[uucdigest] Friday, September 26 2003 Volume 03 : Number 6781
_________________________________________________________________ | | 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 M3 Wheel Questions [uuc] test Re: [uuc] Now that we're in the diff...was re: opening up the diff case Re: [uuc] E36 M3 Wheel Questions [uuc] M roadster wheel question [uuc] Info on towing? [uuc] PARTS WANTED: CLUTCH FOR 1991 M5 Re: [uuc] PARTS WANTED: CLUTCH FOR 1991 M5 [uuc] race cars for sale... RE: [uuc] Road noise... continued. Rear wheel bearing (was Re: [uuc] Road noise... continued.) RE: [uuc] Peculiar steering problem - bad bushings? Bad ball joints? E38 740iL ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 12:38:11 -0400 From: ben keyes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [uuc] E36 M3 Wheel Questions AFAIK, unless the ETK part description says "forged" they're cast. IIRC there are two forged designs, the 5-spokes which were optional on '96-'99 cars and the 5-split spokes which were standard on the '95 LTW M3, but I may be wrong. As Matt has noted, the 10-double spokes with "Motorsport" on them are known to be a relatively soft wheel, a problem execerbated by the OE fitment on 95 M3's of the 235/40-17 tyre. I'd assume you'd run a 235/45 as that's the same diameter as the rest of the E28/E34 tire selections, so you might gain some measure of protection against pothole damage. Stagger if you want to induce understeer and/or look cool run the same size if you want to be able to rotate tires and have a more neutral package. but you knew that. Ben adjusts the diff to adjust the handling :-P Brad Couvillon wrote: > Does anyone have any information on how these wheels > are made? I'm specifically wondering if they're all > forged or if only the "Double Spoke, Forged" wheel is. > I have a feeling pretty much anything that's not cast > will be stronger than the 14" steel wheels already on > the car, although a thinner sidewall may not protect > the stronger wheel as much as if I had a 14" wheel > with a 70-section tire. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 15:08:04 -0400 From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [uuc] test test FINALLY I THINK it is working ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 15:09:38 -0400 From: "Gary Derian" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [uuc] Now that we're in the diff...was re: opening up the diff case A low head socket head bolt is a standard item. Try a fastener place, or McMaster Carr. Gary Derian > I agree that the rear cover should be opened on every "new" diff for > inspection. I'd like to relate our experience with this...we have had a > mechanical failure/impending failure with four BMW LSD's. At 150k > miles, the diff in our '87 535is failed. Upon inspection at the dealer, > it was noted that the cast iron spider (that contains the clutch > assembly) had cracked and spewed bits if metal into the ring/pinion. > The failure resulted after the eight socket head bolts fixing the spider > to the ring gear plate had loosened. Looking into the differential, the > tech noted that this was a "one in a million" failure. We cleaned out > the shrapnel and I drove the car home for repair. I got a used LSD to > install in the 535, mileage unknown, and opened it up to perform a > general inspection. All eight spider bolts were loose! We tightened > the bolts with a cut-off allen key and the diff is still running after > 60k miles. > > Next, we got a 4.10 LSD from a 90k mile (?) E30 M3 for our track E30 > 325i. Inside and out the diff looked great. After opening the case for > a closer inspection, the eight spider bolts were loose again. This > happened one more time with another M3 diff for the other track car. > > Everyone I speak to says that the BMW diffs are bulletproof, and I don't > disagree. But this doesn't agree with my experiences. I can't believe > that I every time I checked the spider bolts, they were loose. Not "one > in a million", but 4 out of 4 in my case. > > We have found that just reaching-in and tightening these bolts with the > cut-off allen key isn't good enough - at least on the track cars. We > now remove the ring gear assembly so we can properly > clean/loctite/torque these bolts. While there we replace the output > shaft seals and inspect the bearings. So far so good... > > Sorry for the long lead-in to my questions: > > - Has anyone else see this problem? > - These bolts are a very unusual M8x1.0x16 / Gr 10.9 low-profile > socket-head. Does anyone have a source for these or a substitute? > - Does anyone know the correct torque for these bolts? The diff R&R > procedure in the BMW E30 workshop manual refers to this part as the > "case cover." I think this is an error since the TIS lists the case > cover bolts as M10. I imagine that the case cover is the rear cover - > duh. Either way, without a definitive torque spec for these bolts, we > use 40Nm from our reference chart for M8x1.0 Gr 10.9. This is probably > too high since the heads begin to deform at this value. > > Any insight will be appreciated. Thanks. > > Bob > > '99 M3 Coupe > '97 M3 Coupe > '92 325is > '89 325i (Track car) > '88 325is (Track car) > '88 325is (R&T) > '89 Suburban > ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 17:11:26 -0400 From: "Brian Daley" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [uuc] E36 M3 Wheel Questions Matt, If you have trouble balancing the bent rims or are otherwise bothered by it there is probably at least one wheel repair shop in your area that will straighten them for a reasonable price. Depending on the shop dismounting, remounting, and balancing may all be included in the price. As an aside, as they're in the business of repairing and refinishing wheels they're also good places to get tires mounted - they know how to do it without scratching your rims. I know of two shop of this type in the Boston area alone. If you can't find one locally there are also shops that will do them by mail. Shipping on wheels and tires gets expensive though. Brian - ----- Original Message ----- <snipped> > My rims have BMW Motorsport emblazoned on them which adds a rather > nifty touch although it could also be seen as overkill. As for > strength - 3 of my rims are bent (apparently badly, I didn't mount > the tires myself) so these rims probably aren't the strongest in the > world BUT they're reported to be stronger than the > aftermarket/replica rims. Purchasing new rims would obviously negate > any straightness issues but at a significantly higher cost. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 16:42:53 -0500 From: "Joe Holley" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [uuc] M roadster wheel question Does anyone know if recent (last couple of year model) 18 or 19 inch M# wheels will fit a 1999 M roadster? Comments on wheel upgrades from anybody? Thanks, Joe ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 16:25:46 -0700 (PDT) From: Randall Clark <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [uuc] Info on towing? I need to tow my son's '90 525i - 5 speed about 300 miles this weekend. Can a dolly be used and if so, do I need to disconnect the driveshaft? Randy __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? The New Yahoo! Shopping - with improved product search http://shopping.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 18:53:01 -0700 From: "Chris Marino" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [uuc] PARTS WANTED: CLUTCH FOR 1991 M5 Group, I'm looking for the whole enchilada: clutch, pressure plate, throw-out bearing for a 91 M5....Anyone? Chris ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 20:08:16 -0700 From: marco <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [uuc] PARTS WANTED: CLUTCH FOR 1991 M5 http://www.buyclutch.com/ Highly recommended. prices afaik can't be beat. Marco Chris Marino wrote: > Group, > > I'm looking for the whole enchilada: clutch, pressure plate, throw-out > bearing for a 91 M5....Anyone? > > Chris > > ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Sep 2003 00:10:41 -0500 From: Neil <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [uuc] race cars for sale... http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=6755&item=2433893507 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Sep 2003 08:44:51 -0400 From: "DUNLAP, LARRY" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: RE: [uuc] Road noise... continued. Jacked it up, put it on jack stands, started it up and ran it through the gears... noise still there, guess that eliminates the tires... so much for the easy fix... :^( Left it idling in gear, with the tires moving, climbed under the rear, and yep there it is... left rear bearing grumbling. Shut it off, take it out of gear, move the tire by hand, and yep you can feel it as the wheel turns... back in the house, crack a beer, start searching the archives... most posts deal with horror stories related to the rear bearings on E30's. How bad is it on the E36's? Is this do-able for a back yard mechanic with a pretty good set of tools and skills, or should I just drop it off and let someone else deal with the aggravation? Thanks to all who responded! - -Larry - ------------------------------------ >Car has 205k on it, don't know if they are the original bearings, but in my working >on the car the previous >owner obviously took very good care of it, because many, many parts had already been >replaced. I do >have snow tires for it, but they are wicked loud too! Sounds like it's definitely >coming from the rear end. >My only experience with bad bearings, the sound was definitely audible outside the >car as it was moving, >but there is no apparent noise coming from outside the car, seems to be strictly in >the cabin this time. Don't >know if it's related or not, but it does shudder *slightly* under moderate braking, >and has brand new pads, >rotors, ball joints, struts and shocks on it. That's why I was thinking something >bushing or tire related in the >rear... I was going to try rotating the tires tonight and check the bearings >tonight... - ------------------------------------ >Some tires get noisy as they age. My wife's M3/4 has the Bridgestone 730's on it, >and they're very >noisy even though they have over 1/2 tread left. *Serious* droning noise, however, >sounds like >wheel bearings. How many miles on the car? >Speaking of snow tires, if you have an extra set of tires you can swap them to >quickly determine if >they are the culprit. Otherwise, you can jack up the car and check the fronts to see >if there's >play in the bearings and if they rotate cleanly. - ------------------------------------ > 1993 318is... over the last week or so, road noise has become excessive! Almost > sounds like snow > tires on the car. By the time I'm in 3rd gear, it drowns out all other noise... > BFG Comp T/A's, PLENTY > of tread on them... what gives? Do tires suddenly get that noisy? Or is something > else amiss? Subframe > bushings or ? I don't think it's bearings... any ideas? ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Sep 2003 08:43:30 -0700 From: Kurt Zimmerman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Rear wheel bearing (was Re: [uuc] Road noise... continued.) Larry, First check to see if your local club has the right tool. Some do, but usually only if you are part of a big chapter. If you can borrow the right tools, I believe that the bearing is only $50 or something like that. The last time I needed to do this I couldn't find the tool locally. I found that by the time I rented the tools and purchased the parts, that I would end up spending almost $150. I found a local tech to do it for $250. For me it was well worth the $100 extra to let somebody else do it. YMMV - -Kurt DUNLAP, LARRY wrote: > >Jacked it up, put it on jack stands, started it up and ran it through the gears... >noise still there, guess that >eliminates the tires... so much for the easy fix... :^( Left it idling in gear, >with the tires moving, climbed >under the rear, and yep there it is... left rear bearing grumbling. Shut it off, >take it out of gear, move the tire >by hand, and yep you can feel it as the wheel turns... back in the house, crack a >beer, start searching the archives... most posts deal with horror stories related to >the rear bearings on E30's. How bad is it >on the E36's? Is this do-able for a back yard mechanic with a pretty good set of >tools and skills, or should >I just drop it off and let someone else deal with the aggravation? Thanks to all >who responded! > >-Larry > > > > > ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Sep 2003 12:36:54 -0400 From: "Dennis Liu" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: RE: [uuc] Peculiar steering problem - bad bushings? Bad ball joints? E38 740iL To follow up on this problem... I'm just reporting this so others that have the same symptoms might know what the diagnosis might be. Brett was (as usual) correct, as was Steven Schlossman. It was failure of the ball joints. And Lower control arms. And, for that matter, upper caster arms. And Outer tierods. And Centerlink. With an alignment tossed in. So... Caster arms were $138 apiece, Control arms were $181 apiece, centerlink was $150, tierods were $36.25 and alignment was $75. Total labor was $562.50. Grand total of $1,434.50. Ouch. Still, the car feels great (though I haven't driven it very much yet), and I should be ready for ANOTHER 114k miles. The shop that did my work was 3D Autoworks in Nashua, NH, Dan Maynard in particular, and I'm quite happy. vty, - --Dennis - -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of KMS - Brett Anderson Sent: Sunday, September 07, 2003 9:29 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: [uuc] Peculiar steering problem - bad bushings? Bad ball joints? E38 740iL Check the rear ball joints. They're a problem on the E39/E38 and could result in the exact scenario you describe. Brett Anderson KMS > -----Original Message----- > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Dennis Liu > Car: 1995 740iL, ~113k miles. >Issue: When entering a fast, left-hand sweeper, and I steer the car left, > the car starts to turn left, then I get a sensation that the front end > "rolls over", and then the steering gets a little vague but the nose tucks > and the car does track left. The sensation is as if the right > front tire is > very low on pressure, and the car is rolling over onto the sidewall. This > is most notable at speeds above, say, 30 mph. N.B., no similar sensation > when steering RIGHT. ------------------------------ End of [uucdigest] V3 #6781 *************************** | | 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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