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The "What's wrong with your car?" Thread

63K views 555 replies 355 participants last post by  nbad94 
#1 ·
List your woes. I'll go first.

AC is dead. Never cold, sometimes it will blow hot air, and sometimes nothing at all.
Clutch is about to be dead (but also about to be replaced :4ngie::4ngie::4ngie: )
Missing drivers side door lock pin. It just fell out and I couldn't get it to stay :)
Cracked front kidney, held on by blue tape on the inside.

Thats all I can think of for now, other than the usual bumper scrapes and door dings :hi:
 
#56 · (Edited)
3 of 4 window regulators are shot to Hell!
Passenger's side mirror moves every direction except left.
Both grilles fell out.
Front driver side leather seat torn a little bit.
Rear Speakers blown. Front about to blow.
Little pin sized leak on the coolent recovery tank.
Airbag Light on.

All I can say is......:censor::banghead::ben::(:help::mad::wtf:
Oh but I still love my car :D
 
#153 ·
Adding to that I have 3 Bent rims and the two rear tires are very Wavy on the inside. But...I....still...love...my...carrrrrrrrr:b:
But I fixed the grilles, the rear speakers, the front speakers blew out on me so im fixing those, replaced all of the cooling system except the hoses and I replaced the regulators.
 
#58 ·
-Car understeers more with new suspension setup than with stock susp.
-Passenger door can't be opened electrically, needs to be opened manually from inside
-Loud wind noises at higher speeds, probably due to old rubber at the door seals
-Rattling noise from exhaust piping after aftermarket exhaust installed (by shop!)
-One of the drive belts squealing in the front, although replaced not even 5K miles ago

-Not modified enough :eeps:
 
#59 ·
Sounds like the window regulators are going
The stance is all f-ed up (sig is shopped)
All four tires need replacing
All four tires are badly curbed (wheels and tires bought used)
Paint is in terrible condition (rust stains, rock chips, swirls)

That's about it though. All in all it's in great mechanical condition.
 
#62 ·
Hmmm....

Exterior:
- Deep scratch in hood (requires new hood; just an excuse for my buying a CF GTR hood... hehe)
- Silver window trim is always covered in water marks that don't go away
- Small dent in one of the silver exhaust tips
- Small ding, driver side, under the body trim and between the driver's door and rear wheel-well
- Small ding, trunk, by key-hole
- Scratches in a circular pattern from my car being egged with a single egg, driver's side, just behind the driver's door
- Semi-deep scratches on rear bumper, driver side, from my brother's golf club (9-iron) falling and hitting it (excuse for a new rear bumper!! hehe)
- Sideskirts on both sides are missing 2 clips each (in the middle-ish part, so it isn't really noticeable)
- Rear jack-pads missing
- Front bumper has holes from where the license plate was screwed in (I don't run with a front plate)
- Small ding in windshield
- Passenger side foglight missing one attachment point
- Foglights are scratched to hell (no big deal, as I'm getting an M-Tech2 bumper with foglights)
- Missing the rubber "gasket" that goes between the top of the front bumper and the lights/hood/fenders (makes it look like there's a gap, but bumper is fully tightened)
- Missing same rubber "gasket" in the rear (also looks like a gap)
- Small bits of curb rash on my DPE's (not really noticeable unless seen from up-close)
- Brake-calipers have superficial rust (fixing this weekend with silver Dupli-Color ceramic caliper paint)

Interior:
- Peeling "paint" on the center-console, specifically the cup-holders and the area around the e-brake
- Small cracks in leather, driver's seat (Leatherique-ing it soon; Recaro's will fix the problem here in a year or so)
- Black mark on rear seat, passenger side
- Wear and tear on the steering wheel
- Leather on e-brake handle looks like someone chewed on it for a minute or so
- Unidentified rattle in dash
- Squeaks in the rear
- Tape deck (yes, I have a tape-deck, but b/c the 6-disc CD changer is in the trunk) makes weird, loud noises when I use the iPod tape-deck adaptor
- Sunroof "cover" sliding-thing doesn't move like it's supposed to; all four clips are broken (sunroof works fine)
- Sunroof-motor cover is glued into place as 2 clips broke
- Cover for the lower "storage" compartment (that has the cigarette lighter in it) is no longer auto-open/close, but it does still lock
- Passenger seat controls missing one cover
- Passenger seat rail missing plastic cover
- Driver's interior door handle wood-trim is spider-webbed
- Driver side A-pillar has a few small black marks in the fabric

Both the interior and exterior problems are small enough to not be a problem at all, but many are reason enough to "fix" the specific problem by upgrading the part (i.e. carbon fiber hood to get rid of deep "cut" mark). The rest, like peeling cupholders, are just superficial.


Mechanical (none of the "Needs..." are problems, just maintenance due within 1k miles):
- Needs new guibo (flex-disc)
- Needs new spark plugs
- Probably needs new differential bushings (occasional "clunk" in the rear)
- Slight "vagueness" in the rear, despite RTAB's being replaced ~1k miles ago with PowerFlex units
- Could stand to put in new wheel-bearings on all 4 wheels, as I imagine they're worn at 92.5k miles
- Needs new transmission fluid
- Needs new differential fluid
- Needs new power-steering fluid
- Small tear in sidewall of one tire
- Needs new VANOS seals
- Needs new valve-cover gasket
- Needs new O2 sensors
- Needs new camshaft position sensors (intake and exhaust)
- Power feels lower than it should, and is a little choppier (hopefully the above maintenance items will cure that)

Almost all of the mechanical stuff is just routine maintenance, and I'm just going to have it all done at once here in a couple of months. I'm at 92.5k miles, and would like to get it done around 95k-100k miles. Other than what's mentioned, the car is in phenomenal mechanical shape.
 
#63 · (Edited)
Exterior:

Right side of rear bumper is scratched from previous owner.
Left quarter panel/lower body is missing some paint from a light collision, from previous owner.
LED taillight chip, defective unit (****ing cheap DDM tails)
Chrome trim needs to be restored, is oxidized badly now

Interior:

Passenger seat, manual seat lever is acting up and is being difficult
Door Handle Trim is peeling
 
#68 · (Edited)
I have all the classic e46 problems
-Sunshade clips broken in the sunroof.
-Second window regulator on the way out
-FCAs are gone. A new set is on the way
-Rear end clunk - still haven't gotten around to diagnosing it, most likely the guibo or the diff mount.
-Subframe mount tore out. thankfully, BMW fixed it for free
- Intake whistle above 4500RPM. I checked the rubber intake boot for holes visually but couldn't find anything. Will check it when I am replacing my oil separator hose (see below)


Some less common problems that still need fixing
- My radiator fan stays on. Even when the car is cool and off.
- I broke my oil separator hose. I taped it back together. To replace it, it appears I have to take like half of my engine apart or have a midget do it.
- My hood need aligning or something. I left a screwdriver on the top of my left headlight when I closed it once and now the gap between the hood and the fender is slightly larger on one side.
- Some minor scratches. The car needs a good polish and wax.
- Need to replace tranny and diff fluid. Hmm, maybe I will do it this weekend.

That's all I can think of.
 
#69 ·
needs new thermostat
needs new purge release valve (maybe fixed with seafoam)
needs new oil
needs new spark plugs
has dent in rear door.
seat ripped (getting repaired soon)
needs new main belt and maybe tensioner
front end all pitted
windsheild pitted
driver window scratched from outside (from previous owner)

needs new control arms and bushings
needs alignment

interior :
rear door panels are 2 tone and fronts are not (quit project and havent had time to reverse)
scratch on rear door interior trim
 
#71 ·
-no mid-bass
-creaking sounds here and there
-power steering leak
-dice has too much static more often than not
-couple of scratches here and there
-sunroof isn't one touch close anymore
-radio skips when there is too much bass
-steering wheel is peeling in small areas (need tri-stiched)
-driver door window regulator going to go out soon
-trunk acts stupid and opens for no apparent reason
-bird **** stain on right front fender
-ding on passenger rear door
-one clip that hold corner of rear bumper cover is broke
-
 
#72 ·
AC is stuck on full blast. So it's either full blast or off :banghead:
 
#74 ·
exterior-wise, i have like 6 noticeable door dings and a few nicks on my rear bumper (stupid ass people in parking lots) and the clearcoat is bubbling on the wheel centers. also, one of my calipers is all scratched up. oh, and my headlight lenses are super pitted.

interior-wise, i have to touch up the door panels because i put them in too soon and scratched them a bit in a couple places before they dried all the way. i also have horrible non-sport seats.

ice-wise, my passenger speaker is on its last breath and the scrolling feature of my DICE lets some static out every once in a while.

engine-wise, i'm at 70k miles and really need to get going on water pump/thermostat maintenance.

suspension-wise, i have a really annoying clunk sometimes and the LCABs are worn out (again)

grrrrrrrrr
 
#75 ·
Final stage resistor gone, drivers side window regulator gone, door trims fall off, VANOS seals shot (Beisan seals required), small dent left hand door otherwise near perfect. scuff marks on drivers Nappa leather seat. LHF BBS wheel needs machining to fix gutter rash. And last but not least a set of new plugs and change straight Redline MTL in g'box to 50/50 MTL/D4ATF blend. Not much really.
 
#79 ·
Right window makes scratchy noise when it's rolled up/down (possibly a dying window regulator)
Interior has unfurled due to hot Georgia Summer and my unwillingness to tint my windows
Chirping noise under the hood that has yet to be properly diagnosed by 2 BMW specialist shops
Overdue for Inspection because of lack of funds which complicate above problems, eh
 
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