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#1. Monoball Trailing Arm Bushingsq - from Dorffer, Rich
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Date: Sun, 15 Dec 2002 17:16:34 -0500 From: "Dorffer, Rich" <RDORFFER@CleIndians.com> Subject: Monoball Trailing Arm Bushingsq Ahmad says > > The monball trailing arm bushings are ABNOXIOUSLY LOUD. If your car sees the > street stay AWAY from them. Wayne donated his bushings to me. Yes they were > stiff, yes there was no play, yes it felt GREAT however it sounded horrible > and was really stiff. Stay with Urethane or stock with GC Spacers. Choice is > yours, just my humble opinion. This is one I don't exactly understand. I thought some other cars used a monoball style rear trailing arm bushing (S2000 and long with others if IIRC) and it is considered a superior design for a street car. I have even heard that many are shocked or surprised BMW didn't do this on the M3 and the rubber bushings only add compliance to the suspension in an area where a more solid design is considered superior with no increase in NVH. I have heard some with the TC Kline Monoball (http://www.tckline.com/OPC/monoball.html) say they are great and aren't loud at all and eliminate suspension compliance with no downside. Others say the are OBNOXIOUSLY LOUD. Is this a case that a little wear and tear allows the monoballs to wear and make a bunch of noise when they didn't initially? If so, how do the other OE applications get away with a monoball set-up without the additional NVH? I have wavered between using a monoball trailing arm bushing and using the +'96 M3 RTAB with GC reinforcements for a while on my 1995 M3. The car is largely used on the street and, for the most part, I like the street set-up best for street and occasional track use. This same dilemma seems to exist for the camber/caster plates too although it seems like most say they are noisy. Can anyone explain this to me or enlighten me as to why there are such diverging opinions and applications? Later, Rich 95 M3 90 325is
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#2. Harman/Kardon Traffic Pro Review - The Real Review - from nabli@earthlink.net
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Date: Sun, 15 Dec 2002 23:00:16 -0500 From: <nabli@earthlink.net> Subject: Harman/Kardon Traffic Pro Review - The Real Review Here's more than you ever wanted to know about the Harman/Kardon Traffic Pro! http://bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?s= <http://bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=17591> &threadid=17591 Sorry about the extreme length of the review. Cheers, Jim E.
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#3. What causes tire cupping? - from Barrett Nicholas
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Date: Sun, 15 Dec 2002 22:27:59 -0600 From: Barrett Nicholas <barrettn@swbell.net> Subject: What causes tire cupping? I've seen cupping (uneven wear on tread blocks on the tire's edge) on the last two sets of tires I've owned (Yoko Sports, Bridgestone RE730). I'm running 235/40/17 on 17 x 8 rims (et of 38 or 42, I forget, they're Racing Dynamics RGR rims), H&R 29910 springs w/ Bilstein shocks - a pretty common setup. I have KMAC camber plates up front, but no huge amounts of camber dialed in. The car sounds like a monster truck due to the tread, and I'm guessing my tires are going away prematurely. Any suggestions what to check? tia, Barrett
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#4. '95 M3 For Sale - from Barrett Nicholas
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Date: Sun, 15 Dec 2002 22:31:11 -0600 From: Barrett Nicholas <barrettn@swbell.net> Subject: '95 M3 For Sale A friend at work is planning on selling his '95 M3 - 66k miles, blk/blk, std, and it's been babied from what I know. It's in Houston, TX. I haven't been able to get him to name a price, but if someone in the area is looking, I'm happy to put them in touch. Barrett
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#5. Re: [E36M3] dual mass flywheel -- allowable movement - from Chester Wong
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Date: Sun, 15 Dec 2002 20:31:55 -0800 (PST) From: Chester Wong <chester_p_wong@yahoo.com> Subject: Re: [E36M3] dual mass flywheel -- allowable movement This is normal, however twisting the outside mass with the hands is relatively easy on a shot flywheel. Wayne's old E36M3 dual mass was more easily turned than mine at 33k miles. Chester --- KLchmn@aol.com wrote: > How much movement (rotational) should a dual mass flywheel have? With the > flywheel attached to the crank, I can turn the back side (towards the trans) > a slight amount. Is this normal and acceptable? =====
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#6. Re: [E36M3] What causes tire cupping? - from Chris Teague
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Date: Sun, 15 Dec 2002 20:42:09 -0800 From: "Chris Teague" <cteague@cox.net> Subject: Re: [E36M3] What causes tire cupping? Barrett, For a street car, the most common cause of cupping is bad shocks. But if you have Bilstein's, then that should not be the issue. Is it all 4 tires, or just one? Do you track or autox the car? I have seen autox M3's with stock camber cup tires from the abuse. Usually, more pressure cures that. (or more camber). Chris 97 M3/4 ----- Original Message ----- > Date: Sun, 15 Dec 2002 22:27:59 -0600 > From: Barrett Nicholas <barrettn@swbell.net> > Subject: What causes tire cupping? > > I've seen cupping (uneven wear on tread blocks on the tire's edge) on > the last two sets of tires I've owned (Yoko Sports, Bridgestone RE730). > I'm running 235/40/17 on 17 x 8 rims (et of 38 or 42, I forget, they're > Racing Dynamics RGR rims), H&R 29910 springs w/ Bilstein shocks - a > pretty common setup. I have KMAC camber plates up front, but no huge > amounts of camber dialed in. The car sounds like a monster truck due to > the tread, and I'm guessing my tires are going away prematurely. Any > suggestions what to check?
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#7. Re: [E36M3] Monoball Trailing Arm Bushingsq - from Chester Wong
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Date: Sun, 15 Dec 2002 20:43:43 -0800 (PST) From: Chester Wong <chester_p_wong@yahoo.com> Subject: Re: [E36M3] Monoball Trailing Arm Bushingsq This is purely conjecture, but here goes anyway. BMW does use heim bearings in areas (the connection from the upper control arm to the rear trailing arm comes to mind). I would imagine that these bearings are high quality as well as have their own boot. Now there are all sorts of different quality heim bearings available. You can buy cheap ones from McMasterCarr for like $8 a pop for sway bar links or you can hunt down $80 a pop ones and make yourself a $320 sway bar links. How good are the bearings typical sold in monoball applications for the trailing arm? How tolerant of dirt and debris are they? But it is the ever so slight amount of play that will invariably develop in the bearing that will cause a jack-hammering effect and cause the mounts to rip out of the body and also cause the noise. My $.02 Chester --- "Dorffer, Rich" <RDORFFER@CleIndians.com> wrote: > I have heard some with the TC Kline Monoball > (http://www.tckline.com/OPC/monoball.html) say they are great and aren't loud > at all and eliminate suspension compliance with no downside. Others say the > are OBNOXIOUSLY LOUD. Is this a case that a little wear and tear allows the > monoballs to wear and make a bunch of noise when they didn't initially? If > so, how do the other OE applications get away with a monoball set-up without > the additional NVH? =====
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#8. Re: [E36M3] What causes tire cupping? - from Chester Wong
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Date: Sun, 15 Dec 2002 20:44:36 -0800 (PST) From: Chester Wong <chester_p_wong@yahoo.com> Subject: Re: [E36M3] What causes tire cupping? - Less negative camber - More air in the tires - Corner harder :) Chester --- Barrett Nicholas <barrettn@swbell.net> wrote: > amounts of camber dialed in. The car sounds like a monster truck due to > the tread, and I'm guessing my tires are going away prematurely. Any > suggestions what to check? =====
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#9. Re: [E36M3] What causes tire cupping? - from LoweSeaton@aol.com
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Date: Mon, 16 Dec 2002 00:31:59 EST From: LoweSeaton@aol.com Subject: Re: [E36M3] What causes tire cupping? barrettn@swbell.net writes: > I've seen cupping (uneven wear on tread blocks on the tire's edge) on > the last two sets of tires I've owned Barrett, Tire cupping is usually a sign the tires are out of balance or not round. You said this has occurred with two different sets of tires? That is odd. Did you have the tires rebalanced every 5-7K miles or just once when they were installed? Tires become unbalanced as they wear so you need to have them rebalanced every so often. The other possibility is the shocks are bad. Bilsteins should last longer than the stock shocks but I assume they wear out too. Where did you get your tires balanced? Did they use the fancy shamcy high tech balancing equipment? Hunter has a balancing machine that can actually balance the tires under load. You might try that. It will cost more but hopefully it will help your problem. I'm sure you rotate tires right? About every 5,000 miles? That helps to even out the wear. Lowell Seaton '95 M3 BMW CCA #131505
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#10. [e36 m3] argh!! - from Kit Wetzler
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Date: Sun, 15 Dec 2002 22:15:50 -0800 From: Kit Wetzler <kitwetzler@mindspring.com> Subject: [e36 m3] argh!! my car is busted once again. This time the front differential bolt broke again and I'm pretty sure it's because the bushing it goes through is shot. while I was under there, I noticed that the driver's side sway bar mount is cracked pretty badly. *sigh* Questions: 1. Is the front diff bolt bushing replaceable with the diff on the car? I think that I could get it out with a bushing tool if I pulled the diff; this would be much better than R&R-ing the entire rear subframe. 2. Where is a good place in the south bay area to get my sway bar mount replaced? I'd rather not use Dinan. Anyone user German Motor Specialists in Sunnyvale? I had a good experience with them doing something minor. How hard are the ground control reinforcements to install yourself? I'm ok with a welder, how exactly do they install? Thanks in advance. -kit 97 m3/4, busted AGAIN