kerrynzl

Just a quick bit of advice: Try NOT to give your locks a drink of CRC, they get addicted to it [plus they attract grime] Next time use graphite powder [skate-board lube] ,I've used this stuff on 100's of cars [fresh imports on car yards] it helps worn keys a lot

Download a bentley [700+ pages] http://hosting.data.bg/bmw/BMW/E-Books/ for E36's only [all the lesser Beemer manuals are in Foreign Languages Haha!]

what do u mean by the brake booster? drivers side inner guard? i've looked under there before, but have not seen anything. The Inner Guard goes from the firewall [brake booster] all the way to the headlight, It's back by the Booster [on the drivers side if its RHD] Usually by the Jump-start terminal

Yeah! I like ya attitude Mate! Last time I was in Los Angeles, There was Talk about Boring two 100ft diameter tunnels thru the hills [to make 2 giant expelairs] the smog will be Nevada's problem. [brilliant haha!]

They should do, during their appraisal. Also depends on how it was flushed [with a garden hose?] a full radiator clean requires removing the tanks If the seller had it 'flushed' before, I'd say he's had an overheating problem. as long as the Engine is Mechanically sound [gasket/head etc] these problems can be worked out. One thing I forgot to ask. What was the condition of the radiator like [eg; cooling fins]

Hey Glenn , Nice conversion. [ it looks like it came from the factory that way] Did you have any DME problems with your conversion? EWS? if so how did you overcome that? I'm looking at doing the same conversion [but to my 320 coupe] Kerry

Give it a full radiator clean , It sounds marginal thats why the temp goes up & down with engine load [the compressions seem OK ish, depending on what figure" PSI" is your 100%] Before you Buy it: Have you run the engine "hot" [thermostat open] with the Radiator cap off,to check for bubbles? [cylinder pressure leakage] Also was the Radiator full ,when you test drove it? If you had to add water [where has it gone?] These old Boats [no insult intended Cain,Haha!]should idle all day long in "death Valley"

On a South African E36 the vin number is stamped in the cowl panel [by the wipers] there is a little cut-out in the plastic panel to view it. There is also a Body Tag on the inner guard by the brake booster [jumper + connection] On Jap E36's this tag only has 5 digits on a SA E36 it should have the full vin# and engine# Most other E36s have a Decal as a Body tag ,as well as the stamping in the cowl

If You pm me ,I'll give you a contact for a 1992 M50B25 non vanos engine & computer [bolt in swap]

A 94 or 95 DME has EWS,so you'll need all the othe crap that goes with it [what year is your car?]

if you're running an early Vanos M50 or pre OBDII M52 they have a Siemens DME [which has the chip calibrated to the engine size] If you're swapping a 2.0litre for a 2.8 you need a DME for that size engine [the Siemens DME simply can't be reflashed], late 1994 onwards have EWS so you'll need a EWS module [+ the chip in the Key etc], so it would be better [in my case] to find a pre-EWS Siemens DME for a 2.8,or a chip for my 2.0 to upgrade to a 2.8litre. I haven't had confirmed whether a Motronic will plug into the Siemens loom [with Vanos] All this has been told to me by a BMW dealer [& another BMW specialist] Does anybody know how to disable the EWS? [There is approx 50hp gained from a 2.0 to a 2.5 "25% more", from the 2.5 to the 2.8 the hp is approx the same but the torque goes up ]

Also does anyone see any problem with it being totally flexible line with the male slave fitting on the end instead of having the short bit of metal line into the slave? On my old Lotus Cortina, I had a brake hose from the clutch Master Cyl to the slave [it was LHD so both were on the same side of the vehicle] On brakes [because of huge pressures] the shorter the better

any ideas on how to improve the gear shift would be cool, thanks. FIRSTLY; Install a quick-shift lever, and a clutch stop [to limit pedal travel, and to stop the diaphram over pivoting] Remove all the Synchro-cones, and grind off two out of every three teeth, then re-install Use Auto-Trans Fluid instead of 80wt NOW THE SKILL; Always upshift at the Rev- limiter [Hold your foot hard on the gas, kick the clutch, and smash it through!] Don't worry about miss-shifts causing your engine to over-rev [it's already at the limiter] With a bit of practice, you can make your five speed sound like a 'Constant Velocity Trans' SIMPLE HUH!

Can't comment on the idling problem, the trans filter on most slushboxes is a screen filter inside the oilpan [some autos dont have a drainplug, so the mechanic has to change the filter while changing the fluid ] chuck a manual innit!

Both of mine are 1995's both vanos, the Sth African 328 has an iron M52 & EWS with the DME, the 320 doesn't have EWS but has a M50 [the Iron 2.8 M52 has the same bore as a 2.5 so I assume BMW just stroked out the same engine]

the car is the Ex- Tony Roberts Corvette, It has a MANZ homlogated cage,It has a rear Rollover hoop in the cage, but the front rollover hoop goes up under the dash only,similar to Grand-Prix cars.'the officials somehow don't see this bit' The trouble is, MANZ have uprated their specs since this car was built [everytime there is a new official, I seem to get the "Riot-Act" read to me]

Unless there is inflation, cars will continue to decrease in value as they get older [with more mileage/owners etc] the Market will dictate that. Anything older than seven years becomes uneconomical to import [for a profit anyway] because they are depreciated to much in NZ. At the seven year mark, there is accelerated Depreciation in Japan [because of their Roadworthy laws] this is the age that most cars influx into NZ. Cars less than Four years are almost the same for a Dealer to Source in either Country [when all costs are included ] Dealers are constantly adapting to the Market [the Buyers] trying to fill the void the public demand makes I personally think cars already here [pre 1999] will depreciated at a slower rate initially[because of supply] but the public will sway towards newer cars as they won't be much more expensive [The free Market will always sort itself out] The Market influences the Supplier [not the other way round]

The 4.10 diff in my Auto 320 was smaller in size to the 2.93 diff in my manual 328 [axles for larger in diameter but shorter] everything else eg; brakes ,was identical

As a Roller you can build anything, try and find a non conpliant car to canibalise for the bits. yeah I know what you mean about MANZ ,their officials nearly sh*t themselves when the see JUST a rollover hoop in my Corvette & it's been clocked at 276 kph [fortunately it's schedule K historic so they cannot touch it] If You pm me, I know where there is a 325 manual E36 getting parted out ,you could get your running gear from there My Ex-Wife Couldn't understand why I "needed" 5 race cars,[apparently do whatever you f***ing want, didn't mean what I thought]

I have a M50B20 Vanos with the oil filler at the back and a M52B28 Vanos with the oil filler at the front [depends on year] Have a look at your engine , beside the oil filter next to the rocker cover there is a solenoid that is approx 80mm long 30mm dia & horizontal that screws into the timing cover [it has a wire coming out of it] I have a M50B20 Vanos with the oil filler at the back and a M52B28 Vanos with the oil filler at the front [depends on year] Have a look at your engine , Beside the oil filter next to the rocker cover there is a solenoid that is approx 80mm long 30mm dia & horizontal that screws into the timing cover [it has a wire coming out of it] That is the Vanos unit

Dont quote me as being correct ;but the 328 might have a larger front because off an open diff [i'll crawl under my 328 with some verniers and get some numbers,my little coupe handles well + it's civilized enough for daily driving] It'll probably be cheaper to get a bar made that fits [to M3 specs] than to move pick-ups [can you tell me where they are moved, eg: outward or inward etc?]

From what I've just read here, You've got a genuine left hook M3 that you're going to swap a 4cylinder into [is this correct?] why don't you leave the stock engine in it [if it's euro spec, you'll get over 350 horsey's without affecting longevity] It'll make a great endurance racer. Put the car on a huge diet, good pads,race springs & tires ,cage & seat etc and get it out there and have some fun! as their is no longer a 2.0litre touring class, you might as well build a club racer that looks like a touring car. The stock gearbox ratio's will be ok within the stock M3 rev-range [precision engineering in albany can make the Hubs & Dog rings that you need] Remember some drivers regret having dogboxes check out the US touring car specs on the net try http://www.ustcc.com/rulebook.html you'll be surprised how standard thes cars are [you obviously need a MANZ cage etc for NZ] I'm planning on doing the same to a 635 [my missus decided she looks better in my E36, than a rollcage] I'll wait untill the novelty wears off [either the beemer with her, or her with me!]

On another topic, which is better for a RWD car? Front swaybar upgrade, Rear swaybar upgrade, or Both? and what are the dimensions of the stock 328i swaybars? Whiteline do 27mm for the fronts and 22mm for the rears. Cheers. Get your mods insured seperately [use an unsurance broker] statistically ,people with modified cars are accountable for less insurance claims [yet are penalised morein premiums] RWD: Firstly I'm a believer of stiffer springs before you need stiffer swaybars [the faster you travel, the harder the impact on bumps."try going over a curb at 100kph"] on a road car where your useage is within the legal limits [most of the time] you need to keep your spring frequency standard [that's why I prefer re-setting springs to lower the car] Now: Roll stiffness is a combination of spring stiffness & swaybar stiffness. 1G of cornering at 50kph produces the same bodyroll as 1G of cornering at 160kph [you're just going around a bigger curve] So the roll stiffness should be the same The slower speed requires softer springs for bump control and stiffer swaybars for bodyroll [the faster speeds need stiffer springs for bump control and SOFTER swaybars] the combination that produces roll stiffness gets the same result. Now:[in simple terms] the stiffest end of the Car will always slide-out first in a corner! Stiff Front =understeer, Stiff Rear= oversteer. If your car has an open-diff, you need to keep the rear soft[for traction]so you stiffen the front only [which produces understeer]then you need a lot of negative camber to help cure this [which causes camber thrust,"unstable in a straight line etc"] Remember all these quirks only happen when the weakest link [the tires] are at the limit Personally.for an E36 road car,I'd use M3 springs and bars [or replicas of the same spec] Re-set the springs to the desired ride height,then get a full wheel allignment [to stock-specs,but at the new ride height] The car will handle better than you or me are capable of driving "on the road" under 90% of situations [the track is a different situation]