[uucdigest] Thursday, July 24 2003 Volume 03 : Number 6597
_________________________________________________________________ | | 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: Carfax Re: [uuc] Re: Carfax Re: [uuc] E46 330iPP [uuc] e36 front ball joints and rear control arm bushings [uuc] Alignment Question Re: [uuc] [e34] My headlights melted. What are my options? RE: [uuc] Checklist for a track newbie [uuc] <misc> BBS stem caps [uuc] SOLVED: Issues removing front control arm/outer ball joints from Hub... Re: [uuc] Carfax/Brett Anderson/Professionalism Re: [uuc] <misc> BBS stem caps ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2003 00:23:47 -0400 From: Phil Marx <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [uuc] Re: Carfax Michael Lawrence wrote: >In my opinion, these are the only things carfax will tell you > SNIPPED > >2. It can show a registration trail that might scare me. I have seen cars >registered in 19 states in a matter of 2 years. That would make me walk on >a car as it would tend to make me believe it was either dumped from dealer >to dealer, owners bought it and discovered problems, so they traded it in >and the dealer knew the issue so sent it to another state to be auctioned >etc. Have yet to hear a good reason for so many registrations for 1 car in >so many states I was a dealer myself or worked for a dealer for nearly 25 years. Most state titles have dealer reassignments on them which will carry from dealer to dealer before someone makes a "title for resale" transaction or sells the car to a retail buyer. These transactions will never show on Carfax. It is quite possible for a car to pass from a dealer as a trade-in to a wholesaler, to an auction, to another dealer and then another or another without ever having a new title issue. And this means no registration. In Virginia, my state, even a new title for resale, which I had issued for every used car I bought just to authenticate in my mind that I had a good title, never meant the car was re-registered. Sorry, I think Carfax is a bunch of bunk that has been built up as some dealer tool and now is being used against the consumer. IMHO. - -Phil ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2003 00:39:41 -0400 From: "Michael Lawrence" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [uuc] Re: Carfax O I agree 100% with you Phil. I dont think it provides much of any useful information. I just find the registration trails can be entertaining. If I had to choose between a car that was registered here, no signs of every leaving here vs a car that has seen more of the country than I have, I would take the homely car, haha. Mike . ----- Original Message ----- From: "Phil Marx" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Michael Lawrence wrote: > >In my opinion, these are the only things carfax will tell you > > > SNIPPED > > > >2. It can show a registration trail that might scare me. I have seen cars > >registered in 19 states in a matter of 2 years. That would make me walk on > >a car as it would tend to make me believe it was either dumped from dealer > >to dealer, owners bought it and discovered problems, so they traded it in > >and the dealer knew the issue so sent it to another state to be auctioned > >etc. Have yet to hear a good reason for so many registrations for 1 car in > >so many states > > I was a dealer myself or worked for a dealer for nearly 25 years. > Most state titles have dealer reassignments on them which will carry > from dealer to dealer before someone makes a "title for resale" > transaction or sells the car to a retail buyer. These transactions > will never show on Carfax. It is quite possible for a car to pass > from a dealer as a trade-in to a wholesaler, to an auction, to > another dealer and then another or another without ever having a new > title issue. And this means no registration. In Virginia, my state, > even a new title for resale, which I had issued for every used car I > bought just to authenticate in my mind that I had a good title, never > meant the car was re-registered. > > Sorry, I think Carfax is a bunch of bunk that has been built up as > some dealer tool and now is being used against the consumer. IMHO. > > -Phil ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 23 Jul 2003 21:52:18 -0700 From: Bora Akyol (BMW) <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [uuc] E46 330iPP The wheels on my mini cooper s (17 inch R90) weighed about 50 lbs with run-flats. The difference when swapped to 35lb wheels+tire combo was noticeable. Bora ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 23 Jul 2003 22:18:17 -0700 From: "Clan Hood-Douda" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [uuc] e36 front ball joints and rear control arm bushings Our '95 325i has about 120K miles on the clock and I'm just now thinking that the front ball joints are at their service life, as well as rear control arm bushings. At about 20K miles I replaced the stock sport package suspension with H&R Sports/Bilstein Sports, using the M3 Lower Control Arm bushing in the front and the M3 front upper strut bearing as well. Rear upper strut mounts were replaced as well. A set of factory 17" M3 wheels completed the transformation. I've been noticing a bounce effect when transitioning across joints in the tarmac on city streets, where the rear seems to step out a bit when it unsettles. Is this a sign of worn rear control arm bushings? The front and rear shocks are still nice and firm, and the H&R springs are in good shape. Should I embark on this preventative maintenance program, is there an upgrade opportunity here? Like M3 rear control arm bushings or front lower control arms and ball joints? Thanks for any advice, Mike - --------------------------------------- Clan Hood-Douda - Arcadia Farm Lacomb, Oregon ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 23 Jul 2003 23:00:00 -0700 From: "Sumant Jayaraman" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [uuc] Alignment Question Can someone kindly shed light on the following: I can understand toe-in when spec'ed as an angle, how do they specify toe in units of length? Difference across a wheel diameter? Across some 'standard' length? TIA, Sumant ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 23 Jul 2003 23:08:11 -0700 From: "JS Nord" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [uuc] [e34] My headlights melted. What are my options? Many folks have reported good results with the US ellipsoids and a modified 9005 bulb. http://www.bmwe34.net/E34main/Upgrade/More_light.htm It's what I'm running and it's a vast improvement of the stock ellips with the 9006 bulb. No melting either. Jeff 90 535i - ----- Original Message ----- From: "Gary Derian" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, July 23, 2003 7:47 PM Subject: Re: [uuc] [e34] My headlights melted. What are my options? > I disagree. The Euro headlamp pattern is better, for low beams anyway. Any > ellipsoid lamp is rather poor. There is no really good solution for the > E34, at least not yet. > > Gary Derian > > > > The best beam pattern for E34 headlights is from the US-market > > ellipsoids. > > > > I had the Euro ellipsoids with the "smiley"... took them out and > > replaced them with the US version. > > > > - Rob > > > > ---- Original Message ---- > > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Subject: RE: [uuc] [e34] My headlights melted. What are my options? > > > > >I've had my 525it for just a few weeks now - one of the first things > > >I did > > >was order some hella 80W 9006 and 100W 9005 headlamp bulbs. > > > > > >Sunday night I got into a LONG stop-and-crawl backup near Dayton - > > >about 90 > > >minutes. Without the benefit of airflow, the 80W bulbs heated up the > > >plastic headlamp reflectors until lamp holder ring melted completely > > >off the > > >reflector and the bulbs fell into the engine bay. > > > > > >I stopped at a Walmart and found enough stuff to make a field repair. > > > I > > >glued the bulbs back into the reflectors with large gobs of epoxy > > >putty - > > >obviously, the bulb placement is a _little_ off - I need to buy new > > >headlights. > > > > > >I figure I will get some used replacements, but I might consider an > > >upgrade > > >if there is a reasonably price option (less than $250). > > > > > >Any sources for used European lighting? What's up with that "new, oe > > >quality" smileys on ebay? Any better US lights - from later years, > > >perhaps, > > >that would work as replacements? > > > > > >Maybe I could cut the glass off the sock lights and glue the Hellas > > >from my > > >e28 in the reflectors (just kidding!) > > > > > >Karl Zemlin > > >Indianapolis, IN > > >'94 525it - 98000 miles (wow, a ZERO on the left end of the odometer > > >- > > >haven't seen one of those for a long time) > > >'85 535i 5 speed - 219,000 miles - for sale real soon. Hellas sold > > >separately. > > > > > > > > > > > > > ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2003 09:46:21 +0200 From: "Pavel Tcholakov" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: RE: [uuc] Checklist for a track newbie E36 320i, 2.0 bar in front, 2.3 in the back as per manufacturer's specification. I know 1 bar is way too much, that's why I ask. Must be a mistake then... P. - -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Gary Derian Sent: Wednesday, July 23, 2003 6:08 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [uuc] Checklist for a track newbie 1 bar higher inflation is way too much. Your tire inflation depends on the car and tire among other things. What are your specs and your normal tire inflation? Gary Derian > Hello all, > > I'm about to take my white beauty to its first track day! :-) > > I'm sending the car for a service and overall examination next week, > but I'd appreciate any advice about do's and don't's on the racetrack. > I know about the fire extinguisher, helmet, oil, and masking the > headlights with tape... What else do you guys do? > > They recommend (in the club newsletter) inflating the tyres to 1 bar > above normal, why is that? Wouldn't that compromise roadholding or > does it make up for the smoother surface of the racetrack? > > Thanks! > > P. > > ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2003 06:34:53 -0500 (CDT) From: "Kevin Jay (Mr.Fabulous)" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [uuc] <misc> BBS stem caps Anybody know where I can get BBS valve stem caps (the newer style that covers the whole stem)? Some clever kid has been taking mine... - - Kevin Jay '96 328is, red/tan, 78K ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2003 08:12:03 -0400 From: "Chamberlain, Jesse" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [uuc] SOLVED: Issues removing front control arm/outer ball joints from Hub... SOLVED! Car: 0, Me: 1. I hammered away at the joint for a little while longer, trying to hit the nut straight on, and hitting the CA in different spots to try to loosen the ball joint (maybe about 20 minutes) and still nothing. So I went out to the local autozone store and bought a two pronged puller, 5 ton, 6", etc. Since I had the strut off, It was easy to put the two prongs around the hub metal near where the ball joint mounts, and then I placed the center bolt of the puller onto the ball joint bolt. I started tightening the pulley down, and had to even switch to my 2 ft torque wrench. I started turning and about after 5 turns, the ball joint popped out, and I mean it POPPED out. There was a very loud popping sound, so I knew either the ball joint was out, or I broke the hub! Luckily it was the ball joint. I then started on the other side, and after about 10 minutes of trying to use the pickle fork, I decided to just use the puller again. That side was just as easy as the other side with the puller. My car is now waiting to get new front control arms and new M3 offset CA bushings. Is there any reason why I shouldn't of used the puller? Thanks for all of your help, I really appreciate it. This list is a great source of information, and from one of the young (and still somewhat inexperienced) DIY'r, I appreciated reading this list and all the posts from the pro's out there. Jesse Chamberlain [EMAIL PROTECTED] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2003 08:37:11 -0400 From: "Eurowerks" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [uuc] Carfax/Brett Anderson/Professionalism Apologies to all! This was not personal to anyone. I have no right to waste the bandwidth of this forum with my rantings. I assure you all that this will not happen again. I have too much time and money invested in this career to lose interest and stop altogether. I owe you all. Thanks to everyone for the kind words and to the moderators for even letting that one through. Any help that I can give, I will do so freely. "Just one of those days" Kirk A. Gilchrist EURO-WERKS / Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Volvo Service and Repair 8 South Highland St. / Winchester, KY 40391 / 859-745-0125 [EMAIL PROTECTED] / 888-522-0271 toll free ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2003 08:42:12 -0400 From: "Eurowerks" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [uuc] <misc> BBS stem caps www.tirerack.com Kirk A. Gilchrist EURO-WERKS / Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Volvo Service and Repair 8 South Highland St. / Winchester, KY 40391 / 859-745-0125 [EMAIL PROTECTED] / 888-522-0271 toll free ------------------------------ End of [uucdigest] V3 #6597 *************************** | | 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 . The Ultra-High Performance BMW Specialist | 207 Elm Street, Amesbury, MA 01950 | 978-388-7769 / fax 978-388-4202 | http://www.turnermotorsport.com | |==================================================== | | UUC Motorwerks - BMW Performance Fine-tuning | and home of the Ultimate Short Shifter - accept no substitutes! | 908-874-9092 . http://www.uucmotorwerks.com |__________________________________________________________
