In Taiwan, every 3rd car is a BMW, and it is usually black or a dark shade of something else. Apparently Black 5 series sedans are the car of choice of Taiwan Gangstas, so big ups for them.
I owned a BMW once. It was a 1986 E30, 325i with manual Getrag box. Anyone familiar with BMWs will appreciate that in the mid 80s, this car was a rocketship. 2.5liter injected 6 shoe-horned into tiny 3 series bodywork. To find one with a 5 speed Getrag box was a huge bonus.
I spotted the E30 at a car auction around '96, and no one was interested in it because a) It was a european car in a predominantly Jap import auction and b) BMW M20 6 cyl engines are very 'tappety' (girl's, that means a "tick,tick,tick,tick,tick....." sound) so if you are not used to it, it sounds wierd.
So I bought it for next to nothing. It had a fender dent and a lot of milage, but it was still tight to drive.
My other car was a series 1 RX-7 that was a sleeper (rough car, hot engine). Hot 12A ported Rotary (that I built myself from a box of bits that I picked up from an aborted recondition) and on the rice burner was a 48 IDA weber. The carb of choice for normally aspirated rotary's.
My point in mentioning the RX-7 is that at the time, I liked to drive cars with eng
ines singing all day at 7000 rpm. Rotarys ruv that. Ruv it. Anyway, BMW E30s do not ruv 7000 RPM, so there was the transition problem right there.On the drive home, my buddy Andy was driving the RX-7 and I was driving the BMW. It was a 3 hr coastal highway driven by 2 petrol heads so you can imagine what was going on. On the outskirts of the home town, once again I was extending the legs of the screaming 6 and admiring how it just seemed to be bullet proof when the car suffered a soft thud and dropped a cylinder. It was one of those experiences where I was grinning away at the mechanical music one second, and the next second I was wondering if I just hit a small dog or something.
When I lifted the hood, there was no conrod out the side of the block, no oil slickall over the engine bay, nothing. It idled ok, no vibrations, but just running on 5. Mmmm, well shit, it could be anything like a dropped plug or lead or whatever, so I limped it home the last 10 minutes.
I am not the kind of guy that takes a car to garage, even a BMW, and I figured I had nothing to lose by taking the Rocker cover off. Within a few minutes (gotta love working with German Engineering) the cause of the problem was plain to see: Broken Rocker...shit, how much is that going to cost I thought? A sheepish call to the BMW dealer surprised me. $23, for a genuine part. Man, is that right?
The nature of the failure meant that all the happened further down the head was the valve just remained closed, so no real possibility of any other damage like valve to piston contact or anything. What I should have done was buy the $23 part and put the weapon back into service, b
ut being the paranoid, inquisitive soul I am, I figured the broken rocker was an indication to look further and harder. I decided to take the head right off, and see what else was up. and replace the Cam Belt. and put new manifold studs in. and plane the head. and replace a few rough looking valves. and get the cam nitrided and re ground a bit hotter. and bead blast the rocker cover so it was like new. and...you get the idea. As i didn't have a garage at the time, all the work was done in the lounge, on the coffee table covered in newspaper - rock on. My $23 fix turned into a $1000 piece-of-mind tinker with the big ass cylinder head.That was the first and last time I had any trouble with that car. I put a Schnitzer Chip into it and a K&N Air filter, which nudged the HP towards 200, and that was fine by me.
The E30 to me is the classic BMW. Rear wheel drive, heavy steering and the model before ABS and electric you-name-its everywhere.
I am going to get another one at some point. The chip and filter are in storage, waiting. Tinkering in the garage is something I really miss living in Taiwan.
BMWe30.net
E30 Service Manual
I like DVDs.
A year or two back, a friend told me about the BMW movies online, www.bmwfilms.com: " Brace yourself for intricate plot twists, riveting car chases, and a dose of wit. All eight short films of The Hire, created by Hollywood’s finest talent, are available now for downloading and streaming.These brilliantly produced films star Clive Owen as the driver. Hired for his superb driving skills and unshakable poise, the driver encounters unexpected obstacles that put his abilities to the test. Watch as each film reveals new depths of character, intrigue, and cinematography."
Yes, Clive Owen is Da Man in these 8 DVD quality short films. Obviously, they are funded by BMW so they showcase the various BMWs available at the time, but the driving and cinematography is fantastic. Each is unique in who directed and starred in it, and the style of filming and driving. Guy Ritchie, Gary Oldman, James Brown, Ang Lee and Madonna are some of the people that feature in the productions.Below is a link to the movies for downloading. (the official BMW site above claims there are no more downloads, but they are still around)
The Hire
