Re: Subject: Re: [e36] <E36> Symptoms of ball-joint wear?

["Jerry A. Cohen" <cohen@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I recently bought a 328is (1998) and had 2000 miles on it.  We were 
scheduled to take a family vacation from Florida to the mountains of 
North carolina and Virginia in our 1994 Town and Country mini.  Not 
very exciting, but lots of room to pack.  I really wanted to take the 
Bimmer on those mountain roads.  Took the mini van to the Chrysler 
dealer (Hawes Chrysler in Gainesville; usually gives good service) 
just to have the serpentine belt changed, water pump looked at (when 
they flushed the radiator), and a small vibration in the rear (I 
thought) evaluated.  They said they could do it in three hours, but 
as our vacation launch day approached, they were still hung up on the 
vibration...big time.  They changed the front right axel (bent, 
probably when the front tire and wheel were trashed a year ago; 
strange how it took many month to start vibrating, like maybe more is 
wrong than just the axel).  New front axel did nothing.  Every time 
they turned the wheel about 15 degrees to the right the motor began 
to shuttle back and forth about an inch or two, very rapidly (like 
about every time the wheel went around).  They decided to change the 
motor mounts.  Unfortunately this decision came 3 days (not the 
promised 3 hours) later as we were leaving town in the Bimmer, packed 
with all that we were going to put in the van.  The skinny on the 
mini is that 4 and a half weeks later its still in the shop, Chrysler 
engineers are taking over (soon?), and we have a loaner (a nice but 
boring Cirrus) that will probably need an oil change before we get 
the van back.  No one has figured out what is wrong, but I did get to 
take the Bimmer on vacation.  

That was sweet.  I was amazed that I could put a large suitcase, two 
small ones, a duffle bag full of shoes, two hang up bags, and some 
groceries, and still have room for a few towels, a camera bag, and 
some Macguiers.  It really handled bueatifully on some pretty tough 
roads.  After a little practice I could easily handle the Blue Ridge 
Parkway at 50+ rarely hitting the brakes.  This  is really an 
impressive car; being from the land of Mickey Mouse, I am used to 
driving mostly in straight lines and on flat land.  As a bonus  after 
leaving Ashville, headed for Atlanta, we missed a turn and went 
through Spartenburg.  My wife saw a road sign that said B.M.W. exit 
and she said "How cute, now what does that really mean," so I said, 
"It means we're going by the Zentrum and the BMW assembly plant."  
She really likes the older Bimmers;  she had one in the late 70's (it 
exploded when when a motorcyclist ran into it while it was parked,) 
so she insited we stop.  The museum was great and the film on the 
assembly process was quite impressive.  We bought caps and a book 
about classic Bimmers, but missed the factory tour (you have to know 
60 days before you miss your turn and go through Spartenburg so that 
you can reserve a spot on the tour).  In Atlanta we got the oil 
changed at Global Imports, a very impressive dealership, and headed 
home.  Who knows when the mini van will emerge from the shop, but 
getting to take the Bimmer on vacation was a real silver lining.

Any serious ideas on whats wrong with the van? 

Jerry Cohen BMW CCA
1998 328 is
1994 Town and Country (in the shop)

------------------------------