The BMW UUC Digest Volume 3 : Issue 3 : "text" Format Messages in this Issue: Re: [Fwd: E36 Suspension Freshening Questions] Re: [Fwd: E36 Suspension Freshening Questions] Re: [Fwd: E36 Suspension Freshening Questions] Re> Idle problem Re: Re> Idle problem Is this normal? Re: Is this normal? Re: Is this normal? Re: Return of the UUC Digest Experience - Aftermarket Body Panels? Re: Experience - Aftermarket Body Panels?
---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 15 Dec 2005 23:24:51 -0800 From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Brian Daley <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Fwd: E36 Suspension Freshening Questions] Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Brian, I just completed a rear suspension freshening on my '97 //M3 with 119k miles, similar to what you are researching for your 325. My suspension is basically stock except for Konis and a 24mm front swaybar. Replaced were: Differential, 3.38lsd, from Zionsville. Sweet find, and worth the higher price. Subframe bushings, two front and two rear, street urethane, from Bimmerworld. Camber arms, steel adjustable, from Bimmerworld. the factory arms bend like butter, a known weak link (pun) in the rear suspension, you have to take them half off already, why not another two bolts? Rear swaybar bushings, Powerflex urethane. Didn't replace the end links, no visible need to. Right side lower ball joint, OEM part. These should only need replacing if a previous alignment shop overtightened the bolt, leading to it fusing in the sleeve. Differential mounts, three, delrin, from AKG Motorsport. Muffler hangers and exhaust flange nuts, OEM parts. Originals were sagged with sleeves pulled out. 30k miles earlier I replaced the rear shock mounts with E46 OEM mounts. The ride is fine. Difference from before in how the tires plant is what walking feels like after tying your shoelaces tight versus when they were untied but you hadn't realized they were untied yet. Urethane is not harsh, just nicely snugger. I think poor quality bushings, people installing race hardness bushings for street use, insufficent greasing, and improper torquing are big causes of complaints. Get known good quality bushings, and install a washer over and under them. Tips: Do drop the exhaust and rear swaybar, the subframe comes in and out _much easier. When reinstalling the subframe secure the nuts and bolts but leave the subframe that cm or so lower, this makes installing the diff go easier. After the diff and control arms are connected, then raise the subrame the rest of the way up to floor, being sure to keep the washers centered on the bushings. Its easier versus almost impossible later to reattach the control arms to the subframe with the diferential still out. The upper nut needs fingers from both hands one inside, one outside, to get it started. With control arms connected, be sure to raise the trailing arms to ride position before torquing down the control arm to subframe bolts, else you'll be twisting the control arm bushing. Remove the rear cover and clean out the inside of the diff, then replace the diff cover gasket. Refill with Redline 70w90. If you have an lsd, check for broken bolt heads on the cap of the lsd unit. Clean off the subframe and diff housing. Spray a few coats of black Rustoleum on all the areas of the subframe where the paint has chipped off. Also, you'll save lots of $$ on machine shop costs with urethane since it is installable by hand but OEM rubber subframe bushings need pressing. To avoid a 9 out of ten bitch factor if doing it oneself, I brought the subframe and diff cover to Dinan (aroudn the corner, and their shop really is well equipped) to press the seven old bushings out, they charged 1.25 hours and did a clean professional job using proper equipment. If I had opted for new OEM bushings, the cost to press them in would have been more than twice as much. Spray paint over the RTAB cup bolts and the floor around them. This gives a good ballpark estimate where to position them on reassembly. Torque everything properly. I know I'm a torque wrench freak but seriously, take the time to do this!! I'll send you a list of the factory torque specs as listed in the TIS. Only tools to be sure you have which a standard toobox may not, are 18mm box and 1/2" socket wrenches, a torx head socket for the halfshaft nuts, a "water pump pliers" size channel lock to makes pressing the sleeves into the new bushings go easier, two (one spare) new hack saw blades for sawing out the old RTAB sleeves, and a 1/2 drive torque wrench. I like the clicker type for working in close quarters. Based on the results after a few days of driving, and since I need to do a realignment anyway, I've ordered urethane RTABS to replace the 70kmile old OEM ones that have GC shims installed with them. With everything else snug now I feel sideplay from the RTABs that I hadn't noticed before. For your front end, go with the factory offset rubber //M3 LCABs, or better yet, get the Ireland Eyeball arms. New upper strut mounts should be '96-99 //M3 parts, unless the prices are more than a good set of adjustables. Hth, Barry Brian Daley wrote: > I have a 94 325ic with about 150K miles on it. I'm pretty sure all of > the suspension bushings, etc. are original and they're really sloppy > at this point. I replaced the springs and shocks/struts about a year > ago, so I figure all new bushings should put things back as they > should be. My question is this: Which bushings do people typically > replace? This car will never see a track, so I'm assuming stock-type > rubber bushings are the best option for me. I assume that urethane > would only amplify the shakes and rattles that the convertible already > suffers from. True? > 7) What special tools are required for the installation? > I know that's a lot of questions, thanks for sharing any experience > you may have. > Brian > '94 325ic ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 16 Dec 2005 08:25:17 -0800 (PST) From: Andre Yew <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Fwd: E36 Suspension Freshening Questions] Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> On Thu, 15 Dec 2005 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > Camber arms, steel adjustable, from Bimmerworld. the factory arms bend > like butter, a known weak link (pun) in the rear suspension, you have to > take them half off already, why not another two bolts? Isn't the deformability of the factory arms a feature? I thought they had an S-curve in them so they deform first in an impact to protect components upstream of them. --Andre ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 16 Dec 2005 10:15:26 -0800 (PST) From: Brian Ruiz <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: UUC Digest <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [Fwd: E36 Suspension Freshening Questions] Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Why, yes, it is meant to bend in an impact... http://presley.ucr.edu/~brian/lower_ctl_arm3.jpg Sorry for that being so messy, the camera I took it with wasn't that great, so I drew a yellow line along the arm to show how it was bent. That was the results of a canyon blast where said driver *ahem* went beyond his skill level (as well as drove on 60 profile tires). I repaired the car, but a month later got rear ended http://presley.ucr.edu/~brian/acc.jpg and now the car is gone. :-/ Brian 84 318 T-boned, gone 93 325i rear-ended, gone 95 M3 --- Andre Yew <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > On Thu, 15 Dec 2005 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > Camber arms, steel adjustable, from Bimmerworld. > the factory arms bend > > like butter, a known weak link (pun) in the rear > suspension, you have to > > take them half off already, why not another two > bolts? > > Isn't the deformability of the factory arms a > feature? I thought they had > an S-curve in them so they deform first in an impact > to protect components > upstream of them. > > --Andre > > 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 > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 16 Dec 2005 09:55:24 -0800 From: Harvey Chao <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: Gilbert Hoffman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, [email protected] Subject: Re> Idle problem Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> If you are in this idle problem window, does the engine stumble when you feed it gas? Check for deposits on the manifold side of intake valves. These tend to absorb fuel when the engine is started and hasn't run (because the previous load of absorbed gasoline has evaporated) and until they (re) saturate, generate a lean mixture in the cylinders. I had this problem with an e-28, and during this problem time, it would allow the car move forward just far enough to get halfway into traffic or an intersection and then leave me with an engine on the verge of stalling! Had to have one of those intake valve cleaning jobs where they disconnect the fuel line and hook up a machine that basically runs the engine on concentrated fuel detergents for a while, followed up by a can or so of fuel system intake cleaner additive in the gas tank. Harvey ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 16 Dec 2005 21:01:15 +0000 From: "Gilbert Hoffman" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [email protected] Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Re> Idle problem Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >If you are in this idle problem window, does the engine stumble when you >feed it gas? It stumbles a bit. Not to the point of stalling, but definitely not the same as 'normal' acceleration. Hesitant. And I want to state again that the only time this occurs is for the first 10-25 seconds after starting. When the engine is warm. It does not happen when the engine has warmed from cold. And it does not happen when starting the engine from cold. Gilbert ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 16 Dec 2005 19:16:31 +0000 (GMT) From: aaron b <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [email protected] Subject: Is this normal? Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://img370.imageshack.us/img370/2817/trunk0xq.jpg Looking at some photos of a vehicle for sale online, it's an e36 M3. Car looked quite clean but this shot of the Cd changer, showed something which looks a bit odd behind it (arrowed). Although you can't tell too much from a photo, it looks to me like some kind of sealant or bodyfiller even. Could anyone shed some light please on whether this is normal (i.e messy sealant from the factory, in a spot which doesn't/shouldn't show), or whether this looks like cause for concern or evidence of a repair? Thanks for any insight on this. ___________________________________________________________ To help you stay safe and secure online, we've developed the all new Yahoo! Security Centre. http://uk.security.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 16 Dec 2005 15:11:10 -1000 From: Jay G <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [email protected] Subject: Re: Is this normal? Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> my 97 m3/2 doesnt look like that... aaron b wrote: > http://img370.imageshack.us/img370/2817/trunk0xq.jpg > > >Could anyone shed some light please on whether this is >normal (i.e messy sealant from the factory, in a spot >which doesn't/shouldn't show), or whether this looks >like cause for concern or evidence of a repair? >\ > > > ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 16 Dec 2005 21:25:22 +0000 From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Spencer Fong) To: aaron b <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, [email protected] Subject: Re: Is this normal? Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Is this a sedan? My coupe doesn't have any sort of sealant in that area. It's just clean painted metal. The flaking paint on the ridge in the upper left corner also looks suspect. I would suspect the car has had rear end damage at some point. -------------- Original message ---------------------- From: aaron b <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > http://img370.imageshack.us/img370/2817/trunk0xq.jpg > > Looking at some photos of a vehicle for sale online, > it's an e36 M3. Car looked quite clean but this shot > of the Cd changer, showed something which looks a bit > odd behind it (arrowed). > > Although you can't tell too much from a photo, it > looks to me like some kind of sealant or bodyfiller > even. > > Could anyone shed some light please on whether this is > normal (i.e messy sealant from the factory, in a spot > which doesn't/shouldn't show), or whether this looks > like cause for concern or evidence of a repair? > > Thanks for any insight on this. __________________________________________________________________________ > 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: Fri, 16 Dec 2005 18:49:14 -0800 From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Marc Plante <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: [email protected] Subject: Re: Return of the UUC Digest Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> If anyone has authority over straightening out unaccountable and non-responsive corporate IT departments, I'll be glad to send you my resume. Seriously!! And yeah Mike, you would definitely be on my team. Nice job. Barry Marc Plante wrote: >Thanks Mike. You're a hell of a lot more accontable and responsive than most >corporate IT departments. >I won't name names. > > >Marc Plante >Director, Emerging Products >Sprint/Nextel Corporation >E36 M3/4 67k >Vienna, VA > >----- Original Message ----- >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >To: [email protected] >Subject: [UUC] Return of the UUC Digest >Date: Thu, 15 Dec 2005 12:25:00 -0800 (PST) > > >>All, >>I appreciate your patience over the last couple of days. We experienced a >>worst case catastropic system failure, and had to rebuild from the ground >>up. >>The system should be working correctly again. >>Regards, >>Mike Donohue >>System Administrator >>UUCDIGEST.COM >> ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 16 Dec 2005 19:39:31 -0800 (PST) From: Justin Weese <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: UUC Digest <[email protected]> Subject: Experience - Aftermarket Body Panels? Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> I'm looking to buy some front end e30 sheet metal to fix a front clip as inexpensively as possible. Has anyone had any experience buying aftermarket BMW sheet metal from places like partstrain.com or carpartswholesale.com? Prices are excellent compared to genuine BMW, and aftermarket doesn't bother me as they'll be going on a daily driver. Any good/bad experiences would be much appreciated! My main concerns are fitment and possible freight damage. Thanks a lot! -Justin Weese __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 17 Dec 2005 00:20:38 -0500 From: Ed MacVaugh <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [email protected] Subject: Re: Experience - Aftermarket Body Panels? Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> I haven't, but will try the black plastic strip for the bottom front of the air dam (listed as bumper). Ed Justin Weese wrote: >I'm looking to buy some front end e30 sheet metal to >fix a front clip as inexpensively as possible. Has >anyone had any experience buying aftermarket BMW sheet >metal from places like partstrain.com or >carpartswholesale.com? Prices are excellent compared >to genuine BMW, and aftermarket doesn't bother me as >they'll be going on a daily driver. > >Any good/bad experiences would be much appreciated! >My main concerns are fitment and possible freight >damage. > >Thanks a lot! > >-Justin Weese > >__________________________________________________ >Do You Yahoo!? >Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around >http://mail.yahoo.com >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(11 messages) **********
