Toughest job in an e30?

[moatilliatta]

the key is to take out the hvac panel. if not youll be there forever.

we took everything out. it was really tough adjusting it in and out and getting it set into the correct spot.

[mikeedler]

painting mine was the hardest job.-- cause I took almost everything off of it, including the subframe/suspension

[Erick]

Looks like it was worth every penny Mike. :)

[AndrewBird]

Rear brake lines are tedious, dash is tedious. Nothing really DIFFICULT, but more just a pain in the ass. Have yet to do subframe bushings or rear wheel bearings. Removing the cooling fan can be a pain in the ass if it's stuck.

[Erick]

Cooling fan?? Fan clutch or the A/C one? Either one is ridiculously simple. The only complication is on the fan clutch nut which spins, but nothing a chisel can't solve. :)

[Axxe]

Cooling fan?? Fan clutch or the A/C one? Either one is ridiculously simple. The only complication is on the fan clutch nut which spins, but nothing a chisel can't solve. :)

Air hammer + fan wrench on it takes it off in about 2 seconds.


No job is difficult, but the one I dislike the most is rear brake lines with subframe + diff in place. HARD lines. Yeah, it was a bitch, did it on my driveway in -20*C weather with limited tools.

[moatilliatta]

after you've done everything once its a lot easier. Esp the rear sub frame and e brake cables.

[Court M3]

haven't done many of the jobs you guys talk about but dash swap was definitely the worst!

[Kruzen]

Are you kidding me? I did mine in the parking lot at the auto store in like 3 minutes.

Hell yeah man, that shit took longer than my timing belt

[LivingLegend06]

Hell yeah man, that shit took longer than my timing belt

Thats a bit sad man, I often make simple jobs take longer than they should, but your taking it to the next level with that, but I can relate. I was helping a friend do the wipers on his car once so I took one and he took the other, I had the new one on my side and was sitting in the car laughing while he was trying to figure out how to take the old one off. After about 10 minutes of him failing I had to go out there and do it for him.

[Jean]

Not sure if anybody mentioned, Headliner should be on this list.

[capucastro]

The hardest job for me was changing the dashboard of my 325is, in summer at noon, on the driveway and in the middle of heavy rain...

[Court M3]

heatercore is next on my list, been putting it off for a year

+1 mine died Monday morning and it's cold as hell not to mention headgasket is leaking.

[nefarious7907]

removing the tranny when all of the torx heads are stripped is hands down damn near impossible without pulling the motor.

[nefarious7907]

+1 mine died Monday morning and it's cold as hell not to mention headgasket is leaking.

There is a good writeup for that in the sticky section :)