_ethrty-Andy_

what did you use for those M stripes? came up with an idea on my E34 on Forza Motorsport last night, and keen to try it in real life

plugged in behind the cluster? (not familiar enough with E46 sorry)

I call bullshit and you know it

thermostats are supposed to fail to open, but my own experience i find them fail to closed more often. No idea if that is a fair sample of all BMWs, but this is about 8 or so now, all M20 M40 or M50 engines

Thats normal-ish. the friction of the spinning center piece makes the whole assembly turn, but it wont be spinning at the same speed as the engine is, will be a wee bit slower. As the hub heats up, it will start to spin at the same speed as the engine and lock at that till it cools back down. The following isnt probably the professional way to test the fan, but its all over the internet, and many people have tried it including myself. dont try it if you dont want to, but when the car is stone cold, you should be able to poke a rolled up news paper into the blades and it will stop the fan spinning. Conversly, when the car is hot, the fan should shred the news paper. If the opposite happens (eg news paper is shredded even when car is cold, or is able to stop the fan when the car is hot) then both indicate that the viscous hub is not working as it should, either always locked on or never locked on edit: just put the very tip of the rolled up paper, and just use your comminity paper, not a big fat paper, or you risk snapping the blades etc

cheers, yep, going to be a real PITA to take the transmission out, it might not even be possible, probably would have to pull the whole lot out. Looking like a slightly easier job this weekend than first thought then! (should have really done it in the first place but too late for hindsight now!!!)

Hey guys, need to change upper sump pan gasket on the M70. Anyone know if it is possible to remove the upper sump this with the transmission still in place? Decides how the best way to tackle this is. Also have front and rear crank seals, but will replace rear crank one at a later date if transmission does not need to come out, its not leaking from the back at all.

would love to see how one of these M60 E30s drives one of these days

get covered in sap instead

If your car has aircon, then assuming that fan does work then your car is much less likely to overheat if the viscous coupling is worn out, as the temp rises and the auxilary fan will kick in. If it doesnt have aircon then could be the viscous coupling. after a long drive, open the bonnet and grab hold of a fan blade, you should be barely able to move the fan. If it spins freely like it does when its cold, there is your answer. You should never really by maintenence parts second hand, though that viscous coupling you could probably get away with. They are about $70 new from memory for the M20 type. you will need to know if yours has three or four allen head bolts holding the fan blades to the coupling

Thermostat would be the first place i would look, and would replace it anyrate if you are unsure when the last time it was replaced was. They are in expencive and seem to be the first thing to go in most cases. Otherwise, you are on the right track.

quite a fan of the wood like in most cases, but not that. As a side note, that cabin is very similar to my old mans 300ZX Fairlady lol

surely BMW AG should be involved at this age or is it a high km engine? Not the smashed up rim in the second pic, there is a long story there, crashed and then burnt out??

I too drive trucks from time to time, there is a reason they have signs on the back of a lot of trucks 'do not pass turning vehicle' etc etc But yes that doesnt make him immune from the law, he isnt allowed to cross the center line, but sometimes that doesnt work in practise. But your car looks reletively okay from what can be seen in that pic!

unlikely you will be able to proove much. a 320i isnt exactly desirable. Every owner of every car thats ever been written off tries to contest its value. If its manual it might be worth buying back, or depending how many goodies are on it. but otherwise, just move on. possible damage includes bent control arm, bent subframe, bent/broken steering arm/rack/both, strut no good (wheel bearing rooted), buckled wheel, new fender and bumpers, maybe bonnet etc. I had a look at an E36 last week that was like this, only the front left side, and thats everything that was broken on that car.

If you're interested Brent, weighed my wagon last weekend, it came in at 1870kg including me so about bang on 1800, your 544i would be a wee bit lighter, lighter engine and lighter gearbox etc.

Surely its still a Toyota engine with a bit of BMW knowledge? wouldnt have thought Toyota would want to risk anything on one of its biggest brands here, Aussy and Asia.

that stanced type pic that you posted, my wagon is exactly at that height in that picture at the moment, and its still surprisingly comfy. I guess its the long wheel base and wider track than most cars that get lowered that much.

what did you do to current one! (someone had to ask!)

yeah all tourings have that bit. NZ New ones have the high stop built into it, UK imports and Jap imports have them retrofitted onto the back windscreen

very cool. Would it be fair to assume they would be as quick if not quicker than a 330i due to the less weight?

i think Brents 544i Touring has had a bit of a ticke up and been on the dyno???

better than what would be the question, but I guess you guys are right, marketing does come in to it to a point

The easiest way to understand it: if it was really better for performance, dont you think BMW would have done it? why R and D a new manifold when they "already had one that was better"

They are over budget, but get Sennheiser or Bose. Some people can deal with cheap quality stuff and not know the difference, but you sound like you do, and you deserve quality. Might be a wee bit over your $120, $180 will be about right.