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#1. Eibach Pro-Kit Springs (Suspension Version 3.5) - from Wayne Miller
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Date: Thu, 23 May 2002 11:11:02 -0400 From: "Wayne Miller" <m3@waynemiller.com> Subject: Eibach Pro-Kit Springs (Suspension Version 3.5) After almost a week with Suspension Version 3.5, I couldn't be happier with the ride and handling. It consists of the Eibach Pro-Kit springs, Koni SA shocks, UUC sway bars, TC Kline adjustable camber plates, PowerFlex bushings and 8.5" 245/40/17 SO3's all around. The camber plates are set at the minimum of about 2.5 degrees of negative camber (a bit more than I wanted) and I have just under 2 degrees of negative camber in the rear. The ride is a little harsher than stock but not uncomfortable at all and the handling is amazing. The car has so far been totally neutral whenever I have pushed it. I found the piece of paper last night with my "before" ride height measurements and discovered that the front dropped between 3/4-1" (to about 13" from the wheel centerline to the fender lip) and the rear dropped about .5" (from 12.75" to 12.25"). The car looks great with the lowered stance too. On the track with my street tires, something was rubbing in the front (I have 16mm spacers to clear my RE big brakes) but not with the track tires (235/40/17 ECSTA Victoracers). If you want to see a few laps of Watkins Glen, look here: www.waynemiller.com/m3/theglen.html . They are all in the Windows Media Player .WMV format and maybe one day I will do QuickTime versions. Even though session 2 was my best and fastest, I didn't have time to set up the camera so these videos were taken during my 3rd session on Sunday (with a new instructor - literally because he just graduated from the Instructor Training School that weekend) where I was purposely taping the people in front of me for the first 5 laps. Lap 6 was the fastest until the Camaro didn't give me the point-by. -Wayne
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#2. Re: StreetLine install - from Steve Klein
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Date: Thu, 23 May 2002 10:28:13 -0500 From: Steve Klein <klein@robinsonad.com> Subject: Re: StreetLine install Thanks Eric- I'll remember that. I plan to put the beast up on four jack stands so I shouldn't need the parking brake on at the time. By the by, where are the best locations for A) jacking with a floor jack and B) placing the jack stands? Thanks, Steve
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#3. changing belts - from Gary A. Preece
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Date: Thu, 23 May 2002 11:41:09 -0400 From: "Gary A. Preece" <gapreece@entreky.net> Subject: changing belts Scott, Two things that helped me. 1) I replaced my belts (properly) and was still getting squealing. The problem was small chunks of rubber stuck in the grooves of the pulleys. So, visually inspect and take a knife blade to get any rubber out. I also used brake cleaner on the pulleys. (carefully) 2) I used an allen wrench with a small pipe to loosen the tensioners. A BIG HELP was when I took a motorcycle tie down stap with the plasic covered hooks and attached one end to a front wheel and the other to the end of the small diam. pipe. This loosened the belt and allowed both hands to be used for removing and replacing. Hope this helps. Gary Preece
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#4. RE: What am I missing/Strut Installation - from Noah Paci
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Date: Thu, 23 May 2002 12:46:40 -0400 From: "Noah Paci" <npaci@rr.com> Subject: RE: What am I missing/Strut Installation You can take a look at my koni experience here: http://www.noahpaci.com/koni I have never done the TC Kline kit, but from your description I suspect it will be very similar to the Koni installation. cheers. Noah. ------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 May 2002 12:54:04 -0500 From: Steve Klein <klein@robinsonad.com> Subject: What am I missing? Oh wise wuns- All the bits for the TC Kline Streetline kit are now in my possession, and as I prepare to do the big overhaul, some things puzzle me. Mainly the front shock/strut assembly. The shock has a threaded insert on the bottom, but when I removed the wheel to do a visual familiarization with the strut, I could not locate the corresponding bolt. After musing at the coffee shop for a bit, I concluded that it must be fixed in the bottom of the strut housing, and once removed, the old shock will unscrew and lift out, with the new one installed in a reverse fashion. Is this correct? I also got their MonoBall RSM's with the kit, but no gasket. Am I correct in remembering that one is needed? I seem to remember someone mentioning making one out of cardboard. And for those with this setup, by how much did you trim the bump stops, and was that off the top or bottom? The front coils are 50410.55's, and the insert says .75" 'when lowering springs are installed...' I was under the impression that these springs kept the stock ride height. Lastly, my venture will consist of RTB's, CA's/Bushings, RSM's, shocks and springs. Where should I apply Loc-Tite? And no, I won't apply it to myself. Thanks for your help, Steve '95 M3 with a floaty feel '00ish 328ci w/racing suspension/transmission, soft R compounds, stage 3 turbo, stage 3 lightweight kit, ported, balanced, fuzzy dice. . .oh, wait. That's my Grand Turismo 3 car.
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#5. Re: What am I missing/Strut Installation - from Steve Klein
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Date: Thu, 23 May 2002 12:03:27 -0500 From: Steve Klein <klein@robinsonad.com> Subject: Re: What am I missing/Strut Installation Thanks Noah- That's a great write-up you've put together. I feel I'll be well prepared for tackling this job now. The thought of cutting up the beast was was intimidating at first, but after reading through a few times, it seems like with the right tools it will be fairly straight forward. I'm going to use this as an excuse to purchase a flex-shaft attachment for my Dremel since those pesky internal bumps seem like the most frustrating obstacle. Again, thank you very much for the information. My quote from the garage was $1,600 for labor and 3 days to install the coils, struts, CA's, bushings and RSM's. That just leaves me more money to spend on tools and gas! Steve
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#6. Fwd: belt changing - from marc@plante.com
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Date: Thu, 23 May 2002 10:29:58 -0700 (PDT) From: marc@plante.com Subject: Fwd: belt changing actually you can put a closed end wrench on your 8 mm allen key to lengthen the handle and get leverage to pry the tensioner pulley down. Don't be shy. It's got a fair amount of tension on it. I'd say 30 ft lbs or so (rough guess). Most instructions tell you that you should remove the fan to get at the belts. If you have the tools to do so easily, I'd recommend it, though you can get the belts on and off without removing the fan. I've never gotten the tools to make removing my fan easy, and I learned how to get the serpentine on without removing the fan one rainy day in Ohio. It's a bit awkward in spots, but generally doable in about 15-30 mins of fiddling. Make sure you've got a manual that gives you a sense of the belt's routing. Also check all of the pulleys for wear and bearing functionality while the belts are off. Note that the spacing between the tensioner pulley and one of the others (think the alternator) can be kind of tight, so you may get into spots where you need to load the pulley to get the belt into place. It'll make sense when you work on it. One last word of advice. If you ever have your tensioner pulley seize and explode on you, you can steal the tensioner pulley from the air conditioner to get home. Note that if you go to a car parts store (like an Auto Zone), they may stock the air conditioner pulley, but not the serpentine belt tensioner pulley. You can use it to get home. Marc Plante E36 325i, 198k Vienna, VA ------- End of forwarded message -------
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#7. removing fuel line clips - from willtj@bellsouth.net
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Date: Thu, 23 May 2002 14:17:45 -0400 From: <willtj@bellsouth.net> Subject: removing fuel line clips Fuel smell in the passenger compartment. When I checked the connections under the rear, no obvious major leak, but they are secured with the snap on variety hose clamp. Thought I would replace them with the screw type, but didn't see an easy way to get them off and thought someone on list would know. Cut them with diagonal cutter? Tim 95 M3
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#8. E46 M3 - from Dorffer, Rich
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Date: Thu, 23 May 2002 14:45:01 -0400 From: "Dorffer, Rich" <RDORFFER@CleIndians.com> Subject: E46 M3 Courtesy of another lister and fellow NE Ohio BMW CCA member, I got the opportunity to take a quick look at an E46 M3 (convertible in this case with the SMG) along with a short drive yesterday. All I have to say is these are very nice cars. My thoughts: I have heard them before and did not like the sound of the exhaust which was one of my previous complaints (that list was short though). I didn't even notice the exhaust on my short drive though. The steering wheel and instruments are great. I really like the paddles and the size/thickness of the steering wheel (and I have small hands). I still like the E30 EVO suede steering wheel a little better but this has got to be one of the nicest airbag steering wheels ever. SMG - Seems cool to me with lots of adjustability with the different modes. A little different than I expected but I would need more time with it to comment further. It certainly seemed to work as advertised. Topaz Blue - This has got to be one of the best BMW colors, definitely reminded me off Avus Blue. Wheels - Great looking, particularly that finish. Ride - Extremely composed. I am sure the weight of the vehicle plays a role in this and I am curious what happens as the car is put through it's paces but I can see why these would be great daily drivers. Also, I never took the car over ~4,000 - 5,000 rpms since it only had ~150 miles reading on the odometer so my short drive was very leisurely while I learned a little about the SMG courtesy of my passenger instruction. Hopefully I get the opportunity to drive one after it is broken in properly some day. Regards, Rich - Still thinks the E46 M3 is the king of M3s 95 M3 - lowly ratty old poseur with one throttle body...off to the track Saturday anyway.
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#9. StreetLine Installation - from Darling Christopher Maj AMC/CEXR
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Date: Thu, 23 May 2002 14:26:10 -0500 From: "Darling Christopher Maj AMC/CEXR" <Christopher.Darling@scott.af.mil> Subject: StreetLine Installation Steve, I too have a '95 and just put in a StreetLine suspension a couple months = ago. My first recommendation to you is SLOW DOWN. Get hold of all the = instructions you need. Get hold of all the tools you need. Get hold of = all the PARTS you need. Do all this before you start tearing into = anything. And leave yourself plenty of time. Like all weekend, for = example. I can replace my front struts in less than two hours now--but = that's just because I've had practice. It took all day the first time. = When I changed my suspension, I did what the book said and replaced the = applicable bolts. Doesn't cost much and you don't have to screw around = with lock-tite. Be advised it is essential to fabricate a tool to tighten the front = shocks. Check out the attached tech procedure. It's easy to do. Do = not use an impact wrench. =20 If you have specific questions I'll be glad to answer any, but Chester = and Neil were my main sources of info.=20 <<Shock Tightening>>=20 Cod Major Chris Darling HQ AMC/CEXR DSN 779-0698, Comm (618) 229-0698 <<Shock Tightening>>=20
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#10. Re: [E36M3] 5 Point Harness - from Jim Bassett
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Date: Thu, 23 May 2002 12:55:53 -0700 From: Jim Bassett <jimbassett@attbi.com> Subject: Re: [E36M3] 5 Point Harness At 07:34 AM 5/23/02, Neil Maller wrote: >On the plus side the Schroths have the ASM feature, and an excellent rotary >camlock latch (I don't want a duckbill or lever setup.) I've worn these in >other people's cars and found them functional and well made. > >I'm soliciting opinions from other 5 point harness users. >My questions: > >1) Which harness did you buy and are you happy with it? I've used both the Autopower & Sparco/Sabelt 5-point harness. I like them both. The Autopower was a camlock, the Sparco is a lever-actuated camlock, so you may not be interested. And the installation were in race cars, so you installation may be different. The Sparcos are my belts in the E36, I had Autopower in the E30 M3 I raced last year and as the passenger belts in the race car. >2) How and where did you mount the lap ends? >I'd like to use snap-in mounts, which would work fine for the outboard lap >belt to the stock seatbelt bar by the floor. However it's not obvious that >there's a good way to do this on the inboard side, so I'm thinking that >bolt-in to the seat rail mounts may be necessary. I used the clip-in on both brands. The Sparco's have holes drilled for each eyelet (IIRC, it's been a while since I looked at them), the Autopower have the eyelet drilled separately on the outboard side, the inboard eyelet is screwed into the stock buckle location on the seat mount frame. >3) How and where did you mount the sub strap? With no HVAC ducts in either car, mounting was straight forward, directly below. The Sparco belt is bolted in, the Autopower clipped in. >4) With hindsight is there anything you would have done differently? After the initial install of the Sparco's I swapped the lap belts for the pull-up style. Other than that, nothing really. The Sparco webbing is really stiff, making it less easy to adjust the harnesses. I have to pretty much set the lap belt as tight as possible at the beginning of the day and leave it. Even with the pull-up style, the stiffness of the webbing and angle of the straps make it difficult for me. The Autopower webbing feels different and is easier to adjust. I'm prepping the race car tonight for an event this weekend, including re-installing the passenger seat/harness. If you (or anyone) would like any pictures of the harness install, let me know. It'll give an excuse to use the new digital camera :-) Hope that helps, Jim Bassett
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#11. Re: [E36M3] removing fuel line clips - from Jim Bassett
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Date: Thu, 23 May 2002 12:59:32 -0700 From: Jim Bassett <jimbassett@attbi.com> Subject: Re: [E36M3] removing fuel line clips At 11:24 AM 5/23/02, willtj@bellsouth.net wrote: >Fuel smell in the passenger compartment. When I checked the connections >under the rear, no obvious major leak, but they are secured with the snap >on variety hose clamp. > >Thought I would replace them with the screw type Good idea. >, but didn't see an easy way to get them off and thought someone on list >would know. Cut them with diagonal cutter? Pretty much that's it. You can undo the crimp and that will give you some access for cutting. Cheers, Jim Bassett