E36 328i replacing oxygen sensors

there's nothing wrong with them but i hear they go at about 60k miles.

is it diffficult to replace?
there are 4 of them , which one is likely to go ?
thanks.

doesnt seem cheap though. i hear 100 a piece

Your 328 is OBD II compliant. Personally, I'd wait for them to throw a code.
Of the 4 (are there really that many?) my money is on the ones that are
ahead of the CAT for failing first.

The difficulty is due to the tight work space, the sensors themselves are
replaced with a socket that looks much the same as a spark plug socket, but
has a slot cut up one side to accomodate the wire.






"news" > wrote in message
news:nak3i.70$aj.3@trndny06...
> there's nothing wrong with them but i hear they go at about 60k miles.
>
> is it diffficult to replace?
> there are 4 of them , which one is likely to go ?
> thanks.
>
> doesnt seem cheap though. i hear 100 a piece
>

"news" > wrote
> there's nothing wrong with them but i hear they go at about 60k miles.
>
> is it diffficult to replace?
> there are 4 of them , which one is likely to go ?
> thanks.
>
> doesnt seem cheap though. i hear 100 a piece

You can buy non-heated ones for less - check around on the
web to find how to wire them.

I agree with Jeff that there is absolutely no reason to replace
them before they actually fail and trip the check engine light.

FloydR

"Floyd Rogers" > wrote:

>"news" > wrote
>> there's nothing wrong with them but i hear they go at about 60k miles.
>>
>> is it diffficult to replace?
>> there are 4 of them , which one is likely to go ?
>> thanks.
>>
>> doesnt seem cheap though. i hear 100 a piece
>
>You can buy non-heated ones for less - check around on the
>web to find how to wire them.
>
>I agree with Jeff that there is absolutely no reason to replace
>them before they actually fail and trip the check engine light.
>
>FloydR
>

I agree with the above. I am running over 116k miles and still with
the original sensors. I *am* however getting an "E9" code that one
converter efficiency is below threshold. Started sometime after 100k
miles. Went 11 months between occurrences.

Yes, about $110 or so, each, sensor alone. Not easy to get to.

news wrote:
> there's nothing wrong with them but i hear they go at about 60k miles.
>
> is it diffficult to replace?
> there are 4 of them , which one is likely to go ?
> thanks.
>
> doesnt seem cheap though. i hear 100 a piece

http://www.dvatp.com/bmw/diy/oxygen_sensors/

-Doug

--
--------------------
Doug Vetter, ATP/CFI

http://www.dvatp.com
--------------------

"Floyd Rogers" > wrote in message
...
> "news" > wrote
>> there's nothing wrong with them but i hear they go at about 60k miles.
>>
>> is it diffficult to replace?
>> there are 4 of them , which one is likely to go ?
>> thanks.
>>
>> doesnt seem cheap though. i hear 100 a piece
>
> You can buy non-heated ones for less - check around on the
> web to find how to wire them.
>

IF the car has the heated variety of O2 Sensor, ten they must be replaced
with the heated sensor else the lack of a heater will throw a code.




> I agree with Jeff that there is absolutely no reason to replace
> them before they actually fail and trip the check engine light.
>
> FloydR
>

"Doug Vetter" > wrote in message
...
> news wrote:
> > there's nothing wrong with them but i hear they go at about 60k miles.
> >
> > is it diffficult to replace?
> > there are 4 of them , which one is likely to go ?
> > thanks.
> >
> > doesnt seem cheap though. i hear 100 a piece
>
> http://www.dvatp.com/bmw/diy/oxygen_sensors/
>
> -Doug
>
> --
> --------------------
> Doug Vetter, ATP/CFI
>
> http://www.dvatp.com
> --------------------

Doug,
VERY nice site! I just imagine if I could compile everything BMW I found
(and provided for others) to look that good. Cheers!

Bill in Omaha
'86 535i

news wrote:
> there's nothing wrong with them but i hear they go at about 60k miles.
>

No, they generally last 100k miles or more.

> is it diffficult to replace?

No.

> there are 4 of them , which one is likely to go ?
> thanks.
>

It's the one that is causing the check engine code. If you aren't
getting a code your sensors are fine.

> doesnt seem cheap though. i hear 100 a piece
>
>

About right.

--
-Fred W

Floyd Rogers wrote:

>
> You can buy non-heated ones for less - check around on the
> web to find how to wire them.

This would be a really bad idea. You cannot use a non heated O2 sensor
on a car designed for heated ones. It *will* throw check engine light
at about 5 minutes after cold start because the sensor is not up to temp
yet.

There are generic heated sensors that you can get and then splice on
your old connector. Those are usually a bit cheaper. Maybe that is
what you were thinking of?


--
-Fred W

"Fred W" > wrote
> Floyd Rogers wrote:

> There are generic heated sensors that you can get and then splice on your
> old connector. Those are usually a bit cheaper. Maybe that is what you
> were thinking of?

Yes.