Beiträge von theo

Dick,

I have seen LSD or Sperrdifferential in 3.9, 3.6, 3.23 & 3.15.

If you cant find the ratio you want with LSD you can use the LSD centre out of one diff and the gears from another e.g. a 3.15 LSD and a 3.64 non LSD they need to be set up by an experienced diff man.

Early and late diffs have diffent diameter bolts that hold the ring gear to the centre so depending on which way you swap you may need to have an engineer make some spacer tubes to prevent the ring gear from moving. I am doing a swap that requires them at the moment and have made several spare sets if anyone has the need.

I would hope that with the number of BMW's in Europe you would be able to find your choice without the need to go swapping.

It is also interersting to note that you really need to be unlucky to buy a bad used one. They are well built and the bearings seem to run forever without wearring out even with black oil.

Good luck in the hunt and keep us posted. There are a few readers that are unsure of ratio and would like a few more opinions before parting with the Dollars or Euros.

cheers

they are still available from BMW or Gault motorsport

Wuffer hi,

do you have a spare controller by chance (The one behind the vents)?

All your problems are solved if you install an M62 and a Vortec blower.

400 Hp with no dizzy, no plug leads and quad cams that can rev their ring out without a spanner or modification.

Which came first Terry? the M60 or the Ford modular or was it the same design team on CRACK?

For those of you not yet convinced check the archives on Steve's car

Cheers

hello all,

terry's comment brings tears to my eyes because guess who bought six of the small diffs!

E31 needs a diff out of an e32, e34 or an e24 CSi. The case without the rear cover on all but 4 litre and above looks VERY similar, like 10% shrunk down version, of the model used in 6 cylinder and smaller M60 cars.

You need to look for E32 740 or 750 or an E34 M5 or 4litre( or 4.4 if they made them) definately not the 3.5 V8 or six.

The rear covers all differ and the E31 even has early and late covers so you need to use your own. There are also two versions of the front cou-ling. All the V12's I have seen are different from the V8 and Im not sure on the late V12. As they interchange you may need to use your own but.........

don't just do a swap without a new front seal and a new crush sleeve follwed by re torquing the pinion nut to obtain the correct bearing preload or you will have bearing failure very soon.

I am of the opinoin that there arent any ratios bigger than 3.9 in this 210mm ring gear model but it is possible. You will need to shop the wrecking yards and check the metal tag that is located under a bolt on the rear cover or on the axle bearing retainer flange.

LSD or Limited Slip is a great feature and can make driving much more fun. They are around if you keep looking can be identified by an "S" (German for Sperrdifferential) stamped on the tag and also verified by a large "S" in white paint on the bottom under the dirt. If not sure try turning a wheel. If one turns freely and not both, just keep looking.

As for ratios, it's matter od opinion and compromise.

The lager the ratio EG 3.9 then the faster you will get these heavy beasts moving but the cost is more fuel as the engine is turning faster at all speeds.

I have an 840 which I changed from 2.93 to 3.64 and would think any less is not a worthwhile change but then I have driven 8,000 klms in two years so fuel cost is not a concern in fact I have a 3.9 and can almost feel a need to try it! You would certainly know you had made the swap and with a 5 speed it wouln't be hard to smoke tyres at every start.

Due to the weight of the diff they are too costly to ship especially for exporting so really you need to search locally. Ebay.de is occasionally a source but the wreckers are the best source.

Hope it helps

Cheers

BEWARE of falling into the trap! E31 mirrors are different in a number of ways.

First is the inclination angle to the door. They physically may fit but I doubt it. Then there are left and right hand drive versions. Once again they will fit but you wont be able to see out of them. Try sitting in your passenger seat and then try geting a view....doesnt work!

If you are in Canada then you need the USA versions which can be bought from BMW dealers for the price of a small house. In particalur contact David Belknap at Gault BMW in New York state on 607 748 7419. Dave knows the goods and will look after you with a good price. Mention me and that you are an E31 club member. Give him a little time as he is short of trained part people at the moment.
\
Cheers

Unfortunately we have had to postpone this event untill EASTER 2007.

STAY TUNED FOR DETAILS

Theo

while I am no chassis design engineer I have cut one of these cars into six manageable chunks to take to the scrap metal yard (sold it for $33.00AUD, cheapest ever E31 sale?).

I can tell you that these cars weigh a couple of kilos short of a tonne because they are built strong. One must wonder, seeing BMW actually had a red converable at the 1990 Munich (corrections invited) Motorshow, whether the basic floopan was built for dual purpose.

The strength and amount of metal in just the sills is staggering. There are a half dozen gussets inside each that reinforce the length just like an airplane. The area beneath the rear seats is all double panelled and when you cut through the front pillars you find a round reinforcing tube that would take the worry out of a rollover The front door pillars are also quite massive.

In case of accident I think I would prefer to be in the 8 rather than anything it hit. The car I cut was rolled sideways and end for end tearing off both front wheels and a rear and while the only body part that was useable was the fuel filler lid the 16 year old theives apparently live to tell the story.

Like I said, not an engineer, but would think a quick can opener job and a splash of paint would do nicely.

Well, on second thoughts, Coupe is cool!

Cheers boys

A couple of points guys.

Fronts are Struts that are not serviceable by BMW. The solution is Bilstein cartidge inserts from eaby but make sure you get the MS part number not the stock Mooshy ride replacements at a lesser price. Koni also makes inserts but prices are questionable

All three work with stock height or lowered springs.

Rears are conventional shocks, not struts. Bilstein makea matching rrar as would Koni.

EDC are a costly fix. BMW are the only supplier if you want to keep the adjustment feature or if not that wealthy then use the Bilstein inserts in the EDC strut leg and hot wire so the warning lamp is not permantly on.

Hope it helps

The original material is heat vulcanised to the board and cannot be re glued. It is a velour with a foam back which breaks down and falls apart. It is not an adhesive problem and once seperated there is no quick fix.

Injecting glue is a short term fix if yiu are selling your car and want to hide a problem.

Either but a new set of 7 pieces for the cost of a small house or.......

find an experienced motor trimmer and have them re cover with a material that looks close but will not be as good.

All aftermrket materials have a 3mm foam back. If you look closely at First strip the faom from the materialthe material on the "slide / blind" you will find it is well less than the 3 or 4 mm that you will have put on the slide and it will have a high probablity of sliding right up through the guides and that it will jam up casuing motor damage at best.

Trimmers will tell you they have never had this problem. Chances are they have never done a BMW roof liner so of course they have not had a problem. If they can show you a car they have done with 3mm foam back then go for it but till then here is a part solution.

First strip the foam from the new lining material and clean off any remaining bits that didnt tear off cleanly. Use general purpose paint thinners to release the small stuff and then machine wash the material ( yep, with your clothes).

Next, find some double sided tape of the kind that curtain makers and upholsters use. It needs to be heat proof. Then cut a piece of the double sided tape oversize and lay the clean material onto the tape and finally apply the tape/material to the slide.

I tried three different trimmers and all three screwed me and the roof slide. None had ever experienced a problem before!

Dont say I didnt warn you, OK?

I had to buy 50 metres of the correct tape so if you want some let me know. Im not looking to get rich from the profits, just reduce my cost.

The same tape does the pillar covers, not that the foam stuff wont but the glue used on foam causes finger prints and dents where you handle it.

cheers

ape that you first apply to the lining material

quite a fascinating subject and would take a lot of time but torque is another word for useable force. Maximum Torque will occur at a given rev range and if seen on a graph, toque will be low at say idle and will increase to a maximum then the graph will start to drop back while RPM is still increasing.

The optimum would be to have the engine working at the max torque RPM while the gears do the work of matching the speed to the toque.

This is moreso the case today with six speed trannies than say 20 years ago where a typical manual or auto were three speed or even two with GM's Hydramatic.

Having said all that, if the price on some of the tranny chips was not so ridiculously greedy there is nothing wrong with having a few hundred more R;s available so that when you hit next gear it is at a higher RPM meaning closer to the torque max.

Hope it helps

I'm not sure why you want more RPM but I assume the end result is for faster acceleration from 0 to 100.

If that be the case, increasing RPM wont do it because the torque is already decreasing at the factory RPM limit.

There is horespower waiting to be released by getting rid of the rear mufflers and replace with a non restictive design like Magnaflow. My guess is 10 Horespower, maybe more.

There is also a genuine 10 % torque and horsepower in the engine management chip from ebay seller "Wokke".

Another big increase is by a larger throttle body or enlrging your own. Stay tuned for future on an aftremarket body.

Cheers

Probaly would notice the diff on a V8 but less so on a12 due to the low comp ratio. High comp loves high octane moreso but if price is the same go for it

Cheers

The first 8 fest in Australia will take place between Saturday 4th November to Tuesday 7th November inclusive.

We have around 22 members in the (un-official) Club of Eights which started in Melbourne and is now Nationaland many are expected from interstate.

This is an open invitation to any 8er regardless of where you are or whether you can bring your caror just good company. We promise you an event that you will speak of for a long time, if you can make it.

Saturday will be a get together at the Melbourne Docklands for a photo shoot and then off to Queen Victoria Markets to grab some delicacies for a late Aafternoon early evening BBQ at the 5 acre property of one of the older members Jaap Kamsteeg (he's actually over 60) in the Dandenong Ranges.

Sunday we will have breakfast in Melbourne's outer east then do a drive to Portsea on the Mornington Peninsula for a lunch at the trendy Portsea pub followed by a Ferry ride across Port Phillip bay to Queenscliff and then back to Melbourne "around the Bay".

Monday is a lay day (clean up, parts exchange and a general lets talk 8's at my house) but then on Tuesday, Melbourne Cup day we will do a Show n Shine........."I'll show you mine if you show me yours" event at my home prior to a day at the races at a location yet to be confirmed.

If there is anyone from Uk, Usa, Holland, France , Hong Kong or in fact anywhere that has an Airpot then we would love you to join us.

Australia, like the rest of the world is not that far from anywhere and fares are cheap as the Aussie dollaqr favours US/UK considerably.

RSVP ASAP

Love to see you all
Cheers

hi there,

sway bars are available from K-Mac Suspension Australia who have been making sway bars in Australia for 42 years.

Recently I gave them V8 & V12 bars to make in 28.5mm front and 19 mm rear after reading about a guy in the US who apparently perfected the sizes but has difficulty in supplying.

CSI bars are better than stock but the bias between front and rear is still not "optimum"and they won't fit rear on early V12. The the 840 rear is same as Csi but you need to specify the year to get the right rear.

The above sizes correct the front tyre outer edge wear and make the car stick like S*&t to a blanket. They are made with three positions for the link rod to mount so you can adjust for over steer neutral or understeer.

Contact Kevin Mc Intyre at sales@k-mac.com.au. They ship worldwide and also make a camber caster set that is state of the art. Adjustmnet is good for camber and caster and the ride height stays pretty much the same. Good for 1.5 maybe 2 degrees negative and are a easy fit.

Cheers

It will probably be a computer malfunction.

Ignition on, hold the slide switch forward for 20 seconds then try to tilt. If no go, try for 25 seconds.

Theo

Pissed agin Parksie? and to blame the Missus? I thought you could hold a bucket of Pommie beer b4 it damaged a brain cell!

Mate check the worm drive for something like a coin jamming it up. If not visible then with the seat out remove the cones (conventional screw on) to reveal the cable drives pull both out and check to see if they are same length and not broken. If a broken cable then you might hunt around for a wreck as the stealers list only a total seat runner/base as it unbolts off the seat. It consists of slides joined by the plastic joiner/motor mount and electric motor. They cost as much as a small house. Sing our if you need a motor or cables as I have some seats laying around.

The other possibility is the actual wormdrive in the side/bottom rails wjich would mean a base , again which I can help with.

The other thing to go is the gearboxes on the top half. They are mounted on the sides at the outside bottom. Not hard to get at but again pricey if you cant find a spare seat at the wreckers

cheers and hopr the head heals fast

No Sandgropers allowed!

Kidding Zoran. You are supposed to be O/s. What happened buddy/

Of course you would be welcome without yor car. The idea of the meet started as a gesture of introducing the harbout city blokes to each other and the response is quite overwhelming.

Initially I thought a bacon and eggs someplace to say gday but the idea of a mini fest dominates so far. I should be in Syd on Saturday 12th so Im good for whatever the guys want to do, sadly my 8 will be disguised as a rusty old Tojo Troop Carrier so if you make that date then two of us will be 8 less.

You might also (all of you) consider joining Melbourne's 8 ers for Melbourne Show day. Keeping with the theme I reckon we should do a Show n Shine with a drive someplace where we can have a Barbecue. Working on who can attend but if show day (late Sept, not a public holdiay) doesnt work out then Cup Day on NOV 7thb is another good theme day. We will almost certainly do something that day so Zoran if you want to make any of the events let me know and we will make it special

cheers

two nail files carefully inserted should close the "wings" that the torx's dont always close although you should screw them tight but not to break point

Hi again guys,

spoke to Mike Stein who has a car almost identical to mine that has been in the panel shop for some cosmetic surgery and is not quite ready for the date suggested. Also spoke to Richard Amadio who is real keen and suggested that we could still do a meeting even if he didnt have his car. Ozboy still hasnt confrimed his car so he would also be without, not that we wouldnt like to have him join us but it would be nicer to have those two cars there also. As I wont have mine ther would be a few empty car parks so best we defer for a couple of weeks till say 12th August, if I can confirm that date.

The National Park sounds a good spot or subsequently we could do a breakfast somewhere overlooking the water..........."eggs and bacon with 8's on the side please"!

Stay tuned