The BMW UUC Digest Volume 2 : Issue 86 : "text" Format Messages in this Issue: Re: e46 330i Understeer Re: e46 330i Understeer Re: Lug Bolts for SSR Competition Wheels - Will OEM Fit? Re: HUH? E39 versus E46 luggage capacity <E36> Which Optima Battery? Stub Axle f/ E30 LSD Diff? Re: Stub Axle f/ E30 LSD Diff? Re: E36 steering rack in E30 Re: <E36> Valve cover replacement thoughts E30 LSD Diff? Re: E30 LSD Diff? Re: E30 LSD Diff? Re: E30 LSD Diff? Re: E30 LSD Diff? Re: E30 stub axle installation problem
---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2004 18:30:02 -0000 From: "Andrew Thomas" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: e46 330i Understeer Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Roger <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: "So is it me, or has anybody found that the e46's qualify as "plowing pigs" in the handling department?" My old, tweaked E36 318is had less understeer than my bone stock E46 318i, but it also had less grip. I find the E46 to be very sensitive to the type of tyre fitted; I recently ditched four half-worn PE Dunlop SP2000s for a set of Pirelli P Zero Neros (Neroes?), and the car is transformed, allowing me to carry much more speed into a bend (when nanny electronics disengaged) and resisting understeer in transient conditions. In fact I think the Pirellis' general wet-weather grip is greater than that of the Dunlops in the dry. Certainly I would have no problem comfortably outcornering any SUV being driven by an average driver, as a couple of Cayenne drivers recently discovered :). Then again, a typical SUV driver would soil his trousers before discovering the cornering limits of his "car". Though I have no doubt that a professional hand can make a distinctly average car go improbably fast round bends and there's no reason this can't apply to SUVs... FWIW two E46-owning friends have cars fitted with Bridgestones, and have been unimpressed with the grip on offer. What tyres do you have, Roger? Andy T '318i 2.0. Pirellis. Much better now ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2004 15:33:18 -0800 From: "Scott & Charlotte Miller" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "UUC Digest" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: e46 330i Understeer Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Roger, I have a couple of thoughts, but this is generic advice, not specific to the E46. I don't know if any of this applies to you or not. Feel free to ignore this if you're already beyond these. 1. Factory-specified tire pressures are higher pressures in back, lower in front. This creates a lot of understeer right out of the box. If this is what you've been running, try boosting front pressures so that they are a few PSI above the rears. 2. If you have staggered wheel and tires sizes - wider in back, narrower in front - that also sets up understeer. (You alluded to this by talking about balancing the tire sizes.) Try to find someone selling an extra set of rear wheels to match yours and put them on the front. HTH, Scott Miller GGC BMW CCA >Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2004 11:40:31 -0800 >From: Roger Baker <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: UUC Digest <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: e46 330i Understeer >Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >So is it me, or has anybody found that the e46's qualify as "plowing >pigs" in the handling department? Don't get me wrong, overall it's still >a good handling car, but when I drive my e36 M3 the balance & turn in >response is so much better it's not even funny. The steering & throttle >response is much more precise on the e36 too. Coming down from Lake >Arrowhead In my 2002 330i (with sport package) the other day a guy in a >new Ford Explorer was almost keeping up with me in the corners and my >front tires were squealing with understeer pain while I was having some >fun staying in front of him. Throttle steering in this thing has little >effect (if you're used to being precise) as the e-wire throttle responds >way too slow. I've just knocked in the factory alignment pins in the >front upper strut mounts to get a hair more negative camber and am going >to check the alignment & reduce toe if there's much in there. Anyone >else find any simple mods (this is just my daily driver) to balance the >car better? The tires are probably good for about 1 more year, so I'll >probably wait a bit to try & balance those sizes out. Ah hell, maybe >I'll just have to put in coil-overs with adjustable dampers & higher >spring rates and realign the whole mess so it feels right. >-- >Roger Baker ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2004 08:50:55 -1000 From: Jay G <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Lug Bolts for SSR Competition Wheels - Will OEM Fit? Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> yup...from tirerack...they sent me a new set of 20 chrome lug bolts with my wheel purchase...ssr comps, 17x8, bought with 235/40/17 michelin pilot mxx3s... and sorry if others on the list think this communication should have been sent privately...i just thought maybe someone else can benefit from it... ----- Original Message ----- From: "The Corbs" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Huh. Was that from the Tire Rack? ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2004 14:32:58 -0500 From: Phil Marx <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: "Murray Wilks" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: HUH? E39 versus E46 luggage capacity Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Murray Wilks wrote: >Can someone please help clear up something for me? > >We are looking at getting either a used E39 or E46 wagon. > >However, according to the BMW documentation we have, the E46 wagon has more >storage capacity??? > >In litres, these are the numbers quoted by BMW (rear seats up / rear seats >down): > > >E39 = 410 / 1525 > >E46 = 435 / 1617 > >I've cross-referenced several BMW items and they all quote the same numbers. > >How can a 3 series wagon have more space than a 5 series??? BMW NA figures are quite different: E39 w/moonroof = 32.1/63.9 cubic feet E46 w/moonroof = 25.7/na I'm not going to try a metric conversion from cu.ft. to liters! I'd have to say a side-by-side comparison might be in order for you. No way the Three is larger than the 5. NA figures has the E39 nearly 25% larger than the E46 and your figures show it 5% smaller. Another consideration is that NA figures are "EPA cargo volume" which used to be measured using varying sizes of boxes as standard measurement units. DIN was equivalent to filling the area with ping-pong balls and then measuring the volume of the balls used. One is more useful than the other depending on whether you carry your socks and underwear loose in the back of the car or in a suitcase! -Phil Marx ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2004 13:35:51 -0600 From: "Christian Els" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "UUC Digest \(E-mail\)" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: <E36> Which Optima Battery? Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> The battery in my '94 325i has finally stopped holding a charge more than 3-4 days so I'm looking for an Optima (or competitor) spiral-cell, gel-type battery to replace the traditional one that's dying. I'm finding that Optima doesn't list a direct replacement for a Group 92 battery. Which Optima have you found will fit in an E36 battery box, by size/capacity/model number? This car sees very irregular use so I'm also debating red- vs. yellow- top, anyone have an informed opinion? Also, did you have to perform any mods to the hold down hardware to secure it? Looks like I'll be running the E36 for the first autoX event this year since I just don't have time to get the E30 off the jackstands by then. Or else I'm bumming a ride... Cheers, Christian Els Columbia, MO ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2004 14:58:01 -0500 From: "Mitchell Morrison" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Stub Axle f/ E30 LSD Diff? Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Do the LSD and non LSD e30 325i stub axles interchange? I bought a diff w/ no stub axles and noticed the flange thickness @ the axle shaft is thicker on the LSD's vs. the non LSD's. HTK shows no difference but the parts are different. Thanks ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2004 18:16:51 -0500 From: "Brett Anderson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "UUC Digest" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: Stub Axle f/ E30 LSD Diff? Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> They're all the same for the same year/etc. There were a few variations of the axles between early and late cars, but as long as they have the same bolt pattern, they're interchangeable. Brett Anderson www.bmwdiffs.com KMS > -----Original Message----- > Do the LSD and non LSD e30 325i stub axles interchange? > I bought a diff w/ no stub axles and noticed the flange thickness > @ the axle shaft is thicker on the LSD's vs. the non LSD's. > HTK shows no difference but the parts are different. > ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2004 15:48:36 -0800 From: "Scott & Charlotte Miller" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "UUC Digest" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: E36 steering rack in E30 Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Yes, as others have said, Zionsville sells a kit to put the E36 rack in an E30. However, this is not recommended for airbag-equipped cars due to the difficulty of the installation. Bill Arnold did this for one of his race cars, and then he said he'd never do it again. If Bill would never do it again, I sure as heck am not gonna try it. But those who have done the conversion on their non-airbag cars love the results. Scott Miller GGC BMW CCA 1990 325i 1991 325iA >Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2004 08:53:47 +0000 >From: "Gregory Bradbury" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Subject: E36 steering rack in E30 >Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >For all E30 fans there is a VERY well done German site, E30.de, provided you >speak / read German. One VERY good idea I found there is a "poor man's >solution" for quicker steering on the E30. > >A std E30 is nearly 4.5 turns lock to lock. The common upgrade is to use an >M3 E30 steering gear with a quicker ratio. The (natural) bad part is the >price of the steering gear. <snip> ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2004 20:07:26 -0500 From: "[EMAIL PROTECTED]" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: <E36> Valve cover replacement thoughts Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Thanks for the scoop, Marc. I need to do this before tracking my '93 iS this season. Now, about that distilled water... ;-) Jay ********** > Having just done my first valve cover replacement, I thought I'd document a couple of the spots that > caused me to stop and puzzle for a bit. The job took about 1:30-2:00 the forst time through, though > I figure it would easily be done in an hour next time through. In the future I'll couple it with > replacing the plugs. since getting the the coil packs out accounts foa chunk of the work required. > > Symptom. when changing spark plugs, one of them was oily above the threads, so I had seepage from > the seal in the spark plug access hole. <<<SNIPPED>>> > Marc Plante > E36 325i, 220k > E36 M3/4, 49k > Vienna, VA ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2004 20:24:23 -0500 From: "Robert Jackowitz" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: E30 LSD Diff? Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Anyone know if there is way to tell if my recently purchased E30 had an LSD? It's a little hard to make out the part no. on the diff itself as there is a bit of surface rust. Would the VIN hold any clues? Thanks, Rob ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2004 20:29:44 -0500 From: Ed MacVaugh <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: E30 LSD Diff? Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Jack up the rear end, take the car out of gear. spin one rear tire. If the other goes the same direction, you have LSD, if it goes in the other direction, you have an open diff. VIN won't reveal this, others could have swapped diffs. Ed Robert Jackowitz wrote: >Anyone know if there is way to tell if my recently purchased E30 had an >LSD? >It's a little hard to make out the part no. on the diff itself as there >is a bit of surface rust. >Would the VIN hold any clues? >Thanks, >Rob > > ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2004 20:46:11 -0500 From: Steven Schlossman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: E30 LSD Diff? Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> At 8:24 PM -0500 3/14/04, Robert Jackowitz wrote: >Anyone know if there is way to tell if my recently purchased E30 had an >LSD? >It's a little hard to make out the part no. on the diff itself as there >is a bit of surface rust. A LSD would normally have an S on the metal tag attached to the diff. The other way is to raise the rear and rotate your right side tire. If the left spins, it's a LSD. >Would the VIN hold any clues? Doubt it. Who knows what the previous owner did? -- ...steven TechFest East http://www.nccbmwcca.org/techfesteast 2003 Mini Cooper S 1996 BMW 328ti ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2004 18:10:18 -0800 From: "Bora Akyol (BMW)" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "[EMAIL PROTECTED]" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: E30 LSD Diff? Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> That is, if the other wheel spins in the same direction, then it is an LSD as Ed said. On 3/14/04 5:46 PM, "Steven Schlossman" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > The other way is to raise the rear and rotate your right side tire. > If the left spins, it's a LSD. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2004 21:48:47 -0500 From: "Gary Derian" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: E30 LSD Diff? Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> If you can't tell by driving, it doesn't matter <grin>. Accelerate hard from a stop while turning. That will show you what you have. Testing the unit under load really tells you what's up. Jack the rear off the ground. Leave the transmission in gear. If one rear wheel turns easily and the other turns the opposite direction, you have an open rear end or a Quaife (unlikely but possible). If one turns only with great force (40 to 50 ft-lb), and the other turns the opposite direction, you have limited slip. If the force to turn a tire is lower, the limited slip is worn. If you have a limited slip, and you do this test with the transmission in neutral, the wheels will turn easily and both will turn the same direction. Gary Derian > Anyone know if there is way to tell if my recently purchased E30 had an > LSD? > It's a little hard to make out the part no. on the diff itself as there > is a bit of surface rust. > Would the VIN hold any clues? > Thanks, > Rob > > Search the ARCHIVES:http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > __________________________________________________________________________ > In memory of Michel Potheau - friend, enthusiast, founder of the BMW CCA. > > UUC Motorwerks - BMW Performance Fine-tuning and home of the Ultimate > Short Shifter - accept no substitutes! > 908-874-9092 . http://www.uucmotorwerks.com > ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2004 21:20:36 -0600 From: "Sam Drake" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: E30 stub axle installation problem Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> I ran into this little bear about year ago except that I realized what the problem was going to be before I destroyed the bearing. Boy was I furious about the Bentley "reverse the process" statement. They couldn't have tried that before writing that procedure. After looking the situation over very carefully and fretting for a couple of days on what to do including trying to rent a bearing tool (Cost significant money and had to wait for shipping) I took matters into my own hands. I took some burnishing cloth, (extremely fine grit sand paper) and carefully polished the teeth back along the tooth far enough to allow the spline to go in far enough to grab the nut. I reasoned that the remaining unburnished part when pulled in by the nut would have to provide the tight fit. This took many trial insertions by hand and hitting on the end of the spline to get it back out. I polished for about 1 hour, giving each side of each tooth equal number of strokes. I used a popsicle stick to press the emery cloth into the teeth after trimming the edge to have the profile of the space between the teeth. I flushed the grit with WD40 spray before each trial. On first try or two it didn't appear that I was doing much but then it started to slide in a little further on each try. I continued this process until it reached the nut. I had the axel and hub on a bench while doing this. Once I had assured that I could press the stub in far enough by hand I installed all parts on the car, reversing the process for disassembly. Perhaps I have set the stage for some kind of wear that causes the stub to be loose some day but I have about 15000 miles on the new bearing with no change apparent. Perhaps someone here will boo this process but I am enjoying my ride and have since done the other bearing the same way. I seriously doubt anything is to going to work loose but just to be on top of things I recently retorqued the nut torque but got no movement. I was careful not to burnish the full length of the spline. By now you have probably solved this but maybe someone else can benefit down the line. -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Brett Anderson Sent: Sunday, March 14, 2004 10:30 AM To: UUC Digest Subject: Re: [UUC] E30 stub axle installation problem Start with a new wheel bearing to replace the one you just destroyed. Then use the appropriate pieces of the wheel bearing installation tool kit to install the hub. Then you'll need the axle install kit to get the axle through the hub. ----------------------------------------------------- BMW Special Tool Rentals Pay per incident tech support ----------------------------------------------------- Brett Anderson KMS (440) 338 1650 www.koalamotorsport.com OSS committee member > -----Original Message----- > I've run into a bit of trouble with a rear axle repair project on my '89 > E30 iX. The original was removed using a puller to push the stub axle > out of the hub (per Bentley). Bentley says the installation is the > reverse, yada yada, but there is obviously no way to use the same puller > to install the new part. > > After digging around a bit, it looked like I just needed to drive the > new part into the hub far enough to get the hub nut on there and then > use that to pull it the rest of the way in. I managed to drive it in > almost to the point where I can get to the threads before it simply > started pushing off the hub itself. > > So now I'm stuck: stub axle not far enough in to get a nut on the > threads (maybe need another 1/4 inch or so) and the hub has now been > pushed out a 1/2 inch or so. > > BTW, the splines were clean and rust free and I lubed them with a thin > coat of bearing grease before getting started. > > Any thoughts on how to get myself out of this little bind? > > Thanks in advance for the wisdom. > > --Jeff Search the ARCHIVES:http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED] __________________________________________________________________________ In memory of Michel Potheau - friend, enthusiast, founder of the BMW CCA. UUC Motorwerks - BMW Performance Fine-tuning and home of the Ultimate Short Shifter - accept no substitutes! 908-874-9092 . http://www.uucmotorwerks.com ------------------------------ End of [bmwuucdigest] digest(15 messages) **********
