This is why I left Carmax for BMW. 25% more per flag hour, much nicer shop, 2 mile commute vs 106 mile commute, and, what I didn't know at the time, ISTA (BMW's diag software) is INSANE. I thought BMWs were hard to work on until earlier this month. I still think they're way too complicated for their own damned good in some ways, but finding out I've been doing diag and repairs on them for all of my career up to this point with less than half of the information (even with my own SnapOn Solus Edge scan tool) the car is capable of providing has been a real eye-opener. With ISTA having built-in trouble trees, wiring diagrams, pin-outs, and more for every code you encounter, figuring things out isn't bad. Throw in maintenance and upsells (two things you can't really get at Carmax as a "production" tech, and something Chrysler and Hyundai owners are too cheap for), making hours isn't hard. On top of that, in-ground lifts, tile floors, A/C, oil/air/PC at every bay, stainless steel work bench at every bay, the absolute best equipment I've had access to in my career, in all of three weeks, I've learned to LOVE the damned things.
Build Thread 1978 Mercury Cyclone. The pig is in the pen.
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Well that explains why they cost so much! Tile floors in the service bays.
Now you know why they are soo expensive. Developing the base software is an expensive endeavor and then every time you add a feature to support another option or model, more money goes into the software development that you don't see...
The only thing like it is the F35 fighter jet that goes for $95 -122 million (yes, million dollars) EACH. Every time you add an item to the arsenal it can use, the software gets an addition also to make that weapon work with aircraft. One piece of software makes the AIM 9 Sidewinder work, another piece is is for "dumb" glide bombs, another for precision guided "Smart" bombs; the ordnance list just keeps getting longer and more expensive...
There's even more to it than that.
BMW stores info no other brand stores in their modules. I can tell if someone opened their door without putting it in park, every time it's ever had a low tire, and more. Even Mercedes and Lexus don't bother with a lot of the data BMW gathers. It's impressive.
On top of that, I've compared what I can get to and do with my Solus head-to-head with Ford, Hyundai, and Chrysler's scan tools; and I've found very little missing from the Solus (other than 2018+ FCA secure access gateway restrictions, and if I paid Chrysler $50 a year in ransom, that little roadblock would disappear). BMW on the other hand? I could damned near drive an X7 through the gaps in data I never knew were there.
- Mar 2, 2015
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Ok that's it.... I'm leaving carmax for BMW too. I'm topped out in pay...and over certified for this junk. I've got ac, heat, a PC, steel work table, and they provide all the tools in my bay. I've been a MA5 for almost 5yrs and no further up to go. I still hate Beemers but I fix them though. Might as well get paid more and jump in too.
I worked for a traditional store instead of a flow store. Had to drag my triple-bay Matco 4S, my tools, and my service cart home when I made the switch. That's my one regret, the built-in LISTA boxes are not my cup of tea.
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I have to work Thursday..it pisses me off that the last week of every month means a 6 day work week. With almost zero exception, every dealer has its crew work w/o a day off the last week of the month....It takes a degree of creativity if you want a day off when it comes to selling cars.
Today,..I had a root canal, AND a tooth extraction.
Who'd be expected to work after having to go through that?
So,...despite having to deal with that pain, I took the time to reinstall the pan,...and reinstall the engine.
* here’s a hint.....I didnt really go to the dentist.
So,..now that I get back the day they tried to take away from me,..I get back to business.
Despite the fact that the mounts were made ( and remade a second time...I needed to move the engine over), I just couldn't resist the urge to do them over again for a third and final time.
The AC compressor hit the sway bar. It didn’t matter whether or not I moved the engine forward or backwards, the little ear that hung down on the compressor was all over the thing, and behind that, the body of the compressor itself was touching. I couldn’t just raise the engine by sticking a shim between the mount and the block like I could have if this was a Windsor, (2j’s bolt to the side) nor could I stick that shim between the bottom of the mount and the K member ( when I did that, it raised the mount stud up out of the bottom of the notch in the K member ).
So I had to add thickness to the bottom of each mount ( 1/4” on one side, 3/16” on the other) ...the engine didn’t sit as level as I wanted it to,..this fixed it. Both mount studs had to be cut off, drilled back out, and then new holes had to be drilled through what amounted to almost 1/2” thick steel....that had been welded and ground, welded and ground,... and welded and ground numerous times...to say that the metal was hard from all of the trial and error heat treating I had done to it...........yeah.
They're pretty hideous to look at...you’ll never see a close up of them.
When that finally was done I put the engine in. This makes 4 times. getting to the transmission bolts on top is impossible, ( because the engine is almost jammed against the firewall.) tightening the converter bolts is a giant pain in the ass ( because that custom made, leaky ass rear sump pan, blocks being able to get to them).
But you know what?....it sits where I want it to. Like I want it to, and despite the challenges, they can be overcome.
The drive shaft yoke has a little more travel distance in the tail shaft as compared to how it was with the Monster v1.0, the pan don’t hit nothin, and the compressor eeks by the sway bar. It cost me the whole day though.
There are more hurdles to jump now that the damn thing is in.
#The lower water outlet runs right into the AC fitting going into the compressor...I gotta make a jinky-doo so that it’ll get past it ( means I gotta have that housing welded with an offset to clear) Both the inlet, and outlet have to be made to fit.
# The water pump has an inlet to allow for bypass water to come back to it. In the car that the engine came in, a tube ran under the exhaust header to one of the heater outlets and it got that water from there. My heater has a control valve on it that blocks water flow when the heater isn’t on, so now I have to add some sort of “ summer/ winter” control valve so that I can by pass the heater in the summer months, and allow that water to move through the engine.
# I pulled all of the wires that were hanging into the engine compartment back through the firewall. i have to remove the ones I don’t need, keep the ones I do, and add even more, now that I’m changing the thing over to COP/ SEFI/ knock sensing/ VVTI. Tracing those wires back to the ecu will be the same giant pain in the ass that they would be in a stock wiring harness.I can’t even see the firewall grommet without getting all bent up under the dash with a flashlight.
# I’ve got a whole bunch of work at the rear of the car, I have a fuel cell to modify and mount, a water reservoir for the A2W to mount. heat exchangers to mount, wire and plumb, and a floor to rebuild. I’m so tired of dicking with the engine, I believe that I’ll move to that next...
As the world turns.....
Today,..I had a root canal, AND a tooth extraction.
Who'd be expected to work after having to go through that?
So,...despite having to deal with that pain, I took the time to reinstall the pan,...and reinstall the engine.
* here’s a hint.....I didnt really go to the dentist.
So,..now that I get back the day they tried to take away from me,..I get back to business.
Despite the fact that the mounts were made ( and remade a second time...I needed to move the engine over), I just couldn't resist the urge to do them over again for a third and final time.
The AC compressor hit the sway bar. It didn’t matter whether or not I moved the engine forward or backwards, the little ear that hung down on the compressor was all over the thing, and behind that, the body of the compressor itself was touching. I couldn’t just raise the engine by sticking a shim between the mount and the block like I could have if this was a Windsor, (2j’s bolt to the side) nor could I stick that shim between the bottom of the mount and the K member ( when I did that, it raised the mount stud up out of the bottom of the notch in the K member ).
So I had to add thickness to the bottom of each mount ( 1/4” on one side, 3/16” on the other) ...the engine didn’t sit as level as I wanted it to,..this fixed it. Both mount studs had to be cut off, drilled back out, and then new holes had to be drilled through what amounted to almost 1/2” thick steel....that had been welded and ground, welded and ground,... and welded and ground numerous times...to say that the metal was hard from all of the trial and error heat treating I had done to it...........yeah.
They're pretty hideous to look at...you’ll never see a close up of them.
When that finally was done I put the engine in. This makes 4 times. getting to the transmission bolts on top is impossible, ( because the engine is almost jammed against the firewall.) tightening the converter bolts is a giant pain in the ass ( because that custom made, leaky ass rear sump pan, blocks being able to get to them).
But you know what?....it sits where I want it to. Like I want it to, and despite the challenges, they can be overcome.
The drive shaft yoke has a little more travel distance in the tail shaft as compared to how it was with the Monster v1.0, the pan don’t hit nothin, and the compressor eeks by the sway bar. It cost me the whole day though.
There are more hurdles to jump now that the damn thing is in.
#The lower water outlet runs right into the AC fitting going into the compressor...I gotta make a jinky-doo so that it’ll get past it ( means I gotta have that housing welded with an offset to clear) Both the inlet, and outlet have to be made to fit.
# The water pump has an inlet to allow for bypass water to come back to it. In the car that the engine came in, a tube ran under the exhaust header to one of the heater outlets and it got that water from there. My heater has a control valve on it that blocks water flow when the heater isn’t on, so now I have to add some sort of “ summer/ winter” control valve so that I can by pass the heater in the summer months, and allow that water to move through the engine.
# I pulled all of the wires that were hanging into the engine compartment back through the firewall. i have to remove the ones I don’t need, keep the ones I do, and add even more, now that I’m changing the thing over to COP/ SEFI/ knock sensing/ VVTI. Tracing those wires back to the ecu will be the same giant pain in the ass that they would be in a stock wiring harness.I can’t even see the firewall grommet without getting all bent up under the dash with a flashlight.
# I’ve got a whole bunch of work at the rear of the car, I have a fuel cell to modify and mount, a water reservoir for the A2W to mount. heat exchangers to mount, wire and plumb, and a floor to rebuild. I’m so tired of dicking with the engine, I believe that I’ll move to that next...
As the world turns.....
It's like they say 'if it were easy yadda yadda yadda'
Actually I've never heard anybody say that.
Strange, it looks at home in the engine bay.
Actually I've never heard anybody say that.
Strange, it looks at home in the engine bay.
- Mar 2, 2015
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You could use the bmw electronic one... or one of the old school ones...
You probably had this figured out before you posted. Nothing like clogging up a thread with my Google search finds.
To make this super difficult and to your standards you could use one of those little switches and mount it to the heater box wired to a relay. When you cut the heat on and the blend door moves it automatically opens the electronic valve. The ones that look like mini nitrous switches.
No, I'm at work...I haven't been drinkin' nuffin'.
You probably had this figured out before you posted. Nothing like clogging up a thread with my Google search finds.
To make this super difficult and to your standards you could use one of those little switches and mount it to the heater box wired to a relay. When you cut the heat on and the blend door moves it automatically opens the electronic valve. The ones that look like mini nitrous switches.
No, I'm at work...I haven't been drinkin' nuffin'.
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Well thank you for that sir. You did help. I ordered a manual bypass valve like the one pictured. COMPLETELY solved the problem. I prefer the cable operated manual unit...with the thinking being one less electronic solenoid to have to wire, and or replace when it stops working.You could use the bmw electronic one... or one of the old school ones...
You probably had this figured out before you posted. Nothing like clogging up a thread with my Google search finds.
To make this super difficult and to your standards you could use one of those little switches and mount it to the heater box wired to a relay. When you cut the heat on and the blend door moves it automatically opens the electronic valve. The ones that look like mini nitrous switches.
No, I'm at work...I haven't been drinkin' nuffin'.
I'm think $8.95 for manual vs $77.65 for electric helped make that decision!
Also, way to skip work for the car! Hope no one at work sees this and squeals on ya.
Also, way to skip work for the car! Hope no one at work sees this and squeals on ya.
Looks like it's time to quit leading us on and show us the LS swap!
(This is on FB Marketplace)
(This is on FB Marketplace)
Back story:
Maybeeee.....Last week,....10 days ago. I talked about the victory lap. Finding deals on EBay, being able to buy 6 AC DELCO D585 coils for 125.00, the boots and brackets to convert them over to true COP, for another 70.00,...total investment to be about 200.00.
I was happy.
But,...the first shipment came in:
1 premium coil ( white epoxy as opposed to black epoxy) for 125.00 instead of 6 black epoxy standard coils for the same.
( I swear to god that they advertised these coils at 6 for that price, but when I checked the ad after the purchase...the original purchase price ad was somehow ......changed)
So,...No sooner did I get the one coil, did I turn it around, get back online and find another real deal...6 coils for 200.00.
And this time when the box gets here.. full of AC Delco,..they’re the right ones.
And not in some mangled white box of questionable origin like the one I just sent back.
Maybeeee.....Last week,....10 days ago. I talked about the victory lap. Finding deals on EBay, being able to buy 6 AC DELCO D585 coils for 125.00, the boots and brackets to convert them over to true COP, for another 70.00,...total investment to be about 200.00.
I was happy.
But,...the first shipment came in:
1 premium coil ( white epoxy as opposed to black epoxy) for 125.00 instead of 6 black epoxy standard coils for the same.
( I swear to god that they advertised these coils at 6 for that price, but when I checked the ad after the purchase...the original purchase price ad was somehow ......changed)
So,...No sooner did I get the one coil, did I turn it around, get back online and find another real deal...6 coils for 200.00.
And this time when the box gets here.. full of AC Delco,..they’re the right ones.
And not in some mangled white box of questionable origin like the one I just sent back.
Quiet you, this wasnt my first time on eBay.
it was the first time I looked at an ad that said SIX, placed an order. and received only ONE.
It kills me how things go. I start a major build, I add up what I think it’s gonna cost, and leave a yet to be determined “slush factor” for the odds and ends.
Back in the day when I was a broke ass, these small odds and ends were always the killer of men. What I thought was maybe gonna be 100.00 ended up a couple of hundred at least.
Now that the projects have gotten more involved, and more costly,...the five and dimes are now just as bad, only the multiplier that was about twice as expected has changed... it’s now about 15% of the total project.
For example: Monster V4, aka “Ninja-Mon” has evolved from a 2900.00 project into one that is now eclipsing 6 grand. I think I posted a “down to the fine print“ thread about a month ago...but that was premature.
I just spent 500.00 more dollars yesterday, and 100.00 on sht I forgot last night...on the nitty gritty. And there’ll still be stuff I gotta buy that’ll tag another couple hundred...( but that’s just what I’m thinking while writing this)
Back in the day when I was a broke ass, these small odds and ends were always the killer of men. What I thought was maybe gonna be 100.00 ended up a couple of hundred at least.
Now that the projects have gotten more involved, and more costly,...the five and dimes are now just as bad, only the multiplier that was about twice as expected has changed... it’s now about 15% of the total project.
For example: Monster V4, aka “Ninja-Mon” has evolved from a 2900.00 project into one that is now eclipsing 6 grand. I think I posted a “down to the fine print“ thread about a month ago...but that was premature.
I just spent 500.00 more dollars yesterday, and 100.00 on sht I forgot last night...on the nitty gritty. And there’ll still be stuff I gotta buy that’ll tag another couple hundred...( but that’s just what I’m thinking while writing this)
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