[uucdigest] Friday, February 11 2000 Volume 03 : Number 240 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | For all available Digest commands including unsubscribe/subscribe, | visit the BMW UUC Digest page: http://www.uucdigest.com | Send SUBMISSIONS to [EMAIL PROTECTED] | Complaints? Send 'em to [EMAIL PROTECTED] if you must. | Visit http://www.bubbaclub.com | www.bimmers.com - "serving enthusiasts on the 'net" | Visit http://www.bimmer.org - ultimate BMW bulletin boards! | Subscribe to the Zionsville Autosport Parts Digest: | http://www.zionsvilleautosport.com/majordomo.htm ����������������������������������������� In this BMW UUC Digest: [uuc] RE: <E30> Fog light bulb replacement Re:[uuc] M5 vs. Viper & Rolex 24 [uuc] '99 318ti Sport For Sale [uuc] Re: Airbag Removal [uuc] VANOS question (was piston update) [uuc] BBS hub cap repair question [uuc] E30 Window motors [uuc] Ummmm... E28 emmisions failure Re: [uuc] Re: Deactivating/removing E34 airbag Re: [uuc] Stupid!! - Really? [uuc] BMW Books Forsale, Cheap! Re: Re:[uuc] M5 vs. Viper & Rolex 24 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2000 09:39:00 -0600 From: "Fadeev, Alex" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [uuc] RE: <E30> Fog light bulb replacement Tabe Johnson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> sez: > > Fog light bulb replacement on 1988 +: > > According to the owner's manual, all you need to do is take out > the little rubber plugs on the front of the lenses. One screw is for > adjustment, the other is for lens removal. Figure out which is the > right one... This should allow you access so you can pull > out the bulb and get a replacement. That doesn't sound right. The two screws on the front of the lens are for aiming the fog light. To replace the bulb, you would need to crawl (or feel your way) under the got light housing and remove a round plastic cap right underneath the fog light bulb. If I remember correctly, the removal involves twisting the cap about 45 degrees. Then unplug, remove and replace a spring loaded H4 bulb. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2000 09:45:41 -0600 From: Ted Arneson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re:[uuc] M5 vs. Viper & Rolex 24 Good point Erick. What the h*ll is happening to factory involvement? Besides BMW, where was Porsche? I suppose they considered the GT3R being available to privateers was enough involvement. I'm concerned that the reasons we buy our Porsches, BMWs, etc is going to go away. Heck, if I want a mass produced, slick, reliable, inexpensive, shitbox, I'll go get a Toyota. (Don't read this wrong, Toyota makes a fine car. Just no soul.) I know a lot of P Club guys who are very disappointed with the direction Porsche has taken. The cars are nothing like they use to be. It's almost to the point where any schmo can drive one. Cost cutting is evident everywhere (cheeso interior, looks like a Boxster, etc), as well. I'm don't care for the direction of BMW, either. Where is the enthusiasts car? Any M car should have power to weight ratio of 10 lb/hp max, big Brembos, and the option of being bought in strippo, enthusiast form. And put some frickin' adjustability in the suspension! Make sure the car can handle a little fun without ripping out chassis mounts, etc, too. Rant over. Ted Arneson '88 M3 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2000 07:55:11 -0800 From: "Joe H. Harrison" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [uuc] '99 318ti Sport For Sale Is someone looking for a pristine 318ti? For reasons I'd rather not go into, I decided yesteday to sell mine. Please contact me directly if interested: [EMAIL PROTECTED] This car needs a good home. Digital pics available. Details: 1999 BMW 318ti Sport Black / Black 5-speed 11-way adjustable Sport seats Leather/cloth interior Side-impact Airbags ASC + T ///M 3-spoke Steering wheel (only came on '99 ti's) ///M Shift knob (only came on '99 ti's) ///M Aerodynamic package Front foglights Cruise control Sunroof Currently has ONLY 10,043 miles Purchased new on 11/25/98. Car always garaged since new. Remainder of 3 year BMW Free Maintenance left. Remainder of 4/50k BMW Warranty left. Car is currently in S.F. bay area. Upgrades and stuff: Carbotech panther brake pads S.S. brake lines BMW X-brace BMW M-Contour wheels (7.5 x 17") w/ Michelin MXX3 Pilots BMW Car cover Car has never been tracked / autox'ed / driving school'd (is that a word?). Oil and filter changed every 3000 miles with BMW Synthetic and BMW Filter At 1 year, I changed all fluids in the car (I used BMW coolant, ATE Superblue, Red Line ATF D4, Red Line MTL), Lexol'd all leather in car, Lexol Vinylex'd exterior and interior, waxed inner and outer side of wheels (Nerd Alert!). Car has NEVER been hit, repainted, dinged (and I mean *NO* dings), touched-up, or been attacked by ill birds. Disclosure time: What IS wrong with this car? There are some chips on the front end. the end. Car drivers perfect. Interior is PERFECT. Exterior is excellent (chips, remember). M Contour wheels are 99.72% perfect (couple of small marks) Price: Asking $21,800. Thanks all, Joe ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2000 10:51:01 EST From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [uuc] Re: Airbag Removal I removed the airbag from my E30 318iS and never looked back. I wear either seatbelts or Schroth Rally 4s everytime I leave the driveway. I will say that I made a good faith effort at getting used to that big ugly airbag wheel. But every Bimmer I've ever owned got a MOMO Monte Carlo, and after a few months I realized it was a losing battle. And I had found a 380mm MOMO Monte Carlo with a polished aluminum center to match my MOMO Competitzione aluminim shift knob. It had to be done. Especially after my buddy turned the key on with the instrument cluster out and coded the SRS, rendering the system inoperative anyway. The dealer wanted $400 to turn the damn light out and reactivate the system (apparently, you can't use the DIS tester to uncode the SRS on a '91 318iS -- you have to open the wiring harness). No thanks; out it came. Screw resale; I'll keep it. Mike Miller The real art of conversation is not only to say the right thing at the right time, but also to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2000 10:24:32 -0500 From: "Gary Derian" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [uuc] VANOS question (was piston update) The VANOS piston is the variable cam timing gismo that is built in to the intake cam sprocket. This VANOS piston thread piques a question. My wife's new to us '95 525iT seems a little sluggish while driving around town, but I have nothing to compare it to. All I know is its a lot slower than my M5. While accelerating at full throttle, at about 5200 rpm, there is a sudden jump in power from there to the shift point. The engine is supposed to make peak torque at 4200 rpm so I expect peak acceleration (in a given gear) at that rpm, not a jump in power way up the rpm range. This jump in power seems like 2 more cylinders just cut in. What do other digesters feel during acceleration with the M50TU engine? Mine is an automatic but any experiences are welcome. One explanation of this behavior is the VANOS is not functioning correctly. Any ideas? Gary Derian <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Thanks to everyone who responded to my Piston questions, I decided to go out to > the dealer & get a little better explanation of exactly what they were doing to > my car... It turns out that the "Piston" that needs replacing is in the vanos > system.. While I am still ignorant as to what this means, they are assuring me > that this is not a big deal... Hopefully they will have the car ready > today/monday... > > With this in mind.. anything else I should worry about now.. > > Thanks again, Lee > ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2000 11:30:53 -0500 From: "Pharr, Jeff" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [uuc] BBS hub cap repair question Those little plastic fingers that hold the center caps on the BBS basketweave rims seem to break pretty easily and the only option I know of is to replace the entire center cap. Does anyone know of a supplier that offers just the little plastic ring? It looks like it would be easy to replace and would be much cheaper than a whole new cap. - --Jeff ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2000 11:20:49 -0500 From: "Olsen, Mike (Morse TEC Ithaca)" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [uuc] E30 Window motors I think I've heard discussion before that if you hear noises like a gear skipping teeth when the window hits the top of it's travel rather than stopping, then it's time for a new motor. Is that right, or is there something else I should look at first? Thanks, Mike Olsen '88 ///M3 '88 325iC ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2000 11:23:43 -0500 From: Don Eilenberger <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [uuc] Ummmm... E28 emmisions failure In helping out, I think this one statement from Gary needs some modification: >High HC is due to misfire as you already know. Something is causing a >misfire at idle. It seems that your ignition is good. What does the O2 >sensor do at idle? That will tell you if you are too rich or too lean. >Actually, if you are misfiring badly at idle, the sensor will see O2 and try >to richen the mixture, but with low CO, the mixture cannot be too rich. Try >a cylinder balance test (disconnect one plug at a time) to see if one >cylinder is doing all the missing. Your injectors may be clogged up causing >poor delivery at short pulse widths. Gary, Erick, et.al.. disconnecting one plug at a time on an E28 may be very dangerous to your health (if done while engine is running, the old traditional way on points/condensor ignition systems) since the output of the electronic ignition is somewhere around 40KV - more than enough to stop the heart.. And it may be dangerous to your ignition system. If you just disconnect the plug - the spark for that cylinder may travel back up the ignition system taking the motronic out (ouch! lotsa bucks).. The safe way to do this: Stop engine. Disconnect plug. Ground the disconnected ignition wire SECURELY to a GOOD GROUND, restart engine. Observe a good tach (peferably with an expanded scale) as you change which plug is disconnected. The one which changes the RPM differently (or not at all) from the other ones - is the cylinder to look at.. ____D_o_n__________S_p_r_i_n_g__L_a_k_e__H_t_s____________�1946________ Don Eilenberger, Spring Lk Hts, NJ http://www.monmouth.com/~deilenberger ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2000 11:44:34 -0500 From: "Gary Derian" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [uuc] Re: Deactivating/removing E34 airbag There is no way your body can force open a door without killing you. The door opened due to the massive deformation of the car. Sometimes you are good, sometimes you are lucky. It is better to be lucky than good. A side airbag keeps your head from hitting the window or door frame. In your case, the side air bag would have helped the seat belt keep you in. By itself, it won't keep your 260 lb in the car. The Ford Excursion comes with an air bag curtain designed to keep passengers inside in a rollover. That type would help. What car was that? Cars with side air bags are much stronger than older cars. ZR tires should be as good as or better than normal tires on wet roads unless it is near freezing, the tires are bald, or there is standing water. Gary Derian <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > It *is* legal to disable your airbag. Not sure of legality of selling the > car that way or of a dealer selling it that way. > > Seatbelts are glorious "Darwin Devices" - those that get killed because they > weren't wearing them... tragic, but a chlorination of the gene pool every > now and then can't be all that bad. > > I have mixed feelings about side airbags. I don't see any technical > description of how they work in concert with the "bracing" behind them - > specifically the door. Without the door to hold it in place, is the side > airbag strong enough to keep my 260lbs from pushing right past? Or even > underneath, but snapping my neck on the way? > This is not a crazy hypothetical situation - in my youth, I put a car into > (actually through) a telephone pole sideways at 40mph (gotta love slick, wet > concrete and ZR-rated tires). When the car struck the pole, my body's > inertia threw me against the door hard enough to push it open (the folding > of the car's frame helped too) and I was thrown out of the car. I briefly > saw the stars in the sky, and it was only the seatbelt wrapped around my > neck that kept me from flying out and then having the car slide over me. > Yes, whiplash and a concussion from slamming my head on the door frame > coming back into the car, but I obviously (and to Matt's dismay) survived. > So when I see a side-impact airbag, I wonder what would have happened in > that situation besides deafness from the airbag explosives. > > - Rob ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2000 11:28:01 -0500 From: "Gary Derian" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [uuc] Stupid!! - Really? In frontal impacts above 30 mph, a single diagonal seat belt will damage your ribs and internal organs. Also your head will hit the wheel and your neck will get severely strained. These are the circumstances where an air bag will help. We can debate what federal regulations should have been but the fact is air bags are here so why not use them? Even if they provide benefit in only 5% of crashes, we should take advantage of that. Especially if you are near the 175 lb healthy male that they were designed for. If you are a short elderly woman, you should disconnect the air bags because they will hurt you. The federal regulations are flawed by mandating that air bags be designed for those who don't wear belts instead of designing them for those who do wear belts. Regardless, they still offer a benefit for belted passengers who are properly positioned. Gary Derian <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Joe opines, with regard to airbag removal: > >>Other than it being a really stupid thing to do, it would all but kill > resale value. I think > >>you have to sign a release form too! > >>I've seen wooden airbag BMW wheels for about $650 - $850. > >>Is a stylish wheel worth you (sic) life? > > Check the facts: airbags provide benefit in less than 5% of circumstances if > the driver is wearing a seat belt. (Much greater if not.) If the original > poster always belts up, then the additional benefit of an airbag is > marginal. I'd like a kill switch for all the airbags in my car personally, > and I'd happily sign any release. As other posters have mentioned - airbags > are not nearly as good as they're cracked up to be, and while every life > saved is valuable, the $40bn that airbags have cost car buyers over the > years put the cost of saving each life at something like $5mn. There must > be a more cost-effective way to save lives than this. Estimates also place > the number of children killed by airbags at nearly 100, but I'm not even > going to get into that. > > You may be right about resale value though. > > C. > > 99 M3 <--- just got recall notice for side airbags that said to avoid > excessive speed when near potholes or curbs or on rough roads. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2000 11:48:53 -0500 From: "iMac" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [uuc] BMW Books Forsale, Cheap! Forsale on ebay, starting very low. Unbeatable BMW by Jeremy Walton 2nd edition �Ebay #257480501 Illustrated BMW Buyer's Guide �Ebay #257490101 BMW Enthusiast's Companion Book �Ebay #257500908 Check out www.ebay.com for more info. Regards, Bryan Former BMW owner ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2000 11:55:02 -0500 From: "Adam Fila" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: Re:[uuc] M5 vs. Viper & Rolex 24 At the moment, BMW does not race the V12 LMR's anymore. They have concluded their effort with this car with a 24 hour Le Mans win. BMW is now concentrating solely on their F1 effort, which obviously has a great importance to them (F1 has world wide following, and gives BMW a chance to compete head to head with their main competitor, Mercedes - success of the F1 program will have great marketing benefit for BMW) The 99 cars are "on loan" to Schnitzer, who will run them in 2000 in the American Le Mans Series. This is the series that include the REAL premier road racing endurance event in the US, which is now the 12 hours at Sebring. This event will have actual worthy competition to the LMR's, as all the major Le Mans contenders will be there, the Panoz LMP's, the brand new Audi R8R's, the new Cadillac LMP's, as well as some quality private teams (DAMS, Rafanelli) A win here, unlike one at Daytona, will actually mean something. Why no BMW prototypes at Daytona ? Well, for one thing, Grand-Am imposes a price cap on all cars, which is around $600k for the Sports Racers. The LMR's are much more expensive than $600k. The idea is that Grand-Am does not want to allow one-off racers from factory teams, which would kill the competition. Grand-Am will only allow cars to be raced which are available for sale to privateers, below the $600k price cap. However, BMW has sold the 98 cars to privateers, who run them in races around the world. Initially it was thought some will bring them to Daytona this year. However, Grand-Am seeing a threat, added a new rule which makes BMW's variable valve timing system used on the V12 illegal. Well, good bye BMW's... hey maybe you can put a "Lincoln" motor in that chassis ! Grand-Am is designed so that the good old boys (Dyson, Doran, etc) can bring out their 6 year old junkers, and win, so they wouldn't have to spend money to compete against the latest technology from the factories. The result ? A field of crippled cars unable to even make the 24 hours. Fortunately for them, the rest of the season is almost all sprint races. Why should BMW even consider competing in such series ? If you want to see a bunch of rich old guys get together on the weekend, and have a race, then by all means, Grand-Am and Daytona is the place to be.. Call it the premier race for all I care, they will enjoy that even more. I on the other hand want to see the latest in engineering, new exciting cars, professional drivers, and real competition. That's why for me, it's Sebring, and the Ameircan Le Mans Series. (notice the difference in the class names - Le Mans Prototype - implies new technology, untried things, innovation, Grand-Am's Sports Racer - a formula car, designed to specific rigid rules, with old technology, cheaply, so that we can have some inexpensive fun racing) See you all Sebring ! - -Adam Fila '95 M3 - ----- Original Message ----- From: "Erick Baumeister" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "bmwuucdigest" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, February 11, 2000 4:01 AM Subject: Re:[uuc] M5 vs. Viper & Rolex 24 > All I can say is, the Vipers did a lot better at the Rolex 24 than the > M5s did. What? You didn't see any M5s at Daytona? Me neither. or LMRs or > BMW factory support of any kind. I don't know how modified those Vipers > were(I'm assuming A LOT) but you don't win a 24 hour race with dumb > luck. Let alone finish 1-2. > I'm still lusting after a M5 as I always have, and will probably buy one > variation or another used in the next few years. But after watching > last weeks race, I can't help looking at Vipers in a different light and > considering owning one, something I never had an interest in before last > week. > Any one from BMW corporate out there? I've owned all German cars with > the exception of one Toyota & one Datsun and I'm considering an American > car based on their performance at Daytona. I have NEVER considered > owning an American car before. > BMW not having a strong corporate presence at "The premier Road Racing > endurance event in the US" is unthinkable and a sad indicator of the > direction of this carmaker. This event showcases the two strengths BMW > is historically known for: exceptional handling & quality engineering. > What happened to the LMRs? I know there was a class shift but???? > > Erick Baumeister > BMWCCA#131280 ------------------------------ End of [uucdigest] V3 #240 ************************** _________________________________________ | Please visit these UUC-approved BMW parts vendors/service providers: | (listed alphabetically) | Bonneville Motorwerks . http://www.bonnevillemotorwerks.com | Circle Tire Co. (used & classic BMW parts) e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] | Curry's Auto Service . http://www.currysauto.com | Eurosport . http://www.eurosport-hp.com | Koala MotorSport . http://www.koalamotorsport.com | Taylor BMW - http://www.taylorbmw.com - Doc Bimmer! | The Ultimate Garage . http://www.ultimategarage.com | UUC Motorwerks . http://www.uucmotorwerks.com | Zionsville Autosport . http://www.zionsvilleautosport.com ����������������������������������������
