[uucdigest] Thursday, July 24 2003 Volume 03 : Number 6600
_________________________________________________________________ | | 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: Re: [uuc] e36 front ball joints and rear control arm bushings [uuc] Advice on 82 320i purchase for son [uuc] To someone I've never met [uuc] Re: Wanted Software Engineer Re: [uuc] Suspension Questions (E36) [uuc] Re: Karl's Melted Headlights [uuc] e30 eta exhaust RE: [uuc] SOLVED: Issues removing front control arm/outer ball joints from Hub... [uuc] re:E30 exhaust recommendation RE: [uuc] Advice on 82 320i purchase for son ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2003 12:01:07 -0500 From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [uuc] e36 front ball joints and rear control arm bushings "Clan Hood-Douda" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > 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. RTABs are overdue for a replacement. I'm less sure about the front control arm ball joints. Both can and should be visually inspected. > 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. Did you mean at 20K miles or 20K miles ago? If the former, your rubber pieces (CA bushings and RSMs) are likely due for another replacement. > 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? Yes. > The front and rear shocks are still nice and firm, and the H&R springs > are in good shape. Yep. Springs never wear out. Shocks do, but are virtually impossible to detect since their degradation is very linear. After 100K miles shocks are not new, but the only way to test them is to take them off the car. > Should I embark on this preventative maintenance program, is there an > upgrade opportunity here? Like M3 rear control arm bushings Yes. Reinforced by GC RTAB washers. > or front lower control arms and ball joints? This may be time for new front CA bushings. Arms themselves and their ball joints may or may not be OK. Take a closer look (or pay someone to do it for you) and proceed accordingly. alex f ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2003 12:08:07 -0500 From: "Castro-Miller, Steve" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [uuc] Advice on 82 320i purchase for son My son has found an 82 320i with ~125k miles that he wants to buy and I'm looking for advice. The fella selling it is a reputable friend and builder/racer of vintage small british cars. It has decent interior/exterior, paint is rough, but the thing has been sitting in his garage for 3+ years with the intake off. It needed to be "repaired". I know we will have to go through the fluids and hoses and any AC seals are probably shot. Battery and tires are good. He wants $300 as is. What else should I look for? How difficult is reassembly of the intake? Why would it need repair? Thanks. Steve Castro-Miller 88 735i w/191k miles ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2003 10:10:29 -0700 From: "T WALROD" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [uuc] To someone I've never met "I have too much time and money invested in this career to lose interest and stop altogether. I owe you all." Kirk, As far as I'm concerned you owe me nothing, unless we are talking in some sort of general business owner/customer terms. I am in the debt of anyone who knows and tells me about subject - especially when it's not likely that I will be paying for their services cross country. My thanks to you for posting and for not leaving the forum - you can't spend thanks, but know that I think well of you. (in my dealings with tenants who neglect to pay I would call the above statement "mouth full of thank-you and hand full of nothing at all", which is somewhat akin to "sorry don't pay no bills") Best wishes to you - may your week be full of gravy! Tom ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2003 10:22:13 -0700 (PDT) From: Jonathan Brush <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [uuc] Re: Wanted Software Engineer Gruppe: Sorry for the off topic post, but I lost/trashed the original post. Would the person who posted the job opening for the software engineer please contact me offline? Thanks, Jon Brush __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2003 13:19:54 -0400 From: "Gary Derian" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [uuc] Suspension Questions (E36) I would recommend that you stay with stock springs. Bilsteins may be a good choice for shocks, and change all the rubber parts and bushings. Use M3 parts where you can. Tramlining is mostly a tire issue. Try different toe settings. Gary Derian > Greetings all! > > Since we're on the suspension thread I'd like to ask a > few questions. I'm going to change out the suspension > in my 95 325i w/original sport package(169k) and would > like some advice. I would like to know what else I > should change besided the shocks, springs, and rear > shock mounts. My car is a daily driver and I don't do > any track or auto X events. I have 17" Hammans and > the car tramlines big time. Would a new set up get > rid of this?? I've been reading about the control > arms. Should I change these out too? Or just the > bushings? I really don't want the ride to get any > harsher but can put up with a little. I was thinking > of going with the Bilstien/HR set up but now I'm > leaning more towards either Bilstien/Eibach or > Koni/Eibach. I hear the Eibachs are a little more > forgiving when going over potholes or rr tracks. So > what would you all recommend?? Any help, tips, and > advice is very appreciated. TIA!! > > Manuel Paredes > 95 325i more mods to come! > L.A. BMWCCA > > > __________________________________ > Do you Yahoo!? > Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software > http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com > ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2003 10:29:54 -0700 From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [uuc] Re: Karl's Melted Headlights Karl, I forwarded your HeadlightMelt (tm) story to GGC member Larry Ayers, a lighting consultant who's name I must have mentioned here a few dozen times. Here's what he had to say. Scott >>> Scott: If Karl Zemlin is good with epoxy and fabrication, he may wish to modify his existing headlamps to use Hella 68137 low beam lamps (available from Susquehanna MotorSports, Fleetwood, PA 19522, Voice 610-944-3233, Fax 610-944-3234, 10AM-5PM, M-F: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [www.susquehanna.com/susq], [ www.rallylights.com]). They are called 90mm Low Beam headlamps (or high beam, but Karl's highbeams I assume are not damaged). Hella uses the same design in international Ford Focus headlamps and other applications. They use an H9 bulb, which has many fewer high power (melt power?) options. Hella also makes a smaller headlamp with similar performance and international legality, but smaller means probably lower performance. Since at this point the modification is just a concept, Karl would need to carefully consider dimensions before proceeding. Look at [http://www.hella.com/] for more details, but the 2002 pdf catalog showed dimensions that seem to be missing in the 2003 catalog. I'm sure that Ken Beard at Susquehanna can help, and he can probably order anything that is legal in this country. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Larry Ayers LC ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2003 13:40:33 -0400 From: "Norman Lieberman" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [uuc] e30 eta exhaust I put this Dynomax Turbo system in my '86 325es. IIRC it fits all 84-86 e30 eta single out cat back. Included some BMW numbered pieces. Great mellow sound at WOT. No sound cruising. Low price if still available. Was under $60 10 yrs ago. 1-Muffler 17730 1-pipe 41944 1- " 41134 1-? (hanger)? 35717 1- hanger 35711 3-clamps 211 Easy install, lasted 7-8 yrs. HTH. Norman Lieberman '97 528/5 in pa. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2003 10:48:46 -0700 From: "KKiely" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: RE: [uuc] SOLVED: Issues removing front control arm/outer ball joints from Hub... Jesse, Congrats on getting the ball joints out. There are some inexpensive ball joint removal tools out there and some more universal more expensive lever types. But if there is room your method is perfectly fine. When putting the new arms or ball joints back you need to push up on the conical section to get a friction fit with the inner section. Otherwise, the ball joints shaft will just rotate. I've heard of guys fabricating a dowel and rope into a kind of tourniquet around the arm and "hub" to wedge the joint to allow for tightening of the nut. - -Kevin ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2003 14:03:32 -0400 (EST) From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [uuc] re:E30 exhaust recommendation Dave ('84 Eta) asks >Just looking for a good exhaust system without spending Supersprint money > on my eta. (places to buy?) dave, what are you looking for? <$200 cheap, quiet, ok fit, lasts ~1-2 years (bosal, ansa, eberspaecher) <$200 cheap, noisy, custom fit, lasts ~1-2 years (custom @ your muffler shop) $500+ expensive, quiet or noisy, good fit, lasts ~forever I went with a Dynomax wide-open muffler and got my local muffler shop to weld and bend pipe to fit my 2002.. worked great and was pretty cheap. It's a summer car and I wasn't too worried about longevity, plus I had no cash! For my E30 I went with Bosal replacement the first time, then <2 years later (after it rusted out), I put in an Ernst Stainless Steel sport system (they are from Germany, I was a guinea pig for my local bmw garage), that lasted about 3 years and the pipes rusted out.. now I have a Stebro (http://www.stebro.net) all stainless steel system. So - -if you want dead quiet and only want a couple of years out of it, go with the regular bosal/eberp/ansa bunch.. - -if you want sporty sound for cheap money, check out Dynomax and talk to your local muffler shop - -if you want something that will last a little longer, go with Stainless steel (stebro, supersprint, eisenmann, etc) BUT watch out with the stainless systems- make sure that the whole system is stainless (pipes + muffler) as some of the ones out there have steel pipes and stainless cans.. And realize that if you keep the car another 4+ years, it's probably cheaper to go with high quality rather than a few lower quality ones (and associated labour costs each time) chris pawlowicz ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2003 14:05:37 -0400 From: "Zidlicky, Peter" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: RE: [uuc] Advice on 82 320i purchase for son My advice would be pass. I am a prior owner of a '81 320i and am on my third E30 ... the latter are much better cars from a power, comfort and suspension perspective. If funds are limited try the '84-'85 318i. My gut is that this won't cost you too much more. In general, you're probably much better off buying a car that's already running versus one where you're going to have to throw an unknown amount of money into just to get the thing moving ... with the former, you're guaranteed that things will break over time but you have time on your side ... you may end up spending more than you expect in this case and be disappointed with the way the car performs etc. Here's a snapshot of the various models to choose from and their pluses/minuses: 318i/320i - Cheap to buy and operate but pretty well worn by now, in most cases. Also, in a hot climate, with air conditioning, performance suffers way too much. Small car. Decent sized trunk. Feels more like a sporty handling economy car than a sports car. 325(e,es) (to mid '80s) - This is a much nicer appointed car. Many improvements over 320i. Very economical to buy and operate. The performance is brisk and FUN! Don't worry about the small 121bhp number, subjectively, it is very torqey and willing to go (it is lighter than the 5 series cars). The interior feels like a close fitting cockpit (because it's pretty small) but not cramped for the driver. Easy to drive. It is cramped for back seaters. Decent sized trunk. Much better gas milage than a 535i. The 2 door is probably better for a sports car because it may be a bit lighter and more rigid. There are lots of cars available. I really considered one of these, based on the fun/$. 325i, is - Very much like the 'e but with the 2.5 liter higher reving version of the baby-six engine. Better acceleration, especially at the high end. Somewhat less smooth and refined. Somewhat less mpg. Somewhat more expensive. I pulled the above from the following site: http://www.unofficialbmw.com/main.html Hope this helps. Peter '88 M3 '90 325ic formerly '91 318i and '81 320i >From: Castro-Miller, Steve > >My son has found an 82 320i with ~125k miles that he wants to buy and I'm >looking for advice. The fella selling it is a reputable friend and >builder/racer of vintage small british cars. It has decent >interior/exterior, paint is rough, but the thing has been sitting in his >garage for 3+ years with the intake off. It needed to be "repaired". I >know we will have to go through the fluids and hoses and any AC seals are >probably shot. Battery and tires are good. He wants $300 as is. What >else should I look for? How difficult is reassembly of the intake? Why >would it need repairr This message is intended only for the use of the individual or entity to which it is addressed, and may contain information that is privileged, confidential and exempt from disclosure under applicable law. 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