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#1. Helpful hints when using head studs in place of head bolts - from KLchmn@aol.com
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Date: Sun, 28 Mar 2004 13:33:17 EST From: KLchmn@aol.com Subject: Helpful hints when using head studs in place of head bolts Gruppe, Here's a few lessons learned when putting head studs on your motor instead of using the stock head bolts: 1) Make sure all the nuts and studs are correct for your car. I got a Racewear head stud set and one of the nuts just slid right over the studs. Only a hint of threads and it was obviously oversized. We'll see how well their customer service group is as I left them a voice mail Saturday when I discovered this. 2) Cover or stuff a rag into the timing chain opening in the head. This will lessen the likelihood of having to drop the oil pan to fish our the nut that you dropped into that open space (oil on fingers and lack of talent...). Good think I planned on taking the pan off anyway or I might have been slightly more upset than I was when I did this. 3) I found it easier to put the head on the dowel pins and then thread the studs in through the head. It'll wear your fingers out but then you are not bouncing the head off the studs (kinda tough to line up by yourself -- at least it was for me). I hope that these tips help someone else out so they don't have to repeat my mistakes or have to wait for a nut or stud due to a parts error. Cheers, Kirk Lachman Sin City Chapter '95 M3 #21 I-stock
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#2. 95 M3 Wheels for Sale - Silicon Valley Only - from Ted W. Chan
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Date: Sun, 28 Mar 2004 11:22:24 -0800 From: "Ted W. Chan" <twc@peoplepc.com> Subject: 95 M3 Wheels for Sale - Silicon Valley Only I've got a set of 4 95 M3 wheels (non-staggered, standard 10-spoke, BMW logo, OEM) with relatively new 235-40/17 Michelin Pilot Sports all around. The wheels are in OK condition (i.e., cosmetically not perfect but not bad at alll) and the tires are in extremely good condition. Think of it as buying a great set of sticky street tires with a set of free wheels thrown in (tires were > $200 each). $500 firm for the set. Prefer local buyers - the wheels/tires are at a reputable shop in Mountain View.
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#3. solid caliper bushings - from Jeremy Lucas
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Date: Sun, 28 Mar 2004 14:22:14 -0500 From: "Jeremy Lucas" <jlucas@columbus.rr.com> Subject: solid caliper bushings Installing my Bimmerworld caliper bushings this weekend. Rear set went in with out a hitch but the on the front the caliper casting is raised up around where the snap ring needs to set making it impossible to fully seat the snap ring because the ears on the snap ring catch on that raised lip. Probably just going to take out the dremmel lower that ridge enough from some room for the ears on the snap ring. Anyone else run into this? Jeremy Lucas 95 M3 (MidO next weekend)
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#4. Camber Q's... - from Steven Hazard
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Date: Sun, 28 Mar 2004 17:41:17 -0500 From: "Steven Hazard" <98m3@comcast.net> Subject: Camber Q's... Josh, I run 3.25 and 7 degrees of Caster with zero toe up front and 2.0 and a scutch of toe in in the rear. Yes I eat the inside edges up on my fronts...I estimate about 10K on my fronts and probably 20K on the rears. My street set up is the stock staggered LTW BMW rims and 235/40 S03's up front with 245/40 rears. Some folks on this board like to screw around with their camber plates (street & track settings) ..I don't......My car only sees about 5K a year now and a perfect static alignment is what I like to run on. I know its right all the time :-) The 2.5 is a start but not competive for either autocross or serious track work. You will need over 3 degrees up front to maximize handling dynamics, track tire wear, turn in, and other factors. Date: Fri, 26 Mar 2004 16:34:33 -0800 (PST) From: DocWyte <josh_wyte@yahoo.com> Subject: Camber Q's... How much camber are you guys running on the street? I'm at -2.2 in the back and -2.5 in the front. I'm about to put on a new set of summer tires, I'm just wondering how badly my camber settings are going to eat them up... -josh =====
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#5. 97 M3 Sedan Suspension R&R - from Mark Greer
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Date: Sun, 28 Mar 2004 19:58:47 -0500 (EST) From: "Mark Greer" <mark.greer@excite.com> Subject: 97 M3 Sedan Suspension R&R I'm preparing a shopping list of parts to do the following work: Control arms & bushings Trailing arm bushings Rear brakes & rotors Flex disk Coolant Hoses Microfilter I did the struts, shocks, belts and front brakes last fall. Has anyone developed a list of all the parts/fasteners/bushing required to freshen up a suspension? This is a once-per-100k-mile service, so I want to be complete. So far I'm considering: Front control arms (come w/ bushings installed, or just ball joints?) Control arm bushings (if not supplied w/ control arms) Trailing arm bushings (more than one?, what about ball joints?) Flex disk (what about u-joints? I hear these are not easily replaced) Thanks, Mark '97 M3 Sedan _______________________________________________ Join Excite! - http://www.excite.com The most personalized portal on the Web!
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#6. Re: [E36M3] 97 M3 Sedan Suspension R&R - from Eric Giles
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Date: Sun, 28 Mar 2004 21:46:07 -0600 From: Eric Giles <egiles@c-gate.net> Subject: Re: [E36M3] 97 M3 Sedan Suspension R&R Mark- Last fall I purchased a '97 M3 sedan with 89k miles and it has been an ongoing process of replacing all of the worn out suspension pieces. I found out one thing for sure-by 89k miles, every single suspension component (front and rear) was worn out on my car-every single one. The only pieces that really weren't that worn were the rear swaybar links, but I replaced them anyway. From the list you made, I would personally replace the entire front control arm and the bushings (which are available seperately), the front swaybar links, and the upper front strut mounts. When I replaced my struts/shocks last year I did not replace the front strut mounts, but I wish I had since later on I discovered the right side one was worn and making noise. Regarding the rear suspension, definitely do the rear trailing arm bushings. You may want to use the inserts from Ground Control or Turner so that they will last a bit longer. You mentioned the balljoints on the rear suspension. This is not a component that many people replace, but now I HIGHLY recommend that they be replaced. I was almost driven crazy trying to find the source of the rattling from the rear suspension of my car, and I almost sold it because I couldn't. Finally a few weeks ago I found it-it was the balljoints on the lower rear control arms. On the '96-99 cars there are two per side, and they are the same part. The tools can be rented from Koalamotorsport to change them out. You can do it without removing the trailing arm, and is actually pretty easy to do yourself. It made a HUGE difference in the rear suspension of my car. Whereas the rear was feeling a bit 'junky' and loose over bumps, now it is tight and everything is silent. I think that these pieces degrade so slowly that over time people do not notice. But they are balljoints and they do wear. Here is a post I made on Bimmerforums that explains everything in a bit more detail: http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum//showthread.php?t=192453 If you have any questions feel free to ask! Eric Giles '97 M3/4 '90 M3
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#7. Re: [E36M3] Camber Q's... - from Jay W. Hudson
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Date: Sun, 28 Mar 2004 20:25:44 -0800 From: "Jay W. Hudson" <jwhud@budget.net> Subject: Re: [E36M3] Camber Q's... Josh- I'm a little late to the party. Excuse...at the track. I run -3 with zero toe in front, -2 with .1 toe-in per side out back. I have a little over 18K on a set of 255/35-18 S03s, including 3 hard track days. The first 6K was before I swapped strut hats, so only about -1 in front for those miles. I flipped the tires on the wheels a couple of thousand miles ago. And, since I have 255s all around, I'm able to rotate them every 5K. They're getting close to the wear bars, but I know I'll get over 20K out of them. Jay ----- Original Message ----- From: "DocWyte" <josh_wyte@yahoo.com> To: "E36M3" <e36m3@bmw-m.net> Sent: Friday, March 26, 2004 4:40 PM Subject: [E36M3] Camber Q's... > Date: Fri, 26 Mar 2004 16:34:33 -0800 (PST) > From: DocWyte <josh_wyte@yahoo.com> > Subject: Camber Q's... > > How much camber are you guys running on the street? > > I'm at -2.2 in the back and -2.5 in the front. I'm > about to put on a new set of summer tires, I'm just > wondering how badly my camber settings are going to > eat them up... > > -josh > > ===== > > > __________________________________ > Do you Yahoo!? > Yahoo! Finance Tax Center - File online. File on time. > http://taxes.yahoo.com/filing.html > > > ************************************************* > Please help support the E36M3 list by visiting our sponsors: > > Bimmerworld http://www.bimmerworld.com > Turner Motorsport http://www.turnermotorsport.com > Eurosport High Performance http://www.eurosporthighperformance.com > Rogue Engineering http://www.rogueengineering.com > > DIGEST INFORMATION: > http://www.bmw-m.net/resources/digest_info.htm > ************************************************* > >
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#8. Free: Sedan turn signal protection film - from Andrej Dolenc
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Date: Mon, 29 Mar 2004 11:27:53 -0500 From: Andrej Dolenc <adolenc@erols.com> Subject: Free: Sedan turn signal protection film Greetings gruppe, I have a set of headlight protection films for the sedan turn signals that I can't use. Anybody on the list need a set? Lemme know and I'll send 'em your way. I'll xerox the installation instructions, but it won't come with the squeegee to apply it. Andrej '97 M3
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#9. WTB RE730s for 8.5 width wheel - from Jason Knight
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Date: Mon, 29 Mar 2004 10:05:01 -0800 (PST) From: Jason Knight <knight2244@yahoo.com> Subject: WTB RE730s for 8.5 width wheel Group, I'm looking for a set of two relatively new RE730 tires, as the rears are almost gone were the fronts have plenty of meat left. Anyone have a set for 17 X 8.5 wheels (I think they are 245 - 40 - 17s) that they want to sell? Please email offline to knight2244@yahoo.com. Jason
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#10. Re: [E36M3] Spark plugs - from ChuckBrazeau@aol.com
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Date: Mon, 29 Mar 2004 16:19:16 -0500 From: ChuckBrazeau@aol.com Subject: Re: [E36M3] Spark plugs Chris, Please report back and let us all know how they work out for you. I'll be ordering a set for my M3 in a few weeks as well. Chuck Brazeau 1995 BMW M3 - Violet on Black SCCA Solo2 - Street Modified #95 http://www.brazeauracing.com/ In a message dated 3/28/2004 10:30:14 AM Eastern Standard Time, chrispy@ieee.org writes: > I had them order six ($6.99 > each, prepaid) and they'll be in tomorrow. That's pretty pricey for plugs, > but I'm soon going to trip 150,000 miles, and I figure I'll > see if these'll clear up that slight miss at idle..