Took the plunge and got a new top on the 1989 cabrio. I was asked about choices for materials and so forth and chose the more expensive material that is supposed to be the same as the original top. I noticed when I picked it up from the shop that there were a few differences in construction...the rear window is installed differently but the main thing I noticed is that there were no stays acrosby Bob in Lake Havasu - Technical Forum
You are correct. I was looking at the wrong place for the size. I have two E-30s and one has the 195-60 X14 and the other has 195-65X14 . The sticker in the door says 195-65X14. Maybe that one is the difficult one to find. Perhaps could be why the other car that has newer tires has 195-60s. I have not had it very long and that is the tire it came with. The speedo on it is about 5 mph off atby Bob in Lake Havasu - Car Talk
195-60X14 is the stock size. I found my 195-65X14 Michelin all season tires at Costco about two years ago. Since I have a set of snow tires on plane steel 15 inch wheels that are on the car for 5 months of the year, my Summer tires have lasted quite a while. The larger tire is about 3% larger circumference than the stock size. It brings the speedo to a more accurate approximation of vehicle sby Bob in Lake Havasu - Car Talk
I had to move up one size on the 14 inch wheels. I am running 195-65 instead of 195-60. The slight difference in diameter makes the speedometer indicate just about exact on speed. Have to be careful not to take too much liberty with the limits.by Bob in Lake Havasu - Car Talk
I am also of like concern. The most maintainable ponies in my stable is the 67 Camaro. I have enjoyed the E-30 and hope to be driving mine as long as I am able. Just had a new top put on it this week so no more leaks.by Bob in Lake Havasu - Car Talk
What a nice car. Hope it can be recovered with little damage.by Bob in Lake Havasu - Community Forum
Quotealanrw With the technological maturation of the auto manufacturing industry, is there any advantage to buying a BMW today compared to many of the other brands offered up? alan Most new cars are so much more technologically advanced and complex than those from 20 years ago that it can be difficult to tell a lot of difference between the new ones. BMW has set the bar in some aspects of dby Bob in Lake Havasu - Car Talk
Of course they do not build them but have a special mark up for the branding on them...by Bob in Lake Havasu - Car Talk
On the newer BMWs the electrical system monitors the battery voltage and adjusts the charging voltage to account for the age and condition of the battery. When a new battery is installed, the car must be reprogrammed to tell it the battery is new. An aftermarket battery takes a couple more steps than a "BMW dealer" battery but is not difficult. The dealers will sometimes state thatby Bob in Lake Havasu - Car Talk
And, the air cooled versions last just as long, cost less, weigh less as well as much easier to change. Not sure what the benefit of water cooled is. It might have been filled with some kind of dielectric fluid to conduct heat to the jacket. There are no fins on the jacket, it is smooth and the water is brought in on a tangent to swirl it a bit before it returns to the radiator. I need to pby Bob in Lake Havasu - Car Talk
List price is 715 at O'Reilly the discount price was 422 with a 65 core charge and 45 in tax. Grand total of 531.79 till I get the core back to them. Even the parts counter guy was amazed at the price. I think the dealer list is about $1000 if I remember correctly.by Bob in Lake Havasu - Car Talk
That 140 amp water cooled alternator on the E-38 has failed. I must have had a premonition about it as I had been concerned about it since we got the car three years ago. Last summer I changed the battery well in advance of it being failed to prevent overload of the alternator...seems to have been in vain. The alternator failed last week and yesterday I learned how much stuff has to be removedby Bob in Lake Havasu - Car Talk
Complete replacement engines from parted out wrecks are not very expensive. I have seen offers for sale of running engines for about $200. You can convert to an engine from an E36 for a little more. Those engines need the oil pan from an E-34. If the car is in good shape, it is worth keeping as they do not make them any more. There are about 60 of them converted to racing in the Pro3 circby Bob in Lake Havasu - Technical Forum
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.by Bob in Lake Havasu - Community Forum
Turning the crank with the starter is not a good idea until the cam and crank are in correct timing with a new belt. Very unlikely that you can find a position for the cam that would not put at least one valve in conflict with a piston. At or near top dead center, the pistons will have tremendous leverage to bend a valve stem even if you are turning the crank by hand. After you put the newby Bob in Lake Havasu - Technical Forum
We too had a warm evening last night (48F) and mid 40s today. A welcome relief from last weeks snow. Not much sunshine though.by Bob in Lake Havasu - Community Forum
There are clues in every picture, Ferdinand has already found some of them and made some progress. I still think facebook could be helpful. It will have a much larger audience than our forum. The problem will be to weed out the riff raff.by Bob in Lake Havasu - Community Forum
This expression is the thing that made the Mona Lisa so famous. The mystery of it all. The way she is posed in the pictures we have seen makes me think she has some modeling training. When I wore a younger man's clothes, I was teasing a girl at a hotel pool and a guy I was with wanted to take her picture. She did not want him to but when he did, she turned her head just a bit and tilteby Bob in Lake Havasu - Community Forum
Idle speed should give a noticeable fan speed. On thing you might do is take a little risk and put a gloved finger against the fan blade with the engine at idle. If you can easily stop it then it is not giving the torque it needs. Be careful though, as the temp increases, the torque could suddenly change. Reving the engine and watching how much air comes off the fan is a good way to tell whaby Bob in Lake Havasu - Technical Forum
The demo was held at TC Motorsports. I was surprised to see almost 10 percent of the Pro3 cars in the shop for some kind of work in preparation for the upcoming racing season. There were two Miata race cars and 5 E-30 Pro3 cars in the shop. The demo was to showcase the equipment they use to set up the suspension of the cars. They have a rack with scales under each tire that are wireless transby Bob in Lake Havasu - Community Forum
Wow, you have put a lot of time in this already it appears. There is some face recognition stuff on face book but I do not know how to use it myself. Since there are only 6 degrees of separation without face book. I might be worth a shot to post a couple of the solo shots to see if the person has a face book account.by Bob in Lake Havasu - Community Forum
I was an unusual accumulation over several days. I was able to get around with the studded snow tires on the Suburban but the snow plows were not going on side streets so the first 100 feet tomorrow will be a challenge. I hope the rain melts a lot of it by then. We are headed for a BMW club event at TC motorsports for a demonstration on suspension set up. It is a 1.5 hour drive from Evereby Bob in Lake Havasu - Community Forum
The snow has abated and now comes rain to melt it...all at once. We had abut 20 inches of snow over the past 6 days and had to shovel the driveway every evening after work. Due to low ground clearance, had to park the BMWs and drive the 3/4 ton Suburban.by Bob in Lake Havasu - Community Forum
You inspire me man. I declined to drive my E-30 in the snow as I was concerned about the "other guy" clobbering me. I have some good snow tires on it but.... I think I do know where the guy with the fender lives. It is in the Capitol hill area. He has some convertible specific parts I would hate to see him throw away but would not want to pay a lot for them as I do not need themby Bob in Lake Havasu - Technical Forum
Here is your fender....by Bob in Lake Havasu - Technical Forum
The old top does not look bad in pictures. It is just the rubber inner layer of the material that apparently has failed. Particularly along the stitching where it seeps water inside. I was looking for some "Raggtop" treatment for it but that probably would not cure it. I do have some white streaks in the window. I have read that a heat gun will clear them if it is carefully done.by Bob in Lake Havasu - Car Talk
I enjoyed the promotional video the most. That ix sure looks like fun. Makes me love my cabrio even more.by Bob in Lake Havasu - Technical Forum
Wow, that looks bad but I bet you can find enough parts from some of the folks who have parted out some to replace all the dented stuff.by Bob in Lake Havasu - Technical Forum
I have given up on my top and put a deposit on a new one being ordered. I have chosen the "German" material for it in the hope that the slight differences are worth the extra money. The installation cost is almost twice the cost of the material. Instructions for the install are vague enough that I do not feel comfortable doing it myself. They say it is about a 10 job (for someone thby Bob in Lake Havasu - Car Talk
I do not have any data but have read other posts that maintain that the convertible springs and tire size is set up to match up with the less stiff body to minimize vibration and improve the ride. A change would likely alter the handling.by Bob in Lake Havasu - Technical Forum