I have a 1987 BMW 325. I know it's old, but I really love my car. I've had it since '93. I had a small engine compartment fire, about the size of a basketball, that got put out in about 5 minutes. Probably a fuel leak. Of course, the insurance company says it's totaled, but I really want to fix and keep my car. The fire was right outside of the air intake manifold. It burned the wires from the spark plugs to the distributer and the wiring and hoses that come out of the air intake manifold. It also burned the hood insulation and damaged the coolant tank and the oil filter cap on the valve cover. On the outside of the hood there is an approximately 6" area where the paint has bubbled off and is down to bare metal. I'm not an expert, but I really think that it's fixable - the firemen did, too. I was hoping that someone could recommend a good, trustworthy mechanic or shop in Charlotte, NC that could fix it for me so I can keep my car. My regular mechanic said he wouldn't do car fire work. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I really love my car.
Sounds fixable to me, but the wiring part would take some time, would have to ensure things are fixed without risk of shorts. The rubber fuel lines age-out & should be replaced eventually, probably a good thing to do somewhere in the every 5-10 yrs. range, or if you start catching whiffs of fuel. I presume Korman would be able to do it, they've been working on BMW's for forever, but if you hit up your local chapter contacts, they might have alternatives to suggest. http://www.tarheelbmwcca.org/chapter.html http://www.kormanautoworks.com/contact.htm
Yeah, I am worried about the wiring. You are right, the fuel lines probably should have been replaced - might have saved me from the fire. I guess I know that now. I'll see if my local chapter contacts have any suggestions. Thanks!
Didn't think to mention yesterday, but, there are also fuel lines run across the topside of the gas tank. It's sucky to have to drop the gas tank, but with the newest E30 now being 27 yrs old, it's worth recalling those also should be attended-to by this point.
