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I am trying to convince my wife to let me spend some money to get the 95 up and running so I can drive it to work and save some money for gas. First of all what is the est MPG on it? <---thats my excuse My bimmer gets an average of 17.9 mostly highway. This is what I need:

AC compressor (a must) $700-800?
Sensortrak Struts $450?
Motor mounts/tranny mounts
Radiator 250-300?

Anyone know how much re-wrapping the leather on the seats will cost?

You could get all that stuff for under $300 at a yard....

Good idea but I want to get brand new stuff because eventually the whole car will be like brand new I will be restoring it completely. We have 1 yard here and there is not much in it I have to drive 3 hours west or east to get to something. I saw some pictures of it from back in 95 recently, and man it was a sweet looking ride.

I just got a brand new compressor for $240 from advanceautoparts. Check rockauto.com for prices as well.

When I got my sensatrack struts I believe I payed 80 a piece for them from advanceautoparts.com

I put a radiator in my 95 for $160 from NAPA. I know mine is not a SC radiator but it shouldn't be too much more than mine.

30mpg highway should be very easy to achieve.

I can get 30 in mine, you should be able to do better than that.

Bring it down to wcbf, we can fix all of that in a day......well not the seat but all the mechanical stuff no problem.

Leave the desert in the cool of the night and drive straight thru.

GXP_vince wrote:I am trying to convince my wife to let me spend some money to get the 95 up and running so I can drive it to work and save some money for gas. First of all what is the est MPG on it? <---thats my excuse My bimmer gets an average of 17.9 mostly highway. This is what I need:

AC compressor (a must) $700-800?
Sensortrak Struts $450?
Motor mounts/tranny mounts
Radiator 250-300?

Anyone know how much re-wrapping the leather on the seats will cost?

Vince... Lets tackle this one by one..

Will you be installing the compressor? Maybe you have a friend that can help? A neighbor like Me... Would be a quick swap, with Orifice tube replacement, Drier should be replaced but is not a requirement unless the Warranty for the compressor requires it.. After adding PAG 150 to the new compressor and installing, the system would get pumped down and then recharged to spec..New compressor will run $240-$350 depending on Brand

There are a couple of different struts you can get... Monroe Matic Plus or the Monroe Sensatrack... Again with a Neighbor like me, we'd have that taken care of in a matter of a couple of hours... These struts will run roughly $80 each with Tax

Motor mounts will depend on which ones really need to be replaced

A Radiator can be had for $140-$150 depending on where you buy it from.. And easy to install as well...

GXP_vince wrote: First of all what is the est MPG on it? <---thats my excuse My bimmer gets an average of 17.9 mostly highway.

Here is one of the greatest .gov sites going.http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/sbs.htm
It goes back to 1985 so you can compare cars and gives results in the NEW epa rating. It has a selection that will show the ratings in the old method too... along with what others are reporting.

So an 95 NA Bonne is rated at 17city 20combined & 26hwy.
It's old rating was 19city 22combined & 29hwy

In comparison, your 95 BMW 740il is
15city 17combined 22hwy new rating
16city 19combined 24 hwy old rating.

And whats even funnier is that I have always exceeded the EPA original rating on the window sticker...

The 91 LE does 20-22 in town... 24-25 Mixed and easily pulls 31 On the road... The 95 Is about the same... Love the new ratings

Jr's3800 wrote:

GXP_vince wrote:I am trying to convince my wife to let me spend some money to get the 95 up and running so I can drive it to work and save some money for gas. First of all what is the est MPG on it? <---thats my excuse My bimmer gets an average of 17.9 mostly highway. This is what I need:

AC compressor (a must) $700-800?
Sensortrak Struts $450?
Motor mounts/tranny mounts
Radiator 250-300?

Anyone know how much re-wrapping the leather on the seats will cost?

Vince... Lets tackle this one by one..

Will you be installing the compressor? Maybe you have a friend that can help? A neighbor like Me... Would be a quick swap, with Orifice tube replacement, Drier should be replaced but is not a requirement unless the Warranty for the compressor requires it.. After adding PAG 150 to the new compressor and installing, the system would get pumped down and then recharged to spec..New compressor will run $240-$350 depending on Brand

There are a couple of different struts you can get... Monroe Matic Plus or the Monroe Sensatrack... Again with a Neighbor like me, we'd have that taken care of in a matter of a couple of hours... These struts will run roughly $80 each with Tax

Motor mounts will depend on which ones really need to be replaced

A Radiator can be had for $140-$150 depending on where you buy it from.. And easy to install as well...

A/C I was quoted about $750 with labor. I dont know much about an A/C to actually work on them. So I would have someone else do it.

The other stuff I would attempt even though I have never done it before. I have the 95 SSEi books so that should help out alot.

By the way there is no way that I would trust the 95 to make it to WCBF.

Edit so thinking about $1000-1200 of mech work that needs to be done to it.

If you're going to replace your compressor, you'll want to replace your accumulator and orifice tube in addition to properly flushing the system. Old compressors leave behind a lot of crap. This is the way to do it properly, and you'll get a much more efficient system from it.

Radiator, new is good, really good.

Here's a quote from radiator barn



much cheaper than anticipated.

Sensatrac struts...
good choice by the way...
71822 Fronts, $83.17 each, Advance Auto Parts.
71798 Rears, $81.56 each, AAP
329.46 + tax

A/C:
Ready Aire Compressor 2503N, NEW, $369.99, AAP
O-Ring kit 26731, $8.18, AAP
Orifice Tube 38623, $2.98 AAP
Accumulator/Dryer 33104, $39.98, AAP
$421.13 + tax (much better than estimated)

Save that money for an upholstery shop....they'll put it to yah if you want REAL leather custom seats. Quite worth it though. Make sure to check your yards for good seat coverings though.

----------------
Listening to: Breaking Benjamin - So Cold
via FoxyTunes

You might be able to get used seats with decent leather for cheaper than reupholstering with new leather. (Or maybe not, but you should look into it.) -You have to figure you have a wide range of years to salvage seats out of. If your leather is one of the common colors like camel, this might be easier. Harder if teal, etc. Check with the salvage yard you have, they might have the seats even if they don't have the car they came from.
-Mark

How long does replacing struts take?

I have never done it before.

GXP_vince wrote:How long does replacing struts take?

I have never done it before.

It takes about an hour for the first one, then about 35-40 min for the second one, once you know how to do it. You also may want to look into replacing the strut bearings as well. I replaced my struts by themselves, but shortly thereafter the bearings went bad, making that annoying creaking sound when I would turn.

I just purchased a compressor w/clutch, condenser, accumalator, oriface tube and radiator for under $450. All new parts. I bought rear struts of of Ebay (gaberial pro-ryder) for $45, for the pair, new. I have the fronts on the way now and they ran $65 for the pair. I got tranny mounts from Rock Auto (real bear to install), both of them ran about $75. I installed all the AC parts and then took the car down to have it purged and filled. Used AC stuff can be a real crapshoot. If you ain't scared of tools, you can do the struts yourself and then have it aligned, Bonnies need a "4 wheel alignment".

As far as mileage, I score 18-20 in town and mid to high 20's on the highway. Most of the guys here say 30+ is not uncommon (maybe at 75-80mph it is), and I believe is is a realistic figure if you back off the foot feed somewhat.

PM me and I can hook you up with where I scored the AC parts and struts.