jom

My rack (at 240k) failed the wof on play in the rack - seems to be a new thing. The teeth in the centre of the rack get worn and cause the play. I went through 3 secondhand racks - all worse than mine  - before I found one with less wear. Now I've got a purple tag rack, which apart from being a bit quicker, is proportional rather than being slower around straight ahead.

4 hours ago, kwhelan said:

the only way this story could get anymore embarrassing is if the Hercules being sent to Samoa to bring the crew back, breaks down

Hopefully they'll send the new one...

Thanks! Amazing, I only spent 2 days looking... I'm still wondering if it's actually a Nissan part.

Mine recently split and failed the WoF. I could source one from BMW (ex Germany) for $800, and I found one on ebay  in Wales for $500.... If I had the ZF (Getrag?) auto box the two cotton reel mounts are about $15 each... Luckily my mechanic (the ever resourceful Jon) had a second hand one.

As the Jatco box is standard on Nissans, I thought that it might be cheaper to source from there, but my local Nissan dealer is very uncommunicative...

Any Nissan experts out there? There are two numbers on the mount -  1093593 and 742669-5. I've done the usual googling, only the Welsh part came up, and I've tried to find my way around Nissan parts lists, but couldn't really get into them.

And yes I know the standard answer is fit a manual - funds at the moment don't allow it....

14 hours ago, wrs said:

I'm running staggered Style 39 (DS2's) on what was a 92 325i coupe.

Tyres are Bridgestone RE003, 225/45/17 on the front, 245/40/17 on the rear.

They're a noisy tyre but stick real good. They only just fit.

Had a go at trying to fit PS4's but the sidewall is fatter (PS4S's not available in this size). The rears won't fit at all (negative gap to the guard) and while the fronts bolt up, rub when turned. Went back to the RE003's...

That's odd. I'm running 245/40/17 PS4s on the back on the same wheels with no problem on a 97 coupe (standard springs). Is yours lowered?

When was the last time anyone saw an imperial nut/bolt?

On my ride on lawnmower - made in the US, Briggs and Stratton motor etc.

Past experience with polyurethane resin castings of model cars shows that air bubbles are difficult to remove, even with a vacuum. You need to get the resin as mobile as possible, and a 4 minute cure time doesn't help. Would heating the resin make it more fluid? Or maybe look for a resin with a longer cure time?

You won't need a guibo if it's an auto box. I spent ages looking for mine....

If You're doing the autobox, make sure that you drain the torque converter too. I'd advise using synthetic trans fluid.

Occupancy sensor is blue/white.

9 minutes ago, M3AN said:

Here's what you need to do if you keep your e36 inners:

 

You can alternatively use e46 inners that already have the vents, you lose some lock doing this because they're slightly longer (although some manufacturers, I can't recall which, have them the same length). The amount of lock you lose is negligible. On the other had, the work above cost me like $20 which was less than I'd pay for e46 inners.    

Brilliant, thanks Dave. To the point and pictures too! I already have one rack inner, so I'll buy another one and machine the grooves. Now where was that 2mm ball nose cutter...?

Apparently they are the wrong length

My 328i Coupe has just failed a WoF for "worn tie rod" on the right hand side. It isn't worn, but the rack teeth are worn around the straight ahead position. I have tried to source a good E36 rack, but there don't seem to be any guaranteed ones available. so - E46 racks are more plentiful, but then I need to machine grooves in the inner E36 tie rod for pressure equalisation between the rack boots. Lots of info on the web about doing it ("took it to my local machine shop") but I can't find the details of what to do anywhere. I can cut the slots on my own mill if I could only find a diagram. Can anyone help?

3 hours ago, balancerider said:

Jon (and Auto38) are now in Marton - sadly for those of us of us still in Welly

But not for us in Whanganui! half an hour door to door....

1 hour ago, BozzaFC said:

I also replaced the broken driver’s side rear quarter window with one of @M3AN’s spares. Now all of the window seals are looking fresh and watertight 👍.

But it’s never plain sailing with these cars - when I was driving home to Whanganui for Christmas, the air duct / belly pan under the engine decided it didn’t like the E36 any more and fell off. Given these aren’t visible and are ~$200 new, does anyone have advice for where to find a nice used belly pan? 

I've had two, both fell off over bumps (Wairarapa road and Manfield kerbs) and after repairing them, refitting, changing the hanging points etc. I gave up. I still have the bits in front of the wheels as they aren't so vulnerable. It doesn't seem to make any difference  without the undertray.

There is a company in the States that makes a full width undertray in aluminium ($150US last time I looked) but shipping would be a problem...

18 hours ago, Herbmiester said:

Yes lets ad this to the list

 

On my E36 I tried standard and M46 M3 mounts - neither lasted. Fitted a set of mounts with replaceable centres from Turner motorsport. They're still going after 100k... (with Koni sports shocks, too).

Top shock mounts?

Either way, you need them for a warrant....

Bump (stop)😉

1 hour ago, Kodachrome said:

Ok, went with Ulrich. Quote for 4x cut pieces of 10mm Aluminium was $157 plus GST. This was less than Altrus who also quoted. Wouldnt call it bugger all, but was was ok. 

They were big! I was thinking of the 60mm thickwall tube I got - 30cm long - which was 10 bucks. Are they cutting out the profile or just providing 4 bits of plate?

I've gone to Ullrich in the Hutt for small bits of Ally. Be nice to them, they will usually charge you by weight, (i.e. b**ger all)

The E36 changed from OBD1 to OBD2 some time in 1996. The port is the same AFAIK.  It doesn't seem to be linked to the facelift, I've seen a 96 328 with OBD1...

Probably totally irrelevant, but since I started going to  the Wellington BMW dealer (2005, Shelley), there have been seven different owners. The workers stay the same, but the people that you deal with seem to be different every time. Difficult to see how customer loyalty  (or customer service) would factor into this. They seem to be just reading off the script.

Koni bump stops, bought for E36 but would probably suit others.  Great for racers.

2 x 22mm shaft, 55mm long. Part no.7034670000

2X 16mm shaft, 55mm long. Part no.7034530000

Cost $150, will accept $120 inc standard postage.

11 hours ago, Ghenghis said:

My one seems to be the old round OBD1 in the engine bay , neither of the adaptor would read from it . Would connect but not read .

OBD2 is round as well. The E36 went OBD2 sometime in 96.