B35 hibernation mode with MS3X

[Bearmw]

I got rear ended on Sunday when the weather was good and the roads dry. Luckily it wasn't too bad. My bumper got broken on the right side, the plastic bumper surround is cracked, and I have a small crease just below the taillight. I was travelling to the FCPeuro car show and I stopped at a light at the top of an exit. A woman in a 2010 Elantra said "my brakes didn't work". The cop said " everyone says that". He instructed her not to drive on the highway for fear of parts coming off her car but let her drive away.

I was a bit upset but we moved our cars about 50' up the road and we waited until the cop arrived. Her car had a lot more damage than mine it looked like. The good news is that the cop said her insurance was good and found her at fault. I called her insurance and they said take it to one of their " approved body shops" to get their estimate.

The only issue I have is that my car needs to be inspected soon for its yearly safety inspection and it won't pass without a good bumper. My hope is to get a check from her insurance and do the repair myself but we'll see.

[lukeADE335i]

Ah - bad luck. Sounds like the damage isn't too bad. Hopefully the insurance is pain free and you can fix it up without issues.

I got in some oil in the first heavy rain for a while a few years ago and hit the back of someone, and pushed them into a second car in front. The middle car (a fairly new nissan) was written off, my e30 was repairable without issue.

[Bearmw]

It could have been much worse. I am still driving the car.

[Bearmw]

Today I finished servicing my driver side window. The window would just stop working at the worst times so I got fed up and inspected it from switch to motor. I ended up disassembling, cleaning, and lubricating the switches, connections, and motor itself. What a difference in speed! I am going to do this to the other three windows over the winter.

I highly recommend servicing windows if they haven't been done

I now plan on dealing with a persistent rattle that I'm pretty sure is coming from the right rear window. I think it is an issue of the plastic roller no longer being tight like it was when new. I may try some hardware store roller replacement like a video I saw. Rattles are annoying and i think this is the last of them.

One last thing is I have been dealing with an inaccurate fuel gauge for quite some time. It only reads between full and half tank and at the half mark the low fuel light comes on. What I think it comes down to is I have a late model tank but an early model fuel gauge (in a late model cluster). That mean's the gauge is seeing like 25-30 ohms from the senders in series (this is close to empty) but because the gauge is calibrated for the 55L tank and a single sender that reads from 60-0 ohms. The 25-30 ohms puts the needle at about the half way mark. I have a late model gauge on its way and hopefully it solves this issue.

[Bearmw]

Today I went back to centered front CABs. I had been running M3 offset ones for several years but with the manual rack the extra caster made for unnecessary effort. I went with Lemforder 96-98 M3 ones that are supossed to be a bit more durable than the stock non M E30 ones. The change is better at all speeds I drive.

Next project may involve a better battery cover the stock one doesn't fit well in my car. I wonder if its difficult to make on out of plexiglass?

[Bearmw]

Since I lowered my steering column a little I have never liked the factory 3 spoke wheels all that much with where my hand position is so I went with a basic 4 spoke wheel that I covered with a nice leather wrap. It is still not a fat diameter but is much more to my liking than the Mtech or Sport wheels I had before. If I want to get fancy I could change out the center emblem for say a factory Motorsport emblem but those cost more money so I will keep it looking like this for now.

https://www.r3vlimited.com/board/attachment.php?attachmentid=121202&stc=1&d=1526175409

[Bearmw]

I'm am happy with the current stance and as you can see I prefer function over form. I may experiment with the rear sway bar setting and maybe change up the tires or even a little bit less front camber Overall the ride and handling is very good.

https://www.r3vlimited.com/board/attachment.php?attachmentid=121206&stc=1&d=1526234952

[Bearmw]

The difference between the H&R sports and the M3's. I am still running M3 springs in the rear.

https://www.r3vlimited.com/board/attachment.php?attachmentid=121208&stc=1&d=1526242781

[lukeADE335i]

Looks a good height for a daily drive!

I've got Eibachs in the front of mine, and stock m-techs in the rear for a little more height since I tow with my car sometimes.

[Bearmw]

Yeah man. I sometimes have four people in the car and bottoming out SUCKS. I'm also trying to avoid the cracked pan badge of honor.

How much weight do you tow?

[lukeADE335i]

Normally a 6 x 4 trailer, so around half a tonne I suppose :D

[Bearmw]

I love to see a "working" old BMW like that Luke. My Yaris hatch does the trailer towing duties in my home.

As an aside, I discovered a small sidewall bubble on one of my 5 or 6 year old Falken Ziex 912 225/50/15s. I wanted to replace the one bad tire (I am cheap) but it seems these tires are hard to find and are probably discontinued.

As a result, I ordered some cheap Sunfull 888 205/55/15s to replace the Falkens. The set of 4 is under $275 tax included. I will do my own mount and balance. I have a Harbor freight tire tool and a bubble balancer. These work on smaller tires like these. The Sunfull's have a 280 tread wear rating and have an asymmetrical tread design like the Falkens did. I have read the pros and cons about cheap Chinese tires and it seems for my purpose it is worth it to try them. I need to get the car back on the road ASAP and I won't drive with a damaged tire unless it is an emergency. Also, I figure the name Sunfull is appropriate since the top is usually down.

http://sunfull-tire.com/details/sf-888.html

[Bearmw]

I have been working on a diff change. I am going to try a 3.73 to replace the 3.46 ( I may end up putting it back in) . I got a good deal on some new clutch discs so I added those while I had it out of the car. I just went with the 2 disc 25% lock. Other than that and replacing most of the seals it is going in as is because the bearings look and sound pretty good and if you haven't guessed I am cheap.

I hope the 3:73 isn't ridiculously short, especially with the new 205 tires. I plan on driving easy(ish) for the first 500 or so miles to break in the tires and the lsd. I thought about a 3.64 Torsen type but the one I saw was too much money.

I learned a few things doing the clutches. One is that it is super easy to strip the 8 Allen head bolts. I was lucky I didn't. Another is that there is a sequence for removing them and installing them and that it makes sense to replace one at a time to keep the plate flat and level. I also used red loctite on the bolts.

https://www.r3vlimited.com/board/attachment.php?attachmentid=121623&stc=1&d=1527965934

[Bearmw]

Here is a random pic showing that the valve train is still minty fresh.

https://www.r3vlimited.com/board/attachment.php?attachmentid=121624&stc=1&d=1527966862

[Bearmw]

Tested the new tires and diff at the eEuroparts event at Lime Rock yesterday. I didn't realize I could run my car in their "auto cross" untill I got there. It was a blast and the tires held up and so did the diff ( no leaks).

https://www.r3vlimited.com/board/attachment.php?attachmentid=121774&stc=1&d=1528679952