Dumb Question Thread - No Flaming Allowed

[PSUEng]

Why are the floor mat and gauge ///M purple striped but the door sills, trunk, engine, ZCP steering wheel, wheels, all have blue stripes? My knob isn’t original so idk what that was.

Because, different suppliers for those different parts, different printing materials and materials being printed on, different specs (BMW didn't apply consistent color requirements on part drawings?)...I've noticed this too.

[sasha]

Why are the floor mat and gauge ///M purple striped but the door sills, trunk, engine, ZCP steering wheel, wheels, all have blue stripes? My knob isn’t original so idk what that was.

[Slideways]

So on the VANOS gasket, Elring is good? Genuine is way more expensive, but to replace it it's not like an oil pan gasket.

I've used both. They look exactly the same, so my guess is Elring is the OE supplier to BMW. The headgasket is 100% Elring.

[bavarian3]

So on the VANOS gasket, Elring is good? Genuine is way more expensive, but to replace it it's not like an oil pan gasket.

Elring works well for me.

[PSUEng]

There are no marking on the gasket to figure out who makes it. The pictures on FCP show the BMW and Corteco gaskets are silver and the Elring is not. Based on that, my guess is Corteco might be the OE supplier. I would have thought Elring since they make many of the other metal gaskets such as the head gasket and VANOS gasket.

Since it is not an easy job to get to the oil pan gasket, you might want to stick with genuine. If it ever gets really expensive, I'd probably go Corteco.

So on the VANOS gasket, Elring is good? Genuine is way more expensive, but to replace it it's not like an oil pan gasket.

[jayjaya29]

Oil pan gaskets...what are we buying? Genuine or something else? I don't care what it costs, it needs to be right. I don't want no OEM/aftermarket VCG-type funny business!

Genuine.

[0-60motorsports]

Dos anyone know where I can get the brake line holding grommets for the ST lines front and rear?

[Slideways]

Oil pan gaskets...what are we buying? Genuine or something else? I don't care what it costs, it needs to be right. I don't want no OEM/aftermarket VCG-type funny business!

There are no marking on the gasket to figure out who makes it. The pictures on FCP show the BMW and Corteco gaskets are silver and the Elring is not. Based on that, my guess is Corteco might be the OE supplier. I would have thought Elring since they make many of the other metal gaskets such as the head gasket and VANOS gasket.

Since it is not an easy job to get to the oil pan gasket, you might want to stick with genuine. If it ever gets really expensive, I'd probably go Corteco.

[PSUEng]

Oil pan gaskets...what are we buying? Genuine or something else? I don't care what it costs, it needs to be right. I don't want no OEM/aftermarket VCG-type funny business!

[Slideways]

KW Clubsport: How do you get an adjusting wrench on the rear coilover height adjuster? The rear wheel well seam shape of everything back there is really tight. Do you have to take the spring out and then adjust the thing and put it all back in? Or put the height adjuster on the bottom instead of the top of the spring...?

Also is there supposed to be a washer between the bolt and the rear shock lower mounting point?

Spring has to be removed to adjust. Lower shock bolt should have a washer.

[Nate047]

KW Clubsport: How do you get an adjusting wrench on the rear coilover height adjuster? The rear wheel well seam shape of everything back there is really tight. Do you have to take the spring out and then adjust the thing and put it all back in? Or put the height adjuster on the bottom instead of the top of the spring...?

Also is there supposed to be a washer between the bolt and the rear shock lower mounting point?

[maupineda]

I’m putting some rear interior back into my car, how do I release the seat belt locks? They are not installed. Currently they are fully contracted and I don’t know how to get them loose.

Set them as close as possible to their install position. It maybe easier if you mount the retractors to the body.

[Nate047]

I’m putting some rear interior back into my car, how do I release the seat belt locks? They are not installed. Currently they are fully contracted and I don’t know how to get them loose.

[PSUEng]

Hit RealOEM today and was asked to "contribute" to the site. I can see merit in that, I've used it a ton. They offer an ad-free "membership" for $5/mo. Anyone know how RealOEM is maintained and the types of expenses with doing so?

[sbay]

I don't know what that says about Vorshlag if they are saying to do exactly what most instructions say not to do lol

My guess is the top nut is not torqued enough. There are those special $15 sockets that have an access hole in them to allow you to counter hold the shaft with a hex key while torquing down the nut. Or if you have a Harbor Freight down the street, they have those cheap angle wrenches that will get the job done as well. Second guess is the sway bar endlink is not torqued to spec.

Almost didn’t recognize you with the new profile pic. Just went through anything that attaches to the strut, loosed then retorqued everything to spec…still getting the same noise. Dialing the struts down to 2 made the ride quieter which helped amplify the bad. The bad being the noise is on the front right side of the car anytime I hit bumps at low speed. Being that I hit a curb a few months ago with front right being first point of impact and I’ve changed everything except the control arm and wheel bearing, going to test those out now. My guess, a bad ball joint on the control arm