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#1. Final Word on BSP? - from Peter Guagenti
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Date: Sun, 21 Jan 2001 18:05:02 -0800 From: Peter Guagenti <peter@guagenti.com> Subject: Final Word on BSP? Listers, Mr. Tunnell, etc, So, is the BSP move final? Next week is the first autocross of the season, and I'm curious if I'm in the first run group of the day (BSP) or the last run group (ESP). Has anyone run in either of these classes this season? If only the SCCA web site was actually updated every now and then. ;-) -peterg
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#2. WANTED: tan M3 leather seats - FRONT - from Abdoul Aziz Wane
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Date: Sun, 21 Jan 2001 22:35:03 -0500 From: Abdoul Aziz Wane <abdoul@afriquenet.com> Subject: WANTED: tan M3 leather seats - FRONT Please advise
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#3. Re: [E36M3] Final Word on BSP? - from Mdriver13@aol.com
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Date: Sun, 21 Jan 2001 22:27:50 EST From: Mdriver13@aol.com Subject: Re: [E36M3] Final Word on BSP? In a message dated 1/21/01 9:13:15 PM Eastern Standard Time, peter@guagenti.com writes: So, is the BSP move final? Next week is the first autocross of the season, and I'm curious if I'm in the first run group of the day (BSP) or the last run group (ESP). Has anyone run in either of these classes this season? If only the SCCA web site was actually updated every now and then. ;-) Peter, It is BSP. You can find it in the last SCCA Solo Meeting notes at the web site. Not sure of the URLs, but others know. Now, go out and kick some Corvette booty ;-)) Bob Gill 97 ///M3 coupe Philly Region SCCA AS Champion 1997 & 2000 #13 BSP 2001
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#4. Re: [E36M3] 3L Cams and Max HP - from RogRacer@aol.com
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Date: Mon, 22 Jan 2001 09:27:06 EST From: RogRacer@aol.com Subject: Re: [E36M3] 3L Cams and Max HP Looking at the dyno curves from my stocked-cammed JC Euro intaked 3 liter, I've wondered about cams a little bit, but feel they are not worth it and here is why. Max torque for my motor is produced at 4400 rpm, and peak hosepower is at 6400. Given the cars gearing and redline, these are pretty good RPMS for these peaks to occur if the objective is to a have a briskly accelerating car. Now, if I was to install hotter cams, it is true that I could move the torque curve "to the right" to improve horsepower, but it is unlikely that peak torque would improve, since my car, at least, is putting out 255 ft-lb at the flywheel (if you believe the 17.3% correction factor)...a damn high figure for a 3 liter. Shifting the torque curve "to the right" wouldn't do much to improve acceleration dispite the higher peak horsepower numbers. To get a real improvement here, you would need to think about raising the rev limit past 7000 rpm and change the cars gearing accordingly. Since, IMHO, 7 ! krpm is already too high for a s tock 3-liter, you are really asking for trouble with just a cam swap...you would need to think about new springs and retainers for sure. And, as I said, to translate this newfound power to acceleration, you'd also need to think about new gearing. All-in-all a lot of work, and a lot more than just adding cams! That is why I don't think just adding cams is too wise. Just my 0.02 Roger W. Graves '95 M3, Stock cams RogRacer@aol.com
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#5. Admin note - from John Rather
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Date: Mon, 22 Jan 2001 08:56:57 -0600 From: John Rather <JRather@chemsoft.com> Subject: Admin note Just a quick note/reminder: All email/posting are filtered out that contain '[E36M3] E36M3 #' in the subject. This is done as it usually indicates that people are replying to a previous digest; and, as we all know, people don't always remove that part of the digest which isn't relevant. Which leaves us with a lot of repetitive extra verbiage in the digests. Just a FYI... Thanks, Webmaster John C. Rather jrather@chemsoft.com <mailto:jrather@chemsoft.com> http://www.chemsoft.com/ <http://www.chemsoft.com/> http://www.rather.net/ <http://www.rather.net/> 920.431.0003 - work 408.858.5595 - cell 888.444.0877 - pager 920.431.0004 - fax 920.431.0434 - home
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#6. FW: [E36M3] Alignment Specs & Advice - from Dorffer, Rich
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Date: Mon, 22 Jan 2001 10:26:27 -0500 From: "Dorffer, Rich" <RDORFFER@CleIndians.com> Subject: FW: [E36M3] Alignment Specs & Advice List, After the Jim E. post with respect to alignments, I shot the email off to Brett A. and he responded with the following commentary. Best regards, Rich -----Original Message----- From: Brett Anderson [mailto:brett@koalamotorsport.com] Sent: Friday, January 19, 2001 6:24 PM To: Dorffer, Rich Subject: Re: [E36M3] Alignment Specs & Advice Rich, please pass this on to the E36M3 list. The weights are guides. You have to get the vehicle to the ride height indicated in the specifications. The Hunter machine simply states exactly what BMW does for weight placement, etc, on which models. Hunter doesn't do their own tests, they simply copy the manufacturers specifications and requirements. The locations are guides too. Working on average. BMW tells students at their tech schools to put the weight wherever necessary. Even to open the hood and place the weight over the shock towers if necessary/practical. The ride height spec is usually significantly lower than actual ride height. This is where BMW alignments get confusing. Most people who "know it all", as opposed to those that know...., come up with a line like "well, I want optimum alignment settings on the car with just me in it, because that's how I drive it most of the time...." Fact is, you couldn't ask for a more screwed up alignment, UNLESS, you have significantly changed the suspension characteristics of the car, i.e, solid bushings, severely lowered coil overs, etc. BMW builds thousands of model variants, even the E36 M3 could have possibly come in 500-1000 different variations throughout the world, when you include different body/interior/transmission/wheel options, all intermixed. Each of those variants weighs slightly different, so in order to avoid having to write different alignment specs for any one of 500 possible ride height scenario's, BMW took the heaviest car, subtracted a small amount from it's ride height and designed the alignment specifications for that exact position in the suspension travel. Theory being that if the spec is the same on all cars at that point, it will be at all other points. Now, I'm not arguing the pros and cons of this system, just explaining how BMW does it. Now, as to the weight specs, first of all, they are, as I said above, simply guides. Second, the M3 undoubtedly sits closer to this "ideal" ride height than any other model, because realistically, there weren't that many weight differences between versions, plus it had tighter springs that are effected less by minor weight changes. Therefore, there's no recommendation for a specific weight to be added. The car MUST still come to the specified ride height and even the BMW manual for the M3 states to add weight to bring vehicle to specified ride height. One of the reasons BMW, and other manufacturers, would rather not see their technical information made available to the public is misinterpretation. Jim E, for whatever reason he chose, has left off the final section of the Tech Info sheet he's referring to below. The part where it says: Adjust correct ride level for alignment = specified value +/- 2mm / for E36 M3, E39 M5 and E39 with M sports package specified value +/- 1mm by loading or unloading car. That statement pretty much says it all. Even though they don't tell you what weights to start with in the car, they still expect you to come within 1 mm (for M cars) of the specified ride height. As to techs that tell people "it makes little difference", these are the techs that either don't have ballast handy, or are too lazy to use it. On a current top of the line laser alignment setup like the one I use, you can see alignment readings change just by opening a door, or by moving a seat forward or backward. I challenge any tech that says it doesn't matter to put a car on the rack, print the settings, then load it to correct ride height and print the settings again. On an E36, it can amount to as much as 1 degree of camber in the rear, which in turn, effects toe. Hope this clears some stuff up. Brett Anderson www.koalamotorsport.com Home of the E30 M3 CD-ROM repair manual > From: nabli@attglobal.net [mailto:nabli@attglobal.net] > Sent: Friday, January 19, 2001 4:41 PM > Subject: [E36M3] Alignment Specs & Advice > As a point of reference, BMW Technical Information Bulletin 32 00 Wheel > Alignment - Normal Position / Inspection Conditions E38 / E39 / E46 / E36 > specifically excludes the M3 from being loaded with extra weight. > > It states: > > "2 x 68 kg on front seats (seats in central position) > 1 x 68 kg on rear seat (center) > 1 x 21 kg in luggage compartment (middle) and full fuel tank. > Exception: > M3 sports suspension > Normal position for car empty weight" > > Hope this clears up some of the confusion. > > Jim E. > "Dorffer, Rich" wrote: > > Daniel wrote> > > Bentley manual suggest loading the car with weights in > > the respective seats and a full tank of gas. > > Hunter says that the M3 chassis requires no loading, > > just a full tank of gas. > > Jim wrote> > I just had my car aligned, and asked about this. According to John at > Conversion Tech (SF Bay Area) weighting is not necessary since it affects > the alignment very little (if at all). > > I am by no means an expert on this subject matter, but when I had my car > aligned at Ganley BMW by Brett Anderson, he did use the ballast (trunk, rear >
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#7. Signs of a GREAT shop. (Autosport Perf. in NJ)- from Mike Tse
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Date: Mon, 22 Jan 2001 10:33:46 -0500 From: "Mike Tse" <phid_bombadier@hotmail.com> Subject: Signs of a GREAT shop. (Autosport Perf. in NJ) <long> I want to share another excellent experience I had at Autosport Performance in Englewood NJ. Previously, I had brought my car in for a new ltw clutch/flywheel. While there, Don (Fields) discovered there was a problem with my Vanos. (My car was exhibiting a roughish idle and various vibrations at different RPMs - busted dual mass flywheel) Well, a few thou later, The car was back and it felt a whole lot better/peppier! I drove the car for a few weeks and I still felt a bit of rough idle (now from what I've heard, M3s do exhibit a bit of rough idle, but I'm a bit picky and paranoid...thoughs of the engine falling apart kept going through my mind) So, I gave Don a call and explained the situation. Without trying to convince me that it's "normal" for M3s to exhibit this behavior, he hands me off to Ty and we promptly set up an apointment for the next day. The following day, I get to the shop and am promptly recieved by Ty and Don. Don pulls the car into the garage and starts to diagnose. As the time goes by, I'm pacing around their waiting room like an expectant father. I've gone through all their magazines and I'm stranded there. Don gives me updates every so often and he mentions that it's a difficult one this time. Ty then comes on over and asks if I would like to order lunch with them. I do and have an entertaining lunch with all the shop guys. These guys have a good time. Working on great cars and having such wonderful comraderie is an awesome sight. Before lunch, I've already been there for over an hour and it looks like Don's taking off the valve cover... I had already took the day off to take care of some other errands and the car so I wasn't in a rush. But I'm the type of guy who just can't sit idle when there is work to be done. I wanted to finish installing my stereo, goto the DMV and some other little things. I BS around with Ty for a little bit and find out that the DMV is only a mile or so up the road. At a good breakpoint I interrupt Don and ask him if I have time to run over and get my new license. He says sure, but that I should take HIS car! You show me a shop who's owner is willing to let you borrow his car for the afternoon. I run my errand (damn the DMV is slow) and am back in an hour or so. Don is almost finished and he tells me how he's got 50%+ of the problem. (recalibrated the Cams with and extra 5mm drillbit under the jig factored in for rough idles) This is more than any dealership would have...if they even would have attempted in the first place. And here's the best part. Since I had the car in recently to get the Vanos replaced, he said it was all covered under that service. Thank you! What an awesome birthday present! And finally the number 1 reason how you know when you've found an Awesome shop... Their bathroom is cleaner than the one I use at Home! (if this doesn't show attention to detail, what does?!) Thanks Don, and all the other guys (Ty, Arthur, Joe, Ralph) for another wonderful experience! Truly masters of their craft... Autosport Performance 27 W. forest Ave Englewood, NJ 07631 (201)816-0911 autosportperf@inetmail.att.net 10% off labor for BMWCCA members Just another satisfied customer... --Mike --- Mike Tse 95 M3 UUC/SS - M20 Flywheel/E30M3 Clutch BMWCCA NJ _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com
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#8. Barron's Article - from John Van Houten
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Date: Mon, 22 Jan 2001 10:02:19 -0600 From: "John Van Houten" <jvanhouten@ix.netcom.com> Subject: Barron's Article There was an interesting article about BMW in this weeks Barron's. Mostly business related (obviously), but some talk on future models and future prospects. http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/BarronsCoverMain.htm John
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#9. Re: [E36M3] Securing childseats in an M3/2 - from Chris Sautter
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Date: Mon, 22 Jan 2001 08:30:40 -0800 From: Chris Sautter <chriss@fiori-portland.com> Subject: Re: [E36M3] Securing childseats in an M3/2 I use a non-skid pad under and behind the child seat. It is a rubberized mesh pad that is used for holding area rugs in place. The pad also protects the leather. The pad is the only way I found to keep the seats from sliding around. With the seat I have, no matter how tight you belt it in, there is still a lot of movement if I don't use the non-skid pad. -Chris Sautter 95 M3/2 >How do you secure childseats in an M3/2. In the porsche, I used a ratcheting >tie-down in addition to the seat belts. In the M3 even with the locking >clips, the child seats still move a bit. >Any help will be appreciated. >Bora
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#10. Re: FW: [E36M3] Alignment Specs & Advice - from Daniel
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Date: Mon, 22 Jan 2001 08:54:00 -0800 (PST) From: Daniel <m3_driver@yahoo.com> Subject: Re: FW: [E36M3] Alignment Specs & Advice Rich/Brett, Thanks for the effort and response regarding the proper way to align a BMW In the case where ballast is not available (which is mostly 99% of the alignment places around here in Houston) There must be a compromised setting of the specs so that they compensate for the higher than correct ride height when aligned. I am not in disagreement that camber changes are insignificant, but am I more correct in saying that the importance of knowing that the car is at least properly aligned left to right where the rear thrust angle is = 0 and both front and rear toe angles are equal on both sides (hopefully cancelling out any tendency for the car to pull to one side). Regards Daniel '99M3 (pulling to right) --- "Dorffer, Rich" <RDORFFER@CleIndians.com> wrote: > Date: Mon, 22 Jan 2001 10:26:27 -0500 > From: "Dorffer, Rich" <RDORFFER@CleIndians.com> > Subject: FW: [E36M3] Alignment Specs & Advice > > List, > > After the Jim E. post with respect to alignments, I > shot the email off to > Brett A. and he responded with the following > commentary. > > Best regards, > > Rich > -----Original Message----- > From: Brett Anderson > [mailto:brett@koalamotorsport.com] > Sent: Friday, January 19, 2001 6:24 PM > To: Dorffer, Rich > Subject: Re: [E36M3] Alignment Specs & Advice > > > Rich, please pass this on to the E36M3 list. > > > The weights are guides. > > You have to get the vehicle to the ride height > indicated in the > specifications. The Hunter machine simply states > exactly what BMW does for > weight placement, etc, on which models. Hunter > doesn't do their own tests, > they simply copy the manufacturers specifications > and requirements. > > The locations are guides too. Working on average. > BMW tells students at > their tech schools to put the weight wherever > necessary. Even to open the > hood and place the weight over the shock towers if > necessary/practical. > > The ride height spec is usually significantly lower > than actual ride height. > This is where BMW alignments get confusing. > > Most people who "know it all", as opposed to those > that know...., come up > with a line like "well, I want optimum alignment > settings on the car with > just me in it, because that's how I drive it most of > the time...." > > Fact is, you couldn't ask for a more screwed up > alignment, UNLESS, you have > significantly changed the suspension characteristics > of the car, i.e, solid > bushings, severely lowered coil overs, etc. > > BMW builds thousands of model variants, even the E36 > M3 could have possၩbly > come in 500-1000 different variations throughout the > world, when you include > different body/interior/transmission/wheeၬ options, > all intermixed. > > Each of those variants weighs slightly different, so > in order to avoid > having to write different alignment specs for any > one of 500 possible ride > height scenario's, BMW took the heaviest car, > subtracted a small amount from > it's ride height and designed the alignment > specifications for that exact > position in the suspension travel. Theory being > that if the spec is the > same on all cars at that point, it will be at all > other points. Now, I'm > not arguing the pros and cons of this system, just > explaining how BMW does > it. > > Now, as to the weight specs, first of all, they are, > as I said above, simply > guides. Second, the M3 undoubtedly sits closer to > this "ideal" ride height > than any other model, because realistically, there > weren't that many weight > differences between versions, plus it had tighter > springs that are effected > less by minor weight changes. Therefore, there's no > recommendation for a > specific weight to be added. The car MUST still > come to the specified ride > height and even the BMW manual for the M3 states to > add weight to bring > vehicle to specified ride height. > > One of the reasons BMW, and other manufacturers, > would rather not see their > technical information made available to the public > is misinterpretation. > Jim E, for whatever reason he chose, has left off > the final section of the > Tech Info sheet he's referring to below. > > The part where it says: > > Adjust correct ride level for alignment = specified > value +/- 2mm / for E36 > M3, E39 M5 and E39 with M sports package specified > value +/- 1mm by loading > or unloading car. > > That statement pretty much says it all. Even though > they don't tell you > what weights to start with in the car, they still > expect you to come within > 1 mm (for M cars) of the specified ride height. > > As to techs that tell people "it makes little > difference", these are the > techs that either don't have ballast handy, or are > too lazy to use it. > > On a current top of the line laser alignment setup > like the one I use, you > can see alignment readings change just by opening a > door, or by moving a > seat forward or backward. > > I challenge any tech that says it doesn't matter to > put a car on the rack, > print the settings, then load it to correct ride > height and print the > settings again. On an E36, it can amount to as > much as 1 degree of camber > in the rear, which in turn, effects toe. > > Hope this clears some stuff up. > > Brett Anderson > www.koalamotorsport.com > Home of the E30 M3 CD-ROM repair manual > > > > > > > From: nabli@attglobal.net > [mailto:nabli@attglobal.net] > > Sent: Friday, January 19, 2001 4:41 PM > > Subject: [E36M3] Alignment Specs & Advice > > > As a point of reference, BMW Technical Information > Bulletin 32 00 Wheel > > Alignment - Normal Position / Inspection > Conditions E38 / E39 / E46 / E36 > > specifically excludes the M3 from being loaded > with extra weight. > > > > It states: > > > > "2 x 68 kg on front seats (seats in central > position) > > 1 x 68 kg on rear seat (center) > > 1 x 21 kg in luggage compartment (middle) and full > fuel tank. > > Exception: > > M3 sports suspension > > Normal position for car empty weight" > > > > Hope this clears up some of the confusion. > > > > Jim E. > > > > "Dorffer, Rich" wrote: > > > > Daniel wrote> > > > Bentley manual suggest loading the car with > weights in > > > the respective seats and a full tank of gas. > > > Hunter says that the M3 chassis requires no > loading, > > > just a full tank of gas. > > > > Jim wrote> > > I just had my car aligned, and asked about this. > According to John at > > Conversion Tech (SF Bay Area) weighting is not > necessary since it affects > > the alignment very little (if at all). > > > > I am by no means an expert on this subject matter, > but when I had my car > > aligned at Ganley BMW by Brett Anderson, he did > use the ballast (trunk, > rear > > > > > > ************************************************************* > 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. > ************************************************************* > > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? 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