[uucdigest] Monday, July 2 2001 Volume 03 : Number 3958 _________________________________________________________________ | | Search the ARCHIVES: | http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] | | Visit Richard Nott's Ultimate BMW Database: | http://www.gis.nsw.gov.au/staff/rnott/bmw/bmw.html | | 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. | Technical Problems? Send 'em to [EMAIL PROTECTED] |__________________________________________________________________ In this BMW UUC Digest: [uuc] E30 emissions woes, resolved ["Crawford, Scott" <Scott.Crawford@mos] [uuc] <E30> Source for aftermkt Gas Tanks [dstevenson <dstevenson@battery] RE: [uuc] Seeking advice on purchasing E30 M3 ["Robinson, Lee" <Leland.Ro] [uuc] RE: [uucdigest] V3 #3955 ["Noe, Steve (CIT)" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]] [uuc] Folding M3 hardtop/run flat tyres? [[EMAIL PROTECTED] (John Hart)] [uuc] <e30>Cooling Problems(sigh) [Neil Deshpande <[EMAIL PROTECTED]] [uuc] M. Schumacher seen on C1 [Andre Yew <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>] [uuc] radar detectors ["Celisa" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>] Re: [uuc] radar detectors [Timothy Fries <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 2 Jul 2001 11:05:21 -0400 From: "Crawford, Scott" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [uuc] E30 emissions woes, resolved Hello all, I have some very good news to report! Many of you may recall that last year I had some trouble passing the state emissions test on my '89 325is, and more trouble finding a local shop to help me fix it. I spent a lot of time asking a lot of people on this list for help and got a great deal of support. I got my inspection sticker last year on waiver, even though the car never passed, and was happy for 12 months. Here it is, 12 months later. I went to get the car inspected this morning. Guess what? It passed the emissions component! What's different, you ask? It was suggested by several folks the spark plug wire may be at fault. Bentley has a test of the wire, which my car passed, and I'm aware of the "spray water on them and look for arcing" test, mine were and still are OK on this one. What I did was simply pull the wires out of the plastic housing providing some space between them. That's it. Apparently, they are jammed so close together in there, over time the shielding (or something) loses effectiveness and there gets to be some crosstalk-like behavior going on. Certainly, they need to be replaced, but, I'm astounded at the impact this made. Immediately, the car idled smoother, didn't stink, and engine response was very crisp. I'm even getting a bit better gas mileage. So, I'm seeing a few emissions related posts lately. My advice is to make certain the car is in good basic tune mechanically before anything else complicated and expensive gets done. Lots of folks suggested that to me, and my experience through this whole event demonstrates this is good advice. FWIW, I genuinely thought the car was in good tune. The shop I took it to thought so as well, but they couldn't figure it out. Thanks again to all who helped out. I hope my experience save some of you some pain and suffering. Scott Crawford not stinky '89 325is, but it does need a muffler. That's easy:) ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 2 Jul 2001 11:23:27 -0400 From: dstevenson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [uuc] <E30> Source for aftermkt Gas Tanks Hi I saw a post about this topic and I had found and saved this info a while back. I cannot verify the quality or fit or finish of these after market tanks so caveat emptor. NB Gas tanks Calais Maine [EMAIL PROTECTED] 800-561-8265 They charge $129 delivered for the 14.5 gal (1987 and older 6 cylinder E30 PN#BM1A) and the same for the 16.6 gal.tank from the 1988 and newer 6 cyl cars (part#BM1B). He tells me he gets them from Canada. Thanks Don Stevenson/BMWCCA Boston Chapter 1988 325IS, (too much to list), should have stayed the street car. (Sharked) 1987 325IS, project, should have been the track car. (Sharked) 1988 Volvo 240 Wagon 5 Speed. (Green Wheels) ______ o/______\o (oo=00=oo) [ ]====[ ] **************************************************************************** This message is intended for the addressee only and may contain privileged or confidential information. Unless you are the intended recipient, you may not use, copy or disclose to anyone any information contained in this message. If you have received this message in error, please notify the author by replying to this message and then kindly delete the message. Thank you. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 2 Jul 2001 11:41:51 -0400 From: "Robinson, Lee" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: RE: [uuc] Seeking advice on purchasing E30 M3 The e30 M3 can become out of hand if you're not careful. I've spent $12-13k in 3 years because I didn't know what to look for when I bought the car, and didn't know anyone who could tell me what to look for. Be careful about inspecting the car. I was completely defrauded by the shop that did my PPI. Tim Ng & I just found out yesterday that the car has a new right rear fender and that the rear well has been hammered out. Plus the VINs don't match. MAKE SURE YOU FIND AN E30 M3 EXPERT IN YOUR AREA TO HELP YOU. Nothing will be more valuable than guys who own the car in your area looking over a prospect. The E30M3 is inherently durable. Mine has 133k + on the original engine & tranny. Just drove a 2000 mile round trip to NJ & back for SIGfest. I auto-x it about every 2 weeks or so (as many as I can do). Just threw new plugs at it yesterday, & it runs like a scalded dog. Suspension is really good, although it could use a freshening. Frame and body are excellent and straight (despite all of the apparenently new panels) and the car has no handling problems. Reliability on the other hand...... Very dependent on care of the owner. Mine seems to always need something. Everything around the vital components (engine, tranny, rear end, suspension, frame) has gone wrong. It has gotten much better, but I believe that it was very badly neglected by previous owners. Although it seems as if at least the fluids were changed very regularly, other maintenance items were CLEARLY ignored. This has cost me dearly. Like I said before, it has cost me $12k+ to get the car back to where it should've always been mechanically. This shouldn't scare you away from the car, but rather let you know to seek out help in finding one. No checklist or repsonse from this digest can cover everything. But a look from someone who knows the car can be invaluable. Again, I implore you to seek out all the help you can find. If you're in the Atlanta area, myself or any number of other guys can (and will) help. If not, there's someone near you. In all likely hood, there's no reason an E30 M3 shouldn't be pretty reliable and really fun to own. Someone mentioned using other E30s for a track car. If all you're looking for is a track car, this isn't a shabby idea. It seems like you're looking for a street/auto-x/track car, & you won't beat an M3. To make a 325is faster may make it significantly less livable for street use, and it still won't stand out as much as an M3 and you can sacrifice the reliability with aftermarket stuff. The BMW engineers did a really good job making this car fast, & in my opinion (you know what opinions are like) this car is really a standout. While other BMW's may accelerate faster, have more ultimate grip and are almost all more refined, none quite matches the feeling of driving a street-legal racecar that the E30 does. Good Luck! Lee 88 M3 P.S. Also do a little research to find the little differences between the model years to suit your needs/tastes. Also look for cars that are thoughfully modded. euro airboxes and oil pan baffles are examples of car that have been modded by someone in the know..... ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 2 Jul 2001 12:01:02 -0400 From: "Noe, Steve (CIT)" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [uuc] RE: [uucdigest] V3 #3955 Whaddya mean "suddenly"? Didn't you have your radar detector on? >----Original Message----- > >Date: Sat, 30 Jun 2001 23:20:11 -0400 >From: Rob Levinson * UUC Motorwerks <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: Re: [uuc] Looking for E34 540i Touring > (snip) > >Suddenly a NJ State Trooper comes flying up behind us in the left lane, he >must have been doing about 115mph+ judging by his closing speed. He flew >right past me, slotted in behind the Chrysler, and fired up his light show >to pull the Chrysler over. >Nice to be in an invisible "station wagon" during a revenue collection >event. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 2 Jul 2001 11:35:58 -0400 (EDT) From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (John Hart) Subject: [uuc] Folding M3 hardtop/run flat tyres? Sorry, just a periodic request for heads up as to whether any afforementioned items are likely for 2002 model year M3c's. Also, any leads in continental US (but prefer leanning towards east coast) of M3c's running near list that could be bought by summer's end or sooner (supposing a sliight savings, perhaps, in post summer convertible sales/price drop$?). John Hart-96 328is cabrio, for sale, contingent on M-offer I can't refuse!! ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 2 Jul 2001 09:59:19 -0700 (PDT) From: Neil Deshpande <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [uuc] <e30>Cooling Problems(sigh) Jim: Here are my comments: 1. Could it be your radiator is chalked up? My 200k-mile 88 iS seems to run a bit warmer (just to the right of center) than my 89 iC (11 o'clock) and the iC has a new radiator from the PO. 2. Not sure of the M20, but the M30 has very fine coolant passages in the head that could get blocked. Perhaps one of those safe-for-Al cleaning agents? I used the Prestone one (drive 2 hours, etc., with it in there) on an M30 that I worked on that was really gunked up. Did not make a difference to temperature, but a lot of crap came out! I think it was the first coolant change ever at 90k miles. 3. I was not aware that the water pump could fail to push enough coolant. Maybe it can on those cars. I thought it was either working or not (leaking) and that was it. 4. Are you sure your temp gauge is OK? The failure mode of those VDO gauges (when they lose ground typically) is to read higher (if not max). My 89 iC often does that and the 88 iS as well until I tap the gauge. One of these days I'll fix it. Meanwhile, I have new hoses, new waterpump, new temp sensor, etc., in there so I know the coolant circuit is fine. 5. If you do not have LSD, the tire mismatch should be OK for a while. Otherwise, run it on the front, I guess. I don't know. Neil Deshpande http://www.neilwerke.com *** [EMAIL PROTECTED] I continue to have cooling issues with the beloved E30. I replaced a bad fan clutch and the car runs at the � mark even at long lights, which is good and what I expected. I don't want to be replacing parts willy nilly, but I would assume that with 250k I should prob start with the water pump! On a side note, I picked up a cheapo Strauss Auto spare tire until I get new tires from Tire rack (Yoko AVSi's, of course) The jackass there put a 195 60 14 on the rim when I told them I wanted a 195 65 14. Is it ok to have one tire "out of whack" for a short period (1 week or so). __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get personalized email addresses from Yahoo! Mail http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 2 Jul 2001 10:21:37 -0700 (PDT) From: Andre Yew <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [uuc] M. Schumacher seen on C1 It's a week after the Nurburgring F1 race, so this should be safe. One of coolest moments in last week's race was when Michael Schumacher's car dies on the opposite side of the track, and he commandeers a corner worker's BMW C1 to get back to the paddock. The best shot has got to be the long telephoto shot of him entering the paddock escorted by other scooters. I wish they'd sell the C1 in the US, but someone will probably find some way to hurt themselves in this "safe" vehicle and sue the @#$ out of BMW. Last year, there was some video on Speedvision showing Gerhard Berger teaching Jenson Button the Monaco line in C1s, with traffic streaming around them. Check the C1 out: http://www.bmw-c1.com/c1/english/index.htm I'd get one in either the F1 colors or the family 200 model in yellow/red/graphite. - --Andre ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 2 Jul 2001 12:29:29 -0500 From: "Celisa" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [uuc] radar detectors Would you say that the best radar detector to purchase would be the Valentine. I read where it reads all around the car. Does it actually work like that, meaning has anyone tried it, or what would the group recommend. Thanks so much in advance. Best Regards, Celisa Lone Star Chapter 190807 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 2 Jul 2001 11:03:02 -0700 (PDT) From: Timothy Fries <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [uuc] radar detectors I'm sure that this might evolve into a substantial thread, but I have been extremely happy with the performance of my V1 over the past two years. The Valentine is able to read all around the car because it has an antenna pointing to the front and one to the rear. The beauty of this is that you know when you are in the clear after passing a radar, or if there is a trooper coming up hard behind you. Different areas and forces use different metheods and radar. I have never seen Laser and only seen Ka in one municipality in Jersey. Plus I have never seen a trap tag from behind, but your results may vary. - --- Celisa <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Would you say that the best radar detector to > purchase would be the > Valentine. I read where it reads all around the car. > Does it actually work > like that, meaning has anyone tried it, or what > would the group recommend. > Thanks so much in advance. > > > > > Best Regards, > Celisa > Lone Star Chapter > 190807 > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get personalized email addresses from Yahoo! Mail http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/ ------------------------------ End of [uucdigest] V3 #3958 *************************** ________________________________________ | Please visit these UUC-approved BMW parts vendors/service providers: | (listed alphabetically) | Camptown Automotive - http://www.camptownauto.com | Circle Tire Co. (used & classic BMW parts) e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] | Detailwerks Chicago Inc. "Chicago's Premier Automotive Appearance | Center" . http://www.detailwerkschicago.com |==================================================== | Koala MotorSport . BMW technical information, special tool sales/rental | http://www.koalamotorsport.com |==================================================== | Taylor BMW - http://www.taylorbmw.com - Doc Bimmer! | UUC Motorwerks . http://www.uucmotorwerks.com |__________________________________________
