Friday 3 June 2022
BMW M20 Engine: Front Timing Marks [Front Timing Cover]
Monday 30 May 2022
New BMW Art Car… The 8 by Jeff Koons
Here goes BMW with yet another art car, bringing this tradition into its 7th decade. This time celebrated sculptor Jeff Koons has a go...
Monday 23 May 2022
BMW Advert 1986 - 635CSi, M6, E9 3.0 CSL, M1 - 'The latest in a short line of supercars...'
Another great advert from BMW, this time from 1986, promoting the benefits of their tuned straight-six power plants and their innovative (for the time!) use of four valves per cylinder. 24-valves were first seen in the E9 3.0 CSL 'Batmobile' in 1974, again in the M1 supercar in 1977 and finally making its way to the general consumer in the 1986 635CSi model E24 6er.
As BMW discovered years ago, when you need extra power from an engine - on the race track for instance - just double the valves per cylinder.
The extra valves mean the the cylinders can take in more air and fuel on each stroke, burn it more efficiently and expel it quicker. So much so that 6 cylinders with 4 valves can produce more power than 12 cylinder with 2.
Take the three cars above, developed by BMW Motorsport.
The 3.5 litre CSL, affectionately known as the Batmobile, won the first of many races at the Saltzburgring in 1974, beating a 7 litre Camaro in the process.
A 192 mph version of the M1 won its class at Le Mans for the last 3 years. (At the Nurburgring in 1981 it won the race outright.)
The M635CSi, however, is merely a luxury road going coupe. Although it's capable of 158mph, it hasn't won a thing.
Except praise.
Friday 6 May 2022
E30 Ute / Pick-up / Off-roader!!
Saturday 30 April 2022
E90 318d: New rear caliper! [Reconditioned exchange part]
Rear O/S calliper was sticking on this 2005 E90. A re-conditioned genuine unit was sourced for just £45 with the old one being returned in exchange.
Not a bad hours work... remember to prime the new calliper with fluid and it hardly needs bleeding.
Sunday 27 March 2022
F10 530d: New wiper-blades - Bosch Aerotwin
Sunday 6 February 2022
E30 318i: Replacing Clutch Slave-Cylinder - Quick + dirty guide!
Clutch reservoir suddenly low on fluid? Gearbox housing covered in it? Sounds like a popped slave-cylinder. Not to worry, this has to be one of the easiest to replace ever made!
* This guide covers the M40 engine and 5-speed gearbox, but process is the same for most models. *
1. Lift the left side of the car.
2. Remove the 13mm nut from the outer side of the slave-cylinder. This one is easy to access and can be got with a ring-spanner or socket, but the ratchet is quite snug to the gearbox.
3. Remove the 13mm nut from the inner side of the slave-cylinder. This is quite difficult to get to as it is inhibited by the clutch-hose as well as limited access in the trans.-tunnel. I managed it with a socket and a 4" extension bar to get past the hose/pipe.
* I have seen someone getting that difficult to reach nut using a longer extension bar and the ratchet further back behind the gearbox, but this was not possible on my E30, so I'm guessing this may be for 4-speed boxes or older M10/M20 engines. If yours cannot be got with the details in step 3, then try this. *
4. Remove the slave-cylinder fr the gearbox and allow to hang down on the hose.
5. Clamp the hose (optional, but saves time when bleeding system later).
6. Remove the hose end from the slave-cylinder using an 11mm wrench so the old unit can be discarded. [It is much easier to grip the slave-cyl. by hand while it is removed from the gearbox and get a turn on the pipe-collar, as well as minimising leaks from the hose.]
7. Prime the new slave-cylinder by removing the bleed-nipple and carefully pouring DOT4 brake/clutch fluid into the hole at the top for the hose/pipe until the air is displaced and the fluid run out of the lower hole. It won't need much. Refit and tighten the bleed-nipple.
8. Refit the hose-end to the slave-cylinder and remove the hose-clamp if you're using one.
9. Refit the slave-cylinder to the gearbox and tighten the two 13mm nuts.
10. Top up the clutch reservoir with DOT4 brake/clutch fluid and bleed the system of air. [Which bleeding technique you use is up to you, but for all BMW clutches I would recommend using a one-way valve attached to the bleed nipple as detailed in THIS POST, which saves time and headaches.]
E30 316i / 318i Electrical Troubleshooting Manual [1984 onwards] - PDF 8.9MB
- Index
- How to Use this Manual
- Symbols
- Wire Size Conversion Chart
- Systematic Troubleshooting
- Diagnostic Connector
- Power Distribution Box
- Fuse Data
- Schematic Diagrams
- Component Charts and Figures