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What brand are genuine/OEM E34 brake rotors?

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ATE probably, wont be cheap in NZ if you can get them. Ive always bought chinese? rotors from NZAD and i can't say anything bad about them.

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Thanks! Pelican Parts list ATE as OEM supplier, just wanted to make sure.

NZ pricing is around $500 for two front rotors it seems.

Edited by roo

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Paid $159 for pair of 540i rotors from NZAD

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Yeah get the rotors from NZAD, I replaced mine and pads 3 months ago, all fine. Around $530 give or take all up for all 4 corners including pads.

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Yeah get the rotors from NZAD, I replaced mine and pads 3 months ago, all fine. Around $530 give or take all up for all 4 corners including pads.

should have my cross drilled rotors and pads in soon .. also around 500-600. ceramic low dust brake pads and one piece rotors.

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quick question .. after a spirited drive, pushing the car, the gear shifter boot feels warm to the touch. is this normal? Engine bay heat rising through gearbox?

Also, anyone else with a s50 which under continued load (track) engine oil temps hit 110c or so? average running temp is 90c and spirited road driving (out in the twisties) 100c. do I need to have a look at my oil cooling system??

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In my experience an average of 90 is as alarming as a single reading of 110. I'd check my (edit: oil) temp sensors if I were you.

hrmmm when i was with josh and anthony etc out in clevedon, josh was running ~100c on his s50b32 as well ..

what is the optimum operating temperature? google seems to think even up to 130c ??!

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right, i am overhauling my cooling system anyway, so hopefully I can replace things and end up with a nominal 100c average running temp.

lots of plastic bits and pieces in the cooling system which are best to be replaced with metallic parts or high temp rubber. looking forward to the refresh, along with the suspension bush overhaul and also (if required) an engine refresh ... wont be cheap to replace internals/rings if required .. but want to make sure everything is humming along smoothly :)

Edited by handgrenade
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Mine generally runs between 90-100 normally but does get up to around 110 when giving her a blast. But I am in a colder climate so better cooling :D

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mine is about 95-100 normal temp, 90 on the motorway and 105 when driving hard. A few things can alter the temps, including oil viscosity, ambient temps, and any blockages to oil cooler etc. My temps are more stable now since i cleaned the mud (!) out of my oil cooler.

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seems like i am in the ballpark .. i will check out if the oil cooler is blocked, cheers Kelvin..

and Justin, jealous that you get colder, denser air ;)

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Strangely, check the back (towards the engine) of the oil cooler. Mine was very dirty yet the front was clean. Still dont know where the previous owner had been driving!

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Strangely, check the back (towards the engine) of the oil cooler. Mine was very dirty yet the front was clean. Still dont know where the previous owner had been driving!

reverse rally driving!

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Is the uneven ride height on e34 a common theme? Its not too noticable but is when you're looking for it. The front might be half a finger uneven. Im not concerned, just curious.

The back though, fitted 265/35/18's and one side has plenty of room and the other side will need a tweak with a guard roller. There might be around 7-8mm clearance on the good side and 3mm on the side that'll rub when the suspension takes a hit.

Again im just curious.

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quick question .. after a spirited drive, pushing the car, the gear shifter boot feels warm to the touch. is this normal? Engine bay heat rising through gearbox?

anyone else notice this?

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Have you pulled your gear boot off to see if you still have the rubber boot and foam insulation in place?

Someone could have removed the matting on the underside of the car too, in the trans tunnel. Over time it starts to sag, so people just tear it out.

I havent noticed mine getting warm, but i have all boots and matting in place.

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Is the uneven ride height on e34 a common theme? Its not too noticable but is when you're looking for it. The front might be half a finger uneven. Im not concerned, just curious.

The back though, fitted 265/35/18's and one side has plenty of room and the other side will need a tweak with a guard roller. There might be around 7-8mm clearance on the good side and 3mm on the side that'll rub when the suspension takes a hit.

Again im just curious.

I never measured mine but yeah most E34 ive have had slight variations, iirc wouldnt have been much more than ~10mm thou. Different thickness spring pads can help even up things.

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My E34 trans gets warm some times, though it tends to be unrelated if its cruising or going for a fun run

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Have you pulled your gear boot off to see if you still have the rubber boot and foam insulation in place?

Someone could have removed the matting on the underside of the car too, in the trans tunnel. Over time it starts to sag, so people just tear it out.

I havent noticed mine getting warm, but i have all boots and matting in place.

have the foam bit in place all good, haven't looked any lower than that!

just hoping this isnt an indication that i need any sort of trans oil cooling or something.

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Got a few random questions.

Owned my E46 328i for nearly a year now and have taken care of the biggest headaches (subframe, rebuilt driveshaft and a few others).

Got some smaller issues now.

1. Is it normal to have a small amount of shifter movement? Replacing mounts drastically reduced this but did not eliminate it. It used to be bad as the mounts were stuffed, 5th would be right where 3rd should be sometimes. It's only a little bit now and doesn't happen often, but it's still irritating and can mess up my shifting.

Should I have gotten stiffer than OEM mounts instead? Or does this indicate that my mounts need tightening or something? (I'm not a mechanic...)

2. Small coolant leak that has been there as long as I've had the car. Seems to be coming from water pump. Harmless? Considering it could have been there for over a year easily. Only visible when parked for a few days

Best image I could manage:

http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w305/Maddmatth/coolant.jpg

Stuck my hand in there to see if it's coming from above, feels dry so seems to be the water pump itself?

3. Power steering hoses are covered in a layer of dirt/residue. Dried ATF? Worth getting these replaced? If so, where can I get it done at a decent price? Got quoted about $250 just for the hose from a place in Auckland which seemed silly, surely these kinds of hoses can be made cheaply and we don't need a BMW branded one? PS ATF level isn't going down so suppose there's no need to worry?

Edited by Matth5

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This would be a concern to me. The cost of getting that sorted now regardless of what it actually is would outweigh the drama of a toasted head or a breakdown down the track.

A preventative waterpump swap isn't a bad or unnecessary bit of maintenance. I've read that the plastic impeller can fracture and be held and function by the angle of the fracture itself. I did mine recently on a different BMW engine, that scenario is practically what happened to mine though mine let go in a short space of time.

The replacement I installed had a cast metal impeller, Seems a bit more trustworthy.

Regardless of where the coolant leak is, you shouldn't have one.


2. Small coolant leak that has been there as long as I've had the car. Seems to be coming from water pump. Harmless? Considering it could have been there for over a year easily. Only visible when parked for a few days

Best image I could manage:

http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w305/Maddmatth/coolant.jpg

Stuck my hand in there to see if it's coming from above, feels dry so seems to be the water pump itself?

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I'd be careful with cast impellor waterpumps. Mine shat itself inside 4 months. Better to go for a brass impeller imo.

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Where'd you get a brass one?

I didn't have a lot of choice in hindsight. It's my daily car and I had to find a waterpump on a saturday morning and fit it. I was just lucky in doing that because nothing is open saturday mornings for replacements, not for an M60B40 anyway..

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