Greetings r3v! Here's my 325is

[CMthe4th]

Awesome, thanks.

[KrayJoeArmstrong]

Still waiting for Another mods hehe you did a great job for Start

[CMthe4th]

Thanks. I've been a little sick for the past 2 days, but the parts have started to arrive so I hope to make some progress this weekend. :up:

[hey808]

Saw this on CL as well! Glad it went to someone who can appreciate the car. Does it have heated seats? Couldn't tell from the pics.

[CMthe4th]

Nope. The seats must be heated manually.

[CMthe4th]

I spent Saturday working on the car and got a little further into the project.

Pulled out the nasty exhaust:


Nasty cat:


Nasty muffler:


Yeah...


Then I disconnected the driveshaft to make the short shifter install a little easier:


I should mention that the whole reason I decided to do the short shifter install was because there was some piece of the shift linkage that was binding and making it incredibly difficult to move the shifter back and forth. I figured that as long as I'm down there replacing components, I might as well put in a new shift lever too.

Anyway, while I was taking everything apart, I discovered the problem. The joint where the selector rod attaches to the shift lever was completely seized. I couldn't separate them with everything still installed on the car, so I just removed the entire assembly together (shift lever, shift carrier, & selector rod). Then, I used a BFH to knock out the selector rod.

I think it's seen better days. The end that attaches to the shift lever (left) seems to have been attacked by rust, which is probably what caused the binding:


I suppose I could have tried to clean it up and reuse it, but I decided to just bite the bullet and order a Double-Shear Selector Rod (DSSR) from UUC, which I hope will arrive sometime this week.

Next I removed the selector joint, replaced the selector shaft seal, installed a new selector joint, and reinstalled the shift carrier. Unfortunately, I was so involved in the process that I forgot to take pictures along the way, but this isn't really a DIY and it's all been documented before. Here is the shift carrier reinstalled w/ new bushings:


Here you can see the white UUC delrin shift carrier bushings and new selector joint:


The Z3 1.9L shift lever and the remaining pieces of the install (minus the selector rod):


New vs. old rubber shift cover:


Top side done, with new leather boot and BMW ZHP shift knob:


So, now I'm just waiting on the DSSR to finish up the shifter install. I'm also waiting on the Stromung Exhaust, which I heard requires some time for production. I can't wait to get it all back together and back on the road for a test drive!

[Norwegian]

cool man!! good progress! good luck! :)

[Link]

Im sub'd to see how you go about the rear end damage. I have the same problem.

[CMthe4th]

It's been a week since my last update, so here's a rundown of what I've been up to.

Most of the parts arrived early last week. I got the new catalytic converter, Stromung exhaust, replacement O2 sensor, exhaust hangers and other mounting hardware, as well as a new trunk lock (I had no key for the old one) and new trim for the rear bumper. Unfortunately I couldn't do much with the exhaust until I got the driveshaft reinstalled, and I didn't want to do that until the shifter was finished, so I was stuck waiting for the DSSR.

When it finally arrived on Saturday afternoon, I was eager to get back to work and make some serious progress. Then I hit another roadblock. The selector joint (which I had JUST replaced) was apparently the wrong version and wasn't compatible with the DSSR.

You can see below that the selector joint knuckle is clearly way too big:


For anyone doing the same thing, the DSSR requires the newer-design 8/89+ selector joint, which has a smaller, symmetrical shape, as opposed to the old design where the knuckle sticks out further on one side. Here is a picture for comparison:



So that extinguished my hopes of getting the car running last weekend. Instead, I ordered the new selector joint and did a couple of smaller projects on the car. I replaced the trunk lock, which was very easy. It's only held in by two bolts and a small rod that connects it to the central locking system. Then I replaced the rear bumper trim (pics to come after I get the car outside again).

I also installed the new O2 sensor on the new cat. I probably should have waited to do this until the cat was on the car to avoid damaging it during installation, but I was itching to get things done... so there. Also, as I was taking inventory of all of the exhaust components, I realized I was missing one of the flanges that connects the cat to the exhaust pipe, so that's on order as well.

I'm crossing my fingers that next weekend will be much more productive.

[CMthe4th]

Im sub'd to see how you go about the rear end damage. I have the same problem.

I've pretty much decided that it will be much cheaper/easier to cover up the rear end damage with a fiberglass ACS-style skirt. Schmiedmann sells one for ~$219 shipped.

As far as the dent in the rear quarter panel, I talked to a local PDR guy who thinks he can repair it. He quoted me $175, which seems reasonable, but I don't know since I've never tried PDR before.

[benyen soljax]

For anyone doing the same thing, the DSSR requires the newer-design 8/89+ selector joint, which has a smaller, symmetrical shape, as opposed to the old design where the knuckle sticks out further on one side. Here is a picture for comparison:

I made the same mistake, but I had the longer shift rod and shorter joint. Luckily I needed to replace the rod anyways so that was just more of an excuse to do so.

[CMthe4th]

The new selector joint arrived. I swapped it for the old one and got the DSSR installed.



I had to grind down the sides of the shift lever knuckle where the plastic sticks out a little so that I could get the DSSR to fit over it.



After reinstalling the driveshaft, I realized that the harmonic balancer was rubbing against the DSSR. I remembered reading somewhere that it might be necessary to remove it, so I did. You can see it sitting there on the right.



It was getting late and I didn't want to disturb my neighbors by BFH-ing the studs back in, so I called it a night.

Now for some gratuitous shots of my new exhaust (which I should get to this weekend) and some other goodies that arrived in the mail:

[matthugie]

Nice progress!

[Kevinl]

Looks like my e30s twin

[Rickaytan]

Welcome! Very nice e30! I wish my interior was that nice