Absorbantnut's '87 325is

[AbsorbantNut]

Well i went through quite the adventure to get this. It started out as a $300 ad posted on here which i quickly pursued. It happened to be in Tallahassee, Florida, whereas i was in South Florida...But luckily i know some people that know some people

Pics from Seller's Ad:



















Here is how she looks as of 11/12/2012













So I ended up bringing it to Micanopy, Fl and left it there for a month with some close friends. Then we attemped to bring it all the way home and 10 miles out, the right rear wheel hub is overheating. So we bring it back and it sits for even longer. Then eventually we get out friend with a full bed trailer to tow it down and it arrives in all of its glory. Now i have 2 e30s, one vert and one coupe
So far i have managed to deal with some electrical problems


yes, thats what happened when i touched the thing, it fell apart! Hence my starting/accesories problems...

I have figured out part of the problem why the rear wheels drag..

If you look between the hub and caliper you can see part of the brake pad that broke off and wedged itself in there, creating a doublestuffed oreo with the other half of the pad

But onto the actual pictures of the car!



the trashbag was there because of the ignition switch problem not allowing me to close the window








front end removed for tow bar setup. Yes it has the bumper and sweet IS valance




My baller wood hood shock




this is to get rid of the rust in the rear, I think JB weld would hold it


and would somebody please tell me what radio this is? Yes it is BMW

And this all came with ton of spare parts!

Well now that the car is turning over and getting spark, i decided to see whats going on with fuel so i disconnected the fuel line going to the fuel rail and it was bone dry

SO then I go back to the fuel filter and disconnect a ball thing next to it, that had fuel, or so i thought, it just turned out to be old rancid fuel. So next the filter came off and dry again!. so i pointed the line going to the filter into a bucket and tried to start the car. Im not an idiot, i just wanted to see if fuel would come out, but sadly, nothing. Yes there is fuel in the tank, i put in 5 gallons last night.

I also managed to squeeze out the radio, man that thing was in there tight! I wasnt able to get any pictures because its too dark outside but it looks like two yellow wires on the harness on the radio are disconnected, maybe causing my problems?

[AbsorbantNut]

I checked fuel pump voltage and coming out of the two pronged wire connection, I'm getting 8.8 volts. Then I got a "new" used fuel pump(both of them) and sender. Im pretty happy about it, and they look in great condition! Ill have to upload comparison pics. And the junkyard tested them out for me and showed me how to check them. I was able to dissassemble my old fuel pump sending unit though(the tube thing with three prongs, i think it measures the amount of fuel in the tank). I figured out why it didn't make that click then you turn it 180*, it had a bunch of gunk in it! So I cleaned it up, got rid of the gunk with a tooth brush and some very small picks, and it sounds good as new!

And I drained the tank, and keep stirring in new gas and re draining it. At first, it looked like maple syrup! Its getting better though, I'm going to let some more sit in their tonite and then drain it tomorrow and see if i can put everything back in and get it to start! But, i have finals to take, so that might have to wait!

Got it running!! I changed out both fuel pumps with my working ones and installed my "refinished" sending unit. After about 10 cranks, the fuel got up to the rail and bam! Now that i know it runs, time to tear it apart. Timing belt comes first because i have a spare one, and I'm going to do plugs and fuel filter for basic maintenance. Any other recommended items to change? I dont think this thing has started in 5 years, or more, so got some advice, cause I'd love to hear it! I'm definitely going to check all the hoses, i have a little coolant leak i need to track down, so while doing the timing belt, they are going under the knife. Oil change is a must and will be done before i get it on the road. I also took out the spark plugs and cleaned them and sounds like its running stronger.

As of now, the slave cylinder is uninstalled and it seems to be empty on brake fluid, which to my understanding is also the fluid to move the clutch. Sorry if I sound like a total fool, but its my first 5 speed. And the clutch sensor switch is out, so i guess thats why i can start it without depressing the clutch... But the trannys bad, 4th and 5th gear dont work. But lucky for me, i have a whole 5 speed swap package that i got for my vert to replace stuff with! As far as the brakes go, i think im going to take the calipers off, and just give them a thourough cleaning, dissassemle them, lube them up, and reinstall. But thanks for all the tips, your a huge help!

Rust is actually not so bad. From what i see on the underside of the car, there's a sprinkle under the drivers gas pedal, some on the rear of the rocker panel. Some that destroyed half of the wheel well fender line, which is going to take all of my non-existent bodywork skills to get rid of. And the mufflers rotted out, but thats not that bad. OH! The rear end has a slice down the middle sorta from rust, so in my first pictures you can see a rear end. Im going to have it welded in, because the rear on the car is totally gone.

Took off all the coolant hoses after draining the coolant. ran water through them, let the soak in a bucket to dislodge some of the gunk inside, and ran water again. Then i shot the hose into the thermostat and damn! It was raining orange soda!!

After about 3 minutes of putting water in every hole a hose went into and spraying down the engine bay, clean looking water flows out. So the timing belt will be done over the weekend, and then i think im going to reassemble it and let it run for an hour with some radiator cleaner/flush in the system. Then I will progress to the transmission.

Oh, I stitched up my seats some, they look so purtyy. Reinstalled the drivers seat, but before i did i cleaned and regreased the rails and the front thigh support screw thing, works like a charm now!


Heres the driver's side seat bolster while its undergoing surgery


After! Not a beauty queen, but better for sure


Driver's side lower bolster before


After, surprisingly the only leather missing was that one little chunk


My bypass of that little rusty ball thingy from the filter to the rail


Yay! looks like no rust


Ditto over here!


Any way i can get the color back in this part of the rear seat?


Found this little guy under the back seat. He kept my company while i swapped fuel pumps

[AbsorbantNut]

Oh my geeze, whats this kid doin


One wheel done!


Front side shot


passenger side going up


Shes riding on little blocks of sunshine woooah oooaah


Check that stance. Mad Lift brah. iPod touch for comparison

So basically thats what i got accomplished today, regarding getting the thing up in the air. Pictures before are things I took pictures of but never put them up on here. And finals are over! aka schools out for summer! So can anybody say transmission swap in a driveway :p

So, i started on getting the exhaust out while i was trying to do the timing belt. Well, i managed to get 1 bolt off of the downpipes. But now I'm stuck. So, I'm hoping you guys will have some magical easy way to do it, like a special chant or dance?

So I decided to get my dad to help me with those exhaust downpipe bolts, and within 5 minutes he had 4 off. Combined with the one I managed to get off myself, there is one left. I stripped it a little bit so the 14 deep socket wont quite fit, and i can't get anoter socket to fit so i bought an extractor kit and soon it will be out. Most likely tomorrow, and after that the tranny comes out! Also, i found out that it had a green label tranny in the car originally. Hopefully it is okay to put a non green transmission in!! So, I managed to finally get the exhaust off, which took forever!(but like 3 days total) and i bought an e muffler for super cheap, so im just going to get that welded on, because this is all about the budget. Ill have to get some pics up later of what the ole muffler looked like! It looked like someone beat it with a baseball bat

The timing belt has been changed and today im cleaning the pulleyd and painting them, and trying to remove some of the rust on them. All of the transmission bolts have been removed and I have the tranny propped up on blocks of wood while I wait for Monday to come. On Monday I will recieve a transmission jack and will be able to completely remove it

Got the transmission off! And now thats it's off, I've started cleaning the belly of this beast and getting rid of some rust. I took off the passenger fender and am getting rid of the rust, not as bad as it looked. All of it was mainly on the fender thankfully and not on the body. There was a little on the body though, but nothing a bunch of wire brushing and paint cant fix!

So drivers side fender comes off next and then I'm going to start worrying about the transmission.

Also, i put the 2nd master cylinder (clutch one) and got all the pedals in and moving correctly.
Got the driver side fender off, and the front metal valance, both bave had the rust removed and been touched up in those spots with rustoleum.


So I cleaned up the transmission and should be ordering a z4 shifter lever soon. Getting a quote from the junkyard later for it. Also got around to taking some pictures!

[AbsorbantNut]

Z4 shift lever ordered and coming wednesday along with the new bushings for it After that, its all going back in!

ALso, can I fill up the tranny with fluid before it goes in? THanks

Well, I've decided to leave the flywheel, PP, and clutch in to reduce my chances of screwing up. And to hasten my progress, its not like this is agonizingly slow for me or anything I have started to look at shaving some pounds off the flywheel though, and that would require me to do all of the work mentioned above...which I'm kind of iffy on. I have a spare clutch, flywheel, and pp from a 5 speed swap i bought which I'm basically using on this car.

z4 shifter set up arriving thursday, but the above problems have me hung up on what to do.

Well i got the new shifter cup but the shifter rod has to be ordered by bmw from germany, so thats coming tuesday. Great

so i have two shift carrier arms, or three actually, but two of them are different. The first one looks like this, its the part on the bottom. See how its got that bend?


Then i have two more like this one:

Not sure if you can see it, but its straight all the way across. Which one do i use for the z4 rod swap? Help would be appreciated

So I took some photos so you can see what I'm talking about better.

Heres the shift arms. I have two like the one on the left, and one like the one on the right.


Heres the two carrier arms on top of each other. The holes line up the same, but the middle length is positioned differently.


Heres a side by side shot of the two. I only got around to cleaning the left one.


Heres the only part that has arrives for my homemake SSK

[Alpine e92]

Damn, you have your hands full with that one. Good Luck.

[AbsorbantNut]

Damn, you have your hands full with that one. Good Luck.

Thanks bro, hopefully it turns out alright:)

Does anybody want to tell me which arm to use? Its in the last few photos...z4 lever arrives tomorrow and I want to get it running asap

[AbsorbantNut]

Turns out the z4 lever arrived today along with the last of the pieces to put it together! I'm going to pick the clean arm to put them on since it seems the strongest/most direct. I mocked both the old arms and the new one up in the tranny and the difference is astonishing!

SSK FTW

Ill have to get some pics showing the difference later

[AbsorbantNut]

So, those of you in Ft Luaderdale will know its been raining hard as tits these past few days. In those days, out in the driveway with no overhead, my dad and I managed to get that tranny in. Without a transmission jack too. It is now 3 bolts away(top tranny bolt and 2 starter bolts) from having the transmission in!!!:p

Before thoughit went in, it went through a thurough cleaning. It was de gunked, wire brushed. All old metal pieces were wire wheeled to perfection. z4 lever was installed. Drained the old oil out, and refilled with some redline. Went to test out the slave and...it was frozen. I just about smashed the thing to a million pieces. Patiently, I took the slave apart and cleaned it in brake fluid. Cleaned all spring parts with the wire wheel and got everything nice and squeaky clean. Reassembled it and it worked better that ever!

After we got it in lets just say I'm uber excited. I've been fiddling with both my driveshafts and have managed to create a decently good one. I removed the DS harmonic balancer so that my beautiful, shiny, long, hard...what was I talking about;) Oh yeah, that z4 3.0 lever. Its so sweet. It sits a ton lower that the old one and is much tighter with the new cup bushing.

All that remains is to get those last few bolts in, driveshaft, then I'll learn how to drive stick Ill need to wait on the exhaust though till I can get my new/old muffler welded on since the old one is completely rotted out. I should also invest in a camera...

[Dj Buttchug]

good work man. I hate those plastic ring pieces that hold the shifter in. I can never get them out without a fight

[AbsorbantNut]

good work man. I hate those plastic ring pieces that hold the shifter in. I can never get them out without a fight

I ended up beating the shit out of the other one, so I opted for a new one:)

And I need to get a camera, my phone broke so no pics:(

But anyway heres what I've done in teh mean time I got the transmission in completely, got the driveshaft in, was about to put the exhaust in but the I decided to bleed my clutch. Luckily I did and found out I had a brake line that had rusted in half. It was the one that ran from the master cylinder to the T in the rear that slpits to both calipers. It sure was a B*tch to get out, but I did it eventually and made a new line.

At the time I was also rebuilding the rear calipers. Holy crap, over 20 years stuff starts to form that shouldnt. I poured out this oil like substance that was pitch black from the caliper. I inspected it though and everyting cleaned up pretty good. I still have one to go though so if I can get a camera, I can take some pics. So I decide to make sure I'm getting brake fluid to the rear brakes since I was redoing the calipers. Well good Lord, I have another rusted in half brake line. This one turned out to be the one from the T to the rubber line to the passenger caliper. Let me say that BMW has its good days, and its bad. Who in the hell makes a line with an s shape that goes over the diff!?!!one!1 And on top of that, theres no practial way to get it out. I ended up messing it up pretty good so now I'm going to need to figure out what I'm going to do.

So I started to remove the subframe to get a better vantage point over it. Well I removed the two 22mm nuts where the subframe mounts, then I moved onto the allen screw things next to them. Another evil thing made by BMW. I got the first one out and was like, no big deal. Second one ends up destroying my allen wrench. It broke it in half! So now I have decided to take a break and update you guys:o

Oh, the calipers are a hulk green, and I liked it so much I decided to paint some more stuff. First thing after the caliper was a shift knob. It was some old metal knob that was all dirty and scratched up. So i cleaned it up with some goop off and discovered it was an AC snitzer short shift knob! So I taped off everything but the actual ball at the top. Then I taped off the emblem and painted it. 4 coats of green and then 4 of clear. Sanded between each and man, it came out perfect!

Next I went for the fuel/air thing next to the intake manifold. Cant remember its exact name at the moment, but it will come to me. Well I took it off and discovered its O-ring had disintigrated! Luckily I had some from my injector swap on my other car and they turned out to be a perfect fit! So that got refurbished and went back in.

I also took off the rotors, just because I was there and couldnt get any farther with the brake line. So I cleaned up the ebrake stuff, wire brushed the rust off the rotors, shot them up with some paint, anti-siezed that allen screw thingy that holds the rotor and some other things.

Thats all for now, now I just need to get a camera...and do that brake line...and it goes on and on and on

[AbsorbantNut]

Well heres a pic of the pass. rear caliper I still need to rebuild.



I'll post a pic when I'm done. And yes, the pad separated from the metal its rivited onto.

[AbsorbantNut]

Got all the brake lines in, redid the rusted one, cleaned out the clogged soft lines, and refurbished the final rear caliper. All while leaving the subframe intact!! so glad I didnt end up having to remove it. Now I just need to bleed the clutch, and get the exhaust put together and it'll be driveable.

[AbsorbantNut]

Oh gawd, I got it running, and boy does it haul a$$! After sitting in the POs yard for over 5 years and not running needing a tranny, to mah supa car:o

And then after going over a speed bump the rear end dropped to im tucking a little tire in the rear on both sides and got pos camber out the wazzo Now my exhaust lays inches from the ground and I dont know why:drink:

But lets just say I'm super excited and it chirps those flat tires like no big deal:hitler:

[AbsorbantNut]

Ok, so I rebuilt my front brakes, and bled them all, except for the front left. The bleeder screw was broken off inside the caliper so I bought an extractor and will get it out later. I also started putting the interior back together and its starting to look more like a car. But I have no pictars:(

But I do have massive vaccum leaks, for example my intake looks like a slinky:p

[MR E30 325is]

Wow, that is impressive. Good job on that.

That is the first time I have ever seen anyone sow their seats back together. haha Good shit.