If you own an older BMW, or any older car, you can expect to be knee deep in maintenance and repairs the moment you decide to turn that first nut. This car is so well built and was so ahead of it’s time that it equally needs regular care and maintenance. Fortunately for me, I love turning wrenches and working on cars. The previous owners, not so much. Don’t get me wrong, they did their best to keep it in it’s current state for as long as they could. They were the original owners from 2001 when the car was produced!
Fast forward to about a year or so ago when I picked this car up. It was dusty and had a good bit of broken panels inside the car, and even the outside had its fair share of dings and scratches. Since then, I have been able to address a couple of things with regard to basic maintenance. Some of those includes:
- Oil Change
- Tire Replacement
- Tire Rotation
- Cabin Filters
- Air Filter
- Battery Replacement
Now let’s talk about the more involved and more serious maintenance items. I have recently replaced the Valve Cover gaskets. That was quite the task as it looks like the job wasn’t done recently let alone correctly. I am even suspecting the car to have original valve cover gaskets! When I bought the car, the mileage was unknown due to dead pixels in the cluster. (A common E38 problem) After getting the cluster repaired, it revealed 181,XXX miles! With that many miles, the motor is somewhat of a ticking time bomb.
I purchased my replacement parts from FCPEuro and got them fast and with free shipping! Well, I got the valve cover gaskets done but the next thing the car required attention on reared it’s head. This includes the CCV rubber diaphragm and a possible leaking main power steering hose (the one which meets the rack). Lastly, during my tussle with this stout V8, a single vacuum line broke and that will be yet another item I’ll need to replace.
Many people would probably look at the car at this point and think “Why would I even bother?” and the answer is not simple, but straightforward: “Why not?” The way I look at is, if I take care of these things now, then the car will provide me many more miles of joy. After all, the previous owners gave me a stack of records from day 1 of ownership and while they weren’t BMW enthusiasts, they did their part to keep up with it and it lasted 181,XXX miles.
The other thing to consider is how rare this car is. It’s a 2001 M-Sport in Stahlblau Metallic. Only 1500 were made in this color! So, I almost have a built in obligation to save her and keep her going for another 100,000 miles or more. Onward!
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