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I just put one of those knock off eBay chips into my '92 325is. I bought it for around $45 shipped and man what a difference it has made. Throttle response is almost instantanious now. The lack of torque (it is a non vanos after all) is greately reduced, and the flat spot around 3k RPMs is now nonexistant. The biggest difference is the pull from 4k RPM until redline. Overall I couldn't be happier with the purchase. The seller I got it from was eurosport64 on eBay, who has recieved nothing but praise from the people at BimmerForums and has a 100% eBay rating. He has other chips for E30s, OBDI E36s, E34s with the big sixes and maybe a few more I'm forgetting. Edit: Swap_File posted:Edit: There are ways of doing the OBD2 BMWs yourself, but from my understanding it involves pirating some BMW software and then building or buying yourself a copy of their interface cable. The Shark Injector requires none of that.
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Jun 23, 2008 23:21
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So I spent about 9 hours detailing my E36 yesterday, and grabbed a few crappy cell phone pictures of it today while I was out mowing. Clayed, polished, and waxed, it's just too bad it has to sit outside all the time under oak trees. Still though, it looks pretty decent from 10 feet away for being 16 years old. It got me wondering, do I have the oldest E36 in AI? My build date is 3/92 so it's possible, but some Euro goon might have a 91. And the interior, note the  BMW sheepskin seat covers that have been on there since the car was new. And according to the UPS site my UUC Red Tranny Street mounts and Delrin carrier bushing should be here sometime today. The mounts have been back ordered for a month while every other part I need to rebuild the shifter sits in my garage. After tomorrow the only part that will not have been replaced is the shift linkage. I may go with a UUC DSSR if I still feel like the shifter is a bit sloppy. Does anyone have any experience with the DSSR? Did it make a difference? And I'm still in love with my $45 eBay chip. There's more torque below 3k, no flat spots, no hesitation, and I picked up 1 or 2 MPG. Kind of hard to gauge with how often I've been going WOT.
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Jun 27, 2008 17:37
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So I installed my UUC Red Tranny mounts last night and took it for a spin and there is quite a bit of vibration around 1500rpm and they transmit a lot of road noise while on the interstate. It's possible that I over torqued them and that's the problem, but I'd like to know if anyone else has an experience with them. I knew there would be a little bit more NVH, but this is far beyond what I expected. I'm going to re-torque them tomorrow and see if that fixes it, otherwise I'm going to order the UUC blacks + TMEs and sell this pair on BimmerForums. Also, having a freshly rebuilt shifter feels amazing.
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Jun 28, 2008 18:29
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I went out and fiddled with the mounts today and I'd say it got rid of 80% of the vibration. Now I only get noticeable vibration if I lug the engine when taking off from a stop. I'll give them a week to see if I can tolerate them, if not I'll pawn them off to some moron on BimmerForums and get the blacks.
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Jun 29, 2008 21:04
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emanonii posted:Can you give me more info about the chip? It was from a seller on eBay called "eurosport64" and as far as I can tell everyone has been happy with the chips he sells since he has a 100% feedback rating. People on BimmerForums were also praising the chip. This is his eBay store: http://motors.shop.ebay.com/merchant/eurosport64
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Jun 30, 2008 15:18
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emanonii posted:Thanks. Looks like his stuff is all OBD-I. Yeah, OBDII cars require reprogramming, like from the Shark Injector thing. Last time I looked those were around $250; you could definitely spend that $250 on worse mods, really depends what you want out of the car, and what your plan is in the long run.
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Jun 30, 2008 22:50
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Pissingintowind posted:Why do you insist on using non-BMW oil? I already mentioned in this thread that the BMW branded oil is rebadged Castrol Syntec 5W30. The closest BMW dealership to me is 30 minutes away. The closest AutoZone is 30 seconds away.
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Jul 1, 2008 16:07
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BraveUlysses posted:I've been lazy about installing my set of UUC tranny mounts...how hard are they to install? Not too hard. I drove the front up on ramps, jacked the driver's side rear up so I had more room to work, then put a jack with a small piece of wood under the transmission. Undid the top nuts, then dropped the crossmember down. After that you remove the old mounts, install the new mounts to the crossmember finger tight, and then loosely reinstall the crossmember. Then you torque the mounts down to 16 ft/lb (or in my case just snug), then bolt the crossmember back to the chassis. It takes an hour at most.
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Jul 7, 2008 00:06
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I'm gearing up to make my last two maintenance related purchases, the first will be the guibo and center support bearing, and the second will be all the rear subframe bushings. I thought about doing it all at once to save some time but I just don't think I have it in me to do that much work at once. Along the way I'll be replacing every seal and rubber bit in the drive shaft and differential, too. After that it's all cosmetic stuff that needs fixing. Then onto the mods and hopefully a Schrick cam by Christmas.
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Jul 11, 2008 07:10
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I found out how to replace bushings today in under 30 minutes. I was working with my dad on his 528iT replacing the thrust arm bushings, following a tutorial we found online using a tool from harbor freight. The first bushing took over two hours as we figured out what to do. Using the following process we were able to knock that down to thirty minutes: push out the center metal part using the harbor freight bushing removal tool and an impact wrench, sawzall out the rubber donut that's left by cuting 1/4 of it out and then shoving the rest out with a screw driver. After that just sawzall the metal ring into quarters and it should fall out. Then just drive it back in with the lovely harbor freight tool and the impact.Pissingintowind posted:Lights I was looking into this recently too, as I spent an hour driving back from Cocoa beach doing 80 with lovely headlights. Kind of unnerving. From what I gather, the Depo or Apexcone Ellipsoid lights are the best bang for the buck, with around 4500-5000K looking OEM. For around $250 or so you can get the housing and the bulbs. And I personally would get the angel eyes because I love them. Yes, they are played out and ricey as hell, but I drive a BMW and I want them damnit!
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Jul 13, 2008 02:48
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BraveUlysses posted:Going to start trans mounts and tranny fluid flush with Redline MTL in an hour or so...any suggestions for a pump that I can make/buy to get the fluid up into the fill hole? A funnel and a 3 foot piece of tubing works for me. You just put the funnel in the engine bay near the firewall on the exhaust side of the engine and snake the tubing down to the fill hole.
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Jul 13, 2008 23:57
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Noeland posted:So I have a question (BMW-ish related). Have you had the car aligned recently? Have you modified the suspension in anyway? Camber alone will not chew a tire up, but excessive toe will. As for tires, I would just go ahead and replace all four if you can afford it and get a good alignment. As for recommendations, go to tirerack.com and look at their high performance summer tires and see which one will fit your budget.
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Jul 14, 2008 03:46
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two_beer_bishes posted:poo poo With proper planning it shouldn't take more than a weekend  .
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Jul 16, 2008 13:12
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So I'm getting ready to tackle the guibo and center support bearing this weekend (when the parts should get here), so I started to tear the car apart today. Another reason I'm doing this is because I've noticed pools of transmission fluid under my car and traced it back to a failed selector rod seal. I tried to get it out today, but I'm having no luck at all, even with the drive shaft out of the way. I've got a pick set that I've been using to try and get it out of there, but it seems as if the metal part of the seal is seized to the transmission. Anyone have a clue of how to get it out short of dropping the transmission? Edit: I forgot to mention, I pissed off my neighbor by giving my car a few revs with open headers. It sounded spectacular. Doctor Grape Ape fucked around with this message at 22:42 on Jul 16, 2008 |
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Jul 16, 2008 21:17
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maxallen posted:Can I replace it myself? The most work I've ever done is plugs/wires on my lexus (disassembly of the intake manifold), so I'm not sure if I have the time, mechanical aptitude, strength, or ability. Any idea whether I'd be wasting my time at this, or should I just source a part and let someone handle it for me? That might be a bit much for you. Replacing the arm isn't too hard, but getting to the bolt that holds it inboard is a PITA that requires removal of many other parts. If you have the Bentley manual, a well stocked garage of tools, a second car to use as a parts/tool fetcher, and a free weekend to kill then have at it.
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Jul 21, 2008 03:37
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Sterndotstern posted:I dunno, it might be worth recalibrating the one-touch first. From the Bentley: I've used this method a few times, usually after disconnecting the battery, and it has worked everytime. A few people on Bimmerforums haven't had such good luck and had to replace the window regulator.
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Jul 21, 2008 18:54
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Mad Dragon posted:The N52 in the x28 cars is fast. It's not the monster the N54 is, but it's more than adequate. That, and you won't have to worry about denied warranty claims if you modify it, because there aren't any mods available. Dinan will be happy to sell you an exhaust and intake for $2500.
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Jul 24, 2008 04:49
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Pissingintowind posted:Easy job, but it took us 3 hours hours because the loving bolts were rusted to the swaybar. Is there a better way break rusted on bolts than WD40 and the biggest loving breaker bar possible? PB Blaster. Mine were rusted too, but I don't remember them being too hard to break. Definitely didn't take 3 hours, though I can easily see how it could. It's like a brain teaser trying to get the rear swaybar back onto the car with the exhaust still there.
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Jul 28, 2008 00:17
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two_beer_bishes posted:I'm trying to replace the control arms on my E30 and Jesus Christ this sucks! I have everything out except the inner ball joint bolt, which just doesn't want to budge. I've soaked it in PB Blaster, I've torched the poo poo out of it, and I've laid into it with sockets/extensions/ujoints and a breaker bar and the goddamn thing won't budge I think I used a Big loving Screwdriver to get that ball joint loose on my E36. Just wedged it between the all joint and the subframe and pryed. Either that or I used the Big loving Hammer from up top with a long extension.
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Jul 28, 2008 01:03
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two_beer_bishes posted:Yesterday I managed to finish both control arms (with M3 bushings), new parking brake shoes, new H&R sport springs, and bled the brakes. One minor "issue"...the pedal feels different... I bled the brakes a couple months ago and there was no difference in pedal feel from before, now there is a difference as the pedal needs to be pushed further in to get braking power. It just feels like there is less pressure in the lines, or something. As far as I can tell it is not leaking brake fluid anywhere. Bleed them again. My clutch was like that because it had a tiny amount of air in it, I put another quart through the clutch only and it finally fixed itself.
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Jul 30, 2008 02:21
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Sterndotstern posted:So for the folks who have had their BMW aligned: do you just go to a local independent BMW/European specialist, or do you let the Pep Boys/Firestone/Chain Store perform the alignment? I recently went through this. A lot of chains absolutely refused to touch my car since they didn't have the special weights that BMW requires for their alignment. I finally found one place that would do a 4 wheel alignment for $65 without the weights and it really couldn't be any better. You're better off going to a more shady locally owned place than a national chain, or at least that was my luck. That said, you can talk any shop into doing it, just tell them to put the car on the rack and check the alignment. The only adjustable parts are rear camber (kind of, it's a small adjustment, it won't correct huge errors) and front toe. The only special thing I did was make sure that the car had a full tank of gas when they aligned it, since that will make it sit lower and give the most negative camber that the car is likely to see on a day to day basis. Or you can pay $150 to BMW and mooch off the WiFi and eat their food and drink their drinks and watch their big screen and ejaculate all over the new M3 in the showroom.
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Aug 1, 2008 20:00
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As per the E36 Bentley: Each front seat: 150 lbs Center of rear seat: 150 lbs Trunk: 46 lbs Fuel Tank: Full
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Aug 1, 2008 23:23
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Lufiron posted:Personally, I would flare, channel, chop, and french the hell out of that body and stick a S50 in it, just to piss BMW off. But that's just me. Change S50 to LS1 and you'll piss them off proper.
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Aug 3, 2008 07:51
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Sterndotstern posted:My sincerest condolences. I assume you don't have the magical "special tool" the Bentley calls for to remove the inner tie rod end? It looks like some sort of crow's foot tool designed and shaped to fit the inner tie rod end. The special tool I used was the biggest pair of vice grips I had on hand. Worked like an absolute loving champ. Also, make sure you've ground that one locking plate off, or else it's not going anywhere. This is the walkthrough I used to change mine, and it was bang on. Edit: I didn't remove my brake calipers though, once I raised the entire front end I just turned the steering wheel so I had more access on whatever side I was working on. I popped the ball joints out with just a single blow from a 4lb hammer and some finagling with a pickle fork. But this was also on an E36, not an E30. Doctor Grape Ape fucked around with this message at 23:38 on Aug 3, 2008 |
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Aug 3, 2008 23:35
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CornHolio posted:I never knew about the Alpina B8 before today. There's one of these engines sitting at a junkyard 10 miles away... oh god oh god oh god. And a V12.
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Aug 4, 2008 14:50
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Mr. Toast posted:What do you think my best option for snagging some old school recaro seats / 80's era BMW sport seats for the E28? Check local junk yards. They'll probably be in tatters, but you can have them recovered for less than it costs for good condition recaros. I know of at least two sets of E30 Recaros at the junkyard near me.
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Aug 7, 2008 00:45
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ynotony posted:About to kill myself. Just spent a lot of money having an overdue refresh on my E36 cooling system done because it had a leak and a perpetual "check coolant level" warning. The major components were replaced along with the minor original components, system tested at 30ps+, refilled, bled, etc... Drove it home 15 miles and the check coolant message came back on. Cracked rad side tanks, cracked overflow tank or a bad coolant level sensor maybe?
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Aug 8, 2008 21:14
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ynotony posted:Overflow tank and coolant level sensor were replaced. Nothing was leaking for the five minutes I had my head under the car. I am just hoping it's working properly and all I really need to do is "check coolant level" and top it off with some distilled water. I just hope more air doesn't get trapped in the system. At least I have hot air at idle now - maybe that is where some coolant disappeared to and it took running the car with the heater on to trigger sensor. Ah, that might be it then. Air can sometimes be a bitch on the E36, but I've found that squeezing the upper rad hose with the bleed screw open and the heater on will eliminate a lot of it. Edit: In related E36 cooling news I've been running my car with the fan delete mod in the hot as balls weather Florida has been having and the temperature has never gone beyond the 12 o clock position. Doctor Grape Ape fucked around with this message at 22:23 on Aug 8, 2008 |
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Aug 8, 2008 22:21
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two_beer_bishes posted:I'm struggling with getting the oxygen sensor out on my E30. It's a single pipe all the way back and the sensor is right on the top of it. I have enough room to get the slotted socket on it, but not enough room to get a ratchet on it. I've tried taking a wrench to it, but it keeps sliding off or rounds the corners. I've soaked it in PB Blaster but the fucker just won't budge. Tips? I used an open ended wrench and a Big loving Hammer to knock it loose. Alternatively if that doesn't work, maybe give this a try.
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Aug 12, 2008 18:15
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Arwox posted:Does anyone have any idea what this stuff might be? You mean the plastic covering?
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Aug 17, 2008 23:16
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CornHolio posted:They did notice that I needed new rear brakes, which Im doing this weekend. I bought the bleeder tool from Bavarian Autosport, because I plan on bleeding the brakes and the clutch... is this a pain in the rear end to do? I've never bled brakes before. I have the same bleeder, and it's dead simple to use. Fill with 2 quarts of fluid (probably overkill, but it's better to have too much than too little), hook it up, pump it up to ~25 psi, then get to bleeding (Rear right, rear left, front right, front left, clutch) checking the pressure in the bottle between each wheel and pumping it back up to ~25psi. There's no special tricks to it or anything, once the fluid starts coming out clear you're done bleeding that wheel. The biggest PITA is taking the wheels off and putting them back on, the rest is a walk in the park. kimbo305 posted:That dead pedal looks really tore up somehow, and not just covered by the plastic courtesy sheet. Is that a stock steering wheel? It looks exactly like my dead pedal with a plastic sheet over it. You would have to be trying pretty hard to mess up the dead pedal, to the point of hitting it with a hammer. And yes, that's the stock M steering wheel. Only a few years got the 3-spoke, and even then I think it was an option. The 3 spoke looks better, but the 4 spoke is more comfortable, at least in my opinion. Especially on non-92 cars where the tilt isn't adjustable (I just like to rub that one in, yay '92 E36s!)
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Aug 18, 2008 00:17
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CornHolio posted:I was thinking, I'd love to find an older, cheap BMW manual wagon as a backup/third car. Was the E28 or E34 available in wagon form in the US? I know Enthusiast Auto in Cincinatti has a couple of E34 M5 tourings but they're at least 40k apiece and I don't know if they were imported special or not - I'd just like an old 5-series (preferably, though 3-series would be OK, I just want the ability to haul big things if needed) with a manual and a wagon. I know we got the E34 525iT, but they can be hard to find. If you can stretch your budget a bit E39 wagons are getting somewhat cheap. My dad picked up a 1998 528iT with sport package last November for $8500. I can't think of another car in the price range that offers that much usability and fun to drive in a single package. He's used it many times for shopping trips to Lowe's and it has handled it like a champ. He even used it to rip a shrub out of the ground (the PO installed a trailer hitch). The E34 wagons are out there, they just take a little bit of digging to find one. Especially in a manual.
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Aug 19, 2008 16:07
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Arwox posted:Also one question, my on board computer is in german and the owners manual didnt have anything in it about switching the languages. Is this something the dealer should have done? Solution here, plus a lot of other cool/useless poo poo the OBC does: http://www.bmwe36blog.com/2007/03/31/bmw-on-board-computer-obd-secrets/
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Aug 23, 2008 01:04
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Das Volk posted:I've been thinking about grabbing a 3 or 5 series sedan with an inline 6 and a manual. I'd like to spend 10k or less as it'll be a DD - which of the E34/6/9/46 lines should I look at and/or stay away from? Any non-M E36 with an I6, a 5 speed, and a stack of maintenance records. Buy the newest/best one you can afford (within reason). A 5 series will be slightly more expensive to maintain. Alternatively buy an 1993-1995 325i for $5k, and throw another $5k in maintenance and mods and have yourself a daily driver go kart. That's more or less what I'm doing/have done to my 1992 E36.
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Aug 25, 2008 04:00
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CornHolio posted:I pulled it in my parents garage (I had a thermostat, water pump, etc already because I was going to replace it all preventatively, but I ran out of time apparently) and I start tearing into it, and even though I have the 'special tools' which consist of a big 32mm thin wrench, and something to hold the pulley in place, I cannot get the fan nut off. I tried at it for an hour, and had my ox of a brother try as well, it wouldnt budge. And yes I know it has backwards threads. righty loosey. This is one reason I did the fan delete mod. It seemed every repair I did was made three or four times more difficult because I had trouble getting the drat fan off. I'll eventually buy an electric puller fan from VAC to do it "proper," but it seems to be running just fine right now. One trick I did learn was to have somebody else jam a big loving screw driver in there, and then give the wrench a few quick taps with a hammer. It seemed to work better than nothing. Putting some anti-seize on the threads probably wouldn't be too bad of an idea either.
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Aug 29, 2008 14:17
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CornHolio posted:To do the upper/lower hose and expansion tank (which I also had) the labor balloons to over $700. Why is that? I thought those were pretty easy to do once you're in there. They are, it will take them an extra 5 minutes to replace the expansion tank. The hoses have to come off anyway. I would call them on that bullshit or replace those parts yourself.
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Aug 29, 2008 16:25
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Crustashio posted:One thing I haven't figured out and forgot to ask the seller was how to get into reverse. I've never driven a euro style 5 speed, but I have a feeling there is something I'm missing. It's to the right of first. You have to use a lot of force to get it in.
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Sep 9, 2008 01:27
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Jorsh posted:I did a pull from 3rd gear today and my clutch started slipping around 5500, looks like I have new clutch in my future! Oh boy this will be an adventure. Well, at least now you can take care of that RMS oil leak...
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Sep 9, 2008 23:34
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CornHolio posted:well, gently caress. You can replace it yourself for under $200. It is a really simple job to DIY.
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Sep 11, 2008 15:25
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| # ¿ May 16, 2024 17:19 |
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Sterndotstern posted:Do you live somewhere coolish? Fan delete mod? I live in Florida and have had absolutely 0 problems with overheating this summer while running the FDM. If you do it properly (new thermostat and coolant temp sensor that tells the electric fan to kick in sooner and redline water wetter) then you will be okay. If you want overkill (which is eventually in the plans for me) spend $160 on an electric SPAL fan. I believe VAC carries them.
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Sep 11, 2008 17:05
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