Messages

1

General Topics / Faq

« on: July 10, 2006, 03:37:53 PM »

My absolute favorite book is Inner Speed Secrets by Bentley and Langford.  It covers a lot of the mental aspect of racing and on-track activity.  For some reason, it really had a great effect on my driving, and I even found a lot of it to translate well to everyday life as well.

There's more to the book than just that, but I found those topics to be the most valuable to me.

2

General Topics / Fuel Leak!!

« on: July 07, 2006, 08:11:04 AM »

I ended up picking up a yard of the 8x13 fuel line from the dealer, as well as hose clamps and a new antenna mast while I was thinking about it!    Paid more than I probably could have online, but had it all right now too, so I'm okay with it.  Plus, I have more than 1.5 radio stations to chose from now.  

Will give the intake manifold removal and hose replacement a try tomorrow.  Anything else I should know before going at it, or is it a pretty simple and self-explanatory operation?

Thanks!!

3

General Topics / Fuel Leak!!

« on: July 06, 2006, 10:27:53 AM »

 The stock lines are 8mm ID x 13mm OD.

Thanks to everyone for all the help!!

As for the stock lines, the local auto parts store didn't have anything in metric, so they cut me off a sample of the smallest lines they have in stock, which is 1/4" ID x 1/2" OD

By my measurments, that's actually really close on the OD, but ID is a bit off:
6.35mm ID x 12.7mm OD

I know there's a bit of "give," but does anyone one if that's sufficient?  

Otherwise, maybe a hardware store or the local Bimmer dealership would be my best bet.

Thanks!

4

General Topics / Fuel Leak!!

« on: July 05, 2006, 10:39:17 AM »

So, apparently the fix-it stuff hasn't ended on the "new" car yet.

I've been noticing the smell of fuel at start up, but it would go away so I wasn't too concerned and could never find any leaks when I'd stop the car afterwards.  Yesterday, however, I decided to start the car and then look for the leak.

Low and behold, it's a pretty good one.  The red arrow (pardon my horrible lack of PS skills) image below shows where the leak is coming from (this is in it's dry state, though).  It's a pretty pronounced leak, but only at start up and for the first couple of minutes.  Once under way, the leak stops and doesn't come back until the car has cooled and been restarted  :confused:  I'd imagine this to be the fuel feed to the injection rail, but I'm not certain.  I find it odd that it goes away, unless there's just enough heat to expand the offending piece causing the leak??


Any experience or suggestions on How-to fix it would be great.  I can't actually see or feel where the metal pipe ends, so I'd assume the intake manifold would need to be removed.  Again, and help is greatly appreciated and it's hard to see what part is what on RealOEM.com.

Picture of where the leak is coming from:

5

Suspension / What's the deal with IE???

« on: July 04, 2006, 10:56:34 AM »

happy 4th everyone. i want my springs to ship.

Happy 4th!!!

I feel bad for you guys waiting on these springs for so long.  Doesn't anyone know of a place where everyone who's waiting could just put in a small group buy of the H&R Race springs and be done with the wait?  What a PITA!

6

General Topics / Favorite Brake Pads?

« on: July 03, 2006, 03:03:46 PM »

StopTech sells them . . . is there a better (cheaper) place to get them?

I got mine from Chris@DasAutoSport.com:  DasAutoSport.com

I've been really happy with the service and prices I'm getting there on aftermarket and OE stuff for my M3, and since they're in Las Vegas, it's usually really quick shipping to me in SoCal.

7

General Topics / Air in Brake Lines or Master Cylinder

« on: July 01, 2006, 08:55:41 PM »

Well, I think I figured out the source of the squishy brakes.  As we were bleeding them, the hose coming out of the side of the reservoir *ruptured!* Brake fluid all over the freakin' place!!  :eek:

Turns out the line had a crack about 1/4" long, so we cut the line, reattached and ziptied it.  Funny that there wasn't a fluid leak there, but I think it was having a vacuum effect and possibly sucking a bit of air in.

Anyway, fixing the line, bleeding the system and replacing the pads made the brakes feel MUCH better.  I'm not longer frightened of the car... except for all the squealy noises coming form the AC pulley now, but I'll make a seperate post about that when I've got more engergy... Long day!

Thanks for all the feedback.

8

Suspension / Will '81 320i H&R springs fit?

« on: July 01, 2006, 07:57:38 AM »

I don't have any personal experience with the BavAuto springs, but I was "talking" (emailing) a guy there and he said they allow the car to sit low, but with a softer spring rate than most that sit that low (I didn't bother to ask the rates).  I lost interest at that point.

9

General Topics / Air in Brake Lines or Master Cylinder

« on: June 30, 2006, 08:21:05 AM »

I almost feel like this question is too basic to answer, and I think I know the answer, but I'd just like to be sure.

New pads are set to arrive today, and I'll install tomorrow morning, but I'd like to know if I should re-bleed the fluid as well.  

The fluid was changed last week by my mechanic, who's quite good, but he may have had one of his helpers do the fluid (I know, I know... I *should* be doing all the work myself, but the car ended up there on a flat bed due to cooling issues, so I had some other things done while it was there to save time while on a real lift... My wallet hurts big time because of it, though).  

Anyway, before being dropped off, the brakes were less than impressive, but worked fine.  Now, however, they honestly scare me... and I don't frighten easily.     The pedal is long and soft, but if I plan the braking out with enough time, I can pump the pedal once and then attempt braking again and it's a bit better.  Not great, but better.

I'm assuming there's air in the lines, but I'm not actually certain of what the symptoms of a master cylinder failing are.  I suppose it could simply be that the rotors are glazed from the track outing and the pad material is just a bit too low, but glazing seems unlikely to me based on the limited track time it had, as well as the hard braking I've attempted since then to see if the issue clears up.  It hasn't.

Oh, and if I don't pump the brakes once first, but still attempt *hard* braking (threshold with near-ABS engagement) the car will pull to the left a bit first.  If I pump first, then attempt threshold braking, there's no pull in either direction.  :confused:

Anyone care to give their diagnosis?

10

General Topics / Favorite Brake Pads?

« on: June 28, 2006, 09:31:53 PM »

That chart is pure bullshit.

I might not know Sheepdog, but I can say that I already like him!  

I agree, and I've actually had that same chart saved somewhere for quite some time.  I've proven it's worthlessness over and over.

The Porterfield R4 race pads look decent, for instance, but they are absolute crap.  They might be okay on an E30, but on a heavy E36 they are good for about 3 laps... and that's it.  In reality, their street pads, the R4S, are a much better pad, since they're so predictable.  I actually like the R4S quite a bit as a street/autox/occasional track pad, but decided to try something new for the E30.

As a side note, the Cobalt SpecVR is my current favorite race pad, FWIW.

11

General Topics / Favorite Brake Pads?

« on: June 28, 2006, 05:00:08 PM »

I think there is a rod at the top of the pedal you adjust. There is a how-to online, maybe at Pelican Parts?


When you first get the pads, make sure you are ready the first time you slam them, they grip hard. If you let another e30 guy drive it who is used to cheap pads, warn them.

Thanks for the reference (forgot about Pelican) and the warning.  :eek:   Sounds like exactly what I'm hoping for, so I'm looking forward to it... and I'm somewhat used to the drop-the-anchor brake feel from the M3, so it's what I already have my foot programmed for.

12

Suspension / Which Dampers? (maybe springs?)

« on: June 28, 2006, 04:54:26 PM »

So...  I ended up replacing the dampers a bit sooner than I meant to, as the water pump went out and the whole cooling system needed replacement.  "Perfect" timing, right?  This inexpensive car suddenly turned into a not-so-inexpensive adventure, but oh well.  Aside from oil and gas, it shouldn't need anything for another 20-30K miles.

The water pump was completely destroyed and needed a lot of work to be taken out, and it seems the whole cooling system (radiator, pump, thermostat, housing, etc) were the original 15-year old and 130K mile pieces.  I can't imagine not replacing all of that if I were the original owner, but she held together fine until last week.  The fluid looked like it was probably original too (as did the tranny and diff fluids).  Yowza!

Anyway, back to suspension...  The original dampers were completely done, and were probably done about 8 years ago.  LOL!  We could *easily* compress them by hand and the pistons on all four didn't even pretend the were going to come back out on their own.  With the fronts, you could feel a bit of friction in spots as you compressed, but it was still an easy push.  

I used to be able to easily push the front of the car down and watch it spring back, but now I can barely push it down, but it does come back at a normal rate.  Same with the rear, and I used to be able to sit in the car, shake back and forth and get the car to move A LOT!!!  Now it barely budges at all.

Driving it is a completely different experience now.  There's still a little body roll with the stock springs, but the car truly is transformed by simply replacing the dampers.  I'm very happy and impressed that such a simple update can make an old car feel so new again.  Onramps, offramps and bumps are a joy now and I look forward to the next time I'm "stuck" bringing this car to the track in place of the M3 (once I get the new brake pads on the E30 anyway... Yikes!!).

For anyone who's picked up a stock 318is in need of suspension work, but you only use it as a daily driver with no intention of lowering it, etc., the Bilstein HDs are a HUGE improvement over worn out factory dampers.  I can't believe how bad (yet entertaining... hehe!) the car was before.  It feels fresh from the factory now!

For Christmas it might end up getting H&R OE Sports, but for now I'm incredibly happy with how much better the car feels.  

Of course, while the front control arm bushings are in surprisingly good shape for the age/mileage, I can't help but think something a bit more solid (i.e. factory M3 offset bushings) would really clean up the steering feel now.

13

Suspension / What's the deal with IE???

« on: June 28, 2006, 04:00:33 PM »

Crap what shock mounts are you guys getting? IE is out of theirs and now I'm stuck...What about E36 shock mounts?

Most of the aftermarket units that work on the E36 should work, so you've got Ground Control, JTD, Rogue Engineering and others.  Turner (and DasAutoSport.com) have a JTD unit that's labeled as a heavy duty OE-like replacement which is only about $20-$30.

If you want to go with OE parts, I went with E46M3/convertible mounts on my car (HDs and stock springs).

14

General Topics / Favorite Brake Pads?

« on: June 28, 2006, 02:41:06 PM »

Thanks!  A friend of mine who runs DasAutoSport.com stocks the Axxis Ultimates and a few others (though not listed on his site, since he doesn't get a lot of E30 traffic), but the Axxis pads had the best price of the bunch, so that's what I ordered.  Everything I've found online has been positive on these, so I'll give feedback once on the car.

In the meantime, does anyone have instructions on how to adjust the brake pedal height?  I haven't found anything in the archives or the How-To section, unless I missed it.

15

Suspension / What's the deal with IE???

« on: June 28, 2006, 08:17:32 AM »

I called yesterday the 27th and they still have not arrived. They are unsure when it will arrive as it was supposed to arrive the 26th.

I find this pretty annoying... :mad:  and I don't even have any springs on order!  You guys are a lot more patient than I would be.