[uucdigest] Monday, July 14 2003 Volume 03 : Number 6570
_________________________________________________________________ | | Search the ARCHIVES: | http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED] | | Visit Richard Nott's Ultimate BMW Database: | http://www.bmwdatabase.com | | 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] Re: [uucdigest] removing cigarette smoke smell RE: [uuc] Too much power? RE: [uuc] Too much power? Re: [uuc] E38 Transmission Noise RE: [uuc] E46 M3 pricing [uuc] New Acronyms, was Seeking E36 FAQs [uuc] NYT Magazine - "2 Fast 4 Safety?" [uuc] <Seeking E36> FAQ [uuc] <OT> Floating on the e Bay Re: [uuc] Seeking E36 FAQs ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2003 09:31:33 -0400 From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [uuc] Re: [uucdigest] removing cigarette smoke smell Subject: [uuc] <misc> Anybody got a good suggestion for how to eliminate a bad cigarette smell from a car's interior. Have you tried "Ozium" (no, not opium). Its now available at car parts places. Liberally stray in a car and close up the windows overnight. This is the stuff the airport FBO's (Fixed Base Operator) use to kill the stench of someone blowing chow in a small airplane. It really works and doesn't leave a residual smell. Steve ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2003 09:37:05 -0400 From: "Robinson, Lee" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: RE: [uuc] Too much power? > > OTOH, the suspension is as supple but responsive as any BMW I have > driven. > And luxury-wise, BMW can not compare. Style-wise either....... > > Bora Lee->wishes he could afford a C230Kompressor/6 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2003 09:43:55 -0400 From: "Robinson, Lee" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: RE: [uuc] Too much power? > Neither BMW (nor Mercedes) tune their cars for the track; the > road is a far > bigger challenge. This may be one reason why commentators > rarely have a bad > word to say about BMW (or Mercedes) ride quality. Of course, it's > relatively simple and cheap to tune a BMW - or any car - for > the track. I know of a BMW that was tuned for the track........ > > Andy T Lee 88 M3........ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2003 09:54:14 -0400 From: "Felix Vicente" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [uuc] E38 Transmission Noise > So my father has a '95 740i. A trusted mechanic recently changed the > "lifetime" transmission fluid and now the transmission > whines. It's driving > my father crazy. > > The mechanic says he used a BMW brand filter and I have no > reason to doubt > him. I'm sure Brett will chime in on this in a second, but if the trusted mechanic did not use the BMW tranny fluid, stop driving the car until you get it swapped out. A few day's worth of rental car are FAR cheaper than a new tranny for an E38. We had the fluid changed in our e38 by the dealer 20k miles ago (with not even a raised eyebrow from my SA) and all is well. Our 525's PO had it done at Jiffy lube, and we ended up having to replace the tranny less than a year after we bought the car. Draw your own conclusions. - -felix miami,fl 97 540/6 and *that's* why I like manual trannys 98 740 95 525 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2003 11:07:59 -0400 From: "Dennis Liu" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: RE: [uuc] E46 M3 pricing Jay G wrote: >hey gruppe...what kinds of prices do you folks see for 2003 M3s??? the dealer here is asking 5k over sticker, but my salesman said the best he could do was 1k over sticker... just curious as to what others are seeing/paying...thanx in advance! __________________ Hah. In New England, most dealers will sell you one at sticker or a bit below, last I checked (admittedly a few months ago, but there's no reason to think that prices would have gone back UP). You may need to wait a few weeks, but OVER sticker? Forget about it. Also, the used E46 M3 price market is slowly collapsing, so as the spread between used and new prices widens, you'll see demand for new ones at sticker drop accordingly. vty, - --Dennis ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2003 12:35:00 -0400 From: "[EMAIL PROTECTED]" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [uuc] New Acronyms, was Seeking E36 FAQs This thread got me thinking we could use some new acronyms: FEP -- Frequently Experienced Problems Possibly more appropos, or however you spell that. RPM -- Recommended Preventative Maintenance I know, already means something else. TTWOFWB(FIB) -- Things To Watch Out For When Buying (fill in blank) Or perhaps the less cumbersome PPIC -- Pre-Purchase Inspection Checklist. Jay (Can you believe I burned two minutes of my lunch time on this, and now one of yours?!) ;-) ********************* > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Scott & Charlotte Miller [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Sent: Sunday, July 13, 2003 11:55 PM > > To: E30 Yahoo Group; UUC Digest > > Subject: [bimmerheads] Seeking E36 FAQs > > > > > > Hi groups, my wife and I have been searching for a car for > > our daughter to learn how to drive. We've decided to expand > > our search to E36 325iA's, about which I have not much > > knowledge. I know about the imploding plastic impeller water > > pumps and the Ulfish coils. I know about rear subframe mount > > problems on tracked cars. Can anyone direct me to a web site > > with FAQs on what else to look for on an E36? TIA. <SNIPPED> > > Thanks again for any help, > > > > Scott Miller ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2003 12:36:59 -0400 From: "Dennis Liu" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [uuc] NYT Magazine - "2 Fast 4 Safety?" This is a great article from the NY Sunday Times Magazine. vty, - --Dennis _____________________ http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/13/magazine/13WWLN.html?pagewanted=all&positi on= 2 Fast 4 Safety? By WALTER KIRN Out on the long, lonely highways of the West, the mythical backdrops for countless car commercials and millions of summer family vacations, the speed limits make criminals of everyone -- minor revolutionaries, even. Up ahead, nothing but sky and flattened jack rabbits. In the rearview mirror, ditto. How many more hours to Yellowstone National Park? With only the road signs themselves for landmarks, there's often no way to judge. And so, to convince himself that he's making progress, Dad kicks it up to 80, 85, and then -- as the kids start whining for a bathroom break -- to a solid 90; 90 feels right. Sure, it's against the law, but what's the law, particularly to an American with a V-8, an empty cooler and a full bladder? The law is a nag. The law is petty, irrelevant. Speed kills -- of course it does. But slowness tortures, particularly when the next town on the map (which may or may not turn out to be a town, in the sense of having a gas station or a store) is exactly 216 miles away. For anyone who has ever undergone such Western automotive agonies and reacted by putting human law aside and heeding natural law instead (Thou Shalt Reach Old Faithful Before Dark), no news could be more intriguing than the following: according to a recent academic study, raising speed limits to 70 miles per hour, and even higher, has no effect whatsoever on the death rates of young and middle-aged male drivers. That's right, guys: if you're under 65 and you find yourself cruising the great wasteland somewhere between Denver and Portland, say, you can rev things up with a clear conscience -- soon maybe even in Oregon, whose Legislature is considering upping its maximum speed limit from a poky, painful 65 to a brisk and wholesome 70. Like most studies that seem to grant us leave to indulge our lazy, bad habits, this one comes with an asterisk, unfortunately, that it would be cruel not to disclose (despite the fact that as a young male Westerner I'd love to bury the finding in a footnote): higher speed limits do increase the death rates of women and the elderly. The scientists can't agree on the reason for this discrepancy, and if they're wise they won't try, lest they end up confirming the prejudices of people like my old high-school buddy who cursed every time a female driver of any age had the nerve to appear in the mirrors of his Chevy Nova. Common sense would suggest a straightforward correlation between higher speed limits and the risk of accidents, but common sense also suggests -- out West, at least -- that when there's nothing to have an accident with, it's not momentum that matters but simple alertness. A few years ago in Montana, my home state, there was no posted speed limit on highways, just a vague rule about driving in a ''reasonable and prudent'' manner. This haziness forced motorists to think, adjusting their speeds according to the conditions while hoping that lurking state troopers agreed with them. I felt flattered by this invitation to use my judgment and drove more consciously than I ever had. I felt like a grown-up. Then they changed the law, instituting a top limit of 75 m.p.h. Suddenly, I was a rebellious child again. Whether it was day or night, raining or sunny, I treated 75 as a new minimum -- as the opening bid in a floating poker game. Seventy-five, you say? I'll raise you four. No sirens yet? I'll raise you six. Montana's highway death rate did drop -- at first -- but now it's back up, to near its highest levels. No one knows why, but when I'm feeling contrary I wonder if it's because, in certain realms, responsibility for your own decisions sharpens the senses, while regulations numb them. Or maybe I'm just nostalgic for that day when I was crossing the Badlands at 95 and a trooper pulled me over -- not to write me a ticket but to warn me that I was a mile from the North Dakota border and might want to save myself a little money by easing up some. I felt like tipping the guy. A friend of mine, Ross, a former Navy pilot who regularly drives between Phoenix and Seattle by way of empty Nevada, argues persuasively that velocity isn't as treacherous as it's said to be; the real risk is variations in velocity. ''When you're in the Navy flying formation at 350 knots'' he says, ''everybody's fine, but if one guy's going 340, you've got a problem.'' For Ross -- and I've heard of experts who agree with him -- unrealistically low speed limits widen the gap between law-abiding slowpokes and the restless majority, resulting in lots of risky passing maneuvers and general chaos. So what's the answer? Over in congested, brainy Europe, some people think they've found it, and they're testing it: a computer gizmo that makes the car decelerate when it hits the maximum posted speed on any given stretch of road. The system is complicated, involving satellites and Global Positioning gear. It's a grand opportunity for new bureaucracies and the further infantilization of the public in the name of the greater social good -- objectives Europeans value as highly as Americans value four-wheel drive. Think of it: the automobile as governess, slapping drivers' wrists when they get sassy. The device should include a taped lecture on immaturity that automatically takes over the stereo when somebody turns up Eminem too loud. Over there, they might go for this system, but not here -- not west of Maryland, at least. Our cars are supposed to deliver us from our parents, our teachers, our rulers, not sit in for them. There's a price to be paid for such liberty, naturally, although it's still unclear how high a price and how comfortable we feel paying it. That depends on which road you're on, I guess: one with a stoplight on every other block, or one that runs flat and straight to the horizon. A horizon that, no matter how fast we're driving, and no matter how often we reassure the kids that they'll spot Mount Rushmore any minute now, Americans know in our guts we'll never quite reach. Walter Kirn is the author, most recently, of ''Up in the Air,'' a novel. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2003 10:06:11 -0700 (PDT) From: Jonathan Brush <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [uuc] <Seeking E36> FAQ From: "Scott & Charlotte Miller" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [uuc sez: <SNIP> But I need evidence of timing belt replacement within the last 4 years or 50 miles, or else I add $400 for parts and labor, Hmmm, 4 yrs or 50 miles? I'd be suspicious right there.... Jon<----good at proofreading other people's work.... __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? SBC Yahoo! DSL - Now only $29.95 per month! http://sbc.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2003 13:15:56 -0400 From: "Michael Lawrence" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [uuc] <OT> Floating on the e Bay Cleaning out the storage shed and have several things on Ebay. Some BMW parts. No reserve. Here is the link to all of the auctions I think. http://tinyurl.com/gw4x thanks Mike ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2003 14:30:52 -0500 From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [uuc] Seeking E36 FAQs "Scott & Charlotte Miller" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hi groups, my wife and I have been searching for a car for our daughter > to learn how to drive. We've decided to expand our search to E36 325iA's, > about which I have not much knowledge. E36s are probably a safer and more competent choice for a first car. I would consider looking for '94-95 MY 325iA's with optional traction control or 318iA's to avoid any chance of rear wheel spin ;-). > I know about the imploding plastic impeller water pumps Post 6/96 production E36s are generally safe. But beware of radiators getting brittle with age and breaking upper necks between 40-75K miles. A spare OEM radiator can be had for under $150. > and the Ulfish coils. Not unheard of, but impossible to test. Bosch coils + spark plug extensions are the way to go at under $50/each. > I know about rear subframe mount problems on tracked cars. I've just replaced the 78K RTABs on my moderately tracked car and they looked almost good enough to keep for another 22+K miles. These, along with all rubber suspension bushings, should be check during a pre-purchase inspection (and the offer for the car adjusted accordingly). > any input on the mileage (longevity, not gas) we can expect from the > automatic transmissions on the '92 to '95 cars would be appreciated. Depends on the maintenance history. If the fluid and filter had never been changed and the car has 50+K miles, keep looking. BMW slush-boxes are fragile and require religious maintenance. GM and ZF E36 boxes are longer lasting than E30 ZF4HP22 ones, but not by much. BMW slush box fluid is very expensive ($15-30/quart, and it takes 12 quarts for a full flush), and frequently becomes the first corner cut by cheap/ignorant owners. > My preference is actually for an E30 six cylinder automatic Just say NO to ZF4HP22 trannies that came with E30 six cylinder automatics! > One car appeared to be leaking oil around the head gasket area All E36s eventually do it. Three new gaskets are $10. The other common leaks is the power steering fluid finding its way past the disposable clamps at the bottom of the fluid reservoir. E36 is a bit more maintenance Good luck with your search, alex f ------------------------------ End of [uucdigest] V3 #6570 *************************** | | 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! | |==================================================== | Turner Motorsport Inc . 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