Messages

1

General Topics / trouble with fitment of aftermarket oil filters?

« on: February 18, 2008, 10:02:13 AM »

I had this trouble too. Tried a couple brands, none of them fit. Take a look at realoem.com though. You'll find there's a split in filter part numbers that the generic auto parts places don't seem to know about. From what I understand, some m42's had a plastic cap, some metal. For whatever reason, the aftermarket filters are designed for the plastic cap. Mine was metal. Had to order a Mahle from Bimmerworld, I'm sure the dealer will have them too.

Shameless plug... there's a blury pic of the right one in my current auction:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320219344232

2

General Topics / How long have you been running without power steering?

« on: August 15, 2007, 08:03:56 AM »

3+ years on my '85 318 (sold it recently), now maybe 4 months on my 91. Why would there be additional stress on the rack and pinion? The same work is done at that point to turn the wheels. The only "additional stress" is the extra muscle provided by the driver.  

3

General Topics / Which Dynomax Super Turbo?

« on: August 11, 2007, 11:46:38 PM »

funny, I had the exact same experience. Had a dynomax on my m10 318 with gutted cat, and it was surprising quiet. Put the similar muffler on the m42, just like you, with no cat and no resonator and it's a whole different mess of loud.

4

Engine + Driveline / Cai

« on: August 08, 2007, 07:38:06 AM »

it's not known to be much, if any of a gain on the M20 (6cyl), and we use the same size airbox! So I highly doubt it's a restriction for us. If anything, unless you have a very well designed heat shield, you end up drawing in warmer air than the stock box does. Personally, I recommend a drop-in K&N or aFe filter.

5

General Topics / Which Dynomax Super Turbo?

« on: August 02, 2007, 05:08:37 PM »

If anyone's interested, I have a knock-off of that muffler sitting in my basement, I used it for a couple days and took it off. Without a resonator, the sounds was brutal! :eek: $25 shipped.

6

Engine + Driveline / Water temp ?

« on: July 23, 2007, 08:00:39 AM »

stock tstat is set for 190F, so either the tstat is a little off or your gauge is. 210 isn't "too hot" for an engine by any means though, so I wouldn't be too worried.

7

Engine + Driveline / ac removal

« on: July 15, 2007, 07:49:55 PM »

yes, it's not too hard to get it all out of there, won't cause any problems. The only thing you'll have to do is come up with another mount for the electric fan, as it currently mounts to the condenser (unless you're going to leave that there). I'd order at least the brackets from the dealer:

http://www.e30tech.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=34325&highlight=mounting+electric+fan

8

General Topics / Looking For A Quiet Fuel Pump

« on: July 12, 2007, 07:49:52 AM »

A factory, OEM replacement, although probably not the cheapest option should be very hard to hear when the engine is running and the seat is in place. Even with the seat off, I've had trouble hearing mine. I'd go that way.

9

General Topics / Tips for Improving Mileage, Most of Which Simple

« on: July 09, 2007, 07:04:44 PM »

However, I also think synth is overblown in regards to how good it really is.

heh, tell that to our Accord that only gets it changed every 12-14k miles, a filter change every 6-7k. We've put 100k on it, now with 185k, it still runs like a top. Last time I did a compression test and oil sample, it was pretty uninteresting. Seems to be doing great.

Sorry, didn't mean to sidetrack the fuel economy conversation. :p

10

General Topics / Tips for Improving Mileage, Most of Which Simple

« on: July 09, 2007, 06:50:39 PM »

maybe on a newer car, on our cars i would not not even consider using synthetic oils.

WHY oh why do some people hang onto this fear of synthetic oils? They are good for ALL cars. I've done synth in the engine and trans of the few e30's and e36 I've owned, as well as engine oil on two Fieros, a '90 Accord, 240SX, pretty much every car I've owned that I actually wanted to keep for a little while. All cars at least 10 years old with 100k+ miles on them.

The people at the few race shops where I've worked, parts places, my car enthusiast friends, diesel truck friends, they all do synthetics. It's an easy choice, both in cost of oil changes, fuel economy, and engine life. I've never firsthand met an enthusiast who feared them, but they're obviously still out there..... somewhere! :confused:

FWIW, on my last trip to and from Summit Point Raceway in my m42, with stock diff, SYNTHETICS in trans, diff, engine, and even with sticky Azenis tires, and the sunroof cracked or open, windows partially down, 100lbs of tools in the trunk, I averaged 35MPG. Stock, 150k mile engine, with the only "mod" being the lack of a cat.

11

Engine + Driveline / Water pump

« on: June 28, 2007, 02:41:32 PM »

BMW water pumps are notoriously failure-prone. I'd replace them every 2-3 years if the car is driven often.

They are? Ours have metal impellers, right? I've just had good experiences with them, I would expect at least 100k miles out of a OEM pump, they're just so simple. Only the plastic impeller ones found in a lot of E36s sucked, then I'd agree, every couple of years.

12

General Topics / Low cost rally cars

« on: June 25, 2007, 08:03:30 AM »

Nice. Is that the Yugo STI-R Spec VZR Special Club Rally Red Label version?

I can only assume! :eek:

so with 30K€ you get a low budjet rally car.

Exactly! I have to be making $250k+/yr to consider pissing away a quarter of it on a car that is certian to be destroyed.  

13

Engine + Driveline / Recommended Gearbox Oil

« on: June 22, 2007, 04:01:26 PM »

Don't know why you're leery of synthetics, but I've personally had a lot of good luck with both Redline MTL and Silkolene Silktran in E30 transmissions. Light enough for street use, heavy enough for the track.

14

General Topics / Low cost rally cars

« on: June 22, 2007, 07:55:51 AM »

I wouldn't call anyone using remote resorvoir Ohlins a "budget" rally car.

Yeah, it'll be a glorious day when I can consider a fully prepped E30M3 a "low cost rally car". Something along these lines seems more appropriate:

15

Electrical / Aftermarket radio wiring harness adapter

« on: June 12, 2007, 08:41:07 AM »