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In Reply to: Thanks for the ideas, I remembered another ? I had posted by CJ on October 15, 2000 at 18:57:56:
Good enough.
And about the sway bars etc. I dont know enough about cars to even think about doing things like that, until I read a lot more.Modifying things scares me, because of my ineducation. and the idea that I am changing something that car engineers did for a reason. I want a stock car to shine and show off. I dont need the performance yet.
Alright...I've done a lot of work/research on E28 suspensions. Conclusions? It sucks. Relatively speaking you'll have to say that it can definitely be improved. For example, the reason why E28's are notorious for oversteering in the wet is because they are hyper-sensitive to coefficient of friction changes. Antiquated rear trailing arms don't help the matter. TRX's don't either.
For example, the ratio of stiffness front to rear on 535i and 535iS sway bars is 2.5:1. On the M5 it's 3.5:1. What does this mean? OVERSTEER on the 535i's and Understeer on the M5. All over europe they were complaining of WHY the 535i and M535i was so much worse than the M5? The reason? The sway bars. In europe the M5 had the same Bilstein struts as the M535i and 535i, the same tires and wheels on early models, and the same (relatively) springs. THe only difference was the sways. Oh, BTW, they attempted to correct this on late 535i's and 535is's by putting on a larger front sway bar that increased the stiffness ratio to 3.3:1. These are the so-called "sport bars" that had no rhyme or reason to which car got it and which didn't.
I really recommend sway bars (M5 sway bars) to improve handling overall, and to reduce the tendency to oversteer in limited traction. Think of it as a safety modification.
Also, get rid of the TRX's. Period.
E28's are simple to repair too. SI Boards can go (cheap fix). Suspension components are weak points (there's nothing you can really do). AutoTrannies go.
The headlights on the other hand, sound like a good idea. esp, in texas, where the deer are like locust plagues.
One other thing I saw was something about the trip odometer freaking out things if you try to reset it while the car is moving? did i read that right?
These are the kind of no no's i am talking about, what I would normally think was ok, for a car, that can do bad things to the bimmer. i.e. neutral rev, reset of the trip odometer..
hmm....suspension components need periodic refurbishment, but there's nothing you can really do. Fuses and relays need cleaning every year or so to make sure you don't have any ghosts in the electrical system. (AMHIK). Don't do drag racing starts - ruins the driveshaft. Replace the flex coupling every 50k. Same with center bearing on the Driveshaft.
The cars are easy and simple enough that no problems remain mysteries forever. Also, make sure that if your clutch starts becoming OVERLY heavy, you could crack/bend the pedal brackets. An overly stiff clutch is signs of worn-out parts that need replacing. Also, an old clutch will be stiffer than a new one too.
cg
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