As the years went on I started to notice the trim on top of my windshield started to look old, and eventually it started to crack. After too many car wash trips the trim started to degrade to a point where I had to replace it. It looked ugly.
As I looked around the internet I realized that there was no place to find any information on how to replace this trim peace. I had no idea how to start to do this, I figured if there was no information on how to do this I would have to make a video. So decided to make a video. This is is the video below:
This is the part number for the trim: 51 31 7 061 967
Like many of you I keep reading about my particular model years BMW with broken bolts. I've read many articles and I've seen a few videos in YouTube, where this is brought up as a problem, some even go as far as to suggest a recall. I've ran into this problem myself and to be honest I've fixed it myself because it's so expensive to go to the dealer to get it repaired.
Broken Bolt, Valve Cover Gasket BMW 330i 2006
First experience with this was with the Valve cover gasket bolts. One snapped off, and oil started leaking from that side of the engine. I was lucky that it was a very visible bolt and I was lucky enough that I could remove the leftover of the bolt by hand. I ended up buying a new set of bolts, I ended up replacing the gasket because I figured I was going to replace the bolts might as well replace the gasket. Side note, if you replace the bolts, go back a week later and check to make sure the bolts are not loose. From the dealer this was a $1,500 job, I did it myself, only cost was the cost of the bolts. You can get the bolts at: Babarian Auto Sports Website. click link to get you there. It's $30 dollars for a set of bolts.
Broken Bolt, middle of picture, Oil Pan, BMW 330i 2006
My second experience with this was just this weekend, I ran into another snapped bolt. This time it was in the Oil pan reservoir. I started seeing oil in my drive way and I knew it could only be my Valve cover gasket, so I started looking inside the engine bay, could not see any oil around the gasket, so I decided to removed the plastic cover in the bottom of the car and I found the source of the oil leak, a broken bolt in the oil pan. It looks like it's a major endeavor removing the oil pan, so I think I will wait on doing this repair myself, I may end up taking it to the dealer, I don't look forward to getting this repaired because I know it's going to be a very expensive job.
In order to lessen the cost to repair all of this broken bolts, I invested in a repair manual, this has helped a lot in determining what it would take to repair all of these broken bolts, and it helped find the correct part numbers. This is a link: Bentley E90 repair manual I suggest the Hard Cover, it's much easier to handle. I got it for $90 Dollars on Amazon.com
I think I determined that the best thing one can do to own a BMW was to keep it for a few years and then upgrade to a new one, this way you will always be under warranty, and you don't have to worry about any repairs. I think this is the Master Plan for BMW.
Other problems that I've had to deal with, I ran into a problem with the Vanos, I cleaned it and didn't have more problems, a must after 30K or so. I also had to replace a broken window motor, it was relatively easy to do, but I still haven't figured out how to reset the window, if you've ever done this before you know what I am talking about. It's in the manual I bought, only thing its complicated to say the least.
Updated 4/19/2014
I found this link to a place where you can send your complaints to: http://www.safercar.gov/
Click on Search for Recalls. You will see other people have complained about this issue too.
