Here is the picture story of the event. It was fun. Glad I went. Lots of nice cars to see.
Forum: Community Forum

There are some good clues there Ove. Thanks. I am hoping to not have to change the whole transmission. Maybe just the output flange and the drive shaft forward end. I need to get under the car and see if there is room for a larger diameter guibo. My cabrio drive shaft has a vibration damper on the forward end that may have to be removed to change to the larger flange. I had the flange off
Forum: Technical Forum

Ove, I have not seen any S50 mods in cabrios myself. Mostly coupes. The cabrio body is different than the sedan and coupe. I have not googled it. Probably should look in the R3V website though. The E-30 picnic is coming up in a month where there will be over 200 other E-30 there. I may be able to find an opinion there. Probably should take some pictures from under the car to compare
Forum: Technical Forum

The cabrio has a smaller diameter flex disk than the sedan. My new S50 motor is more than the little guibo can deal with. 5000 miles and it needed replaced. Has anyone developed a replacement for such for a cabrio? Not sure what the issues may be. There may be volume integration issues with the larger diameter. For sure would have to modify the drive shaft. It has some kind of a cylindric
Forum: Technical Forum

This was a very rare car on display.
Forum: Community Forum

QuoteBob in Everett The museum wants cars to exhibit for a special show which they occasionally do to keep their displays fresh. Unfortunately they want 1977 or older so the E-30 is excluded. Yesterday the Puget Sound BMW club had over 320 members bring their cars to the museum for a show and shine (in the rain) and to visit the BMW display of some iconic BMW on display. Some beautiful res
Forum: Community Forum

I debated about putting it in technical when I first posted but decided it could fit here too. In the line of car talk though, A local museum is hosting a BMW 100 year anniversary event on May 15th. A local chapter of the BMW CCA is asking for folks to bring their cars and have a nice gathering of the mark. It should be good fun looking at all the nicest BMW from all over the Puget Sound ar
Forum: Car Talk

I looked all over the new one and the old one for an arrow to indicate which way it would be installed. I think the main thing is that it is a 110 mm diameter and not the larger one from a sedan. If there is one made of sterner stuff I would try it to have a longer life. Having to baby the thing to keep from having to change it again is no a lot of fun either. I was enjoying the higher powe
Forum: Car Talk

I have discovered part of the problem with the flex disk. The cabrio has a smaller version than the sedan and coupe. Probably need an expensive custom drive shaft to put a regular Universal Joint there instead of the rubber disk. I have saved the old one for a pattern to see if I can make something to replace it. I am thinking of some thin sheet steel on each side of it to add torsional stiff
Forum: Car Talk

Wish it were that simple. It was a new one about 5000 miles ago. The new motor has almost 240 hp so second gear is just too much fun. I will have to dial it back a little so this will not be a bi-annual exercise. If there were a polyurathane version it might last longer.
Forum: Car Talk

My engine upgrade has overloaded the flex coupling on the back of the transmission. After 5000 miles it is damaged and causes vibration under even moderate acceleration. Is there a better, stronger, tougher version available to tolerate the higher power of the S50 engine? I imagine that the E-36 coupling will not likely fit.
Forum: Car Talk

Kelly, I like the larger diameter 195-70/14 tires because they are 3% larger diameter than stock and makes the speedometer read very close to the exact speed you are going. The only down side is that is you have brake pads that are a bit low friction (low dust compound) the anti lock system will not quite give you full braking no matter how hard you press the brake pedal. The larger radius of
Forum: Car Talk

Hi Kelly, Good to hear from you. Unfortunately Michelin no longer makes a tire the correct size for the E-30 14 inch wheels. I have some that are a slight bit smaller height that work ok. I like the taller ones better but some think they look out of proportion for the car. The lower profile tires do look better. So it is likely 195-60/14 or the larger 195-70/14 are all you will find. The c
Forum: Car Talk

The museum wants cars to exhibit for a special show which they occasionally do to keep their displays fresh. Unfortunately they want 1977 or older so the E-30 is excluded.
Forum: Community Forum

Nice video production. Captures the fun factor for sure. It is difficult for me to believe but I just heard on the local news today that a large percentage of city people between the ages of 16-24 do not have drivers licenses. I just could not imagine not driving. I started learning at 8 years old on a farm tractor. My E-30 is the first car I have owned that is built to go faster than I
Forum: Car Talk

Got to spend the day working on a neglected E-30 Sedan. It is basically in sound condition but lots of little things that need to be fixed. Today it was the timing belt. Took all day. Had to buy a tool to get the fan off and modify it with a grinder to make it fit. Should have brought mine from home. Hope you all have a Happy New Year. That 2016 will be good deal better than 2015.
Forum: Community Forum

That is an awesome video. I wholly agree with the conclusion. The most fun car to drive. I have had mine for 10 years plus and am still not tired of driving it.
Forum: Car Talk

Merry Christmas to you.
Forum: Community Forum

The Seattle Times has an article in it today about "Turo" a peer to peer car rental online company somewhat similar to airbnb. I have come into another E-30 four door with automatic that I wonder what to do with and am curious what the rental interest for it might be. I know, it is not a performance car even though it is one of the best BMW models made but it does have an automatic
Forum: Community Forum

There is some truth to that for sure. Having something and trying to keep someone else from taking it becomes a worry as well as just caring for the stuff.
Forum: Community Forum

That goes along with the concept that it is "hard to drive a bargain." Cars can be addictive. At least it seems like it in my case. Who really needs 6 old cars.
Forum: Community Forum

At first I thought they might be machining chips from some machine tool operation but they look very uniform so not likely that. Maybe Ove is correct.
Forum: Community Forum

Those are some really agressive tires. Must be great in the snow and ice. Just don't get run over by a car that could not stop on the ice.
Forum: Community Forum

Got the hard top on the cabrio and put the snow tires on too. I am ready for old man winter. The S52 motor is working well. Now that I have the idler pulleys changed it is much quieter. Still need to have the exhaust moved away from the under body so the rest of the noise will go away.
Forum: Community Forum

Did you ever readjust the valves?
Forum: Technical Forum

Most likely the governments in each country would not allow the car to be registered without the "improved" emissions control. Even the higher Nox levels are not all that much. Compare to a larger vehicle it is probably less per mile.
Forum: Car Talk

Ove, The efficiency of the diesel engines is about 20% better from a theoretical thermodynamic perspective. There is more energy in a gallon of diesel than a gallon of gasoline and especially if it has 10-15% ethanol mixed in it. My E-30 fuel consumption went up by 15% when I could no longer find "real" gasoline. There is a political connection with the ethanol. Government subsi
Forum: Car Talk

Wow, what a story. I have heard of ignition switch causing problems with other BMW models.
Forum: Car Talk

There was no room for the shroud and the center of the fan was not in the correct place for it either. The space is so close that the shroud may not help much. The fan is backward so the blades are not as efficient as before but enough air moves that it no longer warms excessively to turn on the electric fan. Temp gage steady in stalled traffic.
Forum: Car Talk

John, The engine is lighter than the cast iron M20 so the car sets about the same as before. A 1 inch lower front might look better but I like the ground clearance and am not planning a mod for that yet. The shifter rod from the lever to the trans had to be cut and welded back together with the rotation for the engine accounted for. That way the shift lever is in the same place it was before.
Forum: Car Talk