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#1. cooling things, part II - from scott yu
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Date: Fri, 9 Nov 2001 13:46:01 -0500 From: "scott yu" <scott@ditherdog.com> Subject: cooling things, part II woops! kind of got ahead of myself with the first post. I called = Zygmunt motors in Doylestown, PA, and they gave me some GREAT prices. = Apparently their cooling system components are on special right now, so I got a complete cooling system overhaul for less than $250 shipped. This includes radiator, water pump, upper and lower hoses, thermostat, _aluminum_ thermostat housing, and associated gaskets. Since I'm in MA, I think it should arrive in a few days - I'll report on the Al housing when I receive it - I know people were interested in it, and this one sells for $19. Asked the fellow if it was the E34 part and he said "no, this is a new part from BMW." Apparently it has the same number as the previous plastic version [11 53 1 722 531] but he said there is a = newer, Al piece. He's got ~375 in stock... again, will report upon receipt. =20 Er, my fan clutch question still stands, however - anyone ever have = this fail? =20 thanks a lot, =20 Scott
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#2. ABS system on 95 M3s - from Marc.S.Edwards@QuestDiagnostics.com
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Date: Fri, 9 Nov 2001 11:38:01 -0800 From: Marc.S.Edwards@QuestDiagnostics.com Subject: ABS system on 95 M3s The ABS system on 95 M3s is a 4 detector (one at each wheel), 3 channel activated system. The rear brakes are on a common line. Each of the fronts are on their own line. This means that if the system detects lock-up on one of the rear wheels it will cut back on brake pressure until that single wheel begins to rotate again. Obviously this cuts down on the brake pressure being applied to the opposite non-locked rear wheel as well. Hence your braking efficiency might be slightly less. However, since the majority of your braking is done on the front wheels the rear brake might only be seen under severe duty or extreme circumstances with a significant difference between left and right traction (one wheel in sand or snow, the other on asphalt perhaps?) The 1996+ M3s have ABS that is 4 channel sensor, 4 channel brake line actuation and so can vary the brake pressure independently on each wheel for presumably better braking under extreme conditions or significant differences between left and right traction surfaces to the rear wheel. I personally don't see much of a problem with moderately different wear amounts on rear or front. It becomes a problem if it is extreme leading to different traction from side to side, or, if it is extreme you will be asking the LSD (limited slip differential) to be doing more work than it usually does. I have heard that if you are using a limited use spare on a LSD axle then you shouldn't use it for a significant amount of time because the LSD (and its oil) may significantly heat up potentially causing damage. I don't know if this is true or not. But it does make sense. And, in cars with traction control systems or systems that detect a "differential" rotation between all 4 corners a significant difference in wear of the tires may show up as activation of the traction control system or dynamic stability system, or in the new E46M3, telling you that one tire is low on air (the system works on the basis that a tire that is low on air will have a smaller effective diameter and hence showing up as a different rotational speed than the pumped up tires). Regards, Marc 95M3CSL (no traction control, no DSC, no flats either.....just bald tires happily worn evenly!).
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#3. Alternator Replacement - from PDumond21@aol.com
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Date: Fri, 9 Nov 2001 14:53:20 EST From: PDumond21@aol.com Subject: Alternator Replacement I have a '97 M3 coupe and I'm about to change my alternator. Do any of you have any advice or hints on this change? Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks. Paul
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#4. Tire question - from Ed Tang
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Date: Fri, 9 Nov 2001 12:13:55 -0800 (PST) From: Ed Tang <etangf1@yahoo.com> Subject: Tire question Hi all, This is probably an unusual question but here goes... I have a friend with a 99 M3 shod with Michelin Pilot Sports. It has about 90% tread on it. Things we both notice upon driving the car. When the car is cold, the brakes are not effective. Car is 100% stock. Actually it now has camber plates, however, this problem existed before that. After a few miles of driving, it brakes just like any M3 I have driven including mine. Either the tires needed to be warmed up or the brakes needed some warming up. I run on Bridgestones and stock pads and I do not have cold braking issues on my car. Some history... This car was bought in Vegas a few months ago with 4400 miles on it. Pads and tires are literally brand spanking new. However, b/c the car was stored for a while, the tire pressures were about 21 psi all around. Driven here to Chicago, 2000 miles were put on the tires. I was thinking that a combo of stored tires and possibly the steel belts on the sidewall being weakened had something to do with it. I don't know how it was stored but the Bridgestones I'm running were stored in my dark cool storage closet for a year and I had no ill effects from it. On my friend's car, there is literally no effective braking unless you really push that pedal to the floor. ABS also engages rampantly. Once you drive it 2 to 3 miles, it is back to normal. We've checked the rotors and pads and they're not glazed or anything. We were thinking about swapping wheels, play a few rounds of Gran Turismo 3 and run the cars to see if the tires are the culprit. Has anyone experienced this? I'm wondering if his brake booster is screwed up. Maybe it doesn't build pressure until the engine warms. I suspect the tires but I don't understand why it could be. I figure if we swap wheels it's a pretty cheap diagnostic tool(discounting the manual labor of us lugging this stuff around...good thing I have two jacks and four jackstands, not to mention the 14.4V power drill to speed remove/tighten the nuts). Help!!! and TIA. Ed Tang 95 Cosmos M3 __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Find a job, post your resume. http://careers.yahoo.com
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#5. Re: Tire question - from Kevin M. Gregg
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Date: Fri, 09 Nov 2001 15:38:37 -0500 From: "Kevin M. Gregg" <kevingregg@home.com> Subject: Re: Tire question >On my friend's car, there is literally no effective >braking unless you really push that pedal to the >floor. ABS also engages rampantly. Once you drive it 2 >to 3 miles, it is back to normal. brake fluid level low? I'd guess that the tires are OK. If you swap tires front to rear, be careful when driving the car with the skinnies out back! Kevin Gregg kevingregg@home.com 1997 BMW M3 Estoril Blue coupe http://members.home.net/kevingregg/m3/ BMW CCA member Columbia, MD, USA
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#6. Re: [E36M3] Cooling system overhaul questions. - from alex.fadeev@verizon.com
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Date: Fri, 9 Nov 2001 14:58:56 -0600 From: alex.fadeev@verizon.com Subject: Re: [E36M3] Cooling system overhaul questions. Matt Henson <hensonator@yahoo.com> wrote: --- morris.michael@adlittle.com wrote: > > Due to the high mileage of my vehicle, I am beginning > > to lean towards swapping out the radiatorand all the > > hoses at the same time I do everything else. > > Probably not a bad idea.. While you're at it, replace > the thermostat and the thermostat housing. Some > companies, including AA, sell metal thermostat housings. Morris, Swapping hoses on 100+K mile cars is a good preventative measure. To be sure it's a bit expensive on E36M3s (~$300 for all the hoses), so take a close look inspecting the old hoses for wear and tear. Same goes for the radiator. Some people report broken plastic necks. Look closely and if you see any early cracks, order a $200 replacement. However, if both the old hoses and the radiator look as good as new, I would look for better ways to spend the $500. > > My questions are as follows: > > > > 1A. How long has it taken any of you to swap out the > > water pump, and swap the radiator? (Need to estimate > > how long I will not have a car for). > > I think it took me about 1/2 a day. You should remove > the rad to get to the WP anyway. Not so. You do _not_ have to touch the radiator to swap the water pump. Remove the fan clutch and its shroud and you will have plenty of room to work on the water pump. If you do remove the radiator, buy at least one replacement clip as you will likely break at least one of the two taking them out. With radiator left alone, it took two E36 water-pump job virgins ~3.5 hours to swap the pump, the belts and the thermostat. Including flushing and re-filling the radiator. That time could be easily cut down to ~2 hours second time around. > > 3. Any recommended radiator vendors? From what I > > have read, BMW genuine is the way to go instead of a > > fluidyne or other aftermarket? Yes... or No? > > I'd say no, not necessarily. The BMW one is the one > that fails every 60K miles. I think that there aren't > too many generic radiators for these cars. The rad > from the 325i and 328i are the same as ours, BTW. I > think that some OEM rads have been selling on E-bay > for <$200.. For example, > http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/aw-cgi/ebayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=597480681&r=0&t=0 OEM radiators can be had for ~$200 from Roundel advertising mail order dealers. good luck, alex f
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#7. Re: [E36M3] Cooling system overhaul questions. - from Matt Henson
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Date: Fri, 9 Nov 2001 13:22:28 -0800 (PST) From: Matt Henson <hensonator@yahoo.com> Subject: Re: [E36M3] Cooling system overhaul questions. I didn't say that you _have_ to remove the radiator, it's just a good idea given that he needs to fully inspect it. Also, if you don't pull it you increase the chances of damaging it. It really doesn't take much more time to pull it and you have to drain the system anyway. While we're on the subject, you can also remove the radiator without removing the shroud or fan. Just pop the shroud off and push it over the fan towards the engine. Maybe this is obvious but it's not what Bentley has us do.. -Matt --- alex.fadeev@verizon.com wrote: >> You should remove >> the rad to get to the WP anyway. > > Not so. > You do _not_ have to touch the radiator to swap the > water pump. Remove the > fan clutch and its shroud and you will have plenty > of room to work on the > water pump. > > good luck, > alex f > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Find a job, post your resume. http://careers.yahoo.com
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#8. shifting funky into 5th - from kitwetzler@mindspring.com
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Date: Fri, 9 Nov 2001 17:28:42 -0500 From: "kitwetzler@mindspring.com" <kitwetzler@mindspring.com> Subject: shifting funky into 5th So, recently, I've noticed that sometimes my 97 m3 doesn't like to go into fifth, especially after I've gone real fast. So... any suggestions? Is there a 5th gear spring that is wearing out? Dang it, Andy's car always wants to go into 5th and mine doesn't want to. *sigh* -kit, who lives at the house of 3 E36 M3s... 97 m3/4, getting dinan supercharger... slowly... -------------------------------------------------------------------- mail2web - Check your email from the web at http://mail2web.com/ .
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#9. Re: [E36M3] cooling things - from Chester Wong
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Date: Fri, 9 Nov 2001 15:51:40 -0800 (PST) From: Chester Wong <chester_p_wong@yahoo.com> Subject: Re: [E36M3] cooling things > Now on to new things - there's been enough talk in the past about > plastic H2O pump replacement on 95 M3's - how much longer do the metal > impellers last? I'm revamping the cooling system on my '97, which is up > to 91,000 miles now. I've decided to do the radiator and hoses, but = I'm not 100% sure, but I've heard that the water pump now supercedes to a plastic impeller version again =( I'd imagine that if you flush the system regularly as maintenance, the metal impeller version should last a long time. Chester ===== __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Find a job, post your resume. http://careers.yahoo.com
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#10. The 4 deadliest cars of all time (OT) - from Bob Vaughn
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Date: Fri, 9 Nov 2001 15:51:41 -0800 From: Bob Vaughn <Bob_Vaughn@Telestream.net> Subject: The 4 deadliest cars of all time (OT) BMW not one of them but mentioned in this good article nonetheless. Touches on several things talked about on this digest including insurance and the nut behind the wheel. http://moneycentral.msn.com/articles/insure/basics/8135.asp -- Bob '95 M3