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#1. Re: Brake warning light - from S Lafredo
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Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2001 07:06:30 -0800 (PST) From: S Lafredo <slafredo@yahoo.com> Subject: Re: Brake warning light On the M3 I took the brake sensors out of the pads and tie wrapped them to the strut tubs. On the iX cut off the cruddy sensor and soldered the two ends together and shrink-wrapped over the bare wire. --- Neil Maller <neil.maller@gte.net> wrote: > In your case the circuit has been broken in the sensor wire. Patching > the break won't help. > ... > You need to replace the brake sensor. The warning light will then > reset itself, although it will take a few brake applications > before this happens. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Check out Yahoo! Shopping and Yahoo! Auctions for all of your unique holiday gifts! Buy at http://shopping.yahoo.com or bid at http://auctions.yahoo.com
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#2. Powerflex Bushing Install & Report - The Good and the Not So Good - from Wayne Miller
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Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2001 10:25:01 -0500 From: "Wayne Miller" <m3@waynemiller.com> Subject: Powerflex Bushing Install & Report - The Good and the Not So Good On Saturday, Chester and I decided to replace the stock rubber front bushings and TC Kline Aluminum Monoball Rear's with the Powerflex bushings. The fronts weren't too bad because we actually replaced both lower control arms at the same time (I had some ball joint wear) and had access to a big hydraulic press to get the old bushings out. With 3 tons of pressure, they came right out in about 1 minute and the new ones plopped right in. For the rears, the TC Kline ones put up a fight on one side and didn't want to come out. I was banging and banging them with a hammer and socket (I gave up on the idea of reselling them and just wanted them out so I didn't mind damaging them) and I managed to hit my pinky with the hammer and likely broke it (it doesn't hurt but I am going to the doctor in a few hours because it has some funny coloring - it looks like there are now Wayne stories instead of Chester stories). I did eventually get the old one out and putting in the new Powerflex ones wasn't too bad. There was no way that the metal shaft that runs through them was going to fit inside the mounting plate because it was too long. We tried to force it but it wasn't going anywhere. I just used a grinder and shortened the shaft by a tiny little bit and then they went in fine. Now for the really bad news. When Chester unbolted the mounting plate on the passenger side, he found that one of the body mounts came right out with the plate because it had torn right out of the sheet-metal. The way it works is the bolt goes into a plug that is welded to the sheet metal. The metal tore right around the edge of the weld. Not good. The metal on the other side was cracking but still connected. Yesterday, I took it to crazy engine builder guy to see what he could do. He is probably one of the absolute best machinists/mechanics ANYWHERE, an expert welder and he can do just about anything. He usually rebuilds Ferrari engines to the tune of $150k a pop but he can fix 40 year old blocks that have had a rod go through them. He likes me so he helped me out but he doesn't help just anyone off the street. He TIG welded the cracked one with no trouble. He started to TIG weld the old plug back in place and it started out well but then the metal around it just started melting away because it was so thin. He kept saying that the metal was like toilet paper. He ended up using a MIG welder to just deposit tons of metal all around the area and then ground it down so the plate fit back in. It didn't look pretty but somehow he ended up with the plug in the exact position that it was supposed to be and everything went back together. He was not happy with this solution because it may now just tear to the outside of the new weld and we are going to try to come up with some type of reinforcement. For pictures, look here: http://www.waynemiller.com/m3/trailingarm/TrailingArm002.jpg <- The hole in the sheet metal http://www.waynemiller.com/m3/trailingarm/TrailingArm014.jpg <- The cracked side http://www.waynemiller.com/m3/trailingarm/TrailingArm032.jpg <- Another view of the hole http://www.waynemiller.com/m3/trailingarm/TrailingArm036.jpg <- The plug http://www.waynemiller.com/m3/trailingarm/TrailingArm037.jpg <- The plug again http://www.waynemiller.com/m3/trailingarm/TrailingArm041.jpg <- The initial weld on the torn side before it melted http://www.waynemiller.com/m3/trailingarm/TrailingArm048.jpg <- Doing the welding Now, the point of all this wasn't to scare everyone out there but to show what can happen. I doubt that this will happen to most people but couple the solid mounts, the NYC streets/potholes and my driving and this is what you can get. Now, I am very happy with the ride with the Powerflex bushings. The car is so much quieter than with the solid rears and it doesn't crash over bumps. It isn't quite as smooth as with the stock rubber bushings (from when I drove Chester's car) and I can't say much about the handling yet because it was raining today and yesterday, I didn't have a complete rear suspension. Feel free to ask any questions, -Wayne P.S. I bought the Powerflex bushings from www.spatechnique.com and they had the best prices that I could find.
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#3. Re: Speeding Ticket - from Vince Throckmorton
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Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2001 10:37:25 -0600 From: Vince Throckmorton <vince@rjthrockmorton.com> Subject: Re: Speeding Ticket Based on my experience it means the court probably has a bit higher fine or court cost for people with radar detectors. All they want is their money, I usually call the court clerk and get the prosecutor's address and send them a nice letter explaining some bizzare reason I was speeding, that I have a clean record and is there any way they would "reccomend" a plea to non points violation so my insurance won't = the national debt. If they go for it you save $80 that you'd pay the lawyer. Vince Throckmorton, 98 M3-4 01 330i, 82 1000 Boxter.
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#4. Re: [E36M3] Powerflex Bushing Install & Report - The Good and the Not So Good - from Chester Wong
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Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2001 08:42:53 -0800 (PST) From: Chester Wong <chester_p_wong@yahoo.com> Subject: Re: [E36M3] Powerflex Bushing Install & Report - The Good and the Not So Good Keep in mind that we had the BMW tool, more like fittings, to press out the bushings. So no Sawzall or anything else was needed. It doesn't really make sense to buy the tool if you're going to powerflex bushings (on a '96+ car) because the powerflex bushings don't have a metal sleeve that friction fits into the lollipops. I don't know how the eccentric powerflex bushing would work since the ones we used ('99M3) were concentric. I guess they would need the metal sleeve to hold everything in place (can someone confirm?). Contact me privately if you're interested in renting or buying the tool. Also, we used the BMW tool to release the lower control arm from the steering knuckle (or whatever you call it). That is one cool tool! No damaging the ball joint boots or sever whacking with a pickle fork. For those of you who have done front suspension work, you know that you can't whack on the ball joint threaded part because the steering knuckle is in the way. Chester > bushings. The fronts weren't too bad because we actually replaced both > lower control arms at the same time (I had some ball joint wear) and had > access to a big hydraulic press to get the old bushings out. With 3 tons > of pressure, they came right out in about 1 minute and the new ones > plopped right in. For the rears, the TC Kline ones put up a fight on one ===== __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Check out Yahoo! Shopping and Yahoo! Auctions for all of your unique holiday gifts! Buy at http://shopping.yahoo.com or bid at http://auctions.yahoo.com
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#5. Re: Brake warning light - from andy radin
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Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2001 09:42:03 -0800 From: "andy radin" <fourfa@mindspring.com> Subject: Re: Brake warning light "You need to replace the brake sensor. The warning light will then reset itself, although it will take a few brake applications before this happens." in the meantime, if it's annoying, clip the sensor end off the wire, strip the two wires inside the shielding and twist them together. No more light. andy r.
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#6. Re: Replacing all bushings?? - from andy radin
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Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2001 09:44:25 -0800 From: "andy radin" <fourfa@mindspring.com> Subject: Re: Replacing all bushings?? "When using any less resilient trailing arm bushings it might be a good idea to inspect the body mount area regularly. The welding around the 3 threaded inserts that hold the trailing arm carrier is a known weak spot. Stiffer bushings will obviously communicate higher shock loading to those mounts." I though the issue was not the stiffness of the bushing, but rather that a dead stock bushing collapses completely and allows metal-to-metal shock loads.
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#7. Re: Koni struts, coilovers - from Chip Mitchell
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Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2001 12:56:00 -0500 From: "Chip Mitchell" <chipm@arches.uga.edu> Subject: Re: Koni struts, coilovers Do you have any more information on the struts? I couldn't find anything about them on the koni-na.com website, but I'd love to know more. I did find that they now have a Koni coilover kit with progressive springs. Anyone know how these stack up to the H&R coilover kit? Thanks! ChipM > >Note that Koni also has a complete M3 strut now, although I haven't seen >them myself and don't know anyone that has them. > >Neil >96 M3 - Koni/H&R Sport
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#8. Re: [E36M3] Re: Replacing all bushings?? - from Chester Wong
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Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2001 10:09:48 -0800 (PST) From: Chester Wong <chester_p_wong@yahoo.com> Subject: Re: [E36M3] Re: Replacing all bushings?? > "When using any less resilient trailing arm bushings it might be a good idea > to inspect the body mount area regularly. The welding around the 3 threaded > inserts that hold the trailing arm carrier is a known weak spot. Stiffer > bushings will obviously communicate higher shock loading to those mounts." > > I though the issue was not the stiffness of the bushing, but rather that a > dead stock bushing collapses completely and allows metal-to-metal shock > loads. Well, from having seen Wayne's car, the metal is extremely thin in that area. Compounding the fatigue is the fact that the threads that the bolts thread into is all the way on the far end of the opening. So you basically have a 1" lever placing force at the base of the "plugs". There were a few issues at hand here. I believe Wayne said that his stock bushings were shot when he replaced them. So we don't know how much jostling around it did beforehand. Second, Wayne replaced the stock bushings with the monoball aluminum ones which have zero compliance. Now, this is not necessarily a bad thing if everything is tight, but when we removed them, there was some side to side play in the bearing. Just the tiniest movement will make your rear trailing arm like a jack hammer. Chester ===== __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Check out Yahoo! Shopping and Yahoo! Auctions for all of your unique holiday gifts! Buy at http://shopping.yahoo.com or bid at http://auctions.yahoo.com
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#9. rear trailing arm bushing mounting points - from kitwetzler@mindspring.com
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Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2001 13:11:55 -0500 From: "kitwetzler@mindspring.com" <kitwetzler@mindspring.com> Subject: rear trailing arm bushing mounting points > inserts that hold the trailing arm carrier is a > known weak spot. Stiffer bushings will obviously > communicate higher shock loading to those mounts. I've only seen this area fail after failed or otherwise compromised bushings. It seems that the failed bushings allow more movement of the trailing arm and these forces are what tears the mounts out of that area. I've been running monoballs for a year and now polyurethane Powerflex bushings for 3 months and haven't seen any evidence of failures in that area. That includes about 22 track days. :) -kit -------------------------------------------------------------------- mail2web - Check your email from the web at http://mail2web.com/ .
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#10. Re: Another Bilstein question - from Tim Gergen
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Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2001 18:17:44 +0000 From: "Tim Gergen" <tgergen@hotmail.com> Subject: Re: Another Bilstein question Thanks to all for the info...That's funny I asked this question before (on my last M). Obviously, I never trimmed them! Thanks again for the great info and links...I will be trimming them, and doing a photo/write-up/webpage with the procedures.. Tim _________________________________________________________________ Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: http://mobile.msn.com