Just Bought My First E30

[ClayW]

I tackled the dash replacement this week. The wife and I found a salvage yard dash with only two small cracks for $37. That's not a bad deal, since our existing dash looked like a dried up riverbed. The previous owner's temporary fix for this was a fitted dash carpet piece, the velcro for which he apparently glued onto the dash.

Forgive the poor lighting.



So, I set about disassembling the interior of the car. There are slightly more electronics in an E30 as compared to the 1600.



Removed the A-pillar trim. It's nice that these are vinyl-covered plastic that pops off easily instead of glued-on vinyl, like in the 2002s and 1600s.



Next came the emergency brake trim piece....



...and the shifter surround....





...under which I discovered some 29 cent stamps. FYI, first class mail was 29 cents from February 1991 through January 1995. You didn't know that.



After a lot more disassembly, the dash was out.



Here is the old and the new(er), which was cleaned up a bit.



I snapped the VIN tag off the old to swap to the new.



I also painted some pop rivets for reattachment.





And here it is bolted in.



Note that you have to pull out the A/C diffuser and route this part of the wiring loom over the ducting.



Stereo and HVAC panel in.



And finally all back together. It's much better without all the cracks. It was a bit of work, but compared to the cost of a 2002 dash, this one was a steal.





I also replace the non-operational antenna with this $45 Hirschmann 2040 replacement power antenna. It came with a bunch of parts for multiple applications.



I just cut the wires and soldered them to the old connectors.



Mounted in the trunk.

[ClayW]

I have a pretty constant oil leak coming from the front passenger side of the motor, just above the head gasket, so I dove in.

Here's where I started:




I removed the valve cover and this little retainer bar thingy.



Then I removed the four rocker shaft plugs.



Here they are next to the new ones. I'm hoping that the fact that these were a little wet means that replacing them and the valve cover gasket will seal up the leak. If it turns out to be the cam seal, I'll have a lot more work in front of me.



Retainer bar back in.



Now it's time for a rocker adjustment. I used a bent step feeler gauge and set them dead to between .024" and .026" with the engine dead cold.



I also used a little yellow model paint to mark the rockers that I adjusted. For those of you who haven't yet tackled this task, don't think that you can just remember which ones you've done as you adjust.



Then, I replaced the valve cover gasket. I also painted and sanded the valve cover, because the oxidized aluminum wasn't very good-looking.

[Ginsterman98]

Its like my twin almost, how did get the paint to come back? mine is faded like yours. Specifically tools and products used.

[Vivek]

No, some forum members want them. I believe someone is looking for one right now. (He has a totaled black e30/mint white e30 in his sig)

Sounds like RUFFLZ, PM him OP.

[sweet3]

The dome light only coming on when the door is around 1/3 open is normal. When you figure out the braking problem let me know. I replaced my disks and pads and I still have a grinding noise under light braking.

[ClayW]

The dome light only coming on when the door is around 1/3 open is normal. When you figure out the braking problem let me know. I replaced my disks and pads and I still have a grinding noise under light braking.

The dome light thing was a broken wire in the door harness in the hinge area and was fixed with the Red/Black wire fix.

I replaced the brake discs and the shutter went away.

[ClayW]

Cam Seal Replacement

After determining that my constant oil leak was likely flowing from the cam seal, I ordered the parts and dove in. If you replace this seal, you'll need the O-ring also.



Here is where I started:



Drained the coolant:



Removed the radiator bracket and hoses:



.....and removed the radiator, leaving the shroud in place. Radiator first, shroud second.





If you remove one of the water pump bolts, you can get a crescent wrench in there to remove the fan clutch and fan. Otherwise, you'll need a thin 32mm wrench. They're cheap and available at bike shops, but the one that i ordered hasn't yet arrived.



The next trick is to use an oil filter wrench to remove the water pump pulley bolts.



I removed the distributor cap next. I also took off the crank pulley, only to realize that doing so was unnecessary for the cam seal. If you're doing your timing belt, you'll need to remove it, so I guess that I was just practicing.



Then I removed the upper timing belt cover. According to the PO, the timing belt was replaced less than $5K miles ago. It looked fine, so I decided not to bother with it.



You'll need an E12 star socket to remove the cam gear.



Here is the source of my leak:



Be careful pulling the seal carrier out.



The cam seal looked to be in relatively new condition, but the O-ring on the carrier was certainly older than it should be.



Here is the new one:



Even though it looked fine, I popped the cam seal out and pressed in a new one.





Now to put everything back together. Replacing the belts is really easy with no radiator in the car.



The car came with a new-in-the-box fan clutch in the trunk. The one on the car was made in China and the replacement is a German-made Sachs clutch. Note the mechanical difference.







New fan clutch installed.



And all back together. Hopefully I can now park without marking my territory.

[I<3BMW]

The odometer logged 211K before grinding up it's gears. I ordered the gears already.

Where did you order the gears for your odometer??!!!

[ClayW]

Where did you order the gears for your odometer??!!!

https://www.garagistic.com

Just remember to order the right gearset for your cluster (VDO or Motometer).

[I<3BMW]

www.garagistic.com

Just remember to order the right gearset for your cluster (VDO or Motometer).

Awesome.. Thanks!

[4drPwr]

Nice choice of E30 (5spd four door) and nice to see a new owner going about work in the right way. Congrats and good luck!

[I<3BMW]

www.garagistic.com

Just remember to order the right gearset for your cluster (VDO or Motometer).

Maybe this is a dumb question.. but how do i tell the difference?

[I<3BMW]

NVm

[getouth]

^^ look at it. it will tell u . lmao!

[I<3BMW]

yeah... I figured that one out haha