Messages

1

General Topics / Tire wear after H&R Sport/Bilstein Sports

« on: October 07, 2007, 10:39:08 PM »

you toe adjustment could be off, toe will wear out a tire much faster than camber.

I'll check it out.  Now that I think about it - I'm not sure if I ever had an alignment after I replaced the springs and shock inserts.  I know that I did it when I replaced the control arms, CABs, and tie rods ends.

2

General Topics / Tire wear after H&R Sport/Bilstein Sports

« on: October 05, 2007, 12:44:03 PM »

Hmm - if all the suspension bits are up to date, just rotate the tires.

I have run all sorts of -ve camber and never had issue with tire wear once I rotated them regularly.

I don't think this would help me.  The inside of the tire and rim is the inside regardless of what corner of the car it is on and I believe it is happening on all four corners.

I also think that my tires are unidirectional... so I can only go from front to back/back to front ... not side to side.

3

General Topics / Tire wear after H&R Sport/Bilstein Sports

« on: October 05, 2007, 11:57:07 AM »

this is the #1 reason why i dont want to lower my car.

as for  a fix: accelerate harder in turns and you will get even tire wear at the rear just joking. Ireland Engineering sells a kit for the rear (it might just be for toe adjustment though). Also it depends on your driving (duh), my car is perfectly aligned (i aligned it on a profesional alignment rack) and i go through tires about every 20K. I am a broke college student so i try really hard not to drive the car hard, but its so hard! the 318is just begs to be thrown around :rolleyes:.

hope this helps, you could also modify the rear traling arms, but that would be difficult.

Since the E30 was my daily driver - if I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't have put in the lowered suspension.

4

General Topics / Tire wear after H&R Sport/Bilstein Sports

« on: October 05, 2007, 11:56:25 AM »

hullo Mike, god of write-ups!

I will measure for you, but, uh, how should I do that?

Do you have a plum bob and a bit protractor?  




Actually I was hoping that the amount of negative caster added with H&R Sports was something that was documented but I couldn't find.  

5

General Topics / Tire wear after H&R Sport/Bilstein Sports

« on: October 05, 2007, 11:52:17 AM »

Also, are there kits for the rear that don't require welding to install?

6

General Topics / Tire wear after H&R Sport/Bilstein Sports

« on: October 05, 2007, 11:37:53 AM »

So I'm starting to think about getting my 318i running again.  Its been sitting in a garage for the past 7 months while I've been driving a Jetta 1.8T that used to be my wife's.  I need to replace the timing chain, sprockets, guides, etc.


Since the car went out of commission in the winter, it still has the snow tires on it.  While putting the summer tires into a new shed, I saw that the inside edges of the summer tires were toast - no doubt due to negative camber from the H&R Sports / Bilstein Sports that I put in the car a few years ago.

My question for you people with lowered cars is have you fixed this in your car?  What parts do you recommend to remedy this?  The 318i was my daily driver and I used to put a lot of miles on it.  If I am going to fix it up and get it on the road again, I want to make sure that I'm not going through a set of tires every 15K miles!

I've seen kits on Ireland Engineer for the front and rear.  Anyone have any experience with these?  They're pricey!

Also, does anyone have an idea of how many degrees of negative camber is added when you use H&R Sports / Bilstein Sports?

7

How-To's / DIY Roundel Replacement

« on: October 04, 2007, 09:13:39 PM »

Link should be working...

... and thanks for finding that typo.  I fixed it!  

8

Engine + Driveline / Taking the 318i off the road. Timing chain, etc.

« on: March 24, 2007, 02:19:48 PM »

I agree that getting a new motor isn't going to solve my problems... it'll just delay it.  I need to take the motor apart and replace the items that need replacement.  I don't feel like the M42 is a piece of crap because it needs a new timing chain at 210K miles.

My goal is to replace other parts at the same time I'm in there.  I'll replace the timing chain, timing rails, and sprockets.  I'll also do the water pump and thermostat.  While I'm there I'll also check the oil pan bolts.

Anything else you can suggest that I do at the same time?  Anything else I can do to freshen it up or increase oil flow?

The only reason I'd replace this motor is if the compression sucks.  Even then I may try to take it apart and replace worn rings or whatever.



Also - my E30 isn't a rust bucket.  It has a few places where the paint has chipped off and the metal is rusty looking.  These places need to be taken care of before the rust gets out of control.  I just feel that it is beyond my control at this point and a professional needs to take care of it so the end result doesn't look like crap.  Hopefully I can get it all taken care of and maybe some of the spare parts in my basement (like the iS sideskirts, iS front lip, and M-Tech 1 rear spoiler) painted and installed at the same time.

9

Engine + Driveline / Taking the 318i off the road. Timing chain, etc.

« on: March 19, 2007, 09:14:23 PM »

Thanks for the good info.  I'll start pricing the parts.

This sounds somewhat daunting...

I think the best thing to do is take it off the road for about a 1/2 year.  That'll give me a lot of time to tear it apart, fix the engine and everything else that needs a-fixin', and save up some $ to have a professional fix the body rust.

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Engine + Driveline / Taking the 318i off the road. Timing chain, etc.

« on: March 19, 2007, 07:04:52 PM »

I think she's out of commission for a while!

I noticed on my way home a bunch of new, strange noises.  When I got off the highway and stopped a light, the car stalled out on me.  It restarted, squealed, and stalled again.  Restarted and stayed running with my foot on the gas.  After this, it never stalled again at any other stop light.  I got it home, opened the hood and listened to what sounds like "two dogs fighting for a chicken nugget in my engine".  It runs rough and it doesn't start as nicely as it used to.  It used to start in the cold on the first turn of the key every time.  Now it starts and stalls and I have to start it again.  The oil light also stays on longer when it first starts than it used to.

The engine was never that quiet but it is much louder now.  I think the timing chain, timing chain rails, and sprockets need to be changed.  I'll of course check my oil pan bolts at the same time.

This type of work is new to me and I need to car to get to work... so I think I may take it off the road for a few months.  I can bring it up to Vermont where I have a nice, warm, dry garage to work in and I can fix it slowly.  I'll have to get by driving a 2003 Jetta Wolfsburg that's been sitting idle in my driveway for the last 10 months.


From what I've described, does this sound like timing chain/rails/sprockets to you M42 experts?

How tough of a job is this for the newbie engine mechanic?

How much will all the parts run me?





Keeping an E30 looking and running nice is a lot of work.  The poor little car needs a lot of rust care too.  Unfortunately I have a lot of other stuff to put my money toward than getting it fixed by an auto body professional.

11

How-To's / Blower motor, where is it? and how to change it.

« on: March 03, 2007, 07:53:01 PM »

Did you go with a new blower motor or did you get a used one.

I hate hearing my squeal but I'd also hate to buy one off eBay only to find out that one squeals too!

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How-To's / DIY Fuel Filter Replacement

« on: February 18, 2007, 11:23:10 PM »

Ahh many thx for that! Your DIY are indeed very good!

Thanks!
I'm glad people find them useful!  

13

General Topics / E30 M3 CABs

« on: February 13, 2007, 10:13:49 PM »

I'm just finishing my first set of tires after I installed E30 M3 CABs.  I have H&R sports and Bilstein sports.  I saw no significant tire wear problems with this setup.  I did rotate the tires throughout their life.

The one negative about the M3 CABs is that it gives me a little problem with larger tires.  I have some studded snow tires mounted on the bottlecaps.  Because the front tires are more forward than before, the larger than stock snow tires can rub a bit if I jack the wheel all the way.

The car does feel a bit more squirrely on the highway though.

14

General Topics / Sluggish Speedometer

« on: February 10, 2007, 02:59:53 PM »

Update:

This condition got worse and worse until the speedometer just stopped working.  Naturally the weather turned foul and it's been under 30 degrees for the past few weeks.

I just got a chance to climb under the car and look around.  Just as Tim said, the wires leading to the diff became very brittle.  When I touched the wire, it broke where the wire connects to the 90 degree connector.  As a temporary fix until I get a new one, I was able to take the connector apart and get at the 90 degree connector.  I then took a knife and whittled away at the plastic strain relief part until I got to fresh wiring.  I soldered in a new wire and taped it all back up.

15

How-To's / DIY Fuel Filter Replacement

« on: February 09, 2007, 06:28:19 PM »

Is there some sort of cover over filter usually? Ive been installing new subframe last 2 weekends but never saw anything that looks like the filter in that aera.

In Europe, they're located in the engine compartment.