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#1. RE: [E36M3] winter m3 - from Zorine, Dmitri Y, CSCIO
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Date: Tue, 2 Jan 2001 09:11:24 -0500 From: "Zorine, Dmitri Y, CSCIO" <dmitri@att.com> Subject: RE: [E36M3] winter m3 > shame Pirelli discontinued making them in the 225/45-17 size which most of > us use, and is the perfect size for our cars. I keep mine on from December > through March. That's about 4500 miles per year, so I should get maybe 5 > years out of them. But when they go, does anybody have an idea about an > alternate, which is as good in the snow AND as good in the dry? Would any > of the V rated winter performance tires be as good in the dry? thanks. > _____________________________ > Paul Elliott > '99 Alpine White M3 <25000 mi Forged M dbl-spokes; Rotex I've been using Michelin Pilot Alpin for two winters now in that exact size, 225/45-17. Of course in the dry they are no match to Yoko A032R's I use in summer, but they have pretty good predictable grip, aren't too loud, and are pretty good in snow. Granted here in NJ we don't get 3 months of continuous snow, but in what we got over last two winters, I'm yet to get stuck. '99 M3
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#2. Re: Ungodly crackeling noise in '99 M3 coupe - from lee.leslie@firstunion.com
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Date: Tue, 2 Jan 2001 10:21:05 -0500 From: lee.leslie@firstunion.com Subject: Re: Ungodly crackeling noise in '99 M3 coupe Yep.. I bet that is it.. are you (GSM M3) one of those guys that spenT all his loot on the car/upgrades & could not afford the garage to properly take care of that fine machine you drive? :0) Cheerz! Date: Fri, 22 Dec 2000 15:59:34 -0500 From: "jlaj" <jlaj@msn.com> Subject: Re: Ungodly crackeling noise in '99 M3 coupe Could it be a dried leaf inside the heating duct. I sometimes get this in my beater as it is always parked under a tree. Joseph > Date: Fri, 22 Dec 2000 14:36:17 -0000 > From: "GSM M3" <carpediemm3@hotmail.com> > Subject: Ungodly crackeling noise in '99 M3 coupe > > Good morning group, > > This morning's scenario: > I fired up the car (outside temp displayed on OBC as 26 degrees F here in > Chapel Hill, NC.), let it warm/idle up for about 3-5 minutes, then took off. > I also turned on both front and rear defrosters during the warmup as well. > From the moment I left the driveway, the car made a creaking/squeaking > noise, like that of a thin sheet of foil being wrinkled lightly. I mean over > each tiny little road imperfection, it filled the cabin w/ this noise; with > no major give-away as to the exact location of the squeak eit
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#3. Sim Racing (M3 driving school content) - from Chris Gant
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Date: Tue, 2 Jan 2001 11:28:52 -0600 From: "Chris Gant" <cgant@home.com> Subject: Sim Racing (M3 driving school content) > Subject: Way off-topic: SportsCarGT computer game. > > I also got Need for Speed III (fun but not very accurate) and Nascar racing. > Any more games that I should consider? Sorry if this is too off topic... Sim racing is an excellent way to improve (or learn) driving skills. I have been sim racing for about 8 years now, and it is an excellent trainer for the real thing...especially if you have never done any form of racing before. A few years ago I had finally scraped up enough money to attend a real driving school with real race cars. After the first day I was asked by 3 different people (2 were instructors) if I had ever done any kind of racing before. Of course I didn't tell them I learned to drive on a computer, I simply played innocent and said 'no'. Needless to say I got a lot more instruction than the other students for the rest of the weekend. Although I occasionally attend BMW Driving schools at Texas World Speedway, I mainly auto-x my M3, (M3 content) and I can consistantly place some of the fastest times of the day thanks to my racing 'games'. The most realistic racing sim is Grand Prix Legends as far as vehicle dynamics go. It's is also the most difficult to master, but you will definately notice an improvement in your car control skills on the track or at the auto-x. And for the Mother of all sim racing games check out: http://www.west-racing.com/ It's not due out for a few more months but should blow all other racing sims away. And....if you want the ultimate in realistic sim racing cockpits, check out this full size simulator: http://www.hyperstimcanada.com/indexframe.html. I have had one of these for about a year now and it was worth every penny. Chris Gant 95 M3
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#4. Kmac Camber/Caster plates - from Chris Gant
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Date: Tue, 2 Jan 2001 11:35:08 -0600 From: "Chris Gant" <cgant@home.com> Subject: Kmac Camber/Caster plates > Subject: Kmac Camber/Caster plates > > Anybody have these installed and have an opinion on > them I have tried these and they will give you a little more camber than stock. I sold them though, because I am picky. (who isn't when it comes to their M3???). While they are inexpensive (price & quality speaking), they do raise the front of the car a bit, they look cheap, and they are hard to adjust (stick a screwdriver in them and pry against the strut tower to move them). If you want inexpensive camber, use the 'shims under the strut' method and swap the strut hats. This will give more camber than the K-Macs can. If you prefer a real racing set-up, TC Kline or Ground Control both make very nice units that don't raise the car up, look very trick, and you don't tear up your strut towers trying to adjust them with a screwdriver. Of course if you're not picky, the K-Macs will work just fine! Chris 95 M3
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#5. Factory Fix for Rear Camber? - from Chris Gant
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Date: Tue, 2 Jan 2001 11:46:07 -0600 From: "Chris Gant" <cgant@home.com> Subject: Factory Fix for Rear Camber? >But does the factory also have something for the rear camber? Like >slightly longer "barbecue tongs"? Or offset bushings for them? There are eccentric bolts in the lower control arms already, but they are not in the optimal 'sweet spot' for serious cambers adjustments. I read a post from Carl Buckland some time ago that said he took his car to a shop and had them 'move' the holes in the lower control arm to give him more camber and to even out both sides (seems that even at the maxium settings, one side had more camber than the other). If I recall, they slotted the holes in the lower control arms a little and moved the little tab that the eccentric bolt (washer) rests against which effectively moved the 'range' of the adjustment. This gave him the same amount of adjustability, just in a more aggressive range than the factory had designed. Chris 95 M3
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#6. Re: [E36M3] Kmac Camber/Caster plates - from Jim Powell
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Date: Tue, 02 Jan 2001 09:48:27 -0800 From: Jim Powell <jsp98m3@apexcone.com> Subject: Re: [E36M3] Kmac Camber/Caster plates Oh they aren't THAT bad. I'm picky. And I don't pry against the towers either. Either one will work fine. Buy on price, including tax and/or shipping. Anybody think my car looks jacked in front? Anybody? Bueller? Jim Chris Gant wrote: > Date: Tue, 2 Jan 2001 11:35:08 -0600 > From: "Chris Gant" <cgant@home.com> > Subject: Kmac Camber/Caster plates > > > Subject: Kmac Camber/Caster plates > > > > Anybody have these installed and have an opinion on > > them > > I have tried these and they will give you a little more camber than > stock. I sold them though, because I am picky. (who isn't when it comes to > their M3???). While they are inexpensive (price & quality speaking), they do > raise the front of the car a bit, they look cheap, and they > are hard to adjust (stick a screwdriver in them and pry against the strut > tower to move them). If you want inexpensive camber, use the > 'shims under the strut' method and swap the strut hats. This will give more > camber than the K-Macs can. If you prefer a real racing set-up, TC Kline or > Ground Control both make very nice units that don't raise the car up, look > very trick, and you don't tear up your strut towers trying to adjust them > with a screwdriver. Of course if you're not picky, the K-Macs will work just > fine! > > Chris > 95 M3 > > ************************************************************* > List Commands > UNSUBSCRIBE - (in subject line) unsubscribes you from the mailing list. > DIR - sends a listing of files available in the list's GET directory. > GET filename1.ext,filename2.ext - sends the requested file(s). > > To issue a command/request to the server: > Send a message with the command you wish executed as the > subject of the message. > *************************************************************
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#7. 2001 Calendar - from Mark Radelow
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Date: Tue, 02 Jan 2001 18:05:37 -0000 From: "Mark Radelow" <radelow@hotmail.com> Subject: 2001 Calendar Anyone know where I can get a cool 2001 BMW calendar? Maybe M or racing oriented... Thanks! Mark 95 ///M3 91 GTi 16v 88 Chevy Fullsize _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com
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#8. Am I destined to hate my car? [long] - from Rob Hatrak
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Date: Tue, 2 Jan 2001 10:51:41 -0800 From: "Rob Hatrak" <Hatrak@ix.netcom.com> Subject: Am I destined to hate my car? [long] For anyone that might be interested, here's an update of my suspension saga: Car: 1995 M3 Setup #1 - Factory -------------- Nice ride but the car understeers way too much and leans way too much in the corners. Time to upgrade. I drove the car with this setup for 6 months. Setup #2 - Factory with rotated strut hats. ----------------------------------------- Added tons a negative camber in the front. It destroyed the insides of my tires, decreased understeer somewhat, and made the car scary to drive at high speed. VERY darty and unstable. I might have had a bad alignment, but wasn't interested in keeping this setup for more than 6 months - went back to setup #1. Setup #3 - Factory w/ X-brace and LTW strut bar ------------------------------------------------- Gee those parts look real cool but don't seem to have done much. The front end does feel a bit stiffer though. Not better or worse, just stiffer. I drove the car with this setup for a bit over 2 years. Setup #4 - Billstein Sports with H&R OE Sport springs ----------------------------------------------------------- The car still plows just as badly, rides nearly 3/4 of an inch higher than before, and now it hurts when you drive over the smallest bumps. The car stays much flatter in the corners and lets me carry more speed into, through, and out of a corner. Cool. I really like the improvement in handling, so I'll live with the harsh ride for 2 1/2 years. Setup #5 - Change rear way bar to that of a 99M3 ---------------------------------------------------- Snore. Slight handling improvement (like .0002% better). I still like the handling, but I also still hate the ride. Setup #6 - Replace H&R springs with stock units, and added Eibach sway bars set to soft ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------- I have hated my car for the last two years. The ride is killing me, and we now always take the E320 for drives that include anyone but me. It's time to put the brand new stock springs and struts on the car. A miscommunication with the parts supplier sent me the wrong front struts. So, we put the Billsteins back on the car, put the stock springs on, and installed the Eibach swaybars. This is when I sent my last email to the group(s) singing the virtues of the Eibachs. The car was flat-out awesome in the corners. I was very excited about the handling but still hated the ride. The removal of the H&R springs made the car a touch softer, but not much. The initial force of any road impact still was miserable. I had fun with the car for 2 weeks with this setup. No corner was too fast, the car stuck to the asphalt like it was welded on, understeer was at a very acceptable level, and did I mention the cornering? I felt like superman in a Kindergarten gym class. Setup #7 - Replace the Billsteins with the factory struts ------------------------------------------------------------ Damn. Another step backwards. The car rides like a dream and we can take it for drives again. Those are very good things, but the handling sucks again (when compared to setup #6). It feels just like it did when I was at setup #4. Huge amounts of understeer. The car now feels like it is going to spin at any moment when taking long, fast sweeping turns. Very skittish. What people had told me about changing swaybars is starting to ring true. Setup #8 - ???????????? --------------------- I am trying to figure out what to do next. My options are: 1. Set the sway bars to Stiff/Stiff. I hope this will do the trick, but I doubt it. 2. Re-valve the Billsteins 3. Put either Euro M3 or the H&R springs back on the car. 4. Give up and wait for the 2002 M3, 2002 M5, or a 996. Does anyone have any other ideas that might help me achieve car Zen? Thanks for listening and any input, Rob Hatrak 95 M3 with way too many mods Sin City Chapter, BMW CCA
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#9. Re: SportsCarGT - from Chris Casey
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Date: Tue, 2 Jan 2001 11:01:42 -0800 (PST) From: Chris Casey <ccasey1@yahoo.com> Subject: Re: SportsCarGT Bora, I just hooked up my new force feedback wheel last night and tried out SportsCar GT - I am hooked. I (actually Santa) spent more money than you did on my wheel (Logitech - ~$120), but I have no complaints about it. My best around Chatham so far is a 48.5 in a default M3, although my "line" wasn't much of one, and my consistency is for crap (only a couple out of my 30 or 40 laps were under 49). Other than smacking headlong into the wall at the kink a couple of times (kept the accelerator pressed down with the brake pedal - whoops!), I was pretty pleased with my ability to catch and correct oversteer. I guess the Skip Barber school paid off! If I find any tricks or interesting sections, I'll let you know. Please do the same for me. Happy holidays to all! -Chris > > Date: Sat, 30 Dec 2000 14:28:40 -0800 > > From: "Bora Akyol" <akyol@akyol.org> > > Subject: Way off-topic: SportsCarGT computer game. > > > > Santa brought me this computer game for christmas > and I just ordered a > > steering wheel to use with this game (AVB Magturbo > force feedback, $69, > > www.avbtech.com). Any pointers on how to play this > game. With the > keyboard, > > the cars feels very dicey. > > > > I also got Need for Speed III (fun but not very > accurate) and Nascar > racing. > > Any more games that I should consider. > > > > They have the E36 M3s in SportsCarGT. > > > > I manage to do chatham in 49 seconds by the way. > > > > Thanks > > > > Bora __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Photos - Share your holiday photos online! http://photos.yahoo.com/
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#10. Eastern Motorwerks - from Jeff Kumler
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Date: Tue, 02 Jan 2001 13:36:34 -0600 From: "Jeff Kumler" <jdkumler@comdisco.com> Subject: Eastern Motorwerks Does anyone have a phone number for this company? I would like to contact them, but can only find email addresses or FAX numbers. I've been trying to place an order for a gauge kit since last week, but haven't had a response. Has anyone purchased any of there kits. Any comments? Thanks in advance, Jeff BMWCCA "Windy City Chapter" Member '96 M3 - IL "M PWRD 3", Conforti intake, Sharked, B&B, UUC STB & CS, Skaggs HT Pedals, X-Brace '94 Izusu Trooper - Bone stock and usally dirty