OP6

Hi Darren, I did indeed call you re the clutch. I put the car up in the air and I do see the pressure valve but I cannot for life of me see what it is for. There is no cruise control and BMW do not usually have redundant / surplus to requirement parts on their cars. Cheers Don

Welcome, good on you for joining and posting in this forum, I hope we can give some help. Photos of what you have would be a good start, perhaps a photo of the car before it cast a cloak of darkness over so many households! You going to buy another BMW? Plenty of people here to help out if you need it. All the best.

Now I feel we are getting somewhere, what you are saying is making sense to me. Hope to be able get the car up in the air within the next week so that someone more experienced than me can have a look. Would appear from the realOem diagram and from what you have said, that there are two types of hose and best to have a look to see what is there, before buying a replacement. Cheers for sharing that info.

Hi guys, Dave, I had hoped that the problem would at worst, be a combination of old hoses, leaking slave and master cylinders. I was going to start with the easiest, a bleed, then move to the slave, master etc assuming the hoses to be in reasonable condition. I presume I can check the condition of the hoses by watching if they expand when the clutch is depressed. My trip showed me that I could get into 1st as I am rolling to a stop. It will slide in at about walking pace. Reverse is selected by turning the engine off, into reverse, start engine. There is enough clutch "action" in mine to allow this, ie once into gear I can hold it with the pedal pushed into the carpet, to move off I can lift off about centimetre. Allan, the car is a 1996 M3 Evo. I have never heard of the "lock valve" is this an E46 thing? - will have to look into this.

[ I agree with the comments above, it may not be the clutch. I had my clutch replaced and *still* have the same symptoms as you. Well, thats 3 of us with much the same problem. At this stage I am not desperate to get this sorted as I have several other cars and I took the M3 to Dunedin and back yesterday, so I know it is driveable and dependable. My plan is to bleed, then replace slave and then replace Master before replacing the clutch. I did have a thought that a longer fork may take the pedal off the floor!

Dropped the cluch at 3000 and the tyres light up, no flare just bite and go, (should have tried the same in second.) Tried same but rolling at 3000rpm in 1st - tyres light up. Would suggest another cause as you have suggested. Cheers Don

I am definitely not well versed in the way of clutches or most things mechanical. However, if there was air in the system would the clutch get more difficult to push down as the car warms up? I have yet to drive the car and try pumping the clutch once the car is hot, to see if the take up point is higher than the floor, if this happens then I would assume that the master or slave is leaking. Is this a valid test? Do these gearboxes have an inspection plate? However I feel that Brent is probably right, hence the question: Given the use of the car, what and where to buy the clutch that suits my needs most.

I understand that the clutch on my 1996 M3 is on its way out. Symptoms are: Clutch engages only 2 or 3cms from the floor when cold. Is noticably stiffer than my E36 328 and seems to get stiffer as it gets warm Once the car is fully warmed up, ie oil is up around 80 to 90 degrees then the take up point of the cutch is at floor level. The other night I had to do a fair bit of city driving and as time went on the clutch got lower and lower till it was below floor level and the gear change got harder and harder. When I got home I could not select reverse without a serious graunch. Yes I shall be trying a pressure bleed in the weekend. If that fails then, a new clutch is the most probable solution. I need to find out where I can buy the most suitable clutch. The car is a daily city driver so it needs to be light and progressive. I do not do track days.

Manager of BP Marshlands (brand new service station) in Christchurch told me that a 98 pump doesn't make money, same was said by Mobil in Madras St Christchurch (Central City). That and supply can be erratic - fully imported. That list needs updating, some of those stations have ditched 98 and I do use one that has 98 but not on the list - BP Innes Rd Christchurch.

Where in Dunedin and Central Otago, eg Queenstown, Cromwell, Wanaka etc, can you buy 98 Octane fuel? Just looking to the future. Options in Christchurch are getting less and less, service stations can double the profit from a pump by converting it to 91. Cheers Don

I would be driving it, gently, not sure why though.

What do you mean everything has been sorted with insurance etc? Basically we need more info. Do you mean that there will be no payout and all you are left with is a bent E30? If so see a good panelbeater to assess the damage and advise. Where are you?

I have a 318ti lined up for $2200. 147000kms in red with 17inch mags. Sunroof etc. Seems like a nice price. Will take it for a drive tomorrow and find out! What engine? What year? Not really that economical no matter which engine. Personally would prefer an E36 318i saloon, slightly slower, just as economical but a lot quieter and smoother usually for about the same price. Converted to manual the Ti would be quite a nice little car, then there would be the engine swap just down the track!

Thats a very tidy looking E36. Those E46 wheels? Hope it doesn't tramline. I would expect 95 to be fine, and surprised that 91 did that to your car, but the quality of NZ fuel seems to vary a lot, so who knows.

Where are you? I presume AKL, I have a F/L one in CHC if that is any help.

Cannot do pics, but I have seen the car - 5 months ago, but it has only been moved once since then for a WOF. I do know the tech at Jeff Gray who has done any work and servicing needed over the last 5 years (not the WOFs) When I last saw the car it was pretty near new looking, seats almost unmarked etc. My feeling was that it is worth between 17 and 23k depending on who was looking. 17k is the price I have seen as the asking price on TM for a couple of M3's with twice the mileage - i know that does not reflect the actual sell price. 23k is absolute top dollar for a buyer who MUST have the car. The owner died recently and the car is being sold/offered by his brother who owns an Alpina E36 so he has an idea in his head as to what he thinks the car is worth. I shall probably offer $19k, but will wait a day or two for any further opinions from forum members. Cheers for all the replies

Volks Power, spares and service in Christchurch would be worth checking out. Marty was a great help to me when sourcing an auto gearbox for a Golf. Was very thorough and had contacts all over NZ. Checked the gearbox out before selling it to me and then arranged freight to a specialist in Dunedin where the car was. Pretty fair price too. Details are: Volks Power 400 Tuam St Ph 366 7755 service@volkspower.co.nz Marty Douglas

I am looking at a facelift 1996 NZ new M3, done approx 80,000kms, full history and owned by a pretty fastidious owner for the last 5 or 6 years. All original, with the throwing star style wheels. Only 3 owners, discounting dealers. What I need from you guys is an opinion on what would be a fair and reasonable offer to make on this car. Just to make a little more interesting it is a 4 door in Hell red. What ya reckon? Cheers

hey! Does anyone have a spare idle controll valve for a m20 in christchurch that i could borrow for a couple of hours to work out some problems? mine is stuffed and i don't want to go and buy another one untill i see what else is wrong with the car. its the type where the hose outlets are 90 degrees apart. not going straight across like on others. heres my number if you can help, flick me a text. 0279151136 Thanks!

Am after a working E30 idle control valve, i am in christchurch

with the engine warmed up, it will now idle on all 6 cylinders happily with a good idle. however although the engine is very reponsive to the throtle is very revy. when the throtle is held at one fixed position (say 2500 rpm) it will drop to idle and then rev right back up. it doesn't misfire just does this as if it is hunting.

Just put in a replacement P/FL M20B25 engine into a F/L E30. It runs, but, 2 issues which I am sure are related. 1. The engine will idle but probably on 5 cylinders, the missing cylinder may come in at about 2000rpm, anyway at 2000rpm and higher, on constant throttle, the revs drop to idle and then back up just like a dirty ICV. The drop to idle and back up occurs in about a second and occurs all the time unless the throttle is slowly increased, in which case it performs normally. 2. Taking the oil filler cap off makes no difference to idle or oscillations, suggesting an air/vacuum leak somewhere. There is a reasonably strong smell of fuel coming from the oil filler when open. This engine sat in the garage for a couple of years and was supposedly "good" when pulled. Leaking inlet or exhaust valve seal? If so, how to fix. Your thoughts please gentlemen. Cheers Don

Looking at that list, it ain't too bad. Braxtons will fix your light adjusters. Eurorec (Pete) will be able to replace your steering rack with a good secondhand one and fit it. He may also be able to sort you out with much of the rest too. I am sure Pete will have a couple of suitable 2nd hand tyres. The Power Steering Shop can also deal with the rack - if you are wishing to repair. I have found that if you deal with garages that deal mainly with BMWs, sure the hourly rate is higher, but they know where to source the necessary parts quickly and cheaply, also they can get the job done in a lot less time, so, cheaper.

Ah, another mature owner! great to see, welcome to a very good forum.