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#1. Ticking sound under the hood - from Michael Turgeon
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Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2000 05:23:50 -0700 (PDT) From: Michael Turgeon <turgeon1@yahoo.com> Subject: Ticking sound under the hood Gruppe: I recently changed the water pump, hoses, belts, coolant, thermostat and housing, and the aforediscussed brakes, etc. I now hear a ticking sound towards the fron of the motor. Do not recall if it was there before. Cannot isolate it quite yet. Any ideas/similar experiences. TIA Mike Turgeon BMWCCA #166866 95 M3 Avus __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Send instant messages & get email alerts with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com/
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#2. Possible '97 M3 for sale -- make me an offer - from S Flanagan
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Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2000 05:34:57 -0700 (PDT) From: S Flanagan <sf944@yahoo.com> Subject: Possible '97 M3 for sale -- make me an offer If you read my last post about my warranty expiring, you might think I'm losing faith in the M3. While that may not be entirely true, I have given thought to selling the car in favor of something a little newer. I'm not officially listing it for sale at this point, just throwing feelers out. Tell me what you think it's worth, and whether I should sell it as a stock car and part out all the goodies, or as a complete and obviously tracked car (altho there are only 3 track days on it, and no autoX). Here it is: 1997 M3 coupe, 5-spd Arctic Silver, light gray interior 50,200 miles Sunroof, manual seats, OBC, cruise CD changer but not HK 10-double spoke wheels with new Yoko AVS's Goodies: Alpine 150W mono amp with Boston Acoustics subwoofer Racing Dynamics strut brace X-brace Shark injector K&N Borla cat-back exhaust Schroth harnesses extra set of front rotors (not Euro) Motorsport 10-spoke wheels with Pirelli snows mounted Fikse track wheels with (old style) R1's mounted Car lives in Massachusetts but has seen only one New England winter, and is garaged. Let me know what you think. Thanks, Scott
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#3. Re: [E36M3] Swapping Strut Hats on '95 M3 - Caster Change - from Matt Henson
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Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2000 06:16:12 -0700 (PDT) From: Matt Henson <hensonator@yahoo.com> Subject: Re: [E36M3] Swapping Strut Hats on '95 M3 - Caster Change Lowe, I beleive that there are 60' in a degree. And 60' in a minute. So your mechanic must be measuring degrees and minutes. Otherwise you have pretty much zero caster. Regardless, IMO your caster differential is probably not enough to cause a big problem. Caster doesn't typically cause a car to pull. It can cause it to feel darty on center. Any other opinions on this? What are the other alignment specs? BTW, 5d 58' = 5.96d 6d 16' = 6.26d. Your caster difference is .32degrees. -Matt --- LoweSeaton@aol.com wrote: > Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2000 03:44:37 EDT > From: LoweSeaton@aol.com > Subject: Swapping Strut Hats on '95 M3 - Caster > Change > > Anybody remember Bob Tunnell's comments about > swapping strut hats on a '95 > M3? I think he said swapping hats did little to > increase camber but it > decreased caster. Or was it rotating the hats while > keeping them on the same > side of the car? > > I've learned that my '95 M3 is out of spec for > caster. It has always had a > slight pull to the right. Dealer checked it early > on and said my car was > normal. I've lived with it since it is not that > noticeable. > > However, since I started driving on R-compound tires > on the street, the pull > is much more severe. Apparently R-compound tires > exaggerate the misalignment. > > According to my mechanic, my left front wheel has 6 > minutes 16 seconds of > caster vs. the right front wheel at 5 minutes 56 > seconds. Normal range is 6 > mim 8 sec to 7 min 8 sec. My mechanic measures > things in minutes and seconds > instead of degrees. > > My right wheel is out of spec and has significantly > less caster than the > left. I wonder if this is why my M3 pulls to the > right? I'm going to see if > I can even out the caster by swapping or rotating > the strut hats. I don't > think I can increase the caster in the right wheel > but maybe I can reduce the > caster on the left wheel so at least they are equal. > > Thanks for any info on the effects of swapping hats > on a '95 M3. > > Lowell Seaton > '95 M3/2 > Dallas, Texas > BMW CCA #131505 > > > ************************************************************* > List Commands > UNSUBSCRIBE - (in subject line) unsubscribes you > from the mailing list. > ************************************************************* > > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Send instant messages & get email alerts with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com/
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#4. Re: [E36M3] Swapping Strut Hats on '95 M3 - Caster Change - from Matt Henson
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Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2000 07:08:10 -0700 (PDT) From: Matt Henson <hensonator@yahoo.com> Subject: Re: [E36M3] Swapping Strut Hats on '95 M3 - Caster Change This should read 60" in a minute, where " is second and ' is minute. Teach me to write e-mail @ 8:30am. -Matt > I beleive that there are 60' in a degree. And 60' > in > a minute. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Send instant messages & get email alerts with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com/
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#5. No more warped rotors... - from Zorine, Dmitri Y, CSCIO
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Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2000 10:19:13 -0400 From: "Zorine, Dmitri Y, CSCIO" <dmitri@att.com> Subject: No more warped rotors... http://www.newtech-ibs.com/images/explod.gif <http://www.newtech-ibs.com/images/explod.gif> http://www.newtech-ibs.com/images/closecut.gif <http://www.newtech-ibs.com/images/closecut.gif> More here http://www.newtech-ibs.com/menua.htm <http://www.newtech-ibs.com/menua.htm> > > > There was a Motorolla Cup Porsche at the track that > > > was sponsored by this company called New Tech, that > > > has a new "full contact" braking system. They pulled > > > the wheels off of this 993 turbo, and sitting > > > underneath were the most amazing brakes I've ever seen > > > in my life. They were 16", and unbelievably thick. > > > There was an orange ring that ran around the outside > > > of the rotor that was really strange looking. I > > > started talking with one of the guys in their crew, > > > and I asked him about the orange ring. "That's the > > > caliper," he said. "The whole thing?" "Yep!" > > > > > > There are actually 7 brake pads per side, and the > > > entire ring moves in when you hit the brake pedal. He > > > said it basically operates like 7 calipers per wheel. > > > I'm attaching a pic so you can see it yourself. It > > > was just amazing to see a set of brakes that probably > > > cost more than a house!
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#6. re: Swapping Strut Hats on '95 M3 - Caster Change - from Ron Katona
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Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2000 10:34:06 -0400 From: Ron Katona <rkatona@bellatlantic.net> Subject: re: Swapping Strut Hats on '95 M3 - Caster Change Lowell Seaton wrote: > According to my mechanic, my left front wheel has 6 minutes 16 seconds of > caster vs. the right front wheel at 5 minutes 56 seconds. Normal range is 6 > mim 8 sec to 7 min 8 sec The important measurement is cross caster, or how much it varies side to side. Ask your mechanic if your reading is within spec for cross caster. That's really more important than whether each side is within tolerance. I'd rather have two wheels slightly out of spec in the same direction than have them both be in spec, but at opposite extremes of the tolerance. Note that there's a one minute tolerance in that spec, but your reading is only 20 seconds off L to R. [IIRC, 20 seconds = .333 degrees.] Might not be bad at all. Also ask if cross camber is in tolerance. > I'm going to see if > I can even out the caster by swapping or rotating the strut hats. I don't > think I can increase the caster in the right wheel but maybe I can reduce the > caster on the left wheel so at least they are equal. It's a '95 eh? I'd first be suspicious of worn lower control arm bushings which have a direct effect on caster. The hats are offset, but identical L to R on the '95. Swapping them will not change caster or camber unless one of the hats is out of tolerance or worn out. Rotating the hats will give you massive camber and caster changes - that's not what you're looking for. It could be that you've _always_ had a bad hat on one side, but I'd think that's a longer shot than a worn control arm bushing. I'd inspect the control arm bushings (and ball joints) for play first. Then if you take the hats out, inspect them for wear in the bushing material and the bearing. If they are worn, just replace both rather than swapping them. If that doesn't fix it, put the car on a frame machine and have it checked. Might just swap front tires first and see what happens too! -- Ron Katona
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#7. Re: VANOS and Red Line - from Ron Buchalski
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Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2000 15:04:28 GMT From: "Ron Buchalski" <rbuchals@hotmail.com> Subject: Re: VANOS and Red Line John, Amsoil makes a full synthetic 10W-40 oil: http://www.amsoil.com/products/amo.html Also, the BMW synthetic oil available from the dealer was 5W40 (not 10W40) and now 5W30 (not 10W30). I put the 5W30 into my E34 525iT, and there is no hint of lifter noise (@ 94,xxx miles). In fact, the 5W30 pumps through the system quickly enough that there isn't even the 1-2 seconds of lifter noise when it's first started in the morning. Whether that will change when cold weather sets in is another story... I'm still reluctant to put 5W30 into my M3. I'd really like to see an OFFICIAL BMW RECOMMENDATION detailing use of Special Oils (synthetic), for the S50/S52 engines. The oil recommendations in the owner's manual are for petroleum oils. -rb >Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2000 00:38:47 +0200 >From: John Demartino US-Valencia <j.demartino@us.qiagen.com> >Subject: VANOS and Red Line > >"daanesh chanduwadia" <daanesh@hotmail.com> wrote... > >"the time has come to replace the VANOS in my 95 with 51K miles (the >problem started at 37K miles, about 100 miles after filling with redline's >10W40 motor oil.)" > >Hmmm, I just switched to Red Line 10W40 myself. I went with the Red Line >because it was the only full synthetic 10W40 I could find (believe me, at >$10/quart I am not happy about it). I was happy with the original BMW >10W40, but as soon as I did an oil change with the new 10W30 I noticed >lifter tick for the first time at the next autocross. May have been a >coincidence, but I then tried Mobil1 15W50 but found that to feel heavy and >changed the response of the motor. So I ended up with the RedLine. > >Has anyone else experienced problems with the RedLine? > > > John C. DeMartino >Product Manager >QIAGEN Inc >28159 Ave Stanford >Valencia, CA 91355 >800-426-8157 x507 >j.demartino@us.qiagen.com _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at http://profiles.msn.com.
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#8. Re: Swapping Strut Hats on '95 M3 - Caster Change - from Ron Buchalski
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Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2000 15:41:25 GMT From: "Ron Buchalski" <rbuchals@hotmail.com> Subject: Re: Swapping Strut Hats on '95 M3 - Caster Change Lowell, Comments inline... -rb >Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2000 03:44:37 EDT >From: LoweSeaton@aol.com >Subject: Swapping Strut Hats on '95 M3 - Caster Change > >Anybody remember Bob Tunnell's comments about swapping strut hats on a '95 >M3? I think he said swapping hats did little to increase camber but it >decreased caster. Or was it rotating the hats while keeping them on the >same side of the car? On the '95, the strut bearings remain on the same side, but are rotated 120 degrees to increase camber. (I can't find the previous posting that discussed this...) :-( >According to my mechanic, my left front wheel has 6 minutes 16 seconds of >caster vs. the right front wheel at 5 minutes 56 seconds. Normal range is 6 >mim 8 sec to 7 min 8 sec. My mechanic measures things in minutes and >seconds instead of degrees. You need to find another mechanic. It's been awhile since I've worked with degrees minutes seconds, but minutes are 1/60th fractions of degrees, and seconds are 1/60th fractions of minutes (or 1/360ths of a degree). So, with your numbers, 5-6 minutes is equal to 5/60 to 6/60, which translates into 1/12 (0.08333) or 1/10 (0.1) degrees. You can ignore the seconds, since the value is so small. Even if you measure in degrees minutes seconds, I would still expect a reading of 0.5 to 1.5 degrees. The fractional value would either be measured in decimal degrees (1.7 degrees, for example), or minutes and seconds (1 degree, 42 minutes, 0 seconds), or all minutes (30 to 90 minutes). From a previous posting to the list (courtesy of reinhart@neuro.duke.edu): "Camber and caster are fixed, unless 1) you have aftermarket camber plates, or 2) someone has reversed the strut bearings. This 'trick' dials in more negative camber without significantly altering the castor. Stock camber on a 95M3 is -0o55' +/-30'. So between -.5 and -1.5 degrees. On my '98 M3 the neg camber went to -2.3o and -2.2o after the bearing swap. This is enough neg. camber to heat up the tire insides more than the outsides on the road and produces asymmetrical tire wear (on the track this setup is awesome.......)." I seriously doubt that a mechanic could accurately and repeatedly obtain an accurate alignment measurement of 'seconds' (1/360th of a degree). For fun and games, plug your numbers into: http://www.library.uiuc.edu/max/DD2DMS.asp and you'll find that you have virtually no negative camber. _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at http://profiles.msn.com.
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#9. Re: [E36M3] first black eye - replacement foglights - from Skip Bogard
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Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2000 11:48:33 -0400 From: Skip Bogard <skip.bogard@alumni.duke.edu> Subject: Re: [E36M3] first black eye - replacement foglights I just got my fog's in from this BimmerParts sale. - "ZKW" is printed on the box. - They say "Made in Austria" on the lens, They come with everything a BMW OE part does including the gray bracket suspension. I think I'm happy! Ask me tomorrow. - Skip Chris Casey wrote: > > Date: Fri, 15 Sep 2000 09:59:43 -0700 (PDT) > From: Chris Casey <ccasey1@yahoo.com> > Subject: first black eye - replacement foglights > > Zygmunt Motors (http://www.bimmerparts.com/) is having > a special on foglights, and it says "COMPLETE WITH > BRACKET AND BULBS" but I'm not sure that that includes > the plastic clip...you'll have to call to see. You > can buy only one side if you want. > > Price is listed at $40 each side, but there's a > bimmer.org special for $36. > http://www.bimmer.org/m3/messages/messages/23730.html > > -Chris
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#10. Re: [E36M3] Need to Bleed Clutch? (was: RE: bleeding the clutch) - from Ron Buchalski
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Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2000 15:53:54 GMT From: "Ron Buchalski" <rbuchals@hotmail.com> Subject: Re: [E36M3] Need to Bleed Clutch? (was: RE: bleeding the clutch) Sean, I've always bled the clutch when I bleed the brakes. On my E30 318i, I found that the dirtiest, darkest brake fluid came out of the clutch hydraulic circuit. As one mechanic told me, "How many times do you use your brake pedal, and how many times do you use the clutch pedal?" Granted, the fluid in the brake hydraulic circuits encounters a great deal of heating that the clutch hydraulic circuit doesn't experience, but the whole hydraulic system is susceptible to the effects of moisture, so all fluid should be flushed out. When I recently bled the clutch hydraulic circuit on my M3, I first pressurized the system, then I pumped the clutch pedal 10-15 5 times, then I opened the bleeder screw and bled out several ounces of fluid. I then closed the bleeder screw, pumped the clutch pedal 10-15 times, and repeated the bleeding. I did this three times. The clutch pedal never felt mushy, and never went down to the floor. -rb >Date: Thu, 21 Sep 2000 22:03:13 PDT >From: "Sean Hester" <seanh_race@hotmail.com> >Subject: Re: [E36M3] Need to Bleed Clutch? (was: RE: bleeding the clutch) > >>>Do you have to bleed your clutch as part of the process to get the best >>>brake effort? Is there something special going on that the clutch needs >>>to be bled as well? > >it's nothing "special". the clutch just uses the same fluid, from the same >resivoir as the brakes. so i suppose you DO need to bleed it to get the >"most" of your bleeding effort. > >i never bled my clutch when i bled my brakes. BUT!!! i bled my brakes >every two track events, so the fluid was plenty fresh. _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at http://profiles.msn.com.
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#11. Ice9-wounded - from John Van Houten
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Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2000 10:52:37 -0500 From: "John Van Houten" <jvanhouten@ix.netcom.com> Subject: Ice9-wounded Well, I just returned from what started out as a fun weekend with the Windy City BMW CCA at Grattan Raceway in Michigan this past weekend. Friday instructor lapping was great, it's a fun track that is very busy and has a few "pucker" turns. It's like a big, fast autocross with lots of banked, off camber, blind turns with a quick elevation changes. It is fairly challenging to do right and a real blast in a beautiful setting. Anyway, in the first instructor session on Saturday morning (after running fine all day Friday), after about 8 laps, coming through turn 4, I heard a pop. I originally thought it was a tire, given the rear end's shimmy to the left (outside) when the pop occurred, but I now think it was just the loss of engine power. I pulled offline and when I saw some smoke out of the tailpipe, I pulled onto the grass and out of the way. By then, an absolutely huge cloud of white smoke was billowing out the tailpipe. According to spectators, it was quite a site to see--a large white caterpillar of smoke drifting over the countryside. Unfortunately, the wonderful motor that was in Ice 9 is now dead, kaput, sayonara. I pulled the spark plugs out at the track with the number two spark plug looking like it has seen the business end of a ball peen hammer. I pulled the head off last night and this is what I found. Not good... http://home.netcom.com/~jvanhout/ouch/ I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the car now--there are many options. I could put any number of motors in the car (used 3.0 or 3.2, BMW reman, TC Kline, used Euro, etc.), sell the car as is, or facilitate the installation of a motor for a new owner. I was selling the car to so I could race ITS next year, because of cheaper engines, ironically enough. Since I'm out the $ anyway, I may race the car next year and choose the motor based upon class (and how much $ I can scrape up). If anyone has any interest let me know. I'm just glad I hadn't sold the car to someone, only to have this happen a week later; I would have felt horribly. John 95M3 "Ice9" - wounded