[uucdigest] Saturday, April 12 2003 Volume 03 : Number 6308
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Send 'em to [EMAIL PROTECTED] |__________________________________________________________________ In this BMW UUC Digest: [uuc] Re: BMW/GM joint development RE: [uuc] E39 M5 ?'s and carfax request Re: [uuc] Re: 7 series locked out [uuc] Dealer service [uuc] Hydrogen power Re: [uuc] Re: BMW/GM joint development [uuc] RE>Re: BMW/GM joint development Re: [uuc] Re: BMW/GM joint development [uuc] Re: BMW/GM joint development [uuc] Thanks for help on opening the 7! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 12 Apr 2003 09:43:27 -0700 (PDT) From: John Bolhuis <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [uuc] Re: BMW/GM joint development On Sat, 12 Apr 2003, Ben White wrote: > Neil, > You are correct. I haven't been following this thread and it > may already have been said; but the same holds true for ethanol > produced from biomass. One of the good things you can say about ethanol is that the CO2 we all fear operates in a closed system, going from biomass to fuel tank to biomass. Also, it smells good, it tastes good, and you'd step over your own mother to get one! mmmmm, beeeeeer... - -- "It is an honor to be Cookie Monster." -Sesame Street spokeswoman Audrey Shapiro ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 12 Apr 2003 09:58:35 -0700 From: John Miller <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: RE: [uuc] E39 M5 ?'s and carfax request >> Headlights, colors, post 3/00 cars can use 5W-30 oil (according >> to BMWNA), > They sold the M Geezes post 3/00 with 5W-30 fill and specified that as OK > for 6-8 months and then changed their mind. All E39 M5's are 10W-60 > Castrol (available only from the dealer-BMW or Porcha) only. Yes, but no. All post 3/00 M5s underhood stickers (including current production) for US-market M5s specify 5W-30. There's a separate service bulletin specifying Castrol TWS 10W-60. Euro M5s always get the Castrol TWS 10W-60. I'm not sure if it's a CAFE issue, or whether BMWNA, having allowed 5W-30 in the first place, is now fearful of a flood of '5W-30 engine failure' complaints if they then go back and mandate the TWS, but... Mine gets 10W-60. John. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 12 Apr 2003 10:21:29 -0700 From: "Bora Akyol (BMW)" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [uuc] Re: 7 series locked out Scott It is time you ditched the E30 :-) The new, more modern, super reliable and trick cars don't work like that. Bora #236 JS (soon to be JP) 1989 M3 On 4/11/03 10:05 PM, "Scott & Charlotte Miller" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Evan, maybe I'm missing something here, but can't you just put the key in > the lock and mechanically turn it to unlock the car? I guess you could call > that a "trick". > > Scott Miller > GGC BMW CCA > >> Date: Sat, 12 Apr 2003 00:11:30 -0400 >> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >> Subject: [uuc] 7 series locked out >> >> I seem to recall that several years ago the topic re: how to enter a locked >> out 7 series or maybe it was a 5, not sure, but ? is anyone recall the >> trick to entering the car w/ a dead battery? So far we can unlock and enter >> the trunk, so can/should we hook up power to a source e.g., brake light, >> tail light, etc., to turn the power locks? I know there is some kind of >> work around for this, but I can't remember. Anyone remember the trick to >> unlocking the door(s)? >> >> TIA >> >> Evan > > ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 12 Apr 2003 10:56:54 -0700 From: Steve Albrecht <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [uuc] Dealer service There is always a lot of dealer service dept. bashing on this list, as well as many others. I live in the South Bay area and have two dealers from which to choose. In my experience, your choice of service advisor makes all the difference in the world. Every dealer service department has a mix of expert and novice technicians, and your service advisor is generally the one that chooses the technician that works on your car. I used to have a choice of two great SA at Allison BMW, however, Allison was bought by Autonation and basically had a meltdown. All the good SA left as well as most of the experienced technicians. They dropped from 90-95 cars per day to a recent figure of 30 cars per day. Autonation got greedy and cut everyone's pay in about half. My favorite SA went to Stevens Creek BMW, so I followed him. Since I have been dealing with him for about six years or so, we have a great relationship and mutual respect. He is well aware that I track the car and compete in autocross. That has never been an issue for any of the scheduled service or warranty work. He replaced my brakes (four corners) at 18K miles, and the front brakes again at 36K miles, all under the 'free' scheduled service. No questions! He understands that the cars are designed to be driven. Treat your SA well, he can make your life easy or miserable based upon your attitude. I used take cigars to one of the SA I dealt with, Cubans. He was most appreciative. When the general public was given a six week wait for an appointment, Gus got me in the shop in two days, including a loaner. My current SA told me a long time ago to not even bother to call for an appointment, just show up in the driveway and he will handle it. There are good SA and there are bad SA, shop for a good one and treat him well. Take him cigars, cookies, or even flowers for his wife. Trust me, it's well worth it. If anyone would like the name of my SA at Stevens Creek BMW, contact me off-list and I'll be happy to tell you. Steve Albrecht ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 12 Apr 2003 11:18:26 -0700 From: Steve Albrecht <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [uuc] Hydrogen power Neil Maller makes a couple of good points about the source of hydrogen. for automobile fuel. Indeed, the reforming process is 'currently' the most common method, and it does produce CO2 as a byproduct. So chemically, and environmentally, it is basically a wash compared to gasoline. Yes I know there are a lot of additional factors involved. However, hydrogen powered cars are a few years away, and there is a big push to get solar and wind farms on line for the electrolysis method, and the intent is to have electrolysis leading the way in the not too distant future. A lot can be accomplished in 8 to 10 years if some large industries get behind the effort. It has happened before and it can happen again. With a few solar panels on your roof, you could generate your own hydrogen for your commute the next day. I'm fairly sure one of the goals of the government is to reduce our reliance on foreign oil, the cause of endless problems in itself. Solar array farms in the desert would go a long way towards reducing that dependence, and we have a lot of desert area in this country, never mind the deserts in other countries. It's also not very likely we will run out of water as feed stock. Yes there are many problems associated with a hydrogen based infrastructure, but they can all be solved given enough incentive and some time. I'm in favor of the effort. Steve Albrecht ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 12 Apr 2003 13:16:55 -0500 From: "Ben White" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [uuc] Re: BMW/GM joint development John, True enough. However, the ethanol production process is still a direct loss. It takes more foscil fuel to produce than the ethanol yield, unless someone has come up with something very recently. This only seems like a good tradeoff if you are Archer Daniels Midland Co. and receiving a subsidy from the taxpayers, huh? Ben White/Ocean Springs, MS - ----- Original Message ----- From: "John Bolhuis" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Saturday, April 12, 2003 11:43 AM Subject: [uuc] Re: BMW/GM joint development > On Sat, 12 Apr 2003, Ben White wrote: > > > Neil, > > You are correct. I haven't been following this thread and it > > may already have been said; but the same holds true for ethanol > > produced from biomass. > > One of the good things you can say about ethanol is that the CO2 we > all fear operates in a closed system, going from biomass to fuel tank > to biomass. Also, it smells good, it tastes good, and you'd step over > your own mother to get one! mmmmm, beeeeeer... > > -- > "It is an honor to be Cookie Monster." > -Sesame Street spokeswoman Audrey Shapiro > > ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 12 Apr 2003 11:33:58 -0700 From: Harvey Chao <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [uuc] RE>Re: BMW/GM joint development Your observation: >The output from a reformer is hydrogen (H2) >and carbon dioxide (CO2). So in this case we switch from reliance on one >non-renewable hydrocarbon fuel, gasoline from oil, to another, natural gas. >And as a by-product of the process we still get carbon dioxide, an >undesirable greenhouse gas. Very true, but since the by product generation of carbon dioxide is concentrated at the sites that are generating the hydrogen (as opposed to dispersed in every car burning fuel as it is now), perhaps some enterprising chem e could figure out a way to turn the CO2 into something else (e.g. wouldn't it be a cool pipe dream if you could use concentrated sunlight tightly focused onto the CO2 to break the carbon oxygen bonds and get elemental carbon and 02? That dream probably violates a coupla dozen laws of nature, physics, chemestry, etc., but what the heck - we can dream can't we? :-) ) Any Eng-physics and or Chem E folk out there want to make a fortune? Harvey who has a piece of paper that says I have a EE degree, reality may differ ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 12 Apr 2003 14:22:15 -0400 From: "Gary Derian" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [uuc] Re: BMW/GM joint development Well said, Neil. Hydrogen is not a fuel, it is a storage medium for energy. Gary Derian > > President Bush, whose scientific and engineering expertise doubtless far > exceeds mine, referred to hydrogen as "the most abundant element in the > universe" in his State of the Union address. While this is true, he > neglected to mention that: > (a) Most of the universe and the hydrogen it contains is well out of our > reach, and > (ii) Hydrogen is chemically fairly active stuff, so where it exists > terrestrially it tends already to be combined with other elements. > > There are two main sources of hydrogen. One is water, which can be separated > into hydrogen and oxygen by electrolysis. This would require additional > large amounts of electricity which has to come from somewhere. So far we > have not been good at finding new and economical ways of generating > electricity. > > The other is by separating hydrocarbons into their component parts in a > processes known as "reforming." The usual raw material for this is natural > gas, principally methane (CH4). The output from a reformer is hydrogen (H2) > and carbon dioxide (CO2). So in this case we switch from reliance on one > non-renewable hydrocarbon fuel, gasoline from oil, to another, natural gas. > And as a by-product of the process we still get carbon dioxide, an > undesirable greenhouse gas. > > And in return for this we get to spend a few billion dollars to develop > hydrogen engine technology, and to build a delivery infrastructure to get > this difficult to handle substance to thousands of points of distribution. > > This is a good idea...why? > > Neil > 96 M3 - gas powered > ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 12 Apr 2003 12:51:04 -0700 (PDT) From: John Bolhuis <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [uuc] Re: BMW/GM joint development It's a complex issue with the corruption of big ag business and their politicians, so I'll just point to this page I found that presents several sides to that ethanol efficiency argument: http://journeytoforever.org/ethanol_energy.html OBMWC: I think it would be fun to grow my own fuel for my BMW. Ethanol burns cooler and cleaner than gasoline, the primary downside being it has less energy per gallon. On Sat, 12 Apr 2003, Ben White wrote: > John, > True enough. However, the ethanol production process is still a direct > loss. It takes more foscil fuel to produce than the ethanol yield, unless > someone has come up with something very recently. This only seems like a > good tradeoff if you are Archer Daniels Midland Co. and receiving a subsidy > from the taxpayers, huh? > > One of the good things you can say about ethanol is that the CO2 we > > all fear operates in a closed system, going from biomass to fuel tank > > to biomass. Also, it smells good, it tastes good, and you'd step over > > your own mother to get one! mmmmm, beeeeeer... - -- "It is an honor to be Cookie Monster." -Sesame Street spokeswoman Audrey Shapiro ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 12 Apr 2003 16:10:43 -0400 From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [uuc] Thanks for help on opening the 7! Thanks to Dave and Ed thanks for the reminder of the "trick". Scott I hope you don't ever get locked out of your 7 series or you'll have to remember the "trick", :-). Evan Insert Key,hold up door handle all the way up turn key farther in the "unlock" direction than normal, When key turns that far, hold it turned, lower door handle, (you may feel something engaging at this step)and then lift it up. The lift up action will result in the door lock post rising with the handle action, and unlocking the car. It is a little fiddly, but will work. Sometimes takes a few tries. Dave Leonard 88 735i (been there..) David A. Leonard >Date: Fri, 11 Apr 2003 22:05:21 -0700 >From: "Scott & Charlotte Miller" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [uuc] Re: 7 series locked out > >Evan, maybe I'm missing something here, but can't you just put the key in >the lock and mechanically turn it to unlock the car? I guess you could call >that a "trick". > >Scott Miller >GGC BMW CCA > > >Date: Sat, 12 Apr 2003 00:11:30 -0400 > >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >Subject: [uuc] 7 series locked out > > > >I seem to recall that several years ago the topic re: how to enter a locked > >out 7 series or maybe it was a 5, not sure, but ? is anyone recall the > >trick to entering the car w/ a dead battery? So far we can unlock and enter > >the trunk, so can/should we hook up power to a source e.g., brake light, > >tail light, etc., to turn the power locks? I know there is some kind of > >work around for this, but I can't remember. Anyone remember the trick to > >unlocking the door(s)? > > > >TIA > > > >Evan > > >Date: Sat, 12 Apr 2003 09:23:48 -0400 >From: Ed MacVaugh <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: Re: [uuc] 7 series locked out > >I believe it varies by model (E32, E38, E65) of the car, but the trick >you recall was to hold up the door handle while twisting the key in the >driver's door lock. > >This simply doesn't cause the locking system to become disoriented one >door with the other, so when you jump start the car, the locks remain >synchronized. Thus when one is unlocked, all are and when one is locked, >all are. > >Ed ------------------------------ End of [uucdigest] V3 #6308 *************************** | | 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 . 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 |__________________________________________
