E30 Zone

hi chaps

going to be refitting the engine bay of my project and i want to replace the rotting insulating tape but i want to use the correct cloth type as pvc just looks cheap and will spoil the finish im after.

any idea what the official name for it is?

found some on frosts but the rolls are only 3 meter long and at £2.50 a roll seem a bit pricey to me.they just call it impregnated tape (ooer missus)

thanks in advance

loom tape or looming tape i think? thats what we call it at work anyway!

beardymat wrote:hi chaps

going to be refitting the engine bay of my project and i want to replace the rotting insulating tape but i want to use the correct cloth type as pvc just looks cheap and will spoil the finish im after.

any idea what the official name for it is?

found some on frosts but the rolls are only 3 meter long and at £2.50 a roll seem a bit pricey to me.they just call it impregnated tape (ooer missus)

thanks in advance

A man after my own principles

It is listed as a genuine part on realoem in 'equipment parts', or something like that. Surely the genuine kit would be the stuff to get?

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do ... g=61&fg=15

Ta Da!

There you go!

I knew I'd seen it somewhere.

Proper name is self amalgamating tape, I tried to get some from an auto electrician I know when I was doing my conversion but he told me it isnt available anymore

cheers geezer, didnt even think of looking there for some reason.

might have your principles but not your budget im afraid would have liked to tackle my car as you have yours.never mind,all in good time (just a pity my patience doesnt extend to resisting spending money lol)

Self-amalgamating tape isn't the same as the fabric tape. Self-amalgamating tape is a type of rubber tape that has to be stretched as it is wound around the wires so that it causes the 2 surfaces to stick together and become one piece. Once amalgamated it cannot be unwrapped like PVC tape, it has to be cut off.

Self-amalgamating tape isn't the same as the fabric tape

this is correct, and self amalgamating tape is available and used frequently in the jointing of HV power cables, but has no application in your car.

old_skool_2002 wrote:http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do ... g=61&fg=15

Ta Da!

There you go!

I knew I'd seen it somewhere.

Better get my arse to the dealers then! My loom really lets the bay down.

Well done 2002.

found some on ebay

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/RAYON-CLOTH-ELECT ... dZViewItem

im kinda impatient and cant wait till tuesday to order it.besides which i have a feeling that the part number may just superseed to the newer pvc stuff.could be proved wrong as bmw never cease to amaze me but 16 years in the motor trade have made me a little sceptical.

How I wish id have asked the question here all that time ago, will have to settle for a pvc loom now

get it pulled back out a rewrapped,you know it makes sense



well to us wierdo anal types it does

don't tell me you have had a sudden rush of blood to the head and are working on the sport!!!

beardymat wrote:found some on ebay

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/RAYON-CLOTH-ELECT ... dZViewItem

Ordered two rolls up. Only a tenner. it's the right width as well. Refurbed engine bay here we come!

Well done beardymat.

beardymat wrote:get it pulled back out a rewrapped,you know it makes sense

Its all under the 4 pot and M3 covers now, out of sight out of mind etc, I may do the visible bits but will deffo get some for the next loom I do

mrLEE30 wrote: self amalgamating tape is available and has no application in your car.

You haven't seen the air inlet hose or the FPR pipe on my daily driver!!
Half a reel always lives in the glovebox of my E30s. Useful stuff for repairing hoses in an emergency.
I've also used it to tidy up the ends of cables under the bonnet, where the little rubber sleeves have split.

I used some self amalgamating tape when i did my engine conversion on the wiring,
it looks neat and like factory i think. Didnt really think about emergency repairs on hoses, good idea!

As anyone who's ever had to dismantle the handiwork of an electrician from the 1950's knows, the old cloth “electricians tapeâ€a was self-amalgamating over a period of years as the adhesive was able to migrate through the cloth forming a solid mass which slowly set rock solid. The only way now through such a taped joint is with a Stanley knife. This never happens with normal PVC insulating tape.

For this reason it always seems to me that cloth tape sticks to itself better than PVC which is apt to peel back. It's good to know where you can still get it.

Cloth tape was only rarely called “self-amalgamatingâ€a however and that term only came into common use with the modern polymer tapes which chemically react to fuse together over a period of hours or so. Whilst they will repair hoses —a it's not an instant fix as they usually set relatively slowly.

beardymat wrote:get it pulled back out a rewrapped,you know it makes sense



well to us wierdo anal types it does

We are not alone!!

Loom wrapping tape normally isn't adhesive backed at all, so I don't think the ebay stuff is quite the right stuff.