[uucdigest] Saturday, February 26 2000 Volume 03 : Number 338 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | 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] <E36> How to remove rear view mirror [uuc] RE: Run Flat tires [uuc] <e28> Shifter [uuc] Z8 faster than ///M5 [uuc] <all old>Power Antenna Overhaul Re: [uuc] <all old>Power Antenna Overhaul [uuc] 325iC for sale: cheap! Re: [uuc] 325iC for sale: cheap! [uuc] Re: Exhaust Sound [uuc] Re: GGC Autocross [uuc] Looking for Paint repair shop in N. VA [uuc] How do I clean a transmission?? [uuc] Power Antenna Saga - Back in Business [uuc] Totalled 318i ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 26 Feb 2000 07:13:24 EST From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [uuc] <E36> How to remove rear view mirror Anyone know how to remove the rear view mirror from a '95 E36? I know that in the 740's, they just pop off, but I am not sure about the 3's. I want to take it off for an auto-x tomorrow. Please e-mail me. Tony [EMAIL PROTECTED] '95 M3 '00 Explorer ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 26 Feb 2000 08:38:34 -0500 From: "Lin, Gary" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [uuc] RE: Run Flat tires I wouldn't pooh pooh run flats just yet. While some are so so touring tires like the Michelin MXV4 RFT/EMT etc. used on the 7, some like Firestone are making perf versions like the SZ-50 and SH-30, both excellent tires in their own right based on the reviews. All that's added is some sort of sidewall reinforcement or bead support strip, which tends to SHARPEN handling feel, a stiff sidewall is always good. But the downside as Keith Way states is that the tires tend to feel like lead shoes, negating your 17 lb. rims. - ------ I just got a set of Bridgestone's new RE-730 in 205/55-15, $92, little brother to the S-02PP. It looks like an A520 or P7000. Was going to get the RE71, but these have much less channeling void in that size and twice the comparable treadwear. So far, excellent. Side note, the V RE71 is 23 lbs. but the Z is 30 lbs.!, must be the higher speed extra steel belt reinforcement. Gary Lin National Capital Ch. '88 325is street '85 325eis track ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 26 Feb 2000 08:50:04 -0500 From: "Karl Zemlin" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [uuc] <e28> Shifter I took a look at the UUC web site the other night - lusting for a short shifter, but it just isn't in the budget. Convince me that my current shifter is broken and I can call it a repair, otherwise ... What caught my eye was the sheetmetal console repair or reinforcement kit. I have seen the word "notchy" to describe undesirable shifting, and I would have to say that the shifter in my '85 535i is notchy. There is also 1 1/4" or more of side play in the lever when it's in gear. After seeing the comments about the pre '86 consoles, I lifted the boot today to see what I could see. The rubber boot is very torn. The ball joint down there jumps up and down with enthusiasm when shifting. I assume this is what the reinforcement kit takes care of. Can this fix be installed with a stock shifter? Will it help eliminate some of the notchy feel? Does the side play come from worn bushings at the bottom end of the lever? What can I do on a budget to improve my stock shifter? Thanks! Karl Zemlin [EMAIL PROTECTED] BMWCCA 82366 Indianapolis '84 528e 5 spd, 210,000 miles - RIP 01/08/97 '85 735ia, 226,000 miles - RIP 02/07/00 '85 535i 5 spd, 171,000 miles Maybe I'll get to drive this one 'til it's old. '97 Camry - mama's transportation appliance ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 26 Feb 2000 09:00:47 EST From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [uuc] Z8 faster than ///M5 <the Z8 is able to lap the Nurburgring circuit in 8:15 minutes; quicker than the new M5.> with that price, it better be faster! Brian Jacobs 98 318ti 99 Z3 coupe Everglades CCA [EMAIL PROTECTED] ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 26 Feb 2000 09:22:17 -0500 From: "Karl Zemlin" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [uuc] <all old>Power Antenna Overhaul The power antenna on my latest acquisition was slow, short, and noisy. No amount of cleaning/oiling from the outside seemed to help. The second largest sleeve would stick in the collapsed position and not come out without significant help. There seemed to be lots of black goo working its way out of the antenna. The nut clamping the antenna unit to the fender is notched for a spanner. Needle nose pliers with thin tips worked to loosen (and tighten) this nut. With the antenna collapsed, I straddled the mast with the pliers jaws and engaged each slot with the a tip of the jaws. Work carefully so you don't scar anything. I removed the antenna unit from the car and decided to see if I could bring it back to life. Using two screwdrivers, the plastic cover came off without too much trouble. I used a large, flat screwdriver to lift the cover, and a small flat screwdriver to push out on the locking tabs on the housing. This is probably the riskiest part of the whole operation. Be gentle or something might break. Once the cover was off, the rest of the stuff came apart pretty easily. There was lots of sticky black stuff in there. I assume this was old, dirty grease. Keep track of the 6 rubber spool-shaped spacers. I cleaned all the plastic with Simple Green, warm water, and a toothbrush. I cleaned the mast with mineral spirits working all the segments many times to work out the old, dry, dirty grease. I kept working on the mast until everything moved freely. I cleaned the worm gear with a toothbrush and WD-40. After everything was clean and dry I greased the gear teeth and wear surfaces with marine (water proof) grease and put it all back together. It works like new now. It took a while (probably more than an hour), but it was pretty easy - no 4-handed assembly tricks required or anything. If your antenna is slow or sticky, and you aren't intimidated by taking apart black boxes, then I'd give it a shot. Karl Zemlin [EMAIL PROTECTED] BMWCCA 82366 Indianapolis '84 528e 5 spd, 210,000 miles - RIP 01/08/97 '85 735ia, 226,000 miles - RIP 02/07/00 '85 535i 5 spd, 171,000 miles Maybe I'll get to drive this one 'til it's old. '97 Camry - mama's transportation appliance ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 26 Feb 2000 06:34:56 -0800 From: Jim Powell <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [uuc] <all old>Power Antenna Overhaul If you take off the keeper and lift gently on the mast when you have a helper click the radio on you can lift the mast assembly out without taking the whole motor and body out. Lift while turning on the radio, the motor will feed the splined drive belt up and you can bring that whole mast out. Watch to see which way the spline is facing to put it back. When the whole thing is out turn the radio off and clean the antennae mast. When you are done cleaning, turn the radio on again to get the radio to attempt to raise the antennae. Position the mast to get ready to return it into the motor assembly. Face the notched drive belt correctly to engage as when you removed it. Have a helper turn the radio off so the motor direction reverses. As it does, feed the drive belt down and into the motor assembly so the belt engages the drive pulley. Let the motor pull the belt in along with the mast. When the whole thing is back in there and collapsed, turn the radio off and retighten the keeper. Its easier than it sounds and is the factory method to replace broken masts. Jim Karl Zemlin wrote: > > The power antenna on my latest acquisition was slow, short, and noisy. No > amount of cleaning/oiling from the outside seemed to help. The second > largest sleeve would stick in the collapsed position and not come out > without significant help...... ..... and you aren't intimidated by taking > apart black boxes, then I'd give it a shot. > > Karl Zemlin ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 26 Feb 2000 06:52:46 -0800 (PST) From: Matt Hocker <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [uuc] 325iC for sale: cheap! I'm moving to Europe, and need to sell my 1987 325i convertible. First off, to set expectations, the car does NOT have a clean title history; it was stolen and recovered with the VIN number plates removed, so it has been assigned a "replacement" VIN number. That being said, I have owned the car for 5 years, and know it very well and can talk to everything that works and the few things that don't. Here are the specs: 1987 325iC Black paint (excellent shape, except one rock chip on nose), black top (new), black leather (in great shape) 5 speed manual 80,000 miles ABS Momo steering wheel (really nice!) Falken tires (low miles) on standard BMW alloy rims Recent timing belt, new steering rack, new battery, many other new parts Full BMW toolkit in trunk, rechargeable flashlight in glovebox All receipts from last 5 years Car has been well maintained and runs beautifully. I get compliments all the time about it. One problem: A/C is "cool" but not "cold"; I believe this is common in this car. Since the car has a checkered past, I'll be willing to sell it very cheaply. I'll take the first $3500 for it. Car is located in Hoboken, NJ (right next to NYC) and has been garaged in my tenure with it. Please call 201 222-9177 for more information. Matt __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 26 Feb 2000 09:54:37 -0500 (EST) From: "Barry J. Bocaner" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [uuc] 325iC for sale: cheap! On Sat, 26 Feb 2000, Matt Hocker wrote: > I'm moving to Europe, and need to sell my 1987 325i convertible. First off, to > set expectations, the car does NOT have a clean title history; it was stolen > and recovered with the VIN number plates removed, so it has been assigned a > "replacement" VIN number. That being said, I have owned the car for 5 years, > and know it very well and can talk to everything that works and the few things > that don't. Hey Matt, my sister has been looking for a black E30 325ic 5-speed! I'm going to give her a call and let her know, I'm SURE she will be interested! I'll be in touch!! If you have any photos you could email me or anything that would help. Thanks!! - --=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Barry J. Bocaner <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://web.bocaner.net - -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 26 Feb 2000 11:02:53 -0500 From: Matthew J Stellas <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [uuc] Re: Exhaust Sound Kevin, I think that the temperature was in the sixties on Thursday, the day the exhaust was put on. I think that there was a ten degree drop in ambient temp yesterday. I am not a meteorologist, but I would say that the humidity was the same on both days. The change in the sound seemed odd to me because it was so drastic. When I drove the car for the first time with the ES system the exhaust note sounded VERY boomy (is this a word?). I was embarrassed to be on the road. It made the car feel/sound very cheap. After driving it for a few miles the boomieness (I'm just making up words now...) is now gone. The exhaust note sounds good, very good. I called Zen Motorsports yesterday to find out about the pricing and availability of the system for the e36 318i(s), but unfortunately, Jim, the owner, was not there. The gentleman that took my call said that it takes 200 or so miles for an exhaust to break in. My question is what is actually happening? Regards, Matthew 1995 318i BMW CCA Mathew, Did the ambient temperature change significantly? Was it damp? - - -Kevin ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 26 Feb 2000 08:43:23 -0800 (PST) From: Carlos Lopez <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [uuc] Re: GGC Autocross Randy Walters wrote: >I'd never been to an San Francisco region event before and was >surprised that their course was so short (45 second range), but it >was a very fun course nonetheless. My GTi sure liked it :-) I've >never been on a 34 second course before, that must be intense ! I for one don't like them. I like the huge complicated ones where people get lost and then the course workers try to point people in the right direction. :-) This last O'fest's (<--is that allowed) record was 33 seconds in the autox, 20 for the Z3 slalom. It's over before you know it. I'm quite jealous of you guys that actually have to grab 3rd gear in a course. Longest autox for me was an enduro in Seattle, you took all your runs consecutively. The biggest thing I noticed is I don't breath while I'm autocrossing, I was gasping for air when I was done and my heart rate was through the roof! Carlos 91 M3 PS You GGC guys let us know how it went and whether or not Ochi finally beats that S4 guy! It's gotta be the coilovers. ;-) __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 26 Feb 2000 13:22:33 EST From: "Mike Tse" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [uuc] Looking for Paint repair shop in N. VA I'm looking for a good auto paint repair shop in Norther Virginia. (Falls Church area) Some minor body work may also be required. Cost is a big factor. This is for my g/f's car...scratches go right to the bare metal... Why do petite women always like to have big cars?! :P - --- Mike Tse 96 328is BL/SS/ERK/RK X'd-Barbarian'd - -Shark Infested & Breathing Easy- ES-DTM BMWCCA NJ ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 26 Feb 2000 13:23:55 EST From: "Shawn Crews" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [uuc] How do I clean a transmission?? What's the easiest way to clean my transmission? It's covered in 13 years' worth of grime. I've been using mild solvent and a scrubbing bursh and toothbrush. It's getting some of it off, but not all of it. Any ideas? Thanks, Shawn ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 26 Feb 2000 13:31:17 -0500 From: Chip Baines <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [uuc] Power Antenna Saga - Back in Business I have just gone through the exercise of repairing the power antenna on my '86 528e, and thought I would share some of what I have learned. The original antenna on this car was a Hirschmann model Auto6000EL. This same antenna was used by BMW for several years in the mid-80's on many different models. It has a good reputation in the industry - it's main advantages being that the inner guts are all very solid, and it is relatively easy to repair. For information on this antenna, check out http://www.antennaworld.com. They have an exploded view of this antenna at http://www.antennaworld.com/amfm/tips/6000el.htm You can look for it under technical information for Mercedes. Last year I replaced the original antenna with an after-market Hirschmann model Auta2030, which I bought from BavAuto, because the controller board died. I now know I should have tried to repair it before springing for the replacement. Compared to the original Auta6000EL, the replacement model Auta2030 has lots of cheap plastic parts. This winter one of the gears in the new antenna lost several teeth - my guess is that they broke off under the strain of trying to raise a frozen mast. It was at this point that I began my investigation of the repairability of this and the original antenna (which I still had in storage). My advice is if your original antenna breaks, try and repair it before buying a replacement. There's lots of good info at the www.antennaworld.com site, and their technical support person (Raul Pla) is quite knowledgeable and pleasant to work with. He occasionally has left over gears and other innards from various antenna models, so be sure to ask if he has what you need. In my case he didn't have a replacement controller for my old model Auta6000EL, but he did have some replacement bits and pieces for the Auta2030, which he sold me for $6. With that I was able to ressurect the after-market antenna. Talk about customer service: he withheld cashing my meager check until I got back to him to let him know that the parts worked! Repairing the Auta2030 wasn't too difficult Two things to look for: (1) it takes 3 hands to close the unit up after you've aligned the mast drive belt with the gears in the body of the unit, and (2) I had to play with it a awhile before I figured out how to synchronize the on-off controller with the correct extension/retraction points for the mast. However, given the nature of plastic gears I suspect I'll be needing to repair it again in the not too distant future. Meanwhile, I still have an old 6000EL with a bum controller. Everything else in it works well - motors, gears, drive belt, etc. all seem perfectly OK. If anyone would like to have it, I'd be happy to part with it for $10 plus shipping - let me know if you're interseted privately via e-mail. - -Chip Baines BMW CCA '86 528e '97 328iC ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 26 Feb 2000 14:12:10 -0500 From: "Chris Swords" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [uuc] Totalled 318i My 84 318i was also totalled a couple weeks ago. Unfortunately my acident was from a lady in a 98 Accord trying to turn left across a street that I was going across. the collision I figure was between 20-40 mph almost head on. Needless to say, my 318 didn't look so good. i got out and stood there as I watched the coolant flow from under the car. I stared as I noticed that the front bumper was about even with the tire. I attempted to pull it out of the way of the miidle of the street at the request of the cops, but the pedal wouldn't even move. I knew it was dead. There was nothing I could do about it. So to get to the point, the insurance company is currently offering me 1825 for it. It had 176000 miles on it and was generally in good shape, except for where the older accord had side swiped me in a hit and run a couple of weeks before that. I made an appointment with The Bodywerks here in Daytona to have that fixed. They told me the soonest appointment available was April 10. The words that came out of my mouth were " April 10th? My car will probably get hit again by that time." I guess I should watch what I say next time. The insurance company handling the claim is a huge pain to deal with. Every time i call i can only talk to one person about my claim, but I always get their voice mail and have to wait for them to call back. Sometimes i call back around 1pm and they don't even get back to me until the next day. Currently I'm waiting to hear back from them on an adjustment for all the money that I've put into it in the past 6 months. Somehow I still feel like I'm going to get shafted. Tomorrow though i'm going to go look at a 86 535i with 106k on it and a 5 spd in Orlando. chris swords 84 318i RIP 00 Kia Sportage----Rental car paid for by insurance company, makes me miss my 318 even more ------------------------------ End of [uucdigest] V3 #338 ************************** _________________________________________ | 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 ����������������������������������������
