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#1. Re: [E36M3] right variable wiper module part #? - from Jim Bassett
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Date: Tue, 06 Mar 2001 18:28:07 -0800 From: Jim Bassett <jimbassett@home.com> Subject: Re: [E36M3] right variable wiper module part #? At 03:42 PM 3/6/01, Bora Akyol wrote: >Date: Tue, 06 Mar 2001 15:37:42 -0800 >From: Bora Akyol <akyol@akyol.org> >Subject: Re: [E36M3] right variable wiper module part #? > >Barrett > >If you find the part no for the variable wiper module for a 95 E36 M3, >please also let me know. I'm not Barrett (but Bassett is close :-)), but all the info you should need is at: http://www.unofficialbmw.com/e36/interior/e36_euro_wiper_control_module.html A bunch of us did a group purchase a year or so ago. Cool feature, works great. Cheers, Jim Bassett 1998 M3/4
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#2. Roll bar thread - from TheBrinkmans@aol.com
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Date: Tue, 6 Mar 2001 21:32:51 EST From: TheBrinkmans@aol.com Subject: Roll bar thread In a message dated 3/6/01 8:06:30 PM Central Standard Time, e36m3@bmw-m.net writes: << -------------------- 5 -------------------- Date: Tue, 6 Mar 2001 16:10:59 -0800 From: "Dan Snyder" <m3ltw@msn.com> Subject: Re: Roll bar conversion. Just my opinion, but...here...goes...Everyone seems to think that TC Kline is just another parts guy, and that this is his primary business. Oh, and that Brian M. (the guy who fabricates the roll bars and cages, not the Brian that left TC) is a big steel fabrication shop ready to crank out stuff at the drop of a hat. Quite the contrary. TC is a race shop, who based on my dealings with him (which pre-dates ProParts by years) caters to the committed racers (not drivers school attendees) who wants SUPERIOR products/services for racing, based on TC's racing experience. CHEAP is not what he offers, but unfortunately, just like Will Turner, he is bombarded by people who call, pick his (or whoever answers the phone's) brain and then hang up and shop around the recommendation for the lowest price (usually found at some mail order shop). His target market is more likely to be the guy who sends his/her car down to TC's shop and installs a new/blueprinted motor, JRZ or other advanced shocks, a custom roll cage, fire system, etc., etc. These CORE customers spend at LEAST five figures, and for that get EXCELLENT service. I know of at least two instances where TC personally delivered the car, and then spent two days at Road America (happened to be a drivers school) making sure that the suspension was set up correctly for the owner. He ignored all of those who kept coming up to him for advice (I'm sure they were pissed at him, and still hold grudges), but rather gave AMAZING service to his customer. As for the roll cages, Brian's shop (not the Brian that recently quit) is a TINY little den in the basement of a building, filled to the brim with cars awaiting roll cages. There is only one guy to do all of the work! For my cage, I specified a date several months in advance for the installation, and made sure he had all the pictures of how I wanted the door bars to go. At that time (1997), he only had a jig made for the rollbars, not for the full cages. But it still took him about a week to do one car! (a jig would make it much faster, but not custom) Anyway, when dealing with a true race shop (PTG doesn't seem to answer the phone for less than $20k), remember that most of us may not be a customer they want, and therefore, customer service may be poor. But that doesn't mean that they don't give great service to their core customers. Dan My flame suit is on (actually 3 layer Nomex, SA rated helmet and Turner-installed fire system) >> Dan, how can I resist a response? My biggest issue is do you consider TC a "race shop" who only caters to clients spending at least five figures? If so, I think you are damning him with faint praise. Hopefully those who are spending less should get the same quality service from TC's staff. I agree, none of us should expect TC himself to cater to us at trackside unless we're one of his "core" customers. There's only so much of him to go around. BUT, he should staff up for the regular Joes who do driver schools and lapping days. The lead times on the roll bars is tough to deal with. We all have heard about the slow manufacturering process. What's amazing is this is widely perceived to be the best product available but "available" is the key word. The used roll bar market commands almost a premium over the retail price. You would think they were a M5s or E46 M3s!
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#3. Re: [E36M3] getting to the RSMs trunk side - from NickG
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Date: Tue, 6 Mar 2001 21:38:30 -0500 From: "NickG" <nikog@MediaOne.net> Subject: Re: [E36M3] getting to the RSMs trunk side What I did was remove the rear seat side bolsters to expose the front mounting clips for the trunk liners. Then fold back the trunk liner to the point where the shock mounts are cleared. Using a razor blade, I cut a flap in the tar-like sound insulation, allowing access to the shock mount. Now, I do have JL Stealthboxes in the rear deck, which may have made the movement of the gray trunk liner easier. YMMV if you have stock speakers installed. Nick '95 M3 turbo > What's the easiest way to get to the rear shock mount bushings (I have the JT > Design mounts)? I'm thinking about cutting a small circle out (not quite all > the way around), so that it's like a flap. Then, I can pull it up and change > out the normal bushings for the track bushings on autox days easily. > And also install those reinforcement pieces, as well. > > Any suggestions???? > > Bob Gill > 97 ///M3 coupe > Philly Region SCCA > AS Champion 1997 & 2000 > #13 BSP 2001
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#4. Re: [E36M3] removing pilot sports in Chicago - from Joe Kannookadan
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Date: Tue, 6 Mar 2001 20:46:26 -0600 From: "Joe Kannookadan" <joe.kannookadan@sourcelight.com> Subject: Re: [E36M3] removing pilot sports in Chicago I go to NTB in Deerfield (184 S Waukegan Rd)... it's little bit of a drive for me, but a friend (Rohit) recommended it for me. They're good - or at least, *he's* good - with my wheels. Ask for Vinay... if you go, tell him that I sent you... I bring in my 97 M3 with Pilot Sports also. As an aside, I bought my rear tires (waiting for the fronts to go) from them because of their optional tire warranty (and they came down in price to Tire Rack). It's paid for itself over and over... I've had the left rear go flat on the highway, and it was destroyed. They ordered a new one and charged a dollar for EPA fees. They've also plugged my tires (at least 3 times that I can remember... my tires are popular with sharp objects I guess) for free. Does anyone other than the NTB/Sears chain provide "tire insurance"? --- joe
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#5. Re: Variable wiper module - from RonStygar@aol.com
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Date: Tue, 6 Mar 2001 21:44:17 EST From: RonStygar@aol.com Subject: Re: Variable wiper module Connect to: http://www.unofficialbmw.com/e36/interior/e36_euro_wiper_control_module.html Ron@unofficialbmw.com FLY BMW Marlborough, CT www.unofficialbmw.com/ronstygar.html
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#6. RE: [E36M3] New battery info => BMW Battery - from Tom Tice
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Date: Tue, 6 Mar 2001 22:31:49 -0500 From: "Tom Tice" <tetice@triad.rr.com> Subject: RE: [E36M3] New battery info => BMW Battery A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that I might consider the BMW battery a good value choice based on previous history of getting 6+ years out of the factory batteries. Well ... I take all of that back!!! My '99 540 was having problems holding a charge. It thought for sure there was some electrical component gone bad that was dragging it down. I charged the battery and within a few days it was dead again (just sitting in the garage). I charged it again and drove it to the dealer. The short story is that they determined the battery was indeed bad and furthermore it is not covered under the 4 year 50K mile warrantee. It seems that the original batteries are covered for full replacement for only 2 years and nothing beyond that. My car was 26 months old and they wouldn't budge. Also they wanted about $220 to cover the cost of a battery and installation. I could actually buy the battery for $115 through the parts dept. with a club 15% discount - pretty steep installation charge. I took my free oil change and brake fluid flush and went on my way. As an aside, they also performed three program updates to the computer, in the process killed it and ended up charging BMW $1300 for a replacement! As a result of this I learned that the BMW replacement batteries only have a 2 year replacement warrantee...period.. nothing pro-rated beyond that. I went with an Interstate over Sears primarily because it has a 40 month replacement warrantee and a 72 month pro-rated period. The price was the same $99 for each - this was a bigger group 49 battery with 850 CCAs. Interstate pretty much has a battery to fit any BMW. FWIW, Tom Tice '98 M3/4 '99 540/6 > Well I went out Saturday to find a battery for my 95 M3. > > I first stopped at the BMW dealership, but the service and parts debt > close at 1:00PM (big surprise). > > So I stopped at Sears. It turns out nothing was in the database for > the 95 M3. What was in the database was the group 48 for the 92-96 > M3's (in the book, not the computer database). > > In any case, since there is a money back warranty, I picked up the > battery. The battery is the same dimensions except for being around an > inch shorter in length. It has the vent adaptation for BMW's. > > It took around a half hour to an hour to install. The venting worked > no problem. There is a screw with a bracket that holds the battery in > place, it had to be moved to the left one place. > > The Sears Diehard costs $99 dollars and puts out 700 CCA (50 more then > the stock Douglas). It is lighter and looks better with my black > interior (if I ever need to show off my battery). > > I did not get the core refund since I did not return the old battery > back to Sears (to lazy to travel there). > > 2 year replacement warranty and 72 month prorated warranty. > >
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#7. Re: [E36M3] rims and tires sizes - from LoweSeaton@aol.com
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Date: Tue, 6 Mar 2001 23:08:45 EST From: LoweSeaton@aol.com Subject: Re: [E36M3] rims and tires sizes Mike, You want to keep about the same diameter wheels. Keeping the same diameter is good because it won't effect your speedometer reading or ASC+T. But the biggest reason to maintain same size is for acceleration. If you put much larger tires on the rear, you will notice a decrease in acceleration. In your case, you have 245/40-17 rear tires and 225/45-17 front tires. I would use 245/35-18 rear tires and 225/40-18 front tires. Those sizes are almost exactly the same as stock. I know the 245/35-18 tire is hard to find. Not many choices in that size. As for rims. I think the M3 should have at least 8.0 inch rims all around. Preferably 8.5 all around. Be careful with the offset. You want at least 37 mm offset or you will have rubbing in the rear. More offset the better. Stock M3 rims are 41 mm offset. Lowell Seaton '95 M3 - BMW polished forged 8.5 inch rims all around Dallas, TX
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#8. TC Kline Rollbar - from ERogers005@aol.com
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Date: Tue, 6 Mar 2001 23:25:50 EST From: ERogers005@aol.com Subject: TC Kline Rollbar Bill, don't feel too bad!! I ordered my rollbar in May, '00 and I'm still waiting with no delivery date yet. Around November Brian Lieb mentioned he was moving the rollbar fabrication unit to the Canoga Park facility with the intent to improve production and significantly reduce the waiting period. He mentioned he would contact customers with delivery dates once production ramped up again. That communication never happened and Brian has subsequently moved to greener pastures. Hope you do get your bar in April. Good luck. Ed Rogers 95 M3 and still waiting >>>>>>> In a message dated 3/6/01 10:50:42, e36m3@bmw-m.net writes: << Date: Mon, 05 Mar 2001 22:20:02 -0800 From: "Bill Lackey" <btlackey@hotmail.com> Subject: Re: [E36M3] Re: TC Kline rollbar to cage conversion Don't feel too bad, I ordered my rollbar in December I won't get it until late April at the earliest. That will put me out of 3 races. Anybody want to sell their TCKline rollbar? Bill Lackey >>
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#9. Re: [E36M3] New battery info => BMW Battery - from LoweSeaton@aol.com
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Date: Wed, 7 Mar 2001 00:28:44 EST From: LoweSeaton@aol.com Subject: Re: [E36M3] New battery info => BMW Battery Tom writes: > wanted about $220 to cover the cost of a battery and installation. I could > actually buy the battery for $115 through the parts dept. Wow! $100 to install a battery. I wonder how the dealer justified this. Even if he charged $400 per hour labor rate, it would not take 1/4 hour to install a battery. > they also performed > three program updates to the computer, in the process killed it and ended up > charging BMW $1300 for a replacement! You know Jim Conforti requires you to hook up a good sized battery charger to your battery in order for you do his Shark Injector download. This is the reason. If your battery dies during a reprogramming, the DME is a $1,300 paper weight. JimC learned this early on. He said dealerships are instructed (written policy) to hook a battery charger up to the battery whenever they flash the DME. I guess your dealer ain't too smart :-) I'd find another dealer to do my repair work if possible. No telling what else they will screw up next time. > Interstate pretty much has a battery to fit any BMW. I think the Interstate's vent tube is on the front, not the side like the stock BMW battery. You have to run an extension tube for the vent. Other than that, it fits fine. Lowell Seaton '95 M3 Dallas, Texas
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#10. Re: [E36M3] Battery size? - from LoweSeaton@aol.com
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Date: Wed, 7 Mar 2001 00:36:35 EST From: LoweSeaton@aol.com Subject: Re: [E36M3] Battery size? Evan asks: > I thought I read where someone said the group/series 91 fits > the E36 M3s. Now I read where someone used a group 48. > Which is the correct series #? The Group 91 and Group 48 have the same size case. But look at the terminals. On the Group 91 (or 92), the terminals are recessed into the top. Nothing sticks out above the case. But on the Group 48 or 49, the terminals stick out of the case. Not a big difference I agree. Lowell Seaton '95 M3