Move to Colorado- there’s a TON of great craft beer that’s selling in cans out here, and it’s not a step back from bottles- it’s absolutely on par.

No, these aren’t your normal hatch struts. They SHOULD have been maybe $40-60 or so and take 5 minutes to swap, like on my wife’s Golf, or my 944. But BMW decided to be fancy, and hide struts for the ludicrously heavy hatch in the headliner, which meant that they had to be even more ridiculously overbuilt in order to…

I’d stick with the Mazda. Admittedly, I’m more than a bit bitter on the e39 front, because I feel like I got burned just trying to keep them in good shape. The wagon I had was a bit tired when I got it, so that’s not as surprising that it was a bit of a pain in the ass, but I got the sedan from my father, who was the…

Hah! I dodged a bullet on the headlight adjusters, thankfully... At least there’s a good writeup on the fix, though. The DIY community is pretty good for the e39s.

Including the bushings and the like? OE or equivalent parts? Just a set of bushings for a couple control arms runs $60-80... If didn’t need to do any of those things yet, you’re lucky...

Ok, that’s awesome that there are better options on the in-dash display now. When I was looking at it, the only legit option was to just replace the entire freaking panel, which was definitely absurd. The $100-200 range is absolutely what I’d have expected for the work, so I’m glad to hear it’s viable now.

Do you (or did you) have an e39 (or something similar?) No mechanic- this was all DIY, using proper OEM parts, and not from the dealer, either- dealer would have been notably more. If there was a magical place to buy stuff, I must have missed it, because I spent a TON of time shopping around for parts at anything…

Oh, and that cooling system? It’s going to need to be replaced again in about 60k, if not less. Because apparently radiators and expansion tanks are a $&#*$&*# WEAR ITEM. UGH.

OMFG BIGGEST CP VOTE EVER.

Oh, the motors are fantastic, but unfortunately you do still need most of the rest of the crap to have a working car...

Hah! Never had to do the chain guides, but I do remember having fun doing a re-seal on the VANOS unit on my 99 528iT... That said, engine on that car was an absolute joy to work on compared to the consistently failing electrical components, and that $&#*ing suspension system. Took me 2 weeks, 8 tool runs, and an extra…

No kidding on the key thing! Coworker of mine had to get a new key for her Acura Luxo-wagon (behemoth SUV thing). $700+. I needed a new key for my 944. $2.50, or $20 if you want an OEM key with the logo on it.

Yeah, wife has a 245k mile Golf TDi in white, and it shows chips just as bad (if not worse) than my 200k+ 944 (which is shitty-aftermarket-paint-job-red).

Oh man. NO. Such a bad idea...

I own a 944... Someone just painted over it. OMFG I hate people.

Craigslist will do that to a person. :/

They’ve been promising that for over a year now, IIRC. I’m going to say that we should just assume it’ll never happen and move on, sadly.

Or they just went further down the rabbit hole...

Still in better shape than your Jeep...

COTD, please...