We've seen an increase lately in the number of spammers getting through the spam-blocking hurdles for the forum. In an effort to combat this, I have tightened up the screws a little to make it harder for spammers to get through. If I've done this right, normal users shouldn't notice anything. But if anyone does notice a change for the worse, please let me know ASAP and I'll tr
Forum: Announcements

The tricky thing about iXs is that most of them were sold where it snows -- i.e. in the Rust Belt. Not many were sold in California, Arizona, etc., and it's really hard to find a rust-free iX these days. You can find them, but it takes patience. I managed to find one several years ago that had lived a pampered existence and was rust-free, but it took a while a searching the Internet. And eve
Forum: Technical Forum

QuoterkjThe trip up to Washington, Vermont was great That's a beautiful part of the state. The Vermont Winter Challenge Rally has gone through that neighborhood a few times, so most of the time I've explored the back roads over there in Orange County has been in the middle of the night, in February, while trying to concentrate on navigating tricky route instructions on snowy roads, but
Forum: Community Forum

QuoteArcheo-peteriXI don't know if these things reset themselves like the E30s did or if you have to take it to the dealer for a reset. The Peake tool he has bought will reset it.
Forum: Technical Forum

Oops, of course a 1998 should be using OBD-II, correct? Those codes are consistent among all cars made after 1995. So any OBD-II code reader should be able to give you both the code and the description. But in any case, I did find this: http://www.e38.org/fault_codes.html I have the predecessor to this OBD-II code reader and it does the job just fine (you need a laptop to run the software):
Forum: Technical Forum

Here you go: http://www.unofficialbmw.com/repair_faqs/motronic.html
Forum: Technical Forum

That was great! Thanks for posting that. I also wish we had something like that around here. We have rallies, of course, but around here it seems that pretty much everyone runs a Subaru. That video also gives me the excuse to post one of my own favorite E30 rally clips, from back in the day when 2WD cars still ran in the top levels of world rally: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58ShlIgm2Bw
Forum: Community Forum

Thanks for the kind words. You guys make it easy. I still haven't kept my promise to bring back all the old BEN technical articles, but I'm close!
Forum: Community Forum

Exciting pics. So how many control arms is that now? I've lost count.
Forum: Community Forum

QuoteBob in Everett This is the most popular thread I have seen on this forum in the 7 years I have been here. LOL. The owner of the photos must be an interesting person. Not likely to be ordinary by any means. Nah, not even close. It's probably in the top1/4, but by far the busiest thread in terms of both number of posts and number of reads has been this one.
Forum: Community Forum

QuoteCab Treadway I assume you've already taken the first step of thoroughly examining the EXIF data on the files, as sometimes the user puts in their name/phone/website/email/etc in there. Yeah, I forgot to mention I put my name in the EXIF data too. QuoteThere is hidden data that isn't necessarily visible to a normal "right-click -> Properties" type of examination. I ha
Forum: Community Forum

QuoteBob in Everett The springs are another item that they adjust for handling properties. One of the club members asked what the ideal spring rate was for the E-30 and they said it was proprietary. That's BS. Different spring rates will be best suited for different styles of driving, and whether a driver prefers more or less oversteer, but there is certainly an optimal range with nothing &
Forum: Community Forum

Good luck, but I don't hold out much hope of ever finding the owner. This is why I always: 1. write my name and phone # on all of my cards; and 2. transfer all my photos off the card as soon as I get home.
Forum: Community Forum

QuoteBob in EverettThe problem is the price of the scan tool needed to read its mind. If one could buy the tool for a reasonable price it would be a benefit to diagnosis for the home mechanic or hobbyist. I forget what I paid for my OBD-II scanner, but the newer version of what I've got sells for US$30 on Amazon. Sure it's not what a professional garage would have, but it's eve
Forum: Car Talk

QuotealanrwMy feeling is at this point, they might as well weld the hood shut. You pretty much need the dealer scan tool to see what is going on and each year they get more and more complex. Every time I start to think this, I remember back to when I was a kid back in the early 70's, and cars started getting fuel injection, electronic ignition, and eventually computers. My dad bitched and mo
Forum: Car Talk

My E30 just turned 21 years old. Should I throw it a little party? And, for the record, it's as solid and reliable as our "new" car, and way more fun to drive.
Forum: Community Forum

That's really cool. Oddly fascinating somehow. I could do the same thing out of my office window, but I think the ground-level view of a square meter of grass (or snow) and a transformer just wouldn't be as compelling.
Forum: Community Forum

QuoteBob in Everett There is probably some ice on the mechanism inside the door from condensation. A spray can of windshield deicer on all the mechanism you can reach might help. Will probably start working once the car is parked in some sunshine for a few minutes. This is my guess too. I've had this happen to my E30, as well as to other cars, in very cold weather. Never to all four doors,
Forum: Technical Forum

QuoteJose Pinto There is a good movie on you tube: (they are speaking Portuguese with Brazilian accent) It is simple: one car, one track, two pairs of tires. When the pilot drives the track with good tires in the rear axle and worse ones in front, no problem. With good tires in the front and bad in the rear, the car oversteer and spins out of control. It's good for a FWD Ford or RWD
Forum: Technical Forum

QuoteArcheo-peteriX Just heard that they are all being recalled because, apparently, the wheels can fall off! Where did you hear that? It hasn't been reported in any of the car blogs I frequent, or in the news, and a Google search just turned up "There are No Ford Fiesta Recalls on file for all Years."
Forum: Car Talk

QuoteFerdinandThe landing bent the brand new upper control arm on the left rear suspension (again!). Dang, you guys go through control arms faster than I go through tires! Good thing it sounds like they're easily replaceable.
Forum: Community Forum

When the old BEN disappeared suddenly, my first priority in establishing this new site was to restart the forums so that we E30 fans could still have a place to gather and learn and talk about these great cars (as well as other stuff). This forum has been going for a while now, but I never really made much progress on priority #2, namely resurrecting the wealth of technical articles that were con
Forum: Announcements

Awesome! I love endurance racing. The thing about endurance racing is that if you have a car that's dependable and gets reasonable fuel mileage, and manage your pit stops well, you can do very well even in a slow car, and beat a lot of faster cars that spend lots of time standing still in the pits. I'd love to hear your report of how it went. My own experience in endurance racing
Forum: Community Forum

Very cool! QuoteFerdinandIt's always tough trying to establish the proper rhythm and timing to delivering stage notes the first time "at speed". It's not really clicking for us yet, and we're not feeling at all confident yet. Am I too far ahead, too late, or repeating myself too often? This is something I've always wondered about, particularly the repeating part.
Forum: Community Forum

Nice! I'm really loving these videos. More! I want more!
Forum: Community Forum

Woohoo! That 's the best thing I've seen all day!
Forum: Community Forum

Thanks for the list! I still haven't gotten around to recreating the list of technical articles that were lost when the old site evaporated. Maybe this will be the impetus I need. In the mean time, I've stickied this.
Forum: Technical Forum

QuoteFerdinand You can watch a repeat of the live coverage episodes at Unfortunately the coverage was predictably focused on the front-running AWD cars, but there's about a minute of coverage of Martin and Ferdinand in the Part 1 video from about 45:36-47:04. (You can see Ferdinand's left arm. ) I haven't yet seen the results beyond the top three. Can't wait to read your
Forum: Community Forum

Cool! Thanks for the links. I'll be sure to check out the live coverage if the family doesn't keep me too busy this holiday weekend. (It's Thanksgiving down here, y'know. ) I saw your name on the entry list when I was poking around looking for information on this winter's Maple Leaf Winter Rally. (It isn't up yet.) Despite banging up my car pretty well there last
Forum: Community Forum

Yeah, I think Bob is probably right. After that long, whatever is plugging up the line probably isn't air. My guesses would be the heater valve or heater core as likely candidates. On the other hand, if you're gonna have a car without a heater, at least you're living in the right location.
Forum: Technical Forum