Bought another old BMW.
- Thread starter Lashout_UK
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- 2 Mar 2004
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- 11,919
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Minor update.
A nice man dropped around in a van to fit my new rear tyres - Continental SportContact 3's. Originally I planned to fit Falkens or Kumho tyres, due to previous good experience with them, but they couldn't supply anything that matched the OEM specification.
I've yet to bed the new tyres in properly but initial impressions are good - which bodes well, as it was very wet when I drove it. I can highly recommend the services of eTyres, very quick and prompt - although if you're offered the chance to buy tyres inclusive of fitting, do go through with that as it's usually cheaper.
I regularly check the fluids and I'd noticed a very minor loss of hydraulic fluid, so promptly topped that up to the correct level. Besides the power steering, the LHM fluid also operates the self-levelling rear suspension. Mine weeps a little from the reservoir seal - which is why it drops slightly - so I'll change that at some point.
That's the correct level you should see in the LHM fluid reservoir - just above the mesh filter basket.
Having not properly driven the car since I'd fitted the new viscous coupling and air filter, I took it out for a spin to see what it was like. It was noticeably smoother (thanks to the unclogged filter), the temperature remained below the half mark in all instances and the oil temperature was also a good 10 degrees cooler.
There was, however, now something else wrong. Coming down through Milton Keynes, I saw a red light and downshifted from third to second - blipping the throttle nice and hard on the way down. Entirely unrelated to the large crowd of people standing around outside a restaurant.
Unfortunately, instead of the melodious bark of BMW's finest hand-built engine, I was rewarded with what sounded like a horrific rattle and screech. I cut into neutral and the engine still sounded absolutely spot on, so I coasted to the lights and tried to hide as best as possible from the crowd. Tad difficult in a bright white BMW that's thundering away quietly to itself.
Moving off with the lights, there wasn't a single unpleasant noise from the car - which puzzled me somewhat. I nursed it home and glared at it on the drive for a while. It occurred to me that the best course of action was, after checking that there was nothing obviously wrong with it, to run the engine and try and track down the source of the noise.
With it cold, there was no hint of anything amiss. When it got hot, however, revving it hard in neutral produced what was actually a loud screech from the nose of the engine. Closer inspection revealed that the auxiliary belt that drives the air-con compressor and AIR pump was damaged - phew! Presumably this was the source of the noise, slipping under load and creating all that racket.
The AIR (Air Injection Reaction) pump, before you start thinking that's some horribly Google-mashed translation of the German version of supercharger, is an emissions control device. When the car's cold it pumps fresh air directly into the exhaust manifold. This dumps oxygen into the hot exhaust gases, which combusts with unburnt fuel from the rich-running engine. This cuts emissions and also has a knock-on benefit - it raises the exhaust temperature which causes the catalytic convertors to warm up faster, further reducing emissions.
I decided that the logical, and fastest, thing to do would be to cut the belt off and run the car without it - to check that it was the actual fault.
After losing a lot of skin and half an hour of my life, to the radiator shroud and waterpump housing, I decided that this was, in fact, a stupid idea. There simply wasn't enough room to get anything in there to have any meaningful cutting effect on it. Have you ever tried sawing through a modern V-belt? They're damned tough.
I moved on and removed the radiator shroud, which took all of ten seconds, allowing me quick access to the belt in question - and I had it removed in about another 30 seconds. I must remember to make jobs simple for myself. Anyway, the belt wasn't in fantastic condition:
So, fingers crossed, that'd solved it.
It hadn't.
I drove back from my quick test drive a bit annoyed. I had a poke around the rest of the engine bay and came to the conclusion that it definitely was a belt issue, but it must be the power steering or waterpump/alternator belt.
Then it hit me, like a truck. Remember this?:
The new viscous coupling I fitted last week. Fitting it meant that the cooling fan was now working properly. This meant that the load on the waterpump belt - which drives the waterpump, which the cooling fan is driven off - had gone through the roof.
That's why this squealing noise had suddenly appeared and also why it was intermittent. As the engine heated up, the fan would engage and cause the belt to rub and squeal as a result of the increased load. When it cooled, the belt would get an easier job and the noise would disappear.
A quick visit to ECP's website had me a trio of fanbelts on order. Well, I lie. I ended up ordering five as there were different versions available and I wasn't going to play the "well, this one doesn't quite fit" game on Saturday. I'll simply send the belts back that I don't need.
The car's due to be displayed at Supercar Sunday (http://www.supercarsunday.co.uk/) so I'll be replacing the belts, doing some minor paintwork and changing the oil before then. Expect an update soon!
In other news, I'm still loving this ol' beast and it's making quite a mark. To bolster its credentials with me, I recently got my insurance renewal through for it.
Fully comprehensive, including commuting use, full UK & European breakdown, windscreen cover, agreed valuation, legal cover and unlimited mileage on my new policy came to.........
..................£225.
Onwards!
A nice man dropped around in a van to fit my new rear tyres - Continental SportContact 3's. Originally I planned to fit Falkens or Kumho tyres, due to previous good experience with them, but they couldn't supply anything that matched the OEM specification.
I've yet to bed the new tyres in properly but initial impressions are good - which bodes well, as it was very wet when I drove it. I can highly recommend the services of eTyres, very quick and prompt - although if you're offered the chance to buy tyres inclusive of fitting, do go through with that as it's usually cheaper.
I regularly check the fluids and I'd noticed a very minor loss of hydraulic fluid, so promptly topped that up to the correct level. Besides the power steering, the LHM fluid also operates the self-levelling rear suspension. Mine weeps a little from the reservoir seal - which is why it drops slightly - so I'll change that at some point.
That's the correct level you should see in the LHM fluid reservoir - just above the mesh filter basket.
Having not properly driven the car since I'd fitted the new viscous coupling and air filter, I took it out for a spin to see what it was like. It was noticeably smoother (thanks to the unclogged filter), the temperature remained below the half mark in all instances and the oil temperature was also a good 10 degrees cooler.
There was, however, now something else wrong. Coming down through Milton Keynes, I saw a red light and downshifted from third to second - blipping the throttle nice and hard on the way down. Entirely unrelated to the large crowd of people standing around outside a restaurant.
Unfortunately, instead of the melodious bark of BMW's finest hand-built engine, I was rewarded with what sounded like a horrific rattle and screech. I cut into neutral and the engine still sounded absolutely spot on, so I coasted to the lights and tried to hide as best as possible from the crowd. Tad difficult in a bright white BMW that's thundering away quietly to itself.
Moving off with the lights, there wasn't a single unpleasant noise from the car - which puzzled me somewhat. I nursed it home and glared at it on the drive for a while. It occurred to me that the best course of action was, after checking that there was nothing obviously wrong with it, to run the engine and try and track down the source of the noise.
With it cold, there was no hint of anything amiss. When it got hot, however, revving it hard in neutral produced what was actually a loud screech from the nose of the engine. Closer inspection revealed that the auxiliary belt that drives the air-con compressor and AIR pump was damaged - phew! Presumably this was the source of the noise, slipping under load and creating all that racket.
The AIR (Air Injection Reaction) pump, before you start thinking that's some horribly Google-mashed translation of the German version of supercharger, is an emissions control device. When the car's cold it pumps fresh air directly into the exhaust manifold. This dumps oxygen into the hot exhaust gases, which combusts with unburnt fuel from the rich-running engine. This cuts emissions and also has a knock-on benefit - it raises the exhaust temperature which causes the catalytic convertors to warm up faster, further reducing emissions.
I decided that the logical, and fastest, thing to do would be to cut the belt off and run the car without it - to check that it was the actual fault.
After losing a lot of skin and half an hour of my life, to the radiator shroud and waterpump housing, I decided that this was, in fact, a stupid idea. There simply wasn't enough room to get anything in there to have any meaningful cutting effect on it. Have you ever tried sawing through a modern V-belt? They're damned tough.
I moved on and removed the radiator shroud, which took all of ten seconds, allowing me quick access to the belt in question - and I had it removed in about another 30 seconds. I must remember to make jobs simple for myself. Anyway, the belt wasn't in fantastic condition:
So, fingers crossed, that'd solved it.
It hadn't.
I drove back from my quick test drive a bit annoyed. I had a poke around the rest of the engine bay and came to the conclusion that it definitely was a belt issue, but it must be the power steering or waterpump/alternator belt.
Then it hit me, like a truck. Remember this?:
The new viscous coupling I fitted last week. Fitting it meant that the cooling fan was now working properly. This meant that the load on the waterpump belt - which drives the waterpump, which the cooling fan is driven off - had gone through the roof.
That's why this squealing noise had suddenly appeared and also why it was intermittent. As the engine heated up, the fan would engage and cause the belt to rub and squeal as a result of the increased load. When it cooled, the belt would get an easier job and the noise would disappear.
A quick visit to ECP's website had me a trio of fanbelts on order. Well, I lie. I ended up ordering five as there were different versions available and I wasn't going to play the "well, this one doesn't quite fit" game on Saturday. I'll simply send the belts back that I don't need.
The car's due to be displayed at Supercar Sunday (http://www.supercarsunday.co.uk/) so I'll be replacing the belts, doing some minor paintwork and changing the oil before then. Expect an update soon!
In other news, I'm still loving this ol' beast and it's making quite a mark. To bolster its credentials with me, I recently got my insurance renewal through for it.
Fully comprehensive, including commuting use, full UK & European breakdown, windscreen cover, agreed valuation, legal cover and unlimited mileage on my new policy came to.........
..................£225.
Onwards!
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- Joined
- 2 Mar 2004
- Posts
- 11,919
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- SE England
I found this 2800 fitted with an S38 and triple 50 carbs too:
Suddenly found myself lusting the idea of gutting my car, making it clean and as light as possible, then turning it into some Nascar-style hot-rod with minimal electronics and carbs.
Then maybe a blower.
Another time, maybe......
Suddenly found myself lusting the idea of gutting my car, making it clean and as light as possible, then turning it into some Nascar-style hot-rod with minimal electronics and carbs.
Then maybe a blower.
Another time, maybe......
Cheers Phate! Hopefully you'll see it at a meet at one point. Not long left to go before it'll be all fully serviced, protected and on full song.
The rolling road calls soon too - but only once fluids and plugs have been done and I've inspected the rest of the ignition components. And balanced the throttle bodies. And fitted the nitrous.......No, no, not yet.....
I work for a company called Bauer MediaWe do all sorts!
Yeah hopefully mate, are you going to the RR on the 23rd? I'm contemplating it, haven't been to a meet for a while now
Bauer Media eh, sounds cool
- Was wondering if you wrote in any mags or anything and could pick up some material 
Man of Honour
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- 5 Jun 2003
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- 91,831
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- Falling...
Ooooh I bet that'll be a hoot to drive! 
(when ready).
One of my favourite "M" BMWs ever!
(when ready).One of my favourite "M" BMWs ever!
Soldato
- Joined
- 13 Jul 2004
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- 20,345
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- Stanley Hotel, Colorado
Nice writeup, who does that insurance
I'm loving the detail in your work, and indeed the car!
As for your insurance! **** me! I thought I was doing well paying circa £260 F/C sans breakdown cover for my old e39 528i aged 40 and as a professional driver!
The price is almost as impressive as your car!
As for your insurance! **** me! I thought I was doing well paying circa £260 F/C sans breakdown cover for my old e39 528i aged 40 and as a professional driver!
The price is almost as impressive as your car!
I've have used it for work too, on the odd occasion, as it's quite a conversation starter. All I need is some braces for the full on 80s/90s banker look....
Associate
- Joined
- 27 Jan 2005
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- 790
- Location
- Newcastle
Great thread, lovely car.
The recent little problems you've had all seem familiar, I just wish I was as handy as you when it comes to fixing them. I had the chirp last year and needed the aux belt tensioners replaced, I also had the pulleys replaced at the same time with some more reliable billet alloys ones. The pics of an 8 where the pulleys have failed can be scarey
The chirp has come back again a couple of times recently, when letting off after giving the throttle a stab. I think after getting the aircon sorted recently it's put a little extra load on the belt so may just need re adjusting.
I love the wheels, I hadn't seen anything other than throwing stars on that style rim before, they look so right on the M5.
The recent little problems you've had all seem familiar, I just wish I was as handy as you when it comes to fixing them. I had the chirp last year and needed the aux belt tensioners replaced, I also had the pulleys replaced at the same time with some more reliable billet alloys ones. The pics of an 8 where the pulleys have failed can be scarey
The chirp has come back again a couple of times recently, when letting off after giving the throttle a stab. I think after getting the aircon sorted recently it's put a little extra load on the belt so may just need re adjusting.
I love the wheels, I hadn't seen anything other than throwing stars on that style rim before, they look so right on the M5.
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- 11,919
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- SE England
Genuinely laughed out loud. Had to work very hard not to spray tea over my desk at work
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Lewis, how were etyres with the fitting? I've taken my car to a few places round town to have tyres fitted that I've purchased online and they always seem to scuff the alloys a bit... very annoying! I'm going to get the alloys refurbished fairly soon I think so would like to find somewhere that can fit tyres without ruining them.
- Joined
- 2 Mar 2004
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Thanks for all the positive comments! Just nice to have a car to tinker with and blather on about incessantly.
I'll have a look and see if I can come. Be nice to stretch its legs, although I probably wouldn't run it on the dyno - reserving that pleasure for my local RR so I can do a few back-to-back runs.
You can find me in CAR magazine this month - but the vast majority of the work I do tends to be uncredited as it's for online publications.
I use Peter James insurance
Thanks R420LA6X2/4MNA! I have to say, I was suprised by the quote too. I had a trade policy with them previously which was superb but I'm just not using it these days - so it's not worth the additional premium. I asked them to quote me for a 'normal' classic policy and it took them all of about 30 seconds. When the nice lady on the phone came up with a price I assumed she meant £2,250 - had to get her to clarify it!
I was very happy with that, to say the least, especially given the 'free' terms of the policy like unlimited mileage and commuting use. They're very easy-going with modifications too so should be able to deal with anything I do with the car.
The only downside is that this policy won't accure no claims bonus, besides the 'internal' bonus. That means that in a year or two I'll have to find something to put my six years on, or risk losing it. That'll be a good excuse to buy something else as well, however.....
Yeah hopefully mate, are you going to the RR on the 23rd? I'm contemplating it, haven't been to a meet for a while now
Bauer Media eh, sounds cool
I'll have a look and see if I can come. Be nice to stretch its legs, although I probably wouldn't run it on the dyno - reserving that pleasure for my local RR so I can do a few back-to-back runs.
You can find me in CAR magazine this month - but the vast majority of the work I do tends to be uncredited as it's for online publications.
I use Peter James insurance
I'm loving the detail in your work, and indeed the car!
As for your insurance! **** me! I thought I was doing well paying circa £260 F/C sans breakdown cover for my old e39 528i aged 40 and as a professional driver!
The price is almost as impressive as your car!
Thanks R420LA6X2/4MNA! I have to say, I was suprised by the quote too. I had a trade policy with them previously which was superb but I'm just not using it these days - so it's not worth the additional premium. I asked them to quote me for a 'normal' classic policy and it took them all of about 30 seconds. When the nice lady on the phone came up with a price I assumed she meant £2,250 - had to get her to clarify it!
I was very happy with that, to say the least, especially given the 'free' terms of the policy like unlimited mileage and commuting use. They're very easy-going with modifications too so should be able to deal with anything I do with the car.
The only downside is that this policy won't accure no claims bonus, besides the 'internal' bonus. That means that in a year or two I'll have to find something to put my six years on, or risk losing it. That'll be a good excuse to buy something else as well, however.....
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The fitter I had was excellent (gent called Gavin). Oddly enough that was one of the things I was concerned about as the rims were refurbished not long before I bought the car and with the turbine covers there's that additional risk of catching or chipping an edge.
Fortunately they were left without any marks whatsoever! He even torqued the wheel bolts up - although to what setting I'm not sure, so I'll have to check that at some point. Pressures weren't far off the OEM recommendations either and there's no obvious damage to the underbody so some consideration was given when jacking the car up.
I was going to get it done by Bennys but they didn't answer their phone a few times in a row and I was being impatient
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Haha!
erm, wouldn't more surface area mean more filtration, therefore less air flow? when new I mean.
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As far as I'm aware, increasing flow (while maintaining the same level of filtration) requires a larger surface area - as you are increasing the amount of space that there is for the fluid (air) to pass through.
It can vary depending on the filtration medium, of course - so for example if you have a panel filter with a rough mesh in it, it will flow more air than a filter that's got twice the surface area but a very, very fine mesh element - as you get a bigger pressure drop across the fine filter because the engine has to suck harder to pull air through.
The basis that the K&N seems to operate on, besides being soaked in oil to catch debris, is by having a smaller surface area but a bigger 'pore size' (the maximum size of particle that the filter will let through). This means, however, that the filter willl potentially let through more dirt and debris, causing the engine to wear faster.
Even so, despite its larger pore size and oiled mesh, the K&N's probably got two or three times less surface area than the OEM paper element. That's a lot to compensate for.
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