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Thanks a bunch guys, I really appreciate the input. This time, an E36 question. Just bought one last week, and the clutch makes a weird humming/squealing noise and its a very soft noise (I know, describing noises...) when the pedal is depressed, and continues for as long as the pedal is depressed. Only when the car is running, and as far as I can tel, it doesn't effect shifting/gear engagement. Any ideas? Thanks again guys.
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Apr 7, 2011 03:41
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T-Square posted:Thanks a bunch guys, I really appreciate the input. Throw-out bearing? Hope you like doing clutch jobs 
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Apr 7, 2011 04:01
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Almost definitely the throwout. If you do pull the tranny, make sure to change the rear main seal while you're in there.
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Apr 7, 2011 04:36
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T-Square posted:Quick E30 question, specifically the 325's, for those who Autocross and/or track them: A friend swore by Accusump for track driving, but I haven't heard much about it for autox. Worth asking it the Autocross thread: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3396606 As far as typical and E30-specific stress to the oiling system, etc.
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Apr 7, 2011 06:52
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televiper posted:Speaking of transmission mounts, I plan on changing mine when I replace the flex disk on my e36 pretty soon. Besides those and a shifter swap or refresh, is there anything else that I should look into replacing or upgrading that's convenient to do while I'm in the neighborhood? You could check your exhaust mounts, the round rubber things. They eventually crack and tear, and are also cheap and pretty easy to swap. Penguin Radar posted:It stays fairly constant, and may vary slightly with RPM rather than wheelspeed. It's really tricky to describe. A noise staying constant with both wheel speed and engine speed sounds rather unlikely. Are you sure? Try going for a drive on a lonely highway and test it out, so to speak, and pay attention to the sound as you change revs and speed. Also try if you can describe the noise better. Ticking is the noise you'd get if you slapped a teaspoon against a block of concrete. You can usually also tell if it's a thick or thin piece of metal that's involved, a thin piece will sound more hollow and tinny, whereas a large piece will involve more serious clunking and deep sounds. Also, the bogging down sounds like another issue. By bogging down do you mean that the engine bogs down? My M30 engine (also your 535's engine type) did that too, it would kinda trip over itself when you put your foot down from idle, then shoot up. Didn't bog if you already had the revs up a bit. It didn't sound very healthy, but I read it's a normal issue stemming from lack of adjusted valve lifters (which must be done periodically on an M30). I did try adjusting the lifters a few times, but it didn't help much... maybe I just didn't do the adjustment well enough.
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Apr 7, 2011 15:00
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skystream92 posted:Is there a specific adapter you need? I tried grabbing the one that connects my speakers to my computer and used that to plug into the ipod and car, but got nothing. I suppose the wire I used could also just be not Apple compatible or something. You need to set your stereo to Aux In or something similar. There is no "Apple compatible wire" or anything, this is as basic as audio technology gets. It's basically using your car as a headset.
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Apr 7, 2011 15:22
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It's been 2 years today and 29k miles since I bought my M3. I just had the 30k service done because the timer ran out before the miles did, and they changed the plugs, diff fluid, brake fluid, oil and a few other things. I was also interested to note that the service interval has been dropped from 15000 miles to 12000 miles. Is BMW wising up to the fact that it's too long/far between oil changes, and that spark plugs don't actually last 100k? Anyway the car's been flawless over this time, never had to take it in for anything other than regular service and it's seen 8 track days. I've been thinking about working on sharpening up the handling and steering response on it. Do you guys recommend any places that do good suspension work on the newer cars? Dinan is close but I've been disappointed with the results of their work so far. pic from last year's hillclimb: 
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Apr 7, 2011 17:38
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Das Volk posted:I was also interested to note that the service interval has been dropped from 15000 miles to 12000 miles. Is BMW wising up to the fact that it's too long/far between oil changes, and that spark plugs don't actually last 100k? They've always been approximate mileage intervals. The counter actually goes by gas consumption; therefore, if you drive the car harder the service interval is shortened. Pretty smart, really.
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Apr 7, 2011 17:56
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I've finally found an e46 at the right price! Gonna go have a look at a 2002 e46 320ci with 75k miles on the clock. It's listed on the dealer's website at just over €4000 but considering that it's about €1000 - €2000 under the market price in Ireland it's a bit of a bargain. The only think that worries me is that in the service history the bodywork section was ticked back in 2005 which means it might have been in a crash. Are there any common enough problems with the e46 320ci's that I should look for when I'm taking it for a test drive?
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Apr 7, 2011 22:58
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Aindriu posted:I've finally found an e46 at the right price! Gonna go have a look at a 2002 e46 320ci with 75k miles on the clock. It's listed on the dealer's website at just over €4000 but considering that it's about €1000 - €2000 under the market price in Ireland it's a bit of a bargain. The only think that worries me is that in the service history the bodywork section was ticked back in 2005 which means it might have been in a crash. The water pump will need to be replaced, if it hasn't already. If it doesn't have recent maintenance records, I'd be wary of the car. Taking it to a local BMW mechanic for a once-over may not be a bad idea. If there aren't any maintenance records, replacing the following would probably be a good idea: - Water pump - Air filter - Fuel filter - Transmission filter & flush - Worn hoses - Spark plugs/wires edit: also, google "e46 subframe" and check that this car is either in good shape or has had the recall performed. the only other thing I can think of would be the window regulators, but those are a fairly easy DIY job. nyclin fucked around with this message at 01:18 on Apr 8, 2011 |
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Apr 8, 2011 01:15
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Das Volk posted:I was also interested to note that the service interval has been dropped from 15000 miles to 12000 miles. Is BMW wising up to the fact that it's too long/far between oil changes, and that spark plugs don't actually last 100k? As wallaka pointed out, the service interval is adapted to your fuel consumption. Regardless, I hope you are changing the oil more frequently than that, especially if you are tracking the car. 12-15K is too long of an interval for an M engine, even with the TWS oil of the gods. I'm not up on E9x as much as E36 & E46, but I'd trust the same names: Bilstein, TC Kline, Ground Control, Vorschlag.
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Apr 8, 2011 05:41
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Today I hit a landmark in my E36: I bought something for my car:  Well for me, not the car obviously. It's a collection of magazine reviews and comparos from when the car was new. It's pretty cool for the dollar I paid for it on am amazon (plus shipping of course). It's a shame everything on the inside is black and white. Still cool though. Here's to 200,000 more!
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Apr 8, 2011 12:40
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SlapActionJackson posted:As wallaka pointed out, the service interval is adapted to your fuel consumption. Regardless, I hope you are changing the oil more frequently than that, especially if you are tracking the car. 12-15K is too long of an interval for an M engine, even with the TWS oil of the gods. I do change the oil an extra time between services, and it's a rare day that I don't exceed 100 mph at least once, so I can understand the change. I did a bunch of reading on it and I've come away with the knowledge that lowering the car more than 10mm will mess up the handling without drastically altering other components. I think my first stop will be to dial in the max negative camber possible (1.4deg stock) and go from there.
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Apr 8, 2011 14:50
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REAL stupid question: I can do a lot of car maitenance but never changed plugs in my E46 M3. Difficult? Also I was going to go with whatever NGK AutoZone would give me. I haven't read my manual for the info. Any input? Most cars I just use copper but does the M3 like plat? I should note I haven't gotten that ~60K inspection yet and I'm around 56k miles on the car right now. It sees like 2000 a year. I'd love to wait for that but don't have the money to throw down on that. I'm hard on the gas but have laid off. The gas mileage is a little lower than I'd like it to read. (15.8AVG). I swear I used to get around 20 doing the same driving. Might do the fuel filter at the same time. VibrioCholera fucked around with this message at 00:31 on Apr 9, 2011 |
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Apr 9, 2011 00:28
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VibrioCholera posted:REAL stupid question: Plugs are DEAD simple. Unbolt the plastic valve cover (or whatever shroud an e46 has), disconnect and remove coilpacks, remove plugs. Not sure about e46, but my e30/e36 plugs were 13/16" iirc. 30mins to an hour, tops. edit: apparently the e46 is slightly more complicated: http://m3forum.net/m3forum/showthread.php?t=149523
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Apr 9, 2011 01:13
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Das Volk posted:I do change the oil an extra time between services, and it's a rare day that I don't exceed 100 mph at least once, so I can understand the change. I did a bunch of reading on it and I've come away with the knowledge that lowering the car more than 10mm will mess up the handling without drastically altering other components. I think my first stop will be to dial in the max negative camber possible (1.4deg stock) and go from there. Given the many inherent handling benefits of lowering the car, I'm surprised such relatively small drops have an overall negative effect. Then again, they did change up the suspension design pretty significantly for the E9x. Looks like TMS is selling camber plates and camber bushings, maybe installing those on an otherwise stock suspension is decent bang for your buck. If you're optimizing handling for the track and don't care about street tire wear, you will probably want more than 1.4 degrees of camber VibrioCholera posted:I can do a lot of car maitenance but never changed plugs in my E46 M3. Difficult? It's not really any harder than the E30/36, you just need to remove a few bits that are in the way. Platinum plugs are spec'ed for this engine, I would not use copper. You want NGK DCPR8EKP. I would suspect O2 sensors or MAF if you're getting lovely mileage and you're sure it's not just your lead foot. An OBDII scan might reveal some codes.
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Apr 9, 2011 02:42
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I've been looking for something fun to pickup as a second car, and had narrowed down my choices to a BMW 2002 or a Porsche 914. My budget is around $4,000, I don't mind doing so tinkering, but I don't want to deal with major rust or engine/transmission replacement right off the bat. After putting the word out to some friends and coworkers that I'm looking, I've come across two cars from friends of a friend not originally on my list that seem like pretty good deals. First is a 1985 BMW M535i. I hadn't heard of it, but apparently it's a Euro version of the 535i that has some cosmetic M bits on it. It also has the European engine in it, which has higher compression, no cat and no O2 sensor, making 218 horsepower. The car is old enough I won't have to have it emissions tested. Not sure on the miles yet, but the exterior is in perfect shape outside of the white paint being a bit flat in areas. BBS wire wheels look great, interior is immaculate and 100% original. Price is $3,500. Second is a 1998 BMW 328i with 145k miles. Exterior is gorgeous looking, interior is really good except for two areas on the drivers seat where the leather has worn through. Price is $5,200. Finally I've seen a very clean looking 1986 325es listed on ebay that looks awesome inside and out, but the low power and diesel-like redline seem just weird to me. Currently sitting at $3,500, it will probably end up closer to $5k. Any comments on the 'e' models? What do you guys think of the prices on the other two?
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Apr 9, 2011 07:28
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325e's are fun, but not for that price. They are slow and get OK gas mileage but aren't nearly as fun to drive as the other models. Get the E28 or the E36, or find a better quality '90-'91 318i or 325i/s.
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Apr 9, 2011 12:22
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zaha posted:First is a 1985 BMW M535i. I hadn't heard of it, but apparently it's a Euro version of the 535i that has some cosmetic M bits on it. It also has the European engine in it, which has higher compression, no cat and no O2 sensor, making 218 horsepower. The car is old enough I won't have to have it emissions tested. Not sure on the miles yet, but the exterior is in perfect shape outside of the white paint being a bit flat in areas. BBS wire wheels look great, interior is immaculate and 100% original. Price is $3,500. Are you in an area where cars exempt from emissions requirements also have milage or usage restrictions? If so, the 535 might be out, depending on how you want to use it. The 328 is about $1-1.5k too much.
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Apr 9, 2011 14:41
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zaha posted:First is a 1985 BMW M535i. I hadn't heard of it, but apparently it's a Euro version of the 535i that has some cosmetic M bits on it. Price is $3,500. That M535i sounds like a blast but being euro spec would make me shy away. Parts are horrendously expensive and will take time to get and take even longer to get because its well...an old car. But again this is Automotive Insanity. Go for it. I would be jealous.
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Apr 9, 2011 15:05
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BrokenKnucklez posted:That M535i sounds like a blast but being euro spec would make me shy away. Parts are horrendously expensive and will take time to get and take even longer to get because its well...an old car. I can attest to this. Before buying I'd look into seeing what is different. Can you deal with waiting 6 weeks to get parts directly from a warehouse in germany?
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Apr 9, 2011 15:37
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I vote for the M535, those old e28's are (forgive me) "straight up BALLIN'."
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Apr 9, 2011 23:20
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Crustashio posted:I can attest to this. Before buying I'd look into seeing what is different. Can you deal with waiting 6 weeks to get parts directly from a warehouse in germany? The only differences between those were cosmetics - mechanicals are the same.
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Apr 9, 2011 23:25
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Wow. Picked up my e34 yesterday, and it's amazing. Considering all they did was swap out the sway bar links and transmission mounts, the difference is staggering. Every since I bought it I just thought that minor amounts of vibration in the the drivetrain was the norm for a 21 year old car. There's nothing now, no vibration at all. None. The transmission no longer bogs down on takeoff, or at all. It's simply plant the foot and the powers there. Apparently the mounts weren't as much worn, as they were non existant. And now it drives like a dream. Thanks for the advice throughout guys, it's helped heaps. And now I'm even more in love with the bloody thing! Best $400 I've ever spent.
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Apr 10, 2011 06:22
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Pfff you guys with your fancy E92 and E46 cars... You need a real, hairy-chested, 109hp beast like this.
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Apr 10, 2011 17:53
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Catastrophe posted:Pfff you guys with your fancy E92 and E46 cars... Perfect post/avatar combination.
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Apr 10, 2011 18:07
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Speaking of, I just barely bought this guy: It's my only car now, and I barely know how to change the oil in a car. Nothing bad will come of this, it's a perfectly sound plan.
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Apr 10, 2011 18:24
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Das Volk posted:Perfect post/avatar combination. Speaking of my avatar (that's me) and BMWs. My retarded face got to ride on the back of Team Prickstine's 24 Hours of Lemons E30 325 race car. OBEY.  Puppy Milliner posted:It's my only car now, and I barely know how to change the oil in a car. Nothing bad will come of this, it's a perfectly sound plan. Oh god. This may turn into a nightmare for you. ~40 year old cars require maintenance.. or in my case, disassembling the engine on the side of the road. Prepare to either learn a lot about how to work on cars or pay someone who does know how to work on cars a lot of money to do it for you. Or maybe it'll just work fine and never give you trouble. Mind me asking how much you paid? Catastrophe fucked around with this message at 18:29 on Apr 10, 2011 |
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Apr 10, 2011 18:26
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It's nice out today, I think I'll put my summer tires back on... 
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Apr 10, 2011 19:57
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So, dumb question probably. I've accepted a new job, which is 50 miles one-way from my house, so I'll be putting 500 miles per week (almost all freeway) on my daily driver, which is currently, a full size Ford pickup with the 5.4l V-8. The truck gets fairly decent mileage for what it is, but that's only around 16.5-17mpg mixed driving, and assuming the job works out, I'd rather not put that kind of miles on the truck in the long-term. So, my question is, what is the best mileage that one of the older 3-series type BMW's gets in that type of driving? The only BMW I have any experience with is my M3, and it doesn't get anywhere near what the dumb computer (and gauge) in the car says it does. I figure that I'll be looking for some sort of 'cheap' econo-box type car in the next month or two, but given the choice between driving a newer Hyundai type car, or an early-mid 90's 3 series like a 318 or 325, I'd much rather go with the old BMW. My needs are a reasonably reliable car with working A/C. Bonus for the ability to get somewhere near 30mph in easy freeway driving. Plenty of older BMW's on Craigslist that are cheap, but I haven't got a clue what sort of mileage they get, so was hoping folks here could give me some idea. Manual or auto is fine. Thanks.
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Apr 10, 2011 20:45
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Crustashio posted:It's nice out today, I think I'll put my summer tires back on... what in the world is going on there? broken spring?
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Apr 10, 2011 20:47
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Catastrophe posted:Oh god. This may turn into a nightmare for you. ~40 year old cars require maintenance.. or in my case, disassembling the engine on the side of the road. Prepare to either learn a lot about how to work on cars or pay someone who does know how to work on cars a lot of money to do it for you. Or maybe it'll just work fine and never give you trouble. Mind me asking how much you paid? I paid $2,275. I have set aside a budget to pay someone else to get the car up to daily drivable condition. I drove it from Boise to Salt Lake City without any problems, but it's currently at a local mechanic fixing the turn signals and speedometer. Luckily he's told me it's in fantastic condition, he currently has another 2002 in the garage that's a piece of crap. I intend to learn on how to work on cars with this, as I'm sure I'll be on the side of the road a lot. I've always had excellent car karma (heh) because I never open the hood or tinker with my cars at all, just regular maintenance. All my friends who work on cars have terrible luck and seem to have broken cars all the time. I'm looking forward to that life now.
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Apr 11, 2011 00:14
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Puppy Milliner posted:I paid $2,275. I have set aside a budget to pay someone else to get the car up to daily drivable condition. I drove it from Boise to Salt Lake City without any problems, but it's currently at a local mechanic fixing the turn signals and speedometer. Luckily he's told me it's in fantastic condition, he currently has another 2002 in the garage that's a piece of crap. I intend to learn on how to work on cars with this, as I'm sure I'll be on the side of the road a lot. I've always had excellent car karma (heh) because I never open the hood or tinker with my cars at all, just regular maintenance. All my friends who work on cars have terrible luck and seem to have broken cars all the time. I'm looking forward to that life now. Ah nice. Glad you're having it looked at. That's a fantastic price for an old round-taillight model. I paid $2500 for mine and now dumped a few hundred more into it during the head gasket repairs. Mine has a brand new interior with E21 Recaro seats though so that helped. Like I said, I think a new paintjob and possibly some tasteful vintage-styled replacement wheels would make it look fantastic. Jealous of yours. Enjoy. Catastrophe fucked around with this message at 15:15 on Apr 11, 2011 |
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Apr 11, 2011 00:46
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8ender posted:what in the world is going on there? broken spring? Yup. Coil snapped at the top. Not sure how long it's been broken.
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Apr 11, 2011 03:31
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Crustashio posted:Yup. Coil snapped at the top. Not sure how long it's been broken. What BMW is that where the spring and shock are separate? My E34 had a broken spring when I bought it and the only indication that it was broken was a very slight squeaking.
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Apr 11, 2011 03:50
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Might as well pimp out my 1982 e21 again...198k miles, complete with the mystery that is Mechanical Fuel Injection.    
unknown poster fucked around with this message at 04:20 on Apr 11, 2011 |
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Apr 11, 2011 03:56
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8ender posted:What BMW is that where the spring and shock are separate? My E34 had a broken spring when I bought it and the only indication that it was broken was a very slight squeaking. Looks like the rear suspension on an E36 to me.
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Apr 11, 2011 05:07
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Rear suspension on my 328i e46 is the same setup too.
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Apr 11, 2011 07:21
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Penguin Radar posted:Wow. Picked up my e34 yesterday, and it's amazing. Considering all they did was swap out the sway bar links and transmission mounts, the difference is staggering. Every since I bought it I just thought that minor amounts of vibration in the the drivetrain was the norm for a 21 year old car. Nice! Vibration on an E34 is something a LOT of owners deal with, including myself, but it can ultimately always be fixed... somehow. Were those the front or rear sway bar links that were swapped? 8ender posted:What BMW is that where the spring and shock are separate? My E34 had a broken spring when I bought it and the only indication that it was broken was a very slight squeaking. Funny, I just had a spring snap on my E34 around two weeks ago. It had been squeaking for a few weeks when driving up a steep clockwise ramp from a parking cellar, then one day I heard a deep "SPROIIIINNNGGG" sound, and the spring had snapped. Thankfully it's easy to swap (except having to take out the rear seat and hat shelf), and I'm taking the opportunity to also swap out shocks, strut bearings and every around it.
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Apr 11, 2011 14:36
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Pilsner posted:Thankfully it's easy to swap (except having to take out the rear seat and hat shelf), and I'm taking the opportunity to also swap out shocks, strut bearings and every around it. Yeah do that. I'm regretting not doing it myself. As soon as I replaced the spring on my rear right the strut mount started knocking. Also holy poo poo the bottom mount on those struts is a bastard to get out.
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Apr 11, 2011 14:58
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