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#1. Fog light duct replacement - from Holeman, David
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Date: Mon, 5 Jun 2000 15:53:31 -0500 From: "Holeman, David" <david.holeman@viaticus.com> Subject: Fog light duct replacement Hi, I have foglight duct replacements on my 95 M3 and would be happy to answer any questions. David Holeman www.racepad.com
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#2. Re: [E36M3] BMW Oil - from LoweSeaton@aol.com
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Date: Tue, 6 Jun 2000 03:10:39 EDT From: LoweSeaton@aol.com Subject: Re: [E36M3] BMW Oil > Is it just me or does any one not worry that going > against mfg. spec for oil is bad be it thicker or > thinner. > > I would have assumed that a thick oil like 15w-50 > would flow slower through some of the very tiny oil > journals in the engine.....(that may cause oil > starvation) > > > > I went to the dealer to purchase oil yesterday, and > > was told that the 5W-40 > > synthetic oil has been superceded by 5W-30 oil. The > > 5W-30 is made by > > Castrol. > > > > I decided to pass on the lightweight oil, and will > > purchase some Mobil 1 > > 15W-50 since I'll be doing some track events over > > the next few months. > > > > Does anyone use a lightweight oil (5W-30) in their > > M3 when driven on the > > track? Am I just being paranoid here, or is 5W-30 > > really too light? We could probably debate which oil to use and how often to change until the next millennium. I do not use full synthetic oils. I do agree full synthetic oils are superior to ordinary petroleum based oils; however, there is one thing full synthetic oils can't do. Moisture and corrosive agents accumulate in the crankcase. The only way to remove them is to drain the oil and replace with new. Therefore, I religiously stick to my 3,000 mile/3 month oil change routine. The heck with this 15,000 mile/1 year recommended oil change with synthetic oils. I'm draining my oil out after 3 months regardless what the dash lights say. I don't see any reason to pay $5 per quart for oil that is only going to be used 3,000 miles. In many ways, I think oil is oil. Just change it often, keep it clean, change the oil filter at least every other oil change. I do have a bias against Pennsylvania oils (i.e., Penzoil, Quaker State) and I won't use them. I think they are "waxy." I may be absurd regarding the Pennsylvania oils but everybody is entitled to their eccentricities :) My preferred oil brand is Valvoline. I've been using Valvoline's DuraBlend synthetic blend oil. I can buy it for about $2.29 per quart. I believe thicker is better, especially in Dallas in the summer. The last 2 summers in Dallas have been exceedingly hot. And I think the M3 engine is a hot running engine. I smile every time I open the hood and see the hood scoop for the alternator. How many other engines are so hot that they need a dedicated hood scoop for the alternator? I've driven my M3 at night, gotten out and put my hand on the hood. It is so hot you can't keep your hand on the hood. It worries me to think of running a 5W-30 oil in an M3 in Dallas in the summer. I don't believe ordinary petroleum based oils maintain their viscosity. I remember a test by Consumer Reports or Popular Mechanics 15 years ago. They tested various 10W-40, 10W-30, and 5W-30 oils. Oil companies add what are called "viscosity improvers" in order to make an oil span a range like 10W-40. The wider the range, the more viscosity improvers required. 10W-40 has the most viscosity improvers and 10W-30 has the least. The test showed that the viscosity improvers quickly break down and the oil returns to its base weight. It was something like a 10W-40 oil after just 500 miles is more like a 10W-30 oil. After 1,000 miles, the 10W-40 oil was down to 10W-20. And after 1,500 miles, certainly by 2,000 miles, the 10W-40 oil was just straight 10W oil! By 3,000 miles, you had nothing more than 10W oil. Oil companies have probably improved their oils in the last 15 years but I'm sure no 10W-40 oil is still 40 weight after 3,000 miles. Full synthetic oils are a different story. They don't use the same viscosity improvers and may very well maintain their stated range for 3,000+ miles. This may be the one reason to use full synthetic oils even if you do change every 3,000 miles. I have always used Valvoline DuraBlend 20W-50 in my M3. Winter and summer. Valvoline makes a line of Racing oils in very heavy straight weights. They make a straight 50 weight and even a straight 60 weight. The last two summers I have started blending 4 quarts of DuraBlend 20W-50 with 3 quarts of 50 or 60 weight oil. And just for grins, one oil change last summer I ran 7 quarts of straight 60 weight. No ill effects that I can determine. The concern that thicker oil will cause starvation is unfounded IMHO. The oil passages aren't that small. In my case, the temperature never dropped below 80 degrees so the oil flowed plenty easy on starts. I would not recommend running straight 60 weight in Minnesota in the winter but last August in Dallas, no problem. The reason BMW is going to a 5W-30 oil is for gas mileage. Maybe for emissions also. I don't think for a minute BMW has the best interests of the owner in mind with this change to 5W-30 oil. BMW like every other car maker has to meet the EPA CAFE standards or pay penalties. BMW is trying to boost the corporate fleet fuel mileage and save BMW money. Nothing more. I'm sure my 60 weight oil cost me 1 or so mpg but when you are stuck roasting in Dallas rush hour traffic, gas mileage is meaningless. BTW, my valves have never ticked. I'd wager that anybody with ticking valves could stop the ticking by using a heavier weight petroleum based oil. Maybe synthetic oils flow too well? The oil flows out of the lifters too fast. I'd bet money I could run my M3 3 quarts low on oil and not hear ticking valves. It just doesn't occur with my engine and oil. Some thoughts. Lowell Seaton Dallas, Texas '95 M3/2 BMW CCA #131505
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#3. Re Paint Removal, 3" Brake Cooling Duct Hosing - from Hunter Johnson
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Date: Tue, 6 Jun 2000 09:05:29 +0100 From: "Hunter Johnson" <HJOHNSON@dbmail.debis.de> Subject: Re Paint Removal, 3" Brake Cooling Duct Hosing David writes: "I've removed all the splashes on the paint surfaces with nail polish remover," Acetone, which is the active ingredient in nail polish, will take the paint off your car down to the metal. I would really recommend not using it. Instead, cough up the bucks and have the extra paint buffed off the car... your car should have a clear coat which is thick enough to handle this treatment -- my dealer put a huge gouge in my paint which I thought would require the car to be repainted, but amazingly it could be buffed out. Paul writes: "I never thought I'd have such a hard time buying 3" diameter hosing, used to route air, as in work with brake ducts" Try Pegasus auto racing supply. They have an 800 number, but I don't have it offhand. Hunter 1998 M3/4
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#4. The first Shark Injectors (tm) have shipped - from Josh
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Date: Tue, 06 Jun 2000 02:04:16 -0600 From: Josh <eurosprt@xmission.com> Subject: The first Shark Injectors (tm) have shipped >Has anyone heard if there is a definite availability date on Jim C's >"Shark Injector"? > > >All the advertising I saw forty-five to 60 days ago said it would be >available on May 1! It's now thirty days beyond that date! The first Shark Injectors (tm) have shipped. Just under 20 units will be shipped this week so if you are a Eurosport customer and you don't see anything today (Tues 6th) don't fear as the others will follow hopefully within 2-3 weeks. If you are one of the lucky few in this shipment please use your injector as soon as you possibly can. The second part of the first batch of approximately 200 injectors is awaiting the results. BTW because of Jim C's attention to detail the injectors have been perfected in quality control testing and not on the customers car which ultimately speeds up the actual product delivery process. Josh MacMurray Eurosport Your source for Jim Conforti / Landshark products Shark Injectors and Shark Intake Systems Phone 801 463 4919 fax 801 474 2668 www.sharkinfested.com
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#5. Re: Euro Lights (long) - from Hunter Johnson
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Date: Tue, 6 Jun 2000 10:19:08 +0100 From: "Hunter Johnson" <HJOHNSON@dbmail.debis.de> Subject: Re: Euro Lights (long) Jim E says: "For some unknown reason (at least to me) the ZKW were never used on the M3 coupe - neither the 3.0 or 3.2." Jim B says: "Would the coupe lights be different than the sedan? Just wondering, since the Euro lights I have on my car are ZKW (purchased from Bekkers Imports, IIRC)." Jason says: "I saw some strange lights on Kelly wollenbergs car once. Looked like US headlights, but were glass. She ordered them when she did euro delivery. So they arre US dot glass lights. maybe you got one of those..." The early Euro E36s came with polyellipsoidal low beams, which were replaced 5 years ago with what Jason calls "looked like US headlights but were glass". The polyellipsoid system works like an overhead projector, with the bulb at the first focus of the ellipse and the screen which produces the sharp horizontal cutoff positioned so that the funky semi-spherical lens projects it onto the road. The "poly" part of the polyellipse means that the reflector shape is two different ellipses, one shape for the vertical cross section, another for the horizontal cross section. This way a lot of light is dispersed from right to left, but not so much dispersal happens from top to bottom. The newer headlamps are Free Form (Hella's term) which means that a computer is used to calculate the shape of the reflector given the bulb position and the desired beam pattern on the road. This technology was used on ALL US E36s, although of course the ECE and DOT beam patterns are different, so these units are different. FF lamps are much more efficient than the polyellipsoid system (if there is a screen, then some of the light is hitting the screen and not getting to the road), although personally I prefer the Polyellipsoid since it focuses the light more intensely. On all E36 headlamps the high beams are probably simple parabolas. One of the other differences between DOT and ECE lamps is the use of glass vs. polycarbonite for the outer lens. The DOT has strict rules about the water- tightness of the headlamp assembly, and the ECE lamps often fog up from poor sealing. However, the DOT lamps' plastic also get sandblasted after several years of use and this messes up the ability of the light to get out, requiring replacement of the entire headlamp to return to 100% performance. The ECE unit's glass outer lens can be replaced for around $60. The difference between a Bosch, Hella or ZKW headlamp unit designed for the E36 is probably nonexistent, although these suppliers will probably tell you otherwise. The fact is, BMW specifies the headlamp beam pattern (at the suggestion of the initial supplier), and from there on the subsequent suppliers have to meet this criteria. One exception, however, may be that if ZKW wasn't an OEM supplier, their lamps might be inferior (i.e. insurance replacement but never specified on new vehicles). Personally I believe that while there is still a difference between the BMW ECE and DOT headlamp, with the next E46 this difference may be non-existent -- about 5 years ago I changed the lamps on my 300TE Mercedes-Benz from DOT to ECE and gained very little performance. The ECE and DOT have been working over the past 5 years to achieve a homogenized headlamp pattern for use world wide, and while they're not there yet, the ECE pattern now allows more light above the horizontal than they used to, and the DOT lamp has a blend between a simple "hot spot" and a horizontal cut off, and I don't doubt that as the age of the motoring public in the US continues to creep up, the DOT will get more and more complaints about headlamp glare, requiring a more European-style beam pattern in the US -- especially given the advent of gas discharge bulbs, which throw twice the light from 2/3 the power. That said, please keep in mind that a properly aimed ECE lamp (1% drop) has a range of 60 meters, so at 60 mph you are out driving the range of a European headlamp (60 mph = 45 m/s, so 60 m = 1.3 seconds). The DOT lamp which throws light above the horizontal will therefore have a much greater range. However, I find that the ECE high beams are superior to the DOT highbeams, even though they might be simple parabolas. John F. will surely want to comment on all this, since both of us live in Germany, but my impression is that neither of these systems are optimal. My recommendation regarding retrofitting ECE lamps to your car is that first try to reaim the DOT lamps so that the hot spot is directly in front of the bulb, instead of down and to the right. Also, raise the beam so that the horizontal cutoff is at a 1% drop from the bulb, per ECE specification (that is, if the bulb is 60 cm above the ground, and the car is parked 10 m from a wall, then the horizontal line should be 50 cm above the ground). If that doesn't do it for you, then try the ECE lamps, but I would go the extra mile and install the Euro spec headlamp adjuster. This has four settings: 0, 1, 2, and 3, and I believe that they correspond to the % drop, so "1" is the normal setting. By adjusting your new Euro lamps correctly you can dramatically increase the range of the lamp by moving to "0" on the fly, and dropping back to "1" when you encounter traffic on the highway. The "2" and "3" are used if you have lots of stuff in the trunk, which causes your headlamps to shine upwards. Hunter 1998 M3/4 with Euro lamps, no adjuster
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#6. [Fwd: New Bilstein Coilover Kits] - from Susan Kraft
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Date: Tue, 06 Jun 2000 06:48:25 -0500 From: Susan Kraft <suekraft@mindspring.com> Subject: [Fwd: New Bilstein Coilover Kits] Just thought I would pass along this message from Top Notch Auto. Don't know if this is a good price or not, but thought you guys/gals might want to check it out. Suzy -------- Original Message -------- Subject: New Bilstein Coilover Kits Date: Tue, 06 Jun 2000 00:54:14 -0400 From: Rob Buckalew <robuc@bellsouth.net> To: suzy@bmwmpower.com Hello Suzy, I haven't spoke to you in a while, but just wanted to send you a quick note to let you know about the new Bilstein Professional Suspension Kits. I have these published on my web site at <http://www.topnotchauto.com/coilovers.html>. If you or any of your members might be interested in these for the E36 M3, maybe we can put a group purchase together and offer a better deal. Let me know if you think there might be any interest and I'll see what we can do. Thanks for your time! Rob Buckalew Top Notch Auto Accessories, Inc.
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#7. Re: [E36M3] Speaking of foglights... - from Carlos.F.Lopez@jci.com
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Date: Tue, 6 Jun 2000 08:07:28 -0400 From: Carlos.F.Lopez@jci.com Subject: Re: [E36M3] Speaking of foglights... Paul E. wrote: >51-11-8-122-450 >51-11-8-122-449 >Are these part numbers strictly covers to block the openings, or, do they >hide the bracket and mounting holes, with a way to leave the mouth open? My guess would be these are from an early E36, like a 318i or something, back when they came without foglights and the bottom part of the car wasn't body colored. If I remember correctly they were all grey on the bottom. So in other words, nope, no hole, just a cover. It snaps in nicely but it sits recessed. With a Dremel, you might be able to make a nice opening in them. Carlos.
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#8. Roundel Misprint??? - from Crumpley Jr, Robert E
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Date: Tue, 6 Jun 2000 07:12:00 -0500 From: "Crumpley Jr, Robert E" <CRUMPLRE@bp.com> Subject: Roundel Misprint??? Is that a misprint on page 69 of the new Roundel, or is it some new technique that I haven't heard about? And, if it's the latter, is it legal in Virginia? Inquiring minds want to know... Bobby Crumpley '95 ///M3 BMWCCA
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#9. Re: [E36M3] Fog light duct replacement - from Rich Gay
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Date: Tue, 06 Jun 2000 07:58:41 -0500 From: "Rich Gay" <rich_gay@linbeck.com> Subject: Re: [E36M3] Fog light duct replacement on 6/6/00 7:52 AM, Holeman, David at david.holeman@viaticus.com wrote: > I have foglight duct replacements on my 95 M3 and would be happy to answer > any questions. Part #'s? Photos? I've got one fog light which is MIA due to a tire carcass, and the other light is badly broken. Rather than replace them, I'd like to use them for ducting, or just block them off. The driver's side duct I'd like to run up to the air filter... - Rich
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#10. RE: [E36M3] The first Shark Injectors (tm) have shipped - from Andy Korczynski
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Date: Tue, 6 Jun 2000 08:26:17 -0500 From: Andy Korczynski <Andy@casskor.com> Subject: RE: [E36M3] The first Shark Injectors (tm) have shipped If quality has been tested so well why are you waiting on the results of the first 20 shipped? Andy K. -----Original Message----- From: Josh To: E36M3 Sent: 6/6/00 3:05 AM Subject: [E36M3] The first Shark Injectors (tm) have shipped Date: Tue, 06 Jun 2000 02:04:16 -0600 From: Josh <eurosprt@xmission.com> Subject: The first Shark Injectors (tm) have shipped >Has anyone heard if there is a definite availability date on Jim C's >"Shark Injector"? > > >All the advertising I saw forty-five to 60 days ago said it would be >available on May 1! It's now thirty days beyond that date! The first Shark Injectors (tm) have shipped. Just under 20 units will be shipped this week so if you are a Eurosport customer and you don't see anything today (Tues 6th) don't fear as the others will follow hopefully within 2-3 weeks. If you are one of the lucky few in this shipment please use your injector as soon as you possibly can. The second part of the first batch of approximately 200 injectors is awaiting the results. BTW because of Jim C's attention to detail the injectors have been perfected in quality control testing and not on the customers car which ultimately speeds up the actual product delivery process. Josh MacMurray Eurosport Your source for Jim Conforti / Landshark products Shark Injectors and Shark Intake Systems Phone 801 463 4919 fax 801 474 2668 www.sharkinfested.com ************************************************************* List Commands UNSUBSCRIBE - (in subject line) unsubscribes you from the mailing list. *************************************************************