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#1. Re: [E36M3] Floor jack recommendations - from Shelhart2@aol.com
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Date: Tue, 5 Jul 2005 21:09:16 EDT From: Shelhart2@aol.com Subject: Re: [E36M3] Floor jack recommendations Harbor Freight tools has a very reasonably priced one that I bought a while back. harborfreighttools.com (i think) if you don't have a local retailer close by. Shel
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#2. RE: Coolant use - from M540
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Date: Tue, 5 Jul 2005 21:18:13 -0400 From: "M540" <m540@bellsouth.net> Subject: RE: Coolant use Kim, Another place to check is around the expansion tank. My wife's M3 was losing coolant for a while and leaving no visible trace in the garage. Suddenly one day she lost a bunch of coolant. I looked everywhere and couldn't see anything with the car cold. I had to run it until it got hot to discover that the expansion tank had developed a long crack on the inside surface where it presses against the radiator shroud. This crack only opened at temperature and then sealed up again when cold. Apparently it had been seeping--and burning off--coolant for a while undetected until it finally got big enough to really hemorrhage. $67 and about an hour of my time later everything was fixed with a new tank. Kevin -------------------- 5 -------------------- Date: Tue, 5 Jul 2005 14:46:36 -0700 From: "Burgess, Kim L" <kim.l.burgess@boeing.com> Subject: Coolant use I am hoping this board can help me out with a coolant use issue. I have a 328 that I recently purchased that is using coolant. I was hoping it is not a head gasket. I don't seem to see any leaks or obvious weeping. It is a 97 328 with 100K mileage. Any know leak-prone hoses that I should check? Heater core an possibility or do they last forever? Car seems to run strong. I have not accomplished a Leak-Down or a compression test, runs good and does not appear to be trading coolant-for-oil or vise versa. M3 content - This is somewhere I have yet to go with the M3. TIA Kim L Burgess 99M3 97 328
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#3. Re: [E36M3] Oil gauges, coolers, temps - from Jim Bassett
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Date: Tue, 05 Jul 2005 19:04:43 -0700 From: Jim Bassett <jim@jimbassett.com> Subject: Re: [E36M3] Oil gauges, coolers, temps At 01:37 PM 7/5/2005, Jim Bassett wrote: > > Agreed. I believe I have a 250 deg water temp gauge but admittedly I've > > never > > driven an E36 M3 with gauges so I have no idea if that's appropriate. > >I think that's an appropriate one for the water temp. > >Of course, I'm going to have to go take a look at what's *actually* in the >race car now - grumble-fookingmemoryloss-grumble <g>. Or, I can just post one of the installation pictures: http://jimbassett.com/images/Gauge3.jpg :-) (The oil temp & water temp ones have since been swapped, position-wise, and all have been rotated so that general "normal" temps & pressure are at 12-o'clock position, so that a quick glance will tell me if anything's amiss.) Jim Bassett
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#4. Importance of sub strap? - from docwyte@comcast.net
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Date: Wed, 06 Jul 2005 05:27:35 +0000 From: docwyte@comcast.net Subject: Importance of sub strap? Ok, I've got a set of Schroth Profi 2 harnesses that I'm currently running as a 4 point, just the lap and shoulder belts. They have the ability to add a sub strap, either a 5 point or 6 point. I need to get a set of seats for the car anyways, and I'm debating between a "normal" seat and one that has a hole cut out for a sub strap, which I'd then add. I do auto-x and DE's with the car, no "real" racing or wheel to wheel stuff. Do you guys think a sub strap is a good thing to get, or am I good with my current 4 point setup? (I do have a rollbar in the car...) -josh
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#5. head gasket - from kim.burgess@att.net
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Date: Wed, 06 Jul 2005 05:46:47 +0000 From: kim.burgess@att.net Subject: head gasket I'm resigning myself to doing the head gasket on my recently acquired 328 and was wondering if any of the vendors offer a 'kit' that includes the new bolts, intake gaskets, exhaust gaskets, exhaust manifold gaskets, etc., etc.? TIA KLBurgess
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#6. Re: [E36M3] Importance of sub strap? - from Jim Bassett
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Date: Tue, 5 Jul 2005 22:58:11 -0700 (PDT) From: "Jim Bassett" <jim@jimbassett.com> Subject: Re: [E36M3] Importance of sub strap? On Tue, July 5, 2005 10:37 pm, docwyte@comcast.net said: > I do auto-x and DE's with the car, no "real" racing or wheel to wheel > stuff. Do you guys think a sub strap is a good thing to get, or am I good > with my current 4 point setup? (I do have a rollbar in the car...) I'm not familiar with the Profi 2 version, but since it has the provision for a sub strap, I would assume that is does NOT have the ASM feature that the Rallye 3/4 belts have? If not, put the sub strap in, preferably before your next track event. You need some way to keep from submarining; the ASM feature of their street belts performs that function, as does the sub-belt on a set of competition harnesses. (*The* person to ask about Schroth and other safety-related items is Joe Marko at HMS Motorsport.) Jim Bassett - happy HMS customer 1998 M3/4 - formerly with Schroth Rallye 4 belts with ASM (http://www.jimbassett.com/harness.htm) 1993 325is #44 JP - Sparco competition harness (driver), AutoPower competition harness (passenger)
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#7. Re: I Stock Spring Option - from carguy
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Date: Wed, 6 Jul 2005 07:42:34 -0400 From: carguy <carguymb@aol.com> Subject: Re: I Stock Spring Option Ahmad, Curious about what you've learned about the H&R Race Springs. Is it that they're not competitive in I-Stock, or not a competitive spring at all? The spring rates (supposedly in the 400-500lb range) seem to be similar to what other track junkies run with coilovers, but without the expense involved. They superficially appear to be a decent driver school choice from that perspective. Any input, too, from anyone running these springs: What other modifications were needed for installation; the ride height drop is quite significant? TIA, Martin Bullen '95 M3 '97 Z3 2.8 On Jul 5, 2005, at 5:17 PM, E36M3 wrote: > Date: Tue, 5 Jul 2005 12:28:40 -0400 > From: "Ahmad Lutfeali" <m3_racer99@hotmail.com> > Subject: I Stock Spring Option > > > Folks, > > I have been toying with the idea of converting my 98 M3 into a BMW > Club Race > car (I Stock). I got rid of some of the mods which were not legal and > trying > to mod up the car to get up to par. > > Regarding springs, what are the typical spring rates some of you run? > I will > be sending out my Bilsteins to get revalved and am in search of springs > (stock type; no coilovers). Most people mentioned that the H&R Race > springs > are not competitive at all. Any other sources/rates etc? If someone > has a > set that they thought was too soft/hard and is sitting around > collecting > dust, I may be interested (Shoot me an email offline). Thanks in > advance. > > Ahmad
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#8. Re: [E36M3] head gasket - from Chester Wong
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Date: Wed, 6 Jul 2005 04:55:57 -0700 (PDT) From: Chester Wong <chester_p_wong@yahoo.com> Subject: Re: [E36M3] head gasket When we did Dave's head gasket, the BMW OE kit comes with all the gaskets (VANOS, head gasket, valve seals, etc, etc). You'll have to get the separate head bolt kit, but that's no biggie. Chester --- kim.burgess@att.net wrote: > I'm resigning myself to doing the head gasket on my recently acquired 328 and > was wondering if any of the vendors offer a 'kit' that includes the new > bolts, intake gaskets, exhaust gaskets, exhaust manifold gaskets, etc., etc.?
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#9. RE: [E36M3] Floor jack recommendations - from Patrick Goss - PA
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Date: Wed, 6 Jul 2005 07:56:43 -0400 From: Patrick Goss - PA <Patrick_Goss@GMACM.COM> Subject: RE: [E36M3] Floor jack recommendations Sams Club has a very good one IMO. It even has a blue flame paint job and came with a foam fender protector, and rubber jacking pad to get you show points :) I compared saddle height and reach on all real (not including sears which are POS) floor jacks. I guess I did a cost benefit in my own mind. For me the Sams Club one worked out perfectly and there was no shipping since I purchased at the store. I wish I could remember the brand name, I do remember they had an 800 number memorialized on the jack which came in handy when doing the initial air evac procedure. I can grab all jacking points on the M without touching the body work. The Harbor freight jack is decent but having bought one to give as a gift before, well they aren't rated as high and that single roller footprint up front didn't impress me. Also with aluminum floor jacks consider they can bend if an unexperienced person decides to insert the jack at an angle other than perpindicular to vehicle. AC makes a decent steel duty jack that will withstand an earthquake, but its more coin and hella heavy. Patrick Goss 97 M3/4 -----Original Message----- From: Steve Sharp [mailto:steve.sharp@xilinx.com] Sent: Tuesday, July 05, 2005 5:37 PM To: E36M3 Subject: [E36M3] Floor jack recommendations Date: Tue, 5 Jul 2005 14:28:27 -0700 From: "Steve Sharp" <steve.sharp@xilinx.com> Subject: Floor jack recommendations I know this has probably been discussed before, but can anyone recommend a decent quality aluminum floor jack that has enough reach to get under a stock ride height M3 and lift it from the front crossmember or the diff housing? I used to have a steel Sears model that would work, but its seals gave up the ghost, so it's time to replace it. Thanks! Steve ************************************************* 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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#10. Re: [E36M3] Re: I Stock Spring Option - from Carlos.F.Lopez@jci.com
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Date: Wed, 6 Jul 2005 08:15:57 -0400 From: Carlos.F.Lopez@jci.com Subject: Re: [E36M3] Re: I Stock Spring Option >The spring rates (supposedly in the 400-500lb range) seem to be similar >to what other track junkies run with coilovers, but without the expense >involved. They superficially appear to be a decent driver school >choice from that perspective. Agreed, except driver school and racing... completely different! :-) I'm sure they're fine for schools. If I were to build an I-stock/H-stock car I would go with the Turner Motorsport package. They have custom springs with probably some ungodly spring rate and a set of matching custom valved Bilsteins (probably shortened also, my guess). I'd give that a shot and then since you're allowed fixed camber plates I would shoot an email to Bob Kobayashi as he makes fixed plates with several choices in front camber (max camber with those springs is probably achievable with his stuff). >Any input, too, from anyone running these springs: What other >modifications were needed for installation; the ride height drop is >quite significant? If I went with the Turner suspension I'd probably give up driving the car on the street. -Carlos. 98 M3 <--thinking about I-Prepared 88 325is <--Spec E30