Philes' Forum by Vic Lucariello

PHILES' FORUM - DECEMBER, 1998

Hello, Bimmerphiles! I hope you are all enjoying the Holiday Season and are busy catching up on all the maintenance you neglected to do on your daily driver during the race/driver school season. Speaking of driver schools, did you know that 1999 is the Twenty-Fifth anniversary of the first NJ Chapter Lime Rock School!! I expect that the official celebration will be held at the June '99 two-day event at Lime Rock.

A couple of folks have called with questions about delayed initial engagement of their automatic transmissions. The complaint is that there is a few seconds delay upon shifting the transmission into Drive or Reverse after an overnight layover. My response to these folks has been that I although delayed engagement is usually not experienced with transmissions in good working order, I wouldn't worry too much about it until the delay time starts increasing to 5 or 10 seconds. Further investigation has revealed that BMW is aware of this problem on some E36 ['92-'98 3-Series] and some 525is. The problem has been identified as being caused by torque converter draindown, and repair kits have been developed and released to dealers.

The torque converter is the fluid coupling which connects the engine to the transmission input shaft. The converter is normally full of transmission fluid which provides the coupling between the input and output halves of the converter. Simply put: No Fluid = No Coupling! The engagement delay is apparently experienced while the less than full converter is refilled by the hydraulic pump within the transmission.

I usually get some calls and e-mails this time of year re snow tires. My recommendations are pretty simple: Equip your Bimmer with four [Big Al: That's 2 in da front and 2 in da back.] REAL snow tires [Not simply all seasons with a M&S rating] on dedicated wheels. Considering what you paid for your ultimate driving machine, the additional cost of Winter wheels/tires, with all the convenience and safety they provide, should be easy to justify. PLEASE don't buy just two Winter tires for your drive wheels. I am strongly opposed to this [Even Joanne's Jetta runabout, 'Farfy' {Don't ask}, has 4 Bridgestone Blizzaks mounted on 2002 steel rims], due to the significantly differing traction characteristics of Winter and Summer tires.

When you purchase your Winter tires, ask your supplier about the availability of slightly narrower tires for your particular car. By the way, if you chose to mount your Winter tires on your regular wheels, keep in mind that you need to have them dynamically, or spin, balanced each time you make the switch. Also, remember that some tire mounting machines are not designed for your nice alloy wheels. The machines that are are usually of the 'rim clamp' type.

When you install your winter wheels, be sure to clean the wheel and hub mounting surfaces [including the 'hub-centric' bore in the wheel] with a wire brush, then coat them with an anti-seize compound. Also, put a bit of the stuff on the wheel bolt threads and conical seating surfaces. I shouldn't have to mention that you should always ensure that your tires are inflated properly and that you should always use a torque wrench to tighten your wheel bolts.

An inexpensive 'click-type' torque wrench [1/2-inch drive; 150 lb-ft] can be had for about $20, so I don't wanna hear no lame excuses. Have your SO buy you one for the Holiday. If you don't have an SO, you should have plenty of money to buy your own!! Speaking of torque wrenches, ensure that you set your wrench to its minimum torque setting prior to storing it. This will preserve the wrench's calibration.

I also recommend the old trick of carrying some extra weight in the luggage compartment. Just ensure that whatever you use for ballast is secured properly.

While you Bimmer is up getting its wheels changed, you can change your engine oil. I'm sure that you dispose of the used oil in a responsible manner, but what do you do with the old filter?

Older Bimmers are fitted with a so-called 'spin-on' oil filter, which contains the actual filter element in a disposable metal canister which in turn threads on to a nipple on the engine. The filter/canister assembly contains about 1/2 quart of dirty oil. I have found that simply letting the canister drain after removing it, even for a day or so, will not remove all the old oil, so I have been using a long punch to put a few holes in it. I punch it from the inside out, by the way, hence the need for a long punch. Shops are required to crush oil filters prior to discarding them, but I think that punching/draining is good enough for the enthusiast changing her/his own oil a few times a year. [If you have a shop which you regularly patronize for other work, ask them if you can bring them your old oil filters for proper disposal.]

Newer Bimmers have 'replaceable-element' oil filters, where the canister remains on the engine and only the filter element is replaced. Draining these elements for a day or so should remove enough oil for a responsible disposal, but , if you can get your shop to take them......

Anyone wishing to contribute to Philes' Forum should contact me via the info on the masthead. I'm interested in tech tips, repair & maintenance questions and/or tips, dealer horror stories, product evaluations, etc. Please call before 8 PM, and if you leave a message, PLEASE INCLUDE A DAYTIME PHONE NUMBER. Also, please be patient, I try to return every phone call, but it sometimes takes awhile. The best way to contact me is via e-mail.

Copyright 1998 - V. M. Lucariello,