On Sun, 18 Dec 2016 07:06:57 -0800 (PST), trader_4 advised:
Yes, I know all about it. The specific IBM T30 thinkpad that they use (which has a serial port, although people use it with K-Line USB interface to newer computer USB ports too).
There is a plethora of easily found BMW diagnostic software such as INPA, EDIABAS, NCSExpert & easy, EasyDIS, Progman, etc.
Me? I just use a dumb code reader.
On Sun, 18 Dec 2016 07:02:49 -0800 (PST), trader_4 advised:
I disagree but that's OK because 9,999 out of 1,000 people make the same decision you do, so I can't possibly say you're wrong.
All I can say is that I know a lot more now about what goes into the proper mounting and balancing of tires than I did just a couple of days ago.
I probably know more than those 9,999 people do, for example. That, to me, is worth something.
I never once said that it isn't *easy* to mount a tire with air-driven equipment, so we both agree.
If you have mounted tires, manually, at home, then you know the difference since you've mounted tires, automagically, on air-driven equipment.
However, I have mounted tires, manually, at home, and I find it easy, once you know what you're doing (which took a while for me because the first tire I tried was a beast - but the second was so easy it made me look like a pro in front of my friend).
Half the knowledge was in the technique, and the other half was in the sidewall of the tires.
All I was doing in this thread was asking a simple question.
On Sun, 18 Dec 2016 07:02:49 -0800 (PST), trader_4 advised:
I am in agreement with you, where it seems you know the M54. Which model do you have? Mine is the E39.
You seem to know it, which is a good thing since in the beginning the minute I mentioned a bimmer, all the moronic wisecracks resulted from the people who don't know a thing about them.
All those wisecracks were from people who only understand cliches.
The VANOS, I think, got a bad rap from a guy named Raj who sells the replacement seals, who, a few years ago, published a well-read well-respected pseduo-scientific analysis that "proved" the VANOS seals were deteriorating slowly, causing valve timing to go off, particularly the intake valves (early VANOS only moderated the intake valves).
Problem is that nobody has since been able to measure any effect whatsoever, when running scientific before-and-after tests. Nobody.
It's all buttdyno results, which, you probably don't have to ask me what I think of them, especially coming from someone who suffers from the placebo effect after forking up $60 for four viton o rings to replace the buna o-rings.
I have nothing against replacing o rings, and especially I have nothing against replacing buna o rings with viton o rings; but my problem is that before and after tests show no effect whatsoever (except from butt meters).
Yup. The good news is that, at first, I took you for a poser, but you seem to know what you're talking about (as do I). I am never afraid to admit I don't know something, so people who are afraid to admit that they don't know something come down hard on me out of sheer inferiority complex or whatever dysfunctional psychology they have.
I haven't taken apart my VANOS like you have, so you have more experience than I have. However, I have seen all (and I mean all) the stories, and I have never once seen any reliable evidence that the seals are causing the huge amounts of issues that are attributed to them.
Some events are impossible, because the VANOS, for example, doesn't even operate until about 1,000 RPM so all the idle problems that people attribute to VANOS at 750RPM are theoretically impossible (of course, in the real world. anything is possible - but - people who don't understand that the VANOS turns on after about 1,000 RPM and then turns off after about 3,000 RPM (AFAIR), so all the low end and high end issues are probably not related to the VANOS in the first place.
I don't go on Xoutpost, but I have never seen anyone *defend* the OSV (V8) or CCV (I6) system. It's horrid. The hard plastic pipes crack. They dive into the middle of the engine so you can't even replace a single hose. They cause vacuum leaks like you can't believe. They mayo up with white mud or the concentric rings in the dipstick guide tube hardens into rock-hard clay.
It's just a mess. And you can't easily redesign it. I don't know anyone who successfully has done so and lived (so to speak).
Yup. And it's just a maze of hard brittle plastic and sharp-angled rubber hoses to crack causing lean idle conditions. In fact, on the I6, they redesigned the 45-degree bend in the lower CCV hose because they all cracked in the same spot, right in the worst possible place in the middle of the engine.
I think you should stay away from the racerboys on that Xoutpost site if they think door slamming is what's causing this issue. It's *every* bimmer, multiple times (in certain model years).
Uro studied the hell out of it, and concluded it was the plastic rollers in the front. And everyone knows it's the crimped-on metal holding the trolley in the rear.
Why Dorman can't redesign it boggles my mind.
Anyway, you seem to understand bimmers, which is a good thing because most of the people here who spout those idiotic cliches don't know anything.
X5
Which confirms what I saw. Like I said, I would not even have fooled around with the VANOS piston seals, but I was taking the whole unit off to replace the gasket between it and the cylinder head, so figured I might as well do it. Engine was running perfectly before and after. I saw no diff in MPG either. So, I think a lot of this VANOS seal failure stuff may be BS.
I got them for ~$28 on Ebay.
I had a big go round with some of the boys on Xoutpost about replacing the mechanical fan with an electric one. They claim that mech fan sucks up 10, 20 or 50 HP. And they claim that once they replaced it, they could feel a big difference in performance. Like you, I think that big difference is all in their minds. Having spent a weekend tearing apart the car, re-engineering an electric fan in there, there is bound to be a big placebo effect.
My thinking is that if those fans were sucking up anywhere near that HP, the auto manufacturers would have gotten rid of them immediately, in the quest for MPG. I mean, an average car, how many HP does it use just going 60 MPH on the highway? Fifty maybe? And the mech fan is supposed to be taking on that order of energy? In reality, those fans went away because of the move to FWD, with a transverse engine. Not saying that there are not advantages to having an electrical fan, that it won't make some improvement in available HP, etc, just that I don't buy it's a big, noticeable diff.
Taking them apart once they are off the car is easy. The one potential big trouble is that the pistons are fastened to the camshafts with a small, left hand thread bolt. People say it's delicate, I saw one guy that broke his off. That was my one fear, because if it breaks off with the rest of it in the camshaft, then you're in big trouble. Mine came off easily, no problem. But I did notice one thing that I couldn't figure out at first. That is that the bolt has a thinner neck, near the head. I'm thinking that may have been done so that if it does break off, it breaks off there and you can then grab what's left after you remove the unit with vice grips and get it out of the camshaft.
I understand the X5 enough to know that overall, it's a nice SUV that handles well and if fun to drive compared to a Honda CRV. But I do think that it has some of those serious weak spots that you would not expect in a car costing that much. Another thing that annoys me is that they seem to have used every possible type of electrical connector on that car. Including many that even if you're looking right at it, you can't figure out WTF you're supposed to do to get it to release. And then after you figure it out, 10 mins later you're at another totally different one. Even worse when you can't see it. Thank God for youtube!
I have one of those too. It's fast and easy to get some idea of what's going on. But that BMW software goes way beyond. Simple example, I can reset the airbag light with it. Otherwise, I'd have to go to the dealer. I ran into that once, when replacing one of those window regulators. It will also run tests on things that fail, step you through a process to diagnose it, etc. It was pretty cool to see my notebook PC controlling the engine, speeding it up at idle to warm it up, etc.
On Mon, 19 Dec 2016 09:33:22 -0800 (PST), trader_4 advised:
Yeah. Most of the guys use Carsoft to reset the airbag light. A lot have the pirated Carsoft, which, for whatever reason, has the GUI to reset the airbag light - but it doesn't actually reset it (cruel irony).
Me? WHenever I work on the window regulators or the front seats (to fix seat twist), I make sure the battery is always disconnected before I touch any
*yellow* connector! (In the E39, the airbag connectors are yellow.)And, I always connect yellow before connecting the battery. So, no airbag light for me - but zillions of people complain of an airbag light after a windows regulator or seat fix because mechanics don't know this trick.
There is also a cheap airbag reset tool (don't recall what it's called 'cuz I never needed it).
Yup. Everyone who replaces a window regulator in the front has to remove the airbag first. That yellow connector should only be touched with the battery disconnected.
On Mon, 19 Dec 2016 09:29:38 -0800 (PST), trader_4 advised:
I agree. There are very good arguments that the VANOS can't be the blame for all the ills that people give it (sort of like "warped" disc brake rotors are blamed when *nobody* every measures an actual warped rotor.
Yup. That's why I say BMW knows how to build systems but they don't know how to build the entire car.
Yup. You need a mechanical engineering degree just to figure out how to unclip them!
Trust me. I know. Anyone working on a bimmer knows. They're crazy those connectors!
And the forums.
To keep this information together for future reference for others, here is repeat post: I finally broke down and bought the HF Pittsburgh Bead Breaker, Harbor Freight item 92961. (
I used that harbor freight bead breaker to break the beads on four difficult steel-rim wheels with Optimo P235/75R15 108T thick-sidewall tires seemingly glued on.
After using it successfully (not without a few curses), I conclude the HF standalone bead breaker sucks but it sucks differently than the bead breaker attachment on the Harbor Freight tire changing tool.
The HF tire changing tool bead breaker is fine for the three passenger tires I've done now, but it's far too weak (puny would be more apropos) for the strong sidewall SUV tires.
Luckily (as Clare kindly warned me), all of what sucks in both tools can be "fixed" if you know ahead of time what to modify (as Clare has kindly shown us):
What sucks about the tire-changing tool bead-breaker attachment is: a. The bead-breaker arms are too weak (and bend like a pretzel) b. The clevis pins (thanks Clare) are far too sloppy (replace with bolts) c. The bead breaker arc is far too small (about 1/2 to 1/4 of what you need d. The tire iron twists out of your hands (use a vise grip to prevent that) e. The tire iron is too soft so it bends when used as a lever (use pipe) f. The base *must* be bolted down for SUV tires which require turning force HF Pittsburgh Bead Breaker, Harbor Freight item #92961
What sucks about the standalone bead breaker tool is: a. The base is far too short for big tires b. The base has no attachment holes for securing to concrete or pallets c. The lever action isn't all that powerful (but it's strong enough) HF Pittsburgh Manual Tire Changer, Harbor Freight item #62317
Here is the first method that I used as an expediency to temporarily "extend" the base of the HF bead breaking tool (it was a steel shelf from a Costco shelf rack):
Here is the second method that I used to extend the base (it's just a board of wood that I had lying around):
I changed multiple car tires easily with both tools, but SUV 108T P235/75 tires stressed both tools to the max - where - without the emergency modifications above - I don't think you can do the job (I couldn't).
Static balancing went out with the buggy-whip and bias-belt tires. That any one, especially a self-styled "REAL MAN" would put himself and others at ri sk by not completing a proper balancing procedure when such is available at such a low cost is mind boggling. Perhaps there is that awful possibility that a "chick" can do something better than he can?
That dynamic balancing is better should be enough. That it is safer should make it mandatory. All it takes is one single life to make it worthwhile. N ot to mention, perhaps, a busload of kids.
Peter Wieck Melrose Park, PA
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