Hello folks. I am the proud new owner of a 97 328i convertible. this is my first BMW so I don't know too much about th vehicle. I actually bought it to re-sell it because I got a great deal on it, but now I can't seem to let it go.

I live in Union, NJ and am looking for a place I can take it to, to have some work done that is reasonably priced.

so far I have found a couple of small problems with it and want to get them fixed as soon as possible.

1. The Airbag Light is on
2. Every once in a while I hear a "clank" sound from the rear near the passenger tire. Cant' seem to place it becuase it doesn't happpen frequently.
3. The radio needs to be rest because I don't have the code for it and it is locked. (no music with the top down just isn't right)
4. 2 switches in the console seem to be missing but I am not sure what they do. I have the window, top, heated seat switches all there, but there is on between the top and the passenger seat the is gone and the wires are exposed. The car was a repo so needless to say I don't have the manuals.
5. Every so often I here the car beeping. It is always 3 beeps and it stops. No lights turn on in the dash so I am not sure what the heck is going on.

If anyone can recommend a decent repair shop it would be greatly appreciated.

Also, I see that there are quite of bit of you in my area, if anyone wants to get together and talk cars at a local bar that would be cool too.

Thanks.
Dave
:alright

Dave,

Here is the information of the only guy I trust with my BMW 8 series. Ask to speak to Harry he is the owner, tell him Ray with the white 850 sent you and he will take very good care of you. My car is there now getting my m-tech mirriors put on and an oil leak checked out. he does it all from body work to mechanics. You wont be disapointed.

Bergen Imports Inc
(201) 943-2915
228 Palisade Ave
Cliffside Park, NJ 07010

3. The radio needs to be rest because I don't have the code for it and it is locked. (no music with the top down just isn't right)

5. Every so often I here the car beeping. It is always 3 beeps and it stops. No lights turn on in the dash so I am not sure what the heck is going on.



For the radio, check the electronics/stereo part of the forum, I think there was a guy who helped out people with the locked headunits, however you would need a serial number which is on the sticker located at the top part of the stereo (you'll need to take the head-unit out and write down that number, etc.) Not sure of the member name, but you should be able to search through first 3-8(max) pages of the subforum and most likely you'll find it.

For the beeping sound it might your OBC Memo setting which beeps every hour ( x Hour: 59 mins : 50 secs) you should be able to get rid of it just by pressing "Memo" button on your OBC, you can tell if "Memo" is on by looking at the clock part of the OBC and seeing a symbol in right upper corner (I believe so, should be same display as the clock one). I found it convenient to have it beep 10 secs prior every hour, but maybe that's because I already put 5k miles on my car (owned it for just 4 short months) :buttrock

For the other stuff, I am not sure, I know that the airbag light might be easily reset, but you should really have it checked out by someone qualified to do so, at least if you want to be sure there's nothing wrong w/ the airbag system. The center switches missing might be traction control and central lock or something else, I can't really tell since I don't have any in my coupe.

:rolleyes Damn, I wrote a lot, THOUGH I MIGHT be wrong, since I'm just guessing. And if you wanna talk about cars, you're welcome to IM me, since I'm not yet of a legal age to consume something in a bar :(

hey man, im from Union also, there is a place near by my house VIllage Auto Repairs, its on Magie avenue, off of Galloping Hill... They look like a regular every-day-mini-van-repair-shop but they actually all have race cars, and do some serious preformance upgrades in the garage... they have a dyno also, well this guy Pete over there is a big BMW inthusiast and has been working on bimmers for the past 20 years, he recently rebuilt a 1991 e30 m3 evo motor, he worked on my car many times and all quality work... cehck out the place, ask for Pete.

Thank for the info guys. Boy I have fallen in love with this car. I'm already looking for another. : )

yo renaut (sorry if i mispelled man)

you must have forgot to mention this shop you know of! last time i spoke to you u had none. yea keep all the good one to urself!.

anyway, prodX, basically you got some good info. sound liek that clank sound is prob bad brakes. should get them checked ASAP before they hit the rotor. If you know where costa ddel sol is near the highschool thers a street next to the gas station, called ridgeway street. they're good for minro repairs. like for your brakes. i would recommend my man ralph's but its all the way in West New york, NJ. about 15-20 min north.

hope it helps.

btw did you buy a silver 328?

mike

hey yo mike, its Renat :D
dude i recently found out bout the shop, that was after the JMK meet where lsat time i saw u. this place is awesome, cheap and the guys know what they are doing. they do car modifications as well as repairs, Pete who works on my car has an e36 m3 himself, and all his friends and customers have rediculous bimmers... check it out talk to the guys and ull see that its worth to bring the car there.

oh dude, u gotta help me out with the angel eyes shit, im not touching those palstic light by myself!

hey yo mike, its Renat :D
dude i recently found out bout the shop, that was after the JMK meet where lsat time i saw u. this place is awesome, cheap and the guys know what they are doing. they do car modifications as well as repairs, Pete who works on my car has an e36 m3 himself, and all his friends and customers have rediculous bimmers... check it out talk to the guys and ull see that its worth to bring the car there.

oh dude, u gotta help me out with the angel eyes shit, im not touching those palstic light by myself!


lol yo if u buy a set of the angels eyes ill do em for you..

make sure you liek the look first..well meet up at dunkin one night so u can see em in person

mike

Thanks for all the info Guys.

Mike, actually I bought a green one. Got a sweet deal on it, paid 6g's for a 97 convertible with 69k miles. I need to get some cosmetic work done to it, like replacing the seats and some interior trim as well as the mechanical stuff, but it runs real nice.

I actaully grew up in West New York, lived there till I was 22. Where is there a Bimmer shop there?

its not really a BMW shop. If you want "dealership" type work and pay about 60 bucks/hour theres 'european motorwerks' i believe its between 55-56 off kennedy. owners name is Lenny, hes a little expensive but hell get the job done quickly. i have the card somewhere in my drawer. i could find it for you.

also, thers ralph's auto repair. he's a good friend of my pops. one look at his shop and you prob wouldnt wanna do your work there. but he's got a mechanic called Jorge that is amazing. he's fixed the impossible for me. I would recommend you staying with them while they do the work tho. they are not that expensive at all.

where in union are you?? and where in WNY were you from?

mike

I'm right in Springfield and the shop I go to is right in Union..

IMG - International Motor group - 1449 Stuyvesant Ave. Union NJ 908.688.8118

Ask for Sal or Joe, they have repaired and worked on my friends bimmers as well as mine and know EXACTLY what they are doing. Prices are decent, but expect to wait a bit until your car gets done as they are very busy.

ProdX

dude, i see your car in the shop, i parked right next to yours today cuz i had to replace the slave clutch cylinder, i dunno if you saw mine... its the red one with bf.c stikers :D!!

Hey Boomer, nice ride. I was checking it out as I was walking towards the shop to pick up my car. Pete is real cool, we ended up chatting it up quite a bit till his boss came to get him. : ) hope I didn't get him in trouble. He is really sharp and has done some crazy work on other cars. He gave the car a once over for me and luckily he said it was in really good shape (short of some cosmetic stuff it needs). It was funny when I first saw your car, I thought to myself it looked familiar. After Pete told me whose it was I remember seeing it in your Sig here on the boards.

Mike I currently live on Galloping Hill right off of Magie, I grew up in WNY on 62nd st between Park and Broadway across from the grammar school.

KWL, cool, we can buy you a sode. :D

ye dude, he knows his shit for sure! his boss is cool too, they let me pay later cuz im dead broke now :D

damn i gotta check this place out. i got some kind of bushing thats dead thats driving me nuts!

we gotta get a union meet people!

prod, i work on b'line. clothing store called caram. its right there on 57th. u been there?


mike

dude, for sure, we got shitloadz of bimmers in union, there are like 5 e30's alone, + half of the azeveido's crew!

you cool wit the azevado people?

i dont know them personally, but i know that a lot of them are from union....

Mike,

I used to shop at Caram when I was in highschool. that was back when they first opened. Yeah, i'm an old man. Loved that place, but was a bit on the exepnsive side back then, don't know how it is now. I still remember a pair off white linen pants I bought there for $98 buck and the first time I wore them, by GF at the time spilled red wine on them. I wasn't a happy camper. : )

I learned my lesson though, jeans and a T for me now. : )

Mike,
I used to shop at Caram when I was in highschool. that was back when they first opened. Yeah, i'm an old man. Loved that place, but was a bit on the exepnsive side back then, don't know how it is now. I still remember a pair off white linen pants I bought there for $98 buck and the first time I wore them, by GF at the time spilled red wine on them. I wasn't a happy camper. : )
I learned my lesson though, jeans and a T for me now. : )


haha, HS? how old are you now?

btw, what shop did you end up going to?

-mike