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#1. Re: Control Arm Quandry - from Kirk Lachman
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Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2005 12:00:00 -0800 (GMT-08:00) From: Kirk Lachman <admranger@earthlink.net> Subject: Re: Control Arm Quandry I'd seriously consider the Road Race Technologies control arms over the E30M3 arms if ball joint wear is a concern. For me, I stuck in stock E36M3 control arms (E30M3 arms aren't legal in stock class). Cheers, Kirk Lachman Sin City Chapter '95 M3 #21 I-stock
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#2. Re: [E36M3] Control arm quandry - from Carlos.F.Lopez@jci.com
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Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2005 15:28:42 -0500 From: Carlos.F.Lopez@jci.com Subject: Re: [E36M3] Control arm quandry >I did a quick search and discovered that the sexy >aluminum E30 M3 arms fit but there is some chatter about whether that is >a brilliant stroke to eliminate unsprung weight or a quick way to get >weaker balljoints. Anybody got the straight dope? I'm not sure I have the straight dope but I'll give you the dope that I've been smokin'. :-) YES they fit, YES they may have weaker ball joints and YES the geometry is the same as the '95 M3 control arms with the offset control arm bushing but NO the outer ball joint is in a slightly different position than if your car had '96+ or whenever the centered CA bushing appeared. What it will do is affect your caster and I guess in a related way your dynamic camber. Here's how we found out, buddy had a shunt which bent his E30 M3 Al control arm. We didn't have a replacement but a friend had a replacement '97 M3 steel control arm. After the swap (including the offset delrin bushing) a well know BMW Tech checked camber and toe and both were within a reasonable spec where the car wasn't going to be a handful so we left them alone. The big problem was now that the caster was affected (increased) the giant slicks on 18" wheels which are normally centered on the wheel opening were now touching the edge of the front bumper cover. We had to scramble to shim the bumper cover fwd to clear the tire and make the race. Once home my buddy swapped new E30 M3 control arms on the car and the caster was back to normal and the wheel/tire were once again centered on the opening. For racers I can see the advantage of saving those precious partially unsprung 7 lbs but also racers replace parts often. It is recommended to replace these aluminum ones every two years. If you don't plan on doing so then get the correct E36 M3 steel ones so that your caster remains the same. I haven't read about too many E36 M3s having ball joint failures (or any in my case) but there are tons of stories of E30 or E30 M3 ball joints failing. Actually I know of one personally and the car was an instructor's car carrying at least 2 passengers (4dr E30), the failure caused the car to roll. Everyone was OK luckily. Carlos.
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#3. Re: [E36M3] Control arm quandry - from Chester Wong
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Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2005 12:39:45 -0800 (PST) From: Chester Wong <chester_p_wong@yahoo.com> Subject: Re: [E36M3] Control arm quandry At the club race at Summit Point last year, a racer experienced a ball joint failure in the steel control arms. I don't remember if it was a E36M3 or a standard E36 or any other specifics. All I know is that I saw the rod with the threads still stuck in the strut. Scary. Chester --- Carlos.F.Lopez@jci.com wrote: > I haven't read about too many E36 M3s having ball joint failures (or any in > my case) but there are tons of > stories of E30 or E30 M3 ball joints failing. Actually I know of one > personally and the car was an instructor's car carrying at least 2 > passengers (4dr E30), the failure caused the car to roll. Everyone was OK > luckily. =====
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#4. Re: [E36M3] Control arm quandry - from Jim Bassett
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Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2005 12:53:34 -0800 (PST) From: "Jim Bassett" <jim@jimbassett.com> Subject: Re: [E36M3] Control arm quandry On Thu, January 27, 2005 12:46 pm, Chester Wong said: > At the club race at Summit Point last year, a racer experienced a ball > joint > failure in the steel control arms. I don't remember if it was a E36M3 or > a > standard E36 or any other specifics. All I know is that I saw the rod > with the > threads still stuck in the strut. Scary. Yep. That's why Club Racing recommends periodic replacement of front control arms (E30 and E36): <http://www.bmwccaclubracing.com/2005%20Series/Bulletins/0202.htm> Doesn't mean it can't still happen, but should lessen the chance. Cheers, Jim Bassett 1998 M3/4 1993 325is #44 JP - control arms just replaced
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#5. Rear Control Arm bushing tool - from cteague@cox.net
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Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2005 17:10:14 -0500 From: <cteague@cox.net> Subject: Rear Control Arm bushing tool All, Thanks to Bimmerworld, I have new powerflex rear subframe bushings, and new rear control arm bushings on the way. I already have the trailing arm bushings. I have the trailing arm bushing tool, and the subframe bushing tool that I can borrow. But I also need the rear control arm bushing tool to remove and replace the inner (rubber bushings), and outer (bmw ball joints). I know Eric rented this (for the outer ones at least) from Koala Motorsport. Does anyone know where you can buy this tool? Is it the same tool for the inner ones as for the outer ones? I've already asked Koala, but was wondering if someone else knows also. Google has failed me. I can find lots of trailing arm bushing tools, and several subframe bushing tools, but no rear control arm tools for the E36. Lots of front ones though. Chris 97 M3
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#6. Climate control problem - from driver8 ///M3
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Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2005 14:21:06 -0800 (PST) From: driver8 ///M3 <driver8m3@yahoo.com> Subject: Climate control problem For the last few days, my climate control will intermintently turn itself off and on. It will be running normally, then everything shuts down...after a few minutes, it comes back on again. When it goes off, none of the buttons respond when I push them. It's happened while driving and while sitting still at a stop light. Anyone have any similar experiences? Thanks, Russell Dakar 99
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#7. Re: [E36M3] Climate control problem - from Jim Bassett
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Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2005 14:55:27 -0800 (PST) From: "Jim Bassett" <jim@jimbassett.com> Subject: Re: [E36M3] Climate control problem On Thu, January 27, 2005 2:26 pm, driver8 ///M3 said: > Anyone have any similar experiences? Yep. Do an archive search: http://www.bmw-m.net/Digest/ALL-DIGEST-SEARCH.htm (Hint: look for Scott Yu's post for a web link for the fix.) Cheers, Jim Bassett 1998 M3/4 - climate control fixed 1993 325is #44 JP - manual climate control, works fine :-)
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#8. Re: [E36M3] Climate control problem - from Andrej Dolenc
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Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2005 18:30:02 -0500 From: Andrej Dolenc <adolenc@erols.com> Subject: Re: [E36M3] Climate control problem Yep, not too long ago. The web page that Jim B. is talking about describing the fix is here: http://www.macadamizer.com/bmwfix.html I had the same exact experience as you. You're living on borrowed time - your HVAC controller is about to crap out on you. When it does, the controls will stop working and won't come back. And the system will default to blasting your feet with hot air (pull fuses to turn off the HVAC blower when it happens). The fix described above did the job beautifully. Andrej '97 M3 driver8 ///M3 <driver8m3@yahoo.com> wrote: > For the last few days, my climate control will intermintently turn itself > off and on. It will be running normally, then everything shuts > down...after a few minutes, it comes back on again. When it goes off, > none of the buttons respond when I push them. It's happened while driving > and while sitting still at a stop light. > Anyone have any similar experiences? > Thanks, > Russell > Dakar 99
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#9. Re: [E36M3] Suspension Setup - from Chester Wong
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Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2005 16:33:38 -0800 (PST) From: Chester Wong <chester_p_wong@yahoo.com> Subject: Re: [E36M3] Suspension Setup Chris, If you're talking full stiff, are you talking compression or rebound? I think that's what people are confused about. With the double adjustables, yes...sure, crank up the compression. What I find dangerous is cranking up the rebound on the single adjustables (which most people have....externally adjustables are single adjustables...). Sure, to some degree, it might be optimal to dial in a bit more rebound, but that would take lots of experimenting. What I disagree with are people who show up to an autox or track and think that cranking up the adjustment on a single adjustable is the right/faster/sane thing to do. It is not. Chester --- Chris Teague <cteague@cox.net> wrote: > When I ran my 97 M3 in SCCA stock class, it was fastest with the rear > Koni's set on full stiff. Exactly as you say, to play within the limits > of the stock class rules, you have do some crazy things with the shocks. > When I switched class, and ran stiffer springs, I actually had to soften > the rear shocks, since now I was allowed to match the rebound to the > springs. > > Also, with double adjustables, I still set the compression on full soft > for the drive home. =====
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#10. Re: Re: [E36M3] Suspension Setup - from cteague@cox.net
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Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2005 19:41:58 -0500 From: <cteague@cox.net> Subject: Re: Re: [E36M3] Suspension Setup Chester, When I first ran SCCA stock class, I ran single adjustable Koni's full stiff (rebound) in the rear. I tried several adjustments, and that was the fastest. When I switched to doubles (which were valved stiffer in rebound anyway), I lowered the rebound setting some, and then increased the compression. So neither compression nor rebound was full stiff with doubles. The double adjustable is actually a nice thing for stock class, since you can run close to optimum rebound settings, and play with the compression to allow for tuning that would not otherwise be legal in stock class. Currently, I am running a class that allows spring and bar changes, so I just set the rebound to match the springs, and play with compression. But now I can change sway bar settings, camber, and other things to do it right. And it's faster now too. ;-) Chris 97 M3/4 > > From: Chester Wong <chester_p_wong@yahoo.com> > Date: 2005/01/27 Thu PM 07:33:38 EST > To: Chris Teague <cteague@cox.net>, E36M3 <e36m3@bmw-m.net> > Subject: Re: [E36M3] Suspension Setup > > Chris, > > If you're talking full stiff, are you talking compression or rebound? I think > that's what people are confused about. With the double adjustables, > yes...sure, crank up the compression. What I find dangerous is cranking up the > rebound on the single adjustables (which most people have....externally > adjustables are single adjustables...). Sure, to some degree, it might be > optimal to dial in a bit more rebound, but that would take lots of > experimenting. What I disagree with are people who show up to an autox or > track and think that cranking up the adjustment on a single adjustable is the > right/faster/sane thing to do. It is not. > > Chester > > --- Chris Teague <cteague@cox.net> wrote: > > When I ran my 97 M3 in SCCA stock class, it was fastest with the rear > > Koni's set on full stiff. Exactly as you say, to play within the limits > > of the stock class rules, you have do some crazy things with the shocks. > > When I switched class, and ran stiffer springs, I actually had to soften > > the rear shocks, since now I was allowed to match the rebound to the > > springs. > > > > Also, with double adjustables, I still set the compression on full soft > > for the drive home.