The last couple of months haven’t been a lot of fun.  In fact, they’ve been kind of sucky.  This isn’t the forum to get into it, but Leah has been writing some good stuff over on her blog, and it’s worth checking out.  Although things have been pretty hard all the way around there have been some bright spots.  We’ve seen friends here and there and spent good time with family.  Track racing has started (even though I’m not fast enough to get out of my own way… oooh those flying 400m efforts hurt last night).  Also, gus came home from the body shop about a month ago. 

I’m mostly really happy with the job.  There’s a couple little details that need to be looked after, but other than that, Conrad did a really good job, especially for the budget.  However, that’s just the start of the work.  The transmission needs a rebuild, and before that can take place I had to get it out of the car.  And oh boy, was that fun (read: not fun at all). 

Like everything this spring, something easy wasn’t.  And why?

If you’re the douchewidget of a technician who put bolts like this back in the transmission, especially where they’re only accessible with 30 inches of socket extensions and two universal joints, I hope you have a horrible, horrible accident with a hydraulic lift.  But, before you die in maimed agony send me your contact information so I can bill you for all the dremel bits and hours of my life that I used grind off bolt heads that were worse than this one.

On that cheery note, it’s fun learning about the car, and I’m enjoying watching the new parts pile up at home.  Thank God for an understanding wife ;)  Next week the fun shifts to Portland for Leah’s ordination, and Mom’s commissioning, which is a big step for both and just mostly goes to show that Klug girls kick ass.  Katie hits the quarter-century mark a week later.  Time flies.

Here’s to brighter days and fun occasions!

Introducing: Louis MCMXCV, AKA Lou

Braving the cold and snowy roads on Saturday, Dad joined Leah and I on an expedition to Mount Vernon to look at an Oxford green on grey leather, 1995 BMW 525i 5-speed, the car we now know as Lou (behind Dad in the picture).  We checked him out and got him home before the worst of the weather, and before snow struck in Seattle, he was not-so-safely parked out on our street… you know, the icy, steep hill used by buses.

Having survived the night, I brought him over to the shop, where Dad and I spent about nine hours infusing life back into the drive-train and brakes with new oil, brake fluid, power steering fluid, transmission fluid and differential fluid.  On top of that, we fixed an electrical issue checked out the under-body and gave the car a thorough go-over.  Lou isn’t perfect, but I still think he was a good value at $4k.  He’s obviously been in a front end accident, and the repairs were good, but not perfect.  The hood closes a little awkwardly.  The tires are mismatched.  The front rotors are too thin.  The glove-box is a little broken.  The heater core only partially works at the moment.  On the other hand, the transmission (a manual makes this car a lot more fun to drive) is perfect (it’s been replaced) and the engine is strong with only 105k on the odometer.  As a matter of fact, the odometer is a little hard to read because the display is only about half on, but, details.  The interior is really nice, the stereo works (six-disc, baby), as much as anything, it means the rental can go away now, as in right now, as in oh my gosh, Chrysler makes the worst cars ever, please don’t use TARP money Pres. Bush, now.

Now for a couple of tangentially related notes:

-A shout out to my favorite mechanic, one Mr. Malcolm Louis Klug.  Knowledgeable, well equipped, and unflappable (even when the piston out of the slave cylinder shot across the garage), he’s presided over our collection of BMW’s for 35 years.  They always run.  He’s got a great setup, but more importantly, he’s probably the most awesomest dad ever.

-When this picture was taken, there were four 5′ers within 20 feet.  Dad’s 2000 528iT (foreground), Katie’s 2000 528i (Frieda), Mom’s 1994 525i (Funfy), and Lou.  Gus, and the car formerly known as 528e sent their regards.  Funfy Zwei mailed a fruit basket.  Yes folks, that’s, temporarily, seven 5′ers in one family.  The ‘72 2002tii felt a little out of place and Dad’s ‘74 Bavaria was crying all by itself in a garage in Seattle, but in good Bavarian spirit they all lifted a litre to German engineering excellence.

-All Leah and I need to have a 5′er from each body style now would be a first gen (E12) and the most recent version, the E60.  I think this means a ‘78 530i would be a great acquisition, and it would be very, very practical to import one of the new M5 wagons from Europe.  With the ability to put a little extra weight in the back, I think the 500hp V-10 could be put to good use.  Leah?

-Oddly Lou makes me appreciate Gus more.  I actually had to downshift on a hill last night.  Gus doesn’t believe in such nonsense.  Lou was from the last batch of E34s, just as Gus was one of the last E28s, but the difference between the two cars is startling.  Granted Lou is much better sorted, but he’s so much quieter and refined and luxurious.  Gus just wonders if you need to get to your next destination at 120mph.  Brutal, I think, is the word.

-Lou brings up the possibility that Leah and mom will arrive at a Covenant pastor’s meeting in nearly identical, oxford green E34s.  Mom’s is tan interior with an auto and has dial alloys.  Lou is grey with the stick and cross-hatches.

-If you didn’t notice, it was cold yesterday.  Now imagine rolling around in oil on bare concrete and handling cold steel tools for nine hours.  A coolant flush was called off on a possibility of frost bite.  Yes, I was happy to get home last night.

-By the way, the picture above shows dad in the way I will always remember him at his best.  Twenty-five degrees, thin wool shirt for insulation (complete with holes), t-shirt (’I wore two today since it’s cold’), worn-out corduroy slacks, white tennis shoes.  Truly in his element.  I couldn’t feel my toes by the end.

With any luck this will conclude posts about cars for a long, long time.  Oh, what’s that?  Gus’ renovation begins in two weeks? 

Scratch that.

I think I’m gaining a little notoriority with Leah for excessively planning future scenarios, attempting to budget for the unknown, and trying to anticipate 30 years worth of expenses, all on my beloved spreadsheets.  While I’m a big advocate of reasonable personal finance and budgeting, it’s important to realize that there are limitations to what can be accomplished.

That’s been hammered home this past week, when Leah got nailed by a reckless driver, totalling the Taurus.  The pressing concern is the nasty little case of whiplash she suffered and is causing her significant discomfort.  However, doctors think it will clear up in a few weeks, and she shouldn’t suffer lasting effects (hopefully).  Anyway you slice it it’s been an ugly few months for our cars; we’re done with being crashed into for a while. 

These things are hard to anticipate.  Nowhere in my budget is there a line item for “getting crashed into, then being offered a sub-thousand dollar settlement for your car” and having only a week to find another before the rental car disappears.  Granted it was a ‘90 Taurus, but it had only 87k miles, and was perfectly reliable.  Any replacement of even moderate reliability will be significantly more.  We’re in a little bit of a bind, but, we’ll manage.  We’re fortunate to have some savings, but in a down economy even with two relatively safe jobs, no one would jump to dump money into a car.  Moreover, it’s one thing to say we’ll have to anticipate buying a car in the next five years, and saying, “we need one by tuesday”.

I guess the point is that being prepared is great, and having good fiscal sense is key, but there’s no point in placing a lot of faith or hope in spreadsheets.

There is one bright spot: an opportunity to move to an all-BMW fleet.