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#1. Re: The inside view of Vanos - from Paul Elliott
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Date: Thu, 16 Jan 2003 17:35:28 -0500 From: "Paul Elliott" <elliott.paul@worldnet.att.net> Subject: Re: The inside view of Vanos Ben, Thanks for the Vanos shots. In the text, it says, '...Over time, the helical piston and helical internal gear of the variable cam sprocket begin to wear, creating more and more noise. Some may sound like marbles, loose nuts, rattling, or even a "gargling" sound. This is normal for vanos to sound like this, but again, as it gets worse, it gets louder'. So, it begs the question, since the older it gets, the more noise it makes, does there come a point when it needs replacement? And, if so, how much noise is too much noise? I suspect it would be very difficult, from the noise alone, to know when it needs replacement. Except, perhaps, for someone who has heard enough Vanos representations, so as to be able to identify the noisy ones with problems. For those not so blessed, is there any way other than noise, to know if your Vanos needs replacement? Paul Elliott --------------------------------------------------------- '99 White M3; 45K miles; Dinan stage II SC kit with 6" RMS crank pulley: 11 psi; AA Aquamist Water/Methanol Injection; Fikse FM-10s; X-Brace; Dinan Koni Suspension; Stygar SS and Clutch Stop; Sound by Polk, Excelon, JLAu
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#2. Re: Wheel Arch Liners - from shane.a.kleinpeter@accenture.com
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Date: Thu, 16 Jan 2003 17:27:49 -0500 From: shane.a.kleinpeter@accenture.com Subject: Re: Wheel Arch Liners I used to do the same thing until I found out how cheap they are. Just buy them from the dealer. I think they are less than $30 each, less with discount. Shane K. >Are you sure you need to actually replace them? Mine came loose from one >side, but it was only one bolt that it had gotten torn off from. Rather >than spending a ridiculous amount of money on a big plastic part, a friend >and I drilled a couple of holes through the fender via the engine bay and >attached a couple of bolts and washers. This not only repaired the problem, >but allowed us to reinforce both sides. Total job was $7 (for drill bit and >nuts, bolts and washers) and took less then an hour (inlcuding jacking, >wheel removal and eating a sandwich). ;) This message is for the designated recipient only and may contain privileged, proprietary, or otherwise private information. If you have received it in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete the original. Any other use of the email by you is prohibited.
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#3. Re: rear suspension - from James Clay
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Date: Thu, 16 Jan 2003 17:46:12 -0500 From: "James Clay" <james@bimmerworld.com> Subject: Re: rear suspension I agree with your mechanic mostly. You could do urethane subframe mounts and they are nice, but only really required for track cars as a design improvement - the stock stuff doesn't really wear fast. The rubber control arm bushings are fine - we have kept the stock ones on racecars with 100k miles to save money before - that is the last suspension bushing I replace. The bearings on the outside of the R control arms should be checked for play and replaced if needed. No other parts like the front control arms - tie rods are similar, but you can feel the play when they need replacement. James -------------------------------------------------------------------- James Clay http://www.bimmerworld.com Engineered BMW Performance Genuine and OEM BMW Parts 540.639.9648 -------------------------------------------------------------------- With 94k+ miles on my car, I'm certain that the RTABs need to be replaced and I was going to do so while getting the front done, but my mechanic suggested waiting until 100k and then completely redoing all the bushings in the rear suspension. He stated that it is good to replace the RTABs, but that most people overlook all the other bushings. Sounded like a fine idea at the time, but now that I think about the HUGE expense, I'm wondering if that's really necessary. What do y'all think. All of it in one shot, or RTABs now and just wait to see if I end up having to pay double labor later to replace anything else? Also, like the front control arms, is it a good idea to replace any of the other rear suspsension components due to fatigue? For what it's worth, the rear shocks and RSMs are relatively new, but I'll probably replace RSMs again anyway... just because. Thanks, Jonathan L.
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#4. Re: wheel arch liners - from Ron Buchalski
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Date: Thu, 16 Jan 2003 18:14:13 -0500 From: "Ron Buchalski" <rbuchals@hotmail.com> Subject: Re: wheel arch liners Andy, The fender liners are cheap. For my '95 Coupe, I paid $24.20 each. List price was $30.25. Part numbers are: 51 71 1 977 048 (right) 51 71 1 977 047 (left) They are fairly large, but they do curl up to become a little smaller. They aren't heavy (two pounds max, each). Still, if you can find a local dealer who will give you a 20% discount, you'd probably be better off buying locally rather than through the mail. Where are you located? Here in MD, I buy my parts from Tischer, and they give me 20% off the REAL cost, not an inflated list. It's the same list price that Pacific discounts from. So, Pacific may give a 25% discount, and then ship the package across the country, and I buy locally for 20% off, and pay 5% sales tax (on the discounted price), so it still works out to 20%. For the 5% to make a difference, the price would need to be very high. 5% of $100 is $5, and they aren't going to ship anything across the country for THAT much! Plus, if it's the wrong part, I can easily take it back to the dealer. By the way, if you ever damaged any of the front undertray pieces, most likely one or more mounting holes on the fender liners (that help hold the front undertray pieces together) are also damaged. I know mine are. (I have the whole set of replacement plastic waiting in the basement...undertray, porkchops, fender liners, etc, just waiting to go onto the car) Ron Buchalski BMWCCA #76387 1995 E36 M3 1993 E34 525iT 1999 Mazda Miata >Date: Thu, 16 Jan 2003 12:46:45 -0500 >From: "fourfa@fourfa.com" <fourfa@fourfa.com> >Subject: wheel arch liners > >I need new plastic wheel arch liners. Are these prohibitively expensive >to ship, should I order from the local CCA-discount dealer (some 10% >off) instead? Thanks, > >andy r. >98 m3/2 _________________________________________________________________ The new MSN 8 is here: Try it free* for 2 months http://join.msn.com/?page=dept/dialup
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#5. RE: [E36M3] Chester's Woes and speaking of employers - from Mel Silva
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Date: Thu, 16 Jan 2003 17:35:16 -0600 From: "Mel Silva" <melsilva@mindspring.com> Subject: RE: [E36M3] Chester's Woes and speaking of employers Rich, I can tell you that IT Consulting has but dried up and blown away. I was just "released" from my 3rd job in as many years with several months of unemployment in between. I'm spending all my time on my scale slot car business since the IT jobs are few and far between these days. Here's hoping the economy comes back to life soon before Penny needs to find a new home. Mel Chester wrote > > Accenture, eh? You guys hiring? I recently resigned from > PwC/PwCC/IBM....hahaha....the 17th will be my last day Hmm... my old employer. I wonder what is going on in the accounting and consulting industry lately. I need to tap some of my old sources to see how things are shaking out lately. Later, Rich
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#6. e36 M3 race car for sale - from Tim Ng
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Date: Thu, 16 Jan 2003 17:37:57 -0800 From: "Tim Ng" <s14realm3@peachtreebmwcca.org> Subject: e36 M3 race car for sale found this cool M3 race car on Da Bay for sale. Just FYI, not mine and no affliation <http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1876873445> Tim Ng 95 E36 M3 BzznM3 92 E30 325ic M-tech convetible 91 E30 M3 street car 88 E30 M3 Track car 93 Chevy Blazer 2 dr. tow vehicle
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#7. RE: [E36M3] bleeding brakes ASC+T - from Jeremy Conners
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Date: Thu, 16 Jan 2003 20:55:50 -0500 From: Jeremy Conners <jeremy.conners@comcast.net> Subject: RE: [E36M3] bleeding brakes ASC+T Group, I've been wading through the MkIV ABS/TCS information at work in my spare time. I will try to locate the specification that describes the proper fill and bleed procedures. I'll be in touch... Jeremy Conners 97 M3
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#8. RE: (broken?) aluminum floor jacks - from Skip Bogard
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Date: Thu, 16 Jan 2003 21:54:47 -0500 From: Skip Bogard <skip.bogard@alumni.duke.edu> Subject: RE: (broken?) aluminum floor jacks Really? That is interesting, I did not know or hear of this. I have been curious...some folks, rightly or wrongly, seem to be snapping them up, esp. if a friend or internet acquaintance buys one & posts a favorable testimony. Here's my data point to contribute...I was at Harbor Freight in Raleigh and examined two of them at the store side-by-side: Silver model - had a reinforcement rib running the length UNDER the lift arm...much like a reinforcement rib seen designed into plastic moldings for things like fishing tackle boxes, plastic tools boxes, or large plastic storage boxes... Blue anodized model - was prettier than the silver model, but did not have the rib! was completely absent. You can't see the reinforcement rib unless you pick up the jack(s) & look UNDER the lift arm. Other than that...and the color, they looked identical. This tells me I should share with list members a warning that they should know Harbor Freight is not selling a consistent product in their stores...at a minimum. As to overall quality, I do not know, but it is not consistent product. Question for Stan or anytone: Any detail(s) on what seems to allegedly fail? (perhaps the Lift arm or some other part?) Are the alleged failures consistent, somewhat repeating failure modes? Or just random aluminum fractures (aluminum is notorious for not giving any warning when it fails...it just usually fails with spectacular surprise...ask any pro road or mt. bicycle racer who tossed their aluminum frame bike for Titanium, carbon fiber, or even went back to steel after a pile up or crash). - Skip (who is going to cross post this to the E36M3 list) > From: "Stan Jackson Jr." <inxces@yahoo.com> > Subject: Re: [uuc] Re: floor jack > > There have been a number of reported failures of these jacks. Some of the > failures may have been due to improper use, but I do not believe that all > were. I know that some were even tested and failed in a lab environment. > Keep in mind that "improper use" covers things that would never be a problem > with a standard steel jack. The US General aluminum jack, and perhaps > others, must be used very carefully. I am surprised that no one on this > list has seen the failure photos or know more about this. >
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#9. Re: Wheel arch liners - from Neil Maller
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Date: Thu, 16 Jan 2003 23:18:56 -0500 From: Neil Maller <neil.maller@gte.net> Subject: Re: Wheel arch liners on 1/16/03 5:17 PM, "fourfa@fourfa.com" <fourfa@fourfa.com> wrote: > I need new plastic wheel arch liners. Are these prohibitively expensive > to ship, should I order from the local CCA-discount dealer (some 10% > off) instead? Thanks, I paid about $24 each discounted/mail order. They are bulky but don't weigh much, so shipping isn't terribly expensive. Neil 96 M3
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#10. Brake pad wear warning light - from Dmitri Zorine
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Date: Fri, 17 Jan 2003 07:38:26 -0500 From: "Dmitri Zorine" <dzm3@technologyoasis.com> Subject: Brake pad wear warning light Hi, The brake pads wore just a bit too thin and the warning light came on the other day. After replacing the pads, the light is still on. Will it reset itself after a while or do I need to do something to reset it? If yes, what's the procedure? Thanks Dmitri '99 M3 Coupe