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#1. main bearing replacement/inspection questions - from Dave Thomas
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Date: Wed, 04 Jan 2006 20:22:58 -0800 From: Dave Thomas <dave@sasdatalink.com> Subject: main bearing replacement/inspection questions Can the main bearings on the S50 in the M3 be inspected and replaced without pulling the engine? Whats the usual lifespan of mains on these engines? The engine in our '95 M3 has 95K on it and I think I just found a few tiny bits of copper in the filter when I tore it apart after changing the oil. I found a few really tiny bits but they pretty much just disappear when rubbed a little bit...not real sure what the particles actually are. Also, any recommendations on a good place to get a oil analysis done? Dave T.
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#2. Re: [E36M3] main bearing replacement/inspection questions - from Jim Bassett
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Date: Wed, 4 Jan 2006 20:36:43 -0800 (PST) From: "Jim Bassett" <jim@jimbassett.com> Subject: Re: [E36M3] main bearing replacement/inspection questions On Wed, January 4, 2006 8:28 pm, Dave Thomas said: > Can the main bearings on the S50 in the M3 be inspected and replaced > without pulling the engine? I believe you can get to the rod & main bearings by *just* dropping the oil pan. Easier than pulling the engine, but still a "job". > Whats the usual lifespan of mains on these > engines? There is no usual <g> - all depends on the use & maintenence of the motor, IME. As a "for instance", my M3 has 163K+ miles on it (~10K track miles) and oil analysis shows not unusual or excessive bearing wear. The race car's motor, however, was rebuilt 26,000 miles ago and is showing noticable amounts of lead (aka first-layer bearing material). Both are well maintained, but the "non-normal" use the 325 sees is, umm, showing :-) > Also, any recommendations on a good place to get a oil analysis done? I've been using Blackstone Labs for several year - very happy with them. Jim Bassett 1998 M3/4 1993 325is #44 JP - it *started*, yay! See: http://jimbassett.com/flood.htm
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#3. Re: [E36M3] Re: seats? - from Jim Bassett
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Date: Wed, 4 Jan 2006 20:45:50 -0800 (PST) From: "Jim Bassett" <jim@jimbassett.com> Subject: Re: [E36M3] Re: seats? On Wed, January 4, 2006 5:38 pm, dhogg said: > That's about it. C'mon out and play! Hey, even I took third of five in > IS > in my rookie race on H&R sports with Eibach bars! Pretty soft Club Racer > but it worked well enough. You might kick my tail. And please, drive > your > car to the track. I need some company in that regard. You mean I'm not the only one left doing this? :-) OK, maybe I'm the only Prepared-class driver still driving to/from the track.....or one of the last, anyway. > And don't take it > too seriously - remember the goal is to be safe and to have fun with those > really exciting starts, not waiting for point-bys, and passing in corners. I couldn't agree more with Dave. It's literally indescribable how much fun it is - you truly DO have to just get out there and experience it. Geez, 4 days into 2006 and I'm already pining for the first race - 4-1/2 weeks away! :-) Cheers, Jim Bassett 1998 M3/4 1993 325is #44 JP - wonder if an 8-foot on-demand water spray out the tailpipe would be legal, like it did tonight when it started after Sat's flood <bg>
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#4. RE: [e36m3] Re: [E36M3] main bearing replacement/inspection questions - from marco
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Date: Wed, 4 Jan 2006 21:11:24 -0800 From: "marco" <m3driver@iname.com> Subject: RE: [e36m3] Re: [E36M3] main bearing replacement/inspection questions I think the rod bearings are easy. The mains IIRC would require removal of the timing cover and the rear main seal "carrier" (for lack of the correct term)since the crank goes through both and without removing the crank you'll only be able to replace 1/2 of the main bearings. And I think to get the timing cover off you need to pull the head which at that point might as well pull the engine out of the car since it would be easier. But I could be wrong. I give it an 80% chance I'm right. Marco -----Original Message----- From: Jim Bassett [mailto:jim@jimbassett.com] Sent: Wednesday, January 04, 2006 8:39 PM To: E36M3 Subject: [e36m3] Re: [E36M3] main bearing replacement/inspection questions Date: Wed, 4 Jan 2006 20:36:43 -0800 (PST) From: "Jim Bassett" <jim@jimbassett.com> Subject: Re: [E36M3] main bearing replacement/inspection questions On Wed, January 4, 2006 8:28 pm, Dave Thomas said: > Can the main bearings on the S50 in the M3 be inspected and replaced > without pulling the engine? I believe you can get to the rod & main bearings by *just* dropping the oil pan. Easier than pulling the engine, but still a "job". > Whats the usual lifespan of mains on these > engines? There is no usual <g> - all depends on the use & maintenence of the motor, IME. As a "for instance", my M3 has 163K+ miles on it (~10K track miles) and oil analysis shows not unusual or excessive bearing wear. The race car's motor, however, was rebuilt 26,000 miles ago and is showing noticable amounts of lead (aka first-layer bearing material). Both are well maintained, but the "non-normal" use the 325 sees is, umm, showing :-) > Also, any recommendations on a good place to get a oil analysis done? I've been using Blackstone Labs for several year - very happy with them. Jim Bassett 1998 M3/4 1993 325is #44 JP - it *started*, yay! See: http://jimbassett.com/flood.htm ************************************************* 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. RE: [e36m3] Re: [E36M3] main bearing replacement/inspection - from Jim Bassett
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Date: Wed, 4 Jan 2006 21:26:18 -0800 (PST) From: "Jim Bassett" <jim@jimbassett.com> Subject: RE: [e36m3] Re: [E36M3] main bearing replacement/inspection questions On Wed, January 4, 2006 9:18 pm, marco said: > But I could be wrong. I give it an 80% chance I'm right. I'll go along with that - it's been several years since I was in that area of the motor, so who knows what I remember :-) Jim Bassett
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#6. Re: [e36m3] Re: [E36M3] main bearing replacement/inspection - from Mark Dadgar
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Date: Wed, 4 Jan 2006 21:30:31 -0800 From: Mark Dadgar <mark@pdc-racing.net> Subject: Re: [e36m3] Re: [E36M3] main bearing replacement/inspection On Jan 4, 2006, at 9:28 PM, Jim Bassett wrote: >> But I could be wrong. I give it an 80% chance I'm right. > > I'll go along with that - it's been several years since I was in > that area > of the motor, so who knows what I remember :-) You say that like it's a bad thing. - Mark ----- mark@pdc-racing.net Check out my JustRacing Home Page at: http://www.justracing.com/homepage/mdadgar
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#7. Re: [e36m3] Re: [E36M3] main bearing replacement/inspection - from Jim Bassett
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Date: Wed, 4 Jan 2006 22:01:07 -0800 (PST) From: "Jim Bassett" <jim@jimbassett.com> Subject: Re: [e36m3] Re: [E36M3] main bearing replacement/inspection On Wed, January 4, 2006 9:38 pm, Mark Dadgar said: >> I'll go along with that - it's been several years since I was in >> that area >> of the motor, so who knows what I remember :-) > > You say that like it's a bad thing. LOL! Which, the "been several years" part or the "not remembering" part? :-) Jim Bassett
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#8. Re: [E36M3] Bolt In - from Carlos.F.Lopez@jci.com
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Date: Thu, 5 Jan 2006 14:54:34 -0500 From: Carlos.F.Lopez@jci.com Subject: Re: [E36M3] Bolt In >A.L. >PS: Some folks on the forum came back saying 99% of the bolt ins are junks >and its comparable to running old Snell 95 helmet duct taped together, and >that I don't value my life enough to run bolt in cages and what not. Called >up reputable cage builders and have facts to prove otherwise. Late to the party but if I may offer my opinion on the subject... I think the one instance I heard about was at the Runoffs and an Autopower cage did punch through the floor and the racer was injured (permanently I believe). I don't have the specifics on the incident but a friend was there and he could probably tell me when it happened and what class the car was in, this was a few years back. I think the one major argument you can make on custom welded cages vs bolt in ones is the base plate design. For obvious reasons bolt in cages only bolt to the floor, and the sheetmetal on the floor is quite thin. Welded cages can take advantage of the rules and L-shaped base plates can be welded to the car so you gain quite a bit of strength welding to structural components. The other argument which was made on that Bimmerforums link by Shea (ssburns) was the absence of holes in the tubes of the welded in cage. If you want to save money and feel comfortable with the bolt in cage design (which is yet another argument in itself) then what I'd do is get a cage builder to make proper base plates and have the cage welded to those. This should be relatively inexpensive and greatly decreases the chance of the cage punching through in a rollover. Furthermore you can have him sleeve the tubes, weld them together and eliminate the bolts. Again not to bash on Autopower some more but yet another friend found bolts that did not have proper thread engagement on a cage he was inspecting, he was a regional SCCA tech inspector at the time and now is an SCCA Pro racing tech inspector. Just too many horror stories from people that I know and trust to go with a bolted in cage for me. To me they are the minimum you can do to race and that is personally unacceptable. I want foot protection, side impact protection, protection from engine intrusion, rollover protection, etc. The commercially available bolt in designs either don't offer this or else offer the minimal amount. On the other hand I have seen some custom cages and the welds were just unbelievably poor, the person doing the welding obviously did not understand how to fuse two pieces of metal properly. It is very important to find a good cage builder with excellent welding skills. Anyway, rant off, hope to see you at the track next year. :-) Carlos 98 M3 89 325i
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#9. Re: [E36M3] Re: seats? - from Carlos.F.Lopez@jci.com
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Date: Thu, 5 Jan 2006 15:04:37 -0500 From: Carlos.F.Lopez@jci.com Subject: Re: [E36M3] Re: seats? >Interesting on the interpretation of the panel as a splitter. >I would be surprised if there is nobody out there racing with one, so maybe we here from them. Stan, I believe the issue is if the JTD panel extends beyond the stock piece's dimension providing extra under body aero. I don't believe it does so you shouldn't have any problems running it. I think the ones that *may* be in question are the one piece ones that are actually splitters and may extend further back than the stock piece. The JTD under panel isn't a splitter at least not by my idea of what a splitter is. The ones being sold on Bimmerforums (I forget the name of the company) are pretty cool looking, I want one and if the car were ever to race with BMW CCA I would trace the shape of the stock piece onto the splitter (made of ABS plastic I think) and trim it back, that way it would meet the rules or at least the spirit of the rules IMO. Carlos. 98 M3 w/a JTD underpanel :-)
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#10. RE: [E36M3] Possible stuck brake caliper question - from Carlos.F.Lopez@jci.com
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Date: Thu, 5 Jan 2006 15:49:04 -0500 From: Carlos.F.Lopez@jci.com Subject: RE: [E36M3] Possible stuck brake caliper question >One of my fronts stuck briefly and then freed up. Hasn't happened >since, but was noticeable enough that it felt like you described. Car >being held back, no coasting at graded stops, yadda yadda. I managed to get someone's caliper unstuck at the track once (Putnam), luckily someone else had a rebuild kit with a new boot and seal. I brought my trusty piece of 1500-1600 grit sandpaper that I used to clean off all the rust on the piston and the caliper's bore. He may still be using the same calipers although now he knows how to rebuild them himself and does it often. Rebuild often I say. :-P Anyway it's a simple procedure but often it is time consuming and no fun in crappy weather. Carlos 98 M3 with rebuilt rear calipers, the front ones are new. :-)