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#1. Drove my first M3 today-impressions - from Tom Reynolds
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Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2005 16:34:17 -0700 From: Tom Reynolds <kjtar@earthlink.net> Subject: Drove my first M3 today-impressions Yeah, for a guy almost 60, you'd think this would have happened a long time ago. Well, like in the movie "24 Hours" when the guy goes to the garage to get Eddie Murphy's Porsche: "I've been BUSY!" :) Anyway, here's the deal, for those of you who want to skip, please delete now. Had previously given the car a very quick once-over, then called a day or so later to get the VIN. Production date of 1-05. Avus Blue/Dove Gray, Vader leather, (no Lux package) and 100,201 miles. 2 previous owners, both local to the area. Selling dealer has all receipts, etc. Car has Dinan chip as only known mod. Sales guy started up the car to check for amount of gas in tank. Not that much, but enough for my purposes. Exhaust sounded swell. Fiddled a bit with the seats, thus finding out to my joy they were not electric. Clutch felt fine, engine sounded a bit loud, but not like marbles in a can or anything. Car probably hadn't been started in quite a while, just sitting on the lot. Like the way the steering wheel felt, good position for hands. Throw from 2nd to 3rd is a bit on the long side, but not like a '72 Porsche, and the shifter felt good, not vague at all. Engine power was good, no problem getting a ticket in this baby, I'm sure. Just drove around in Industrial Park type environment, wanted to stay off the main roads where there was more traffic. Kinda goosed it a bit from a couple of STOP signs, heard the tires sobbing, but no "like hell hath no fury" burnout. Don't know if it was (a) me not revving it high enough before dumping the clutch, (b) the good tires, (c) the great weight distribution (as opposed to a '96 Mustang GT that I drove where a lot more of the weight was on the front end of the car) but the car certainly moved out well. Felt nice and solid. Unfortunately, I had my sunglasses on so the interior gauges were hard to see. I could heel and toe the "proper" way (ball of right foot on brake pedal, and then just pivot the rest of the foot over to the gas pedal and "blip" it.) Took me twice to get used to it, but was fun. Again, great shifter/clutch. I'm ready to sign on the dotted line as soon as someone is wise enough to hire me. One of those cars you take for a drive, park, switch off, and just sit there for a couple of seconds, thinking "Wow." Best regards, Tom Reynolds (subject was '95 M3, BTW) -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.300 / Virus Database: 265.7.0 - Release Date: 01/17/2005
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#2. A purchase, a question and Winter Tires - from Avedis, Alexander (US SSA)
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Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2005 17:53:23 -0500 From: "Avedis, Alexander (US SSA)" <alexander.avedis@baesystems.com> Subject: A purchase, a question and Winter Tires A while back I joined this list in advance of a potential 98 E36/4 purchase and asked the usual items to look out for. The answers I received back were excellent! By way of an update, I did make the purchase and put the car on the road this month. It's really quite a ride [understatement of the year!] A minor issue is I get a low beam failure indication on the display every time I turn on the headlights. The display eventually goes off on its own. The lamp is not burned out and the car passed inspection. Any ideas? Lastly, I have two Dunlop D3 M2 winter tires with about 3/16" of thread above the wear indicators [three seasons worth of use]. The size is 225/55/17. I purchased four new Blizzaks of a different size so I have no use for these two tires. Any interest? Alex Avedis NJ Chapter BMW CCA
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#3. Lap times, part 2 - from Mount, Mike
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Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2005 14:59:40 -0800 From: "Mount, Mike" <JMMn@pge.com> Subject: Lap times, part 2 Thanks for the info on the local tracks lap times folks. I was kinda wondering about adding 2 wheels to my racing habit, but had expected the lap times to be more comparable to motorcycle lap times. I would guess mid-corner speeds would be fairly comparable but the bikes just accelerate so much harder that is where the difference is found. I think I hit about 140 or so going into T8 at Willow, no speedo on the bike so it's more like WFO in 6th gear and about 9,000 rpm when turning in from the short chute out of 7, from there it's just hang onto the damned thing until time to downshift for 9. FWIW, front runners in my group run mid 1:27's or so - maybe a bit quicker - depending on how much the 3 at the pointy end want to push the issue. Before my crash I was running low '30's and that put me in 4th or maybe 5th. It's a big jump to drop that many seconds, especially as the guys up front are either AMA privateers and/or Pro license holders. Ah well, it's all relative to the pace of the group you are racing against. Mike (as if I need another expensive habit)
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#4. Re: [E36M3] List stickers - from Raza Uddin
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Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2005 15:19:57 -0800 From: Raza Uddin <raza.uddin@gmail.com> Subject: Re: [E36M3] List stickers Suzy, I will take two stickers. What is easier for you? Send a check with a SASE for them or to pay via Paypal and then send a SASE? Either way, please reserve two (2) stickers for me (Raza Uddin) and I will send the money as soon as I hear back from you. Thanks for keeping up and creating the greatest list on the Internet! Drive Safely, Raza On Thu, 20 Jan 2005 16:16:33 -0600, Sue Kraft <suekraft@new.rr.com> wrote: > Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2005 14:28:43 -0600 > From: Sue Kraft <suekraft@new.rr.com> > Subject: List stickers > > Hey guys, > > I recently moved and found a few (52) leftover list stickers. For those > of you who are new, here's the original link with a picture and > description as well as ordering instructions. > http://www.bmw-m.net/decal.htm If any of you are interested in taking > the last few stickers off my hands, let me know. The cost is $5 each and > I will accept paypal. > > Thanks, and hope all is well in M3 land. > > Suzy > The original E36M3 list mistress > > ************************************************* > 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 > Treehouse Racing http://www.treehouseracing.com > > DIGEST INFORMATION: > http://www.bmw-m.net/resources/digest_info.htm > ************************************************* > >
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#5. Rear Subframe Removal - from Chad Milam
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Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2005 16:39:01 -0800 (PST) From: Chad Milam <m_three99@yahoo.com> Subject: Rear Subframe Removal While crawling under the rear of the M3 tonight, I noticed that my subframe bushings are pretty much shot. One of them appears to be missing some of the rubber material, which is clearly not good. So it looks like I will be replacing those subframe bushings, along with ball joints, adjustable lower control arm, inner bushings, flex disc, and toe bushings. I will unfortunately, be doing this on the ground with the use of jackstands. And of course, in the cold Michigan winter. Yuck. Which brings me to the point of the post... 1/ Does anyone have a good write up on how to best remove the subframe from the car? Or can the bushings be replaced without removing it? 2/ Any other things to do other than the list above while I have all of that apart? 3/ If I was to pay someone to do this, what should I expect for labour, I have all the parts, except the subframe bushings? thanks as always for the advice... chad 99m3/2 __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Read only the mail you want - Yahoo! Mail SpamGuard. http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail
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#6. Re: [E36M3] A purchase, a question and Winter Tires - from Jim Bassett
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Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2005 18:14:31 -0800 From: Jim Bassett <jim@jimbassett.com> Subject: Re: [E36M3] A purchase, a question and Winter Tires At 02:56 PM 1/20/05, Avedis, Alexander (US SSA) wrote: > By way of an update, I did make the purchase and put the car on the road > this month. It's really quite a ride [understatement of the year!] Congratulations! > A minor issue is I get a low beam failure indication on the display > every time I turn on the headlights. The display eventually goes off on > its own. The lamp is not burned out and the car passed inspection. Any > ideas? Stock headlights or aftermarket HIDs? This is a common problem, apparently, with HID conversions. If stock headlights, it may be a bulb that it getting ready to burn out, but still burns enough to shine. Basically the resistance of the bulb is high enough to set the warning, but the bulb is still (somewhat) functional. Hope that helps, Jim Bassett
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#7. Re: [E36M3] where to buy wurth's paint? - from Theodore Serbinski
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Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2005 21:59:16 -0500 From: Theodore Serbinski <stanson@gmail.com> Subject: Re: [E36M3] where to buy wurth's paint? > Interesting, I'd be curious the results of your project. So if you can say > lathe spin the wheels to remove rash/nicks and prep them well, can you tell > the difference between say a do-it yourselfer job and a vigin oem spare in > the trunk? I think the contours with more surface area would be easier to > detect vs the 10 spoke style wheel...curious any "been there done that" > experience. Well I finally got around to updating my site and getting pictures up of the contours. Here are the pictures (sorry not in chronological order and pictures are missing of the wheels completely sanded down): http://www.cilon.com/pictures/folder/m3/mcontours Turned out quite well I must say. I'll post pictures soon of the wheels on my car. Basic process, used that Airplane coating stripper to remove clear coat and *most* paint. Had to sand the rest the off, which was a bitch. Then put on a quite a few coats of Dupli-Color wheel paint, then finalized with a few coats of Dupli-Color clear coat. Looking pretty sweet for a DIY, esp when I got these wheels for free and they looked like crap. I think the Wurths paint would have been a smoother and duller gray, but the Dupli-Color isn't too bad. We'll see how it looks on the car tho! ted
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#8. Buy/Sell/Trade - from Peter Wheeler
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Date: Fri, 21 Jan 2005 00:53:46 -0600 From: "Peter Wheeler" <peter@bavarianonline.com> Subject: Buy/Sell/Trade Getting kinda tired of the old girl as she sits. Have a page of parts to sell/trade and a little bit of looking for. Wheels, tires, radios, changers, wings; more as I find it. http://www.dakarm3.com/sfs.htm Looking for all types of stuff (I just won't know till I see it) The prices are in no way dictated or even based on reality, just gut feeling, what I think I've seen in the past, and are at least a starting point. Guess I'm trying to generate a spring cleaning/swap meet here... Thanks, Peter JPWheelr@dakarm3.com
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#9. RE: [E36M3] Re: how to get 300 hp?? - from twisty M3
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Date: Sat, 22 Jan 2005 08:36:01 -0800 From: "twisty M3" <twistym3@hotmail.com> Subject: RE: [E36M3] Re: how to get 300 hp?? In regards to the JC/Eurosport Cam kit, this is the first I've heard that the cams used are rough on the valve train and that the rev limit is actually reduced vs. standard Shark injector programming. Is this true? How are the Schrick cams used and rougher than any others? Not sure I understand why the rev-limit is down as mentioned in a previous post either. Jonathan L.
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#10. WTB: 96-98 E36 - from Lew Becker
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Date: Sat, 22 Jan 2005 14:21:46 -0800 From: Lew Becker <lmb_cfls@sbcglobal.net> Subject: WTB: 96-98 E36 My son is looking to buy a 96-98 E36 -- anyone know of a solid one for sale in the SF Bay area? Lew Becker