Car repairs

[Aiden]

Hello my fellow Bimmers,

I would appreciate your input on a few things based on your experiences:

1. The Ball joint Bracket attached to my tire on the front passenger side of my 1996 328i is shot according to my mechanic. The ball joint itself is lose and causes about an inch of play from side to side when the car is on the lift and you push on it. Has anyone had this problem? How did you fix it? It just needs to be replace correct?

2. The ball joint problem has caused uneven wear on the tires. Is it not recommended to replace just the fron tires if they are about twice as worn as the back?

3. Last night I was driving with the AC cranked. I put my car in park and my wife waited while I ran inside the store for about 3minutes. I came back and my car was overheating. I stopped at a gas station put a quart of 5w-30 in it and also some additional coolant (it was not empty, but needed to be topped off). It was hot enough to fry an egg on the engine when I popped the hood. I drove it home with the heat cranking and it was fine. I then put it in park with the engine running for about 2 minutes and it had overheated again.

I just paid the car off, and as soon as I paid it off all these problems began of course . It has about 116,000 miles on it and I am just trying to decide if after I make these repairs I should sell it (probably could get 8-10k for it) and have a nice fat downpayment for a newer 99-00 ish model. However, this would result in monthly payments again of probably about 200 a month. (trying to minimize expenses right now as I am in the second year of running my own company. If I have to keep fixing things each month then I might as well get something that will not need as much repair, even though it might cost me 200 or so a month...hmmm...thoughts?


Thanks!!

 

[pcy]

The problems you list have nothing to do with you paying the car off.
The ball joint problem must have gradually gotten worse; I can't see
how a ball joint can suddenly have 1 inch of play. If you had done
regualr check-up/maintenance, you probably would've seen it coming.
As for the overheating, it may be as simple as thermostat, or radiator
fan. If I read your post correctly, you are saying that it overheats
ONLY when the car is idling (but not while driving).

Take it to a competent mechanic, he/she probably can fix both of those
problems without costing a arm-and-a-leg.

If you are looking for a good mechanic (who doesn't rip-off), I can recommend
my mechanic. He is in Bloomingdate (Armytrail and Gary Ave). I drive
30 miles one way to take my car his shop. If you need more info.
send me e-mail.

If I may suggest, Please do regular preventitive maintenance & checkup.
It will save you a lot of wallet-ache (if that's a word).

Good Luck

 

[Aiden]

Thanks for the input. I know it has not one thing to do with finally paying it off, however it seems like that is how it always goes...debt free...something always takes the place of that outflow of cash...no big deal...just life right?

What is the name of your mechanic...I am about 5 miles from there...I usually take my car to an import mechanic down the street from me...pretty happy, but always willing to get a second opinion...do you know what they charge for labor at your place?

Thanks again!

 

[pcy]

T & V Auto repair in Bloomingdale (Armytrail & Gary Ave.)
The owner's name is Tony.
So far, for all the work I had done (for both my ML320 and 328i),
I never paid hourly rate; I always paid by a set price (pre negotiated)
for each job.

Since you said that this place is not far from you, next time when
you need something done to your car, take it over there and ask him
how much he would charge to diagnose/replace/repair.

pcy