Friday, February 28 2014
Fog Lamp Replacement
As I've worked on the E36 over the years I've accumulated a bunch of (mostly new) spare parts. This usually occurs because I buy more than the minimum quantity needed for any particular job simply to avoid the need to return to the dealer with my car in a thousand pieces. However, with minor exceptions I don't save old parts I remove from the car for several reasons, lack of storage space chief among them.
On my way to work one morning this week I came outside to discover the glass of the passenger side foglamp cracked in several places. This didn't really surprise me because I don't have any film protection on the glass – something I expect to change with the next units I install -- and because the roads have taken a beating this winter. Potholes have formed faster than the road crews can repair them and the roads are covered in debris resulting from the crumbling infrastructure.
As a matter of fact the very same thing happened a few years back. I recalled I had saved the unbroken unit but I couldn't remember which side. A quick trip to the garage revealed I'd won a small lottery. I had a spare passenger unit in stock and decided to install it then and there. After a bit of fumbling with a long thin screwdriver to release the unit I managed to replace it in a couple minutes. The icing on the cake? The “petina” of the glass on the old unit matches that of the existing driver's side unit so it looks right at home. Free repairs on a BMW are a rare thing indeed, but this certainly qualifies.
Of course, this only delays the inevitable, as I have plans to replace the fog lamps and headlamps when I get around to painting the car, but the interior overhaul is the priority this year. I purchased a bunch of parts over the last year that are taking up space at my house so I need to get them installed as soon as more hospitable weather arrives, hopefully in April.
Mileage: 245947