Colorado general chat...

[MF DOOM]

Do you have a link? I searched but nothing came up.

[downforce22]

http://cosprings.craigslist.org/cto/3933688702.html

http://denver.craigslist.org/cto/4011555313.html

[MF DOOM]

Thanks!

[Roland H]

Any one have a cad file of the RSM reinforcement plates?

I've got some plates at my house that aren't in use...

[Eric]

Scored some hardware today!

[RLTW86]

Scored some hardware today!

Noice. :bow:

[downforce22]

Oh no! they're multiplying! Turns out a '91 325iX and '94 530i make a '91 318is!

[Bimmerman325i]

Oh Hai. (yes, I'm whoring these out)

[clarkkey594]

Anyone interested in an M3 evo3 rep wing for a non M with trunk lid, some e30 tail lights, ST sways, some side rearview mirrors or an decent condition e30 steering wheel? These all need to go ASAP. PM me for pics.

[Cloudbase]

Congrats on 3rd Eric!

Today I replaced the oil filter housing gasket on a friend's E36 M3 (S52). I cleaned it profusely, lubed the gasket lightly with oil, and torqued the nuts in a star pattern (more like two reverse triangles). I also replaced the VANOs control line and added new banjo bolts. It's leaking worse than before! I'm going to see if I can get in there with some adjustable knuckles tomorrow and try re-torquing it (I doubt that will be possible). Any suggestions from the E36 guys?

[conway]

Congrats on 3rd Eric!

Today I replaced the oil filter housing gasket on a friend's E36 M3 (S52). I cleaned it profusely, lubed the gasket lightly with oil, and torqued the nuts in a star pattern (more like two reverse triangles). I also replaced the VANOs control line and added new banjo bolts. It's leaking worse than before! I'm going to see if I can get in there with some adjustable knuckles tomorrow and try re-torquing it (I doubt that will be possible). Any suggestions from the E36 guys?

Just going to throw ideas at you. I'm guilty of overlooking the simplest things and being driven up the wall by them.
My knowledge on this procedure is limited, but i'll share some wisdom an old school engine builder shared with me a long time ago.
Did you torque it in stages?
IE: manual calls for 30ft/lbs: pattern 20lb, next pattern 25lb, and final pattern 30lb. Not necessarily in those increments. In cases of elongated shapes, torque from the middle to the ends. Oil or grease on the threads will obviously throw off torque values (possible if it was leaking oil everywhere.)
Logically, there are so many issues that could cause a leak.

1. A poorly seated o-ring(looks likes a rubber o-ring gasket from the parts fiche), maybe it became ill-seated during installation, (jumping to conclusions) maybe it was badly manufactured and the diameter of the o-ring is insufficient in providing a good seal.
2. Dirty mating surfaces. Not properly cleaned before reinstallation. (Sounds like you cleaned them pretty well)
4. Warped oil filter housing or mating surface. ( Could explain why it was leaking before and even worse now)
5. Improperly torquing the housing.
6. Something i'm overlooking?

If it were me, I'd remove it. Verify the o-ring is properly seated. Verify the housing isn't warped-or the mating surface. Potentially use a permatex sealant in addition to the o-ring (It's plausible the tolerances on the mating surfaces have changed over the years and heat cycles; and additional sealant or resurfacing of the surfaces may be required, from memory the torque values are fairly low on these bolts) Might as well use a new o-ring, they're cheap enough. Re-torque in stages. Finally... pray to the car gods:bow::bow:.

Maybe some one more familiar with this procedure can shed some light.

[Zreberlcoe]

Is anyone else on here from arvada? I keep seeing a guy role around my neighborhood with a lowered E30 on some kind of black wheels. Also has those Ebay tail lights with zip tie stitching in one of the tail lights. It sounds like it could be an M42 I'm not 100% sure. Anyone?

[Zreberlcoe]

Also I ran into a while back that had two E30 M3's and his kids have E30's and I talked to him while he was filling up a hennarot 325i/s on H&R's.

[Cloudbase]

Thanks Conway. I did make sure it was properly seated and torqued it incrementally. It is possible some dirt got knocked on the mating surfaces as I lined it up, but I cleaned the hell out of both. I'd like to avoid any type of sealant. I have used silicone fuel hose treatment on gaskets before with positive results. The gasket has three separate rectangles. I'll pull it tomorrow and start from scratch.

[Cloudbase]

So today the leak is gone. I cleaned the underside at the car wash with pressure and drove it all morning to see if I could see any evidence of leakage. There is none. It makes me really nervous when problems fix themselves. I'm hoping it was just risidual oil leaking from the filter O ring. I'm gonna drive it more to see if I can get it to leak again.