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choo choo posted:I need someone to either point me in a good direction, or tell me I'm crazy with this idea. A dedicated track car is a great idea. What is your budget though, and what are your goals? Do you want to be competitive on a national level at Auto-x? If so, it's unlikely that it will be a great track car, as the preparation and classing is different. If it's a compromise car, then it will be 'ok', or even 'good', at both, depending on the car, but it's unlikely that it will be highly competitive at both. Since it's going to be a track/auto-x car, consider looking for salvage title cars, or 'projects' that have easily repaired sheet-metal damage as a cheap way to get into much more car. An example (unfortunately, the CL post has been deleted) there was a totalled 95' M3 here in Phoenix for just $3500. The damage was all forward of the radiator, and for the cost of a replacement hood, 1 fender, and the front end (including the radiator), someone would have an extremely nice track car. If you do decide to do a lot of open track, not just auto-x, I can not emphasize enough that you should do the proper safety gear on the car - roll-bar, Hans, proper driving suit and SA rated helmet at the minimum. A fire suppression system would be good also. Even in DE type track days, you can't control the other drivers, or mechanical failures near hard surfaces (like concrete walls).
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Jun 3, 2009 00:35
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The Locator posted:A dedicated track car is a great idea. What is your budget though, and what are your goals? I guess a more accurate roadmap of what I want to get into would be to pursue AutoX at a provincial level (Canadian), and sowly start moving on to Solosprints, and who knows from there. I would predominately be setting up the car for AutoX since by the time I get serious about Solosprints, I might be on to a different car altogether. A big part of stepping beyond AutoX would be safety considerations and costs, so I won't be in any rush to get there fast. I am still new to AutoX, but I can tell that I'm hooked and that I won't be able to keep doing it in the daily driven WRX, it's just too expensive and time consuming to risk it. I figure it would be a great car to really start getting experience in and could potentially be competitive if I got that far. At the same time, I won't be risking my DD.
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Jun 3, 2009 01:23
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my e39 528i wagon paid a visit to the dealership due to my inability to figure my misfire problem out the idiots at BMW told me that 4 prong bosch spark plugs are the wrong ones, I pulled 4 prong ngk ... I imagine they are not happy that BMW is not on the side they also made the brilliant statement "we definitely have a misfire issue" when it sounds like death and is missing like 3 fires so my DME is blown ... anyone have experience with getting a used unit? I am slightly against paying a grand or whatever for one
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Jun 3, 2009 19:01
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Bad-yeti, check the 5-lug subforum over at r3vlimited.
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Jun 3, 2009 23:02
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The textured gray trim paint stuff on my e36's rocker panels is starting to flake off a bit. Can I get this in small quantities from the dealer or are there any acceptable substitutes? I was thinking of trying to strip it and then finding some dark gray Rhino-Line...
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Jun 3, 2009 23:10
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Strip that poo poo off! It's painted underneath. Castrol superclean go go go.
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Jun 3, 2009 23:26
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 I....think I actually like the look? Opinions tend to lean toward stripping it though, but then I need to start painting or dyeing bumpers...Plus, i'm paranoid of loving up the paint underneath. Every instruction page I've come across for stripping that poo poo off has a big "STOP WHEN YOU SEE PAINT OR YOU'LL TRASH IT" warning, and I'll tell you something I'm really bad at: moderation. just a tad scared really Edit: I think http://tinyurl.com/plt3s2 is something what I'm looking towards. Although I have a little patch of rust cancer on the rear of one of the rockers, so I'm wondering what I can do to patch and get that texture back - body filler I suppose? Jonny 290 fucked around with this message at 23:34 on Jun 3, 2009 |
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Jun 3, 2009 23:29
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I think my rear passenger side wheel is still wearing very quickly. The tires I just put ont he rear (were on the front) had decent tread left, the drivers side still does but the passenger side has worn past the wear markers already. I replaced my RTABs and got a 4-wheel alignment right afterwards about 2000 miles ago. My rear shocks and shock mounts were replacing in the fall. What else might it be?
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Jun 3, 2009 23:33
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CornHolio posted:I replaced my RTABs and got a 4-wheel alignment right afterwards Where did you get the alignment done? If not the dealership or a specialist shop, it was not a 4 wheel alignment: without a special tool, you cannot set the rear toe. Edit: if I were you I'd go back to wherever it was, get a refund, and go to an alignment specialist.
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Jun 4, 2009 00:43
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Sterndotstern posted:Where did you get the alignment done? If not the dealership or a specialist shop, it was not a 4 wheel alignment: without a special tool, you cannot set the rear toe. What special tool? It's just 3-4 bolts on the trailing arm, they get loosened, and then you can move it laterally to adjust toe. The special tool can be replaced with a big screw driver and a hammer.
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Jun 4, 2009 00:52
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Doctor Grape Ape posted:What special tool? The "special tool" that all the chain store alignment guides call for. The "special tool" that Johnny Mechanic knows he doesn't have, so he doesn't touch the rear alignment.
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Jun 4, 2009 01:03
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Sterndotstern posted:Where did you get the alignment done? If not the dealership or a specialist shop, it was not a 4 wheel alignment: without a special tool, you cannot set the rear toe. They set my rear toe to the following: LR: .23° RR: .19° Total rear toe: .42° My Bentley manual doesn't call anything out for the 328i, but for the 325i it has 0°24' +/-6' for the total toe angle. So the individual toe angles are within spec, but the total is not. Is this what my problem is? edit: it seems that if this was the case, I'd have the same wear on both rear tires. CornHolio fucked around with this message at 01:25 on Jun 4, 2009 |
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Jun 4, 2009 01:17
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EvilMoFo posted:my e39 528i wagon paid a visit to the dealership due to my inability to figure my misfire problem out I'm trying to figure out what happened here. Did the dealer say that Bosch plugs fried the DME? Or did you have NGKs in there and DME just died? Either way, you can try a used DME, but it will need to be coded by the dealership for it to work. Make sure they are willing to do that (some just won't) and how much they will charge you for it.
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Jun 4, 2009 01:25
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Sanctum posted:pretty pictures Speaking of which, does anybody have experience with the Z4 that they wouldn't mind sharing? I'm tempted to lease one for a couple of years, but I'm wondering how practical the car itself is. From what I'm told, it has basically no trunk space, RFTs suck, going anywhere when it snows is a nightmare due to its lightness and the top sucks balls when it's cold outside. I know they have the hard top model, but those things are almost impossible to find.
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Jun 4, 2009 01:38
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Brock Landers posted:I'm trying to figure out what happened here. Did the dealer say that Bosch plugs fried the DME? Or did you have NGKs in there and DME just died? Either way, you can try a used DME, but it will need to be coded by the dealership for it to work. Make sure they are willing to do that (some just won't) and how much they will charge you for it. replaced the spark plugs and it continued running like crap figured it was the coils but the testing showed them to be good then thought it was the fuel injectors and moved them around and it still ran badly the only thing left was the wiring or the computer, thus it appeared at the dealership they sound like they wont recode it, I will talk to them this weekend about it though ... if they wont, I need to find one that will I guess, yay
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Jun 4, 2009 02:26
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EvilMoFo posted:replaced the spark plugs and it continued running like crap The same type of crap running or a slightly different type of crap running? When you swapped the coil and injectors, did you clear the faults each time you swapped and then recheck the codes to see if the misfire move to a different cylinder? As for the used DME, the VIN is encoded in it, thus the EWS will have to be swapped along the the DME from the donor vehicle.
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Jun 4, 2009 03:12
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moparacker posted:The same type of crap running or a slightly different type of crap running? yes, it continued to misfire 5 constantly and 3 most of the time I thought the purpose of recoding it was so I didnt have to replace that too
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Jun 4, 2009 03:52
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Brock Landers posted:Either way, you can try a used DME, but it will need to be coded by the dealership for it to work. Make sure they are willing to do that (some just won't) and how much they will charge you for it. If you swap the EWS with the DME, you're going to need the keys with it (assuming it'll work at all). Don't ever lose them, because BMW isn't going to give you the keys to a car with mismatched VINs.
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Jun 4, 2009 13:11
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Mad Dragon posted:There's a big difference between won't and can't. Used DMEs can't be coded to any car other than the one they're married to. Yea, I knew there were a couple of obstacles preventing a simple DME swap. I figured the dealer would be able to recode the DME to the car's EWS though. So does the factory make "virgin" DMEs that can be programmed if a car's original DME goes out?
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Jun 4, 2009 14:52
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VacaGrande posted:The car is awesome, but please do not go 15k miles between oil changes like BMW thinks is appropriate. They're insane unless your driving is all 55mph steady at 2500rpm. Get it changed at least every 7,500 miles. BMW won't pay for it but it's worth it for the life of your engine. My local German car repair/race prep shop tells me stories about the horrors they see in late model BMWs after years of 15k-mile oil changes. I remember a bit on NPR's Car Talk, about a woman who thought her husband was nuts for wanting to change it at 7500 when BMW was paying for 15000. It got me wondering: lots of people are going along with this. Is BMW indirectly loving over its long term used sales? I'd like to buy a used E90, but I don't want to change the oil and find a lot of aluminum filings.
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Jun 4, 2009 18:03
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BMW doesn't care about its long term used sales because they are a luxury marque, which traditionally caters to people who don't buy used cars. It's a confidence/strength play. "Our engines are so good that technically you can go 15k between changes". No way would I go longer than 5k between changes on any of my cars without direct scientific irrefutable evidence that changing it earlier *harms* the car. The cost is minimal and the oil-change Saturdays are great opportunities to give the car a once-over and make sure fluids and lines are all happy.
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Jun 4, 2009 18:39
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I have a technical question for the auto experts in here. I have an '05 E46 and the indicator that the passenger brake light comes on when I turn the car on every few days, but when I check it out everything is fine. Is it worth it to have the dealer check it out, or am I just going to get raped like $200 to have them hook up to the ECU and tell me everything's fine?
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Jun 4, 2009 19:58
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SwashedBuckles posted:I have a technical question for the auto experts in here. I have an '05 E46 and the indicator that the passenger brake light comes on when I turn the car on every few days, but when I check it out everything is fine. Is it worth it to have the dealer check it out, or am I just going to get raped like $200 to have them hook up to the ECU and tell me everything's fine? Pull the connector for the RR taillight and I'm sure you'll find that the brown ground wire has burnt and melted the connector. A very simple wiring repair can take care of that. If you find that to be the problem, I'll post the repair for it...
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Jun 5, 2009 00:03
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Brock Landers posted:Yea, I knew there were a couple of obstacles preventing a simple DME swap. I figured the dealer would be able to recode the DME to the car's EWS though. So does the factory make "virgin" DMEs that can be programmed if a car's original DME goes out? Yup, virgin DME's are exactly what they sell. But once its been programmed and coded for a certain vehicle, its can never be encoded for another vehicle. The only way to have the VIN wiped from a good operating DME is for BMW to do it, which they will never do for this type of situation. moparacker fucked around with this message at 00:14 on Jun 5, 2009 |
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Jun 5, 2009 00:07
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moparacker posted:Pull the connector for the RR taillight and I'm sure you'll find that the brown ground wire has burnt and melted the connector. A very simple wiring repair can take care of that. I'll take a look at it on Saturday. Here's to hoping it's something as easy as a wiring repair 
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Jun 5, 2009 17:57
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CornHolio posted:They set my rear toe to the following: Does anybody have any additional input on this?
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Jun 5, 2009 18:04
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CornHolio posted:Does anybody have any additional input on this?
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Jun 5, 2009 21:58
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CornHolio posted:Does anybody have any additional input on this? The Bentley figure you quoted is given in minutes, not degrees. And further, 24' is equal to about .4 degrees...exactly what you say your rear total toe is. I don't have left and right specs in front of me but .2 degrees sounds about right. So by that printout your rear toe is fine. The camber could still be out; you didn't provide those numbers. So either you still have something causing play in your rear end, you have a rear camber issue (this usually causes excessive wear on either the inside or outside edge of the tread, not even wear), the alignment shop gave you a doctored printout (it does happen), your tires weren't evenly worn when you rotated them 2k miles ago (it can be hard to tell without measuring), you had an inflation issue (flat tire), or your driving habits and tire choice just cause uneven wear. They're all possibilities.
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Jun 6, 2009 02:48
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Did you guys know that BMW makes great moving vans too?
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Jun 6, 2009 03:25
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peterjmatt posted:The Bentley figure you quoted is given in minutes, not degrees. And further, 24' is equal to about .4 degrees...exactly what you say your rear total toe is. I don't have left and right specs in front of me but .2 degrees sounds about right. So by that printout your rear toe is fine. The camber could still be out; you didn't provide those numbers. I couldn't remember the conversion so I left everything in the units they were given in. Anyway, the figures from the alignment shop for my camber are also in spec: -1.6° left, -1.5° right. My Bentley gives the figure as -1°40' +/- 15'. The tires looked pretty even when they were on the front, though I do need to check air pressure and such. If I jack the wheel up, what kind of play should I look for? Could it be a wheel bearing? A differential mount? My control arms all look straight and I don't think I have any frame damage. Thanks for the help thus far.
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Jun 6, 2009 03:31
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CornHolio posted:I couldn't remember the conversion so I left everything in the units they were given in. Unless your wheel bearing is completely shot you most likely won't feel anything when shaking the rear wheels. Also, bad wheel bearings or diff bushings are going to cause noise. So if you're not hearing rotational growling or thunking on acceleration or decel, I would probably rule those factors out. It really doesn't sound like your tire wear is caused by worn out suspension components (assuming that the alignment was done properly). The rear suspension setup on these cars is fairly simple with only a few joints; when parts are bad it almost invariably shows up on the alignment printout. What does the tread measure now? Also, what tires are you using? And you should be checking your pressures every couple of weeks. A flat tire will wear out tread much quicker than normal.
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Jun 6, 2009 03:53
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peterjmatt posted:What does the tread measure now? Also, what tires are you using? And you should be checking your pressures every couple of weeks. A flat tire will wear out tread much quicker than normal. Looks like the bad side is 30psi and the good side is 34psi. I'll have to measure the tread in the morning but that might be enough to do it I suppose.
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Jun 6, 2009 04:03
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CornHolio posted:Looks like the bad side is 30psi and the good side is 34psi. I'll have to measure the tread in the morning but that might be enough to do it I suppose. 4psi actually isn't very significant...unless you're driving a motorcycle.
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Jun 6, 2009 04:07
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CornHolio posted:Looks like the bad side is 30psi and the good side is 34psi. I'll have to measure the tread in the morning but that might be enough to do it I suppose. Are they directional, or can you rotate them? First inflate to an even pressure, measure tread depth before and after 3k mi, you'll have an answer. Cars are SURPRISINGLY sensitive to tire pressure, so if you want to improve wear and ride, I'd HIGHLY recommend you try evening up tire pressures at 38 psi all around. Though I have to wonder: why the hell would a RWD street car have toe out spec'ed in the rear? Edit: can't be toe out, must be toe in. Doii. Sterndotstern fucked around with this message at 05:38 on Jun 6, 2009 |
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Jun 6, 2009 04:59
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Sterndotstern posted:Are they directional, or can you rotate them? First inflate to an even pressure, measure tread depth before and after 3k mi, you'll have an answer. Cars are SURPRISINGLY sensitive to tire pressure, so if you want to improve wear and ride, I'd HIGHLY recommend you try evening up tire pressures at 38 psi all around. 38psi is a little high for an E36 depending on tire size. If he has the 15" stockers 32-34psi all around is good. Also, those specs should be toe in.
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Jun 6, 2009 05:14
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Sterndotstern posted:Are they directional, or can you rotate them? First inflate to an even pressure, measure tread depth before and after 3k mi, you'll have an answer. Cars are SURPRISINGLY sensitive to tire pressure, so if you want to improve wear and ride, I'd HIGHLY recommend you try evening up tire pressures at 38 psi all around. They're directional, so I can't rotate them. I think the 'official' E36 spec is actually like 29 in the front and 34 in the rear for tire pressure. I used to have almost 40 in all the tires but was advised against it after I made my other tire go bald (same reason, but all the wear was in the middle. See a few pages back).
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Jun 6, 2009 17:32
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I'm over the 91 525i, and put it on Craigslist today for $1,200. So I'm in the market for something that needs a bit less.... Work. Of course, I can't afford anything TOO new. But I'm torn between these, both seem great buys, and equal chance of being completely freakin' awesome, or completely freakin' awesome money pits. Any thoughts? Here's a '95 M3 for $6,990 http://www.cars.com/go/search/detail.jsp?paId=311749878 Looks to be in pretty good shape overall. And it's an M3. I'm not normally a red car guy. And I'd never thought of a '90s 3 series, but the M's weren't too awful. I wager I could talk the dealer down some on it. And HERE, my friends, is something truly delicious: An '89 635 CSi for 6k. http://www.cars.com/go/search/detail.jsp?paId=137334511 I've ALWAYS loved these. ALWAYS. And this one looks in really REALLY good shape for it's age. This, to me, is the quintessential BMW. Sure, it needs a lil' touchup here and there, (Drivers' seat, cracked rear taillight lens, and missing logo/keycap), but if it drives as well as it looks... I've driven other 635s and have absolutely loved them... I guess my questions are the generic AI ones. Any thoughts on which will be more problematic? Any key problem zones I should look into? Am I dooming myself into still more awesome German paperweights? Are they hideously overpriced? Maybe I'm going from frying pan to fire with either of these. All I know is I have an uncontrollable case of the wants! Or I could just man up and go for a pristine 2001 325i with 94k but for 10 grand. Meh. WWAID? Clockwork Sputnik fucked around with this message at 00:50 on Jun 7, 2009 |
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Jun 7, 2009 00:47
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Clockwork Sputnik posted:
Wow, that 6 is gorgeous. Too bad it's an auto. If it looks as good in person as it does in the photos, and if it has a good service history then that price is excellent. That being said, it's not the right car for you if you're looking for a reliable, cheap car. It's essentially the same vehicle as an e28 5 series, but parts tend to be more expensive for the coupe. The price on the e36 seems about right for a dealer, but M3s are always a gamble. They tend to be either torn apart or pristine. The mileage and pics would suggest it's in good shape, but I'd get an independent inspection before pulling the trigger. If it were me, I'd lean more towards the M3, but that's only because I like how they drive and sound better than the e24s. While the S50 in the e36 isn't a true M motor, I still like it better than the big M30.
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Jun 7, 2009 01:12
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Lowered it finally, it was a perfect drop, no rubbing or scraping. Click here for the full 800x599 image.  Click here for the full 800x600 image.  Click here for the full 800x600 image.
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Jun 7, 2009 23:58
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I'm looking at upgrading my FIAT Punto Diesel to a 2005 E46 320Cd Sport (55 reg for UK peeps), I've spotted a nice one in my price range on Auto Trader: Click here for the full 640x480 image.  Click here for the full 640x480 image. I just wanted to know if there's anything in particular I should be looking out for in this model, both mechanically and physically, I'm going to be driving it pretty regularly as I work away from home and do anything from 150-300 miles a week.
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Jun 8, 2009 00:32
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