I dropped off many parts at my mechanic of choice, and left the bmw there.
He looked in the trunk and said "All that?" "yes please".

In the process of doing everything, we discovered that it was all needed,
and I wasn't going "overboard", and discovered a few other things along
the way that needed attention.  

Three things happened that have me concerned.

1) The drivers door lock no longer actuates.  Turning the key unlocks the
other 3 doors, just not the drivers door.  Is this just a case of the
actuator no longer working?  Is it an easy swap/fix?  Would it be worthwhile
cleaning it or something prior to replacing it?  There is a loose connection
that sometimes stops me from being able to roll down the window (if I squeeze
the rubber boot around the wires when the door is open I can make it
happen).

2) When the engine is cold, it idles funny. not really rough; but it goes
up & down slightly - barely enough to notice.  However, the mechanic (not a bmw
specialist) called to say it was very noticable.  He thinks it's the idle
bypass motor (or something or other that controls how much air it gets at idle,
I'll get more info in the morning).  While it was always a LITTLE rough when
cold, nothing that cuased me concern. (I am now)  I went thru the paper
work I got when I bought the car, and there's BMW / Seattle service
record:
"customer concerned with idle goes up and down when cold gets smoother
when warmer" diagnosis was "check idle quality, found slight idle
fluctuation
is normal".   Is it?

2) The car ran out of gas.  When I dropped it off; it was above "E" and
the computer showed "38 miles" to go, or just over 2 gallons.

I'll admit; it was bad of me to let it go that low; but what I was after
was seeing if the OBC would gong and dash would light up and say "LOW FUEL
DUMMY!".  

As it was idling at the shop, a low fuel light came on, then sputtered &
died.  
Showing "30 miles" remaining.

My question is, is this normal?  Can it be calibrated/adjusted?  From what
I understand there are two fuel sensors at the tank.  Could one be reading a
lot more than the other; so it's averaging?

Thanks
-j

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