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#1. Upper Timing Chain Tensioner - from Mark Radelow
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Date: Tue, 10 Jul 2001 05:25:40 -0000 From: "Mark Radelow" <radelow@hotmail.com> Subject: Upper Timing Chain Tensioner Has anyone had their upper timing chain tensioner replaced on there M? I am getting a rattling noise from the top front valve cover that is not the normal Vanos marble noise. It isn't very loud that's why I haven't taken care of it yet. Thanks guys! Mark 95 ///M3 _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com
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#2. larger MAF w/SC - from RacerxJLing@aol.com
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Date: Tue, 10 Jul 2001 01:45:10 EDT From: RacerxJLing@aol.com Subject: larger MAF w/SC I have a 95' M3 (OBD I) w/ a RMS SC....later upgraded to the euro mass air sensor. Threw many codes but it turned out to be a poor connection in the intake pipe next to the throttle body. First, double and then triple check your connections for any leaks. In my case I had to upgrade the software...bought one from Josh @ Eurosport. This lasted for about 9 months. The car was "acting up" 9 months later..thought it was fuel problems...turned out to be the software acting up. So, RMS put in their upgraded chip to be used w/ the SC and mass air sensor. Good luck. Jeff << To all, I was wondering if anyone had experimented on a 96+ m3 by adding a larger mass air sensor? I am experiencing a lot of faults right now putting my check engine light on and my MAS made its own fault 57 times. This I actually have on a printout from the technician. To put things in perspective im running a supercharger and that might be why its not sucking in enough air. Either way, positive or negative feedback on this upgrade would be highly appreciated. Thanks, Alex "HyperM3" Demsky 97 SC M3 >>
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#3. Re: [E36M3] suspension questions - from LoweSeaton@aol.com
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Date: Tue, 10 Jul 2001 03:00:29 EDT From: LoweSeaton@aol.com Subject: Re: [E36M3] suspension questions Steve has a couple of questions - 6 actually :-) > 1. Does anyone have a installation instructions other than the Bently > manual (I have the manual)? Possibly with pictures. I have removed and replaced E36 M3 suspensions many times. It is not terribly hard. A second person is helpful for extracting the strut but not required. About a 5 hour job if you know what you are doing and have all the right tools. The biggest pain in the rear is removing the rear shock mounts. That is about a 2 hour job all by itself. Don't follow the Bentley manual literally. It will have you doing WAY TOO MUCH work. Especially on the rear springs. > 2. I understand that the only thing that I have to reuse on the front > suspension is the strut hats. Should I just buy new ones so I don't have > to deal with taking the assembly apart? You could buy new but they are about $130 each. And I think you will need the upper spring plates no matter what. The upper spring plates are about $20 each. So if you want to save $300, I think you have to dissemble the struts. What year is your M3? If you have a '95, you might consider buying new '96+ upper strut mounts and swapping them left for right. That will gain you about 0.5 degrees negative camber over stock. This would be the only reason to buy new. If you have a '96+ M3, you can swap them left for right and gain about 1.5 degrees negative camber over stock. > 3. Do I need spring compressors to remove either the front or rear > springs? I hear that the rears springs are difficult to remove. You don't need a compressor to remove the springs from the car. Only need the spring compressor to disassemble the front struts to get the strut mounts. The rear springs are very easy to remove. You do not need to follow the Bentley manual on the rear. Bentley has you removing the rear axles and differential! Don't go there. Simply jack the rear up, remove the rear wheels. Unbolt the lower shock bolt and the wheels will drop. Be sure the parking brake is off. You are almost able to pull the springs out at this point but you need to push down on the rear wheel. A friend helps at this point. Just step down on the hub until you can yank the springs out. Agreed, not the best method for the CV joints but it seems to work without problems. > 4. I want to keep a 50/50 weight distribution. I plan on lowering the car > only 1/2" evenly on all corners. Has someone corner balanced their car and > found the drop on each corner to be significantly different? I don't think you can get there from here. Why don't you want to lower your M3? C/O is going to lower your car way more than 1/2". Expect about 1.5" lower. Unless you run absurdly stiff springs but I don't think you want that either. To give you some idea what you are up against, the stock front springs are 13" long. They are under about 3" of preload in the struts and then another 4" due to the weight of the car. Therefore, the front springs are about 6" tall at static height. Your C/O front springs are probably going to be 7" tall UNCOMPRESSED. The spring perches are roughly the same for the C/O - give or take an inch for the lower adjustable perch. The car's weight will compress the C/O springs lower than the stock ride height. I don't know if H&R makes longer springs. See if you can get springs longer than 7". I don't have any experience with corner balancing. I'll have to defer to somebody else on this. > 5. I want to get the car aligned after it settles. How long should I > wait? Should I just use the stock alignment settings? I'd get the car aligned very soon. You will be a lot lower which will affect your camber and toe. Camber and caster is not adjustable on the front so can't do much there. Rear camber is slightly adjustable. I'd at least match the front camber or max it out if you can't get as much as the front. You probably should try a little more aggressive toe in/out alignment than stock. > 6. Any other tricks/tips/hints for installing would be helpful. Getting the top nut off the strut is one trick. WARNING - BE SURE TO CONSTRAIN THE SPRING WITH A SPRING COMPRESSOR FIRST! The strut shaft may turn when you try to remove it. I've had some success zapping it off with an impact wrench. I made a socket to work on it by grinding flats on the socket to hold it with a wrench and at the same time hold the strut shaft with an allen wrench. Another trick is to use a bicycle cone wrench to hold the back side of the front upper sway bar link when you remove the 16 mm nut. A third trick is to leave the key in the ignition so the front wheels turn side to side. You can easily get to the lower strut bolts with your air impact wrench if you turn the wheel full lock one way and then full lock the other way. Oh, air impact wrench is the only way to go. Bigger and brawnier the wrench the better. But have a 1/2" breaker bar and cheater pipe handy if the air wrench fails. Those lower strut bolts aren't meant to come off easily. Lowell Seaton '95 M3 Dallas, Texas BMW CCA #131505
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#4. DIY Ram Air - from Sue Kraft
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Date: Tue, 10 Jul 2001 07:09:30 -0500 From: Sue Kraft <skraft1@new.rr.com> Subject: DIY Ram Air A contribution from Ben Liaw of UUC Motorwerks - thanks Ben! http://www.bmw-m.net/TechProc/diy_ram_air.htm
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#5. I/O Port Camera mount - from Steven J Jenkins
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Date: Tue, 10 Jul 2001 07:40:46 -0500 From: "Steven J Jenkins" <sjenkins@voyager.net> Subject: I/O Port Camera mount I have the I/O Port suction Cup one made by Hama (I beleive) I have used it a t a few track events, and in several cars, and it workd GREAT!!! Any specific questions? Steven J Jenkins sjenkins@voyager.net steve@thelastdetail.com 1991 NSX Black #2363 1995 ///M3 Dakar Yellow 2001 A4 Avant 1.8t S.Blue www.thelastdetail.com > >Date: Mon, 9 Jul 2001 21:21:44 -0700 >From: "Bob Larson" <asp9111@home.com> >Subject: [E36M3] In-car video camera mount reviews ? > >I/O Port and Brey Kr. both have one. Any reviews ? > >Bob Larson
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#6. Re: [E36M3] DIY Ram Air - from Ben Liaw
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Date: Tue, 10 Jul 2001 08:30:49 -0400 From: "Ben Liaw" <ben@shortshifter.com> Subject: Re: [E36M3] DIY Ram Air i should have prefaced suzy's post by saying that the last picture of the page is *TRUELY* a joke. i had thought if it at the last minute, while taking the pictures. before anyone even starts asking "does it do anything", i can honestly say a firm MAYBE. the reason why i say maybe is that my butt dyno isn't quite sensitive enough to see much difference in adding this ram air tube, but logically, it HAS to be more effective than the factory euro snorkle. in terms of actually dyno-proven performance, i've not seen a shop capable of producing the effective wind speed that the car is actually traveling on the dyno (80-100mph+) since the big fans there are generally good enough for simple cooling off the operators! i guess the only way of really seeing how effective the ram air tube really is, on a dyno, is to actually bring a leave blower like the one pictured during the actual dyno run (the box says it's good for a 200mph wind). short story? it's cheap and more effective than the euro snorkel, so it's staying on! good luck. ben liaw ----- Original Message ----- From: "Sue Kraft" <skraft1@new.rr.com> To: "E36M3" <e36m3@bmw-m.net> Sent: Tuesday, July 10, 2001 8:16 AM Subject: [E36M3] DIY Ram Air > Date: Tue, 10 Jul 2001 07:09:30 -0500 > From: Sue Kraft <skraft1@new.rr.com> > Subject: DIY Ram Air > > A contribution from Ben Liaw of UUC Motorwerks - thanks Ben! > http://www.bmw-m.net/TechProc/diy_ram_air.htm > > > ************************************************************* > 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 to the email address e36m3@bmw-m.net. > ************************************************************* > >
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#7. Check Coolant Level - from Ed Tang
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Date: Tue, 10 Jul 2001 07:05:47 -0700 (PDT) From: Ed Tang <etangf1@yahoo.com> Subject: Check Coolant Level Hi all, I've recently gotten the "Check Coolant Level" on the OBC. It comes on intermittently, usually after running the car. When the engine's cold, the level is correct in the tank. The error would read when I start the car. Sometimes it doesn't come on at all. Even with extended driving, the temp is correct on the gauge. When I turn off the car, the check engine lights up. I open the hood, coolent level normal and the head is not too hot,ie, I can touch the head and not scald my hand. I tried bleeding the radiator with the bleeder valve. The light still comes on intermittently. I tried to read a fault code on the Peake Research tool. Nada. Is it the sensor that is faulty or will I need to flush the cooling system? I had one done last spring and they recommend every two years. I don't have overheating problems, even with this high humidity heat. Anyone had this problem? Ed Tang 95 Cosmos M3 __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get personalized email addresses from Yahoo! Mail http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/
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#8. [E36M3] video camera mount - from Bob Larson
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Date: Tue, 10 Jul 2001 07:16:02 -0700 From: "Bob Larson" <asp9111@home.com> Subject: [E36M3] video camera mount I wonder if the camera needs image-stabilization to get a decent picture ? >I have the I/O Port suction Cup one made by Hama (I beleive) I have used it >a t a few track events, and in several cars, and it workd GREAT!!! >Any specific questions? >Steven J Jenkins > sjenkins@voyager.net
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#9. Jim C Intake questions - from Dorffer, Rich
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Date: Tue, 10 Jul 2001 11:00:00 -0400 From: "Dorffer, Rich" <RDORFFER@CleIndians.com> Subject: Jim C Intake questions Sean asks > >1. The aluminium fitting on the ITG filter is currently resting against >the 'bend' in the heat shield where it jogs inward a little bit. It looks >like I can scoot the filter (and the whole intake) back a little bit to >prevent this, but then the foam of the filter will rest slightly against >the heat shield. Can anyone tell me exactly how to position the >filter? My intake tube isn't long enough to shift it as far forward as >most of the pictures I've seen of the unit show. I think that Eurosport/Conforti modified the original intake to shorten the tube some to avoid the filter making too much contact with the headlights, especially those with Euro headlights which protrude further into the engine bay. I could be mistaken on this though. I do not believe the foam filter resting against the heat shield some is an issue if you are not deforming the filter too greatly (not likely unless your car was in a severe accident and never repaired properly or you got a defective unit from Eurosport/Conforti ;-) I would simply split the difference. >2. How much oil are you supposed to put on the ITG filter? The >instructions say "a moderate amount", but it's pretty tough to gauge what >that is. K&N filters are easy due to the white cotton/red dye. Also, does >anyone else have concerns about the filtration ability of the ITG >filter? The air passageways seem to be too large to filter out enough dirt. I believe there is some leeway here when oiling the filter. You need to use enough to adequately cover all the foam. I sprayed a nice even coat over the filter and then worked it in some with my hands so the oil would penetrate the foam. I then sprayed a little more in areas that appeared to be less wet or uneven. Do not oversaturate though as it will clog the passages. The oil is only there so the dirt sticks to it so the foam needs to have a nice light coat of oil. Do not worry about the air passageways seeming to be too large. The filter had multi layers of foam with both large, medium and small pores. It will filter better than your K&N while still allowing more air through (it has a considerably greater amount of surface area to catch the dirt while still having very good flow characteristics). Here are some good links on foam filters versus K&N filters: www.seansa4page.com/resource/airfilter.html www.bonnevillemotorwerks.com/dynocharts/intake/KN/kntest.pdf www.ibmwr.org/otech/airfilter.html www.unifilter.com/performance-facts.htm www.unifilter.com/whyfoam.htm www.realbig.com/miata/miata/1994-02/412.html Hope this helps some. Rich 95 M3 - JC Intake, Chip and Euro HFM. PS - I love the fact that Sean asks about his Jim C Intake in one post and a few later he is selling his Dinan High-Flow airbox.
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#10. Re: Jim C Intake questions - from Neil Maller
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Date: Tue, 10 Jul 2001 10:17:09 -0500 From: Neil Maller <neil.maller@gte.net> Subject: Re: Jim C Intake questions on 7/9/01 11:36 PM, sburke@columbus.rr.com wrote: > 1. The aluminium fitting on the ITG filter is currently resting against > the 'bend' in the heat shield where it jogs inward a little bit. Mine touches there too. I've learned to live with it ;) > 2. How much oil are you supposed to put on the ITG filter? The > instructions say "a moderate amount", but it's pretty tough to gauge what > that is. K&N filters are easy due to the white cotton/red dye. It's a judgment call. You want to get the foam thoroughly covered with a minimally thin coat of oil. The instructions call for spraying the filter element inside and out, then massaging the oil into the foam. It helps to wear latex gloves. > Also, does anyone else have concerns about the filtration ability of the ITG > filter? The air passageways seem to be too large to filter out enough dirt. I cleaned and re-oiled mine after about a year, just because I felt I should. When I ran my finger around the inside of the curved intake tube, there was no dust - none, zero, nada! The ITG filter really works. Neil 96 M3