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#1. RE: [E36M3] OT: BMW Mechanic in/near San Francisco - from Rex Tener
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Date: Tue, 06 Jan 2004 08:34:46 -0800 From: Rex Tener <rex_tener@yahoo.com> Subject: RE: [E36M3] OT: BMW Mechanic in/near San Francisco At 10:21 AM 1/6/2004 -0600, Wayne Miller wrote: >The $10k quote to fix the power steering was from Weatherford BMW. Which is what my guess was. IMHO, the fact that BMW NA has not revoked these bone head's franchise means you would probably have to kill your customers as they walk through the front door before BMW would take a franchise away from a dealer. -- Rex Tener rex_tener@yahoo.com
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#2. Re: [E36M3] Drain Plug? - from marc@plante.com
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Date: Tue, 06 Jan 2004 11:39:00 -0500 (EST) From: marc@plante.com Subject: Re: [E36M3] Drain Plug? Drain Plug?! Buy a Mityvac and pull the fluids out of the dipstick. It's a great tool that not only extracts, but also dispenses. (handy for transmission fluid, etc). Can be driven by a hand pump or attached to a compressor. Got mine at the tool wharehouse for $50. This is my second oil extraction tool (I used the top down oil extractor in the BMW catalog for 7 yrs). Some may say that it doesn't do a complete job, and that my car's longevity may suffer, but I've been happy so far. Marc Plante E36 325i, 218k Vienna, VA
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#3. Re: Control Arm Bushings - from Butch Berney
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Date: Tue, 6 Jan 2004 08:45:25 -0800 From: "Butch Berney" <butchberney@comcast.net> Subject: Re: Control Arm Bushings Here are links to a couple of pictures showing the proper orientation of the offset bushing. http://home.comcast.net/~meeboo8/bernman/article/pictures/newcontrolarm. jpg http://home.comcast.net/~meeboo8/bernman/article/pictures/controlbushins talled.jpg Have fun! Butch (...whose non-functional brain needs pictures to get by...) -------------------- 2 -------------------- Date: Tue, 6 Jan 2004 01:01:36 EST From: KLchmn@aol.com Subject: Re: Control Arm Bushings ....Soooo, I've forgotten whether the holes are supposed to be offset to the inside or the outside in the lollipops...
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#4. Re: Control Arm Bushings - from Townsend, William
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Date: Tue, 6 Jan 2004 11:46:31 -0500 From: "Townsend, William" <wtownsen@enterasys.com> Subject: Re: Control Arm Bushings The holes go facing the outside of the car. So from the drivers position, the left side will be set at 9:00 and the right side at 3:00. (basically the hole lines up with the flange that holds the lollypop to the frame rail) You will also need to drill a set screw hole through the lollypop/retainer to keep the bushing from turning. I tapped the retainer and put in a small hex bolt in with loctite blue. The bushing has a lip which should be installed on the front/control arm facing side of the retainer. I used a vice to press the bushing into the retainer since it is a snug fit. Have fun, --Bill 96 M3 coupe red - Boston
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#5. Re: best non-lowering spring choice for bilsteins & street - from JUSTIN GERRY
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Date: Tue, 06 Jan 2004 11:46:34 -0500 From: "JUSTIN GERRY" <JGERRY@butchers.com> Subject: Re: best non-lowering spring choice for bilsteins & street driving John, Note that Bilstein HAS changed the design of at least the front struts. I believe they finally fixed the bump stop issue (where much of the harshness came from). I don't know about the valving though. Have not talked with anyone running the new strut design. You can run them on the street, I use them in combination with the H&R OE spring (~1/4" to 1/2") , which only slightly lowers the car. Make sure you get new rear shock mounts. Go with JTD or other that has a strong bearing along with Z3 reinforcement plates. The E36/E46 mounts are not strong enough for this application. I use my car year around including the terrible pot-holed Boston/Metrowest roads. Firm, but not too overwhelming. Though I'd still say a good adjustable coil-over kit would have a better ride. -Justin -- '76 02 '97 m3 bmw cca checkout http://www.bmw2002.net
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#6. Re: [E36M3] changing rear springs on a 95 - from cteague@cox.net
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Date: Tue, 6 Jan 2004 11:50:02 -0500 From: <cteague@cox.net> Subject: Re: [E36M3] changing rear springs on a 95 Cody, The Koni SA doesn't really need to settle. If you are going to check alignment, once it comes off the jackstands, just a quick drive down the street and back is all you need to settle the suspension, but other than that, there isn't anything to worry about from the Koni SA's. Chris 97 M3/4 > From: Cody_McCoy <Cody_McCoy@sd.vrtx.com> > Subject: [E36M3] changing rear springs on a 95 > > Group, > How long does it usually take for Koni SA's to settle to final height?, or do they settle at all?, thanks for the data. > > Cody McCoy > 95 m3/2
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#7. Control Arm Bushings - from Dorffer, Rich
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Date: Tue, 6 Jan 2004 11:52:54 -0500 From: "Dorffer, Rich" <RDORFFER@CleIndians.com> Subject: Control Arm Bushings > Soooo, I've forgotten whether the holes are supposed to be offset to the > inside or the outside in the lollipops... If I had a functioning brain today, I > could probably figure it out, but I'd rather rely on the wisdom of the list to > tell me which way they go. I don't know if the delrin bushings have markings > like the E30 M3 ones I used to use on my old '87 325iS did. The holes are offset to the outside of the car (pushing the control arm forward at the wheel). Regards, Rich
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#8. Re: [E36M3] Drain Plug? - from Chester Wong
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Date: Tue, 6 Jan 2004 08:55:42 -0800 (PST) From: Chester Wong <chester_p_wong@yahoo.com> Subject: Re: [E36M3] Drain Plug? Hmmmm....I love the design of the E36s where the drain plug is on the side of the pan. If you car isn't lowered, you can slide a low profile collection pan under there and do a complete oil change in about 10 minutes. I like the fact that I can get the engine up to operating temp, park the car and let sit for a bit to have the oil drain to the pan and also to let some stuff that might be floating to settle, and use a long extension to start the drain process. I also like the fact that the fast purge of oil may take some sediments that I'm not sure a top sider would do... But, whatever works for ya, right? ;) Chester - who just changed the oil a week ago after about 10k miles...eeek! Had to add 2 quarts of oil in between and only 6 - 6.5 came out - who also just changed tranny and diff fluids from the Mobil One Synthetic stuff (the stuff Wayne was asking about the other day...cuz I was at his house the other day) and after 30k miles and quite a few track schools, the fluid came out pretty clear (you could still see pink/red and orange) and the diff stuff didn't stink like crazy --- marc@plante.com wrote: > Date: Tue, 06 Jan 2004 11:39:00 -0500 (EST) > From: marc@plante.com > Subject: Re: [E36M3] Drain Plug? > > Drain Plug?! > > Buy a Mityvac and pull the fluids out of the dipstick. > > It's a great tool that not only extracts, but also dispenses. (handy for > transmission fluid, etc). > Can be driven by a hand pump or attached to a compressor. Got mine at the > tool wharehouse for $50. > This is my second oil extraction tool (I used the top down oil extractor in > the BMW catalog for 7 > yrs). Some may say that it doesn't do a complete job, and that my car's > longevity may suffer, but > I've been happy so far. > > Marc Plante > E36 325i, 218k > Vienna, VA > > > ************************************************* > Please help support the E36M3 list by visiting our sponsors: > Taylor Autosport http://www.taylorautosport.com > Rogue Engineering http://www.rogueengineering.com > BMW M3 Specialties http://www.jt-designs.com > Bimmerworld http://www.bimmerworld.com > Turner Motorsport http://www.turnermotorsport.com > > DIGEST INFORMATION: > http://www.bmw-m.net/resources/digest_info.htm > ************************************************* > > =====
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#9. Re: [E36M3] best non-lowering spring choice for bilsteins & street driving - from cteague@cox.net
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Date: Tue, 6 Jan 2004 11:57:58 -0500 From: <cteague@cox.net> Subject: Re: [E36M3] best non-lowering spring choice for bilsteins & street driving John, The Eibach pro-kits will lower the car way more than 1/4". Probably over 1 inch in front. Anyway, from your description of your driving, I would stay with the stock springs. If you have to have different springs, the choices might be the BMW Euro springs, or the H&R OE sports. Anything else would be lower than 1/4". But I still think you should leave the stock ones in place. Chris 97 M3/4 > > Date: Tue, 6 Jan 2004 10:29:14 -0500 > From: "Petro, John D (corporate)" <John.Petro@Corporate.GE.com> > Subject: best non-lowering spring choice for bilsteins & street driving > > Group: > I apologize in advance for re-beating a dried blood spot where the dead horse was ages ago. I thought I could find the answer searching the archives, but no luck. Maybe there is no answer. > I need to replace the crappy Boge dampers on my 98 M3/4 (72,000 highway miles) and, though I respect the consensus view that Koni SA are more comfortable than Bilstein, I must go with the turn-key solution Bilstein represents, since I don't want to "cut and gut" struts without an experienced friend looking over my shoulder,and no such friend is handy. And the recent info posted from Bilstein's R&D guy that the bumpstops have been resized on current M3 units solves the "boing, boing" problem (I hope). > Anyway, the car is a daily driver, 25 mi/day over highways and country roads that are decent but not perfect. Little track or dr. school use expected. For reasons few will find interesting, I really can't lower the car (1/4 inch would be max) b/c I take it off pavement regularly in the summer. Question is, tho most will think i'm crazy to even consider Bilstein for the street, what is the best spring to use w/ them for daily driving, without lowering the car more than 1/4"? Somehow I thought I remembered eibach pro-kit springs as widely recommended w/ bili sports for street-- but how much will they lower me? any and all help will be appreciated, and sorry again for the old issue. > John > 98 M3/4 > Albany, NY
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#10. Re: [E36M3] Re: best non-lowering spring choice for bilsteins & street - from Chester Wong
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Date: Tue, 6 Jan 2004 09:01:12 -0800 (PST) From: Chester Wong <chester_p_wong@yahoo.com> Subject: Re: [E36M3] Re: best non-lowering spring choice for bilsteins & street Gosh...I must have changed out my RSMs a long time ago to the E46M3 units. In the process, I cut the factory bumpstop (the one that holds the plastic sleeve) and after more than 30k miles (NYC/NJ streets and crappy highways) and numerous track days, the RSMs look like new. I really think it's the shock ramming the bumpstop that causes premature wear. YMMV, Chester --- JUSTIN GERRY <JGERRY@butchers.com> wrote: > Make sure you get new rear shock mounts. Go with JTD or other that has > a strong bearing along with Z3 reinforcement plates. The E36/E46 mounts > are not strong enough for this application. =====