I have a 1991 BMW 318is with a leaking fuel line near the rear driver's side tire. I'm looking for someone who can fix it and does a good job with this sort of thing in the Raleigh area, preferable on the south side of campus. If you have a shop to recommend, please take a moment to let me know what you like about them. Thanks.

5/20/2008 3:11:16 PM

Black forest might help

5/20/2008 3:13:06 PM

European Performance- Straight up guys. Tolga has helped me in the past many times with my car. I trust him completely over anyone else. He doesn't sell me anything I don't need, no B.S. He generally gets parts cheaper than a dealership, although I sometimes will source my own parts for even less. They get the job done right the first time (unlike West German Garage )



[Edited on May 20, 2008 at 3:29 PM. Reason : .]

5/20/2008 3:25:41 PM

^ I just called them. Since my BMW is older than 1996, they refered me to West German Garage.

5/20/2008 3:38:08 PM

lol

5/20/2008 3:50:01 PM

Shade Tree Garage, but its not near the south side of campus. This job is something that any local garage should be able to tackle no problem so probably not worth the effort of driving all the way to shade tree, (its about a 20-25 minute drive from campus). The advantage is that they only specialize in BMWs and get a lot of e30s. Plus most of the mechanics there own/owned an e30 318is so they know your car personally.

5/20/2008 3:52:27 PM

m powered

it is on woodwinds industrial drive in cary

http://www.mpoweredautomotive.com/

Quote :

"He generally gets parts cheaper than a dealership, although I sometimes will source my own parts for even less."

any shop should be able to get parts cheaper than the dealer.. some places wont install parts you supply, and i can almost guarantee that they wont warranty, in any way, parts that were supplied by a customer.

5/20/2008 3:56:27 PM

west german is a good place for inspections though

5/20/2008 4:01:18 PM

wow, what an original topic! you would think a question like this would get asked like once a week, or maybe even earlier today.

better yet, someone should start an official e30 thread...

5/20/2008 4:01:20 PM

5/20/2008 4:02:30 PM

Quote :

"^ I just called them. Since my BMW is older than 1996, they refered me to West German Garage."

Haha, they work on my 1985.5 Porsche 944, but not a 1991 bmw... lol... but seriously, sorry that didn't work out for you. I would find another alternative to west german. Seriously. I had 3 bad experienes (strike-out!), one of them involved me taking the car back to them ~3 times to fix a simple injector leak. wtf. I hate them with a passion

5/20/2008 4:13:05 PM

That change is relatively recent. They were still working on e30's a couple of years ago. Their prices were terrible compared to Shadetree though.

5/20/2008 4:15:38 PM

Thanks for all the recommendations, guys. Keep 'em comin'.

5/20/2008 4:35:02 PM

i hear good things about mpowered.


you do realize its like a $10 hose you can do yourself in 15min, right? Its the hose the fuel filter attaches to most likely. #5 or #6 here:
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=AF93&mospid=47305&btnr=13_0345&hg=13&fg=10

5/20/2008 4:57:24 PM

Quote :

"wow, what an original topic! you would think a question like this would get asked like once a week, or maybe even earlier today. better yet, someone should start an official e30 thread..."

5/20/2008 5:03:53 PM

Quote :

"I hate them with a passion "

wow

5/20/2008 5:10:40 PM

message_topic.aspx?topic=444580

Next time post here. All the help with 95% less crankiness.

5/20/2008 5:33:40 PM

mpowered in cary. talk to henry

5/20/2008 10:48:35 PM

^^^ Sorry Maybe I let my anger get out of hand. I don't hate them with a passion, I just don't want to take my car there ever again, nor would I recommend their service

[Edited on May 20, 2008 at 11:02 PM. Reason : ]

5/20/2008 11:00:57 PM

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/diagrams/h/b/3.png

Part 6 on that diagram is listed as: FUEL HOSE 32MM-210MM

WTF is up with that dimensioning and is this something I'll be able to find locally or something I'd have to order?

I would think that the 8mm hose on the other side of the fuel filter should be common enough to easily find locally.

[Edited on May 21, 2008 at 9:52 AM. Reason : no hot linking]

5/21/2008 9:26:18 AM

Autozone and Advance Auto sell fuel line for $.50 per foot or something. You could probably get by just fine if you take the old one in there and just buy a piece about the same diameter. The hose won't have the bend at the end, so you'll run into a problem if the straight hose doesn't have enough room to turn.

5/21/2008 9:34:36 AM

shadetree is good from what I hear......good luck getting an appointment though.

5/21/2008 10:40:06 AM

the rear fuel hose is big and bent. i dont think you'll be able to find anything like it in stock at autozone. can't hurt to call and ask. carquest can get the part quick if needed.

5/21/2008 11:11:29 AM

Does anyone know the dimensions of the output hose from the fuel filter? The part description I kepp finding says 32MM-210MM, but I don't know what that's telling me. Does that mean there is a variable inner diameter? I know the input hose is 8mm ID.

I know it's supposed to look like this:


[Edited on May 21, 2008 at 12:17 PM. Reason : picture]

5/21/2008 12:15:23 PM

If you called carquest this morning you'd have the right part right now.

5/21/2008 2:16:23 PM

is that the hose you need? why not just order it?

5/21/2008 2:17:53 PM

^ I'm trying to find it locally so I don't have to wait 5 days for shipping.

^^ I called Carquest, but they don't stay open very late. They close before I get off work. I'll be visiting them tomorrow.

5/21/2008 3:12:16 PM

Have you tried Capital BMW?

5/21/2008 3:15:03 PM

Carquest can have my parts ready for me in the morning. At this point, that's good enough for me.

5/21/2008 4:38:33 PM

yeah, i was about to say.. i can have it for you in the morning.. but carquest is probably more convenient for you

5/21/2008 5:33:48 PM

^ You supply parts?

5/21/2008 6:21:01 PM

i own a shop, so, yes, i can get parts.

[Edited on May 22, 2008 at 10:19 AM. Reason : a lot of other ppl in here can get them as well.. anyone with access to worldpac]

5/22/2008 10:19:09 AM

Well, one $3 hose later and about half an hour of me crawling under my car in the drive way attracting funny looks from passers by, I have a functioning car again. Thanks, everyone, for the service shop recommendations and thanks to dannydigtl for posting the schematic that convinced me that this wasn't a repair beyond my limited abilities.

How all I need is an oil change and a state inspection.

5/22/2008 12:25:46 PM

just an fyi for anyone needing parts asap, carquest's regional warehouse is on millbrook avenue. if you can't find something in stock there, it's a 99.5% chance it's going to be a dealer only part. in the event that's not a convenient location for you to go to, if you call any other local store first thing in the morning they can generally have the part delivered to them by the end of the day or at worst the next morning.

i've bought countless parts at the millbrook location over the years, and there's only one time they were out of stock of a part they carried. it was on a truck that was delivering inventory later in the day though.

5/22/2008 12:50:01 PM