Autoblog Maintenance 101: Oil change – Autoblog
I’m sure quite a few of you have changed your own oil at one time or another (and probably quite a few more have not). Eric Bryant at Autoblog has written a stellar write up of the everyday oil change, and gives some very good reasons for doing it yourself. His procedure isn’t just, drain, change filter, fill. He goes more in depth, suggesting other things you should check out while you’re in there. I change my own oil on my BMW and on my wife’s GMC. I love doing it and, like Eric says, it gives you a chance to check things out under the car.
Tim in N FL from MyE28 is coming up to Richmond to buy Leonard’s car today. So, all the Richmond (and one Norfolk) 5ers are getting together to say hi! Should be a good time!
Posted in Cars
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Tagged BMW, Cars, e28
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MyE28.com :: View topic – Anyone have experience cutting the stock springs?
“I’ve heard” that cutting springs can be a bad thing. I’ve also heard that there are no ill effects if it’s done right. There’s a good discussion over at MyE28.com regarding this right now. I think the consensus is: If you do it right, there’s no problem. Along with the old This Old House addage: Measure Twice Cut Once. If you don’t want to venture over to the board, here’s Jon in Richmond’s procedure:
When I replaced the SLS in my M6 I did exactly this. To dispell any rumors that I had heard and to find out for myself the end result, I cut my front springs. What I figured is that I could always replace with new springs if I didn’t like the result.
The procedure I used was as follows:
I first measured the desired drop that I wanted by measuring the distance between the top of the front tire and the wheel arch.
I then took the strut assembly out of the car and to the work bench. I measured the distance and marked the spring where I thought would give me the correct drop. Now, there is a little guess work involved as the car when put back on the ground will compress the spring some. So I erred on the side of – "You can always cut more off, but you can’t put any back on."
I placed my spring compressor on the spring and took the pressure off of the top mount/bearing. I did not take the mount off of the top of the strut. I got out my grinder with a cutoff wheel and cut the coil where I had thought would be correct. I then released the tension on the compressor and set the spring in it’s perch. As others have noted, the spring no longer will have the tapper it once had where it meets the upper bearing. This gave me a bit of concern but no noticeable ill effect.
***Disclaimer***
If you use the above method and you do not compress the spring fully before cutting the coil, may God be on your side!!! 
I then put the strut tower back on the car and did the other side. The first side took me about an hour and a half, the second side took about 45 min.
The end result was very good. I had the car lowered where I wanted it and there were no ill effects when driving. In fact, i thought it drove much better and I could not notice that it was any stiffer than stock.
HTH, good luck
M6 before:
M6 after:
Posted in Cars
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Tagged BMW, Cars, e28
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Recently forwarded to me by my wife:
An honest man was being tailgated by a stressed out woman on a busy boulevard.
Suddenly, the light turned yellow, just in front of him. He did the right thing, stopping at the crosswalk, even though he could have beaten the red light by accelerating through the intersection.
The tailgating woman hit the roof, and the horn, screaming in frustration as she missed her chance to get through the intersection, dropping her cell phone and makeup.
As she was still in mid-rant, she heard a tap on her window and looked up into the face of a very serious police officer. The officer ordered her to exit her car with her hands up. He took her to the police station where she was searched, finger printed, photographed, and placed in a holding cell.
After a couple of hours, a policeman approached the cell and opened the door. She was escorted back to the booking desk where the arresting officer was waiting with her personal effects.
He said, “I’m very sorry for this mistake. You see, I pulled up behind your car while you were blowing your horn, flipping off the guy in front of you, and cussing a blue streak at him.
“I noticed the ‘Choose Life’ license plate holder, the ‘What Would Jesus Do’ bumper sticker, the ‘Follow Me to Sunday- School’ bumper sticker, and the chrome-plated Christian Fish emblem on the trunk.
Naturally… I assumed you had stolen the car.”
. . priceless.
Posted in Funny
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Tagged Cars
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Run on Wed, Sep 08