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#1. Faulty VANOS controller? - from carlo [deep design division]
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Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 10:46:22 +0200 From: "carlo [deep design division]" <carlo@deepdesign.co.za> Subject: Faulty VANOS controller? Hi all After experiencing power-loss in my 94 Euro M3 after a routine INSPECTION I service (@77 000km's), I took the car back and they made the fuel mixture richer which made a slight difference, but mainly resulted in heavier consumption. Not happy I went back for them to do a more detailed analysis, and they reported that I needed a new VANOS controller unit ($300.00 equiv). After driving home yesterday, however, the car feels as punchy and responsive as ever.....does this scenario sound kosher? or are BMW just looking for a scapegoat, and can me driving with a "faulty" VANOS unit cause more damage? Thanks Carlo -------------------------------------------------- Silver 94 M3/2 German Spec
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#2. Re: [E36M3] Ram Air Intake - from Carey Probst
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Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 07:05:10 -0400 From: "Carey Probst" <hcprobst@alum.mit.edu> Subject: Re: [E36M3] Ram Air Intake I have it ;-( Write up sounded good but not at all impressed. For the money I would have spent a little more and bought the Conforti intake. If you want one, let's talk. I'd give you a good deal. Carey Probst, '99 M3/2, BMW CCA Patroon and Genesee Valley Chapters Sharked, Stressed, Schrothed, Gauged Soon to be Hitched and Braced A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Roman" <roman@arteuro.com> To: "E36M3" <e36m3@bmw-m.net> Sent: Tuesday, April 24, 2001 11:15 PM Subject: [E36M3] Ram Air Intake > Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2001 20:12:22 -0700 > From: Roman <roman@arteuro.com> > Subject: Ram Air Intake > > Greetings All, > > Has anyone had any experience with the Korman Ram Air Intake? The idea > is good and the price is even better. How effective is it? > > http://www.kormanautoworks.com/e36ind.htm > > Cheers, > Roman S. > 96 ///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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#3. understeer - from RFKoby@aol.com
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Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 07:39:20 EDT From: RFKoby@aol.com Subject: understeer I have had this problem before and fixed it. A couple of things to consider, when is the car understeering?? Neutral throttle, or when acceleratiing? With H&R 29910 and aftermarket bars, my car understeered when accelerating, and would not turn at all when accelerating up hill [turn 8 at Putnam Park, Dead Bear]. Steady state throttle, or higher speed turns were fine. The culprit is that the rear suspension squats on the outside rear on corners when accelerating. The rear suspension squats so much that the inside front tire will unload, or be off the ground. Adding tons of camber will help to load the outside front tire better, but you are still only using 1 front tire for all of the turning force. Stiffening the rear springs helps, but really what the car needs is stiffer spring all around. Also, stiffer front springs allows for late, deep, and hard trail braking because the car will have less of a tendency to heel over on the outside front. This explains the 505 fronts, and 390 rears on Tunnel's car. got'a run and find stiffer springs. bob
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#4. Re: new member intro - from Kevin M. Gregg
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Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 07:59:51 -0400 From: "Kevin M. Gregg" <kevingregg@home.com> Subject: Re: new member intro >From: David Ripton <dripton@wizard.net> > >How much tread depth is left on yours? FWIH, they last a long time by >performance tire standards. See >http://www.tirerack.com/tires/bridgestone/bs_re730.jsp Not sure how much tread depth is left. The rears are worn more than the fronts, though. >Wait, is that snow under those summer tires in the pics on your web page? The pic at the top of my web page was taken by the seller in the past couple of months. He kept the M3 in the garage in bad weather and drove an Integra LS instead. I guess he pulled the M3 out long enough to snap a pic or two. Speaking of Ebay, I won an auction for a Bel 745 sti detector last night. What do you think of this detector? My winning bid was only $31 so I'm not breaking the bank on this deal. Kevin kevingregg@home.com http://members.home.net/kevingregg 1997 BMW M3 Estoril Blue coupe http://members.home.net/kevingregg/m3/ Columbia, MD
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#5. Re: Ram Air Intake - from Scott King
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Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 07:54:55 -0400 From: "Scott King" <vw8vgti@hotmail.com> Subject: Re: Ram Air Intake Roman, I purchased this intake and K&N not long after purchasing my car. It is a factory BMW Euro M3 part. I did not notice any signinficant difference. No increase in intake noise, and apparently no significant performance gain. It has to breathe a little better than stock but nothing incredible. You have to cut a hole in your brake duct to install, but this is easy as mine had a molded in outline that fit perfectly. If you are interested, I would be willing to part with mine since I just got the Jim C. intake. Just let me know. Scott 97 M3 (said I was going to leave it alone) 83 GTI >Greetings All, > Has anyone had any experience with the Korman Ram Air Intake? The > >idea >is good and the price is even better. How effective is it? >http://www.kormanautoworks.com/e36ind.htm Cheers, Roman S. 96 ///M3 _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com
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#6. GRM Tunnell Article and Dreaded Understeer - from Eric.C.Dotson@travelers.com
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Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 09:55:16 -0400 From: Eric.C.Dotson@travelers.com Subject: GRM Tunnell Article and Dreaded Understeer Ron wrote (after lotsa snippage): >I was a bit surprised at the alignment info: 3.5 front and 2.0 rear camber; seems like a lot for an M3 up front. < I was more suprised at the rear toe - 1/4 to 1/2 inch toe in. Again, contrary to everything you hear. I've got mine set about 1-2mm toe in. I wonder if Bob has the car set up so he can brake late and deep into the corners with the stiff front end, and then put the power down with the soft rear end? That would make sense. What I really want to know is what Bob is doing with that bag of sand in the picture. It has a label taped on it, but I couldn't read it. Has Bob been sandbagging all this time? ;) Eric 95 M3 00 Passat Wagon
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#7. E46 RSM's per UUC's - from Dorffer, Rich
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Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 10:09:16 -0400 From: "Dorffer, Rich" <RDORFFER@CleIndians.com> Subject: E46 RSM's per UUC's Steve asks >Has anyone else tried these yet (referring to E46 rear shock mounts)? Yes, I just installed them along with the Z3 reinforcement plates in my E30 325is. They were like night and day compared to my old 325is mounts with 117k miles on them. The old mounts were completely destroyed. When I was trying to determine if the problem was the rear shock mounts or not, one lister told me to look for rubber shavings around the RSM as evidence of the wear and tear (take a look at the pictures below) and this proved to be good advice. I consider the E46 RSM's and Z3 reinforcement plates (the plates are probably overkill unless you track your car or have a lowered suspension) a very worthwhile upgrade for all E30's and E36's. See pictures of worn out 325is RSM's here: http://albums.photopoint.com/j/ViewPhoto?u=1090300&a=12709345&p=47205901 http://albums.photopoint.com/j/ViewPhoto?u=1090300&a=12709345&p=47205920 http://albums.photopoint.com/j/ViewPhoto?u=1090300&a=12709345&p=47238879 http://albums.photopoint.com/j/ViewPhoto?u=1090300&a=12709345&p=47238888 http://albums.photopoint.com/j/ViewPhoto?u=1090300&a=12709345&p=47238940 http://albums.photopoint.com/j/ViewPhoto?u=1090300&a=12709345&p=47238943 http://albums.photopoint.com/j/ViewPhoto?u=1090300&a=12709345&p=47238949 Comparing the parts here: http://albums.photopoint.com/j/ViewPhoto?u=1090300&a=12709345&p=47205943 Versus the new E46 RSM's here: http://albums.photopoint.com/j/ViewPhoto?u=1090300&a=12709345&p=47238905 http://albums.photopoint.com/j/ViewPhoto?u=1090300&a=12709345&p=47238960 http://albums.photopoint.com/j/ViewPhoto?u=1090300&a=12709345&p=47238968 http://albums.photopoint.com/j/ViewPhoto?u=1090300&a=12709345&p=47238975 Best regards, Rich '95 M3 - a candidate for the upgraded E46 RSMs and Z3 reinforcement plates eventually '89 325is - no more clunking in the rear!!
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#8. Re: [E36M3] E46 RSM's per UUC's - from Ben Liaw
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Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 10:49:01 -0700 From: "Ben Liaw" <ben@shortshifter.com> Subject: Re: [E36M3] E46 RSM's per UUC's and the award for the most hammered rear shock mounts goes to... rich dorffer! rich, take a bow! ;-) glad they worked out for you. ben liaw ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dorffer, Rich" <RDORFFER@CleIndians.com> To: "E36M3" <e36m3@bmw-m.net> Sent: Wednesday, April 25, 2001 7:15 AM Subject: [E36M3] E46 RSM's per UUC's > Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 10:09:16 -0400 > From: "Dorffer, Rich" <RDORFFER@CleIndians.com> > Subject: E46 RSM's per UUC's > > Steve asks >Has anyone else tried these yet (referring to E46 rear shock > mounts)? > > > Yes, I just installed them along with the Z3 reinforcement plates in my E30 > 325is. They were like night and day compared to my old 325is mounts with > 117k miles on them. The old mounts were completely destroyed. When I was > trying to determine if the problem was the rear shock mounts or not, one > lister told me to look for rubber shavings around the RSM as evidence of the > wear and tear (take a look at the pictures below) and this proved to be good > advice. I consider the E46 RSM's and Z3 reinforcement plates (the plates > are probably overkill unless you track your car or have a lowered > suspension) a very worthwhile upgrade for all E30's and E36's.
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#9. Re: [E36M3] Ram Air Intake - from Skip Bogard
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Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 11:06:48 -0400 From: Skip Bogard <Skip.Bogard@ALUMni.DUKE.edu> Subject: Re: [E36M3] Ram Air Intake The Korman Ram Air Intake is two things: 1. A BMW ///Motorsport designed Grupe N Reinteile part ... it does in fact hook into the brake duct and it should be kept in mind that it works by hooking into the Euro or U.S. BMW airboxes. I don't know if it will feed air into any of the other 3rd party air boxes out there. 2. a K&N rectangular filter for BMW airbox (US & Euro boxes use the same size filter) The BMW Part number for "1." is: "13 71 1 401 527 Suction Tube" and last time I looked on my price list, it was $39.85 list. Discounted from BuyByMail BMW, that would be about $32. ________________ So from this we can infer that some tuners think drop-in K&N filters are supposed to be about $90, right ;-). Or BMW parts are supposed to be sold for 150% of list??? > How effective is it? Unless someone has tested it in a wind tunnel (the best ones have a moving floor that simulates moving pavement & creates drag underneath the car) you'll never really know for sure. You can do things like guess my measuring air temperatures or putting a big fan in front of the car, but it's still not a real 90-130 MPH wind in front created by the car slicing through air. A big high pressure zone is created at the car's nose, which makes both the M3 LTW splitter work and the Grupe N air intake as well. Interestingly, if the nose were more aerodynamic, (like say from a 1995-'97 GT1 or GT2 class design instead of the then current GT3 design) the air intake would in theory lose effectiveness, as well as the splitter would actually lose some downforce. This is simply because there would be a reduced high pressure zone at the nose because it's more aero'. It goes without saying that these variabilities affect all airboxes and snorkels, not just the BMW Grupe N, as well as ambient temperatures, pavement temperatures, road speed, race drafting, etc. For unlimited money though, I'd probably try a NACA duct in my hood, placed over the top of a shark airbox..of course again you could never dyno it while driving, unless you're a GM engineer and have a $85,000 in-car analyzer you can check out of the tool-crib. - Skip (who has tried, owns, and runs with a Groupe N snorkel, but has never owned a K&N filter, esp. for $90.) > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Roman" <roman@arteuro.com> > To: "E36M3" <e36m3@bmw-m.net> > Sent: Tuesday, April 24, 2001 11:15 PM > Subject: [E36M3] Ram Air Intake > > > Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2001 20:12:22 -0700 > > From: Roman <roman@arteuro.com> > > Subject: Ram Air Intake > > > > Greetings All, > > > > Has anyone had any experience with the Korman Ram Air Intake? The > idea is good and the price is even better. How effective is it? > > > > http://www.kormanautoworks.com/e36ind.htm > > > > Cheers, > > Roman S. > > 96 ///M3
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#10. Any Advice for a new lister? - from Mel Silva
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Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 10:18:29 -0500 From: "Mel Silva" <mel.silva@pdq.net> Subject: Any Advice for a new lister? Hi all, Just joined the list yesterday. I will pick up from my dealer on Friday a 97 M3 Sedan, 5spd in Byzanz (I have done just a little homework, I know the name of the color). A little about me: I am a first time BMW owner. This car replaces my open-track prepared Mustang that I have been building for over 3 years. I am a ten year veteran of the Norcal Shelby Club (with whom I tracked the Mustang). I live in Houston, TX. See more info at http://www.amt.org/mel I was reading info on the unofficialbmw, the MPower, and the unofficial E36 sites yesterday, looking for anything I might want to do to the car soon after I get it. Any ideas? Thanks all, Mel Silva