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#1.M Contours - from vincent.a.leo@us.arthurandersen.com
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Date: Tue, 2 Jan 2001 23:31:50 -0500 From: vincent.a.leo@us.arthurandersen.com Subject: <WTB> M Contours Hi all, I am looking for two 8.5x17 M Contour wheels in excellent shape. If you have a full set of staggered contours (7.5 and 8.5), I'd consider buying the whole the whole set. I am looking for stock BMW - no knock-offs. Rims must have no curb rash, bends, cracks or rework. Vince 99 M3 w/ staggered contours 89 M3 *******************Internet Email Confidentiality Footer******************* Privileged/Confidential Information may be contained in this message. If you are not the addressee indicated in this message (or responsible for delivery of the message to such person), you may not copy or deliver this message to anyone. In such case, you should destroy this message and kindly notify the sender by reply email. Please advise immediately if you or your employer do not consent to Internet email for messages of this kind. Opinions, conclusions and other information in this message that do not relate to the official business of my firm shall be understood as neither given nor endorsed by it.
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#2. FS: 18inch polished BBS RC's - from ClassiGuy3@aol.com
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Date: Tue, 2 Jan 2001 23:37:03 EST From: ClassiGuy3@aol.com Subject: FS: 18inch polished BBS RC's set of 4 polished bbs rc's 18 inch, with michelin pilots mxx3's 235 35zr18. less than 2k miles. mint condition located in nyc. $2200 obo from a 95 m3. Leo
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#3. Re: [E36M3] Alignment Specs (was Kmac Camber/Caster plates) (and Kmac again!) - from LoweSeaton@aol.com
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Date: Wed, 3 Jan 2001 01:40:24 EST From: LoweSeaton@aol.com Subject: Re: [E36M3] Alignment Specs (was Kmac Camber/Caster plates) (and Kmac again!) Daniel, I agree with Chris. Front caster does have a significant effect on tracking. My '95 M3 had always pulled slightly to the right too. I took it to the dealer early on and complained. I got the usual: "Its normal", "Within spec", "Caused by the road crown", "Can't duplicate", yada, yada, ..... I lived with it for 4 years. But when I started using Toyo R-Compound tires on the street, the pull became severe. Almost dangerous to let go of the steering wheel. I had an independent shop do an alignment. My final readings were: Front - Toe: Left 6 minutes Right 6 minutes Camber: Left minus 1 degree Right minus 0 degree, 56 minutes Caster: Left 6 degree, 16 minutes Right 5 degrees, 56 minutes Rear - Toe: Left 14 minutes Right 14 minutes Camber: Left minus 1 degree, 12 minutes Right minus 1 degree, 12 minutes All within factory spec except the right front caster just 4 minutes too little and the rear camber should have been 28 minutes less. I think my pull was due to the difference in front caster = 20 minutes difference. I cured my pull by using K-MAC camber plates. I have the left side set for minimum caster, minimum camber and the right side set for maximum caster, minimum camber. I don't know what my alignment specs are now. But it tracks perfectly straight now. If the pull is really annoying you, I'd recommend trying adjustable camber plates like K-MAC. Adjust the caster to reduce/eliminate the pull. I like the K-MAC for this reason alone. And speaking of. I'll agree with Jim P on this. K-MAC's aren't that bad. Please tell me what part of it is visible with the hood closed? ;-) If it is that worrisome, put the original plastic caps back on. They should fit on the nuts. Or ultimately, put on a JTD strut tower brace. JTD's cap covers the whole thing. Lowell Seaton '95 M3 - finally tracks straight as an arrow! Dallas, Texas
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#4. Re: [E36M3] Am I destined to hate my car? [long] - from LoweSeaton@aol.com
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Date: Wed, 3 Jan 2001 02:42:57 EST From: LoweSeaton@aol.com Subject: Re: [E36M3] Am I destined to hate my car? [long] Rob, I'm sorry, but I can't feel sorry for you. :) You want to really feel pain? Try riding in my M3. My '95 M3 is WAY stiffer than yours! LOL Funny. I have nearly the same setups you have tried or now have. I currently have Dinan springs, Bilstein shocks, '96+ rear sway bar, BMP urethane sway bar bushings, K-MAC camber plates. But the piece de resistance that I have over you is R-compound tires. Try driving on Bilstein shocks and R-compound tires with STIFF sidewalls in 25 degree weather! I can sympathize with you regarding the Bilsteins. They are ungodly stiff! Why on earth did Bilstein make them so stiff? Your ride harshness is totally due to the Bilsteins. I tried Dinan springs with worn out stock shocks, stock springs with Bilsteins, and Dinan springs with Bilstein shocks. The Bilsteins always make the ride unnecessarily harsh. I wonder if Bilstein recently changed the valving to make it stiffer? I've ridden in other M3's with Bilstein and H&R springs. Those M3's were MUCH softer than my M3. I almost think I have the wrong part numbers. On these other Bilstein equipped M3's, you can push up and down on the front bumper and move the car up and down. Not mine. You can bust a blood vessel trying but you won't move my bumper up and down more than 1/4 inch. Who needs sway bars with Bilstein's? There is NO body roll with my M3 and I have stock sway bars. Rob, I don't know what to tell you. When you figure something out, let me know. :) Personally, I think the Bilstein's are way better made shocks than Koni's. They are high pressure gas charged; they are mono tube vs. twin tube for less sprung weight. Bilstein has a reputation for standing behind their products. Koni - good luck. And many of the Koni shocks can't be adjusted because the adjuster breaks off or won't work. The adjustability is really to compensate for wear. They wear out so fast they need adjustment! Koni's really sound like junk to me. I won't buy them. I think my next step will be to revalve the Bilsteins. I'm trying to figure out how much to back off the valving. I may request a 50% softer valving! Some nice weekend, I may take them off and send them off to Bilstein. Lowell Seaton '95 M3 Dallas, Texas
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#5. Re: [E36M3] Motorcycles and M5s - from James Dye
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Date: Wed, 03 Jan 2001 00:57:54 -0800 From: James Dye <jamesdye@goldenmanor.org> Subject: Re: [E36M3] Motorcycles and M5s Sorry for the long post...it is from a friend who races a motorcycle on California tracks and goes for Sunday drives near Santa Rosa California. Seems four dudes showed up last Sunday in a new M5 (temp plates) and road on the butt of a motorcycle or two. Text follows: Kelly and I snuck out on Monday for a ride up to Sears Point West. Lots of motorcycle traffic. There must have been 15 motorcycles from the Bay Area up riding around and video taping each other. We stayed away from any sort of group ride for fear of carnage. We were sitting at the bridge and watching these guys come down the hill one at a time and stop. Then a black 2001 BMW M5 comes down the hill in-between a VFR and a 929. The car stops on the bridge and unloads. Four guys pile out with grins from ear to ear. The car's brakes are smoking. They passed us going back towards Healdsburg and turned around to see if they could keep up with some of the motorcycle riders. The driver was wearing sandals! They immediately tired to single out one of the motorcycle guys to tell him that they hoped that it was ok that they were tailing him at speed. The driver admits that it was the fastest he's ever gone in his life. It wasn't even his car! Fortunately nobody was hurt, other than a couple of motorcycle riders egos for being caught by a car. Unfortunately our little playground is starting to get a reputation with Bay Area motorcycle riders en masse and now it seems car guys and girls. It is more important than ever to be careful up there. You don't just have to deal with water, sand, gravel, deer, dogs, Sunday Drivers, vineyard trucks, hunters, wild pigs, bicyclists, hikers, painters, photographers, locals, but now it is crazy car drivers that take up the whole road!
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#6. RE: winter m3 - from Zorine, Dmitri Y, CSCIO
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Date: Wed, 3 Jan 2001 08:29:55 -0500 From: "Zorine, Dmitri Y, CSCIO" <dmitri@att.com> Subject: RE: winter m3 > I like about the Pirelli Asymetricos is that while they allowed me to > drive around in the deep snow we had on saturday, they also let me drive at the > same speed in the dry that my pilot sports do, without feeling squirmy or > insecure. I have a feeling they are some of the best tires in the winter > dry there are for winter tires. Do you feel the Pilot Alpins are decent in > the winter dry also? What are they....H rated, or V? Thanks. Let me clarify. Last year's summer tires were Pilot Sports in stock sizes, going to Alpins in the winter I didn't notice huge difference in handling. Granted they have softer sidewalls and full deep tread so of course they weren't 100% as good as Pilot Sports in the dry, I'd say they were about 85% as good. This year, summer tires were Yoko A032's in 235/40-17 all around and going to 225/45-17 Alpins was a big difference. They feel fine at highway speeds and all, and even cornering isn't bad speed-wise, it just doesn't feel as planted and glued to the road as with Yoko's, but which street tire would. What I lost was straight line braking. I don't know if it's because I got used to Yoko's grip, but I feel they lock up much sooner. But I like them for winter, of course they are not fool-proof and driving in the winter still takes some common sense, but these are good tires. I never drove Pirelli 210's so can't compare. Dmitri
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#7. E36 M3 rims on E39? - from C.Park
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Date: Wed, 3 Jan 2001 09:47:41 -0500 (EST) From: "C.Park" <cpar2@osf1.gmu.edu> Subject: E36 M3 rims on E39? Hey anybody: Can you mount any factory E36 M3 rim on a 2001 E39 530i? I know my spare '95 E36 M3 rims have a 41 mm offset. TIA. -charles
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#8. Re: Am I destined to hate my car? [Long] - from Neil Maller
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Date: Wed, 03 Jan 2001 10:02:27 -0500 From: Neil Maller <neil.maller@gte.net> Subject: Re: Am I destined to hate my car? [Long] on 1/2/01 23:02, peter@guagenti.com wrote: > Rob, <big snip> > The next step is swaybars. I think your solution is here. Just putting them > on and setting them to stiff/soft (most understeer) is step one of a long > process of refining your set-up. Don't hate them yet. If you put them on > and they hurt the ride quality too much for you, you're done. Just pull them > off and wait for the next car you think will have the right balance for you. We should also bear in mind that all the parts Rob's played with interact with each other. A key example: Roll stiffness is controlled both by swaybars and by the car's springs, and transitionally by the shocks (and their settings, if adjustable). So for instance changing the springs - unless the percentage spring rate change happens to be identical front to rear, very unlikely - will not only stiffen or soften the car overall, but will also affect the front/rear balance. This would suggest a swaybar change to restore the original degree of understeer or oversteer. Put another way, changing either springs or shocks will also change the effective swaybar settings. (As I recall Rob did say in his original post that one of his setups made the car feel as if it wanted to spin. Since that's a characteristic of oversteer rather than the understeer he complained of, I'm confused.) I think it would be interesting to try: - Stock springs (for comfort), or possibly slightly stiffer springs such as those from the M3 Lightweight. Note that comparative numerical info on spring rates seems to be hard to come by. - Koni adjustables, set softer for daily use, harder for track/autoX. Double adjustable would be best, mainly because their rear adjustment is external. I'm not a big fan of the Bilsteins: they're rather harsh, and of course not adjustable. Aftermarket coilover setups are aimed at the hardcore track market, so everyday comfort isn't likely to have been a consideration. They're also very expensive. - Moderate negative camber at the front from 4mm shims. Optionally use no shims for daily driving, and 4mm or 6mm shims for track/autoX. - Then play with the swaybar and shock settings. As a calibration point, in the summer I run H&R sport springs with Koni singles set about 75% stiff, plus 4 mm camber shims and RD sways. This is effective on the track, bone-jarring on city streets, and smooths out at speed. But in the winter I refit stock springs/struts/shocks for comfort and ground clearance, although keeping the RD sways. While I obviously have the parts to do so, I've never run the Konis with stock springs. Neil 96 M3
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#9. Smashed up Tail!! - from Nickerson, Joe
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Date: Wed, 03 Jan 2001 11:02:21 -0500 From: "Nickerson, Joe" <joe.nickerson@lmco.com> Subject: Smashed up Tail!! Hey Guys, Some brilliant individual in his Jeep Grand Cherokee decided to run into the back of my M3 at about 65 MPH. So my question is short and simple, can anyone recommend a good place to get it repaired in Washington DC area, and anything I should be on the lookout for to make sure it was repaired correctly. Thanks, Joe
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#10. Re: [E36M3] Motorcycles and M5s - from peter@guagenti.com
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Date: Wed, 3 Jan 2001 08:20:48 US/Pacific From: peter@guagenti.com Subject: Re: [E36M3] Motorcycles and M5s > Sorry for the long post...it is from a friend who races a motorcycle > on California tracks > and goes for Sunday drives near Santa Rosa California. Okay, where _exactly_ is this road you guys have been opening up on? Santa Rosa is but a brief jaunt from home and I'd love to dig in to a new road on Sundays. ;-) -p ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This message was sent using HiSpeed Technologies Webmail. http://www.hispeed.com