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My car is vexing me. I could use an opinion. The car is an '03 e85 with the SMG transmission and about 90k on the clock. I park in 1st gear. When I get into the car and turn the key the light on the shift lever says the car is in "D" and the readout on the dash says "1". The car won't start because it's in gear, so I press the brake pedal and move the stick to "N". The light by the stick moves to "N". The readout on the dash does not change, and remains at "1." The car continues not starting. If I fuss with it I can occasionally produce the yellow sprocket indicator light, and on a few occasions the dash readout has changed to "F1". This has happened two days in a row. Yesterday I had it towed to the dealership where it started fine and showed no faults. I drove it home that night. The shift from 1st to 2nd in automatic mode felt a bit sluggish but I am told that's fairly common to the SMG when not in Sport or Manual mode. So far as I can tell the electrical system is good. I can hear a while when I unlock the doors, which I believe indicates the hydraulic pump is priming. I'm also fairly sure I'm not too dumb to start the car.
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May 25, 2010 18:52
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I wonder how hard it would be to convert it to a normal 6 speed in that car. Looks like the only two parts BMW lists for the SMG are the computer at like $850, and the hydraulic unit at $4400. Hopefully it's just the gear position selector sensor or something minor.
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May 25, 2010 20:56
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Lowclock posted:I wonder how hard it would be to convert it to a normal 6 speed in that car. Looks like the only two parts BMW lists for the SMG are the computer at like $850, and the hydraulic unit at $4400. Hopefully it's just the gear position selector sensor or something minor. That's unfortunate. I'm told there are about a billion little reason the SMG can shoot the pooch, but my errors are likely relay or hydraulic related.
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May 25, 2010 23:27
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Mark Larson posted:Yeah, I'm pressing the unlock button twice. Comfort module? Is there some kind of DIY available for this? Best thing to do is let the dealer diagnose it. Their computers can pinpoint faulty components quicker than you can. Also, if it does turn out to be the comfort module, you can't just throw a new one in there. It needs to be coded (by the dealer) to the car's ECU.
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May 26, 2010 01:53
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I'm going to be spending Memorial Day weekend overhauling just about everything on my E36 M3 - entire cooling system replacement, underdrive pulleys, driveline mounts, brakes, swaysbars, coilovers, and new wheels/tires. Would AI be interested in a photo essay of all the busted knuckles and frustration I'm about to experience? 
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May 26, 2010 13:20
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multiprotocol posted:I'm going to be spending Memorial Day weekend overhauling just about everything on my E36 M3 - entire cooling system replacement, underdrive pulleys, driveline mounts, brakes, swaysbars, coilovers, and new wheels/tires. Would AI be interested in a photo essay of all the busted knuckles and frustration I'm about to experience? Yes definitely, especially the engine/tranny mounts and coilover install.
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May 26, 2010 13:54
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multiprotocol posted:I'm going to be spending Memorial Day weekend overhauling just about everything on my E36 M3 - entire cooling system replacement, underdrive pulleys, driveline mounts, brakes, swaysbars, coilovers, and new wheels/tires. Would AI be interested in a photo essay of all the busted knuckles and frustration I'm about to experience? What coilovers did you go with? Also, yes.
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May 26, 2010 20:48
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Doctor Grape Ape posted:What coilovers did you go with? AST4100s with spherical RSMs and Vorshlag C/C plates. I lucked out and got the new swaybar attachment method that uses locking collars and not a pinch bolt on the back of the sway clamp. It's pretty boss. multiprotocol fucked around with this message at 00:52 on May 27, 2010 |
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May 27, 2010 00:50
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multiprotocol posted:AST4100s with spherical RSMs and Vorshlag C/C plates. I lucked out and got the new swaybar attachment method that uses locking collars and not a pinch bolt on the back of the sway clamp. It's pretty boss. Niiiiice. Spring rates? I really like those RSMs, pricey, but probably the ultimate RSM solution; makes me wonder how well those Delrin RSMs really work since they don't give and cause a lot of deflection in the shock shaft at extremes of travel. Seems like it could eventually lead to premature shock failure due to the awkward loading of the piston moving in the shock assembly. Then again, I'm not a Mech E. so I could just be talking out of my rear end. My next suspension update on the E36 (which, God willing, won't be for a year or more) will be full coilovers with adjustable dampers. The factory 951S setup with adjustable Koni's has ruined the basic Bilstein/H&R setup on my E36. Also, I am really glad you didn't say DDM or whatever those new $600 coilovers that every teenager at bf.c is making GBS threads themselves over.
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May 27, 2010 01:47
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Doctor Grape Ape posted:Also, I am really glad you didn't say DDM or whatever those new $600 coilovers that every teenager at bf.c is making GBS threads themselves over. Sweet merciful lord no. I'd rather slit my own wrists quietly in a corner than buy that knockoff crap. My rationale is that if you own a BMW, it's because you want quality, so why would you slap crap parts on it? Terry Fair and a bunch of other guys recommend the AST stuff very exceptionally highly, so I figured I'd give it a shot. I got a pretty good deal from Elephant Motorsports on the whole coilover/RSM/CC plate package. I'll let you know what I think on the RSMs - I have JTD solid/urethane RSMs in there right now, but the price on the sphericals was just too low for me to ignore. Probably going to end up selling the JTDs. On another topic, I have a set of Vorshlag 80A transmission mounts coming in tomorrow - I was too chickenshit to go ahead and order the 95A engine mounts, because I have a 3000 mile road trip coming up. Does anyone run the Vorshlag motor mounts? Realistic NVH feedback? I don't mind exceptionally stiff shifting and vibrations at idle. The only things I'd be concerned with would be literally shaking the car apart due to reduced engine isolation as well as vibrations at 60-90mph. Thoughts? e: Oh yeah, 550#/650# front/rear springs. multiprotocol fucked around with this message at 22:59 on May 27, 2010 |
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May 27, 2010 22:24
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Invites apparently went out earlier today for BMW's "Ultimate Driving Event" here in the Cleveland area. I got my spot reserved for a 90 minute session with both a 3 of some sort and the Audi A4 for comparison, plus they said they might be able to get me in a 335d.
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May 27, 2010 22:54
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OrangeFurious posted:That's unfortunate. I'm told there are about a billion little reason the SMG can shoot the pooch, but my errors are likely relay or hydraulic related. After leaving the car with the BMW dealership today, the SMG diagnostic came back all clear - they say there's nothing wrong with it. Then they ran into the same problem trying to get it into their detail bay. Any ideas why an e85 with SMG would occasionally get stuck in 1st gear, but not throw a code and pass BMW's diagnostics?
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May 28, 2010 05:49
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OrangeFurious posted:After leaving the car with the BMW dealership today, the SMG diagnostic came back all clear - they say there's nothing wrong with it. Then they ran into the same problem trying to get it into their detail bay. I'd go through and clean stuff since it won't cost you much but time. Pull off any electrical harnesses on the trans and shifter and clean with some contact cleaner. I hate trans diagnostics because they often only throw codes in "oh gently caress..." situations. (see every car with a dead EPC and no codes)
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May 28, 2010 06:03
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Lowclock posted:I'd go through and clean stuff since it won't cost you much but time. Pull off any electrical harnesses on the trans and shifter and clean with some contact cleaner. I hate trans diagnostics because they often only throw codes in "oh gently caress..." situations. (see every car with a dead EPC and no codes) Good tip - I'll give it a shot. It's only recently struck me the SMG is all the evil magic of an automatic combined with the wind and ghosts of Bavarian computers. Yet still it calls itself a manual.
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May 28, 2010 08:21
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wolrah posted:Invites apparently went out earlier today for BMW's "Ultimate Driving Event" here in the Cleveland area. I got my spot reserved for a 90 minute session with both a 3 of some sort and the Audi A4 for comparison, plus they said they might be able to get me in a 335d. What is the date for that event? Wonder if it will be an A4 Frontrak with a CVT....
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May 28, 2010 19:32
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gigButt posted:What is the date for that event? July 19 at Ganley BMW. No idea on even what 3 they'll use, much less the A4, but I found a thread on one of the F10 forums indicating for that model they used a 535i vs. an E350. I don't know enough about either to tell how fair of a fight it was.
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May 28, 2010 22:18
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Has anyone ever replaced the cracked rubber around their door handles (on an E36)? This guide seemed easy enough, so I ordered some new rubber and set out to install them. The first step was just to pop off an outer casing to let you get at the release mechanism for the rubber to fall out, shown here:  Seems innocent enough, right? Well I guess I'm retarded because I couldn't manage to get this part off on any of the four doors. Here is what mine looked like after twenty minutes of extremely hard prying   I can't think of any other way to safely apply enough pressure to get these things off, and all I seem to be doing now is chewing up the piece instead of getting it closer to sliding out. Anyone done this before and have some advice?
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May 29, 2010 00:47
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Mr. Onslaught posted:Has anyone ever replaced the cracked rubber around their door handles (on an E36)? This guide seemed easy enough, so I ordered some new rubber and set out to install them. The first step was just to pop off an outer casing to let you get at the release mechanism for the rubber to fall out, shown here: I just dealt with this when I was messing around with the door handle on my 8 series. I know, different car, but that looks identical to what I found on mine. I pulled the door panel off (5 min job) and popped that thing out from the inside. Once the panel is off, you might not even have to remove it. I did, because it makes it easier to access the metal slider that has to be pushed towards the back of the car to remove the door handle assembly.
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May 29, 2010 03:23
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I've always hated BMWs. I never liked the way they looked, the interiors, or the way they drove. Then there was the M Coupe. I wanted one since they first came out. It was perfect. It was me. Happy to report that my dream has finally been fulfilled.  *edit* Any suggestions on where I might be able to come up with an owners manual for the car? BMW's website lets you download owners manuals, but they only go back to 2004. The car is a '99. toaster_pastry fucked around with this message at 18:47 on May 29, 2010 |
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May 29, 2010 18:24
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toaster_pastry posted:I've always hated BMWs. I never liked the way they looked, the interiors, or the way they drove. Awesome! And the perfect color too! Now, buy the TCKline suspension package, Z3 Strong-Strut package, upgrade the diff and mount, buy the Sunbelt cams and the entire Supersprint exhaust (headers, test pipe, cat back) and you'll have my dream car, that you can sell to me at a huge savings in a few years 
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May 29, 2010 21:25
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toaster_pastry posted:
I'm pretty sure Pelicanparts.com has them for sale, but check Craigslist first. I see various owners manuals on there all the time. Back when I was looking for a 'manual Volvo' half of them were stupid user's manuals.
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May 29, 2010 23:12
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My E30 has been chiming randomly through the door-ajar speaker. It isn't at a set interval and it doesn't always happen (but sometimes can happen upwards of 10 times during my 30min drive home), I just can't figure out a pattern. Has anybody else experienced this?
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May 30, 2010 15:47
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Mr. Onslaught posted:Has anyone ever replaced the cracked rubber around their door handles (on an E36)? This guide seemed easy enough, so I ordered some new rubber and set out to install them. The first step was just to pop off an outer casing to let you get at the release mechanism for the rubber to fall out, shown here: I've done this job recently. I used the harbor freight nylon trim tools to pop the covers off. One of the tools has a little fulcrum that you can lever them off with. Make no mistake though, getting those covers off is a HUGE PAIN IN THE rear end. And if you think that's hard, wait till you try to put them BACK. They don't want to go in and they end up flying off every time you try and tap them back in. My advice is to make sure you can get good leverage on them. Using the fulcrum tool, you wedge it between the door itself and the plug. You might buy four new plugs and just drill out the old ones. Aside from the covers, the job itself is cake though. Make yourself a little puller tool with a length of coat hanger to work the lever.
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May 30, 2010 16:31
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On my 02 M3 I noticed something sort of weird. When I floor the car it seems to be WOT but there is a sort of "click" before it is fully floored. Like at 98% throttle there seems to be like a "button" that presses before it is completely floored. Is this just overkill, a problem, or some kind of feature? I'm not really sure myself and don't want to overlook a simple problem.
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May 30, 2010 18:25
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VibrioCholera posted:On my 02 M3 I noticed something sort of weird. When I floor the car it seems to be WOT but there is a sort of "click" before it is fully floored. Like at 98% throttle there seems to be like a "button" that presses before it is completely floored. Is this just overkill, a problem, or some kind of feature? I'm not really sure myself and don't want to overlook a simple problem. It's normal. It's probably different because yours is newer, but in my e34 it's actually a rather sizeable button directly under the gas pedal with a pretty hefty click to it. I don't know what the point is since the TPS is supposed to know when you're at WOT anyways. Maybe a backup to make sure the compressor kicks off or something.
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May 30, 2010 18:32
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revmoo posted:I've done this job recently. Hm ok, thanks. It seems like replacing the rubber makes a huge difference on the look too, from what I've seen.
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May 30, 2010 20:34
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Lowclock posted:It's normal. It's probably different because yours is newer, but in my e34 it's actually a rather sizeable button directly under the gas pedal with a pretty hefty click to it. I don't know what the point is since the TPS is supposed to know when you're at WOT anyways. Maybe a backup to make sure the compressor kicks off or something. It's a kickdown switch for the automatic transmission. It immediately forces the transmission into the lowest gear possible for maximum acceleration. The gas pedal is a single assembly, so even the manual cars get them; it just doesn't do anything.
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May 30, 2010 21:59
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Is there something inherent to the E46 brake rotor design that makes them more likely to rust to the hubs? In the past when I had done the brakes on my old Police Interceptor, the things obviously hadn't been touched in quite some time but the rotors all came off with just a tug. All four rotors on my 3 were rusted on so bad I had to beat on them with a dead blow hammer for about 20-30 minutes a piece before they came loose, and this was after having all but the first soaked in PB Blaster for as long as it took me to do the ones before them. I hit all the mating surfaces with antiseize as I've seen recommended to reduce the odds of this happening again, but it was still strange and annoying. Also, the lower bolt on the caliper mounting bracket in the back is terribly positioned. The hard portion of the brake line runs right in front of it, so when trying to do pads+rotors without having to bleed the system it's a royal pain in the rear end to torque back down. e: dammit, just remembered that I forgot to recalibrate my parking brake after having loosened both sides to get the rear rotors off. Gonna have to do that some time soon... Maybe I can get it right this time, last time I somehow managed to get it to only stick forward, not backward. wolrah fucked around with this message at 03:47 on May 31, 2010 |
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May 31, 2010 03:39
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wolrah posted:stuff It mostly depends on where you live and how often the wheels come off. Clean off the rust that is stuck to the inside surface of the wheel, as that will just allow it to rust together again in no time. If the problem is really bad put some copper antiseize on the face of the hub, making sure to wipe up any excess since slippery stuff on rotors is a bad thing. You could also sand, mask off, and spray the hubs with some high temp paint. A good thing to try with stubborn rusted on wheels is to break the lug nuts loose and thread them out like 1/4 of an inch, then let the car roll/put it in gear and idle a few feet.
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May 31, 2010 07:53
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Mr. Onslaught posted:Hm ok, thanks. It seems like replacing the rubber makes a huge difference on the look too, from what I've seen. Yeah it makes a really noticeable difference. I did the rear windshield trim while I was at it and now my car has all good condition trim. It looks a lot better now.
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May 31, 2010 15:31
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Doctor Grape Ape posted:It mostly depends on where you live and how often the wheels come off. Clean off the rust that is stuck to the inside surface of the wheel, as that will just allow it to rust together again in no time. If the problem is really bad put some copper antiseize on the face of the hub, making sure to wipe up any excess since slippery stuff on rotors is a bad thing. You could also sand, mask off, and spray the hubs with some high temp paint. The issue wasn't wheel to rotor, it was rotor to hub assembly after the wheels were already off. The wheels were a bit rusted on, but those never have much of a chance since I switch them out twice a year. I do need to take the rust off the hub though, I just hit them with brake cleaner, applied a thin coating of antiseize, then put the rotors on. Hopefully one of my inverters will run a Dremel properly so I don't have to go buy a manual wire brush.
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May 31, 2010 16:37
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OrangeFurious posted:After leaving the car with the BMW dealership today, the SMG diagnostic came back all clear - they say there's nothing wrong with it. Then they ran into the same problem trying to get it into their detail bay. BMW has had the car since Thursday now. As of this morning they have no idea why it's stuck in first gear. Quote the service manager, "We're just going to start tracing wires." I bought the car on the 23rd. I've driven it twice. Pretty though. 
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Jun 2, 2010 18:35
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two_beer_bishes posted:My E30 has been chiming randomly through the door-ajar speaker. It isn't at a set interval and it doesn't always happen (but sometimes can happen upwards of 10 times during my 30min drive home), I just can't figure out a pattern. Has anybody else experienced this? Mine is similar, but not nearly as frequent. It is very rare, but does happens sometimes. Not sure what the problem is.
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Jun 2, 2010 18:52
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Dyscrasia posted:Mine is similar, but not nearly as frequent. It is very rare, but does happens sometimes. Not sure what the problem is. Have you considered pressing the memo key on your OBC?
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Jun 2, 2010 18:58
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 Picked this up today, it's a 2006 118 Diesel. Seems like a fun car, looking forward to driving it some more. Seems like the aux-input is a bit shady, it crackles and gives no sound on the left side speakers, even though when in FM mode all speakers sounds great. If I turn the balance way to the left I can still hear the music very faintly so something is getting through.. Anybody else run into this problem?
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Jun 2, 2010 19:41
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Znyp posted:
Do the rear seats in those fold flat? There's no way they will ever offer this in the US, but tell me so I know how pissed off to be.
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Jun 2, 2010 19:46
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Znyp posted:Seems like the aux-input is a bit shady, it crackles and gives no sound on the left side speakers, even though when in FM mode all speakers sounds great. If I turn the balance way to the left I can still hear the music very faintly so something is getting through.. Anybody else run into this problem? Can't speak directly for this on the 118 diesels, but I can tell you I have had this kind of trouble with shady connections... either the cable not being plugged all the way in, or just a crappy aux cable.
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Jun 2, 2010 19:51
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I'm doing some summer renovations on my E36 M3... Mostly putting the good parts from my old car onto the new one. In putting on the rear sway bar and exhaust, I noticed that the nuts/bolts holding them on are so rusted that they are fragmenting; the correct size socket doesn't even fit. I already have new bolts with the replacement parts, but how do I get these bad boys off?! I was thinking of just cutting them off, but there's not enough room for my Dremel to fit  .
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Jun 2, 2010 20:15
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havelock posted:Do the rear seats in those fold flat? There's no way they will ever offer this in the US, but tell me so I know how pissed off to be. They don't fold down completely flat, no. I guess you can stomp them down abit more than in this random picture, but not a whole lot. Can't you get the 1-series at all in the US?  Fermunky posted:Can't speak directly for this on the 118 diesels, but I can tell you I have had this kind of trouble with shady connections... either the cable not being plugged all the way in, or just a crappy aux cable. Ok, I'll try to reseat the cable again. It's brand new though, but maybe it's bad.
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Jun 2, 2010 20:16
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Znyp posted:Can't you get the 1-series at all in the US? Not the 5-door version, only a 2-door and a convertible. I find BMW's lack of faith in American wagon buyers... disturbing. If they sold a 135 wagon, we would have a garage full of BMWs instead of three E36s and a Subaru turbo wagon.
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Jun 2, 2010 20:32
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