M10 knowledge.

[E30_Pare]

My motor is getting tired should I switch to synthetic?

[40474]

Tired engines usually have worn rings/poorer compression per cylinders. When the rings arent sealing as well as they used to, your oil blows by and gives you blue exhaust smoke. Synthetics are usually less viscous compared to minerals. Less viscous means it will blow by even more easily and compression will be even less. The solution is to use a more viscous mineral oil in older/tired engines

[E30_Pare]

Cool. Well no blue smoke here :D I need to do a compression test soon. What numbers should I be looking for? Like 150s?

[Smelser]

I am curiious too, cause the track as a very strict rule, no more then 190 lbs per cyl during comp test or DQed!!!

[solo318]

Don't worry about the actual number, the important thing is are they even across the board(give or take 5 to 10 percent) There is too big of a variance between guages, hoses, throttle open ot close, valve lash, cam wear , etc. If you get drastically different readings between cylinders, than you should investigate further. Notice I didn't say panic, I said investigate. next step would be a leakdown test. That will tell you why you have low compression. Than you will have a better idea of what to check.
Honestly this engine will run pretty well even with alot of wear. My personal best was 352k miles before I couldn't stand the main bearing rattle anymore. even with that motor I ran and won state autox championships.

[thebutterson]

My motor is getting tired should I switch to synthetic?

What does conventional vs synthetic have to do with your motor being tired? I'm thinking changing the weight of the oil is what would matter.

There are a good amount of people suggesting Shell Rotella T. It's an oil for diesel engines that has a lot of zddp which is supposed to help prevent wear on the older motors.

[E30_Pare]

Well what r the being it's of synthetic is a better question

[solo318]

I agree with the rotella or valvoline VR1. newer cars have to meet stricter emmisions and to do that they need cleaner oils. the newer oils are lacking the high levels of zinc that help keep older engines alive. If you have a "tired" engine, no oil is going to freshen up the rings and cylinders. But an oil high in zddp will help the bottom end stay together for a long time. The zddp also helps promote initial break in of new engines. Take a look at Joe Gibbs break in oil and look at the levels of zddp in it.
zddp is very important if your running a high lift non roller cam, such as ours. It will keep the cam in good shape for a long time.

[E30_Pare]

Kool. Thanks for the knowledge. Will probably try rotella next oil change

[E30_Pare]

Anyone with the ANSA e30 m10 cat back? Looking into getting one with the mid pipe

[Jaxx_]

Anyone with the ANSA e30 m10 cat back? Looking into getting one with the mid pipe

yes.

[E30_Pare]

Nice spoiler. Soo how do u like it? You running a cat? Not looking for anything crazy just a slight improvement over stock w/ a little sound.

[Jaxx_]

lol that's my "race trunk."

I like it alright. my cat is pretty much gone, but it does a great job of silencing the entire motor. click the link my sig to hear it with the muffler off. The car came with the ANSA catback, so I don't really have an opinion, but I think it's pretty damn quiet.

[jeffnhiscars]

Anyone with the ANSA e30 m10 cat back? Looking into getting one with the mid pipe

Someone has that setup on an M10 in thier sig....oh wait...its ME !!

I have the Sport Muffler and midpipe connected to a Bavauto header so basically no stock piping at all from the exhaust ports to the tail. Jaxx,s sounds a lot more throaty and has that "hollowed cat" rattle sound that mine doesn't (no offense to my fellow N Carolinian), but I'm happy with mine.
I also only paid $185 for the muffler and I see now they are closer to $400 so there may be some other interesting options in that range.

Its a little noisy in the drive thru teller but only enough to make me think a small resonator will civilize it a bit in town. The only issue I have is the split rubber ring forward of the muffler seems to jump off once a year which I think is because the arm on the pipe is not lined up properly with the arm on the underbody. This could be as a result of the header being a slightly different length so I think this time I'll move it.

The goal was for it to breath free and that it does ;)

[E30_Pare]

Cool. That's what I like to hear. Yea the catback it self is about 300$ & the mid pipe is about 60$ before shipping. Probably going to pair it with the racetep header. As long as I can have a straight exhuast & not have to worry about the popo getting on my ass for noise thats what I'm all about.