By Nate Risch
01/23/2016
Last week, I closed with the long-delayed E30 timing-belt replacement finally beginning in earnest. I decided to change the water pump at the same time, since the two repairs overlap substantially. I ordered a new Graf water pump, but when I took it out of its box and checked its bearing by grabbing the flange that the fan screws into and wiggling it, it had noticeable play—which was ironic, since the water pump I’d removed had none.
By Nate Risch
01/18/2016
BMW officially launched the new M2 coupe at the North American International Auto Show. It is everything I think a BMW M car should be—and that’s why I can’t test-drive it.
By Nate Risch
01/18/2016
With the Suburban now finally behind me (actually, it’s not behind me, it’s literally all around me; it’s got 5,500 pounds of steel, and four-wheel-drive, and decent heat, including heated seats—all the nice winter things my Z3 lacks), I can finally work on something else.
By Nate Risch
01/12/2016
It is the new year, and it is customary for some to look ahead with trepidation, having schoolmarmed themselves into a mission of atonement and perfection. While I do believe in atonement, I also see yet another opportunity for new beginnings; as Steppenwolf so eloquently put it, It’s never too late to start all over again. But I have no time to waste on perfection.
By Nate Risch
01/10/2016
When last we saw my Suburban, ’twas literally the night before Christmas. I had installed all of the new stainless-steel brake lines, and simply needed to fill it with fluid and bleed it. Unfortunately, when I added the fluid, I discovered that the cap on the Motive power brake bleeder I use for BMWs doesn’t fit the brake fluid reservoir on the ’Burb.
