BMW 3 1992 - Essential Tools and Equipment

010- 8
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FUNDAMENTALS FOR THE DO-ITYOURSELF OWNER
TOOLS
Most maintenance can be accomplished with a small selec-
tion
of
the
right tools . Tools range in quality from inexpensive
junk, which may brakk at first
use, to very expensive and well-
made tools for the professional . The
best tools for most do-it
yourself BMW owners He somewhere in between .

O
Many
reputable tool manufacturers offer good quality, mod-
erately priced
tools with a lifetime guarantee . These are your
best buy . They cost
a
little
more, but they are good quality tools
that will do what is expected of them .
Sears' Craftsman® line is
one such source of good quality tools .
Some
of the repairs covered in this manual require the use
of
special tools, such
as a custom puller or specialized electrical
test equipment . These special
tools are called out in the text
andcan be purchased through an authorized
BMW dealer . As
an alternative, some special tools
mentioned may be pur-
chased from the following tool manufacturers
andlor distribu-
tors :
" Assenmacher Specialty Tools
6440
Odell Place, Boulder, CO 80301
(303) 530-2424
" Baum Tools Unlimited . Inc .
PO . Box 87, Longboat Key, FL
34228
(800) 848-6657
" Schley
Products Inc .
5350 E .
Hunter Ave ., Anaheim Hills, CA 92807
(714) 693-7666
" Zelenda Machine
and Tool Corp .
66-02 Austin Street, Forest Hills,
NY 11375
(718) 896-2288
Basic Tool
Requirements
The basic hand tools described below
can be used to accom-
plish
most of thesimple maintenance and
repair tasks .
Fig . 8 .
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Types of wrench heads
. From left, open-end, 12-point box-
Screwdrivers . The
common fíat-blade type and the
Phillips
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end, 6-point box-end, fiare nut .
type will handle almost all
screws used on BMWs . Two orthree
different sizes of each type will
be required, since a screwdriver
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The cómbination wrench is the most universal
. It has one
of the
wrong size will damage the screw
head . See Fig . 7 .
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open-end
and one box-end . 10mm and 13mm wrenches
are
the most
common sizes needed . A more complete
set of
A complete
set of screwdrivers should
also include Torx@

wrenches would
inciude 6mm through 19mm sizes .
type screwdrivers .
Wrenches
. Wrenches come in different
styles for different
uses . Fig . 8 shows
several . The basic open-end
wrench is the
most widely used,
but grips on only two sides . It can
spread
apart
and slip off more easily .
The box-end wrench has
better
grip, on
al¡ six sides of a nut or bolt .
A 12-point box-end
can loosen a nut or bolt
where there is
less room for movement,
while a 6-point box-end provides
bet-
ter grip .
Forhex fasteners on fluid
lines, like brake lines and
fuel
lines, a fiare-nut
wrench offers the
acivantages of a box-end
wrench with a slot that
ailows it to fit over the line
.
TOOLS
B005FNG
Fig . 7 .
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Common flat-blade (top) and Phillips (bottom) screwdrivers
.
Offset screwdríver (right) is used for screws with limited
ac-
cess .
B002FNG
Sockets . Socketsperform the same
job as box-end wrench-
es, but offer
greater flexibility . They are used
with a ratchet han-
dle for speed
and conveniente and can
be combined with
extensions and universal
joints (swivels) to reach
fasteners
more easily . Sockets come with
different size connections
to
drive
handies or extensions, called the
drive size . The most
common
drive sizes are 1 /4 in ., 318 in ., and
1 /2 in .
Sockets come in
6-point and 12-point styles . For
use with a
ratchet, the 6-point offers a
better grip on tight nuts and
bolts .
6mm to
19mm sockets arethe most
needed sizes . Below is a
list of typical
bolt diameters and the
corresponding wrench siz-
es .