E30 from Ukraine - "Shadow of Intelligence"

[The_Glory]

BILSTEIN jack

I have already written about the standard jack in the relevant section of the ETK, but I will briefly repeat it.
Basically, the E30 was equipped with a Storz jack (71 12 1 178 721). But some cars were equipped with a Bilstein jack (71 12 1 178 722). What is strange is that the diagram in the ETK shows this particular jack, but its number is missing in the ETK. Probably another mistake.
For restyled cars with M-Technic II sills, there was a special Storz jack (71 12 1 180 172), with a wider "paw".

So, recently I wrote that I purchased a Bilstein Heber jack.




But it needed to be brought into proper shape. Cleaned and sanded.


Painted it matte black.


Bottom rubber buffer and top plastic cover.


The gears are made in the form of flat "stars".


We lubricate the gears and shaft with graphite grease, install a rubber buffer at the bottom, and cover the gears with a plastic cover.






Bilstein Heber


BMW 71 12 1 178 722


Load capacity 700 kg


You might be asking, why do I need another jack when I already have one, completely restored?
The thing is, I bought factory stickers for the E30, and the kit included a sticker for the jack. Judging by the photo on the Internet, this sticker was glued to Bilstein Heber jacks. In principle, nothing prevents me from sticking this sticker on the Storz jack. But, firstly, it's not entirely correct. And secondly, my jack is not completely complete, it lacks a gear cover. That's why I decided to buy a Bilstein Heber jack for this sticker! :) I like it better in appearance.
So, two standard jacks for BMW E30, - on the left Storz BMW 71 12 1 178 721, and on the right Bilstein Heber BMW 71 12 1 178 722 (with a sticker! :) )






Bilstein Heber


Storz


There are no fundamental differences between them.


Storz BMW 71 12 1 178 721


Bilstein Heber BMW 71 12 1 178 722


Both jacks are fixed in the trunk the same way.

Next time I'll probably write about the stickers.

[The_Glory]

Temporary bumper

Since there was a delay in painting the bumpers, I decided to temporarily install my old bumper so that I had something to screw the front turn signals and license plates to and could safely hit the road.
It's a good thing that I had previously painted this bumper along with the plastic. So I took it off my "nightstand", installed the glued old trim, and the clips for the license plate.




Top trim and turn signals. Since this is temporary, I didn't install the side plastic trim.






I once straightened this bumper as best I could after a traffic accident - it looks something like this... You can see how crooked it is... but it will be like that for the first time.


Although, from afar, on the car, it still looks more or less normal! Even in matte black :)


But if you look closely, everything is crooked )) I didn't install the side panels.


I also temporarily screwed the license plates with club frames with regular self-tapping screws. Then I'll install the original ones with colored plugs.




The same goes for the rear numbers. For now, it will be without a rear bumper.




Now I can go outside my street! :)

[The_Glory]

Assembly_191. ETC_51_Emblems - inscriptions

Basically, the car is completely assembled (bumpers on pause ;) ). The last step is to install the BMW emblems.
So, the ETK section Body trim

Subsection Emblems - lettering





Of course, I ordered new emblems.


The old emblems were original, from those times, but their condition and appearance were no longer very good.


Inside


Part No. 1 - Emblem Ø 82MM (51 14 8 132 375) - 1 pc. This emblem has been used since 1990 on many BMW models.

Before this, the emblem had a different number (51 14 1 872 324), and differed in the inner part and had the inscription BOMISA MILANO. No longer available for order.

Part #1 - Trunk emblem (51 14 1 872 969) - 1 pc. Used only on E28, E30 and Z3 M3.2.

Early emblems have a similar number, but differ in the inner part.

The peculiarity of this emblem is its shape - different thickness at the top and bottom - under the bend of the trunk lid.

Part No. 2 - Tip (51 14 1 902 279) - 4 pcs. White plastic clips for fixing emblems. There is a note in the ETK - when using the modern front emblem (51 14 8 132 375), you need to use other tips (51 14 1 807 495) - black plastic clips. I don't understand why, because they are the same diameter and are essentially interchangeable. But I ordered two of each, both white and black.
Part No. 3, No. 5, No. 10 - not used. These are nameplates for the diesel and turbodiesel models "324d" and "324td" with the M21D24 engine.
Part No. 6 - not used. This is a nameplate for the "325e" model with the M20B27 engine.
Part No. 4 - "325" emblem (51 14 1 924 867) - 1 pc. In my case, it is not used.
Part No. 7 - "i" emblem (51 14 1 916 137) - 1 pc. In my case, it is not used.
These are nameplates for the "325i" model with the M20B25 engine.
For the US market, there were "sports" versions of "325is" and "325es"
The factory configuration of my car has the option "S320 No model designation". So, if the factory did not have a 316 nameplate, then there is no point in installing the 325i nameplate. Although, now it is a full-fledged 325i.
By the way, I always wondered if it was necessary to pay extra money for this option? :)
Part No. 8 - not used. This is a nameplate for the all-wheel drive model "325ix" with the M20B25 engine.
Part No. 9 - The letter "M" rear (51 14 1 917 739) and front (72 60 1 933 569) - 2 pcs. This is a nameplate "///M", which could be installed on cars that have a "sports package", "M-package", or some of their options. Photo from the Internet.




My car has options from the "M-package", so the "///M" nameplates have every right to be present on it. But these are either suspension parts or interior parts. Externally, the M-Technic I body kit is missing, so the letters "///M" probably won't be there. Or maybe later I'll order them and install them for beauty! ) I used to have "///M3" nameplates! ))
Part #11 - M TECHNIC emblem front (51 14 2 231 593) and rear (51 14 2 251 228) - 2 pcs. Not used. These are nameplates only for the special series of M-Design convertibles from 1992. Not available for order. Although, now replicas can be seen on sedans, but this is not correct. Photo from the Internet.




So, I'm installing the emblems. I started with the rear one.
Insert the white clips into the holes on the trunk.


Insert the emblem tightly into the clips.




BMW


The same goes for the front emblem.


We insert the black clips into the holes on the hood. By the way, the black clips went into the holes very tightly!


We insert the emblem tightly into the clips.


Well, now it's definitely clear that this is a BMW! :)




Done.

I'll screw on the license plates and I can hit the roads! )

[The_Glory]

It really turned out to be a gorgeous car. If those two big gouges on the strut bar really bug you, it would probably take a few minutes with a TIG welder to fill them in. Since they're just cosmetic and a ton of penetration isn't needed it wouldn't have a big heat affected zone and weaken the bar either.

Thanks for the tip, maybe I'll do that later.

[varg]

It really turned out to be a gorgeous car. If those two big gouges on the strut bar really bug you, it would probably take a few minutes with a TIG welder to fill them in. Since they're just cosmetic and a ton of penetration isn't needed it wouldn't have a big heat affected zone and weaken the bar either.

[The_Glory]

Eibach front strut

Once upon a time, a long time ago, I made a set of struts according to the factory dimensions of the BMW E30 - front, rear and middle (analogous to the Cabrio).
I posted my drawings on the club forum. Many people have already used them - there seem to be no complaints :)
I painted the rear and middle ones and installed them a long time ago - I wrote about this earlier.
During the restoration of the car, I managed to find and buy an original aluminum Eibach front strut for the BMW E30. Just in the kit for the Eibach springs. And now, finally, it's time to install it. The strut is intact, but not in perfect condition - it has small, but in places deep scratches, and traces of aluminum oxide.


Unfortunately, the scratches are right on the logo... Eibach Kit Nr 2003920


So, I had to work hard to bring it into proper shape.
First, I sanded it down and bought new mounting bolts.


It became dull and very shabby. At first, I even thought that I had overdone it! )




You can't do anything with deep scratches. There's no point in sanding down such a layer of aluminum. Unless you putty and paint it. But it has to be polished, so it will be.


For polishing, I bought a set of special pastes, a textile polishing wheel and an adapter for it.


Before polishing, I manually sanded the surfaces with 600 grit sandpaper to remove roughness. You can see the difference in the photo.


Now I can start polishing.


I polished in five passes with all the pastes in turn - black, gray, green, white, blue. It took quite a lot of time and effort. But the result suits me quite well.


I'll say right away that I didn't set a goal to polish the aluminum to a "mirror" finish so that you could shave on it! )) I just wanted to make a slightly shiny surface. I even thought about stopping after the white paste. After all, there is no mirror chrome on the car, so it's not very appropriate here, in my opinion. But, it still turned out pretty shiny! ))


I bought new M8x70 bolts and nuts for mounting the pipe. I bought the original nuts for mounting the flanges a long time ago (07 11 9 904 295).


Screw the spacer flanges to the support bearing studs. Left and right are not interchangeable.
Left


Right


Install and screw the spacer tube.


It fits well, doesn't get in the way and doesn't get stuck anywhere.






Eibach Kit Nr 2003920. Scratches spoil the appearance a little, but do not affect the functionality.


There is a cutout on the spacer flange for standard mounting of the "mass" of the motor wiring to the body, but I do not have this bracket - I forgot about it when the car was undergoing bodywork...
Previously, my "mass" terminal was screwed together with a homemade spacer to the support bearing stud. The Eibach strut has special stampings for the nuts, so the terminal doesn't fit there well.


So, I had to move the "mass" terminal mounting lower, to the platform. There is a rectangular stamping with a threaded hole there, which is ideal for this. It seems that it was made for this. Maybe it is?..


It looks even better this way - the wiring is hidden under the platform.

Now I can go to the stand to check and adjust the camber and toe angles.
Only the license plates need to be screwed on ;)

[The_Glory]

All sorts of little things

There were quite a few little things that I didn't finish when assembling the car for one reason or another. Well, I'm starting to finish them gradually.
I simply installed the wiper mechanism as it was, without adjusting it. I also installed the brushes. After connecting all the wiring and checking, it turned out that the brushes start their movement not up, but down! ) The reason is that the crank is screwed to the rod in the wrong position. Adjusting the wiper mechanism is well described in Etzold's book. The essence is as follows:
1. Remove the brush levers and unscrew the crank from the rod.
2. Turn the wiper on and off, wait until the electric drive reaches its final position.
3. Manually move the mechanism rods towards the left wing so that the rod and the crank are in one horizontal line.
4. In this position, screw the crank.
5. Screw the brush levers so that the distance between the glass seal and the brushes is 6 centimeters.
6. Check that the brushes should return to the same position.

I don't know how to measure correctly - from the edge or from the center of the seal. I measured from the center, because from the edge it comes out too high, as for me.




Later I adjusted the windshield washer nozzles. I adjusted them roughly according to this diagram.


I also adjusted the headlight washer nozzles and brushes. The brushes are adjusted simply by their position on the axis. In the video, the washer tanks are still empty, so nothing is pouring, although the pump is working.

https://youtube.com/shorts/1QyngjeXlac

I explained why the turn signals and rear window heating stopped working. When I was installing the radio, the connectors from these two buttons flew off. I fixed it )

By the way, I discovered an interesting thing with the turn signal relay for the towbar - now, when the hazard warning light is turned on, the main turn signal lamps on the instrument panel flash alternately with the turn signal lamp for the trailer. Beautiful. ) And when I was installing it, I thought I would never see it light up! ))

The next two electrical tasks are to find out why the brake pad lamp and the brake light control lamp do not go out.

Before installing the rear bumper, I decided to align the BBS rear apron, because it was slightly concave in the center. I made an additional support from a plate - something similar, by analogy, to the M-Technic I bracket.




It got better. Although, it is probably possible to move it a little more...


I prepared the license plates for installation. I decided to fix them on the standard mounting clips - with self-tapping screws through. I drilled the corresponding holes. But the original self-tapping screws with colored plugs are too short for the license plate frames. I may have to give them up. Although, they are club. I'll see...
The license plates are already a little wrinkled, so I'll probably replace them with new ones when I re-register the car's color change in the documents.


I also ordered some body stickers, which were missing.


By the way, about club paraphernalia - I also ordered club stickers for those who want them.


The body sticker set includes a sticker for the Bilstein stock jack. And I have another stock jack. I had to look for another jack under the sticker, namely Bilstein. )


I also accidentally bought new heated mirror elements - analogue, but the mounts are like on the original mirrors. I will change them later, because my original ones are a little scratched, especially the right one.


There is still some news on the assembly, but I will probably write about it next time.

[The_Glory]

Painting bumpers part 2 chrome

My car has the factory option "shadow line", so I never had chrome bumpers. Previously, they were painted black, and it looked pretty good. Then, after an accident, the front bumper had to be replaced with a chrome one. In order not to bother with painting the chrome, I just covered it with black matte film. But at the factory, in the "shadow line" option, the bumpers were painted in the body color. So I decided to do it the way it should be - paint them blue. To save time and money, I decided to paint them myself - as if nothing complicated... (yeah, it almost worked out! :) )
First, I had to remove the film.


It wasn't easy to remove, even with an industrial fan heater.


At first glance, the bumper looks pretty good.


But if you look closely, the condition of the chrome there is such that it wouldn't hurt to paint it! ))




The bolts are very rusty, I had to cut them off.


I didn't even pay attention to it before, but apparently someone has already smoothed this bumper a little - you can see small dents.


In order for the paint to stick well, you need to remove the chrome from the bumper, or make its surface matte. This can be done with electroplating or sandblasting. For such large parts, electroplating is expensive. That's why I chose sandblasting. But you need a powerful industrial sandblaster.
So, from two sets of bumpers, I chose the best parts and gave them to the industrial sandblaster.


I leveled the brackets and also sandblasted them. The metal on the front brackets is very strong, so I had to heat them a lot to level them.


In the meantime, along with the plastic, I painted my old crooked bumper matte black. And for good reason. )


After industrial sandblasting




But even the powerful sand didn't remove all the rust on the inner surface.




However, on the rear side parts, near the mounting brackets, through holes formed! )) I "puttied" them with cold welding - it turned out well. I also coated the brackets, just in case.




I did the same with the extra holes in the front bumper.


After that, I brushed off all the rust on the inner ribs, treated the inner surface with a rust converter and sanded it again, this time by myself.




Finally, I can start painting. As I said, I decided to paint it myself. Because when choosing paint, they assured me that their paint and varnish in aerosol cans are no worse than regular painting (yeah, right) - I believed them )))
So, "economy offer" ))) Acid primer, acrylic two-component primer, BMW 253 paint and varnish.


Something went wrong at the first stage! )) The acid primer turned out to be very thin, and I "poured" a lot of it, making some drips...


It was easier with acrylic primer.


The result seems to be not bad.




Next was a long process of puttying...




Then another layer of acrylic primer.


And now the most interesting thing is the paint. It's good that I thought of trying it on one small patch, and not painting everything at once! ))
Two layers of paint, and varnish.


As if it's not bad? The color is the same. But if you compare it with the paint on the car, the difference becomes obvious!
It's some kind of "semi-matte", not "gloss"! )


And super shagreen! )


So instead of saving time and money, I got a stupid waste of time and money! )))
The paint in the spray can is the same, whether it's on the paint selection or in the hardware store! Now I know! ))

I don't want to finish the painting work, as they say, "shitty to the top" at all )) So I agreed with the painter who painted the car, but there is a queue, so it won't be as soon as I would like. It was necessary to do it right away, then the bumpers would have been painted. )
And for now, they remain in this form.




P.S.
I will temporarily install my old crooked black bumper so that there is somewhere to screw the turn signals and license plate. Then I will be able to drive to the service station on my own.

[The_Glory]

Painting bumpers part 1 plastic

So, I decided to paint the bumpers myself - not to waste the paint that I had previously ordered for the "shadow line"! )
Of course, the plastic on the bumpers was not painted at the factory, but in my case it was painted before me. It had scuffs and deep scratches in places. So later I painted it a few more times. So I had to remove all the old paint, right down to the plastic.




As you can see, I decided to paint all the trims that I had, so that I could then choose the best ones. I collected more than two sets of them. Some were in poor condition, so I had to glue them and putty them. I will install them on my garage "E30 nightstand".
Some of them had a lot of layers of old paint on them. It was not very easy to remove it.


Then I puttyed all the scratches, irregularities, and holes from the screws with plastic putty. I prepared smooth surfaces for painting. Quite a laborious process that took a lot of time and effort.


Then I thoroughly washed everything, degreased it, and applied a primer for plastic.




And finally, I painted it matte black, like the "shadow line".




But for some reason the surface turned out matte "textured", and not just matte smooth... Either it's the paint, or the spray gun, or I'm such a painter! ))) But, in principle, it looks good for plastic too! ;)

After painting, I had to assemble the front turn signals, which are also part of the front bumper trim.
I already wrote about them in the corresponding topic about lighting, so now I will briefly write about their types and assembly.
So, I have four left and two right lights.


Three of them were broken and glued together.


Although, from the outside they all look normal now.


Now about their differences. There are three manufacturers of headlights for early E30s - ZKW, ULO and Sidler. They are all interchangeable.
ZKW and ULO are practically the same.
Sidler has a different connector design. It has a separate plastic housing with two contacts. In my opinion, this design is better.


The reflectors differ in the diameter of the cutout for the connector. Sidler has the largest, and ZKW has the smallest.


So, I chose the two best, whole Sidler headlights from them.


Accordingly, the glass comes from these three manufacturers, but is interchangeable, including the left and right, although some have an R mark. I have a pair of Sidler, a pair of ULO and one FIFFT analogue, - it is also of quite good quality.


There is also original ZKW glass - transparent and smoky.


It is strange that ZKW glass, regardless of its color (orange, transparent, smoky), has the same ETK number. It is not entirely clear how to choose its color when ordering.
I will compare them already on the car, and most likely, I will install clear glass. Or smoky. And the orange ones will be in reserve. By the way, as well as the original orange side repeaters.


So, we insert the reflector, the orange lamp (for clear glass), the seal and screw the glass with two screws.


The front turn signal lights are ready for installation.




The rest of the lights are also assembled - a pair of ULO for my "E30 bedside table", and Sidler and ZKW will be in reserve.


So, the plastic bumper covers are ready for installation.
Now I'm preparing to paint the metal parts of the bumpers.
I'll write about it next time.

[The_Glory]

Went out!

So, right after the clutch was pumped, the first short test drive was done! I couldn't wait! )

https://youtube.com/shorts/Snlxo0Vcfy0

Went out, finally! ))
But it was already late and it was raining outside, so the first drive had to be postponed for a while.

And so, this day came! )
Although, it snowed in April, I still managed to "catch" literally an hour of dry sunny weather, between rain and snowfall! I really wanted to drive a little! ))
First drive!




Let's go! Wow! ))

https://youtube.com/shorts/jbDAd-0sUf8

After the E53, it's just a rocket!! ))) I've already managed to get used to it! ) I really missed it - emotions, like a small child from a favorite toy! )))))
After the third pass, the neighbors started coming out to see what kind of idiot was flying back and forth! ))
I couldn't resist! ))

https://youtube.com/shorts/VnVzHj4--8Y

https://youtube.com/shorts/_Nk17mB5DBE

Looks good, even in dust and without bumpers )) The photo doesn't do it justice, but in the sun the color looks very nice! After polishing it will be even better!








I also really like the look without "tinting" - all the green polished glass looks very harmonious with the blue color, in my opinion.







I'm happy!
Everything would be great if it weren't for two nuances.
Firstly, oil is dripping from the power steering somewhere. I thought the reason was the new Chinese pump, which buzzes like crazy, but it's dripping from somewhere from the steering rack... Maybe the hose is just not tightened, or maybe something worse...
Secondly, the brakes are very bad. I still don't understand why. Either it needs to be pumped again, or it's because of the dirt in the brake fluid... I guess I need to replace the brake fluid, I hope it helps.
But I'll solve these two problems at a car service, on a normal lift.
For now, I'm dealing with all sorts of small "jambs" in the electrical system, I'll write about it later.

P.S.
It's probably time to write that the car already has a new owner.


Or rather, the owner. First time behind the wheel :)


P.P.S.
But the logbook doesn't end there! ))
I still need to paint and install bumpers, polish the body, paint at least one of the four sets of wheels, fill and run the air conditioner, and add some additional options.
And I think there are a lot of other little things that will "come out"...

[The_Glory]

Something is not very clear with the brakes yet - they are practically gone! Maybe they need to be pumped again, or maybe it's because of this dirt.... I guess I need to change the brake fluid again.

[roguetoaster]

I think ABS equipped cars might take more, but 800ml seems within reason. Really like those special tools, they seem easier to use, and frankly easier to store than the usual Motul or similar pressure bleeders. Granted you have to keep filling the reservoir, but no big deal.

There probably is a manufacturing oil on the insides of all of the brake lines or hoses, so icky fluid is to be expected. There's also release agent on rubber seals which blackens fluid quickly.

[The_Glory]

Bleeding the brake system and clutch

So, the brakes are installed, they need to be bled. It would seem that everything is simple, but the situation was complicated by the lack of an inspection pit or a lift in the garage (as usual). I will have to crawl on the floor under the car again... Therefore, I really wanted to ease my suffering, at least a little! )) After looking at these Internet sites, I initially wanted to buy a special Chinese device for vacuum pumping. But after reading its technical specifications, for some reason I had some doubts about its effectiveness... maybe in vain, but I gave up on this idea.
I decided to do something by analogy with the original device used at official BMW car services - pressure pumping. It seems that everything is quite simple - a plug with a valve and a pressure gauge that is screwed onto the expansion tank of the master cylinder instead of a regular cover.
The plugs from all the canisters were either too small or too big. So I remembered that I had an old vacuum booster with a cylinder and a tank left. I took the cover off, took out the sensor from it. To close its hole, I took a plug from a HEPU antifreeze bottle, it was a perfect size.


I cut off the threaded part of the plug, leaving only the upper part.


I bought a regular valve for wheel disks, and drilled a hole for the valve in the plug.


The valve is tight, but just in case, I put it on glue.


We insert the valve into the tank lid. The gasket is standard, which was in the lid.


We screw the lid with the valve onto the tank.


The "special tool" is ready! :)


Again, for convenience, to ease my suffering, I decided to make a special bottle for pumping from improvised means.
To do this, you need a glass bottle with a rubber stopper from a medical dropper, a thin rubber hose, a shoelace, a large paper clip, and an empty ballpoint pen rod.


The "special tool" has a simple design - we make a hole in the rubber cap, insert a thin hose into it and a piece of rod for air removal. We make a hook from the paper clip and tie it to the bottle with a string.


The rubber hose should reach almost to the bottom of the bottle. And the rod tube should go into the bottle a few centimeters so that if the bottle is turned over, the brake fluid does not leak through it.


The cord with the hook is also to prevent the bottle from falling or tipping over.


Here are two not tricky, homemade "special tools" :)


Now you can start pumping.


We pour brake fluid into the reservoir. Instead of the standard cap, we screw on a similar cap with a valve.


We connect the compressor to the valve.


According to TIS, you need to pump 2 atmospheres. But I was a little afraid for my "special tool" )), so I pumped 1.5 atmospheres. I think this is also enough...


I start, of course, with the rear right caliper. I hung my second "special tool" on a loop on the body - I don't know what it is for, but in this case, it is very appropriate. We put the hose on the caliper fitting.


I unscrew the fitting, and...... nothing happens..... ))) I expected that I would now unscrew 4 fittings in turn, a fountain of brake fluid would spray from each one, - and the system would be pumped in 5 minutes! ))) But, for some reason it doesn't work.
I tried it on the front calipers - there was at least some effect there, but there were no fountains there either! ) I don't understand what I did wrong... So, the trick didn't work! ))
So I had to call a friend for help, and pump the brakes in the old proven way - with the pedal.
And this is an original "special tool" for this method - like in a reputable car service! )))


So, I couldn't ease my suffering, and I climbed under the car. By the way, it turned out that it's not that difficult to do, even without a viewing hole. With the front wheels turned to the side as much as possible, there is more or less normal access to the fittings. It's a little harder on the rear ones, but only on the left side, because the right wheel was already removed.
But the rear circuit still didn't want to be pumped. The front calipers were pumped first - everything was OK. And the rear ones, in general, nothing! Not a drop of brake fluid comes out of them! I'm already starting to think that something got into the tubes and clogged them. Although they are all new. And then my friend gets the idea to try pumping with the engine running. I was quite skeptical about this idea, but we tried it anyway. And what do you think? Brake fluid immediately came out of both rear fittings! It's probably not the engine itself, but maybe the ABS hydraulic unit.... Maybe the rear circuit was closed by some valve in the hydraulic unit? And when the hydraulic unit was powered up, that valve opened? I have no other explanation for this phenomenon.... Except maybe it's just a coincidence! ))
But, whatever it was, we went around the circle again - rear right, rear left, front right, front left. The brake system was bled.

All that remained to be bled was the clutch. And that's where the real "pain and suffering" was! ))
First, I had to raise the left front wheel as high as possible on a jack to somehow get to the clutch slave cylinder.
Secondly, the specialists who installed the gearbox said that I had not installed the clutch slave cylinder correctly - with the fitting facing down (as the book says). They argued that since the fittings on the brake calipers are on top, it should be on top here too.
I don't know why (probably out of stupidity) I agreed with them, and they moved the clutch slave cylinder with the fitting facing up.
And now I'm "reaping the fruits" of my stupidity. It doesn't affect the clutch operation in any way, but the system is pumped very hard. After all, the brake fluid now enters the cylinder not from top to bottom, but from bottom to top. And most importantly, the fitting almost rests against the gearbox and access to it is very difficult. Even on a lift, pumping will be very inconvenient. And even more so, lying under the car, and reaching for the fitting with one left hand.... I had to pump brake fluid through a hose with a syringe into the cylinder fitting, and only then did it start pumping. I even wanted to try pumping using the brakes, connecting the fitting of the front left caliper with the fitting of the clutch slave cylinder, but it didn't come to that. In the end, the clutch was pumped! I didn't take a photo, because it was very inconvenient, and not before!
Never install the clutch slave cylinder with the fitting facing up! )

Another nuance that I don't understand. All the tubes and hoses are new, the cylinders are new, the calipers are clean. But the brake fluid at the outlet is very dirty!


Why?? Is this some kind of "preservative" in the new tubes or something? I don't like it... I'll drive a little and replace the brake fluid again.
By the way, I read somewhere that 1.2 liters of brake fluid are needed to fill the system. So I bought two bottles of one liter each. I used exactly one bottle. After pumping, about 150-200 grams of fluid drained, that is, 800-850 grams entered the system. Maybe I'll have to add more... I'll see...

So, despite all the difficulties, pain and suffering, the brake system and clutch are pumped!
Finally, I can try to drive! )

[The_Glory]

Assembly_190. ETK_34_Rear wheel brake lining wear sensor ATE (part 2)

The rear suspension was installed at the very beginning of the car assembly, and together with it, brake discs and protective covers were installed.
The cover must be screwed before installing the hub, otherwise it will not fit. Two bolts on each side.


After that, you can install the bearing, hub, handbrake mechanism and brake disc.


Finally, you can install the rear calipers. To do this, I unscrewed the brake hoses from the tubes and screwed them to the calipers, having previously lubricated them with copper grease. The brackets also need to be unscrewed from the calipers (or you could not screw them).


We lubricate the contact surfaces of the brake pads with anti-squeak paste. By the way, it is more convenient to do this before installing the bracket so as not to smear the brake disc. The upper and lower pads are lubricated on both sides.


We apply blue thread lock to the bolts and screw the brackets to the rear suspension arms. Two bolts each.




Apply anti-squeak paste to the contact surfaces of the brake pads and caliper.




Also to the contact surface of the piston. I lubricated the piston inside as well so that it rusts less. The 3g package was quite enough for one caliper.


Install the inner pad holder into the piston.


Install the outer pad with the wear sensor into the bracket.


Apply blue thread lock to the guide pins.


We insert them into the rubber bushings and screw the caliper to the bracket. The guide fingers DO NOT GREASE with anything!


We close the rubber bushings with plugs. The upper plug is ordinary, and the lower one with a clip for the brake pad wear sensor wire is only for the right caliper.


We insert the locking spring. We thread the sensor connector through the hole in the caliper.


Fix the loop of the plastic bracket on the body wiring connector.


We treat the contacts with a special spray, connect the sensor and fix the connector in the bracket.


We put the bracket on a special hook on the brake disc protective casing. We fix the sensor wire in the clip on the lower plug so that it does not rub against the wheel disc.






Screw the brake hose to the tube, having previously lubricated it with copper grease.


The rear right caliper is installed.










On the left side, everything is similar. The only difference is the lack of a brake pad wear sensor, and the same plugs for both bushings.




Looks nice, and doesn't really stand out visually ;) If you paint the wheels, it will be even better! :)


So, the rear brake calipers are installed.
Next time I'll write about bleeding the brake system and clutch.

[The_Glory]

Assembly_190. ETK_34_Rear wheel brake lining wear sensor ATE (part 1)

For BMW E30, rear brakes could be with brake drums (4-cylinder engines), with conventional brake discs, or with ventilated brake discs (only all-wheel drive 325ix Touring). On conventional Touring, the rear calipers differ from sedans - their piston diameter is 2 mm larger (35 mm instead of 33 mm). Manufacturer - ATE.
Calipers from Touring can be installed on a sedan - a kind of "upgrade" of the brakes, but I don't know how effective it will be... Calipers from all-wheel drive 325ix Touring can be installed on a sedan only in assembly together with brake discs and hubs. It will also be necessary to install wheel rims with a larger offset (ET). Therefore, there are also doubts about the feasibility of this "upgrade". Moreover, such calipers are not so easy to find. I have only seen them on sale once in all my time. At first I wanted to buy one, but I changed my mind.
The M3 has its own calipers, similar to the E32, but I don't know if they are interchangeable with the regular ones.

So, in my case, these are ATE calipers for a sedan with regular brake discs.
Rear wheel brake pad wear sensor ATE




Part #1 - brake caliper housing left (34 21 1 153 243) and right (34 21 1 153 244) - 2 pcs. Fully assembled.
Part No. 2 - brake caliper housing left (34 21 1 160 397) and right (34 21 1 160 398) - 2 pcs. Complete with piston.
Part No. 3 - brake pad bracket (34 21 1 160 396) - 2 pcs. The bracket is the same on both sides.


Part No. 4 - bolt M10X30 (34 21 1 153 937) - 4 pcs. Caliper bracket mounting.
Part #5 - Bleed fitting (34 11 1 153 197) - 2 pcs. I use Quick Brake 0088 fittings.
Part #6 - Protective cap (34 11 1 153 198) - 2 pcs. I use Quick Brake 0126 caps.
Part #7 - Retaining spring (34 21 1 153 199) - 2 pcs. I use BOSCH 1 987474 032 spring set.

Part #8 - Guide pin (34 11 1 157 041) - 4 pcs. They are in good condition, so I left them.
Part No. 9 - brake pad wear sensor (34 35 1 179 819) - 1 pc. Installed only on the right caliper. I use a TRW sensor.
Part No. 10 - terminal (61 13 1 361 897) - 1 pc. This is an error in the ETK - this terminal is for earlier BMW models to fix the brake pad wear sensor connector. It is not used in the E30. Part No. 18 is used instead.

Part No. 11 - brake disc 258X10 (34 21 6 755 407) - 2 pcs. I use TRW discs. Although, I replaced them a long time ago, their thickness is still within tolerances with a large margin. Therefore, I left them.
Part No. 12 - bolt with internal hexagon M8X12 (34 11 1 123 072) - 2 pcs. Fastening the brake disc to the hub.
Part No. 13 - protective cover left (34 21 1 162 061) and right (34 21 1 162 062) - 2 pcs. I use KLOKKERHOLM covers.
Part No. 14 - bolt M6X8 (34 11 1 156 427) - 4 pcs. Fastening the protective covers to the lever.
Part No. 15 - spring washer B6 (07 11 9 932 099) - 4 pcs. Attaching the protective covers to the lever.

Part No. 16 - plug (34 11 1 154 979) - 3 pcs. Rubber bushing plug. I use plugs from the Frenkit 233003 repair kit.
Part No. 17 - plug (34 11 1 154 978) - 1 pc. Plug for the lower rubber bushing of the right caliper with a clip for fixing the brake pad wear sensor wire.

ATE number 11.8190-0157.1

Part No. 18 - bracket (34 35 1 153 966) - 1 pc. Bracket for fixing the brake pad wear sensor connector.

Part No. 19 - not used.
Part No. 20 - caliper seal kit (34 21 1 153 194) - 2 pcs. The original kit includes a rubber seal, a dust boot, and a retaining ring. I use Frenkit 233003 repair kits. The kit includes all the necessary parts.


Even unnecessary parts, they are probably used for other car models.

But looking ahead, I will say that from this repair kit I used only a rubber seal, a piston dust boot, and a retaining ring.
Part No. 21 - repair kit for guide bushings (34 11 1 157 038) - 2 pcs. I use ATE bushings 11.8171-0022.1.
Part No. 22 - JURID 508 brake pad set (34 21 1 158 912) - 1 pc. I use TRW GDB299 brake pads. I replaced them just a few weeks before I disassembled the car, so they are practically in new condition. I left them.
Part No. 23 - 3G brake pad paste (83 19 2 158 851) - 1 pc. Anti-squeak grease for brake pads. I used one package for each caliper.

In the previous post about calipers, I already wrote in detail about all types of grease for brake calipers. I use them.


As I said earlier, my club colleagues criticized my choice of repair kits, arguing that Frenkit, like other Chinese analogues, is not of very good quality. Moreover, after trying on the seal from the Frenkit 233003 kit, it seemed to me that it was too big. I thought it was 35 mm in diameter, for Touring.


It did not want to fit into the cylinder groove. Looking ahead, I will say that I was wrong, and it does fit in place, although not easily.


So, I decided to order both original ATE repair kits, since the BMW kits are no longer available, and their price was not low. But, unfortunately, the ATE 11.0441-3302.2 caliper seal repair kit. is also no longer available. Therefore, the rubber seal, piston dust cap, and circlip will remain from the Frenkit 233003 repair kit.

The ATE 11.0101-5402.2 repair kit is available for order. It includes two bushings and three plugs (two regular ones and one with a clip for fixing the brake pad wear sensor wire). Its price is 11 Euros per caliper. But using the old ATE bushing number 11.8171-0022.1, you can order bushings separately, one by one and much cheaper - 1 Euro per piece.


Since I already have three plugs from the Frenkit 233003 kit, and one plug with a clip is original ATE, I decided to order four bushings separately.




And here is an interesting nuance.
In the diagram in ETK there is some part without a number, which is included in the original repair kit BMW 34 11 1 157 038 - circled with a blue line.


I was curious what it was... I found a lot of photos of this old original repair kit on the Internet, but there was no such part there. Photo from the Internet.


But it was found in a photo of old, still factory, bushings from a teammate.


There is a plastic insert in the middle of the rubber bushing!






I compared my old and new ATE bushings and Frenkit bushings.


There are no plastic inserts in any of them!


That's why I'm really curious - what kind of inserts are those? What are they for? Why aren't they in the new bushings? Maybe they were only installed on the factory assembly line? How critical is their absence? If anyone knows, I'd be very grateful for the information.

Now, finally, we start assembling the calipers.
We lubricate the cylinder and seal with ATE hydraulic assembly paste. We insert the seal into the cylinder groove. It fits very tightly.


Then we lubricate the piston and the boot with the same paste. We put the boot on the piston in this way and insert the piston into the cylinder.


We press the piston into the cylinder and put the boot on the caliper.


We wipe off the excess paste and fix the boot with a retaining ring.


We lubricate the fitting with copper grease, put a rubber cap on it and screw it into the caliper.


Now we need to install the rubber bushings.


To make the bushing easier to enter the caliper, we lubricate its OUTER part with silicone grease. We insert the bushings in this way.


We insert the guide fingers into the rubber bushings. An important nuance - the guide fingers are NOT LUBRICATED with any lubricants!


We screw the caliper to the bracket with the guide fingers. The bushings are closed with plugs. The caliper is assembled.


The calipers are ready for installation.
The metal clip in the photo above is an extra detail. As I said above, it is used for earlier models E12, E21, E23, E28.

I will write about the installation in the second part.