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#1. RE: [E36M3] Instrument cluster bulbs - from Robert S. Hatrak II
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Date: Mon, 22 Jul 2002 15:05:06 -0700 From: "Robert S. Hatrak II" <hatrak@ix.netcom.com> Subject: RE: [E36M3] Instrument cluster bulbs Pulling the cluster is about a 3 minute job on the E36 once you've done it once. It will take about 10 minutes the first time, mainly trying to figure out how to release the electrical plugs. ** remove keys from vehicle and: 1. remove 2 screws at top of cluster face. 2. insert screwdriver or credit car at top edge of cluster and pull it down slightly. 3. reach behind top edge of cluster with fingers and pull the whole thing forward 4. angle the cluster about 30 degree away from you and pull forward against back side of steering wheel. 5. reach behind and unplug the 3 connections. They don't simply pull out, but have a lever arm that must be pulled up before the plub will release and pull out. 6. slide the entire cluster to the right, toward the main air vent. It will come out this way, and you don't need to remove the steering wheel. 7. open cluster and replace bulbs. 8. reverse this mess for the re-installation and you will be done. I hope this helps. Rob ------------------------ It appears that I've got a couple of burnt-out bulbs in the instrument cluster; one behind the fuel gauge and one behind the tach. Is replacement fairly straight-forward? Anyone have experience doing this?
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#2. Rear Shock Towers...Next Steps - from Paul Elliott
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Date: Mon, 22 Jul 2002 18:34:37 -0400 From: "Paul Elliott" <elliott.paul@worldnet.att.net> Subject: Rear Shock Towers...Next Steps I had my dealer appointment today...To refresh, had Clunk since Feb, right after they installed my Konis. 2 wks ago, I discovered a hairline crack under one of my RSM bolts. Installing a washer under the nut quieted the clunk...removed it, really. I discussed several options for a permanent fix with the service writer, the Parts Mgr, and the Srvc Mgr today...Concensus was that there is a part BMW makes for the M3 shock towers...It looks like the top part of the tower, complete with hole for the shock top, plus holes for the rsm bolts. They said these are meant to be welded into the tower as a reinforcement...They said it could be applied on top, or on the bottom, but what they want to do is have them welded on Both, so that they in effect sandwich the top of the shock tower. Theyve had this done, at this particular body shop contractor several times, and they said not one has come back. They also want to do the same to the Passenger side, as a preventive measure, even though its quiet now. Now, they were slightly shaky on warranty coverage, but he said he thinks he will be able to cover it for me. I would really expect them to...Car is still under new car warranty, and the dinan suspension was only installed this year, and it carries its own warranty. Technically, they could let it fall into that grey area between the two, but I would really raise a stink...One of the advantages, I thought, of buying my BMW service, plus my Dinan service and parts, from the same dealer would be that in exactly these kinds of cases, Id be most likely to have the 'right' thing done by the dealer. At this point, it looks like it will be done. If it isnt, or some one manages to screw it up, youll all hear about it. As for now, it looks like Competition BMW in Greenwich is going to do the 'right' thing for the customer. And, if they really do go and reinforce the passenger side which isnt even demonstrating any problems, I would really applaud them for it. Hopefully, about to have my faith in the Dealer restored, Paul Elliott --------------------------------------------------------- '99 White M3; < 45K miles; Dinan stage II SC kit with 6" RMS crank pulley: 11 psi; AA Water Injection; Fikse FM-10s; X-Brace; Dinan Koni Suspension; Stygar SS and Clutch Stop; Sound by Polk, Excelon, JLAudio
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#3. Piston Ring - from Dorffer, Rich
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Date: Mon, 22 Jul 2002 18:30:53 -0400 From: "Dorffer, Rich" <RDORFFER@CleIndians.com> Subject: Piston Ring I haven't heard of this yet with M3s but I have a related experience that may be of some help. I just got done rebuilding the motor in my 1989 325is. I also lost compression (wet and dry test as well as a leak down) and, to make a long story short, my rings were seizing into the pistons. As a result, compression was rapidly deteriorating and one morning, the car wouldn't start. I had a 80% leak down on cylinder six and cylinders five, four and one were in the 50% - 60% leak down range. Cylinders two and three were acceptable and we initially thought I had warped the head. Pulled the head and it was fine so we decided to delve into the bottom end. Good thing since the rings were the issue. Ran the car yesterday for the first time since putting everything back together. The rebuilt motor ran very strong in first 100 miles and I am curious how the break-in will go and how strong the motor will be at 1,000 miles after a fluid change and a valve adjustment. It is a very strong running stock E30 325is. The only thing we can figure is that the PO ran cheaper oil (i.e., conventional) for extended intervals. The PO had the car from new and it was never tracked, just driven 117k street miles. Good luck. Regards, Rich - all cars running great finally 95 M3 90 325is 89 325is -------------------- 8 -------------------- Date: Mon, 22 Jul 2002 14:16:04 -0700 From: "David Sanchez" <sanchez918@msn.com> Subject: Piston Ring Just had a misfiring diagnosed as low compression (80% leakage) on one of my pistons. Technician told me (European Motor Cars, Las Vegas) that it was possible a cracked ring. Has anybody experience this problem. The car is a 5/94 build date with 78,000 miles and never been tracked. Aside from a Conforti Chip it is entirely stock. I've dealt with the water pump problem and other minor details but I hadn't heard of rings as a potential problem for this model. David M. Sanchez 1995 M-3 Daytona Violet - Sharked Sin City Chapter
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#4. H&R coilovers... too low. - from Paul Elliott
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Date: Mon, 22 Jul 2002 18:56:44 -0400 From: "Paul Elliott" <elliott.paul@worldnet.att.net> Subject: H&R coilovers... too low. Have you taken a front/back measurement from the center of the wheel roundel to the bottom of the fender above it? Thats where i have my measurements...My dinan suspension puts me at 12.5" front and 12" back..Id be curious to compare that with yours...I feel this is about as low as Id ever want to go for street use...even so, some big wide speed bumps will tickle the car bottom, as well as some car washes I used to use I will no longer go near, cause I'll scrape at the very beginning.. Paul Elliott --------------------------------------------------------- '99 White M3; < 45K miles; Dinan stage II SC kit with 6" RMS crank pulley: 11 psi; AA Water Injection; Fikse FM-10s; X-Brace; Dinan Koni Suspension; Stygar SS and Clutch Stop; Sound by Polk, Excelon, JLAudio
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#5. Re: [E36M3] OT - SS kits and creaky CP - from Jim Bassett
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Date: Mon, 22 Jul 2002 15:25:44 -0700 From: Jim Bassett <jimbassett@attbi.com> Subject: Re: [E36M3] OT - SS kits and creaky CP At 03:03 PM 7/22/02, Burgess, Kim L talked about: >Group sorry about the OT - This all sounds On Topic to me. >But I am in the process of upgrading my Shifter. >There are a number of choices from reworked stock to BIG-$$ European >replacement parts. My intention is to stay on the low end price-wise and was >wondering about the current offerings from Rogue, UCC (been quite a bit of >traffic here about early units.), and others, including RS's reworked Z3 >shifter. In general, a short shifter is a good upgrade. I'd recommend the Rogue one, but then, I'm biased (been a friend of Ben's for a few years, and am sponsored by Rogue). >Are there any other >fixes out there aside from RS's reworked pedal for the chronic creaky pedal? Well, I went low-tech. Sprayed some Wurth Spray Lubricant on the pivot points a few months ago. So far, squeak-free <knock on wood>, and the heat of the summer seemed to be when it was at it's worst. Jim Bassett
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#6. instrument cluster... - from kitwetzler@mindspring.com
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Date: Mon, 22 Jul 2002 20:33:49 -0400 From: "kitwetzler@mindspring.com" <kitwetzler@mindspring.com> Subject: instrument cluster... > Is replacement fairly straight-forward? Anyone have experience doing this? Pretty sure that it's not bulbs. The dash is lit mostly by plastic light benders, like fiber optics. I think those fall out. Just pull the cluster out and look... shouldn't be too hard. I have one out at 80mph. :( -------------------------------------------------------------------- mail2web - Check your email from the web at http://mail2web.com/ .
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#7. Re: M3 Center Arm Rest q's - from Craig Perrin
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Date: Mon, 22 Jul 2002 20:55:31 -0400 From: Craig Perrin <cperrin@tampabay.rr.com> Subject: Re: M3 Center Arm Rest q's Curious fact: This is the only modification to an automobile ever requested by my wife. Some of your questions have already been answered. The others: > How much does it cost to add on? The lowest price I found was $220 for black leather at Pacific BMW. The kit includes the entire center console, which is different from the non-armrest console. A couple of dealerships told me you couldn't get the kit anymore but Pacific has them. Or maybe I got the last one in existence. > Anyone have a black leather one for sale? I fished around for months and never found a used one in black leather. Maybe you'll have better luck. > How hard is the install? It's probably not that hard, but I paid a guy two hours labor to do it. So it turned out not exactly a cheap mod. > Anyone have any pictures of it installed? There's a CU in the current BMW accessories catalogue. Craig Perrin
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#8. [E36M3] Suspension Install Completed - Thanks! - from Colin_S_Whelan@rrfc.raytheon.com
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Date: Mon, 22 Jul 2002 20:59:56 -0400 From: Colin_S_Whelan@rrfc.raytheon.com Subject: [E36M3] Suspension Install Completed - Thanks! Hi everyone, I just wanted to say thanks for all the great help and tips I received choosing and installing my suspension. Just to recap, I ended up going with a Dinan Stage I (Koni SAs and Dinan linear springs) with E46M3 rear shock mounts and Z3 reinforcement plates. I cut the rear bump stops/dust covers in half and reinstalled them. I just reinstalled the fronts without cutting them. The Koni SAs are set at 1 1/8 turn from full soft. The car ended up dropping about 1/2" all around - just what I wanted. The alignment went pretty well, with the following final specs: LF RF LR RR Camber -1.3 -1.1 -1.8 -1.8 Caster 6.9 7.4 Toe 0.15 0.18 0.18 0.18 A tiny bit of cross caster and camber, but not too bad. I bought the camber correction bolts but decided against installing them yet... The car is awesome now! The original shocks/struts with 43K miles were toast, as were the rear mounts. It really slammed over bumps, floated down the highway and exhibited massive amounts of roll at the autox. Now the car is incredible. It corners so flat, it's hard to know where the limit is...the next autox should be fun! Thanks again! Colin '98 M3/2 (JC intake, software, Dinan Stage I, X-brace, Euro floating & R4S....)
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#9. [E36M3] M3 Center Arm Rest Upgrade?? - from Tom Tice
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Date: Mon, 22 Jul 2002 21:08:12 -0700 From: "Tom Tice" <tetice@triad.rr.com> Subject: [E36M3] M3 Center Arm Rest Upgrade?? I already have a center arm rest in my '98 M3/4 but I'm jealous of the extra bit of storage that my wife has in her E46 arm rest (it flips open while still leaving room beneath for a can or short cup in the rear cupholder). Does anyone know if the E46 arm rest could be retrofitted into an E36? If so any idea what the part(s) number would be? Tom Tice '98 M3/4 with center arm rest and yes I have to bungee it up for shifting on track. '99 540/6 '02 325iT
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#10. Re: [E36M3] Re: Koni Settings - from Chris Teague
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Date: Mon, 22 Jul 2002 18:31:25 -0700 From: "Chris Teague" <cteague@cox.net> Subject: Re: [E36M3] Re: Koni Settings ----- Original Message ----- From: <alex.fadeev@verizon.com> To: "Chris Teague" <cteague@cox.net> Cc: "E36M3" <e36m3@bmw-m.net> Sent: Monday, July 22, 2002 12:47 PM Subject: Re: [E36M3] Re: Koni Settings > > "Chris Teague" <cteague@cox.net> wrote: > > > > In general, rebound on the shocks has a bigger > > effect. > > Chris, > Do you mean effect on handling or comfort? > My kidneys can't tell much difference when I change Koni SA rebound rate, > while my butt can clearly detect the effect on under/over-steer. > OTOH, friends who had shelled out for DA Konis or JRZs can in fact soften > both rates and obtain a much more street/kidney friendly car than mine. I meant a bigger effect on handling. I ran my SA (with stock springs) on full stiff in the rear, and the ride on the street wasn't bad at all. And it significantly improved the handling. When I checked, I was told running full stiff was fine. So I did. > > Which brings me to the next question: > Does anyone know how one set's up a car to discriminate between slow (2nd > gear) vs. fast (4th gear) corners? Wings/Spoilers? > > > With my H&R sports, I have set the rebound to match the > > springs, so I actually am running less rear rebound (and more > > front) than with stock springs. > > All else been equal, wouldn't that result in more understeer vs. setting > the fronts to be stiffer? > You are also contradiction yourself in your previous paragraph... If all else were equal, that would be more understeer. But all else was not equal. I changed front camber from 1 degree to 3 degrees, and springs from stock to H&R sport, and added Eibach sway bars. With the original setup, I basically ran too much rear rebound, which reduced rear grip to minimize understeer based I what the rules allowed in the class I was running. In the new setup, I am trying to run closer to the optimum shock settings, and use the camber/springs/bars to tune out the understeer. In this case, I want to avoid reducing rear grip, just to maintain balance. I hope this helps clarify things. With my current setup, I still have some very mild understeer, but the rear end can step out sometimes also. I think it is very close to neutral, but so far, I am concentrating on increasing the grip in the front, since the current class I run in (SCCA SM) is fairly open in rules. My biggest limiting factor is that I want to drive the car on the street also. ;-) Chris 97 M3/4