New owner

[johnnye23]

Jumpseating down to Baton Rouge later today to pick up a 2004 zhp 330i sedan . Car will be for my wife to replace her E38. Looking forward to getting behind the wheel of one of these ! Nice Forum y'all have here !

[Alphatek45]

Johnny, welcome sir. Betcha 5 bucks it becomes your car! Lol glad to have you.

[Mtnman]

Yeah, my money is on you having to buy another car for your wife soon. Welcome! Enjoy the trip home.

[Marcus-SanDiego]

Johnny, good luck on that. I bought my wife a ZHP. I stole it back within five minutes of picking it up!

Welcome to the site, pal.

[johnnye23]

Thanks guys ! No it's really is for her I have my own toys ... I can't lie though I am looking forward to the drive home Sunday.

[Marcus-SanDiego]

I had my toys too. Something about the cohesiveness of this thing, though, took control of me. Simply a great car.

Tell your wife congrats for us.

[bimmer848]

welcome! so what are your toys?

[mimalmo]

Hello.


If you're "jumpseating" I'd assume you're in the aviation industry?

[danewilson77]

Johnny, welcome sir. Betcha 5 bucks it becomes your car! Lol glad to have you.

....within a week.....

Welcome bro....

[gr330zhp]

Welcome. What year/model is the E38?

[pyreguy]

Going meet him and his new ZHP this afternoon. Bringing camera ;)

[adb1028]

in for pics...

[pyreguy]

He is gonna post some pics when its all cleaned up and ready. It was cool meeting up with him.

[johnnye23]

Okay so here is the skinny on the car . Upon my initial test drive the car ran well but the steering was extremely darty .The steering would follow every rut on the asphalt ,it was extremely uncomfortable to drive. We took the car back and put it on the lift and found all bushings were fresh and all steering components were tight . Did a quick down and dirty check for toe in/out and found it to be correct.
We replaced the front tires and again took it for a test drive,relief !!! Car drove straight and true and felt wonderful Yeah... Put it back on the lift again and changed out the fuel filter, this was unlike the usual filters I have changed this filter had a regulator built in it.It was a little pricey but I wanted to take advantage of the lift while I had use of it.We then dropped the transmission pan and changed the filter and serviced with fresh fluid ( did not do a flush ). The trans fluid was dark but still smelled correct with no overheating . Went ahead and changed engine oil and filter . Took it for another jaunt and the car was happy,shifted great ,pulled hard . Wow this is a fun car : 0 .
Pulled it back into the shop and Winfred put his tester on the car ,he said I don't like the way this car is idling , He said the idle should be rock solid and he was detecting rpm fluctuation . He said I had a very small vacuum leak but the car was trying to compensate for it. He asked me to rev the engine while he watched the balance adjuster rod to detect any movement.The rod did not move as it should have. He said that was the problem ,we proceeded to remove it and install a know good unit .Idle is already much much better and should continue to get better as the ECU learns and compensates the fuel/air mixture.

So I am feeling good about the car ,going to give a good wash today and head back home . It was really great meeting Lance yesterday . I have met so many nice people thru BMW forums ! Will post some pictures when I get home to a decent camera.

[danewilson77]

I was getting all ready to answer the darty question....and kept reading. These cars like fresh tires....

Great update....

[Marcus-SanDiego]

Johnny, nice recap. Looking forward to seeing the pictures.

[Mtnman]

+1 on the tires. Boy, when they get bald, the car goes where the grooves take it. It doesnt care where the road goes. To this day if i let anyone drive my car i say "this is not a regular car. Hold on to the wheel tightly, cause it will track groves."
Glad you guys got to meet up. Cant wait for pics and drive home write-up.

[Pooters]

Yo, welcome, Johny!

[johnnye23]

Thanks for your service Pooters and GO TIGERS !!!

Well I wish I could report an uneventful trip back to Memphis from Baton Rouge but about 20 miles from Memphis I developed a slight engine miss. No check engine light .I am hoping it is the seals for the spark plug tubes letting some oil past and shorting out the spark plug. I really wanted to change out the valve cover gasket and spark plugs before I left but we flat just ran out of time. I will be pulling the valve cover and all the spark plugs tomorrow. It seemed to clear up when I got off the expressway for the remainder of the trip so I don't think its anything serious.

[Marcus-SanDiego]

Johnny, glad to hear you made it home. Thanks for the dispatches.

[danewilson77]

Thanks for your service Pooters and GO TIGERS !!!

Well I wish I could report an uneventful trip back to Memphis from Baton Rouge but about 20 miles from Memphis I developed a slight engine miss. No check engine light .I am hoping it is the seals for the spark plug tubes letting some oil past and shorting out the spark plug. I really wanted to change out the valve cover gasket and spark plugs before I left but we flat just ran out of time. I will be pulling the valve cover and all the spark plugs tomorrow. It seemed to clear up when I got off the expressway for the remainder of the trip so I don't think its anything serious.

Just a lil bit further and you'd have your VANOS knocked out too.

[pyreguy]

Glad you made it home! It was great to meet you. I hope you and your wife enjoy the car. You did great!

[johnnye23]

Well pulled coils and they were all dry . Pulled all the spark plugs and they looked the same, I went ahead and replaced them for piece of mind.

How much do you guys pay for plugs ? The dealer quoted me $28 each for NGK Iridiums !!! I went to Napa and got the same plugs for $8 each.I understand a little markup but that was ridiculous, end of rant.

Car seems tto be running perfect but I think the miss will return and I suspect it will be a coil pack. I will take the car by my buddies shop to test them, well if I can get the car back from my wife. She Loves it !!!

http://carphotos.cardomain.com/ride_images/4/590/1389/38973194004_large.jpg

[mimalmo]

That car looks familiar for some reason.... :)

You may want to adjust the size of your signature pic.

[danewilson77]

Well pulled coils and they were all dry . Pulled all the spark plugs and they looked the same, I went ahead and replaced them for piece of mind.

How much do you guys pay for plugs ? The dealer quoted me $28 each for NGK Iridiums !!! I went to Napa and got the same plugs for $8 each.I understand a little markup but that was ridiculous, end of rant

I am running with NGK BKR 6 EQUP...which is what I recommend....

http://www.ecstuning.com/Search/Bkr6equp/ES7573/