Bought an e30, have a bunch of questions:

[e34 530]

How you guys doing. My name is Andew and I'm 18 years old. I just bought an e30 325e to get back and forth to college so I don't ruin the brand new paintjob on my e34. I have a whole bunch of newbish e30 questions so please bear with me.
1. My e-brake does not work at all. Is this a common problem on the e30's? Is there an adjustment cable of some sort?
2. Th radio antenna is MIA. Now I can hear the motor when I turn the radio off but I don' hear it when I turn the radio on. Is it worth buying a new antenna or should I just buy a new motor/antenna?
3. What the hell is this horn thing in the engine bay, is it for a pre-wired alarm?

4. Are the e30 and e28 low-beams the same?
5. Are the foglights sealed beams, and if so, where can I buy a pair?
6. What the hell is this key, says Hella on it, does it have something to do with the lights?

7. My windshield wipers work, but it seems like there is too much force being applied to the arm so they move extremely slow. Is there anyway I can adjust them?
8. Last but not least the brake lines that run underneath the car are shot. IS there a write-up on how to do these and does anyone have any tips ojn how to replace them. (This is the only thing keeping the car from being road worthy so I need to do this asap)
Here's some pic's of my e34.




Thanks for your help, Andrew

[whiltebeitel]

1. My e-brake does not work at all. Is this a common problem on the e30's? Is there an adjustment cable of some sort?
2. Th radio antenna is MIA. Now I can hear the motor when I turn the radio off but I don' hear it when I turn the radio on. Is it worth buying a new antenna or should I just buy a new motor/antenna?
3. What the hell is this horn thing in the engine bay, is it for a pre-wired alarm?
4. Are the e30 and e28 low-beams the same?
5. Are the foglights sealed beams, and if so, where can I buy a pair?
6. What the hell is this key, says Hella on it, does it have something to do with the lights?
7. My windshield wipers work, but it seems like there is too much force being applied to the arm so they move extremely slow. Is there anyway I can adjust them?
8. Last but not least the brake lines that run underneath the car are shot. IS there a write-up on how to do these and does anyone have any tips ojn how to replace them. (This is the only thing keeping the car from being road worthy so I need to do this asap)

Hi Andrew. I hope you can enjoy your e30.
1. Your e-brake pads may be worn out. Leave the car in gear when you turn it off until you fix the e-brake. It may just be a simple cable adjustment needed.
2. Buy a motor/antenna. You could probably find a decent one in a parts car at a junkyard.
3. That is a non-stock, redneck-looking POS. This A) is probably useless, and B) is most likely indicative of wiring issues. Trace the wires to their source and tell us about it.
4. Nope.
5. Yes, and BMP has them, as do some member parting their cars, probably.
6. This appears to be a battery kill switch, I'm even more scared of wiring issues now. It may just be a random piece of junk left in the car.
7. Sounds like you window motors are dying. See the parts cars in this forum for replacements. This is not something I know a lot about.
8. If you are talking about the hard lines, get a quality hard line bender, and get some hard line from the local auto parts store, and start bending and flaring. Using coat hangers to copy bends and lengths will help make the process a little less frustrating.

[Mike325]

Welcome Andrew:D Awsome e34 you have.

On #8. I have done this before. You can get the line, unbent from the dealer. It will be the correct leanth and it is already flared and ready to be bent up and installed. The hardest part is from the pressure regulator because of the sharp bends it has after it. The rest is rather easy.

Good luck.

[e34 530]

Welcome Andrew:D Awsome e34 you have.

On #8. I have done this before. You can get the line, unbent from the dealer. It will be the correct leanth and it is already flared and ready to be bent up and installed. The hardest part is from the pressure regulator because of the sharp bends it has after it. The rest is rather easy.

Good luck.

Got the part number for this Mike? Thanks, Andrew

[Lodsin]

3. That is a non-stock, redneck-looking POS. This A) is probably useless, and B) is most likely indicative of wiring issues. Trace the wires to their source and tell us about it.

Looks like alpine alarm I've got in my car, I believe the PO said it was factory.

And also #2 you could go the z3 antenna route and have it look better and perform better. There is a write up somewhere with part numbers, and it wasnt that expensive I dont believe.

[Mike325]

Got the part number for this Mike? Thanks, Andrew

34326755686

There you are.

[e34 530]

Another question, anyone know what the stock thermostat temp is on the eta?

[egk2]

80deg

[echothreezero]

#3 I too have an identical alarm siren in the same location. My car is South African built, but I don't think it is stock in my case - I pulled all the associated wiring out and it didn't look neat enough to be factory. Hooked it up to my new alarm so now I've got 3 external sirens. Hooked the internal one I found too so have 2 internal screamers. Noisy little bitch when she gets going :pimp:

[Jand3rson]

I've seen the front lip on your E34 on the E32 7 series. Is that what it's from, or did the E34 get them, too? I've always wanted to fit one on an E30.

[e34 530]

All of a sudden I can't get the car in gear anymore. It's pretty much impossible to put the car in gear from neutral when the car's running. I have to shut off the car and then start it in first, but it goes fine into gear when the engine isn't running. There's also sooooooo much slop in the shifter it's ridiculous. When the car is in first gear, the shifter can go far enough over to make it look like it's in 3rd. Think replacing all of the shifter bushings will help or is my tranny shot (don't think it's the clutch since it isn't slipping)?

[Mike325]

A bad shifter bushing could cause this to happen. Will it go into the other five gears ok? While running.

[e34 530]

A bad shifter bushing could cause this to happen. Will it go into the other five gears ok? While running.

Gotta try that gain. After I start it in first I pull away fine and can shift into second pretty much ok, but since I don't have brakes I've only brought it up to second since the problem started hapenning, gotta try ity again. I know I can't put it in reverse when the car is running though.

[ivo316]

Try adding some brake fluid, the first thing to go will be your clutch, then the brakes.

Good luck. ;)

[Court M3]

Welcome Andrew, got ebrake cable and shoes here if you need them. PM for details.