BMW advice

[The Dark Side of Will]

My car is geared almost exactly the same as a Fiero. It turns ~2000 at 55. The Getrag 260's have 0.81 fifth gears and I'm told the car has 3.42 rear gears. This is an overall ratio of 2.77, which is only slightly shorter than the Fiero's 2.6. With slightly taller tires, that comes out almost exactly the same overall top gear.

The guy from whom I bought it had another one just like it except it had 4.11 gears. That car must be pretty quick, but I'd hate to live with it for long drives.

i got an estimate for repair of the oxidized clear coat on the roof and trunklid... $1300. The guy wanted to strip the roof, sunroof panel and trunklid down to bare metal and respray, then blend into the top of the RR quarter. The left rear quarter has had some respray work done to it at some point in its life and shoudn't need as much "blending".

I'm not feeling the $1300. I'll have to see if I can come up with a lower estimate, even if it isn't as great when it's done.

I'm also having the door panels looked at. The inserts were starting to come unglued and someone tried to glue them back with something heinously inappropriate for the job. I left one with the local upholstery guy to see if he can do anything with it. I may have him replace the inserts with black instead of saving the original tan ones. We'll see.

[The Dark Side of Will]

Also, the car has a bit more drivetrain lash than I think it should. I can see that the engine mounts are SHOT, so I'm assuming the two are related.

[CincinnatiFiero]

Have the whole car painted, blending sucks and you often get charged more for it. Its actually more effort for the body guy. Prep the car yourself, pull off the trim, mirrors, handles etc and spend $1000 for the top Maaco job. It will turn out great for a daily.

[Aaron]

From what I understand, the autoboxes don't do a good job of getting power to the ground. I found a website that described a swap of an 850 six speed manual trans into a 750. Replacing the auto with a stick liberated something like 30 rwhp from the V12. Find yourself a 525 stick and you'll probably have a lot more fun. Doing the manual swap is probably a LOT of work, considering how wired these cars are.

One thing about the auto is that it probably makes the cruise work better. Does your car downshift automatically on steep downhill grades? My car's speed can creep up on steel downhills. Once the throttle is closed, there's nothing more the ECM can do to control speed, if the car has a stick.

I'd say the turning circle is on par for a RWD car of this size. It just seems tight because you're used to Fieros and GM FWD cars. My Dad flipped an LT1 Caprice that REALLY had a tight turning circle. That boat could just about do a U-turn on a two lane road. AMC Eagles have really tight turning radii also, and they have drive axles in the front suspension. I don't know what GM's problem is with getting their FWD cars to turn tightly. Fieros just suck. We already know this.

Have you gotten the car up in the air and looked at the suspension links? The way they're profiled and contoured for tire clearance at full lock is just so... German.

But I like the automatic. It's easy, and makes for comfortable driving. I'd buy a 540 auto in a heartbeat if I found one for cheap. I've heard the manual swaps are actually really easy though.

I'm not sure if it does, there aren't steep enough hills on my drive from Pueblo to the Springs for it to accelerate going downhill.

The Fiero also has a really tight turning radius I thought. I'm used to Luminas and Crown Victorias though, which are fucking awful.

[S8n]

From what I understand, the autoboxes don't do a good job of getting power to the ground. I found a website that described a swap of an 850 six speed manual trans into a 750. Replacing the auto with a stick liberated something like 30 rwhp from the V12. Find yourself a 525 stick and you'll probably have a lot more fun. Doing the manual swap is probably a LOT of work, considering how wired these cars are.

If your talking about the E38 750, I know the guy that did it. It twisted the first driveshaft real nice. The owner also took it out on a track day. As far as swapping to a manual, it's not too difficult. The mounting point on the body is the same, the hole is already there for the master cylinder and the same brake resv. is used. I swapped a M6 5 speed into a '87 635 csi. I just had to leave the tranny module plugged in to keep the warning lights off.

[The Dark Side of Will]

Clutch switch for cruise, etc?

[Nashco]

I was utterly amazed to find that it has THROTTLE BY WIRE. I had to double check the build date. It is indeed a '92. That's 10 years ahead of GM.

Didn't the 'Vette get an electronic throttle in '97? While they were about ten years ahead of GM in using e-throttle, it was because they started in the 80s.

Bryce

[S8n]

Clutch switch for cruise, etc?

Most cars don't have a clutch switch for cruise. I wired in a clutch safety switch to start the car though, mainly to cover my ass (wasn't my car, did it as a job). Easy two wire switch wired in from the park/neutral switch from the auto tranny.

[The Dark Side of Will]

I haven't stuck my head under the dash, but my car starts in gear... no clutch switch. Stock AFAIK.

Need to get the code to activate the radio.

Got a line on the old school keyless entry fobs? I asked at BMW of Charlottesville and was told they were discon. Were they even available for the E34's that early?

[Aaron]

I haven't stuck my head under the dash, but my car starts in gear... no clutch switch. Stock AFAIK.

Mine won't

[S8n]

I haven't stuck my head under the dash, but my car starts in gear... no clutch switch. Stock AFAIK.

Need to get the code to activate the radio.

Got a line on the old school keyless entry fobs? I asked at BMW of Charlottesville and was told they were discon. Were they even available for the E34's that early?

BMW didn't start to use a clutch safety switch until the mid '90s. I did it just to be safer. You need the three button square remote? Did/does your car have the remote system already? If you send me your radio serial number, I'll get you the code for it.

[The Dark Side of Will]

How do I find out if my car had the option?
Where do I look for my radio's serial number?

I haven't stuck my head under the dash, but my car starts in gear... no clutch switch. Stock AFAIK.

Mine won't

There is that wee matter of auto vs. stick...

[Aaron]

It was a long day at work, and I thought we were talking Fieros.

[The Dark Side of Will]

Amusing pic that sums up some of what interests me about BMW's:



I stole it from some dude's sig on www.bimmerforums.com

[The Dark Side of Will]

Some odd things you wouldn't expect from a 1990 car: On the highway drive, I noticed a beep. I look around, and see my driver info center, which is normally on time, had switched to outside temperature and flashed 3 times. Turns out, when outside temp gets to within 5* of freezing, it beeps, flashes 3 times, then leaves the temp up. So I hit the button to bring time back up, and it brings the time up, and leaves it up. Sweet.

If I have the windshield wipers on and I slow to a stop, it will automatically kick the wipers down to intermittent, then automatically speed them back up when I get rolling again.

A chica I know has an '03 325i auto. When it's shifted into reverse, the passenger mirror flicks down to show the driver the curb to make it easier to parallel park. Shift back to drive and the mirror flicks back up where it was.

[CincinnatiFiero]

A chica I know has an '03 325i auto. When it's shifted into reverse, the passenger mirror flicks down to show the driver the curb to make it easier to parallel park. Shift back to drive and the mirror flicks back up where it was.

That actually gets annoying IMO. We disabled it on a friends E46, when I drove an E90 I couldn't get it to turn off though.

[Aaron]

My girlfriend just got a 2003 325ix auto. It's nice, but is was like a bare bones car besides the AWD. It doesn't have power seats, my 1990 even has those! But it does have heated seats. It was kinda weird that in 13 years, the gauges are pretty much identical, and they haven't added much in terms of technology. But that 2.5 DOHC definitely has my SOHC beat by a whole helluva lot. Maybe it's just the weight, but her's moves out much nicer. It also sounds like it wants to see 4, 5, 6k on the tach. Mine starts making agonizing noises of pain over 3,000rpm.

[CincinnatiFiero]

For a pretty 20 something girl the E46 325i is a fabulous car. However that 184hp 2.5L is the slowest fucking car. I am almost positive the E46 325i is slower than the E36 323, 325, and 328, they are abysmal in a straight line. The awd doesn't make it any better. There was a time when I had an E46 '04 325 and a friend had the same car but the awd, it was even slower.

[S8n]

A chica I know has an '03 325i auto. When it's shifted into reverse, the passenger mirror flicks down to show the driver the curb to make it easier to parallel park. Shift back to drive and the mirror flicks back up where it was.

That actually gets annoying IMO. We disabled it on a friends E46, when I drove an E90 I couldn't get it to turn off though.

You just have to move the switch on the mirror adjustment to the other mirror and the feature is turned off. Between that and having to move the stratified air knob to cold when it gets warm out is the two more common issues I get on the 3 series, E46 and E90.

[Aaron]

For a pretty 20 something girl the E46 325i is a fabulous car. However that 184hp 2.5L is the slowest fucking car. I am almost positive the E46 325i is slower than the E36 323, 325, and 328, they are abysmal in a straight line. The awd doesn't make it any better. There was a time when I had an E46 '04 325 and a friend had the same car but the awd, it was even slower.

I didn't think it was too bad, and it's the auto/AWD. It'd definitely put shame to my 525i auto. Her 325 is capable in everyday driving, easily able to keep up with traffic. The car also handles really really well.