Hey Rob I don't suppose you have a set of euro bumpers for my 87 325i Convertible languishing in that pile do you? I'm doing a restoration but jettisoning the diving boards if possible.
Not sure if they're different for early 'verts, but presumably ECS should be able to answer the question - http://www.ecstuning.com/BMW-E30-325is-M20_2.5L/Exterior/Body/Front_Bumper/ES1928129/ http://www.ecstuning.com/BMW-E30-325is-M20_2.5L/Exterior/Body/Rear_Bumper/ES1928128/
Thanks but I've been trying to get these for some time, in fact i tried to order a set a month or so ago. At first I was told (By ECS) that there was only one set in the warehouse and if i wanted them i "should order them now", however after i made the order i was informed that He'd made a mistake and the the fronts have been on backorder for some time. According to sales they may never be available again due to the vehicles age. The rears are available but do me no good without the front. As a last resort, I'm hoping to find some off a vehicle someone is parting out.
Rob, Congrats on finding (and sharing with us the story of pursuing) your new E24. I would have been heavily tempted by those RAs. With or without them, though, it appears you have located a car that you can drive and enjoy. If it is any consolation, I have remained generally comfortable without using air conditioning for Southeast Sharkfest trips. We hope you will be able to make it two years in a row for that event. On the other hand, effective air conditioning is nearly always welcome during The Vintage or Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix.
Just read your article about shuffling your cars around. One thing you didn't do that I just did was make the driveway 5 ft wider. I should be able to put 2 - 3 series cars there. I also have 2 M3's at work.
I'm tired of driving around in the dark so I'd like to change out my old sealed beams for Halogens and have a couple of questions. The Hellas in question are for my 1987 325i C on which the entire wiring harness is unmolested and i prefer to leave things that way. The lamps in question Can be found at the Hella Page http://www.myhellalights.com/index....lamps/vision-plus-5-75in-conversion-headlamp/ That said my concerns are as follows. 1. I know the lamp out sensor circuits in the active check relay (for the overhead alert panel) use little coils wrapped round a tiny glass tube relay and don't want to mess things up so what i need to know is what is the maximum current for the little current sensors? there doesn't seem to be any part number on them. 2. Will the headlamp relays take the added current or does anyone know of a replacement heavy duty relay which will still fit under the stock fuse cover? 3. The stock lights / wiring are fused at 7.5 Amp and fine for the old sealed beams but i'm unable to finds any current draw specifications for the new bulbs from Hella and they don't give any specs other than 50% more powerful beam on low and 25% on high… Now is that due to better optics and hotter temperature of the halogens or are these things going to fry my electrical system? Has anyone put these in an E30 with the active check relay control without modification and without causing problems? Thanks for your thoughts By the way i couldn't figure out how to start a "new" thread and didn't see any applicable existing threads sooooooo…. your up! Thanks again
Sorry for the delay. Gil, thanks for the advice. I do have the Wilkinson book. Haven't done anything yet with the Lotus; the engine is still at the machine shop.
Thanks. I had a pang when I walked away with the RAs. As I wrote, the guy offered me the whole car for $5500, or without the wheels/tires and Optima for $3700. I let the low price rule the day and now weep whenever I see a polished chrome lip, but I can take it.
Welcome to the world of E24s. I'm on my second, this one is an 87 US spec M6. I've never cussed a car as much as my 6 series. Mostly because of the one bolt syndrome. Seems like I can get to every bolt to remove something but "one bolt" that makes me pull something else off. Thanks for the great columns, good info and the relief that somebody else goes through the same frustrations I do working on cars. I'm certainly not in your league but it gives us fellow hacks some hope. Saw a picture of David Stewart from the Eurythmics recently and thought, Hmmmm....
Dave Stewart. Hmn. Haven't had that one happen. A TSA agent once looked at me and said "Are you that guy from the Bee Gees?"
Rob, I continue to enjoy your columns. Whether Ian Tyson was/is a car guy is unclear. I'm confident, though, that the line you cited about there being nothing much to do during an Alberta winter was directed at his girlfriend. I think we can safely assume she is not a car person and/or wouldn't have access to a warm garage. Either way, "Four Strong Winds" is one of Ian's several classics.
Hi Rob, Glad to see you in print and online! I've lived through the ABS problem in my 1999 Z3 Coupe. The codes pointed to the ABS pump, but a used pump didn't fix it. So, I had the electronic module rebuilt by Module Master. They are onliine at http://modulemaster.com/rebuilds/. I blog about my adventures with that coupe, and it took three posts to chronicle the attempts to get the ABS working again. Here's the final, triumphant post: http://emz3cp.blogspot.com/2013/03/working-on-my-abs-part-3-original-post.html An interesting note specifically about the 1999 Z3 - apparently, for that one year BMW omitted the ABS relays, instead having everything done in the module. That means that the shade-tree trick of jumpers across certain connector pins won't work to trigger the module for brake bleeding. I used another, slightly more scary Internet trick: "driving" the car on a lift and repeatedly triggering the ABS by heavy braking. Worked fine, and the brakes have been great every since. Cheers, Emery
Hey Rob, Just read the 1/27 Roundel Weekly. One man should not be allowed to have that much fun. You remind me of someone I know very closely.
Hi Rob, It's good to have your insight more often than once a month! However.....maybe you got too much of those brake fluid fumes, Re: Bleeding the Shark. The auto parts store was out of the economy 32 ounce jugs of brake fluid, so you bought two quarts. Huh? Isn't that 32 oz each? And forgive my asking, but didn't you bleed the brakes bassackwards? Aren't you supposed to start with the corner farthest from the master cylinder/reservoir (i.e. the right rear) then the left rear, the right front and the left front, and finally the clutch if you have a manual transmission? Just thinking if you'd started at the rear (pick your side), you'd have found the constricted hose without having bled the whole system. My '84 633 had the same problem, and changing the brake hoses made a massive difference in braking response, even though three of them appeared "OK-ish" in flow.
Speaking of brake fluid, 20+ years ago I drained and thorougly flushed the old stuff out and replaced it with DOT 5 -Silicone. Replaced the stuff every few years. Over time, never any trouble other than a slow leak Master Brake Cylinder. Due to be replied this Spring - Ilse (1972 3.0 CSi) is always a good girl.
Rob: I believe that today you are being pummeled with your third and fourth foot of snow in just the last two weeks. I hope you, your family and the fleet are all safe, warm and dry! I just finished you book. Thank you for putting so much of my world view in writing! More than that, I was amazed to read that: You have an E46 325 touring as your DD. I have an E46 touring as my DD You have a Silver over black s52 MCoupe. I have a silver over black S52 M Coupe. I learned to drive stick in a '72 2002 tii in 1976. I drove a '72 Bavaria for four years in the early 80's before taking a 20 year BMW hiatus. So many coincidences... I look forward to meeting you one day in person one day to drink a few cold ones over life with these cars and needless to say, I look forward to each of your new writings on all subject BMW,life of a car guy and life in general!
Relative to the brake bleeding issue.... If memory serves, when I was in auto shop in the dark ages of the mid 60's we were taught to start the bleeding process with the farthest wheel cylinder from the m/c so that the full length of the primary brake line would be flushed of old fluid and air bubbles prior to bleeding the individual wheel cylinders. Of course, in that era most brake systems were relatively primitive - single circuit manual drum brakes were the norm, with vacuum boosted power brakes a costly option on all but the most expensive luxury cars. Disc brakes were mostly limited to expensive European sports cars, so bleeding calipers wasn't even part of the discussion - much too exotic for high school auto shop in '64, even in Southern CA. It's always seemed like a logical method to me - I still bleed the entire system this way anytime a line's been open, on the theory that air bubbles always rise and a hose that's been disconnected at a caliper or wheel cylinder may have resulted in bubble(s) rising through the hose and hard line from the wheel and becoming trapped at a high spot in the main feed line or proportioning valve. It's a pain in the rear, but taking a chance on compromised braking really isn't a option.
