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#1. RE: [E36M3] Falken Azenis 615 and Master Cyl? - from Jeremy Conners
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Date: Tue, 7 Jun 2005 21:51:00 -0400 From: "Jeremy Conners" <jeremy.conners@comcast.net> Subject: RE: [E36M3] Falken Azenis 615 and Master Cyl? A possible cause could be the left front caliper for binding. If this one is binding, more pressure would be required to get the threshold brake torque. Since there would be equal pressure on the fluid, but no binding loss at the right front caliper, more pressure and therefore brake torque would be available. BTW, the E36 has a front/rear (aka: black/white) brake circuit split (not diagonal). I'm confused by your statement about the lock up and the car rotating. The basis of an ESC system is that you use the wheel brakes to induce a yaw moment. (Of course our E36 doesn't have ESC, but bear with me). If the front right is nearing lock up first then you may feel the yaw moment steering the car to the right; however, with both front wheels in ABS you should feel only minimal yawing. Or was only the front right in ABS? Did the front left reach ABS when you were feeling this? This leads me to believe that you may have a tire pressure issue or a wheel speed sensor issue. Was this happening entering a turn or in a straight line? You typically see very similar pressure between primary and secondary circuits in master cylinders. Due to the design one may slightly lag the other in transient conditions and there might be a few bar differential, but when dealing with threshold braking pressures these are on the order of a few percent. (Read: not significant) Best regards, Jeremy // So, here's an issue it's highlighted that I've been sensing for a while: // // On my LM-22s and well-worn GT-F1s, under threshold braking, the front // right always seems to lock up first, causing ABS to kick in on that // wheel only. // // With these tires, for the first time I could feel the car rotating // around the front right wheel on braking since it wasn't locking up, // and this is indicating a problem somewhere in the system. // // I've got the kits to rebuild the front calipers, and I'll be doing // that shortly, but this seems more like it would be a master cylinder // issue, with the seal for one circuit (L.Front/R.Rear) leaking enough // that I'm effectively getting more pressure at the calipers on the // other circuit (R.Front/L.Rear). Does this make sense? Am I justified // in suspecting this from the MC? // // Thanks in advance for your help, // Steve
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#2. RE: [E36M3] Brake Fade + Soft Pedal - from docwyte@comcast.net
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Date: Wed, 08 Jun 2005 04:23:25 +0000 From: docwyte@comcast.net Subject: RE: [E36M3] Brake Fade + Soft Pedal The soft pedal is due to the glazed pads, not the fluid... -------------- Original message -------------- > Date: Tue, 7 Jun 2005 10:07:17 -0400 > From: "Michael, Dave" > Subject: RE: [E36M3] Brake Fade + Soft Pedal > > docwyte@comcast.net wrote: > > >It's the pad compound, not the fluid. Most "dustless" pads just don't > stop the car under > >any really aggressive conditions, they just can't handle the heat. > Chances are you've > >glazed the pads, I'd take them out and file them down, then reinstall > them and re-bed them. > >Just realize that their performance envelope is very small. > > I can understand how maybe dustless pads would fade sooner/worse than > high carbon pads due to glazing etc. But I don't see how that explains > the soft pedal. > > In any case, I have concluded that I was boiling the fluid. I just find > it hard to believe that 6 or 8 stops from 60 will do that to ate > fluid..... > > Thanks for all the suggestions > > Dave > > > > ************************************************* > 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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#3. Re: [E36M3] Falken Azenis 615 and Master Cyl? - from Steve Klein
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Date: Wed, 8 Jun 2005 08:58:10 -0500 From: Steve Klein <klein@robinsonad.com> Subject: Re: [E36M3] Falken Azenis 615 and Master Cyl? Hi, Jamie- I should have been more specific. When I had my Blizzak LM-22s on the car, the right front would lock up first, kicking on the ABS for that wheel only. I've got a '95, so no ESC or ASC, just ABS, dig? And interesting note about the braking circuits. I was assuming based on previous cars circuits. With the Azenis 615s, there's so much grip that the wheels don't lock up and kick on the ABS, but rather grip like mad as the car sheds speed. THIS is when I feel the car wanting to yaw around the right front wheel, indicating it's getting more braking torque than the left front. I hadn't considered the possibility of the LEFT front sticking, so it makes sense to go ahead and rebuild my front calipers first and see how the system responds. Either way, these are the tires that should have been on the car all along! Thanks for the input, Steve On Jun 7, 2005, at 8:51 PM, Jeremy Conners wrote: > A possible cause could be the left front caliper for binding. If > this one > is binding, more pressure would be required to get the threshold brake > torque. > > BTW, the E36 has a front/rear (aka: black/white) brake circuit > split (not > diagonal). > > I'm confused by your statement about the lock up and the car > rotating. The > basis of an ESC system is that you use the wheel brakes to induce a > yaw > moment. (Of course our E36 doesn't have ESC, but bear with me). > If the > front right is nearing lock up first then you may feel the yaw moment > steering the car to the right; however, with both front wheels in > ABS you > should feel only minimal yawing. Or was only the front right in > ABS? Did > the front left reach ABS when you were feeling this? This leads me to > believe that you may have a tire pressure issue or a wheel speed > sensor > issue. Was this happening entering a turn or in a straight line? > > Best regards, > Jeremy
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#4. [E36M3] FS (OT) some property at Rose Hills - from Jay W. Hudson
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Date: Wed, 8 Jun 2005 07:18:31 -0700 From: "Jay W. Hudson" <jwhud@budget.net> Subject: [E36M3] FS (OT) some property at Rose Hills Group- Sorry for the OT. For you socal folks, I have 2 spaces for sale at Rose Hills. Any ineterst, please contact me offline. I need more money for M3 parts (obligatory M3 content). Since I can't earn it, I have to sell stuff ;-) Thanks and hope the subject doesn't put you on a downer. Jay
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#5. RE: [E36M3] Brake Fade + Soft Pedal - from Michael, Dave
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Date: Wed, 8 Jun 2005 13:47:43 -0400 From: "Michael, Dave" <Dave_Michael@maxtor.com> Subject: RE: [E36M3] Brake Fade + Soft Pedal >>> The soft pedal is due to the glazed pads, not the fluid... Things that I have learned through all this discussion: 1. "Low dust track pad" is an oxymoron 2. Brake fade is sometimes, but is not always, combined with a soft pedal 3. The soft pedal can be/is often/ caused by pad glazing rather than boiling fluid I suppose this is all mostly relevant for the days that I return to the track. I had thought that I could use these pads (Ceramicool) for occasional track days and that they would work at least as well as the OEM Jurids (with which I never had any problem at either LRP or NHIS). But I never did get to test that , and should I return to the track, won't try! Thanks all Dave 98 M3/4
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#6. RE: [E36M3] Brake Fade + Soft Pedal - from Jim Bassett
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Date: Wed, 8 Jun 2005 11:00:12 -0700 (PDT) From: "Jim Bassett" <jim@jimbassett.com> Subject: RE: [E36M3] Brake Fade + Soft Pedal On Wed, June 8, 2005 10:52 am, Michael, Dave said: >>>> The soft pedal is due to the glazed pads, not the fluid... > > Things that I have learned through all this discussion: > > 1. "Low dust track pad" is an oxymoron As has been said many times, there are 3 desireable properties of brake pads: stopping well, quiet, low dust. Pick 2 :-) Jim Bassett - likes quiet, well-stopping brake pads; not so lazy that I can't wash the car occasionally :-)
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#7. 3-spoke wheel - from Scott McClung
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Date: Wed, 8 Jun 2005 12:32:51 -0700 (PDT) From: Scott McClung <smlists@pacbell.net> Subject: 3-spoke wheel Is the '99 3 spoke wheel easy to retro-fit into a '98 sedan? Any other options that keep an airbag? Scott
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#8. RE: [E36M3] 3-spoke wheel - from Sinha, Vikas
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Date: Wed, 8 Jun 2005 15:49:49 -0400 From: "Sinha, Vikas" <Vikas.Sinha@aam.com> Subject: RE: [E36M3] 3-spoke wheel > From: Scott McClung <smlists@pacbell.net> > Is the '99 3 spoke wheel easy to retro-fit > into a '98 sedan? Yes. Tons of folks have done it. > Any other options that keep an airbag? To my knowledge there is only the Raid wheel (available from TM Tuning among others). It's an awfully plain *looking* wheel but folks who have them swear by their comfort and grippability. I personally almost pulled the trigger on a Raid wheel last Christmas but went with ellipsoids instead, as I was worried about the smaller diameter of the Raid wheel blocking the gauges. Vik 97 M3/4 ** Scanned by AAM SMS DGANT66 **
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#9. M3 LWT Cylinder Head R&R Wrap-up [Long] - from Andrew Kalman
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Date: Wed, 8 Jun 2005 12:55:37 -0700 From: Andrew Kalman <aek@pumpkininc.com> Subject: M3 LWT Cylinder Head R&R Wrap-up [Long] Hi All. Just some notes in my six-month saga (all my fault) as I R&R'd the head on my LWT's motor because of a mildly blown head gasket. Perhaps someone will find this useful ... I just need to write it down and print it for my records! :) 1) There were no indications of trouble from the temp gauge in the gauge cluster, but I kept getting little blowoffs of coolant at the radiator cap, and I could see a slimy oily film in the coolant. So I knew I was in for a head gasket change ... 2) I sourced all the parts through Ramon LeFrancois <bsport@sbcglobal.net> at Bavarian Motorsport in Milpitas -- he was great, got everything I needed and asked for. Highly recommended. 3) I decided to do it myself because I'm anal about these things, and I wanted to get familiar with the engine. Also, with the money I saved I could buy additional tools (yippee!). The downside was that I have had very little free time lately, and so this dragged on for many months longer than it should have. 4) Removal of the head wasn't too difficult. I have the Bentley manual and also printed some stuff I found on the web. It's the intake manifold that's difficult to deal with -- I basically disconnected it from the head and pushed it slightly aside in order to have some room to work with. I also broke the little locking clip that holds the air valve to the inside middle of the intake manifold. 5) Tip #1: The M3's engine is set so far back that in order to get the right clearances and room to work with, you really need to remove the big sheet metal piece that encloses the area where the blower intake and windshield wiper mechanism are. With that out, you have enough room to move the big wiring harness tray out of the way when you need access to the rear of the head, etc. 6) Tip #2: Cam removal and reinstallation: I bought 4 used cam bearing caps from Bill Arnold, and then machined down the faces where the nuts go by about 8-10mm. With these 4 caps, I could then gently release the cams from their carriers. Much cheaper than the BMW special tools, etc. 7) Tip #3: Buy (good) tools on eBay. I bought the fancy cam lock-down kit (that also has the dummy chain tensioner, flywheel lock pin, etc.) on EBay at a great price. Also bought some nice, cheap tools to remove the fan. The 32mm wrench for the fan also works well on the VANOS cylinder. 8) I pulled the cams, then the head, because I was going to replace my not-hard-enough valve spring retainers with the newer versions. Once I pulled the head, I took it to my shop and numbered all the valves (1A - 6B on each side) with an engraver and removed them too. I kept track of which bore each lifter came from. I did not track springs, keepers, retainers, etc. Inspection of the head and head gasket showed that the gasket was blown on the #6 cylinder, towards the rear. 9) I paid $10 for a professional cleaning of the bare head at Baca's in South San Francisco / Colma. 10) I found lots of little pieces of aluminum (or maybe steel -- I didn't think to check with a magnet) in the cam bearings. About half of the bearings were noticeably scored. However, I chose not to replace them. Rather, I carefully shaved the high points down (using a modified file ground smooth with a sharp edge), then sanded them with super-fine emery paper (2000 grit?), and also sent the cams to Web-Cam for bearing cleanup and a moly coating. 11) The margins on a couple of the exhaust valves (as seen on the seats) were nearly gone. This means that with a few more miles, I likely would have lost compression on certain cylinders. Discussion with engine builders at my shop concluded that perhaps the valve seats had settled ... 12) I removed the plug at the end of the head and hooked up a hose to it so that I could flush the oil passages with warm soapy water. I washed the head and cam carriers a couple of times in the bathtub, using nylon brushes to clean out all the oil passages, etc. 13) Tip #4: Never bag up a head in plastic bags. I must have had some residual water still in the head, and it reacted with white plastic kitchen bags to leave an awful-looking discoloration / whatever on the head's mating surface. I had to Scotchbrite that away -- bummer. So much for the machined surface of the head. 14) My shop re-cut the valve seats using a SERDI 3.0 valve seat cutting machine. All of the intake valve seats cut consistently. However, on the exhaust side, there was a taper of around 0.012" from the first to the last seat. I do not think it was operator error. Probably more a manufacturing issue. The seats all cleaned up very nicely. Operator said it was one of the nicest factory heads he'd ever seen. The cutter had the usual 30/45/60 degree faces, plus some extras and curves that were part of the particular cutter used. The valves themselves were also re-ground with two angles, IIRC. Relative to the original installed heights, the new valve heights varied over 0.012" on the exhaust side. The valve stem tips were re-ground individually to normalize all valves to the same heights when installed. Because of the taper, the exhaust valves were progressively deeper (but only by a max of 0.012") into the head than the intake valves (which were all consistent). Even with the valve stem tips normalized, this means that the installed heights (of the springs) would vary by 0.012". Since you can't really get base washers in those thicknesses, I chose to disregard this variance and correct for it (slightly) using sorted valve springs. 15) During the process of cleaning up the head some more (after the seats had been cut) I managed to scratch two of the seats with the diamond file I was using to break some of the sharp edges in the combustion chamber. So, I ended up lapping each valve (4-5 back-and-forth twists) to ensure that the seating areas were perfect. And here the work on the SERDI really shone -- every contact area (on the valve and on the seat) was perfect and uniform. A dull grey color due to the lapping. I vacuum-tested each valve and they were all OK. 16) I also did a tiny bit of port work, primarily on the intake side. There, BMW CNC'd the area where each seat blends into the intake port. But there was a noticeable step (around 0.5-1.0mm) where the CNC work ended. I don't see the benefit of an (unintentional?) anti-reversionary cut on the intake side, so I used an electric grinder with a flapper wheel and some 60-grit (?) sandpaper to smooth that out. 17) I paid $20 for a more thorough, final cleaning of the head at Baca's. I wanted to make sure that all of the grit from the port work was exorcised. 18) I sorted all the new valve springs (I decided to replace them all) based on installed height pressures and pressure at 0.400" lift. I was given the choice of using the high-performance springs for the M3 head, but chose not to, mainly because my motor is bone-stock (not even chipped), and there's little to no advantage of using stiffer springs if you're not also going to do other performance upgrades (e.g. cams, higher rev limit, etc.). 19) Prior to re-assembling the head I polished the keeper grooves on each valve so that there were no sharp edges to damage the valve seals during installation. When I re-assembled the head, I used RedLine assembly lube on each valve, and used new, hardened keepers. Since I had sorted the valve springs, I used those with the highest numbers on the exhaust valves that had the biggest increase in installed height, etc. 20) Ramon supplied me with one of the Cometic http://www.cometic.com/ head gaskets that have a good reputation with the BMW crowd. My block and front timing chain cover were very clean -- just a little cleanup with a razor scraper was all that was needed. I also ground away and vacuumed up some noticeable casting flash that was present in the rearmost water passages in the block. Putting the head back onto the block was uneventful. I chose to do it without the cams in place so that all the valves would be closed, and I wouldn't be running the risk of damaging any exposed / open valves. I can be a klutz. 21) I torqued the head down without the cam galleys in place. I replaced the worst three lifters (noticeable circle wear on them) with new ones. With the exhaust cam galley, I was able to install it (with heavily-oil-lubed lifters) just by quickly putting it into place. But that wasn't going to work with the intake galley, so instead, I placed a long length of 1" painters tape under the lifters (as was suggested on this list), and then simply withdrew the tape once the galley was partway in place. This is a great and cheap method that really works. 22) Installing the cams was a non-issue. I lubed the cam cap bores with Redline assembly paste. 23) Tip #5: If you replace the exhaust studs, put them on the head at a uniform installed height before you put the head onto the block. It's just easier. 24) Timing the cams was straightforward using the special tools. In theory, you could probably do this without special tools by laying a metal straightedge across the rear flats of the cams, and perhaps stuffing some of the cam bearing caps with paper to lock the cams down. 25) Installing the valve cover + new gaskets was easy. 26) Tip #6: Never let one of the washers that hold the valve cover down into a spark plug bore with a spark plug present. They are a perfect, tight fit over the spark plug, and are difficult to remove. I ended up magnetizing two Allen keys to pull one out. 27) For some reason, my car had only one ignition coil ground strap, even though there are provisions for two. So I added the second one (on cyl #3). 28) Putting the manifold back was way more trouble than the head work. used all new gaskets, etc. All those hoses, etc. are just a mess. I replaced all (I think) of the heater hoses, etc. Remember the clip I broke in #4 above? Well, I managed to step on the new replacement part while walking around in the garage, and I broke its clip, too! So I ended up using two tie wraps to hold the original valve in place, and I think that will work great. 29) Perhaps due to my not installing the exhaust studs to exactly the right depth, I couldn't put the forward (#1-#3) exhaust manifold back on -- it was interfering with the rhs motor mount. So I suspended the engine (remember, I'm a tool nut, so I have these things lying around) from the front hanger, removed the mount, put the manifold on, reinstalled the mount, and removed the engine holder / hanger. 30) The exhaust would only go together once the manifolds were loose. Once together, I tightened everything back down. 31) I also replaced the thermostat and all the gaskets in that housing. I'm using the newer style "mini-b#$@%-clip" to hold that little plastic guide that holds the front timing pickup wire. 32) The engine fired up instantly when I tried to start it for the first time. I went to bed, hoping to finish it later. 33) A few days later, I fired it up again, and heard a strong lifter tick, especially from the rear of the motor. I probably didn't notice it the first time. It wouldn't go away after 5-10 minutes of idling. Bummer. So I pulled the valve cover off, and sure enough, I had no problem depressing the #6B exhaust lifter (a new one, one of the ones I had replaced) with a chopstick. I also found two more (the other two new ones) which could be depressed, but not as much. I checked all the others, and they seemed fine. Then, when i went back to check #6B exhaust, it was now fine, and locked up properly. Really weird. I put the valve cover back on, etc., and restarted it. Quiet -- no lifter tick any more. I guess it had never really filled up properly, and just needed time. I sure hope so. 34) My engine shop's services are not available to the general public, so please don't ask about getting head work done, etc. Those who know me probably know which shop I'm talking about. Ramon uses http://www.memphismotorwerks.com/ , with equipment similar to the shop I use. And no, I didn't take any pictures (sorry, Chester). 35) Tip #7: Unless you have the luxury of planning 6 months for such a project, you may want to pay someone to do this sort of thing. It was instructive, but not particularly fun. I lost my love for working on cars several years ago. Never thought it would happen, but it did. 36) Tip #8: When you disable a car for six months on your lift, you can't use the lift! Doh! This can be a problem ... 37) I'm very proud of the fact that I did not bag or otherwise organize and of the fasteners that came off, and I put it all back together, with everything in exactly the right place, no lost fasteners, no extra ones. At least my brain still works at 40 :) -- ______________________________________ Andrew E. Kalman, Ph.D. aek@pumpkininc.com
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#10. Re: [E36M3] 3-spoke wheel - from Hans Batra
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Date: Wed, 8 Jun 2005 16:06:55 -0400 From: "Hans Batra" <hansbatra@yahoo.com> Subject: Re: [E36M3] 3-spoke wheel I know this is a popular "upgrade"...and I'm sure I'm in the minority here...but after having had a chance to drive both a 4-spoke M3 and a 3-spoke M3 for a few weeks now, I much prefer the hand-positioning that the 4-spoke provides. Hans ----- Original Message ----- From: "Scott McClung" <smlists@pacbell.net> To: "E36M3" <e36m3@bmw-m.net> Sent: Wednesday, June 08, 2005 3:42 PM Subject: [E36M3] 3-spoke wheel > Date: Wed, 8 Jun 2005 12:32:51 -0700 (PDT) > From: Scott McClung <smlists@pacbell.net> > Subject: 3-spoke wheel > > Is the '99 3 spoke wheel easy to retro-fit into a '98 sedan? Any other options that keep an airbag? > > Scott > > > ************************************************* > 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 > ************************************************* > >