[uucdigest] Monday, January 20 2003 Volume 03 : Number 6038
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Send 'em to [EMAIL PROTECTED] |__________________________________________________________________ In this BMW UUC Digest: [uuc] Re: E30 convertible weight ballast [uuc] Re: <Misc> Buying a new/used E46 in Europe [uuc] Re: E30 325is purchase advice [uuc] Re: E30 convertible weight ballast [uuc] Re: E30 convertible weight ballast [uuc] CarFax request [uuc] FS '95 M3 Re: [uuc] 740iL rotors [uuc] Re. 95 M3 for sale Re: [uuc] Re: E30 convertible weight ballast Re: [uuc] Re: E30 convertible weight ballast Re: [uuc] (broken?) aluminum floor jacks ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 20 Jan 2003 13:25:05 -0800 (PST) From: John Bolhuis <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [uuc] Re: E30 convertible weight ballast On Mon, 20 Jan 2003, Tammer Farid wrote: > The location is too bouncy for a battery. The hardtops > aren't prone to the same oscillatory vibrations, so the > battery sits back there with no problems. > > The E36 cabrios have the battery in the trunk, but it is > specially designed to handle the vibration and effectively > dampen them as well, without shortening battery life (got 6 > years from the original in mine). A "normal" battery's > performance would be compromised in that location. Hmm. if I could cobble together a rubber suspended battery mount for that area and drop in an Optima gel cel, I could have my rear-mounted battery, my weight savings, and still keep the damping within reason. - -- "It is an honor to be Cookie Monster." -Sesame Street spokeswoman Audrey Shapiro ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Jan 2003 13:26:22 -0800 (PST) From: David Hall <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [uuc] Re: <Misc> Buying a new/used E46 in Europe Actually, a great way to do this (if the circumstances are correct) is to buy the car in the US (and keep it in the US for six months while you are a permanant resident) and then bring it to Europe. The price differential (mostly due to VAT) as well as the strong euro make this well worthwhile. I greatly regret selling our E46 M3 last summer before moving. The prices of used and especially new E46 M3's is staggering in comparison. Another American brought a five series a few years ago with no problems and very few modifications were necessary to register the car. (I am only familiar with France, though.) The only redeaming point is that I found a great 98 M3 for about half of what I sold the 01 for. In my mind, there is no comparison between the two: even with the same power to weight ratio, the E46 just felt (and in fact was) faster and was so much nicer for comfort, etc. Good luck, Dave Hall Clermont-Ferrand, France > > Date: Wed, 15 Jan 2003 12:00:35 -0800 (PST) > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: [uuc] <Misc> Buying a new/used E46 in Europe > > A friend is looking into buying an E46 sedan in Europe (probably a > 2.5). He lives in Spain, and I > believe has dual citizenship in Spain and the US. I understand that > Import tariffs dicate he should > buy in Europe. > > Is there a preferred country to pick a car up if it will end up in > Spain? Any arbitrage to be had > in buying it elsewhere and driving it? > > If he is not that car savvy, it there a certified used program in > europe that would allow him to buy > a slightly used car for a significant discount if "new" isn't that > important. > > Anyone BTDT? > > Thanks > > Marc Plante > E36 325i, 210k > Vienna, VA > __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Jan 2003 13:36:07 -0800 From: "Scott & Charlotte Miller" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [uuc] Re: E30 325is purchase advice Neil, this is hard to do without seeing the car, but let me throw a couple of questions at you: What is your budget? Include the car plus repairs, whatever you'll need to get through the time period you've identified. Will you be doing the work yourself, or hiring a shop? And, what are your plans for the car after you've bought another car? Depending on your answers, the recommendation could go either way. For example, if your budget is $3000 and you're going to hire a mechanic, you might be better off looking for a $3000 car that is more driveable. If you're doing your own wrenching, it might be worth buying for a total $3000 investment. If you get the car, be sure to check on its timing belt history. Look for a sticker on the air filter box. If it is over 50K miles or 4 years since the last replacement, figure on doing the timing belt/tensioner/water pump/drive belts replacement. The Yahoo E30 Group has lots of guys who have BTDT with these cars. HTH, Scott Miller GGC BMW CCA 1990 325i >Date: Sun, 19 Jan 2003 19:13:57 -0800 (PST) >From: "Neil N." <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [uuc] E30 325is purchase advice <snip> >Group, Considering the purchase of a 1987 325is. The car has been in >storage for 1-1/2 years, and has been described by the owner as >"tired" all around. I've seen pics, and although they don't tell all, it >looks cosmetically decent. It is said to need a major tune-up, and >likely complete suspension replacement. Brakes may need work >also (rotors, caliper rebuild, lines). >It has 145k miles, with manual trans. I don't object to using used >parts in the suspension replacement - I'm just trying to get away >with a relatively cheap E30 for my 12 mile round trip commute >until I find my next car in the spring. >The owner is asking $1,000, and is fairly firm on this price. What >do you all think - good buy, or rat's nest of problems? What types >of costs am I looking at for full tune-up, and could I easily find a >used suspension (Bimmers South, or similar)? >Thanks, >Neil ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Jan 2003 13:39:12 -0800 From: "Scott & Charlotte Miller" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [uuc] Re: E30 convertible weight ballast >Date: Sun, 19 Jan 2003 22:26:46 -0800 (PST) >From: John Bolhuis <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [uuc] Re: E30 convertible weight ballast <snip> > > Do you mean that the weight would bounce around and smack the >battery? I wasn't planning to have both in there at once. > If you mean that the location is too bouncy for a battery, then why >do the hardtop e30s have the battery back there? Because the hardtop chassis is not as bouncy? At least the way they left the factory. After I get done with my half-assed mods, they are probably just as bouncy as the convertible. And my Interstate battery is just fine. Scott Miller GGC BMW CCA 1990 325i ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Jan 2003 13:48:03 -0800 (PST) From: John Bolhuis <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [uuc] Re: E30 convertible weight ballast On Mon, 20 Jan 2003, Scott & Charlotte Miller wrote: > > Do you mean that the weight would bounce around and smack the > >battery? I wasn't planning to have both in there at once. > > If you mean that the location is too bouncy for a battery, then why > >do the hardtop e30s have the battery back there? > > Because the hardtop chassis is not as bouncy? At least the way > they left the factory. After I get done with my half-assed mods, > they are probably just as bouncy as the convertible. And my > Interstate battery is just fine. Good to hear you finally cut the top off your car, Scott! Welcome to the open-top club. But don't forget that the convertibles also have big steel channels welded to the bottoms of the door openings. you can probably cut up the roof and weld some of that steel in there. :) - -- "It is an honor to be Cookie Monster." -Sesame Street spokeswoman Audrey Shapiro ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Jan 2003 17:02:05 -0500 From: "K.C. Boyce" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [uuc] CarFax request If there's someone out there with CarFax access who would be willing to run WBSCD9321VEE06989, I'd be much appreciative! TIA. KC Boyce '85 325e (sold...sigh) '95-'97 M3 (soon) E30 Eta Page: http://www.e30eta.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Jan 2003 17:37:03 -0600 From: "Andrew Harkonen" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [uuc] FS '95 M3 Hello Group, Impending home purchase forces sale of my baby, here are the stats: '95 M3 w/110k miles, Daytona Violet/Grey leather, luxury package, M-contours, all the power options, heated seats, factory alarm, OBC, sunroof, etc. Upgrades: Jim C chip, Rogue Octane SSK, UUC TMEs, new Clarion head unit, replaced front and rear speakers, added better amp. New stuff: Brake pads- front, pads and rotors - rear. Bilstein Sports 4k miles ago Rear shock mounts Water pump All drive belts Rear salad tongs (control arms) New tires Yoko AVS ES100s 1k miles ago O2 sensor 1 year old Rear exhaust hangers BMW synthetic every 3-4k miles Redline in the tranny and diff Very well maintained, needs nothing, everything works as it should. Leather has no rips, holes, scratches etc. Normal wear on drivers bolster, Lexol used every few months. Paint - 9.5 out of 10. Front end has no rock chips. Have all maintenance receipts Asking $18,000 or best offer. Need to sell, if you are interested make an offer. Pictures available upon request. Email me if you want more details. Thanks for the add space Andrew Harkonen [EMAIL PROTECTED] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Jan 2003 18:36:06 -0500 From: "Richard Vaughn" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [uuc] 740iL rotors Jeff, Give Yves Bright a call at BMA Auto Parts www.bmaautoparts.com (888) 262-3911 Very good people & Prices. Richard Vaughn BMW CCA #132931 Tarheel Chapter '95 740i w/new engine hers '92 535i 5 speed mine '90 325i 5 speed (64k)sons & mine '96 Z71 mine too >Date: Mon, 20 Jan 2003 10:09:51 -0800 >From: Jeff Stowe <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [uuc] 740iL rotors > >It's time for new front rotors on the 96 740iL. Can anyone recommend a >decent source here in the south bay for OEM or brembos? > >I have a bunch of e36 M3 rotors in the garage, any chance these are the >same >part number as the 740iL? > >thanks for the help! > >jeff > _________________________________________________________________ MSN 8: advanced junk mail protection and 2 months FREE*. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Jan 2003 17:44:46 -0600 From: "Andrew Harkonen" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [uuc] Re. 95 M3 for sale Sorry, I forgot to mention the car is in St. Louis, MO. Thanks Andrew Harkonen [EMAIL PROTECTED] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Jan 2003 16:01:20 -0800 (PST) From: Tammer Farid <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [uuc] Re: E30 convertible weight ballast Perhaps. It depends on whether the rubber/metal block was tuned to dampen a specific frequency or range of frequencies, or if it is just a function of the mass. If the former, find that range and "cobble together" something that includes your battery (remember to vent it!) and a system to eliminate the same frequencies. You'd probably have to use a very dense material to accomplish the same task with a smaller piece. If the latter, it won't work because part of the mass absorbing the vibrations will be the battery--which is what you want to avoid. I'm not sure exactly how the stock E36 batt. copes with the vibration; maybe you should look into that first. tammer - --- John Bolhuis <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hmm. if I could cobble together a rubber suspended > battery mount > for that area and drop in an Optima gel cel, I could have > my > rear-mounted battery, my weight savings, and still keep > the damping > within reason. > > -- > "It is an honor to be Cookie Monster." > -Sesame Street spokeswoman Audrey Shapiro > __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Jan 2003 19:47:51 -0500 From: "Gary Derian" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [uuc] Re: E30 convertible weight ballast Any battery, when bolted to the body, will vibrate less than a battery configured as a damper, much less. Gary Derian > Perhaps. It depends on whether the rubber/metal block was > tuned to dampen a specific frequency or range of > frequencies, or if it is just a function of the mass. > > If the former, find that range and "cobble together" > something that includes your battery (remember to vent it!) > and a system to eliminate the same frequencies. You'd > probably have to use a very dense material to accomplish > the same task with a smaller piece. > > If the latter, it won't work because part of the mass > absorbing the vibrations will be the battery--which is what > you want to avoid. > > I'm not sure exactly how the stock E36 batt. copes with the > vibration; maybe you should look into that first. > > tammer > > --- John Bolhuis <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Hmm. if I could cobble together a rubber suspended > > battery mount > > for that area and drop in an Optima gel cel, I could have > > my > > rear-mounted battery, my weight savings, and still keep > > the damping > > within reason. > > > > -- > > "It is an honor to be Cookie Monster." > > -Sesame Street spokeswoman Audrey Shapiro > > > > > __________________________________________________ > Do you Yahoo!? > Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. > http://mailplus.yahoo.com > ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Jan 2003 17:21:21 -0800 From: "Joe Elwell" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [uuc] (broken?) aluminum floor jacks Thanks very much to all of you for providing this info on the HF jack (which I recommended on this list). I'll pass the info on, and will certainly be very careful with it myself! regards, Joe - ----- Original Message ----- From: "Stan Jackson Jr." <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "Koala Motorsport - Brett Anderson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, January 20, 2003 12:13 PM Subject: Re: [uuc] (broken?) aluminum floor jacks > Hey All, > > Here are a number of comments I have collected. I cannot vouch for > their authenticity, as I simply lifted them from another list. Clearly, at > a minimum, you must be much more careful with how you use a cheap aluminum > jack, or for that matter, perhaps any aluminum jack. The misuse, abuse, and > lack of careful attention that is OK to do with a typical heavy duty steel > jack can get you in trouble with an aluminum jack. > I've never heard or seen one of those super-cheap, super-light, > piece-o-crap steel "trolley" jacks fail, but I have always been scared to > death (OK, not death) using them. These "trolley" jacks are commonly used > at Driving Schools, but I hate them. The aluminum ones actually look > stronger and better than those to me ... > > Stan > > -------------- > 1. I wondered how long these things would last. Ours is less than 2 weeks > old. Part of the weight of the car was resting on one of the four vertical > "fingers" surrounding the rubber pad. The finger broke clear off taking > about 20% of the circular aluminum pad with it.. > > 2. yeah great deal. I saw one literally break in half 2 weeks ago when the > car shifted a little on the jack. Luckily these pieces of crap are cheap > enough to buy in quantity so the other one was used to lift the car off the > first one. > > 3. (referring to #2) may have seen operator error. I have never broken an > Al jack before, but I think it would have happened to any jack - (tilted on > hill in RA paddock). I don't think the hydraulics are up to par for the > expensive stuff and the fluid is worthless in the cold (under 50), but I > still consider them a decent deal. > > 4. I use my HF exclusively at the track to change tires. I always make > sure I'm using the center of the pad to lift the car and of course > jackstands are used if I'm crawling under the thing. For the weight and the > price I can't think of a better buy. Hell I can buy 3 of the other ones for > the same price. The failures I've heard about are on the lift pad when > people weren't real careful about using the center of the pad, it broke on > the edges, which isn't surprising since that is the flimsiest part of the > jack. > ---------- > > > Neil Maller wrote: > > > > on 1/16/03 11:30 PM, Skip Bogard <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > > Here's my data point to contribute...I was at Harbor Freight in Raleigh > and > > > examined two of them at the store side-by-side: > > > > > > Silver model - had a reinforcement rib running the length UNDER the lift > > > arm...much like a reinforcement rib seen designed into plastic moldings > for > > > things like fishing tackle boxes, plastic tools boxes, or large plastic > > > storage boxes... > > > > > > Blue anodized model - was prettier than the silver model, but did not > have the > > > rib! was completely absent. > > > > That's interesting. My original silver model certainly has reinforcing > > gussets under the lift arm as Skip describes. I've seen the blue model at > > the HF store here, but didn't think to look underneath. > > > > and on 1/16/03 11:30 PM, "KMS - Brett Anderson" > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > wrote: > > > Obviously the silver model has a greater lift capacity. Wasn't the > colour > > > difference discussed recently, one at 3000lb and the other at 4000lb? > > > > The new 4000 lb model is apparently blue, but recent sightings of the 3000 > > lb version also show it as blue. The original 3000 was silver, may also > > still be available? > > > > Back to Skip: > > > You can't see the reinforcement rib unless you pick up the jack(s) & > look > > > UNDER the lift arm. Other than that...and the color, they looked > identical. > > > > > > This tells me I should share with list members a warning that they > should know > > > Harbor Freight is not selling a consistent product in their stores...at > a > > > minimum. As to overall quality, I do not know, but it is not consistent > > > product. Question for Stan or anytone: Any detail(s) on what seems to > > > allegedly fail? (perhaps the Lift arm or some other part?) > > > > I've heard but not seen specifics of two HF failures. > > > > One broke off an overhanging segment of the saddle, apparently because the > > contact point wasn't positioned centrally when jacking. This might not > > matter much with a steel part, but care needs to be taken with aluminum. > > > > James Clay at Bimmerworld previously reported breaking an HF side plate > > while jacking an "angled load." In my experience with lifting cars at the > > track it's not hard for a jack to tilt if the ground isn't flat and level. > > Maybe that's what happened here? > > > > I've previously pointed out that the HF jack uses aluminum castings for > the > > main load-bearing parts: side plates and lift arm. This isn't as strong a > > construction as the machined and assembled aluminum plate found in the > high > > end ($600+) racing jacks. > > > > So, no surprise here, you get what you pay for. > > > > I've been very satisfied with my HF jack, but I'll continue to be careful > in > > how I use it at the track. (At home I have a pair of behemoth "survive a > > direct hit from a nuke" Lincolns that can be abused all you want.) > > > > Neil > > 96 M3 > > > > ------------------------------ End of [uucdigest] V3 #6038 *************************** | | In memory of Michel Potheau - friend, enthusiast, founder of the BMW CCA. |________________________________________ | Please visit these UUC-approved BMW parts vendors/service providers: | (listed alphabetically) | | Autoscope-Motorsports - http://www.autoscope-motorsports.com | |==================================================== | | Koala MotorSport . 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