New daily driver project- 1989 bmw 325i sedan w/ M50 swap

[CMG]

Car is back together and a blast. Fresh suspension and clutch made a massive difference, partially due to being blown to begin with, partially just cuz fresh is fresh. Pretty much everything I used was OEM, and the only upgrades I ended up using are GC & Billie coilovers, F&R strut bars, and JTD RSM and IE rear sway bar mounts (bolt to chassis). Right now it has 20mm front sway bar and 12.5mm rear and it could use some tightening up of the rear (we had some rain here in Cali and it was fun having a loose rear end but in general not trying to make it a drift car). I'm limited on front sway bars due to exhaust, I might be able to squeeze in a 21mm stock front. I have been on the look out for a 14mm oem one but worst case I can throw on a 19mm ST rear. I'll post a list soon of stuff I'm looking for to finish off the car.

[brads2002]

Congrats! Glad you are getting some time behind the wheel.

[CMG]

Car has been a solid daily driver and a fun little get around car. Great for running errands, and not too sketchy for highway driving. Driveline and suspension are taken care of so next two projects on the list:
-R and R all 4 door panels to replace all weatherstrips and inspect and freshen up everything inside: hinges, motors, regulators, wiring, etc. (FYI in the past when the inner door panel weather cover is destroyed I have used contact paper with good results).
-Hook up the rally/fog lights to the rally bar. I have a nice PIAA dual light wiring kit but trying to decide where to draw constant power from since the battery is in the trunk. Any suggestions where to tap in in the engine bay?

[CMG]

Ended up pulling all the door panels and replacing all the inner and outer lower window seal strips. It's not that hard if you've done it before but from searching it didn't look like there were any good DIY or write ups. There is a sticky here that I think Jordan did but it was minimal. I'll add some tips from my experiences:
-No matter what you do there is a potential for aesthetic damage due to removal, first timers take it slow and don't force anything. Proper tools will help such as multiple plastic trim removal tools.
-Everything is done in a linear type method (working your way from one attachment point to the next). Re-installation is pretty much reverse of install, just make sure it is in the right place before pressing back on.
-If replacing the window seals or strips you have to pull the interior door panels, so might as well do everything while you're in there: replace broken clips, check window motor and regulator for wear or damage and lube, ensure plastic panel weather seals are secure (clear on door, grey on back of door panel), check hinges for cracks, etc.
-Inner lower window strips are removed by prying clips up and outward and strip and clips come off together. Clips need to be in exact same spot on new strip to lock onto divots punched in door metal.
-Outer lower strips are removed by slowly prying up chrome first with appropriate plastic trim removal tools. Only possible way to avoid paint damage is maybe using blue painter tape. I found that the harder plastic tools mar the paint the least. Work from one side to the other back and forth about 2-3 times to slowly pry the chrome trim up and off. Once chrome is off the strip clips are removed up and inward. The outer clips only have to be in approximate place on new strips and do not lock.
-Window cover triangles have 4 little posts on the back to hold onto mounts and hold it in place, try to remove straight out without too much angle. Best removed and replaced with inner strip removed.
-If any clips or plastic tabs are broken in the process they sometimes can be glued back on (or buy new parts). Like I said, don't force anything.
-The order of r&r that worked for me was: Remove door lock knobs, 3 door handle screws (handle slides back and twists up and off), lift up inner handle and push back trim, pry around panel to pop off plastic retaining clips and lift up and off, remove inner sill by prying clips up and outward, remove interior window triangle, remove exterior mirrors, carefully pry up exterior aluminum trim, pry up and off outer lower strip. when everything is removed clean up the whole area including glass (be careful not to get grease on anything). When placing stuff back on make sure everything is lined up before pressing into place.

[wworm]

Would love to see some pics of this thing, especially with the rally lights. I've been considering something like that myself because I do most of my spirited driving at night

[CMG]

The rally light set up is next on the list. I have a dual light piaa wiring kit and various lights. Only two things I need to figure out is where in the engine bay to tap into a high draw constant 12v, and then I can use either switched ignition or foglight for turn on. I bought brackets so I should be able to tuck the lights in so they don't stick out much.

-Car has M50 with associated modified wiring harness. I know the best way to get power for rally lights is run a wire from the battery but don't want to deal with that. Where is best place in engine bay to tap into high draw 12v constant power?

[CMG]

Planning on busting out a couple other things on the to do list while I figure out the rally light wiring. I discovered that the reason my horn wasn't working was because the contact pin on the column was missing. Just need to drill out two rivets and install new one with screws. In regards to steering wheels I have swapped out all kinds of steering wheels on early and late bmw, and other than the hub difference I discovered that there are also different size spacers that go on the shaft to situate the steering wheel appropriately. If you put on a wheel and it rubs or sticks out too much that might be the problem. I have at least 3 different size oem shaft spacers.
I'm actually planning on selling this car once I finish it. It's a fun little driver and the CARB legal is a huge plus, but I have to focus on finishing my other cars. Last thing I need to do before I sell it is pull the dash. The PO obviously went through some effort to install an immaculate dashboard in it, unfortunately it would look way better in my M3.

[CMG]

Got the horn pin replaced and horn works again. It helped to clamp the rivet in place so it didn't spin when drilling. I have an issue with my turn signal stalk, the little inner tab is intact and appears to move properly. It works fine to the right, but to the left I can hear it clicking but it doesn't disengage. Is there any way to repair these or is it just replace?

[CMG]

Also still trying to figure out best way to wire up the rally lights. Basically just need to figure out where is the best place to get constant 12v and switched 12v.

[CMG]

Car is still solid and is my DD. It's the next best thing to a motorcycle for squeezing into turn lanes and parking spots, and it's beat just enough that if it gets scuffed or dinged IDGAF. I've ben keeping up on the old school maintenance no problem, and just getting stuff together for the little various projects. The main thing I'm working on is the rally light set up. I have a + terminal that is found by the passenger side of the E36 firewall. I'm trying to figure out the routing to have the power line from the trunk be routed thru it. Then I can charge the battery under the hood, and have plenty of + junctions to tap into for power sources.

[CMG]

Still loving the car, it's a solid DD. I want to post some pics of it but keep getting error message saying my pics are over 2mb limit. How do you post pics to forum?

[CMG]

WOW, time flies. Looks like I've had this car for over 4 years now. Alot has happened since then, but this car has been my solid DD and love it. I still haven't figured out how to post pics but I think imgur will work. Car has just needed routine maintenance, and I ended up popping the common external hg leak on #6, so now it has a fresh head gasket and top end. In the process I was able to determine which engine was actually in the car, and it is a 2.5 M50 from 1995 525i, so pretty much stock internally. The only thing I was planning doing performance wise is do something about the KAmotors hot air intake, there is just nowhere to get a good flow of outside air. I was thinking of doing a filter box mounted facing up and sealed when hood closes, then putting louvers on that left side of the hood (real old school louvers pressed into the hood itself). That would give me better intake air flow, and I also have in hand a euro 3.5" Maf and Dinan BBTB which would be plug and play. I would have to get a re-tune eprom chip but pretty sure TRM would do the trick. Even if the gains are minimal, I already have all the parts so why not. Even though the displacement is only 2.5 it has 21.5 injectors, headers, m50 intake manifold and lightweight flywheel. Pretty sure more air couldn't hurt, right?

[jbontke]

2.5 M50 from 1995 525i, so pretty much stock internally. The only thing I was planning doing performance wise is do something about the KAmotors hot air intake, there is just nowhere to get a good flow of outside air. I was thinking of doing a filter box mounted facing up and sealed when hood closes, then putting louvers on that left side of the hood (real old school louvers pressed into the hood itself). That would give me better intake air flow, and I also have in hand a euro 3.5" Maf and Dinan BBTB which would be plug and play. I would have to get a re-tune eprom chip but pretty sure TRM would do the trick. Even if the gains are minimal, I already have all the parts so why not. Even though the displacement is only 2.5 it has 21.5 injectors, headers, m50 intake manifold and lightweight flywheel. Pretty sure more air couldn't hurt, right?

Getting cool air for the air intake is better than the under hood air that is usually much hotter than ambient air temps. I have read about dynos with the 3.5" MAF and little to no HP was added. Its not worth it in my opinion

3.5 MAF dynos: https://www.r3vlimited.com/board/for...ad-many-inside

I cant speak on the Dinan BTBB, but at $550 for maybe 10 hp with a proper tune, I would save your money. You wont feel that.

I am not here to tell you how to spend your money, but if you feel the car is lacking in power, I would look to a few other areas. Turbo or more displacement, proper tuning.

I just read that you are4 in CA, so that sucks when it comes to emission and the BAR. That may limit you on power goals. I read that you wanted 250bhp (not wheel), that is S52, M54B30, N52 power. Its going to be hard to get that with a 2.5 and no power adder. But I would love to be proved wrong.

[CMG]

He, thanks for response. I don't recall posting anything about power goals and I wouldn't expect 250bhp from a 2.5 m50. I am definitely going to improve air intake for at least cooler air. I was only considering using euro MAF and Dinan BBTB because I already have the parts in hand. Basically if I use them the engine will be FBO. I have done this before with S50 and it does make a massive difference with all the parts together. Even though this M50 has smaller displacement it already has all the other parts for standard FBO build: headers, m50 manifold, 21.5 pink injectors, ltw flywheel. My thinking is that I already plan to redo intake anyway and I have the parts sitting around so might as well just do it for shits n giggles. The car is already a pretty darn balanced driver, so if anything I might get a little faster rev. I have also had an e36 m3 s52 with Dinan supercharger and if I were to go crazy with this car that is what I would do, and ad an aftercooler. Definitely not planning to do that, but it would be cool. FYI Cali isn't as bad as some might say, you can pretty much do what you want but you just have to pay to play. Over the years I have accumulated a bunch of rare CARB legal parts, and Dinan is approved so it's not that big of a deal.