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#1. victory over Easycare - from Bob Weber
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Date: Thu, 04 Oct 2001 07:47:28 +0000 From: Bob Weber <bobweber@worldnet.att.net> Subject: victory over Easycare Thank you to all of you that helped me during my arbitration with Easycare the warranty company that was sold to me by the BMW dealer when I got my M3. The cat converter went at 95,000 miles and cost me $1,200.00 to fix. BMW/Easycare claimed it was part of the exhaust system which was excluded from coverage. I said bull shit its part of the emission system. They would not pay so I took them to arbitration with many of you suggesting arguments to prove the cat is past of the emission system and not exhaust system, and the arbitrator said . . . "The arbitrator finds that the Catalytic Converter is generally accepted, in the automotive industry, as part of the emission system and not part of the exhaust system. In the contract before us, the catalytic converter does not fall into those items not covered in the agreement." OK ! bob weber from Petit LeMans at Road Atlanta where they have a M3-GTR street version on display, looks really bad, grill and hood cutouts are cool, sign also says 350+HP not available in North America.
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#2. Indy Raceway Park School - from Neil Maller
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Date: Thu, 04 Oct 2001 07:31:24 -0500 From: Neil Maller <neil.maller@gte.net> Subject: Indy Raceway Park School Hoosier Chapter still has some places available for students at the Indianapolis Raceway Park Driver School - 3-4 Nov 2001. Links to a downloadable application form as well as additional info can be found on the Hoosier Chapter's web site: http://www.hoosierbmw.com/pages/driverschoolnov.html The Hoosier IRP school offers the opportunity to try what for many will be a new, and certainly a fun, track. IRP is part of a large complex that is well known for its oval track and for the famous NHRA drag strip. (And no, I hate to disappoint you, but IRP isn't the same as IMS - Indianapolis Motor Speedway - site of the recent US F1 Grand Prix.) However the 15-turn, 2.5-mile road course also hosts SCCA Regional and National events, the Skip Barber Racing Series, the VSCDA Vintage Grand Prix, and a variety of other events throughout the season. IRP is located on the west side of Indianapolis, not far from the interstate. You can find out more details about IRP, including a map and driving directions, on the web at: http://www.irponline.com/ or for better track info: http://www.na-motorsports.com/Tracks/IRP.html Neil Maller Bob Stommel Chief Instructor Chief Steward BMW CCA Hoosier Chapter IRP Driver School, Nov 2001
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#3. Philips bulbs - from Ed Tang
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Date: Thu, 4 Oct 2001 06:11:44 -0700 (PDT) From: Ed Tang <etangf1@yahoo.com> Subject: Philips bulbs Chester wrote: -------------------- 3 -------------------- Date: Wed, 3 Oct 2001 19:34:07 -0700 (PDT) From: Chester Wong <chester_p_wong@yahoo.com> Subject: Re: [E36M3] Making My own HID Kit "I was also under the impression from Ed Tang that Philips actually makes a custom H1 base HID bulb (please correct me if I'm wrong). Ed's main point was that both the ProCarParts and Autolamps-Online kit used the same Philips ballast, but that the bulb quality was better on the Autolamps-Online kit because they were made by Philips; hence, the price premium." The ballasts are the same. The harnesses are also different. The bulbs are worlds apart. According to the Autolamps-online site, the bulbs are actually custom molded. I am assuming the ProCarParts one is a hacked off D2 base and glued to the bulb. The Autolamps-online site has the pics on there of their bulbs. They do a good write up on the conversion. Mr. Robert Exconde helped me with the install and he was impressed with my kit, discount the harness. If I had to do it again I would. Xenons are a huge difference in lighting. Ed Tang 95 Cosmos M3 __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? NEW from Yahoo! GeoCities - quick and easy web site hosting, just $8.95/month. http://geocities.yahoo.com/ps/info1
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#4. road construction, bent wheels, yelling at the city. - from Dorffer, Rich
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Date: Thu, 4 Oct 2001 09:50:12 -0400 From: "Dorffer, Rich" <RDORFFER@CleIndians.com> Subject: road construction, bent wheels, yelling at the city. Last year, I had a similar situation. If you want more information, contact me directly. Here is a repost of my incident to someone who popped out their RSMs once. ---------- Last year, I recanted a situation to the digest where I incurred some damage on my E36 M3 driving on Ohio I-77 at 3:00 AM during a period when it was under construction. The approach on some of the bridges where they were doing the construction was decimated by the trucks and the bridge level ended up being something like 3" - 4" higher than the pavement. No damage to the RSMs but I did bend two of the wheels (buttery soft stock 95 M3 wheels) and both of the fog lights popped out of their brackets (the brackets broke on impact) and the lights went skidding down the highway (a construction worker graciously kicked them off the highway for me). I talked with the general contractor on the site but he was less than apathetic and told me I would have to speak with the DOT. I had a police report made out within minutes of the incident and the policeman agreed with my assessment of the construction since he also drove over the same bridge to get to me. I discussed the situation with the DOT and they supported my claim against the road contractor with a letter and along with the police report and a letter from the policeman, the contractor paid for my claim (grudgingly) around $1,200 IIRC. My opinion, pursue it with the DOT and the contractor. Good luck, Rich
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#5. RE: [E36M3] Disconnect coolant from throttle body? - from Mel Silva
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Date: Thu, 4 Oct 2001 08:57:54 -0500 From: "Mel Silva" <melsilva@mindspring.com> Subject: RE: [E36M3] Disconnect coolant from throttle body? Rob, This was a source of much confusion in the Ford Rustang camps. I will relay to you what I _think_ the coolant lines are for. On early mass/air systems that coolant line was not to warm up the intake charge as many people thought, it is there to cool the exhaust gases being passed into the intake charge by the EGR system. On the Ford (which happens to be a Bosch system!) the EGR valve is mounted right behind the throttle body before the manifold. Many unsuspecting thugs removed the coolant lines thinking it was heating the intake air to the 190 degree temp of the water system, when in fact is was cooling the 800 some degree exhaust gas being pumped into the intake manifold. Needless to say their experiments with removing the coolant lines produced very poor results. YMMV, Mel -----Original Message----- From: Rob [mailto:motor@cadvision.com] Sent: Thursday, October 04, 2001 12:48 AM To: E36M3 Subject: [E36M3] Disconnect coolant from throttle body? Date: Wed, 3 Oct 2001 23:47:14 -0600 From: "Rob" <motor@cadvision.com> Subject: Disconnect coolant from throttle body? Has anyone disconnected the coolant lines that run to the throttle body on a 3.0L M3?. Why are they there, is it just for faster warm-up, i..e emissions?. Would disconnecting them help to keep the intake charge cooler?. Rob - always looking for 1HP :) ************************************************************* 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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#6. RE: [E36M3] Disconnect coolant from throttle body? - from Matt Henson
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Date: Thu, 4 Oct 2001 08:04:23 -0700 (PDT) From: Matt Henson <hensonator@yahoo.com> Subject: RE: [E36M3] Disconnect coolant from throttle body? The EGR in our cars (if there is one???) is inside the head. The air that goes through the throttle is cold. The coolant hoses are connected to a thermostatic switch in or around the airbox (I think it depends on the year; the 3.0L is in the airbox). It allows warm coolant to circulate when it gets very cold, probably near freezing. This keeps ice from building up around the throttle. Remember that at part throttle the air speeds up, lowering the pressure and temperture. This could cause it to deposit some ice on the throttle plates. Warming the air probably helps with fuel evaporation as well, which will increase the economy and power of the engine. Those of us with turbo cars have removed these hoses since we've alrady got a big pre-heater. Given that the coolant only circulates when it's very cold I wouldn't recommend that others remove this, especially if you live in the God-forsaken North ;-). -Matt --- Mel Silva <melsilva@mindspring.com> wrote: > Date: Thu, 4 Oct 2001 08:57:54 -0500 > From: "Mel Silva" <melsilva@mindspring.com> > Subject: RE: [E36M3] Disconnect coolant from > throttle body? > > Rob, > > This was a source of much confusion in the Ford > Rustang camps. I will relay > to you what I _think_ the coolant lines are for. On > early mass/air systems > that coolant line was not to warm up the intake > charge as many people > thought, it is there to cool the exhaust gases being > passed into the intake > charge by the EGR system. On the Ford (which > happens to be a Bosch system!) > the EGR valve is mounted right behind the throttle > body before the manifold. > Many unsuspecting thugs removed the coolant lines > thinking it was heating > the intake air to the 190 degree temp of the water > system, when in fact is > was cooling the 800 some degree exhaust gas being > pumped into the intake > manifold. Needless to say their experiments with > removing the coolant lines > produced very poor results. > > YMMV, > Mel > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? NEW from Yahoo! GeoCities - quick and easy web site hosting, just $8.95/month. http://geocities.yahoo.com/ps/info1
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#7. Harness Hardware - from Ahmad Lutfeali
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Date: Thu, 4 Oct 2001 11:37:09 -0400 From: "Ahmad Lutfeali" <m3_racer99@hotmail.com> Subject: Harness Hardware I just acquired a set of Sparco (Sabelt) harness. (6 point). The H shoulder belts will be wrapped around the roll bar, the lap belts need = a kit. Either a bolt on kit or a snap on kit. Its the submarine belt that raises some conerns. I have an eye bolt already mounted next to the floor mat. The end of sub. belt has a small eye. I need a connector to get the eye to the eye bolt and was wondering if anyone knows about a good source to get the part. Thank you in advance. =20 Ahmad
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#8. Motors in storage - from Scott Chan
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Date: Thu, 04 Oct 2001 10:04:41 -0700 From: Scott Chan <scottch@juniper.net> Subject: Motors in storage I bought an E30 M3 engine that had been salvaged and sat for years (in Louisiana, not exactly a dry climate). The basic things you can do, if you can physically inspect it are: Check for obvious things like exterior rust and rubber degradation. Pull the plugs, look for rust inside. Turn the crank over a few times to check for binding. Leakdown test. This requires compressed air, maybe a portable air tank will work. You won't get high numbers, because leakdown is usually done on a hot engine, but at least you'll see if the valves are closing and there aren't big holes in the block or gasket. I found a bunch of sludge in the oil pan and exhaust ports. Copious amounts of solvent cleaned it up. Injectors and other fuel-related parts will need cleaning. After we installed and fired it up, we discovered the head gasket was leaking, too. But otherwise that engine ran fine. -- Scott Chan
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#9. Sparco Seat FORSALE - from Michael Lawrence
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Date: Thu, 4 Oct 2001 14:01:08 -0700 From: "Michael Lawrence" <95m3ltw@home.com> Subject: Sparco Seat FORSALE Hi Folks, I am selling my Sparco Pro 2000 that I bought new in 1999. The seat has about 2000 miles on it, if that. It is a side mount seat and will come with Sparco side mount brackets plus a mount I made myself for E-36 cars. A very simple, straightforward set up that can be switched from stock seat to sparco in about 15 mins. For those that want a seat for schools, then stock seat for daily driving. No belts are included with the seats. $450 plus shipping, just let me know your zip and I can quote you on shipping if you are interested. Thanks Mike Link to pics http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=1786406&a=13830549
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#10. [E36M3] Found a noise, fixed it! - from twisty M3
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Date: Thu, 04 Oct 2001 11:57:35 -0700 From: "twisty M3" <twistym3@hotmail.com> Subject: [E36M3] Found a noise, fixed it! Will the clunking posts never end? ;) After I had the H&R/Konis installed, I'd been noticing some rear end noises occasionally. I assumed that they had simply forgot to tighten the bolts on the left RSM. Long story short... after tearing all my carpet out, testing the tightness of all shock mounting points and sway bar end links, I was stumped. The damn rear was still making noise over some bumps. Turns out to be about the first thing I guess I should've checked... The exhaust! It's always had a bit of side-to-side play, so I didn't think that could be it, but the outside rear hanger was lose and the exhaust "lip" was able to bounce around freely within it. Would've saved plenty of time and effort if I'd had a second set of ears back there while I was bouncing on my door sill. Message to all: Check the simple things first! ;) This does bring up a question though. Is there an easier way to tighten the nut/bolt on the outside exhaust hanger? What a PITA tryin to wedge my hand in there with a wrench, and only being able to make a 5 degree turn with each effort. Must've been 10 minutes just to get two or three full turns on that sucker. If this ever loosens up again, is there an easier way to tighten that side? Jonathan L. _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp