled to 83k.  Very appropriate.

I have stuck good snow tires on rwd sports cars and I agree that they do fine.  It really is all about the tires.

In reply to TVR Scott :

LOL didn't even notice but now I'll have to try to continue this practice for a while...

In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :

When you roll to 200k that's gonna be a day.

In reply to TVR Scott :

I'll ask for a waiver past 120k when she's wearing winters.

I ran my supercharged E46 M3 on snow tires around Denver metro without any issues.  If there was 3+ inches of snow sitting on my due south facing driveway when I opened the doors I'd jump in my Cherokee with snow tires instead tho...

Payday Sensor still works:

P0306, so I ordered a full set of coils and spark plugs. It's too cold out to swap the plug to one cyl and the coil to another and see which one the misfire follows. For $300 I'm OK with not knowing.

In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :

In reply to Indy - Guy :

Yep. Skipping "ready" and "aim"...