1991 325i City Driver

["William Moore" <molux@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I have a '91 325i that I keep in NYC, but drive mostly on trips outside the
city (i.e., highway miles are the majority).  The car has 51k miles and I
don't really have any complaints about the ride, but a friend recently
suggested that I replace the shocks and springs, since they are 51k/10 yrs
old.  I am interested in safety and maneuverability in city traffic, not
autocross, drivers schools, etc.  My friend said to not even consider the
Boge shocks.  The car was in a frontal collision last year and and the body
shop replaced either the front left strut housing & shock cartridge, or just
the shock.  Their terminology was inconsistent, and their documentation
poor.  After the initial estimate, the shop started the work and as they
found problems, called the insurance company to get an overage, so many
things were fixed that weren't on the original estimate, and no additional
paperwork was generated.  With my attention elsewhere, and relations with
the shop degraded to poor, I don't really know what was replaced beyond the
really obvious.  It is conceivable that either or both parts were replaced.
I don't recall a noise indicating worn bushings before the accident, but
maybe they were there.  In any event, they are there now, particularly on
the drivers side--the one with the new cartridge/housing.  Most sources say
to replace these items in pairs if not at all 4 corners at once.  After the
repairs, the car drove straight and true, the shop did really wonderful
work, in spite of service rep I dealt with (owner) who never met a deadline
he told me (7 days turned into 6 weeks), and despite stickers all over the
place for credit card acceptance, wouldn't accept anything other than a
certified check for payment.  I have a good car that I want to keep on the
road for as long as possible, but don't want to sink a lot of money into it
(it is 10 year old after all...).  I am a curbside mechanic with little car
experience but good mechanical ability.

What should I do about the shocks/strut housing/springs.  Boge normal, gas,
or bilsteins?  The wheels are stock as is everything else.  I am concerned
about stiffening the ride may accelerate other problems by rattling them to
death on city streets.

I would like to simply take the car to my mechanic and say go to it, but the
last tune up (Service II) included a parts list that showed 50-100% markup
over BAV prices for the parts.  By the scale of the job, that meant only
about an extra $125, but I don't like to pay a cent more than is fair, and I
felt like I was taken advantage of (a tune up isn't exactly a life or death
time frame item).  What is the best approach to containing parts costs
without offending an otherwise very good shop?  Come with the major parts,
talk about it beforehand, get several quotes (hassle)?

I am also considering changing all the coolant hoses, since I am due for a
flush and refill of the coolant soon.  Bentley says change any hoses that
are soft and flexible (all of mine are), but that seems counterintuitive.
There are no cracks visible on any hose, there are no leaks at the
connections to pump or radiator, etc.  What is the skinny on this? Any
guesses on parts cost (BAV or other better source?) and labor time.

The front valence panel (if I am identifying the part correctly, the panel
which delineates the front of the car under the bumper, has cut outs for fog
lamps and air guides, see Bentley E30 manual, page 14-33, fig 6-17) is
pretty dinged up and one fog lamp is busted, while the other is mounted in
the distorted panel and can't be properly aimed.  My dream solution would be
to find this whole thing (sheet metal, plastic inserts, fog lamps, spoiler
lip) at a junk dealer and install it myself, but I don't think that will
work out.  What suggestions are there for a common cents ($$) approach to
restoring the appearance and function of this piece?  (a body shop could
probably bang it out to a close image of the original, but I would still
have to by the right side air guide and the two plastic trim pieces that fit
into the opening for the oil cooler, and at least on fog lamp).

Finally, I am getting water in the front foot wells when it rains (not at
the car wash).  Traditional advice is to clean the sunroof drains or the
windshield gasket is shot.  The windshield gasket looks fine, is pliable.  I
mentioned the coaxial cable method of clearing the drain lines to my
mechanic, and he turned white, saying that could easily cause damage that is
expensive to fix, but wouldn't reveal his method of clearing them.  Today, I
gently fed a piece of teflon tubing down the front tubes.  I got about 6-7'
to feed into the front right drain, but couldn't see the tubing coming out
of an exit.  I was able to get about 5-6' into the right front drain line,
again without seeing where it came out.  In both cases, I reached a point
where no more tubing would feed into the drains.  I looked in the engine
compartment on the firewall on the right side, where there is a drain
protected  by a rubber elbow.  Others here have said this is the ultimate
exit for the sunroof drains, but my inquiry leads me to doubt this.  That
was clogged, but that drain was for the area just under the windshield,
where the mechanism for the wipers is housed, and I couldn't see the sunroof
drains feeding into here.  Pouring water down the drains resulted in a drip
coming from between the rocker panel and the body part it is mounted on
(this seam is where you attach the BMW jack for the front wheels.  I think
there is a reinforced pad there for the jack to be place into, with about a
3/8' hole in the center of it.  I thought this might be the actual drain
exit, but no water came from there, or tubing.)  I removed the interior trim
piece that covers the right strut which frames the windshield and mates with
the door.  I could see a hard plastic tube about 7/16" OD running the
length, but lose sight of it at the level of the dashboard   I would
appreciate any information on this.

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