E30 from Ukraine - "Shadow of Intelligence"

[The_Glory]

It's awesome that you got to drive it on a quick tour of town.

It's an impressive project, beautifully documented.

Yes, I was happy like a child! )))
Thank you very much!

[The_Glory]

Searching for an electric current leak

Since I only went out on weekends, the car was in the garage for a week. Previously, I removed the "ground" terminal from the battery, because I could do something with the wiring. Now I've almost finished everything, so I didn't disconnect the terminal. And after three days, the 72Ah battery was discharged. Completely! to 4.8V! Something specifically was "eating" it!
So, I need to find out what exactly. I suspected the standard immobilizer that I installed. After all, it turns on automatically and works constantly. I even started thinking about installing a "ground" switch...
But, I'm starting the search.
We disconnect the "ground" terminal. We connect the multimeter in current measurement mode (up to 10A) in series - one contact to the "-" terminal on the battery, and the other contact to the disconnected terminal on the body.




We turn off all electrical consumers, close all doors and the trunk so that the interior and trunk lights go out. On newer cars, you need to wait 15-20 minutes until the car "falls asleep" and all electrical units turn off. There are no such units on the E30, so you can immediately look at the indicators.
At first, the multimeter showed 0.41A! This is A LOT! It is not surprising that the battery was completely discharged in three days. A normal current leak is considered to be 0.04A-0.06A.
I start removing all the fuses (then the relays) one by one, following the multimeter readings. If the battery is in the trunk, and the fuses are under the hood, then it is more convenient to do this with an assistant so as not to run back and forth every time. )
And then, having reached fuse No. 21, the readings on the multimeter dropped significantly - to 0.02A. That is, something that is in the circuit of this fuse and "eats up" the battery.


According to the fuse list No. 21, these are:

21 7.5A Interior lighting lamps. Glove box lighting lamp. Portable lamp. Clock. Radio receiver (station memory device). On-board computer.

The prospect of once again getting into the interior wiring of the on-board computer or audio wiring scared the crap out of me! ))) So I decided to start simple - it's logical! ) I turned off the interior lights - nothing changed. I opened the glove compartment - the same thing. But when I pressed the button with my hand, the multimeter showed pleasant readings - 0.02A! Great!


That is, the box did not fully press the button, and the lamp was constantly on. Just in case, I made sure of this by putting the phone in the box in video recording mode and closing and opening it. The lamp is constantly on in the video.
I slightly bent the button bracket and everything started working as it should. I checked it again with the phone. )
I'm very glad that everything turned out to be so simple! ) Three days have passed - the battery is normal. Finally, I fully secured its terminals and installed all the clips holding the plastic boxes over the battery.

[The_Glory]

Repair of BMW BAVARIA C BUSINESS radio buttons

I have previously written about my collection of stock radios in the relevant ETK section.


After that, I also got a CD player, I also wrote about it.


But I only need to install one of them! Therefore, I connected them one by one to check their functionality.

I started with the top-end BLAUPUNKT MUNCHEN SCD09 - an analogue of the stock BAVARIA ELECTRONIC CDII.

I haven't found the CD cartridge yet, so I only checked the radio. Everything works, but the volume is very low. Later I found the probable cause. I made an adapter for the stock wiring and incorrectly connected the TEL MUTE contact, which mutes the volume when a call comes in to the stock phone. Maybe that's why the volume was muted. I've already redone the adapter, I'll have to connect it again and check. But I won't install it for now.

BMW BAVARIA C BUSINESS RDS

I bought a new screen a long time ago, it needs to be replaced. The radio works fine, but there are a few problems with the cassette - low volume and interference from the radio, fast rewinding of the cassette does not work. That's why I put it off for repair.

BMW BAVARIA C BUSINESS

All functions work fine. But I stupidly broke two buttons during installation. I'll write about this in more detail later.

BMW BAVARIA C ELECTRONIC

Everything is really bad here - the radio does not respond at all, even to the code entry buttons... For repair.

BMW REVERS
I never planned to install it in the car, although it somehow works. It's the simplest radio, its visual condition is not very good, and the connector there is in terrible condition. So it will just lie in the garage.

BMW BAVARIA DIGITAL II

A simple radio. The volume control doesn't work well. Maybe it'll also need to be repaired.

So, there are a lot of radios, but little use! )) Only one is fully in working order - the BMW BAVARIA C BUSINESS. Accordingly, I'm installing it.
But there is one nuance here. The radio is installed without a "shaft", - it is simply fixed in the dashboard with two spacer screws. I have a little more wiring in my car than normal people, so in places it creates problems. ) And here too - the radio did not fully fit into the dashboard, because the wiring harnesses in it interfered. Well, when I "stuffed" the radio, I accidentally pressed the two leftmost buttons, and the contacts fell out of them! It's good that I noticed it and didn't lose them.


To say that I was upset is like saying nothing at all... (( But, fortunately, a familiar technician calmed me down a little - the contacts did not break, but simply fell out. To put them back in place, you need to unscrew and disassemble the front panel with buttons. I removed the top cover, and from what I saw for some reason I concluded (wrong, as it turned out later) that in order to remove the front panel, you need to disassemble the entire radio - remove the boards and the cassette mechanism. I am not much of a radio technician, so I decided that it would be better to contact a local technician. For two weeks he could not do anything, then he said that everything was complicated there, you need to unsolder the boards, etc. I realized that he was the same technician as me, and took the radio from him in the same condition as it was. I decided to disassemble on your own!
We unclip the plastic cover. After looking closely, I unscrewed one screw, and the front panel with the buttons was removed! Here is this ONE screw, near the volume control, - and that's it.


And here is the reason - the contacts fell out because there was not one screw on the board that they were pressed against.


Just in case, I removed these two buttons - it is clear that there are no contacts on the extreme ones.


I tried to push them between the board and the buttons - they fell out again fell out. Therefore, you need to completely unscrew the button block from the board. Here are these screws.


And here again trouble - I don't have such a small "jeweler's" screwdriver. I had to turn to another local phone repairman again. The master could not disassemble the board, because he could not find this screw, which is located between the two boards.


Although, in the upper board there is a special hole for it, through which you can easily unscrew that screw. Such masters... But the master did not give up, even when almost all the contacts from the buttons fell out, until from her took it apart... He shoved them out, as best he could by feel, between the board and the buttons, and with a sense of victory, returned my panel to me. For a symbolic 100 hryvnias! ) Just in case, I bought a set of "jeweler's" screwdrivers there, - and for good reason! )
At home I put the panel on, connect the radio, - now ALL the buttons work hard and poorly... And the two extreme right ones now don't work at all, - now there are no two contacts there! Yours!!!... I would have been better off just buying screwdrivers from that "master" and doing it myself!
I remove the radio, disassemble the panel.


The contacts are crooked, there are no contacts at all on one button, and there were two on the other! )
I laid out all the contacts in their places, covered them with a board and screwed them in with screws. That's it.


I assembled the radio, connected it - all the buttons work perfectly.
What was the difficulty for the "masters" - I don't understand. Apparently not all masters are equally useful! )) Or, as they say, if you want something done well, do it yourself!
Finally, I installed and properly secured the radio.


P.S.
Recently, I accidentally bought an air conditioner button with whole icons. At the same time, I wanted to replace it, because the icons on mine were erased.
But here too, there is a problem! ) I didn't immediately notice that the buttons themselves are not square, but rectangular, so they stand with gaps. Someone shoved buttons from E32/E34 into the E30 body.


In addition, they are not fixed when pressed. Probably because of the contact that got into the middle of the button.


It will be a spare if it can be repaired. In the meantime, there will be buttons without icons.


By the way, the temperature on the on-board computer is real! ) And I haven't even turned on the air conditioner yet...
But, literally half an hour later, the weather changed dramatically - it started to rain, or almost a hurricane of some kind!


I noticed an interesting trend. In order for it to start raining, I don't even need to wash my E30! )) It's enough to just drive it out of the garage! )) It's happened several times already! )

[The_Glory]

Assembly_196. ETK_51_Footrest

There is a rather rare option that is included in the M-package - a left footrest. Maybe that's why I couldn't find its number in the ETK.
Footrest

Part #1 - footrest. There is no number. If anyone knows it, I would be grateful for the information. This rest was in the M-package before the restyling in 1987.

Part #8 - footrest retrofit kit (51 47 2 231 604). This kit was in the M-package after restyling. But in ETK for some reason it is only for convertibles for the American market. Maybe this is another mistake... It is no longer available for order.
Footrest
Photo from the Internet






This platform differs in its fastening. It is fixed together with the fastening of the left front speaker, the central locking unit bracket, and the clutch pedal stop. All these details are also shown in the diagram, although I have already written about them in the relevant sections, so I will not repeat myself. Especially since I have an early version of the footrest.
So, back to my version.










For some reason, the ETK does not list the clip for attaching the footrest. It can be seen in the photo from the Internet.


This is a clip for fixing the original floor mats.

Part #5


Part #1
I also wrote about them in the relevant section. But this clip is for pile floor mats, so it consists of three parts - a clip and two washers. Plastic washers are not needed to fix the footrest, so the clip itself can be ordered separately by number from the retrofitting and accessories section - for rubber floor mats. Washers are not used there either.
Rubber mats

Part #5 - threaded cover SCHWARZ (51 47 1 919 177) - 1 pc.


Fastening the early version of the stop is easier - a clip in the carpet, and a self-tapping screw for the left front speaker.


Mark the location of the clip and screw it into the carpet.




Put the footrest with the hole on the clip, turn it 90 degrees and fix the footrest with it.




At the top, the footrest fits snugly against the metal bracket for mounting the steering wheel guard.


It is screwed in with a self-tapping screw together with the left front speaker. You don't have to screw in the self-tapping screw, because it also screws in the speaker guard. I screwed it in to better secure the footrest.


Next, you need to unscrew the hood opening handle to install the plastic speaker shield. But here it turned out that the shield does not fit at all, because the footrest significantly interferes with it... Looking closely at the shield, I noticed a line on it that was very similar to the cut line for the shape of the footrest...




I don't see any other option, so I cut the shield along this line.




After that, it fell into place perfectly!


By the way, then I looked at the original EBA instructions - and it does say that this is the cut line for both footrest options. So everything is correct. It also says that for the earliest cars with a pile speaker shield, nothing needs to be cut.

We screw the shield with a self-tapping screw together with the footrest and speaker. We install the hood opening handle and door seal.


All that remains is to install the lower steering wheel guard.


The left footrest is installed. Another "plus" to the "full" configuration ;)







A pretty handy thing. And considering that my carpet is the earliest, without the black pad under the left foot, it's also a practical thing - now the carpet won't get so dirty in that place.



But now I need to order original pile mats, because the rubber one from the E34 partially covers the footrest, and gets in the way a little. Well, that's for the best - maybe I'll buy them sooner now! :)

P.S.
Just for information.
There is a similar footrest for the E28, but judging by the photo, it is different in shape and size, and it won't fit the E30.
Photo from the Internet:




Although, I often came across information that the footrests for the E30, E28 or even for the E24 are the same. It looks like this is a mistake.

[The_Glory]

Bottom guard and brake air ducts for BBS (part 1)

Summer is already ending, and I still haven't installed the air conditioning compressor and started it, so I haven't installed the bottom guard either. Firstly, I still haven't found a place to check the compressor before installation and fill it with R12 freon. Secondly, for financial reasons, the start of the air conditioning, along with the painting of the wheels, is postponed for an indefinite period. Maybe until next season... or maybe the war will finally end sooner, then maybe I'll have some kind of job and salary...
And for now, I decided to finish the bottom plastic guard and install the air ducts for brake air.
Nothing interesting, but the photo turned out a lot )
So I'll just start with a nice photo ))




I've written in the relevant section of ETK for a long time about the lower plastic shields and their differences - early ones before 85, 85-87, and restyling ones after 87.
Previously, I had only the lower shield installed, after 87. I also bought side shields and air ducts for it, but they don't fit my BBS front apron. There was an idea to look for early shields before 85, or M-Technic I shields, but finding them, especially whole, is problematic. And again, they won't really fit my apron. Or "collective farm" something homemade again, like I had before... But here I was a little lucky - by chance in a neighboring village I found the 85-87 shield I needed. Its condition was far from ideal, but I bought it. On the left is a regular 85-87 shield, on the right is a shield for the air conditioner after 87.


It was necessary to make a shield for the air conditioner from a regular shield. That is, to make three rectangular holes for blowing the engine pan. I don't know how this affects the operation of the air conditioner, but it was done that way from the factory.


The condition of the shield was very bad - broken off parts of the fasteners, and many cracks. But there was nothing else. So I decided to repair it.






The plastic resembles fiberglass, so it cannot be soldered. For soldering, I used ordinary plastic ties, melting them with a soldering iron.


These are the "seams" that came out. They seem to be holding up well, but I decided to reinforce them with bodywork polyurethane sealant.


It may not look very aesthetically pleasing, but it's cheap, reliable, and practical! (c) :)




The missing parts of the fasteners were restored using glued overlays made of similar plastic.








In principle, the overall appearance turned out not bad. Especially since it is not visible from below! )




But, nevertheless, for a more aesthetic look, I painted it with black matte paint.




The number remained normal, but the shield is now air-conditioned! ) With holes for blowing.


In the 85-87 version, German engineers for some reason decided to abandon the brake air vents in the front spoiler, and replaced them with these stampings at the bottom of the shield.




Theoretically, they were supposed to somehow direct the air flow towards the brake discs. But, damn it! )) In practice, it doesn't work! That's obvious. This is a "jam" of German engineers, which they fixed after the restyling of 1987, returning normal air ducts for blowing the brakes! But I had to somehow fix this "jam" myself! ) I previously made homemade air ducts from a plastic corrugated interior ventilation pipe from a "Moskvich" )) This time I wanted to do something less "collective farm" and more "aesthetic"! ;)
Apparently there are some ducts from the body kit manufacturer BBS, but I only saw them once in a photo on the Internet, and then for a different type of apron. So it's unlikely to find them. So I started looking through various standard air ducts from different BMW models. And I found a replica of the M-Technic air ducts for the BMW E34 at a flea market, which visually looked similar to what I needed for BBS. The seller gave me the dimensions of their holes - they almost fit! I decided to buy it, although the seller persistently warned me that they would not fit anywhere except on a replica of the M-Technic body kit for the BMW E34! ) But I was more persistent! )) I bought such a set - a 3D-printed replica, M-Technic BMW E34.






The first try-on showed that I was not mistaken - they fit well into the factory stampings on the shield.


On the other hand, it's almost perfect!


So, everything is ready for installation, and I'll deal with the nuances on site!


I'll write about the installation next time.

[The_Glory]

Bottom guard and brake air ducts for BBS (part 2)

To install the bottom guard, you need a lift or a viewing pit. Unfortunately, I don't have either of those in my garage. I didn't want to jack up the car again, so I decided to make an improvised "overpass" on the garage ramp ;)


My assistant is the first to check the convenience of this "know-how"! ))


So, the guard on the front edge needs to be inserted into the slots in the body under the radiator with its three protrusions.
Left


In the center


Right


In my case, these slots were closed for some reason - I had to bend the metal above them first.


We put the shield under the car and insert it into these grooves. On the sides, the shield is screwed onto the side members with two plastic nuts.
Then we screw the lower edge of the BBS apron to the shield (it already had holes for this).




In essence, the shield is installed. I wonder what the rectangular holes on the sides of the BBS apron are for?... Similar holes are also in the factory spoiler. Maybe this is for attaching the original metal protective grille?


By the way, I had to move the holes for the air conditioner a few millimeters to the left and forward so that the power steering pump pulley would not rub against the edge of the shield (I recall that I had to lower the pump a little lower than it was at the factory). I think that this will not affect the operation of the air conditioner in any way. )
The shield still needs to be screwed to the front edges of the wheel arches. But I will do this after installing the bumper so as not to do the same thing twice.

Now I need to fit the M-Technic BMW E34 air ducts in place and secure them.
First, I inserted them close to the hole in the BBS apron, and marked the required length on the edge of the shield in place. I cut off the excess. By the way, the quality of the plastic, as for 3D printing, is excellent. To make the case hold tighter, I glued it around the circumference with sealing tape.


I inserted the duct case all the way under the edge of the hole in the BBS apron, and screwed it to the plastic shield at the back.


I made a 24mm spacer from thick rubber and glued it to the air duct case. Through this spacer, I screwed the lower edge of the BBS apron to the air duct case.


Now the lower edge of the BBS apron will not sag and scoop up rubble from the garage floor every time you leave - the consequences of this are already visible on the end of the apron...
In this way, the air channel is fixed between the plastic shield and the BBS apron, connecting them together.


On the outside, the channel closes almost the entire opening in the BBS apron, and the seal covers the gaps.


Similarly on the right.




Entrance


Exit into the wheel arch.


Maybe not ideal, but, as for me, it looks good, and it holds well. It's like it was there! )
And the main thing is that the direction of the air flow is now really on the brake discs!




The overall appearance is now much better - the lower edge of the BBS apron is even, but does not sag, and the "holes" in the openings for the air ducts do not shine through.










P.S.
I mentioned the regular BBS air channels here. I've never seen them live. But I saved a photo from the Internet - air ducts for another type of BBS apron.






The direction of the air flow is similar.


But their design is somewhat more complicated - they act as both air ducts and protective shields at the same time.


But for some reason I've never seen them, even in photos on the internet...
Unless you look closely at the picture from the BBS brochure, you can see them.


I wonder if there are similar stock air ducts for my type of BBS apron? If anyone has come across them, I would appreciate the information.

[The_Glory]

Wheels

I've been collecting rims like a fool is collecting candy wrappers! )) Four sets. In principle, I like them all, and I don't know what to do with them - I don't want to sell them, and you can only drive on one set at a time! ) Maybe I'll change them in turn... Although, I can put all four wheels different )))

1. Borbet A multi-width rims with flat caps 7.5J16 ET20 PCD 4x100 DIA57.1 185/55R16, 9J16 ET15 PCD 4x100 DIA57.1 215/45R16 summer.

This is the basic set. In my opinion, these are some of the best rims for the E30. They look great and are without any spacers and rings. There are chips and scratches on the rim, so for a complete beautiful look, they need to be painted. The tires are already old, the front ones are completely worn out, - you need to buy a new set. But for now I installed these wheels as they are.

2. OZ wheels (ALPINA look, King) 7J15 ET13 PCD 4x100 DIA57.1 195/60R15 winter.









This was my winter set. That's why they're in pretty bad shape. Winter reagents and road salt have really damaged the paint. By the way, they're not painted exactly the same as they were in the original. They're silver with a graphite center from the factory. Mine is only silver on the front surface, and not only the middle, but also the side surfaces of all the "spoke wheels" are painted graphite. I bought another such disk separately for the spare wheel. It is all silver. I need to paint all five of them the same. I haven't decided yet - whether it's factory or the way I had it. It looked good. The tires are winter, the rear ones look almost like new - I drove them for two or three winters, but they are already old. And I don't need winter tires anymore - the car won't be driven in the winter. So, I need a new set of tires.

3. MIM 1900 7J15 ET13 PCD 4x100 DIA57.1 205/55R15 wheels








I got these wheels by chance, and almost for free - it was a sin to refuse! ) Their condition, comparatively, is not bad, although one of them needs to be leveled. These are wheels specifically for the BMW E30, although they were once installed on an Alfa Romeo 75. Even though they have a PCD of 4x98. The tires are very old. I don't know if they should be painted, but the tires need to be installed new. Maybe I'll keep them as a "sports" set... :) Someday this war will end, and then we'll be able to ride in some slalom or sprint at a club fest ;) And they look good on the E30.

4. Alloy wheels 365x150 TD ET35 with TD 220/55VR365 (Michelin TRX)














Original stock "bottle cap" rims. A teammate gave these rims to me a long time ago because he was going to scrap them! ) He bought them by mistake, thinking that they were regular stock 14" rims. In fact, they are original "metric" rims, which have a diameter of 365 mm, i.e. 14.4". This was some kind of joint "experiment" between BMW and MICHELIN in the 80s. Although, similar wheels were also on Mercedes and Ford of those times. Perhaps it was some kind of "prototype" of "runflat", because the rubber is quite hard. Why did they make "metric" diameters 340mm (13.4"), 365mm (14.4"), 390mm (15.4"), 415mm (16.4") - I don't really understand. But this is indicated on both the wheels and the rubber. Accordingly, ordinary "inch" tires do not fit on these wheels - they are either too big or too small, and do not fit on the wheel. Therefore, when buying stock wheels, you need to pay attention to this. Tires for them were produced by MICHELIN. I don't know if this is true, but I read somewhere that they were produced only until 2009. My set is completely new, but it was manufactured in 2009. I bought it by chance at a tire store, as "not liquid" ;) Although, usually, the prices for such tires are much higher than for new regular "inch" tires of the same size. I immediately put one tire on the rim to make sure that the dimensions match.




The rims need to be painted. I bought stock chrome caps for them, but I need to replace the stickers with the BMW logo on them.


This will probably be a set for "photo shoots" )) Just like a rare old-school option.

5. Raking through my supplies, I found a couple more racing "slicks" - I bought them a long time ago, just to try what they were like - for drag racing )) But somehow I never got my hands on them, and then I completely forgot about them ) I don't know... maybe I'll wear them to MIM someday, - at least for a "photo shoot" )))




So, I cleaned, washed all my wheel supplies and put them in a pile - this is such a mountain of junk! ))


In the end - I need to paint four sets of wheels and buy three sets of new tires. At the moment, this does not fit into my budget, so I just packed them in bags and folded all the wheels - until better times...


That's it.