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#1. Finished one job, and did another - without breaking anything! - from Don Eilenberger
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Date: Sat, 30 Apr 2005 18:18:09 -0400 From: Don Eilenberger <deilenberger@yahoo.com> Subject: Finished one job, and did another - without breaking anything! One of the victims of the CDV delete project a few weeks ago was my cruise control. When the clutch pedal came up too high, it managed to break the cruise control switch for the clutch... so no cruise control. Replacement switch was $12.78 (with CCA 10$ discount).. since I'd become quite familiar with the area, it only took about an hour to get everything out of the way, unbolt the bracket it's held in, replace it and reassemble. Cruise control now works again! The second project was to clean the Idle-Control-Valve (ICV).. Back when I had an m30 engine (E28/535i) - I'd clean this valve at every valve adjustment (about every 12k miles) since it had to be removed anyway to get the valve cover off.. and it was VERY easy to get to. Fast forward to the M50/S52 engines where some idiot in Munich moved the thing under the manifold. Cleaning it required removal of: MAF, rubber bellows tube connecting MAF and ASC valve, removal of ASC butterfly assembly, removal of main throttle body, moving of lots of stuff, and finally unbolting it - and the dip stick pipe from the manifold. Disassembly took about an hour or so. Nothing broke, nothing stripped, nothing even fell down in the depths of the engine compartment. Got the valve out - it was pretty gunky (tech-term), cleaned up fine with carb cleaner (moves well) and went to start reassembly. Well - if you haven't done it - getting the damn valve back up and connected to the intake manifold can lead to the use of many words that aren't allowed on public television. You can't see what you're doing, you can't even feel with your fingers what you're doing, you can't get more than 1 hand in to try to do it. I finally took a mirror, and marked on the metal plate on the bottom lip of the manifold a line that was centered on the hole in the bottom of the manifold that the valve plugs into. I also used some RedLine Synthetic Moly grease on the rubber bits.. it helped it slide in place. Getting the valve back in - took at least another hour. Reassembly went smoothly. I did some cleaning (the throttle body and butterfly are nice and clean now - inside and out) and it all went back together nicely. One thing I did - since it would never be easier (with some of the parts out of the way )to get to the power steering reservoir, I decided to see how the fluid looked. Milk chocolate basically. After getting the intake back together so I could start the engine - it took about 4 drain/refill/turn the wheels/repeat before it stayed even vaguely clear. I think replacement of the hoses (which are weeping) and a complete flush are on the schedule now. Good day - the car still runs and less needs doing now than when I started (I'm moving in the right direction again!) _______D_o_n__________S_p_r_i_n_g__L_a_k_e__H_t_s____________ Don Eilenberger, Spring Lk Hts, NJ NJ SHore BMW Riders - http://www.njsbmwr.org/ E39 Enthusiasts Group - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bmwe39/ '03 525iT, '98 M3C/5, '87 K75S
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#2. Seized right Front Caliper, need advice - from Kevin McLeaster
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Date: Sun, 01 May 2005 23:57:02 -0500 From: Kevin McLeaster <kmcleaster@iquest.net> Subject: Seized right Front Caliper, need advice My right-front caliper seems to have seized up on me this evening. I pulled it off and found that the piston boot inner lip appears to have partially found its way out between the piston and the housing. I cleaned everything up, put it back together and bled the caliper. After pumping the brakes a few times, I have a fair amount of drag on the rotor. Can I limp the car 30 mi to the shop, or should a have it flatbedded to the shop? Car is a 95 with about 96000 mi. Also, the car is in Indy, so my choices are Ress Motorworks or Vaughn Motowerks. Any and all prompt advice is welcome. I have to figure out what to do first thing in the morning. Thanks, Kevin McLeaster 95' M3
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#3. OT: Euro M3 engine "not" For Sale - from LoweSeaton@aol.com
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Date: Mon, 2 May 2005 03:37:21 EDT From: LoweSeaton@aol.com Subject: OT: Euro M3 engine "not" For Sale Remember that too good to be true '99 Euro engine/transmission with 10K miles For Sale on eBay last month? It was an obvious scam but I figured "what the hay?", no harm in placing a lowball bid on eBay for it. All it would cost me is a few spent electrons on the 'ol computer. And if I got a shiny Euro motor delivered to my front door for free, even better. Well, I didn't win. :( I kept the auction listing on "My eBay" home page. I figured it would disappear or I would get an "auction canceled" message. Sure enough, the auction listing disappeared some time ago. And today I got the following message from eBay. I don't know why it took eBay so long to do something about this obvious scam. Lowell Seaton '95 M3 --------------------------------- "Dear Lowell Seaton (loweseaton@aol.com), The following is a notice from eBay Trust & Safety regarding: Item Number - 7966375704 Item Title - 1999 BMW Z3 M / E36 M3 engine, NR! Our records show that you placed a bid on this item. We removed this item from the Site and cancelled your bid because it appears that the seller's account has been compromised and used by an unauthorized third party. The seller's privileges to trade on eBay may be temporarily suspended while we investigate this matter further. Due to privacy concerns we will not be able to share further details related to this seller. If someone claiming to be the seller asks you to complete a transaction outside of eBay, we strongly recommend that you ignore the request. ... <snip> Regards, Customer Support (Trust and Safety Department) eBay Inc"
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#4. RE: [E36M3] Seized right Front Caliper, need advice - from Jack - Elephant Motorsports
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Date: Mon, 2 May 2005 06:34:39 -0400 From: "Jack - Elephant Motorsports" <jack@elephantmotorsports.com> Subject: RE: [E36M3] Seized right Front Caliper, need advice Kevin, Personally, I would probably just limp it to the shop. But a flatbed is not a bad idea considering it's the brakes that are questionable! I'd hate to make that call but if you do drive it, be careful and take it easy! As for shops, I've never heard of Ress but Vaughn is well known amongst the Indy crowd, I'm sure you'll get other recommendations for him (Rich Vaughn), he's a good guy. Good luck, be sure to report back! Jack Money #86 CM M3 Elephant Motorsports Inc. http://www.elephantmotorsports.com -----Original Message----- From: Kevin McLeaster [mailto:kmcleaster@iquest.net] Sent: Monday, May 02, 2005 1:06 AM To: E36M3 Subject: [E36M3] Seized right Front Caliper, need advice Date: Sun, 01 May 2005 23:57:02 -0500 From: Kevin McLeaster <kmcleaster@iquest.net> Subject: Seized right Front Caliper, need advice My right-front caliper seems to have seized up on me this evening. I pulled it off and found that the piston boot inner lip appears to have partially found its way out between the piston and the housing. I cleaned everything up, put it back together and bled the caliper. After pumping the brakes a few times, I have a fair amount of drag on the rotor. Can I limp the car 30 mi to the shop, or should a have it flatbedded to the shop? Car is a 95 with about 96000 mi. Also, the car is in Indy, so my choices are Ress Motorworks or Vaughn Motowerks. Any and all prompt advice is welcome. I have to figure out what to do first thing in the morning. Thanks, Kevin McLeaster 95' M3 ************************************************* 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 Elephant Motorsports Inc. http://www.elephantmotorsports.com DIGEST INFORMATION: http://www.bmw-m.net/resources/digest_info.htm *************************************************
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#5. Broken Tap Removal - Update - from Wayne Miller
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Date: Mon, 2 May 2005 07:31:20 -0400 From: "Wayne Miller" <m3@waynemiller.com> Subject: Broken Tap Removal - Update Just to fill everyone in with my broken tap saga - here goes. After I received replies last time I posted about it, I tried everything that I could think of to remove it but it wouldn't budge. I bought best drill bits I could find (I think cobalt) and they didn't do anything. I tried at least 4 or 5 of the high speed grinding bits on the dremel and some of those made slight indentations but not enough to do anything. I tried heating it. I tried using nails in the flute holes but those just twisted and broke. Finally I gave up and ordered the set of broken tap extractors that some people had recommended. It took about 3 weeks to arrive because they weren't in stock at the place I ordered them from. I put the car up on the lift yesterday with Chester and he put the tool in and let me take the blame in trying to move it. All it took was a tiny bit of pressure and the broken piece turned right out! Only a very small piece was stuck in the hole. This is one of those tools that you wish you don't need but is great to have just in case. We also discovered based on the broken tap that while I bought a replacement 10 x 1.5 tap which is the correct size, for whatever reason I broke the 11 x 1.5 tap. DOH! I am not sure how I managed to mess that up but it helps to use the correct size tap in the future. -Wayne
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#6. Re: [E36M3] Broken Tap Removal - Update - from Chester Wong
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Date: Mon, 2 May 2005 09:00:29 -0700 (PDT) From: Chester Wong <chester_p_wong@yahoo.com> Subject: Re: [E36M3] Broken Tap Removal - Update --- Wayne Miller <m3@waynemiller.com> wrote: > I put the car up on > the lift yesterday with Chester and he put the tool in and let me take the > blame in trying to move it. All it took was a tiny bit of pressure and the I wasn't trying to divert blame ;) I was just letting you finish what you started...or undo what you did :) Some motoroil as lube and a correct size tap sure cleaned up the threads. A few shots of brake clean make all this nasty stuff drip out...Wayne is as good as new.. Well, at least the car is...well, after he puts on the new bumper... Chester
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#7. Nasty front-end vibration - from Graeme Weston-Lewis
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Date: Mon, 2 May 2005 11:22:31 -0600 From: "Graeme Weston-Lewis" <gweston@lsil.com> Subject: Nasty front-end vibration At the Rocky Mountain Chapter BMWCCA driving school this weekend at Pikes Peak International Raceway, my 85k mile '97 M3/4 developed a really nasty front end vibration. The vibration is not evident at low speeds or on very light braking and I have ruled out warped pads - nice smooth stops with light brake pressure. On my old 535i, this was a sure symptom of lower control arm balljoint wear. I'm ASSuming this problem can be attributed to the same issue on my M3. The front bushings were showing signs of surface cracking at the Event pre-tech so I'm planning on replacing the lower control arm assembly. Do the esteemed list members have and advice on an appropriate replacement? I autocross my car with BMWCCA and SCCA and attend all the local BMW driving schools I can with it. Are there aftermarket parts that are an improvement over stock or should I stick to OEM or equivalent? TIA, Graeme
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#8. Re: [E36M3] Nasty front-end vibration - from Chester Wong
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Date: Mon, 2 May 2005 10:31:22 -0700 (PDT) From: Chester Wong <chester_p_wong@yahoo.com> Subject: Re: [E36M3] Nasty front-end vibration I'm guessing from your post that the vibration only happens under braking? If so, this could be pad material transfer.... As for replacing parts, unless you're seriously tracking the car (like competing, etc), I would stick with OE. You might go with Powerflex lower control arm bushings. But....squeak, squeak, squeak away ;) Chester --- Graeme Weston-Lewis <gweston@lsil.com> wrote: > At the Rocky Mountain Chapter BMWCCA driving school this weekend at > Pikes Peak International Raceway, my 85k mile '97 M3/4 developed a > really nasty front end vibration. The vibration is not evident at > low speeds or on very light braking and I have ruled out warped > pads - nice smooth stops with light brake pressure. On my old 535i, > this was a sure symptom of lower control arm balljoint wear. I'm
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#9. RE: [E36M3] Nasty front-end vibration - from Graeme Weston-Lewis
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Date: Mon, 2 May 2005 12:41:49 -0600 From: "Graeme Weston-Lewis" <gweston@lsil.com> Subject: RE: [E36M3] Nasty front-end vibration Thanks Chester. I'm pretty sure it's not uneven pad deposit. The problem only shows itself under moderate to heavy braking and is accentuated if I don't have the wheels absolutely dead straight. Graeme -----Original Message----- From: Chester Wong [mailto:chester_p_wong@yahoo.com] Sent: Monday, May 02, 2005 11:31 AM To: Graeme Weston-Lewis; E36M3 Subject: Re: [E36M3] Nasty front-end vibration I'm guessing from your post that the vibration only happens under braking? If so, this could be pad material transfer.... As for replacing parts, unless you're seriously tracking the car (like competing, etc), I would stick with OE. You might go with Powerflex lower control arm bushings. But....squeak, squeak, squeak away ;) Chester --- Graeme Weston-Lewis <gweston@lsil.com> wrote: > At the Rocky Mountain Chapter BMWCCA driving school this weekend at > Pikes Peak International Raceway, my 85k mile '97 M3/4 developed a > really nasty front end vibration. The vibration is not evident at > low speeds or on very light braking and I have ruled out warped > pads - nice smooth stops with light brake pressure. On my old 535i, > this was a sure symptom of lower control arm balljoint wear. I'm
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#10. E46M3 take offs fit E36M3 - from Patrick Goss - PA
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Date: Mon, 2 May 2005 16:26:03 -0400 From: Patrick Goss - PA <Patrick_Goss@GMACM.COM> Subject: E46M3 take offs fit E36M3 As the subject states, can it be done, not the competition package wheels, just the original 18's. If not does anyone know what would be required to get them to fit properly? Thanks, Patrick Goss 97 M3/4