[uucdigest] Saturday, July 21 2001 Volume 03 : Number 4043 _________________________________________________________________ | | 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] V-1 cord confusion ["Chris Alberts" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>] [uuc] Wheel and tire problems ["Chris Alberts" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Re: [uuc] Wheel and tire problems [Ed MacVaugh <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>] [uuc] E30 head problems story - advice? (longish) [Mike Whitney <whit@att] [uuc] Re: Glad to be back (bimmer story) [Neil Maller <[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Re: [uuc] Rant#9? Premature tire wear? ["Gary Derian" <gderian@ameritech.] Re: [uuc] E30 M3 fuel starvation right hand sweepers ["Patrick Spikes" <p] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 21 Jul 2001 08:36:26 -0500 From: "Chris Alberts" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [uuc] V-1 cord confusion Bill P, The plug (?) that goes into the lighter socket is a standalone unit with an RJ-11 jack on it. The V-1 has an identical RJ-11 jack on it. If you have the plug you can buy or make your own cable between the two, but it sounds like you don't have the plug. Or perhaps I'm completely misreading your post. >Need I say ..a power cord with a power-plug-in on the end ?..my error in >specification .... >Beepee >Bill Proud , >30yrs Messing with BMWs in Seattle , >Ph 206-824-8242 eves 5-9 PM My time Also, Pat, I am confused by your statement below - a cord is a cord is a cord. AC or DC is not a property of the cord, just which pins at one end are connected to which pins at the other end. >From: "Pat Donahue" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: Re: [uuc] Re: Wanted - Valentine 1 Power cord >When y'all are doing this be aware that phones run in AC mode vice the DC >you need to power your V1. If the maker of the cord doesn't care about >polarity you can fry something. >Geeeze C. PS In case anyone in Woostah decides to comment on my posting, I just want to state right now, that the above is NOT coming from a "musty dusty corner of my mind", so don't say it is! My mind has no corners, musty or otherwise. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 21 Jul 2001 10:39:46 -0500 From: "Chris Alberts" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [uuc] Wheel and tire problems Poster formerly known as ABIGG, My opinion about the wheels is that based on what you say they misrepresented them to you and that you should indicate to them that the wheels are available for pickup from you and that you will not be paying for them. $1,500 is a lot of money and if you're not happy then you should return them just as you would anything else. I would also contact the cc company to make sure they withdraw payment. Do you have anything in writing? For a few hundred bucks more you could get beautiful Fikse wheels made to your specification. Or pick up a set of OEM wheels etc. Good luck. As for the tires, I got 26,000 miles out my stock Pilot Sports and was delighted. I have the staggered tires on my 99 M3, but I can't believe the staggering or the size difference (235/40 to 245/40) can affect the wear to any extent (Gary D will know better than I). Other than the convertible being a little heavier in the rear (I guess) I can't imagine other than driving style why you would have these problems. Were the tires worn evenly or not? If not, then I can believe that misalignment or other suspension problems could cause accelerated wear, but failing that it has to be down to driving style. I consider myself a moderately aggressive (not road rage aggressive) driver and I like to spin the wheels occasionally from a stop, get them loose etc., but not constantly. Do you track the car? Do you have lowered suspension with some sort of custom (read tire-shredding) alignment? Once again good luck, C. PS - I liked the "double spoke" pun. Very good. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 21 Jul 2001 12:05:13 -0400 From: Ed MacVaugh <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [uuc] Wheel and tire problems What I understood from the post was that he had shipped his beat up wheels to them for refinishing and was not satisfied with the results. >From the cost he quoted, and my own experiences with refinishing factory wheels, welding was required and he can detect where the aluminum was welded. This is sort of like getting your car back from the body shop and being able to see where the repairs were made. Like the body shop, you can't just say, come pick up the wheels and refund my money, for they are his wheels. Methinks his expectations were higher than what is technologically achievable. I know that a powder coated wheel will not have a finish as hard as a factory baked wheel will, but I live with it rather than pay factory replacement prices for my wheels. Ed Chris Alberts wrote: > > Poster formerly known as ABIGG, > > My opinion about the wheels is that based on what you say they > misrepresented them to you and that you should indicate to them that the > wheels are available for pickup from you and that you will not be paying for > them. $1,500 is a lot of money and if you're not happy then you should > return them just as you would anything else. I would also contact the cc > company to make sure they withdraw payment. Do you have anything in > writing? ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 21 Jul 2001 13:59:11 -0400 From: Mike Whitney <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [uuc] E30 head problems story - advice? (longish) Howdy, Well, it was a fantastic day at VIR Full course yesterday, until about 4:30 pm... A few of us advanced drivers were "invited" to the Viper Days Test & Tune, a full day of open track, for $150. Go out whenever you want, for as long as you want. Sweet. I got 120 miles on track before lunch, and had started nailing 2:26 lap times with a passenger. The afternoon was just as good, and I went out for another session after 4pm, was finishing my first full lap, drove through Rollercoaster, started accelerating through Hogpen, and, braaaaaaaaaaa,bap,bap,bap,bap,bap. Hmmmmm, I was thinking while going about 80 MPH. Fuel? 1/2 tank. Oil pressure? 60 PSI. Engine temp? Rock solid at 1/2. Can't be something major... But better pit NOW. Driving down the pit road, I realized this is what it must feel like when a straight six is running on 5 cylinders. Lots of vibration, and maybe 50-75% power. Sounds like a poorly tuned V8 with an exhaust leak :) I limped back to the pits, and popped the engine cover. I was thinking: Maybe a plug wire just fell off. Yeah... Then I started thinking: valvetrain. I knew it was just a matter of time until I would break a rocker arm. Pulled the valve cover, and there it was, laying in the head next to the permanently closed valve: Half of the #5 intake rocker. So here's the data point for all of you running E30's on track: 135k miles, it was a street car until I bought it with 115k. 7 track events and about 50 autocrosses over the last 1.5 years. I've been using a active autoworks chip for about the last year, and, uh, yeah, I use the 6900 revlimit often, especially autocrossing. Thanks to a friend who was planning on leaving his trailered Miata at the track anyways and who towed the E30 home for me, it's now in the garage awaiting some major surgery. So: what to do? I was planning on buying and rebuilding a spare head this winter, since my cam is showing some wear. The cam wear was probably over-stressing the rockers anyways. I think it would be stupid to just replace the one rocker and have it happen to another one eventually. I also want to keep the head SCCA DSP legal, so that means stock valvetrain, but port & polish 1" from the manifold interface is OK. Right now I am sorely tempted to call up Korman and ask for a good DSP legal head, but I don't sh*t $100 bills, so Korman may not be an option :) I would also like to have the car up and running again in about 2-3 weeks, and I do not have an unlimited budget. Anyone have good experiences with head exchange places or reasonable head rebuilders? I think at the minimum I need to replace the cam, rockers, valveguides, and springs. Is it a bad idea to reuse valves? Is a 3-angle valvejob DSP legal? Thanks for any and all advice :) PS: Speaking of self-fulfilling prophecies - I had just started recreationally shopping for tow vehicles this week, and I started looking for a good candidate rebuild head the week before that. Yesterday I needed both of them :) - -- Mike Whitney - [EMAIL PROTECTED] No Gum Racing - http://pws.prserv.net/whitney/nogum.html Busted 89 BMW 325is ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 21 Jul 2001 13:49:05 -0500 From: Neil Maller <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [uuc] Re: Glad to be back (bimmer story) on 7/21/01 7:42 AM, "DAVID NGUYEN" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > daam it really made me miss driving my bimmer! it's locked up in > jail(impound) for 24 more days! (long story~don't ask) Oh but we must, we must. Neil 96 M3 ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 21 Jul 2001 12:10:26 -0400 From: "Gary Derian" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [uuc] Rant#9? Premature tire wear? Too much rear toe can cause wear. Rear tires wear on the inside, fronts on the outside. If you wait too long before rotating the car will tramline. This is why BMW advises against rotating. You can do it, but it has to be often enough that no significant wear pattern develops. Buy a set of 4 tires with the highest treadwear rating you can find, but then don't complain about a loss of traction and handling. Gary Derian <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > God, it hurts to be a fool in love with a cabrio! > I just mounted, rotated and balanced my 235 40 17 Pilot Sports on my 96 > 328, and of course, the tire place tells and shows me how little of my > rear tread remained...this after only about 5,000 miles of run time, > much of it on highway straights, very little rubber burning from stops, > maybe a bit more LSD induced wear from having a 3.23 LSD M3 diff. > I still can't believe it...the fact is, this is not an ACURA NSX or > something...this is the second set of tires (first were stock sport pack > 16 Pilot Sport M & S_NOT! tires, that wore to wear indicators in rear, > about 3,000 miles est. left on fronts). At present, my car feels like > it is capable of running wild, i.e off the road without massive > counter-steer corrections on unevenly crowned roads (yeah, you guessed > it, the dreaded "tramliner" debate again). Please believe, I adjusted > pressures both to ultimate high of 38 and more livable 34-36 rear, and > even 39-38 rear, and this effect is unchanging, and massively > disappointing! > I just wondered: 1. Does the M3 with stepped/larger rear tires last > longer than the 235 40 17 configuration, despite the fact that you can't > rotate? Let's face it, rotation doesn't mean diddly squat when your > rear tires are shot in 5,000 miles! > 2. Is there anything else in my diff, or shocks..anything, that > could explain such severe rear tire wear out so quick in mileage or time > (owned 3 months_). My reputable tire dealer said he couldn't imagine > what could cause such quick wear in the back, unless it is so torque > heavy...is that what my 3.23 with 2.8 is amounting to...a tire shredder? > Naturally, I notice a free CD and flyer on his desk that he hadn't > even looked at yet for the new "Pilot Sport A and S (or in my case, ASS > for keeping this car!). I swear he hadn't even seen it, and I asked to > take a look at it, and sure enough, in Pirelli (French) marketing > speak...something like, "Drive as hard as you like for longer life on > hard as rock surfaces" due to new design and compounds, etc, etc..where > was this product when I bought four new Pilots 2 minutes..eh, I mean 3 > months ago?! > So, finally, 3. if I am stupid enough to buy 2 more tires next > spring, what of the new Pilots, or for that matter, the new > Bridgestones? Does any brand have a longer lifespan than Pilots? > As usual, I suspect it ain't the car, its just Mini-me...next > spring, or whenever a cabrio shows up! > John-96 328is cabrio > > ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 21 Jul 2001 16:46:23 -0400 From: "Patrick Spikes" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [uuc] E30 M3 fuel starvation right hand sweepers On the later model E30 tanks BMW used a siphon tube setup to pull fuel from the left sump to the right where the fuel pump is located. The tube is a hard line with a small hole in it that uses the fuel returning from the pressure regulator on the motor to suck the gas from one tank to the other. Maybe is this hole is blocked or partially blocked enough so that it cannot transfer fuel quick enough to feed the pump. To further throw you off the tank uses two sending units for the fuel gauge. So the possibility exists that you may have near a full tank in the left side and near empty in the other and the gauge reads 1/2 a tank. You could try blowing air through the vent lines to see if this corrects the situation. But first try filling the tank and see how much fuel it takes to top it off. You might have a reading of being 2/3 full but if it takes 8 gallons or more to fill a 17.? gallon tank you know the gauge is off Patrick Spikes 5 weeks to euro delivery Date: Fri, 20 Jul 2001 23:38:53 -0700 From: "funa" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [uuc] E30 M3 fuel starvation right hand sweepers I understand that this is a common problem; At track events my E30, M3 is starving for fuel on hard right hand sweepers. I've changed the in tank fuel pump 2 weeks ago but at my 1st track event since the change I discover that the problem still exists. It started happening at � empty, and now its starting to do this at 2/3 full. It's odd that it may do this on one of our sessions (toward the end of a 20 minute session) but not do it at all the next session. My next step is to change the fuel filter under and behind the drivers seat along with the regulator thats just in front of it, hoping that this may make a difference. Has anyone out there had this problem and found a cure? Thanks Eddy Central California ------------------------------ End of [uucdigest] V3 #4043 *************************** ________________________________________ | 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 |__________________________________________
