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#1. Re: [E36M3] One-piece race seat for daily driver? - from Sean Hester
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Date: Sun, 07 Jan 2001 20:04:46 -0800 From: "Sean Hester" <seanh_race@hotmail.com> Subject: Re: [E36M3] One-piece race seat for daily driver? > Anyone on the list have a daily driver with a one-piece race seat? I am >about to buy a pair of Sparco Torino's (aggressive bucket that reclines) >but >maybe I should consider a full-on seat like the EVO? The real race seats >are a PITA to get in and out of and I imagine you could never wear a jacket >while driving, but 'maybe' the extra support and weight savings are worth >it? don't do it. you'll hate yourself in the morning. besides the things you mention, (which is enough reasons for me) most one pieces also make the stock seatbelts almost useless. instead of the lap belt resting against your body, like it's supposed to, it's resting on the sides of the seat. about six inches away from your body. NOT a good thing. (i suppose if you weigh 300 pounds this might not be a problem) one pieces have those cutouts for the belts about 6 inches in from the edges. that's where the belts need to be. of course you can only do that with a five (or four) point harness system. of course... most harness systems aren't street legal. one pieces are also designed with a roll cage in mind. they keep you upright. it's their job. they don't do all that "crumple zone, collapse in just the right way to save the driver" magic. when you roll your car over and your seat keeps your head sticking up at far as possible you'll be wishing for: 1. a regular folding seat that would have collaped and allowed you to keep your head. 2. a roll cage. just don't do it. if you want to save the 20 pounds you'g get with a lighter seat, run with half a tank of gas. _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com
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#2. Re: [E36M3] Stiff suspension + ABS. Almost wrecked my car! (long) - from Sean Hester
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Date: Sun, 07 Jan 2001 20:22:45 -0800 From: "Sean Hester" <seanh_race@hotmail.com> Subject: Re: [E36M3] Stiff suspension + ABS. Almost wrecked my car! (long) it's true that race car suspensions are designed for smooth, dry, debris free roads. what do you do with your race car when it rains, or you're at a track with a crappy surface? SOFTEN IT UP! i know formula ford guys that completly disconnect the sway bars when it rains. and put the loosest springs they can find on the car. a car with a stiff suspension might as well be on ice skates on a wet or sandy or rocky road. good road conditions are also assumed for a car with a race suspension. at a race, you have 20-30 people standing around watching for the slightest bit of debris on the road. and they wave flags for you when something is on the road that's not supposed to be there, or wasn't there the lap before. so... you guys with race car suspensions are definetly taking risks driving on crappy public roads. ---- i'm a little curious about your "the ABS kicked in and kept me from stopping" moments. are you implying that you could have stopped better without the ABS? if the ABS is staying on a full second after your tires have traction, then there's something wrong with your ABS. i've heard that ABS actually makes for LONGER stopping distances on loose surfaces. like sand or gravel. but we're only talking like 10%. in all other instances (dry road, wet road, snow, ice, oil, etc...) ABS stops you sooner (or as soon as) a full lock up would have. if you hit frosty road and the ABS wasn't stopping you, i don't think you wouldn't have been stopping any better with your wheels locked up. and at least you stayed going in a straight line. wouldn't it have been fun to be spinning instead? P.S. as you alluded to... YES. it takes DOES more skill to drive a car with a race car suspension as well. every thing happens faster. and consequences are always greater... >From: "Rob" <motor@cadvision.com> >Reply-To: "Rob" <motor@cadvision.com> >To: E36M3 <e36m3@bmw-m.net> >Subject: [E36M3] Stiff suspension + ABS. Almost wrecked my car! (long) >Date: Sat, 6 Jan 2001 18:03:16 -0600 > >Date: Sat, 6 Jan 2001 16:57:31 -0700 >From: "Rob" <motor@cadvision.com> >Subject: Stiff suspension + ABS. Almost wrecked my car! (long) > > Sorry this is so long but I'd like to hear others thoughts about >suspension. > > I'm not sure I'm convinced that really stiff suspension is the way to go >an >a car that will see some "spirited" use on the street. I am currently >running H&R coil-over (stock rates), RD bars and an X-brace. Here is my >story. > > This afternoon I was out for a nice "spirited" drive in the country on >one >of my favorite deserted roads. I exited one long left hand sweeper and >accelerated at full throttle towards a 90deg left hand turn that I know >well, getting to the very top of 3rd gear (~90mph?) before the braking >zone, >at the last second I lifted and applied the brakes HARD just as the car hit >a frost-heave in the road and almost jumpped for a second and lost traction >momentarily. This split second loss of traction caused the ABS to kick in >before the car regained traction and when the car did finally settle down >on >the road the ABS was still in full pulsation mode and I was left with >virtually ZERO braking! In what might have been 1 second while the ABS did >it's "thing" I had covered WAY too much ground and was headed for the >concrete barrier at close to 90mph! I threw the car into a full sideways >powerslide to scrub as much speed as possilbe and was able to avoid >disaster >by a foot or so. Had the road been narrower or one of the other virables >changed I would no longer have my 3.0L baby! Today was the worst case I've >been in due to still suspension but it's not the only time. Last week I was >approaching a stop sign at a good rate of speed and the car hit a dip which >caused it to rebound up and lose traction, again the ABS kicked in and >didn't allow any braking for what must have been at least 1 second after >the >car had already settled. Not good when you need to stop for a stop sign! >This brings me to my point.... > If the car was still running stock (or close to) suspension the >frost-heave >would have been absorbed by the suspensions travel/compliance and none of >the above story would have ever happened. Maybe these super stiff set-ups >are great on pool table smooth tracks but I'm begining to think they are >the >wrong way to go for the street. Has anyone else experienced similar >problems >with a stiff set-up? I don't think there could be anything wrong with my >ABS? > > This story is about suspesnion and brakes so please no lessons on how and >where to drive. > >Have a great weekend, >Rob > > > > >************************************************************* >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. >************************************************************* > > _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com
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#3. Re: [E36M3] How important are rear brakes? - from Sean Hester
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Date: Sun, 07 Jan 2001 20:34:07 -0800 From: "Sean Hester" <seanh_race@hotmail.com> Subject: Re: [E36M3] How important are rear brakes? > Yes I know it seems like a silly question, but really, how important are >rear brakes? I've always been taught the rear only do ~30% of the work at >any given time and nobody seems to pay much attention to them when it comes >to upgrade time. > I'm probably going with an AP Racing 13" front set-up and I'm wondering >if >there is much of an advantage to upgrading the rears at the same time. I'm >looking to make the car fast, stable and safe on the track and don't want >to >upset the braking balance. In the old days I had an adjustable >proportioning valve on my non-ABS cars but with ABS I don't see the need >since you can't lock-up either end of the car. What are your thoughts???? this is pure speculation but... i would think that messing with the brake bias would not be a good thing with ABS. i'm pretty sure the ABS on our M3s is controlled seperately for each wheel. meaning that if one locks the ABS kicks in for all of them. i'd assume the brakes on the M3 are tuned so that they would break loose at about the same time. if you have way better brakes in front but leave the rears the same, the rears are going to want to lock up at about the same time. so the ABS will kick in, and you'll be effectively throwing away all your "extra stopping power" you havein the fronts. of course, that'll probably keep your rotors from warping all the time. since you'll not be using the fronts at 100% (because the rears will be kicking off the ABS) they'll be hard to warp. ;-) _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com
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#4. Re: Stiff suspension + ABS. Almost wrecked my car! (long) - from S Lafredo
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Date: Mon, 8 Jan 2001 00:05:07 -0500 From: S Lafredo <slafredo@fast.net> Subject: Re: Stiff suspension + ABS. Almost wrecked my car! (long) In my previous SAAB, current BMWs and other ABS cars I have driven. More than once I have had the crap scared out of me while going through a dip as I applied the brakes. The moment front wheels go into the dip the brakes let go but then grab again as I came out of the dip. The reason it is so scarry is b/c those dips are always one car length behind a car stopped at a traffic light :) On 1/7/01 at 10:23 PM, Sean Hester <seanh_race@hotmail.com> wrote: : i'm a little curious about your "the ABS kicked in and kept me from : stopping" moments. are you implying that you could have stopped : better without the ABS? if the ABS is staying on a full second after : your tires have traction, then there's something wrong with your ABS.
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#5. Re: [E36M3] JTD strut brace experience - from Chester Wong
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Date: Sun, 7 Jan 2001 21:20:41 -0800 (PST) From: Chester Wong <chester_p_wong@yahoo.com> Subject: Re: [E36M3] JTD strut brace experience I've had the JTD strut brace on my car for a little less than a year. IMHO, it's the best strut bar out there. It's machined beautifully and accomplishes its job with the minimum of pieces so it's strong and light. It sits very low in the engine bay so you don't have to worry about dimpling the hood (something I worried about with my previous strut bar). You can see comparison pics at: http://www.geocities.com/chester_p_wong/strut/comparison.html I'm not sure what car you have, but if you have traction control, then you can't think about the LTW strut brace. I'm happy with it. BTW, I have a brand new one for sale on E-bay http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/aw-cgi/ebayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=536646642&r=0&t=0 ttyl, Chester --- Shelhart2@aol.com wrote: > Has anyone installed the JTD strut brace. I was thinking of buying the brace > > and wanted to know the fit, finish, quality, etc. I just installed their > aluminum undercover and thought it was worth the $140 bucks to replace the > crappy plastic that came stock. Any input to the JTD brace or comparison to > others would be appreciated. TIA. ===== __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Photos - Share your holiday photos online! http://photos.yahoo.com/
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#6. WTB: E30 - from Paul England
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Date: Mon, 8 Jan 2001 00:22:47 -0500 From: "Paul England" <ettsn@mindspring.com> Subject: WTB: E30 Sorry in advance for the slightly off-topic, but hoping to help out a friend. A buddy of mine is looking for an E30 325is 87-91, 5spd in pretty good shape. Ideally Black/Black, but would consider almost any color combo on the right car. Price in the sub-$7000 range. Would also consider an E36 around the same money. He is in Birmingham, AL, but he's willing to travel to Georgia, N.Florida or Tennesee. Anybody got anything? You can email him directly at prcontrabass@yahoo.com . His name is Rich. Thanks! -Paul
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#7. Re: any aftermarket heated seats available? - from scott
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Date: Mon, 8 Jan 2001 01:50:31 -0500 From: "scott " <scott@ditherdog.com> Subject: Re: any aftermarket heated seats available? I know Recaro offers it as an option on a few of their seats, like the Trend and the Sport. I've been checking into it myself, as the other component of the same option package is their Vent(tm, r, blah blah) system, which seems pretty neat. The seats have venting channels built into them, which are lined with a breathable cloth. The seats have internal fans which channel air through the seats, wicking away moisture from your back and bottom. I hate to sound like a sales brochure, but that black M3 interior gets _hot_ on a sunny day, and I've been dreaming of a nice set of vented recaros to keep m'back nice and cool. Granted, a window tint would be a heck of a lot cheaper, but I had a chance to check the seats out at CEC, and they feel really darn nice. Has anyone ever tried reupholstering their seats? I've got a semi-crazy idea about hollowing out some foam, adding thin, flexible plastic rods to maintain an airspace, and lining the center of the seat with some sort of breathable material... Now if I only knew how to sew ;) Scott Yu '97 M3/2 >-------------------- 3 -------------------- >Date: Sun, 7 Jan 2001 17:16:42 -0500 >From: "drwillb" <drwillb@idt.net> >Subject: any aftermarket heated seats available? > >While on the topic of heated seats, does Sparco or Recaro make a heated >seat? > >If not, can the BMW oe heater be added to one of these seats? > >Thanks, >Bill Molina >95 M3 looking to upgrade but I wanna keep it hot
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#8. Re: [E36M3] How important are rear brakes? - from LoweSeaton@aol.com
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Date: Mon, 8 Jan 2001 02:12:32 EST From: LoweSeaton@aol.com Subject: Re: [E36M3] How important are rear brakes? sean writes: > i would think that messing with the brake bias would not be a good thing > with ABS. i'm pretty sure the ABS on our M3s is controlled separately for > each wheel. meaning that if one locks the ABS kicks in for all of them. My comments and a clarification. First, the ABS is different for '95 M3's vs. '96+. '95's have 3 station ABS vs. 4 station ABS on '96+. On a '95 M3, if one rear wheel locks up, then ABS kicks in for both rear wheels. Why so? There is only one brake line running from the master cylinder to the rear of the car. It splits into two lines under the gas tank and then goes to each wheel. That one brake line works both rear wheels equally. '96+ M3's have two separate brake lines running from the master cylinder to each rear wheel so they are independent of each other. Theoretically, I guess this makes the ABS superior on '96+ M3's. If one rear wheel on a '95 loses traction and locks up, then the ABS takes over and reduces braking force to BOTH rear wheels. The non-sliding rear wheel could have kept braking at full effort. I suppose this might increase your stopping distance. As for brake bias? I don't see how that matters with ABS? ABS ultimately controls the braking effort and hence brake bias. ABS should brake each wheel at maximum effort given road conditions (except for '95 M3 as noted above). Each wheel is limited by available traction, not brake size. What does this mean? You could put Ford Pinto drum brakes on the front and 747 airplane brakes on the rear. When you go to stop, the rear brakes would lock up immediately but then ABS kicks in and reduces the brake line pressure to the rear wheels. As long as you kept pressing harder and harder on the brake pedal, the front brakes would continue to brake harder. What you would end up with is an M3 that would stop in the EXACT same stopping distance (remember - braking distance is controlled by available wheel traction only) but you would have to stomp on the brake pedal with 80 tons of pressure. It would not be comfortable but performance wise, I don't think you would see any difference. Conversely, I could argue that the better the brakes on the front, the less meaningful the rear brakes become. If the front wheels had unlimited available traction and you had powerful enough front brakes, you could stop so hard that the car would lift the rear wheels off the ground. :) Weight shifts to the front wheels. Once the rear wheels leave the ground, you don't need any brakes. :0 However, the front wheels don't quite have that much available traction. But putting on R-compound tires does increase the front wheels ability to stop. Now, bigger better front brakes do allow more weight to shift forward and reduce weight on the rear wheels. Remember traction is a function of weight times surface area times coefficient of friction. Reduce weight and keep the other variables the same will reduce braking traction. So Rob, long winded answer to your question but I'll argue you don't need bigger brakes on the rear if you upgrade the front's. If anything, you could use smaller rear brakes. I haven't mentioned brake fade yet. If you are worried about brake fade, that is a whole different matter. Brake fade is not controlled by the size of your brakes. It is mostly determined by how much you use your brakes over a period of time. People upgrade the front brakes to Porsche, et al. to reduce fade, not really to decrease stopping ability. So now, if you have longer lasting front brakes, ostensibly you could use your brakes often enough in a short enough time to fade the rear brakes. To deal with this problem, you need to change to a higher temp brake pad, not increase the size of the rear rotors. My comments are really just theoretical musings. What does everybody else think? Lowell Seaton '95 M3 Dallas, Texas BMW CCA #131505
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#9. [FS] 95 M3 - from DcSavage30@aol.com
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Date: Mon, 08 Jan 2001 06:46:53 EST From: DcSavage30@aol.com Subject: [FS] 95 M3 FS 1995 M3, White with dove gray sport seat int., sunroof, 6 disc cd, factory rear spoiler, no mods, no track time, garage kept, 46,000 miles, asking $25,800.00 OBO Contact by phone 704-782-0321 NC or E-mail DcSavage30@aol.com Tony Tarheel Chapter BMW CCA
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#10. Re: [E36M3] any aftermarket heated seats available? - from Jim Powell
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Date: Mon, 08 Jan 2001 05:09:02 -0800 From: Jim Powell <jsp98m3@apexcone.com> Subject: Re: [E36M3] any aftermarket heated seats available? They will work. Will the seat come apart and go back together though? Jim drwillb wrote: > Date: Sun, 7 Jan 2001 17:16:42 -0500 > From: "drwillb" <drwillb@idt.net> > Subject: any aftermarket heated seats available? > > While on the topic of heated seats, does Sparco or Recaro make a heated > seat? > > If not, can the BMW oe heater be added to one of these seats? > > Thanks, > Bill Molina > 95 M3 looking to upgrade but I wanna keep it hot > > ************************************************************* > 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. > *************************************************************