I bought my first BMW today

[Nsquared97]

Second and third owners are finding how hacked up their cars are now.

After 6 months of having my car back on the road, I still don't have a working radio because of this.

[SteveJ]

Get ahold of the ETM Electronics troubleshooting manual for your year/car. Read through the schematics and redraw the circuit on a notepad. This really helps you understand the whole system. Especially with the factory amp and fader. I had to do this for my M3. It makes it easier to find out which wire is supposed to go where. and what that green/brown wire is that was cut in half.

[Mark 42]

Thanks Steve - that really is useful. Right now, it appears that the car is mostly stock. It appears that it didn't have the premium sound system.

The previous owner (IronJoe) gave me a replacement electric antenna
because the one on the car is bent & jamming. It appears that only the
smallest diameter part of the mast is bent, and I think I can straighten
it perfect enough to be as good as new (I'm good with metal - also
with electronics).

I am pretty goo at working on cars, but completely unfamiliar
with BMWs - so I'm trying to ask a lot of questions before I start
tearing things open. I'm not very good at working on interiors
though. I never know which panels I should pry on and which ones
have hidden screws that I need to find before prying.

I do have factory shop manuals for all of my other vehicles.
They are usually very pricey, but worth it. I also like Haynes manuals.
It seems to me (IIRC) they merged with Chilton or Clymer or someone,
and are not as user friendly as they once were.

I had a Bentley manual for something, but can't remember what it
was - maybe my MG Midget. It was many years ago.

I'm trying to decide whether to set the car up for autocross, rallycros,
or just improve the handling for street driving. It's going to be a daily
driver, so mods have to be sane. I already heard the undercarriage drag
once going into our (gravel) driveway, so I will need to fill in the ruts
before I do anything to the car. There are also speed bumps in our neighborhood, so that is something I also have to consider.

Anyone know if the Seattle E30 group ever do autocross schools?
My wife ad I did one in Alabama. She did it just to improve her driving skills
and ended up liking it so much she started racing. Eventually we held the
first SCCA Rallycross in the Huntsville area in the pasture on our property...

http://www.youtube.com/embed/GjllMpnbi-0

[SteveJ]

The Bentley book is worth it and easy to follow. The factory books have ALL the info, but aren't always the easiest to follow.

Setting up for autocross: I've raced in three different classes and, by far, had the most fun in the bone-stock class. No fiddling with set up, tire pressures, etc..., just show up, put on a helmet, and drive. The only real variable was the driver. It really helped me wring more out of my prepared cars.

My vote is to go for an improved street car that you can haul the kids back and forth to TKD. Pretty soon they'll be wanting to drive it too.

[Mark 42]

I'd start in a stock auto-x class for sure.

I wouldn't do any mods w/o talking to owners of the same car who
are experienced in Autocross. It's important to know which mods
to do, otherwise you end up in a class where you won't be competitive
unless you also do other mods allowed in that class.

Unless you want to just do the mods you want to do, and race in
whatever class that puts you in & accept that you will be racing
against yourself (which isn't a bad thing if you don't care about trophies)

In Alabama we had a "Street Tire" class, which was for people who
didn't want to buy DOT legal race tires. I let you run on tires that
you also used for daily driving.
We still did play with tire pressures (cheapest way to adjust handling)
My MR2 alignment is still setup for auto-x. It's twitchy on the freeway,
but I'm used to it. A friend drove it, and said "Why is the steering so loose"
when he kept drifting all over the lane.
I told him that the problem is it's a tight and responsive car, which you're
not used to... drive with just your fingertips and a light touch.
Basically it was "Pilot induced oscillation" if you're familiar with that.

Then I had him to a few aggressive maneuvers, and he saw that it was
just a more responsive car than he was used to.

I used to align it with a 1x2 (ruler), two pieces of string and an angle
gauge. People think alignment is some sort of magic that requires a
computer, but once you understand all of the concepts and have
seen how to do it, it really is straightforward (no pun intended).

[E30Gus]

I really didn't want to mess with schematics for hours so I just rewired the car for the new stereo. I'm pretty sure it was easier than trying to chase wiring problems in the car...Just an idea.

[Mark 42]

I may go that route.
I'll start with a volt meter and see what is there, but I'm open
to just running my own wires.

It's just hard to find time... I still have trees down from winter storms
waiting for me to fix my chainsaw and make firewood! :borg:

[SteveJ]

There's just that feeling of satisfaction in sorting out something that's been butchered and making it work as the good folks at BMW had intended. (I'm an engineer, it's a curse, I have to fix stuff)

I can relate to just putting all new and being done with it, especially when time or cost come into play, but my OCD self would still require removing any old unused wiring.

Hell, you gould go the cheap route and use the rear seatbelt to lash down a boombox. Most of 'em come with remote controls and you could rig a cig lighter power attachment.

[Mark 42]

I tell people
"I'm not like this because I'm an engineer...
I'm an engineer because I'm like this."

I'm not committed to keeping everything stock yet, but it looks
like it has been kept stock up to now (for the most part), so
I'm going to start out along that path and see how long I go before
I get diverted to aftermarket in the interest of cost & convenience.

[Mark 42]

I drove my MR2 today... It pointed out how well the 318i
accelerates. The MR2 felt even more gutless than I remember it.
Of course, it may be hurting in some mechanical ways.

On the 318 steering angle - I COMPLETELY forgot that there
is a seat height adjustment. I saw it when I was reading a review
about the 325e in an old article someone had posted online.
I can't wait to get home and try adjusting the seat to reduce the
problem with the steering height & angle (assuming it is not all the way
up... but since the PO was 6'3", it probably is set low).

I think the car is starting to grow on me now.

[Kershaw]

After 6 months of having my car back on the road, I still don't have a working radio because of this.

if you can find your two switched powers, the easiest thing would be to just run new speaker cable. takes about an hour and you dont have to fuck with all the oem amp bullshit.

[kellysueropen]

congrats there.. you have a good choice in that one..

[Mark 42]

I'm starting to really like the car.
It's the one I prefer to drive rather than the MR2 or 4Runner.

I sorted out the wiring for the CD player, except for the antenna.
I get no radio reception :( - the antenna is about 1/3 to 1/2
way up, so I expected at least a few stations.

I have a feeling the coax either has a splice, or is the wrong impedance
for the JVC head unit. I'll probably put in a hidden antenna, or a fixed mast,
and run a new coax (I'll check continuity first though).

BTW, how far does the power antenna stick up in the fully retracted
position? Does it retract completely, or stick up about a foot?

[Mark 42]

I am surprised how well the car accelerates. It makes my MR2 feel
like a dawg. But, I suspect my MR2 is a dawg - it probably is time
for an engine rebuild on it.

I don't know if the BMW has armor all on the tires, or what, but
on wet roads, the tires are terrible. Today I was trying to get
away from a traffic signal and merge into another lane...
the tires spun when I shifted to 3rd. Never expected that.
In the rain, it's break traction going into 2nd quite easily.
I don't have LSD, but the back end starts to step out a bit,
so I know it's both tires. I think I need to check tire pressures
or something.

Here are some pictures of the car:

Click pics for huge version...

[Vivek]

It's probably not armor all on your tires lol. My guess is just crappy tires. E30's are tail happy, but not that tail happy.