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#1. Re: [E36M3] Stopping by NA BMW? - from Wen Liew
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Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2000 16:15:20 GMT From: "Wen Liew" <wwliew@hotmail.com> Subject: Re: [E36M3] Stopping by NA BMW? >Date: Thu, 21 Sep 2000 23:11:23 +0200 >From: John Demartino US-Valencia <j.demartino@us.qiagen.com> >Subject: Stopping by NA BMW? > >Is anyone who is going to Buttonwillow this weekend planning on stopping by >Nick Alexander's BMW before they head off to the track? If yes, I am >wondering if you would mind picking up a set of brake pads for me (they >will, of course, be paid for). Worth a few beers at least! > John, Since they're not EZ On EZ Off and they're not in the "best" part of town, perhaps we LA locals can coordinate our orders and rent an armored truck to get there, LOL! Aah....how we'll all miss the expedient free shipping... Wen _________________________________________________________________________ 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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#2. Re: [E36M3] Warranty up, now stuff's breaking -- help with OBC - from Sean Hester
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Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2000 10:07:11 PDT From: "Sean Hester" <seanh_race@hotmail.com> Subject: Re: [E36M3] Warranty up, now stuff's breaking -- help with OBC >Well, doesn't that just figure? My '97 M3 just turned >over to 50K miles earlier in the week. Last night, >with 50,121 miles on the clock, the CHECK CONTROL >light starts buggin' out on me and the OBC informs me >of "BRAKE LIGHT CIRCUIT" failure. > >I got home and backed up against my garage wall to see >if the lights were working -- they were. When I >restarted the car an hour later, the warning was gone >and all seems to be well. > >Is it just a fluke thing? Or can I expect what lots >of Bim-wads have warned me of, that the drivelines are >bullitproof, but everything else will break once the >warranty's gone? > >Should I look further into the warning message? this warning message is very common. you need to replace the switch. it's not really that much money. it will continue to work, for the time being, but will give you the warning messages randomly as it gets closer to failure. mine took 18 months to finally break, with error messages being almost constant those last few weeks. P.S. i don't know if i'd go as far as saying "the driveline's are bulletproof" myself. but maybe i'm a little bitter. ;-P _________________________________________________________________________ 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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#3. Re: [E36M3] Need to Bleed Clutch? (was: RE: bleeding the clutch) - from Sean Hester
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Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2000 10:17:54 PDT From: "Sean Hester" <seanh_race@hotmail.com> Subject: Re: [E36M3] Need to Bleed Clutch? (was: RE: bleeding the clutch) >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. yeah i know... it's a lazyness thing. the clutch is just so hard to deal with compared to the brakes. ;-P i DID, once a year, pay someone to change all the fluid (including the clutch). and once a year is more then BMW says it's needed. (they say every two years) it's just the other 15 times a year that i skipped the clutch. <rationalizing> since the clutch fluid doesn't get super-hot, once a year is probably enough. it's only the brake fluid that get abused at the track </rationalizing> so... if you're doing your once every two year bleed/flush yourself you SHOULD do the clutch. but if you bled your fluid two weeks ago (which was often the case for me) i think you can get away with skipping it. _________________________________________________________________________ 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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#4. RE: Swapping Strut Hats on '95 M3 - Caster Change - from BobTunnell@aol.com
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Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2000 13:22:19 EDT From: BobTunnell@aol.com Subject: RE: Swapping Strut Hats on '95 M3 - Caster Change Lowell, Glad you reposted this. I knew *someone* <g> sent me a similar question a couple weeks ago just before I left for Solo Nationals and I lost it. Worse yet, I couldn't remember who sent it. I'm very sorry. I get about 10-15 questions a day and lose one now and then. Anyway... We're dealing with two different types of cars and two different types of strut hats. The '95 cars are different from the '96+ cars and the '95 hats are different from the '96+ hats. Be careful not to confuse them. Plus, lets be sure we're talking about "swapping" the hats from side to side and not "rotating" them 120 degrees because *very* different results will occur. - 95 hats are symmetrical in that the bearing is centered in the longitudinal plane. Swapping them from side to side on a 95 car should have no effect on camber or caster. - 96+ hats are offset in the longitudinal plane and swapping them side to side on a 96+ car will increase negative camber in a 96 car by approx. 1 degree, but should have no effect on caster. - Installing 96+ hats on a 95 car in the "correct" sides (they're marked "L" and "R") should *decrease* negative camber by approx 1/2 degree, while installing them on the "incorrect" side of the car should *increase* negative camber by approx 1/2 degree. Neither installation should affect caster. - *Rotating* hats (either type of hat on any year of car) 120 degrees so that the bearing moves toward the centerline of the car will greatly increase negative camber and reduce caster. I don't know how much because I don't do it and I don't recommend it. I'm not saying it's a bad thing to do and I'm sure others on this list can vouch for its usefulness, but I can't. These are very general guidelines and manufacturing tolerances vary widely on different cars so YMMV. Lowell, for your specific problem, I agree with Ron that you should check the lower control arm bushings. They can greatly affect caster. Hope that helps, Bob PS to those that have written me privately: I've still got a backlog of about 50 more tech and autox questions that came in while I was gone. I'm trying to knock out about 10 a day before I leave for Runnofs next week. I will get to them! Thanks.-- BT
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#5. RE: Wheel Repair--Bay Area - from Steve Grigory
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Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2000 10:29:47 -0700 From: "Steve Grigory" <sgrigory@alchemedia.com> Subject: RE: Wheel Repair--Bay Area Regarding Wheel Techniques in Campbell... I took my 94 RX7 there a few years ago. It had a very noticable bent wheel from hitting a big rock on the freeway at night. They did a great job! I used that wheel daily and at track events for the next several years with no issues or problems. steve
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#6. Re: [E36M3] Warranty up, now stuff's breaking -- help with OBC - from Peter Guagenti
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Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2000 10:33:50 -0700 From: Peter Guagenti <peter@guagenti.com> Subject: Re: [E36M3] Warranty up, now stuff's breaking -- help with OBC on 9/22/00 10:14 AM, Sean Hester at seanh_race@hotmail.com wrote: > this warning message is very common. you need to replace the switch. I bought the switch, but couldn't figure out how to do the install. Anyone ever do a write-up? -p
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#7. RE: [E36M3] Need to Bleed Clutch? (was: RE: bleeding the clutch) - from Andy Korczynski
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Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2000 13:40:59 -0500 From: "Andy Korczynski" <andy@casskor.com> Subject: RE: [E36M3] Need to Bleed Clutch? (was: RE: bleeding the clutch) Ok so here is a question for all you brake masters: Several people mentioned you don't need to bleed your clutch as often cause the fluid doesn't get as hot. Well if both the clutch and the brakes get fluid from the same place how are they not mixed? Or am I missing something here? Andy K. -----Original Message----- From: Sean Hester [mailto:seanh_race@hotmail.com] Sent: Friday, September 22, 2000 12:24 PM To: E36M3 Subject: Re: [E36M3] Need to Bleed Clutch? (was: RE: bleeding the clutch) Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2000 10:17:54 PDT From: "Sean Hester" <seanh_race@hotmail.com> Subject: Re: [E36M3] Need to Bleed Clutch? (was: RE: bleeding the clutch) >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. yeah i know... it's a lazyness thing. the clutch is just so hard to deal with compared to the brakes. ;-P i DID, once a year, pay someone to change all the fluid (including the clutch). and once a year is more then BMW says it's needed. (they say every two years) it's just the other 15 times a year that i skipped the clutch. <rationalizing> since the clutch fluid doesn't get super-hot, once a year is probably enough. it's only the brake fluid that get abused at the track </rationalizing> so... if you're doing your once every two year bleed/flush yourself you SHOULD do the clutch. but if you bled your fluid two weeks ago (which was often the case for me) i think you can get away with skipping it. _________________________________________________________________________ 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. ************************************************************* List Commands UNSUBSCRIBE - (in subject line) unsubscribes you from the mailing list. *************************************************************
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#8. Re: [E36M3] Need to Bleed Clutch? (was: RE: bleeding the clutch) - from Jim Powell
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Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2000 12:07:04 -0700 From: Jim Powell <jsp98m3@home.com> Subject: Re: [E36M3] Need to Bleed Clutch? (was: RE: bleeding the clutch) You ever see a return line on a hydraulic brake system? Me neither. Its a dead in system. Hysterisis will cause some mixing backup stream but there's no recirculating path. Jim Andy Korczynski wrote: > Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2000 13:40:59 -0500 > From: "Andy Korczynski" <andy@casskor.com> > Subject: RE: [E36M3] Need to Bleed Clutch? (was: RE: bleeding the clutch) > > Ok so here is a question for all you brake masters: > > Several people mentioned you don't need to bleed your clutch as often cause > the fluid doesn't get as hot. Well if both the clutch and the brakes get > fluid from the same place how are they not mixed? Or am I missing something > here? > > Andy K. > > -----Original Message----- > From: Sean Hester [mailto:seanh_race@hotmail.com] > Sent: Friday, September 22, 2000 12:24 PM > To: E36M3 > Subject: Re: [E36M3] Need to Bleed Clutch? (was: RE: bleeding the > clutch) > > Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2000 10:17:54 PDT > From: "Sean Hester" <seanh_race@hotmail.com> > Subject: Re: [E36M3] Need to Bleed Clutch? (was: RE: bleeding the clutch) > > >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. > > yeah i know... it's a lazyness thing. the clutch is just so hard to deal > with compared to the brakes. ;-P > > i DID, once a year, pay someone to change all the fluid (including the > clutch). and once a year is more then BMW says it's needed. (they say > every two years) it's just the other 15 times a year that i skipped the > clutch. > > <rationalizing> since the clutch fluid doesn't get super-hot, once a year is > probably enough. it's only the brake fluid that get abused at the track > </rationalizing> > > so... if you're doing your once every two year bleed/flush yourself you > SHOULD do the clutch. but if you bled your fluid two weeks ago (which was > often the case for me) i think you can get away with skipping it. > > _________________________________________________________________________ > 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. > > ************************************************************* > List Commands > UNSUBSCRIBE - (in subject line) unsubscribes you from the mailing list. > ************************************************************* > > ************************************************************* > List Commands > UNSUBSCRIBE - (in subject line) unsubscribes you from the mailing list. > *************************************************************
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#9. Re: [E36M3] Ice9-wounded - from Andrew E. Kalman
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Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2000 11:24:25 -0700 From: "Andrew E. Kalman" <aek@pumpkininc.com> Subject: Re: [E36M3] Ice9-wounded Ouch. I wonder if perhaps you had a retainer fail, which led to a valve dropping into the motor. Not su sure about the "missing" piston, though ... -- ______________________________________ Andrew E. Kalman, Ph.D. aek@pumpkininc.com
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#10. Re: -- help with OBC - from Skip Bogard
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Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2000 15:50:09 -0400 From: Skip Bogard <skip.bogard@alumni.duke.edu> Subject: Re: -- help with OBC I've concluded that while Germany produces great steel their brass totally sucks. Maybe they should leave brass to India. Meanwhile, to work on your "Brake Light Circuit" message 1) remove your brake light bulbs (from memory they are the two closest to the centerline) and lightly sand the contacts on the bulb with 150-200 grit sandpaper or an emory board. 2) lightly sand the bulb contacts in the holders. One great tool to use is a fibrous sanding brush that is use to touch up nicks (pic here: http://www.web-cars.com/detail/touchup.html) .... keep your eyes outta the way. I'm not endorsing that web site, you can get these fiber sanders at any discount auto chain with little shopping effort. 3) years ago it was digest lore that the light circuit was sensitive to 'balance' in terms of resistance, and bulbs should be replaced in pairs. I don't know if that's really true, but may have merit. Other <peoples> thoughts? 4) if all that doesn't work, go to your dealer for a new $10-$12 brake light switch. Dealer installed its about $50 total, or you can DIY w/o special bmw tools. - Skip S Flanagan wrote: .................................... Last night, > with 50,121 miles on the clock, the CHECK CONTROL > light starts buggin' out on me and the OBC informs me > of "BRAKE LIGHT CIRCUIT" failure. > > I got home and backed up against my garage wall to see > if the lights were working -- they were. When I > restarted the car an hour later, the warning was gone > and all seems to be well. > > Is it just a fluke thing? We all suffer this.