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A question for all you E36 M guys: What kind of life do you typically see for brake pads on stock rotors? How long did your stock rotors last? Any recommendations for new pads? I'm looking for less dust and noise, since this is my DD. If I go to the track, I'll use dedicated track pads. Thoughts on Hawk Performance Ceramic Pads for street use? Bimmerforums seems to love 'em (but they're all braindead).
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Apr 18, 2008 08:22
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Guinness posted:56,000 miles is definitely within the realm of possibility for a worn out clutch, especially on a sporty car that has a questionable history of how it was driven. Really? My M3 is on the stock clutch at ~89,000. I learned to drive on this car, as have 2 other people, and it is only beginning to slip. Often people confuse tire slippage for clutch slippage. Check your tires?
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Apr 18, 2008 08:43
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Adnuo posted:I went out and tried this today, and my clutch passed with flying colors. I was actually able to pull fine from 10-15mph through to a comfortable powerband - slowly. At this point I'm going with the explination of my well-worn tires are just spinning freely, with so little grip that I didn't get an associated squeal or smoke. Similarly, the smell that I thought was the clutch burning up could have just been the tires burning into different rubbers that are meant to build the tire base, not contact the road. I use the Ecsta ASX, they're supposed to be the best bang for your buck.
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Apr 18, 2008 19:32
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Bateau posted:What is an acceptable substitute to BMW factory oil for E46s? BMW recommends their own oil (duh!) or any synthetic rated ACEA A3 / API SH. It seems that ACEA A3 is really hard to come by in off-shelf 5w-30 oils. The only Mobil 1 that fits that rating is 0w-40. The "BMW" oil is Castrol Syntec 5W30. It's actually quite a bit cheaper at the dealership with the CCA discount than at AutoZone or Sears or anywhere else I could find. I pay around $4/quart. Pissingintowind posted:A question for all you E36 M guys: 
Pissingintowind fucked around with this message at 20:51 on Apr 19, 2008 |
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Apr 19, 2008 20:48
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balakadaka posted:I've heard the Hawk's are good. I personally chose the Axxis XBG's. They seem to dust much less than stocks, not a very bad decrease in stopping power. Did you get your Axxis from this group buy on Bimmerforums by any chance? Looks like it would cost $38x2 for my fronts and $28x2 for my rears (E36 M) if I go through that. edit: looks like I'm dense. It's actually per pair. So the Axxis cost half the Hawks. The cheapest I've been able to find the Hawk's are ~$70 per pair. I wish I could find a review comparing them. You didn't mention if your pads are noisy. I know most metallic pads are noisier than ceramic, but again, I can't find anyone mentioning this. Pissingintowind fucked around with this message at 08:05 on Apr 21, 2008 |
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Apr 21, 2008 07:30
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balakadaka posted:No, I didn't do a group buy. As for noise, I can't notice a difference between stock. I've never ran full ceramic on my pads, can't tell vs. the Hawk's. Wait, do you have an M? Because my stock pads are extremely noisy and dusty.
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Apr 22, 2008 05:26
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Doctor Grape Ape posted:^^^^ I tried that on my car and all I have to show for it are two holes in the dash. I did it, and it worked (fixed it) flawlessly. You must have failed somewhere, maybe misaligned it. Pissingintowind fucked around with this message at 04:06 on Apr 27, 2008 |
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Apr 27, 2008 04:04
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Any suggestions on what else to replace on my E36 while I'm doing pads, maybe rotors, swaybar endlinks and other swaybar parts?
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May 5, 2008 17:23
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maxallen posted:Any suggestions on rotor/pad combinations for cash savings? I was thinking of putting EBC Greenstuff on my car when the pads run out, although they might be too short life and/or eat rotors too much. I'd like something that's fairly good performance, can run through two sets of pads for each rotor, and has a good lifespan. I have a feeling this is an impossible combination to get though Hop on over to bimmerforums. They have group buys for full brake replacements with OEM Brembo/Zimmerman blank rotors and Axxis pads along with sensors for around $300. To help you out, here are some prices (shipped per pair) for pads that I am considering for my M3: $67 - Hawk Performance Ceramic Front $56 - Hawk Performance Ceramic Rear $39 - PBR Axxis Metal Master Front $38 - PBR Axxis Metal Master Rear $35 - PBR Axxis Deluxe Plus Front $34 - PBR Axxis Deluxe Plus Rear Pissingintowind fucked around with this message at 02:04 on May 6, 2008 |
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May 6, 2008 01:56
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Shadowhand00 posted:Haha, saved me $20. Since this is my dad's car, it will never see track use. Send a private message to bimmerzone on bimmerforums.com. A kit with everything you need will run you ~$300 shipped with better pads. Ask him to quote you Zimmerman blank rotors for front and rear for your car along with Axxis PBR pads or Hawk Perfomance Ceramic pads and the wear sensors. The ceramics I listed dust less than the ultimates.
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May 6, 2008 21:08
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CornHolio posted:Im pretty sure BMW/Mini say to use Castrol Syntec 5W30. "BMW" oil IS rebadged Castrol Syntec. missed_again posted:Guys, i need your moral support People that own BMWs and know nothing about them and think that cars run by magic are twats. If you educate yourself and realize a BMW is not a Ferrari, you should be fine. Don't get a BMW for the AWD, also.
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May 15, 2008 08:20
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Lufiron posted:You obviously haven't seen the latest xDrive system... missed_again posted:I've been looking to drop around $15,000 to $20,000 on a new (to me) car, and i've been considering a ~2002 BMW 3 series...
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May 15, 2008 16:15
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 Can any of you OBDII E36 coupe owners help me out by testing some stuff? If you want to help, tell me these things for both passenger and driver side doors and the trunk: 1. Do your windows/sunroof open when you hold your key in the unlocked position in a closed door? 2. Do your windows/sunroof close when you hold your key in the locked position in a closed door? 3. Do your interior lights turn on when you lift the handle of a locked or unlocked door (obviously, ignore the trunk for this one)? 4. Does everything (including the gas tank) lock at once when you turn the key to a locked position? 5. Does everything (including the gas tank) unlock at once when you turn the key to a unlocked position? This is all to help me isolate a problem I'm having. In my situation: 1. No for both sides, and never did as long as I owned the car 2. Used to for both sides, now only does on passenger side 3. Used to for driver side, can't recall if it did or did not for passenger side, but it doesn't now 4. Everything except for the gas tank 5. Everything except for the gas tank (which doesn't seem to lock for me) For the record, I have a 03/1999 M3.
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May 16, 2008 12:24
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CornHolio posted:Hate to say it, but yes to all. I know this is supposed to be like that. Thanks for doing the tests for me. There is some aftermarket company that makes a switch for this, and yes, the switch is the only thing that would need to be replaced. hedge posted:My OBD II sedan is yes to everything on that list except #1. Did it ever open in the unlocked position before? It seems that Cornholio's does. Also, did both of you guys test both sides? I'm 75% sure that the lights should not come on when you lift the passenger does handle. What could be causing my issues? I'll be taking out my door panels to deaden them for an audio project, so I'd like to tackle this at the same time.
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May 16, 2008 22:18
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Taymar posted:This probably isn't any help, but on my e34 the interior lights were activated by the drivers door handle, but not the passenger side handle. They then went off again when the drivers door was opened, which they shouldn't have. I never got it fixed but it was diagnosed as a faulty body control(?) module. Hmm. I think in E36's it's called a microswitch. I can hear a little switch click when I raise the drivers' door handle to the point where it used to activate the lights. The passenger door, however, has no such click, and I can't recall it ever activating lights. But someone here said otherwise, so I'm waiting for them to verify.
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May 17, 2008 00:39
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I just wanted to let everyone know that http://rmeuropean.com is a fantastic place to get BMW parts. Free shipping for $65+, the more you spend, the faster it is ($400+ is overnight free). Their prices for all OEM equipment are the lowest I could find on the web.
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May 22, 2008 15:58
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two_beer_bishes posted:I use autohausaz.com and usually ends up being cheaper but only by a few bucks (on a $200 order...) I use both, but I like Rocky Mountain's shipping. Those are the two best places to get things, overall. Also, for anyone following along or having the same non-locking gas cap problem I wrote about before, check in your trunk. If it was like mine, the lock rod simply fell off track.
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May 23, 2008 01:08
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CornHolio posted:Where is the hood light switch located on an E36? Mine goes on while the trunk is being opened, but after about 30° it goes off again. Very annoying. This might not be the switch. Read this.
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May 23, 2008 05:36
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Daveh posted:That is awesome. I'm jealous. In other news, while trying to adjust something in my sunroof, I managed to knock it off the tracks. Now I get to take out the entire interior and headliner and see what the hell I broke. gently caress me  .
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May 24, 2008 02:37
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For those of you with the E36 blue rear deck syndrome, here's a solution. In order to rejuvenate the rear deck, do the following: 1. Remove side rear seat bolsters. Should be easy, just pull. 2. Remove C pillars. They are held in place by 4 clips, so be careful not to break them. Not too difficult, requires some force. 3. Fold down your back seats to discover a plastic strip holding down the rear deck cover. 4. Rip out the 4 loving AWFUL plastic clips holding this thing in with pliers or drill them out. Seriously, just break them. It's almost impossible to get them out in any way. Replace with screws later. 5. Lift the rear deck and remove the 2 clips holding each heat rest down beneath it. 6. Pull the rear deck. It is secured by clips and a little bit of glue. Should come right out. You now have the deck in your hands. 7. Remove all of the plastic bits, and set them aside. There will be a vent in the back, 2 speaker grills, and 4 holes for headrest supports. Be careful, especially with the speaker covers. 8. Go to Autozone, buy a can of Duplicolor Flat Black Fabric and Vinyl spray paint. Costs $4-8. 9. Spray on a single coat. 10. While waiting for the first coat to dry, I chose to remove the speaker grill cloth from my speakers, seeing as it was disgusting and falling apart. This is achieved by peeling off the mesh from behind the grill and scrubbing it with a brush, then vacuuming it. I'll replace it later, or if it looks okay, leave it as is. 11. Spray on a second coat. Ta-da, your rear deck will look brand new. Beats the hell out of paying ~$100 for one from BMW. Here are some before and after shots: Before  After  I did this today because my interior is out. Since my sunroof fell off its tracks. 
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May 26, 2008 04:12
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Wait, Royal Purple is bad? I've been using the ATF in my 5 speed...
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May 28, 2008 19:50
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CornHolio posted:well I called the dealership and they said if the case says ATF on the side, you'd be a moron to use 75W90. e: I dun read gud. I always thought you were supposed to use ATF for the tranny and 75W90 gear oil for the diff. In fact, gently caress it, I'm sure of it. Someone prove me wrong (for all BMW mantrans of that era without the gear oil label). I've been using Royal Purple Max ATF for the tranny and Royal Purple Max-Gear for the diff with no issues for ~2 years. Side question: Can anyone tell me if it's safe to drive with the stock sway bars removed? As in, will it do nothing except change driving characteristics? Mine is clunking around and I want to take it out before it rips out while I'm waiting for my replacement to arrive. Pissingintowind fucked around with this message at 22:49 on May 28, 2008 |
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May 28, 2008 22:46
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Another humble request for you OBDII E36 coupe goons: Central lock your car from the trunk (all the way clockwise). Central unlock your car from either the passenger or the drivers door. Is the trunk able to be opened by just pushing the key insert down and lifting? I believe the answer should be no if you lock the trunk ALL the way to the right, but yes if you do it only to the center position. Thanks!
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Jun 3, 2008 22:37
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ynotony posted:What an odd question... Did you actually try it? When you "double" lock the trunk by turning the key all the way clockwise, the actual cylinder would have to rotate to unlock it again. I don't think it is supposed to. Every other door or trunk lock position doesn't allow you to remove your key unless the lock cylinder is in its standard position.
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Jun 4, 2008 19:14
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ynotony posted:Oh I guess I didn't understand your question. You want me to lock my car, then go to the trunk and lock it doubly? Either way the key as to be vertical to pull it out doesn't it? I'll try it in the morning, too lazy now. Haha, you know what... Since I'm probably an imbecile at explaining this, I'll take a video and throw it on youtube when I get home.
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Jun 5, 2008 14:26
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VIDEO POST Here's the video I said I'd post that kind of illustrates my central locking question. If you recall, I wanted to know about how trunk key position impacts ability of the trunk to open. For anyone interested, I was able to restore every other key-turn function to the drivers' door. The window pulled the wires out of their plugs when it went down, which caused the problem. To answer some stuff: The passenger side is NOT supposed to turn on the interior lights when you lift the handle. I don't know why some of you said it should. I guess you didn't actually test it  . There is simply no wire or receptacle for it.The windows and roof ARE supposed to roll closed from both sides. I still don't know if the windows are supposed to roll OPEN or not (from both sides or one). I am leaning towards no, since there was nothing wrong with the wiring in my passenger side, and the chances that it would fail on both front doors are somewhat slim. Maybe those of you reporting that it does work have some sort of aftermarket addition?
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Jun 16, 2008 22:06
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snugglz posted:I've never heard of this -- I believe it's only to close them. Can't comment on the trunk thing, as I've got a hatchback... Thanks for the reply. The window thing everyone seems to disagree on. The trunk thing I am nearly sure is a valet feature.
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Jun 17, 2008 13:15
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evobatman posted:Wait, what? Auto M3?? E36 had a (fairly poor) automatic from 1996-1998.
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Jun 21, 2008 13:23
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Not sure if you guys have seen this, but it is loving awesome. Electric E46
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Jun 28, 2008 01:01
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Why do you insist on using non-BMW oil? I already mentioned in this thread that the BMW branded oil is rebadged Castrol Syntec 5W30. It is also very cheap at the dealership. With my 10% CCA discount, it comes to like $4.50 per quart. It doesn't make sense to bother with other stuff.
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Jul 1, 2008 16:01
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Doctor Grape Ape posted:The closest BMW dealership to me is 30 minutes away. The closest AutoZone is 30 seconds away. Most dealerships will ship for you. Shouldn't be over $10, which is still about the same if not cheaper than 3rd party oil, I believe.
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Jul 1, 2008 16:11
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As I'm sure you E36 guys know, the stock US headlights are loving awful to the point of being almost dangerous when on a dark road. My housings are perfectly clear, and the bulbs are fine. What can be done here? I know a lot of people push the ZKW "ellipsoid" Euro headlights. Is this the way to go? I honestly know nothing about this topic. Are they HIDs, Xenons, projectors (to be honest, I don't really know the difference between those three terms). I do know that I want bright, clean light. None of that faggy blue poo poo and certainly not purple. As far as I've gathered, white light is 5500-6000K? Anyone have any advice for non-ricey headlights that won't get me killed?
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Jul 13, 2008 01:44
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Doctor Grape Ape posted:I was looking into this recently too, as I spent an hour driving back from Cocoa beach doing 80 with lovely headlights. Kind of unnerving. From what I gather, the Depo or Apexcone Ellipsoid lights are the best bang for the buck, with around 4500-5000K looking OEM. For around $250 or so you can get the housing and the bulbs. I read about the Depo and Apexcones. Some people are saying that the housings on the ZKWs are much, much better though. Let's see if anyone here has anything to say about it.
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Jul 13, 2008 16:15
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snugglz posted:DDM does Apexcones for $99 and Depos for $149, with HID. They're pretty honest about the quality you get for that price -- the Depos are not servicable and pretty brittle, but have slightly better lenses than the Apexcones, which have replaceable lenses and are... well, cheap. ZKW's can be had for around $250 or less these days, and the OEM German stuff from Hella will set you back a ton, when you can find them, but are magnificent in comparison to other non-OE options. I actually made a thread on BF.C about this, and shockingly, got intelligent replies. Where can you find ZKWs for $250? Best I could find was almost $400. The Hella OE Xenon set costs $1,300. Bosch, some Hella, ZKW, DEPO, and Apexcone are made for halogen bulbs, not HIDs. Without modification, you will blind oncoming traffic, or have to aim the headlights lower than they should be (which kind of kills the output). Apparently, the best bang for one's bang is the get a DEPO set, and retrofit it with OEM projectors, ballasts, et al from an Acura TSX for single Xenon or from an Infinity FX35 for bi-Xenon. This would run about $500 + DIY labor, and the difference is amazingly noticeable and looks better than even the OE Hella kit. Have a look in the BF.C link that I posted, those guys are knowledgeable. I will be doing the retrofit when I have time, and can throw up a DIY if anyone is interested. Pissingintowind fucked around with this message at 18:37 on Jul 15, 2008 |
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Jul 15, 2008 18:35
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snugglz: It was actually very funny. The two guys giving me good advice (I'm Marc) both AIM messaged me at the EXACT same time to say not to listen to habbie (the bavtoys.com vendor). I'll be sure to keep you guys posted, but I have an audio install to finish first. e: This is themadrussian's car, which I think looks pretty great (except I'm not a fan of clear corners/tails/markers). He said the DEPOs are better for a retrofit because the ZKWs that he used don't have a shroud around the low beam, although personally I think it still looks okay. I may go with the ZKWs anyway, because the glass has less writing on it, and the high beam reflector is slightly better. Pissingintowind fucked around with this message at 19:53 on Jul 15, 2008 |
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Jul 15, 2008 19:48
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CornHolio posted:true/false: This is true. However, waterpumps are still not fantastic. Is anyone familiar with the up/down window problem on E36s? Is this fixable by replacing the window regulator or by replacing the window motor? Or is it something else entirely? My money is on regulators, for anyone keeping track at home. My windows sometimes go up for a few inches when I engage one touch up, then back down (I assume this is the pinch protection becoming engaged due to excessive friction from a worn regulator). I can tell my car is on its original window regulators because they are riveted into the door panels, not screwed as the replacements are.
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Jul 21, 2008 17:06
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Sterndotstern posted:I dunno, it might be worth recalibrating the one-touch first. From the Bentley: This doesn't work for me. The window regular replacement is the next step, right? And if I do replace it, the problem should never reoccur?
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Jul 21, 2008 19:04
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Sterndotstern posted:Presumably so. Depending on how comfortable you are driving w/o a door skin for a couple days, you can just try greasing the sliders and see if the problem goes away. If not, just order the regulator from your favorite online retailer (my E46 ate both rears while I had it, they were only like $65/ea from Autopartswarehouse.com) and wait a couple days. I used white lithium grease on the ones I installed, I'm not sure what you're "supposed" to use but that seemed to do the job. I've been driving without a door skin for the past month (was replacing my speakers, injured myself playing basketball so I couldn't finish the job)  .Yeah, I've heard lithium grease is correct. However, I think only greasing won't help me, since my windows make an audible "thunk". Thanks for the tip. Does anyone know why the hell the M3 uses a different window regulator from the rest of the E36 3 series? It's about $40 more per side...
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Jul 21, 2008 21:38
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Lufiron posted:The managers at dealerships get Demo cars. Every year they get a new car. Also, the Execs at BMW NA get the same as well, and will distribute those cars to different dealerships when they are done with them. Finally, there are Repo cars. Repo'd BMWs are more common than people think. Everyone loves to live above their means, which is why the economy is hosed up right now. You can do a one year lease if you work for corporate. I work for MBUSA and we have great one year lease terms. My buddy works for BMWNA and they have a very similar plan.
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Jul 23, 2008 16:02
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Just finished replacing my sway bar end links, bushings, and supports with a friend. Easy job, but it took us 3 hours hours because the loving bolts were rusted to the swaybar. Is there a better way break rusted on bolts than WD40 and the biggest loving breaker bar possible? edit: I also wanted to put in a good word for this jack, jack stand, and creeper set. I got it for $100, and it performed admirably. It is not low enough to get under the M3 without Rhino Ramps, but once the car is on ramps, the stands and jack are solid as gently caress. DON'T GET UNDER A CAR WITHOUT JACK STANDS.
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Jul 27, 2008 22:44
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