REtzler
07-01-2007, 11:36 PM
Well, I am going back to the well. I have received excellent feedback on a couple of occasions here, so I figured I would try a couple outstanding issues.
First, my car:
1995 BMW 530i
78,000 miles
Automatic
Problem # 1---
When I drive the check engine light will come on occasionally. I have noticed that it really only comes on if I am idling. It doesn't come on every time I am idling, but, almost each time I come to an idle, within 20-30 seconds of beginning an idle the car vibrates, the check engine light comes on and about 5% of the time, the car will actually stall and turn off. Once this has happened, if I come to another light where I am idling, the car idles rough (shakes and some slight knocking noise). The problem almost always goes away if I maintain a constant level of acceleration (ie. up a hill, speeding up to get on a freeway, etc.). The light goes off.
I have noticed that the easiest way to prevent this is to continue applying gas while idling. So, I come to a stop and two-foot idle while waiting. I bring the car to between 600 - 900 RPM's (ie. .60-.90) while idling and the car seems to avoid the check engine light problem and also the rough idling.
Based on the fact that the problem is "avoided" by continually applying more than "idling" levels of gas, and that the symptoms are alleviated by accelerating (which requires a higher RPM and more gas), I suspect that I may have a clogged fuel line or a bad fuel pump. However, I wanted to see if there were any opinions from the forum members.
Problem # 2 ----
Much more of an aesthetic problem. When all windows and the sunroof are closed I get a very loud whistling noise through the driver window at 40mph+. When all windows are closed and the sunroof (or any other window other than the front/driver side window) is open, I don't get the same noise. It seems that the weather stripping near the driver window is bad, which is causing a bad seal and allowing air to get in. However, I'm confused by the fact that when one other window is open I don't get the whistling noise. Its almost as if by closing all of the windows I have created a vaccuum within the car. A folded up piece of paper wedged between the window and the weather stripping on the driver side front window limits to the whistling to some extent, but not perfectly. Any thoughts? It seems like I just need to bite the bullet and get the weather stripping replaced and see if that does it.
Problem # 3----
Definitely aesthetic. My BMW decal on the trunk door either fell off or was taken. The decal is actually made of two parts. A plastic "seat" and a metal "dial" that is affixed to the seat. The seat is held onto the trunk by two plastic pins. Anyway, I want to replace. I have a replacement decal (from the junkyard), but don't really know how to get at the decal from within the trunk. I can pull the carpet back (ie. I can get enough access to change the tail lights, etc.) The trunk door is comprised of the outer steel frame (ie. the outside of the car) and then an internal steel skeleton (maybe welded to the outer frame). The decal is attached to the car via some pins that attach to the actual outer-steel-frame, and are physically under the internal steel skeleton. My predicament is that I don't know how to get to the pins to detach the existing decal "seat" (all that remains).
The way I see it, I have a couple of options:
1) Figure out how to remove the existing decal
2) Break the existing decal from the outside and place the new decal in its place (I am hesitant to do this though as I don't think any new decal I put in its place would be physically secured enough to stay put)
3) Break the "dial" off of the "seat" of the new decal and affix the new "dial" to the old "seat" via super glue.
Am I missing something? Is it easier than this to get to that dial?
Wanted to say thanks for the many good pieces of advice I have received in the past. I appreciate the good advice. Take care.
Robert
First, my car:
1995 BMW 530i
78,000 miles
Automatic
Problem # 1---
When I drive the check engine light will come on occasionally. I have noticed that it really only comes on if I am idling. It doesn't come on every time I am idling, but, almost each time I come to an idle, within 20-30 seconds of beginning an idle the car vibrates, the check engine light comes on and about 5% of the time, the car will actually stall and turn off. Once this has happened, if I come to another light where I am idling, the car idles rough (shakes and some slight knocking noise). The problem almost always goes away if I maintain a constant level of acceleration (ie. up a hill, speeding up to get on a freeway, etc.). The light goes off.
I have noticed that the easiest way to prevent this is to continue applying gas while idling. So, I come to a stop and two-foot idle while waiting. I bring the car to between 600 - 900 RPM's (ie. .60-.90) while idling and the car seems to avoid the check engine light problem and also the rough idling.
Based on the fact that the problem is "avoided" by continually applying more than "idling" levels of gas, and that the symptoms are alleviated by accelerating (which requires a higher RPM and more gas), I suspect that I may have a clogged fuel line or a bad fuel pump. However, I wanted to see if there were any opinions from the forum members.
Problem # 2 ----
Much more of an aesthetic problem. When all windows and the sunroof are closed I get a very loud whistling noise through the driver window at 40mph+. When all windows are closed and the sunroof (or any other window other than the front/driver side window) is open, I don't get the same noise. It seems that the weather stripping near the driver window is bad, which is causing a bad seal and allowing air to get in. However, I'm confused by the fact that when one other window is open I don't get the whistling noise. Its almost as if by closing all of the windows I have created a vaccuum within the car. A folded up piece of paper wedged between the window and the weather stripping on the driver side front window limits to the whistling to some extent, but not perfectly. Any thoughts? It seems like I just need to bite the bullet and get the weather stripping replaced and see if that does it.
Problem # 3----
Definitely aesthetic. My BMW decal on the trunk door either fell off or was taken. The decal is actually made of two parts. A plastic "seat" and a metal "dial" that is affixed to the seat. The seat is held onto the trunk by two plastic pins. Anyway, I want to replace. I have a replacement decal (from the junkyard), but don't really know how to get at the decal from within the trunk. I can pull the carpet back (ie. I can get enough access to change the tail lights, etc.) The trunk door is comprised of the outer steel frame (ie. the outside of the car) and then an internal steel skeleton (maybe welded to the outer frame). The decal is attached to the car via some pins that attach to the actual outer-steel-frame, and are physically under the internal steel skeleton. My predicament is that I don't know how to get to the pins to detach the existing decal "seat" (all that remains).
The way I see it, I have a couple of options:
1) Figure out how to remove the existing decal
2) Break the existing decal from the outside and place the new decal in its place (I am hesitant to do this though as I don't think any new decal I put in its place would be physically secured enough to stay put)
3) Break the "dial" off of the "seat" of the new decal and affix the new "dial" to the old "seat" via super glue.
Am I missing something? Is it easier than this to get to that dial?
Wanted to say thanks for the many good pieces of advice I have received in the past. I appreciate the good advice. Take care.
Robert