Certainly, it chatters a little bit, but the clutch I installed in the BMW is still fully assembled, and the engine hasn't fallen out of the car yet. So, mission accomplished.
But now the damned thing has gone through the third tail-end lamp in just as many months—this was a reverse light, but I've burned through a handful of tail lamps recently, the last of which prompted me to upgrade the stops.
As it turns out, this is a really common thing on the E36. The last time I went to go buy bulbs for it, the guy at the parts store mentioned that his daughter had a 4-door E36 while she was in college and all that car ever did was burn through tail lamps.
I'm not sure what it is that makes them go out so often, but I'm really sick of buying these bulbs.
two things, what do you mean it chatters? is that normal? ... and do they sell lower wattage reverse lamps?
Perhaps he could switch to those nifty low wattage compact flourescents and help save the environment while extending his bulb life at the same time!
:o) Seriuosly though, CFL are quite enjoyable. Perhaps not so much for tail lights, as they sometimes take a second or two to really get going - depending on the brand.
Raven-
By chattering, I mean that it vibrates a little bit if you ease off the clutch when the engine revs are really low (i.e., below idle). Around a third of the cars I've owned have had this problem to this extent.
A lower wattage bulb may help (and in this power range, I'm not even sure of that) but with the damned tinted windows on this car I already can't see out the back at night.
Rob-
Gah, CFLs and regular flourescents can kiss my ass. I haven't turned the overheads in my office on in the last six months because I finally found the joy of low-temperature (i.e., very warm light) halogen.
--Dan
how about some LED bulbs. I got some of these for my city lights, http://www.42draftdesigns.com/leds_pushturn.htm.
Raven-
The big problem with retrofitting cars with LED bulbs is that they'll typically trigger the burnt-bulb sensor since they don't draw very much current.
But, I know already that my reverse lamps don't have a bulb sensor, since it probably would have already triggered when the first one burnt out.
I'll take a closer look at those—it may end up solving the issue!
Thanks
--Dan
4 days, no blog?? I need my fix!