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Blog Archives for September 04
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29 September 2004. Blog entry by Bimmerman.
I did an oil service last weekend. I am looking for ways to reduce the car's
maintenance cost - so I switched from fully synthetic to semi-synthetic oil.
It's the first time in 4 years the engine is not running on Shell Helix Ultra.
My choice was Castrol Magnatex for the simple reason that BMW recommends Castrol.
So... was there any difference? Truth be told, not that I could detect from regular
daily driving although I do think the engine doesn't feel as 'fresh' and 'lively' like
it normally does after an oil change. It could be purely psychological though.
Crucially, Castrol Magnatex is half the price of Shell Helix Ultra. I normally leave it
to the workshop guys to do their job and just hang around in the nice comfy customer
waiting area reading BMW magazines and watching television. However, that day I watched
them perform the oil change. Goodness me! The drained oil was darker and dirtier than
anything I've seen before. It makes me want to do future oil changes at 5,000 Km intervals.
There goes the cost savings!
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22 September 2004. Blog entry by Bimmerman.
I've been thinking about changing the wheels
of my car. It's currently still running on
the original/standard 15-inch wheels (the ones that look like coke bottle caps) that came
with the car. There's absolutely nothing wrong with the standard wheels and I'm probably
not even driving near its limits. So it's probably more for looks than handling at this
point in time - until I sort out the suspension.
I've been evaluating the options
available. Firstly, regarding wheel size, 17-inch is about as big as I want to go as it seems the
e34 doesn't quite like oversized wheels, i.e.
the 18-inch or 19-inch ones. Anyway, the latter would
result in drastically higher tire prices and ride quality will definitely suffer. So it's
most likely 17-inch if not 16-inch. The next
consideration is the design. This is more difficult given the multitude of
designs out there but I've narrowed it down to
the more popular designs from the few big names
- AC Schnitzer, Hamann, BBS, Hartge or perhaps BMW's own throwing star
design for the M5. Choices, choices... thinking, thinking...
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14 September 2004. Blog entry by Bimmerman.
I've seen quite a few e34s with crystal tail lights lately. It does freshen up the looks of
the car from the rear, especially the shiny black
ones. However, it doesn't excite me
sufficiently to want to go out and get one.
I have also read comments on some forums that it
makes the car look like the Toyota Camry! Exactly my
thoughts too. I'd very much prefer the red
and clear tail lights as how BMW did for the M5 - that's what
I have on my car and I think it looks
great. Personally, the crystal or diamond tail lights (whatever
they call it) are quite OK - at least they don't look
as offensive to me compared
to those Lexus-type tail lights! What on earth
are those BMW owners thinking? Trying to
make their cars look more like Lexus? Anyway, taste is individual and to each their own.
My regret is BMW seems to have done away with the L-shaped tail lights on the
5 series...
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16 September 2004. Comments by DinanM3:
Just finished driving the new "Patriot" course at Virginia International Raceway,
my second track event with this car (e36 M3), and I think I'm starting to get the
hang of this car after 2 yrs driving an e30 318is. I thought anyone on the east
coast might like to see my in-car (excuse the excess tire noise, ran on
street
tires), and if the opportunity arises, check this place out:
http://www.catseyeweb.com/dinanm3/VIR%20Patriot_short.wmv
It's only 1.1 miles, but has 14 turns to keep you real busy... |
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2 September 2004. Blog entry by Bimmerman.
I've been looking at minor/cheap cosmetic enhancements for my car. Besides getting the BMW
number plate frames from the local distributor for BMW cars,
I just won a bid for an original e34 M5
rear number plate frame holder on eBay. I think this is one minor cosmetic add-on often
missed out by owners of e34. The M-Tech II steering wheel is a very popular add-on
(deservedly so) and after more than 20 frustrating tries on eBay (including a couple of
botched deliveries), I finally managed to picked up one for a very good price. This has got
to be one of the most sought after items for the e30 and e34 on eBay!
I also bought a couple
of original BMW key rings. Now I'm
limiting my spending to relatively smaller value items for the time
being whilst waiting for my car modification budget to recover...
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