This part fell of my car. What does it do, is it urgent that I put it back in?

[Xecure]

Hey guys, I picked up a 1989 325i about 3 weeks ago. It was in decent mechanical condition but needs some TLC. I'm very new with DIY car stuff but I figured this would be an excellent way to learn.

Just a few days ago I hear some scraping while I'm driving and after looking under the car I see this part resting on top of my exhaust pipes. The bolts holding it onto place must've came off. What is this a shield for?
Link: http://i.imgur.com/sdXYyyF.jpg

EDIT: Removed embedded image because it was too large. Please click the link to see

[///M42 sport]

heat shield. Not urgent

[YosemiteSam]

^ Seconded.

[Xecure]

Thanks guys, I'll wait till the next time I jack up my car to stick it back in

[jalopi]

lol... OP you should start going to car meets and become good friends with someone that has a fair amount of mechanical aptitude/knowledge... these old cars are not kind to people that don't know how to fix/maintain them or have the money to pay someone to do so

regardless, good luck with the new e30

[BobombETA]

lol... OP you should start going to car meets and become good friends with someone that has a fair amount of mechanical aptitude/knowledge... these old cars are not kind to people that don't know how to fix/maintain them or have the money to pay someone to do so

regardless, good luck with the new e30

Lucky for him there's a large online community that can help him along the way, plus an e30 is pretty easy to work on.

[jalopi]

there's only so much you can do with written instructions, sometimes something has to be seen in person to understand it, especially if your experience/knowledge level is pretty low.

and no offense to OP, but it's pretty clear where is experience/knowledge level is at based on the question he asked (don't sweat it OP, we all have to start somewhere) ;)

also i wouldn't really consider an e30 to be easy to work on. definitely not hard, but it certainly isn't econobox corolla/civic easy

[Stanley Rockafella]

i wouldn't really consider an e30 to be easy to work on. definitely not hard, but it certainly isn't econobox corolla/civic easy

qft

[Xecure]

lol... OP you should start going to car meets and become good friends with someone that has a fair amount of mechanical aptitude/knowledge... these old cars are not kind to people that don't know how to fix/maintain them or have the money to pay someone to do so

regardless, good luck with the new e30

Thank you for the life advice. I'll keep it in mind.

I'm just a worrier. It's what I do. I actually have some experience working on cars. I used to own an e46 and have done all the basic maintenance myself. Brakes, cooling system replacement, oil changes. I even replaced a transfer case on my xi when it went out. It's the only car I've worked on so I don't have a lot of confidence with my mechanical abilities. Hence the ultra basic question. :)

[BobombETA]

there's only so much you can do with written instructions, sometimes something has to be seen in person to understand it, especially if your experience/knowledge level is pretty low.

and no offense to OP, but it's pretty clear where is experience/knowledge level is at based on the question he asked (don't sweat it OP, we all have to start somewhere) ;)

also i wouldn't really consider an e30 to be easy to work on. definitely not hard, but it certainly isn't econobox corolla/civic easy

Yeah it's certainly not "muscle car" easy... and there's the specialty tools issue for certain jobs... But for the most part you can take apart an e30 with 10mm, 13mm, 17mm, and 19mm sockets, without too many access issues.

[jalopi]

yep, i'll agree that you can get most of an e30 into a pile of parts with just simple hand tools with enough determination, some basic maintenance needs special tools as you said (like for bushings or replacing the fan clutch)

as for opie.. well you clearly have some mechanical experience, especially with doing a tcase, those are a bit of a bitch, especially if you were doing it by yourself.

mostly there's nothing to worry about if you leave your e30 stock. if it looks simple, it probably doesn't need it (like your heat shield). the only thing you REALLY have to worry about on your e30 that you didn't have to on your other BMWs is the timing belt. any idea when that was last done?

[rturbo 930]

also i wouldn't really consider an e30 to be easy to work on. definitely not hard, but it certainly isn't econobox corolla/civic easy

Indeed, I'm swapping engines right now. How many fucking hoses and wires could you possibly need to run a fucking engine, and why are they routed in such a way that they're a bitch to take off/out? E30s are easy to work on in some areas, but the engine bay is not one of them. The engine bay of my Z is much, much simpler.

[jalopi]

even the engine bay of a SBC swapped Z car is simpler than an e30 engine bay, lol

[BobombETA]

even the engine bay of a SBC swapped Z car is simpler than an e30 engine bay, lol

Hah to be fair, a SBC is about as simple as it gets :P

[pbsun]

Going back to the original question of whether the heat shield should be on or not, it actually protects the gas tank connecting pipe (a pipe that connects the two sides of the tank). So of I were you (and I'm one of those guys that worries about shit like this too) I'd put it on.

Look at where the drive shaft connects to the diff, that's where it goes. Takes 5 mins to put it back on.