The BMW UUC Digest Volume 3 : Issue 123 : "text" Format Messages in this Issue: Suspension fun Re: Suspension fun Re: Suspension fun Re: Any US owners of E30 tourings on the list? Re: Any US owners of E30 tourings on the list? Re: cheap-O Chinese tires.... Re: cheap-O Chinese tires.... Chinese Tahrs
---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 15 Apr 2006 11:08:15 -0400 From: "David A. Leonard" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: BMW 7 Series <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: [email protected], [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Suspension fun Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> I just went thru the suspension R and R on my 90 e32/ 125k miles. For those of you that have never changed the suspension in a higher mileage car, because the mechanic sez "the shocks are not leaking" it makes a huge difference in handling and comfort. It is one of the most dramatic upgrades you can do to a car, lots of bang for the buck here. Many people are put off by changing struts, it really isn't rocket science, a $30 strut compressor and some common sense are all you need. Impact wrenches are really nice to have too, as some of the bolts are big, and it saves a bunch of time, as the calipers need to come off, and usually you need to change a suspension component or two as well. It isn't a bad time to change brake pads either, as you are all the way in there. I've had great luck with Bavauto.coms "Mintex" street replacemet pads, about $30 per set, for street use. Seem to be a pretty similar to OEM pad. Being short on $ I decided to go the cheaper route. Monroe Sensatrac makes a set of struts for this application, I paid $263 with sales tax for 4 struts. Monroe was running a $90 rebate certificate ( Comeback dollars? I think I can spend them at the place I bought the struts) I bought them at NAPA at their Web price, I think $70 for the fronts, 60 rear or so. After the rebate cost will be $173 for the set, or a little more than the cost of one Bilstein! Check the Napa Website. Excellent quality replacement shocks, they were made in Spain, the box in Belgium. Lifetime warranty too. While I was in there I changed the upper control arms, with bushings and ball joints, $75 each for these from Bavarian Auto, after my discount, I think aftermarket list is $89 or so for these. In the cheap mode still I put 4 "GT radial " 215/65/15 HR " Champiro" tires on, at $52.00 each. This is not quite the 225/60 vr 15 that the car specs, or the 205 65sr 15 snow tire they call for. It is neatly in between the two sizes, but the revs per mile are about equal. These tires had a traction and temp of A rating, and a 450 treadwear , so they spec. pretty well. GT is an Indonesian Goodyear subsidiary, the tires were made in China I actually bought all this stuff thru my local BMW dealer, Bill Dodge, , the parts manager is my buddy, and I have a GMC, and Infiniti, and 2 Bimmers. They are dealers for all of these, and give me 25-30% off! Way cool. They even threw in the mount and balance, as I bought 4 of those tires and a set of wheels for the Infiniti from Tire Rack through them at the same time. That was 8 tires, and 4 wheels total, for $720. The wheels were 15" " Sport 3" and were about $75 each with shipping. Very nice Japanese made alloy wheel, Said Toyota on them when I got them, though the website advertised as Chinese. I was impressed with the finish and machining. So my total cost on the Bimmer, after the rebate, for 4 new HR rated tires, 4 struts, and uppercontrol arms/ball joints/bushings was less than $550.00 I guess time will tell if the cheep route pays off, but I think a set of Bilsteins at $500 for the whole set, $250 for BMW control arms, and $500-600 for a set of high end tires is a bunch of cash to put into a car with a $3,000 book value! Doing your own labor is an amazing savings too, usually the parts cost equals the labor cost, so I think I just saved $7-800 in labor too. It looks to me like if I had brought the car to a shop the total bill would have been around $2k. The ride is very nice, stiff without bumpy, I just beat the car up to the mountains over the frost heaves for a last day of Maine skiing, with 4 people aboard. The tires seem to handle fine, are round and balanced. Handling is much improved. Perhaps Gary Derian can enlighten us on the benefits and drawbacks of off brand tires, it seems as though the DOT ratings are fine, I wonder if they are just cheaper, or if there are real differences in quality? Dave the Cheep. Dave Leonard 91 325IC w/ sport Bilsteins and M-3 factory springs 90 735i 93 Suburban 4x4 w/ Rancho Gas shocks ( Tow Vehicle and Mini-van duty, also good for those late night 4 wheeling beach excursions, and 8 passenger ski trips) 96 Infiniti q45 ( Jap 7 Bimmer Clone for my wife) 89 351 Ford powered Ski Centurion 90 Wellcraft w/ 350 Chev. 72 Bellanca Super Viking w/ 520 CI Continental power What a collection of JUNK! ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 15 Apr 2006 14:50:43 -0400 From: "Gary Derian" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Subject: Re: Suspension fun Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> There is a difference, but perhaps not enough for the extra cost. I have seen serious defects in some Chinese tires, but all of them are not necessarily defective. With an A temp grade and an H speed rating, you probably got nylon cap plies over the steel belts. That is a good thing. You can check the sidewall to see if nylon is listed as a belt ply. Gary Derian > balanced. Handling is much improved. Perhaps Gary Derian can enlighten > us on the benefits and drawbacks of off brand tires, it seems as though > the DOT ratings are fine, I wonder if they are just cheaper, or if there > are real differences in quality? > > > Dave the Cheep. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 15 Apr 2006 15:31:22 EDT From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [email protected] Subject: Re: Suspension fun Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> In a message dated 15.04.2006 18:02:20 Westeuropäische Sommerzeit, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: I guess time will tell if the cheep route pays off, but I think a set of Bilsteins at $500 for the whole set, $250 for BMW control arms, and $500-600 for a set of high end tires is a bunch of cash to put into a car with a $3,000 book value! Just to clarify.... you can buy Bilsteins at Shox.com fairly cheap. I bought a set(4) of Bilstein Sports( complete front struts and rear shocks) for $448(last year) shipped to my door in Germany! Now granted I paid some $60 just b/c the shipping had to go thru the USpost office to my APO AE adress. But my point is there are deals to be had on Bilsteins. And... you will never replace those puppies(as long as you own the car) - they just do not wearout like regular OEM shocks. I just bought a set of Bilstein Tourings (OE-like ride) for my GF car for $275 shipped to my door, here in Germany! I do not see how you can go wrong with that. I hope you like/enjoy your Monroes... I never much caredfor them. I had a friend who worked at a GoodYear tire shop... they would have comebacks galore on those shocks. Not a quality shock if you ask me. Maybe things are different now? You get what you pay for. Take care David ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 15 Apr 2006 11:35:17 -0400 From: neil <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: UUC Digest <[email protected]> Subject: Re: Any US owners of E30 tourings on the list? Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Mike White, the owner of the Yahoo E30 Digest list has one, though you may go straight to Jeff Krause (from whom Mike got it), as he had it for years, and may know more of it's history. http://www.mproved.com/ Neil -- Get 20% Off CoffeeCup Web Design Software Use this code when you checkout: 226STS -------------------- www.getcoffeecup.com ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 15 Apr 2006 12:43:00 -0500 From: "John Bunda" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "UUC Digest" <[email protected]> Subject: Re: Any US owners of E30 tourings on the list? Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Terry Sayther also has one that he did an M3 conversion on, it was written up in Roundel a couple years back. It's described on his web site, too. http://www.terrysaytherauto.com/yet_another_e30_project_car.htm -John ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 15 Apr 2006 17:38:07 EDT From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [email protected] Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: cheap-O Chinese tires.... Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> In a message dated 15.04.2006 18:02:20 Westeuropäische Sommerzeit, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: The tires seem to handle fine, are round and balanced. Handling is much improved. Perhaps Gary Derian can enlighten us on the benefits and drawbacks of off brand tires, it seems as though the DOT ratings are fine, I wonder if they are just cheaper, or if there are real differences in quality? ........................ Speaking of tires.... I think the one dept. where you WILL notice a difference is in the stopping distances. With the cheapo brnads the stopping distances increase ALOT. I just saw a TV report( on German tv from Auto Motor und Sport magazine). The stoping distances were ALOT longer dry or wet with the cheap brand tires. I also did not realize how important the age of ones tires are. Any tire over five year old should be replaced. You should not mix tires older than four or five year with new tires on either axle. They did a simple decreasing radious corner in the wet with a (FWD)Seat Leon. Old(5 years old!) tires on the rear and new tires on teh front. The car would spin. Same corner with new tires on the rear... you guessed it... the car would plow with understeer. YOu really need fresh rubber. It IS simply the most important thing on your car(to buy). I would not cheap out on tires. Everything else... ok... but not tires! take care David ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 15 Apr 2006 15:08:27 -0700 From: Mark Gold <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], UUC Digest <[email protected]> Subject: Re: cheap-O Chinese tires.... Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> There was a time, not that long ago, when brands like Hankook and Kumho were considered cheap-O brands spotted on low-end cars like Hyundai's and Kia's, yet they've now become acceptable brands in the sports car communities. It really depends on the manufacturer and the amount of time and money they put into developing their tires. On Apr 15, 2006, at 2:38 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > In a message dated 15.04.2006 18:02:20 Westeuropäische Sommerzeit, > [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: > > The tires seem to handle fine, are round and > balanced. Handling is much improved. Perhaps Gary Derian can > enlighten us on the benefits and drawbacks of off brand tires, it > seems as though the DOT ratings are fine, I wonder if they are just > cheaper, or if there are real differences in quality? > > ........................ > > > Speaking of tires.... I think the one dept. where you WILL notice a > difference is in the stopping distances. With the cheapo brnads the > stopping > distances increase ALOT. > > I just saw a TV report( on German tv from Auto Motor und Sport > magazine). The > stoping distances were ALOT longer dry or wet with the cheap brand > tires. > > I also did not realize how important the age of ones tires are. Any > tire over > five year old should be replaced. You should not mix tires older > than four or > five year with new tires on either axle. They did a simple > decreasing radious > corner in the wet with a (FWD)Seat Leon. Old(5 years old!) tires on > the rear > and new tires on teh front. The car would spin. Same corner with > new tires on > the rear... you guessed it... the car would plow with understeer. > YOu really > need fresh rubber. It IS simply the most important thing on your car > (to buy). I > would not cheap out on tires. Everything else... ok... but not > tires! > > take care > David > > 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, 16 Apr 2006 02:23:24 -0400 From: "David A. Leonard" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [email protected] Subject: Chinese Tahrs Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://www.gititire.com/tiredetail.asp?tireid=75&brand=GTRADIAL&language=1 These are the $50 HR (130mph) speed rated tires I just bought. I'd have more of a problem with Chinese tires If I hadn't see all the motorcycle guys running Cheng Shin tires back since the Eighties. I notice these have the nylon cap recommended by Gary D Dave Leonard ------------------------------ End of [bmwuucdigest] digest(8 messages) **********
