Background
While I've worked with my hands for as long as I can remember (as a youth I enjoyed woodworking, I grew up in my family's electrical contracting business installing custom electrical services and I've turned a few wrenches under the supervision of a FAA licensed mechanic as required by federal law on certified airplanes), I've never been a gearhead. Oh, I used to do my own oil changes, install my own audio gear and such, but I never tackled anything like brakes or suspension work, and frankly I've never been inclined to do work myself when I could hire people with the proper equipment and experience for a reasonable cost.
However, that was then, and this is now. There's nothing quite like labor rates previously associated only with physicians and attorneys to justify the time and expense necessary to work on my own vehicles. Of course, there are (and will always be) jobs I won't tackle myself for a variety of reasons, but for the vast majority of routine maintenance on a BMW all you need is some knowledge (which starts with a Bentley Manual) and a good set of tools. This article lists the tools I purchased specifically for working on my BMWs grouped into the areas of Hand Tools, Shop Equipment, and Miscellaneous Supplies.
No U.S. currency was harmed in the creation of this article. :-)
Hand Tools
| Description | Source | Cost |
 36 MM Socket for oil filter cannister. Normally a 36MM socket is 3/4" drive. This is a specialty six-point socket with a 3/8" drive - perfect for use with my 3/8" drive torque wrench that has the range of torque required to tighten the cannister cover. Not necessary if you have the correct socket and adapter, but worth it to me. | Eppy's | $25 |
 32 MM open end wrench Used to remove the engine-driven fan. Used properly, you don't need to buy the special toolset with the clutch lock tool to remove the fan. However, you must be careful when re-tightening the fan. If you don't tighten it enough, it will spin loose if you lift off the throttle quickly, as the fan is reverse threaded. | Eppy's | $30 |
 17 MM deep impact socket for wheel studs While a regular deep socket would work with the breaker bar, I bought this as an impact socket because I knew I'd eventually use it with air tools. Whether or not you use this with air tools, I'd recommend wrapping the exterior of the socket with electrical tape to reduce the chance for damage to the rims. | Eppy's | $12 |
 Front Wheel Bearing Alignment Shaft / Press BMW special tool 312 110 aids the installation of front wheel bearing assemblies on any BMWs with a 46mm wheel retaining nut (E36, E46, etc.). The inner shaft of the tool screws onto the spindle to help align the bearing and the outer concentric is used to press the bearing onto the spindle by applying force only to the inner bearing race. This prevents damage to the bearing during installation. | N/A | N/A |
 2 through 13 mm hex sockets, 3/8" drive 6 and 7mm are needed for brakes, and the 10mm is used to move the belt tensioners on the front of the engine. I bought the set because I knew it would be cheaper in the long run than buying individual parts. | Eppy's | $83 |
 Special stubby 14mm hex socket For E36 differential drain/fill plugs. Required because of limited clearance between the diff and the spare tire well. FACOM D10714. I bought two for good measure, but you only need one to do the job. | Eppy's | $10 |
 22mm Oxygen Sensor Socket The electrical leads of an oxygen sensor prevent the use of a traditional 22mm socket. This is a combination 6 and 12 point 22mm socket with a slot in it through which the leads may fit. The crows foot design allows the use of a smaller 3/8" drive breaker bar or ratchet and helps reduce the overall profile of the tool in tight spaces. | Eppy's | $10 |
 T50 Torx for seat belts I bought this to remove the seat belt assemblies as required to remove the seats. You may notice the relief in the center of the head. This is designed to accept a center pin in the receiving bolt and is known as a "security torx". It's not specifically required for this task, but it cost the same as a regular torx and I figured might come in handy some day on another car that uses those. | Eppy's | $11 |
 Torx Screwdriver Assortment A T20 torx is required to remove the door panels on the E36, so I bought this set in a pinch while I was in Home Depot one day. So far I haven't had a need for the others. | Home Depot | $7 |
 Set of Dead Blow hammers Sometimes required to free the brake rotor from the hub or chase people out of the garage. Use these hammers when you need to protect the surface you're hitting or where rebound off of a rigid surface is undesireable. These are naturally for light duty use when a little persuation is required -- not for pounding on a stubborn ball joint or whatnot. | Eppy's | $23 |
 Quick Grip or C-Clamp For pushing pistons back into brake caliper during a brake change, among other things. Whatever device you choice, make sure it can open at least 6" wide and has at least a four inch "reach" (distance between the c-clamp screw and the backbone of the clamp, if that makes any sense). | Home Depot | $10 |
 Wiper Arm / Battery Terminal Puller This small puller can be used for a lot of things, but it's marketed as a battery terminal and wiper arm puller and my experience is that it will work pretty well in either application. The big knob adjusts the width or opening of the jaws while the center pin screws the pin down. | Eppys | $8 |
 Torque Wrenches
All the torque wrenches have pivoting heads. This allows them to get into awkward spaces. Note, however, that when used in this mode you have to do some simple math to adjust the torque setting for the 20 degree offset. Fortunately, the scales are marked in ft*lbs and Newton*Meters, so no on-the-fly conversions are necessary. | Eppys | L: $138 M: $142 L: $163 |
 6-19MM 12 point sockets with Ratchets 16mm is needed for brake caliper carrier bolts | Sears | $100 |
 SK 3/8" drive extension assortment through 12" An assortment of extensions is essential for any tool set. I did a bunch of work with the 3" and stubby, but the 12" also comes in handy when doing stuff like the swaybar bushings. The idea is to get the ratchet far enough out of the works so you can actually swing it. Also comes in handy in combination with the air ratchet since it's bulky and can't reach into small spaces. | Eppys | $45 |
 SK Breaker Bars Essential for removing overtightened lug bolts if you don't have air tools. Pictured from top to bottom: 1/2" drive with 16" handle ($30) 1/2" drive with 24" handle ($50) I bought the 3/8" unit to handle some stuck differential drain plugs because even if I could swing the 1/2" bars under the car (which wasn't jacked up at the time), I couldn't use a 1/2" to 3/8" adapter in combination with the stubby 14mm hex socket due to clearance issues. The 1/2" bar is primarily used to loosen lug bolts. The 16" bar is used in places where the 24" bar would be too cumbersome, but if you had to buy only one bar, the 24" would be the one to get. | Eppy's | $96 |
 SK 3/8" Female to 1/2" Male Adapter Needed to use my 3/8" drive torque wrench with larger bolts that for some reason have a very light torque on them (like the oil drain bolt). | Eppy's | $6 |
 SK 6-22MM Combination Wrenches Every tool set must include some basic open-end and box wrenches. 7 and 9MM are needed for brake lines and bleeder screws, while 19-22 help with control arm / ball-joint replacement. Note that in some cases ratcheting box wrenches come in very handy due to clearance issues and I do expect to buy a few of those for specific applications, but nothing beats the simplicity, reliability, strength, and price of a common fixed wrench for most applications. The box end of SK's wrenches are particularly nice in that they are thin-walled. This allows one to grab a bolt or nut that is in close proximity to some nearby structure. These are the equivalent of a thin-walled socket. | Eppy's | $120 |
 Telescoping Mirror Essential for examining blind areas when putting on a nut, threading a bolt, etc. Inexpensive, but essential. Hmmmm...there's something familiar in that mirror. I wonder what it could be... | Eppy's | $11 |
 Miniature Picks I bought this set of four miniature picks. The tip on one is straight (like an awl) while the other three are bent in a few different ways for maximum leverage. I use the straight pick to align my windshield washer jets (a lot of trial and error as compared to the tool built specifically for this job, but a lot cheaper), and I use the curved picks to remove o-rings like those on the shaft of the engine oil filter mount assembly. | Eppy's | $8 |
 Door Panel Tool This tool is essential to remove the interior door panels. The tool is "ramped" so you can get enough leverage to pop the plastic compression-fit fasteners without breaking them or the panel itself. There's no way you're doing this job safely with a screwdriver -- trust me -- so just buy the tool. I ordered this along with some other stuff from Crutchfield, but I'm sure you can get this at any auto parts store (and likely for less money). | Crutchfield | $5 |
 Ingersoll Rand IR2135Ti 1/2" Impact Wrench I wrestled with this decision for several months, but finally decided to buy the Ingersoll Rand IR2135Ti Titanium series impact wrench. I looked at the ubiquitous IR217, but it was physically much larger, weighed significantly more, was rated for a lot less torque, and was not nearly as nicely balanced as the Ti product (the IR217 and other models similar in design were very nose heavy). For the extra $120, I got the better wrench as part of a promo kit that included a protective glove for the wrench, a pair of non-skid gloves for my hands, and a small tool bag that I now use to hold all of my air tools. | Eppy's | $240 |
 Ingersoll Rand IR107XP 3/8" Air Ratchet Air ratchets aren't just a convenience. Sure, they're faster than a regular ratchet, but that's not where they shine. They are effectively mandatory when working in close quarters like when removing the intake manifold or exhaust headers because there's no space to physically swing a wrench or ratchet. Once you've decided to invest money in air tools, it makes no sense not to spend a little extra for an air ratchet. | Eppy's | $88 |
 Ingersoll Rand IR121 Air Hammer I'll admit that this is not a tool I expect to use very often, but I forsee using this for two critical jobs. One is separation of the ball joints when doing the lower control arms.. You can either buy a 10 lb sledge hammer and pound the crap out of the joint with a pickle fork and risk destabilizing the car on the jack stands, or you can use an air hammer to make quick, easy, and safe work of the task. The other job is a possible use as a chisel to aid in the removal of control arm bushings or rear wheel bearings -- it's not pretty, but it gets the job done without having to spend $600 in BMW-specific tools. | Eppy's | $75 |
I HATE buttsplices. They're unreliable garbage. I always bell-splice, solder and heat shrink any wires I touch. This portable model runs on standard lighter fuel (butane) and has a variable output for delicate work. The main reason I use this particular iron is not just for the convenience of going cordless, however. The exhaust air is hot enough to melt heat shrink, so it makes soldering and heat shrinking a quick and simple process. | TechniTool | $125 |
Shop Equipment
| Description | Source | Cost |
 Low-Profile Rhino Ramps Traditional metal ramps won't work with BMWs or other lowered vehicles because the slope of the ramp is too great and the body skirts hit the ramps before the tires do. The Rhino Ramps are at least as light as metal ramps I've used, yet better equipped to handle the load because of the honeycomb style of construction. The other perk is that these actually work nicely on gravel due to the increased surface area. Don't try that with metal ramps!
| Wal*Fart | $40 |
 Large Wheel Chocks I picked these up primarily so I could do brake jobs one axle at a time and jack the rear axle without fear of the car moving forward and falling off the jack stands (clarification for the noob reader: the parking brakes are on the rear axle so the front wheels are free to turn when the rear is jacked up). While in the neighborhood, I also picked up a smaller, pocket-sized version of these and put them in the spare tire well of the E36 to enhance safety when jacking on the side of the road. | Pep Boys | $14 |
 2 Ton Low-Profile Floor Jack(American Forge and Foundry AFT200) This is an inexpensive jack, but at least it's rebuildable in the event the seals go bad. Wish that were the case with the cheaper Sears and Pep Boys jacks...which explains why I didn't buy them. As you can tell from the picture, this jack has a two pump system, which helps raise the jack more quickly. | Eppys | $140 |
 3 Ton Jack Stands Jackstands are absolutely critical for any serious DIY work. For most work you can get away with one axle in the air, or one pair of stands. For more advanced and critical work such as automatic transmission fluid replacement, you need the entire vehicle elevated and level, which means four jack stands. I bought 3 Ton stands over lower-capacity units simply because the 3 Ton units are more likely to keep the car off of me on a bad day. I settled on the Hein Werner units because they had a reasonable minimum height (12") and because I wanted the top of the jack arm to be as flat as possible for use with the BMW jack pads. | Eppys | $54 per set |
 Tire inflator nozzle If you have a compressor, this is the first accessory you buy. I looked for one with a trigger handle and a flexible hose for comfort. This particular unit has a gauge built in, but they're known not to be reliable. I use a cheaper (yet more accurate) digital pressure gauge. | Eppys | $35 |
 Compressed Air Blower Nozzle Helpful for blowing out the spark plug holes before you remove the plugs. Prevents dirt and other stuff from getting into the cylinders. | Eppys | $8 |
When using air tools it's important to have a solid high pressure hose with leak-free fittings. Note that if you have an inline oiler for the tools it's a good idea to use one hose for the tools and another host for servicing the tires or using air to clean up an area. If you paint with the same compressor, a dedicated clean hose is not just a good idea -- it's required. I only have one hose at this time because I'm not using air tools yet. The hose itself was $35, and the two fittings were $3. | Home Depot | $38 |
| Shop Light Fluorescent lamps produce a good "flood" of light, while the newer LED lights provide a lot more light, but in a narrow pattern. Tubes tend to fail if dropped, while LEDs are more reliable. If you're thinking of just using one of those 500 Watt halogen lamps you might see on a construction site or use to paint your house, don't. The quartz lamps put out a lot of harmful UV radiation and the glass lenses are not filtered. You can actually get a sunburn by working too close to them. | N/A | N/A |
After a bunch of research I settled on a Sears 25 gallon professional unit (19541). I'm not a big fan of Sears equipment, but this unit is actually made by DeVilbiss, a company that has OEM'd equipment for several well-respected brands. Due in large part to its twin-cylinder design, it exceeds the CFM requirements of all my air tools, and because it's oil lubricated it runs quietly. I have it connected to a dedicated 110V 20A circuit (with a 15A receptacle), but the GE 2 HP motor can be easily converted to run on 240V power if necessary. This unit is somewhat overkill for my application, but my old compressor was on its way out and I didn't want to buy a throw-away. | Sears | $400 |
Milton Compressed Air Particulate Filter / Moisture Trap Nothing destroys air tools faster than dirt and moisture, so these must be filtered out if you have any hope of using your air tools for their intended lifespan. I originally bought a filter with a polycarbonate dome so I could see what was going on in there, but as I later discovered the plastic can be attacked by certain oils and I have an oil-lube compressor. I therefore returned the plastic trap and bought the more expensive metal one. The one additional perk is that the plastic was rated to 150PSI while the metal is rated to 250PSI. I have no intension of running regulated pressures that high, but it's nice to know it has a higher tolerance to failure. For a picture, click on the one for the compressor -- it's the black and gray item connected between the onboard regulator gauges and the red air hose. | Eppys | $48 |
Miscellaneous Supplies
Please note that this is a work in progress. It will be updated with additional items and photos as time warrants.
