1985 325e White M3 Rep

[McGyver]

Jumping into the central locking stuff!

Central locking means that locking/unlocking one of the doors or trunk with the key will unlock all the doors and trunk (usually). From inside the car, you can push down on one door lock and the other door will lock (same for unlocking, usually). You can also pull on the door handle to unlock/open the car (usually). (this makes breaking into an e30 really easy with plastic strapping) Central locking will also push out a rod to lock the fuel door shut. There isn't a button to press to lock/unlock. The system will not let you lock the car if the driver's door is open, this prevents you from leaving the keys in the car and locking yourself out. You can 100% lock the car with the trunk open, toss in the keys, close the trunk, and lock yourself out.

Driver's door - you can twist the key in the lock a little to actuate central locking, or turn it 90* and remove the key to "deadbolt" it. Now central locking is disabled and you can't pull up on the lock inside the car to unlock the doors. This lock is usually worn out and slightly broken, so people try to avoid using it. If you "deadbolt" the car and the lock breaks, you're fucked and its going to be REALLY hard to undo this since pulling on the door handle won't unlock the car. (break a window, rip off door card, fix it from the inside).

Passenger door - you can only twist the key in the lock to actuate central locking. This doesn't work if the driver's door is "deadbolted"

Trunk - Twist the key to actuate central locking, or turn 90* and remove the key to lock the trunk and disable central locking for the trunk. The trunk lock is usually in the best condition and most robust, so people tend to use this instead of the driver's door.

I HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY suggest getting a remote lock actuator. Something like this. Central locking works by closing a circuit to tell the brain to lock everything. This device can be wired to apply voltage to the signal wire to simulate the same thing. I put it behind/under the speaker in the driver's footwell right next to the central locking brain. Its an easy hour of work from start to finish, and I haven't toughed my door locks in years. Plus, it's really nice to be able to unlock your car as you walk up or lock it while walking away. EVERY e30 owner should do it, its such a great creature comfort for less than $20.

[McGyver]

This is the gas cap area and I don’t see anything?

Disregard my other post, you likely don't have central locking.

You would be looking for the black plastic part in the bottom left that has a rod that can come out to lock the fuel door by sliding into a little protrusion in the fuel door.

[kronus]

it's a grafted on widebody, it's likely the cap lock wouldn't have been carried over.

[McGyver]

it's a grafted on widebody, it's likely the cap lock wouldn't have been carried over.

And that's why you get the big bucks

[reelizmpro]

Although my 85 323i had central locking, I don't think it was standard on Euro cars. Sucks if this is the case here. Good point about the widebody. I guess the sure way to tell would be to look for the trunk and gas cap actuators inside the trunk behind the carpet panels.

Anyway, there is a special bracket that allows one to mount a 4 bolt US plate onto a 2 bolt euro car without having to drill. Mine sticks out a bit. I presume it is OEM as it is zinc plated and looks original.

It's the same idea as this...

https://yourlittlecncshop.com/products/bmw-rear-license-plate-bracket

[OttoB]

it's a grafted on widebody, it's likely the cap lock wouldn't have been carried over.

No ABS either… so this was a basic e30, which is to be expected when they used a donor car to build this one up around 2020.

So, are either of the links off eBay that I posted earlier today good for the car to take car of the locking system on the car? Which one - door no. 1, door no. 2, or mystery on who knows what in door no. 3, Bob? A package like the ones offered is great, since the key is there as are the tumblers, door locks, trunk, etc.



On another note, they could not install the wheels. The car came with what seems to be 1 inch spacers which I had no way of knowing before taking it there to them. So, the existing bolts are too long and I have to get regular, standard sized ones instead!

Lastly - that license bracket link is exactly what I needed + thank you!!!!

[OttoB]

What a friggin' day... and tomorrow, headed to Stuart for the RennTech annual open house some 35+ mins north of WPB in Stuart, then back to WPB. Then to Naples (some 2.5 hours southwest) as my wife has a business location there and attending the Festival of Speed on Sunday.... So, I had to Uber back from the alignment place where yes - the wheels + tires have been there for weeks when the car should have been delivered by - after dropping off the car. Uber back to the shop when they called to let me know they cannot install the wheels (although mounted + balanced tires, and also did alignment), to then go to a local mechanic to see if they had any regular BMW bolts as they normally fix them there (but no dice)... Then drive the e30 to the warehouse, and Uber back to office. So, it certainly has been a trying day and my apologies for all these posts as I try to be proactive on getting as many issues addressed as possible. The goal remains to get all parts I want to source, in hand so when the car goes to where ever it ends up at, no time's a wastin' because more or different or new parts are needed, ya know?

As I tell my wife on a daily basis - Google is Your Friend! Found this snippet on what new bolts to get in order to replace the long ones that are on the car due to the 3/4 spacer:

• Older Compacts: E30 bolts (M12x1.5) can fit other older BMWs like the E21, E36 (non-M), E46 (non-M) if they share the same 4x100 pattern and are used with appropriate wheels.

So, I then quickly souurced them off eBay brand-new when I typed up e36 instead of e30, and presto - found 20 of them brand new for less than $30 shipped. The car will sit at the warehouse until the new regular-sized bolts arrived. Here are pics of the interior after it got some lovin' yesterday - cosmetically, the car is in surprisingly in very good shape and it definitely has been stored indoors for the past few years!











Please help a brutha out - the car does not have power locks, steering, windows, ABS, etc. The door locks do not work with the ignition key which is what the transportation company delivered the car a 2nd time with. The rear trunk lock is completely busted when they attempted to remove the broken piece of key. So, am I looking at this one then from eBay or what?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/125990792047

[OttoB]

H-E-L-P, please!

I have an insurance claim with the transportation company for the driver having broken off the key in the trunk lock. I need to source the parts and buy them but cannot without the continued guidance of you guys. Is the link to the post immediately above this one the 'right' one to get for my car since there is no power/central locking?

Thanks in advance for your patience and help :)

[kronus]

we can't really tell you conclusively, because we don't know how this car was equipped.

it's hard to tell if the central locking isn't working or straight up doesn't exist, without doing some inspection. as mentioned, the easiest thing to do would be to pull the trunk panel that's under the taillights, and see if there is an actuator (red/tan plastic thing about the size of half a pack of cigarettes with a rod coming out of it going to the lock). If there is, you have central locking. If not, you don't.

[OttoB]

As suspected - since this car seems to have originally been a basic one(no cruise control either) with limited options - then take a look at the back end of the taillights which confirms that this car came out of the factory without power anything:





I am off to get the car registered finally and then to stop by a shop recommended by a local forum member who vouches for the owner's knowledge and experience on these e30's.... The list of to-do's has grown considerably but one thing at a time. Now I can go ahead and purchase this set of locks from eBay - yes?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/125990792047

This is a gratuitous shot from picking it up earlier today along with another one of my whips...

[OttoB]

Geez... lots of moving parts all happening at once!

1) I heard back from the eBay seller offering the complete lock set with the link here - and he informed that it came out of a US Spec 1984 318i:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/125990792047

This is a major problem for me as I cannot really drive the car all that much, since it is the kind of car that would attract unwanted attention by a bored, young(er) or old(er) car thief - if the car cannot simply be locked ever... Argh!!!

If this set is good, I just want to pull the trigger and get it installed asap. But, I am under the impression this is still not a 100% given that the 1984 set off the 318 would be a straight swap for mine?





2) I now went to the eBay Germany website since they obviously have Euro spec cars and found only a single vendor with 2 sets:

a) https://www.ebay.com/itm/286688361152 for $343.00 without including shipping or tariffs or whatever else to be tacked on, or labor to install; and


b) https://www.ebay.com/itm/286681137922 for the princely sum of $459.00.

BAT Shipping is supposedly handling this 'claim' but my problem remains the time it is unnecessarily taking vs. simply having gotten a car like any other, drive it/lock it, etc.


Got it registered yesterday and then went to a shop run by a European specialist who has done a lot of work over the years on e30's. Is $180 hourly rate high/low/or about right? He does a lot of race car setup and logistics as well.

Turns out that upon opening the hood, he discovered that this car never came with a/c! So, that is a big problem for me as I cannot drive cars without them, period. I had 'turned' the a/c on and blew warm air, so I thought it was a matter of needing r134 or something. But, turns out there is no condenser, compressor, evaporator, fans, brackets, wiring, switches, blower housing, etc.

So now - this is a project car. There is a difference between filling it up with freon/r134 and - not wanting to drive the car in SoFla heat because there is no a/c at all on it nor will there be for months.




3) This mechanic essentially told me that:

a) the entire dash has to come out which I knew would be inevitable as I want to replace it. There is an enormous crack in the dash that I have not managed taking a picture of (yet - barely touched the car as of last week) that I cannot stomach, aside from a chunk of it missing off the lower driver side corner.

b) so one thing is to replace the dash, but another is to replace the 325i binnacle cluster/gauges the car has - with lights all over the place and non-functioning gas gauge (could be fuel sender) or temperature gauge, and thus - requires that this be re-wired. I sourced a restored Euro 325e binnacle cluster off eBay from Canada and will post pics at some point for it and a few other things that have accumulated here at my office as of late!

c) in replacing the dash for a nice/new one, in replacing the cluster/binnacle with a refurbished one, we also need to install the replacement ignition lock column too!

d) in replacing the dash, the binnacle, the ignition column - we also have to see how to adapt to the wiring loom adding a/c to a car that never came with one.


So, I have my hands more full than I know what to do with... everything will get done, everything will get sorted, one thing at a time - but, I now do not anticipate being able to 'enjoy' the car for at least 3+ months and another $5K between parts and labor for a/c.


I am not committed to this mechanic yet, as much as having gotten high praise from another forum member. The best thing of this mechanic is that he is located 6 mins from my office and maybe 10 from my house! However, he warned me he is not wanting to take on a project and, I would essentially have to show/prove to him that I have all the parts needed to undertake the a/c install and door lock replacement.

[OttoB]

This now only moves me to about 3pm yesterday. After being floored with the news I have to once again install a/c on an old BMW (had it undertaken on my old e28 but - that one had been removed to lighten the car and originally came with it), I called a contact given to me by the local forum member who had recommended me that mechanic shop. AWDBOB a/k/a Bobbie!

Turns out, I had purchased off eBay the other day a set of rear seat headrests but - had no idea it was him - until we spoke for a while yesterday afternoon. Bobbie is in tune with the door lock situation and now with the a/c situation. He is volunteering on getting me setup with the a/c via A/C Solutions plus parts he has that Vintage Air does not offer. However, the wiring situation remains in limbo and have to place my trust that this mechanic can sort it out, even when there is limited and/or conflicting information in this regard (of introducing a/c into a car that it did not come with).

Ivo Christov from Holland helped me source a few parts for my e28 a good 9 years ago or so... Last night, I emailed him to see if he can source a set of door locks since he is very knowledgeable and reputable about these cars. If the forum members here feel that the $300 one off eBay from that 1984 318i is compatible, much less crap to deal with on my end vs. sourcing one from Germany or Holland!

Because I cannot park the car anywhere, I returned it back to the warehouse last night. The wheel bolts as of yesterday were set to arrive this Saturday but then this morning, got an email from eBay indicating that they are out for delivery today. Yesterday was such a shit show as it took me from 10am to leave to the DMV appointment, to then have a 'quick' lunch in the governmental building at the DMV where due to rain, 100 other people also decided to eat there?, to then head to the mechanic to look over the car, and come back to the office around 3pm.

So, I will be chipping at things on my own in 2 weeks' time or so when I am off work. I will likely get the new wheels installed next week. And later on, install the new turn signals, antenna, kidney grill, maybe headlights, raise the Evo rear flap, go to Condor Racing to pick up an Evo III lower lip, etc. This car ain't going anywhere anytime soon and I am still reeling in from an unexpected, strong kick in the nuts, 2 times :(

But when it's all said and done, it will hopefully have all things working as they should while looking decent, as we now approach real M3 territory (for a neglected one) when I complete all of the anticipated necessary work, aside from all the extras I want on it. However, I have no doubts about a finish line or - a light at the end of the tunnel - will be there with enough effort, perseverance, resources, time, and good workmanship! I am in it for the haul, folks!

Wish me luck and a shout out to Bobbie - small world it is, ain't it?

[2mAn]

Hang in there, theres always the mixed bag of 'things I want to do' and the 'things I have to do and wasnt expecting to do' when you buy a car essentially sight unseen... in the end you know it will be worth it, especially when AWDBOB is going to help get you sorted.

Earlier you asked about the pricing of the shop, normally I would say that feels high to me but if they were stacked with old BMWs in front I would be ok with it... if they had a bunch of F & G series cars and no E... well, I would look elsewhere. You mentioned Condor, I would ask him who he would suggest to help with the A/C installation. Its like you said, sourcing the pieces will be fairly straightforward but the actual OEM-functions will require someone who knows 80s BMWs.

[reelizmpro]

Yikes but not surprising since it's a euro car. Honestly, at this point, it would be worth it to source parts from a donor car. That way, you get everything you need including the little things that are easily missed. One of my M3's was a track car and had everything gutted except for the dash itself. I swapped the HVAC and central locking system over from a donor 325i.

[2mAn]

Yikes but not surprising since it's a euro car. Honestly, at this point, it would be worth it to source parts from a donor car. That way, you get everything you need including the little things that are easily missed. One of my M3's was a track car and had everything gutted except for the dash itself. I swapped the HVAC and central locking system over from a donor 325i.

I was thinking the 84 318 ebay ad would be a worthy purchase since it will all be matched already