New name and and new engine for Mina: an e30 for the GF

[illest318i]

I'm sooo jelly of the cardinal interior

[Andy.B]

The dash is pulled apart to fix the cluster, and install a new head unit. I reassured the girlfriend that this is progress.

[Andy.B]

Got 4 inches of snow over the weekend, and still waiting for a new timing belt idler gear to show up, so no progress to report. I did spend more time on the head unit wiring/amp bypass. I have the annoying stereo harness with a common ground between the HU and amp, so I think I'm going to go try and make it as easy as possible, and reversible as possible, and run 4 new wires to the trunk (along with an rca cable for the amp) to act as individual speaker negatives.

[Andy.B]

Lots of progress, still some issues:

I got the cast idler gear and timing belt on, and buttoned up everything under the hood. Car now runs on all 6 cylinders. Idle is too low.
I cleaned and checked idle control valve. Looks good.
I checked TPS function. Checks ok.
I checked fuel pressure. All good.
I replaced the coolant temp sensor.
I swapped in 2 other dme's. No change.
Then I started checking everything from the harness, and got to the Park/Neutral switch pin. Not working. I start to look around and find a connector disconnected. Sure enough, that was it. Plugged it in and buttoned up the ecu. Idles right were its supposed to now.
I went and got it inspected. I took a look around while it was in the air. Everything looked pretty good:


(There aren't any major leaks, its just residual fluid from the head job).

I filled up the fuel and took it through a car wash on the way home.


When the car first starts, it runs well for 20 or 30 seconds, but then settles in to a bit of a rough idle. It misses occasionally, and I can't trace it down. I have tried different injectors, plug wires, idle control valves, afm's, temp sensors, and dme's, with no change. No codes with stomp test. I put a new rotor in, but am still waiting for a new cap to show up. That is the only thing I can think of at this point, so hopefully it takes care of it. The fact that it's inconsistent makes it a bit harder to track down.

[lukeADE335i]

Good work.

I'd say a new distributor cap will solve it. I had a rough idle on my M30, that seemed to change with ambient temperature (so I suspected a bad air temp sensor in the AFM, or the idle valve on the way out). Fortunately I thought to give the car a decent service before trying to rip into Motronic diagnosis mode, and a new distributor cap & rotor arm solved it.

Sometimes it's the simple stuff that can effect any car! :)

[Andy.B]

Here's how she is sitting now. I need to get an alignment, and put a few more of the tune up parts on as they arrive.

[gonzo1088]

Sweeeeet interior!! My E30 is having similar idling problems but I've yet to do a tune up on the ignition system.

[M-technik-3]

My girlfriend is a pretty awesome chick. She insists on only driving manual transmission cars. The first time I saw her laptop, her background was some muscle cars. She wants a Datsun 240z, and/or a Mini. She is my navigator for road rally's. She knows a fair bit about cars, and has good taste. Unfortunately, being a broke college student, she has been perpetually relegated to family hand me downs. She drives a manual Honda Civic, which, while its a reliable, pleasant enough, gets you from a to b car, it is hardly inspiring to drive. We have been cohabing for several years, and as a former professional mechanic I have long been responsible for fixing and maintaining her car, and while a Civic isn't hard to work on, it isn't the most rewarding car to spend time busting knuckles on either.
She has long wanted a nicer car, but living in western New York, a Datsun or Mini would be a pretty terrible daily driver, and require a winter beater. And as awesome as she is, she has been, for the longest time, lukewarm at best towards the styling of the e30. She actively protested when I got my 87 325 2 door.

I don't get it either.

I have long been trying to talk her into an e30. A, they are great cars, that are a blast to drive, while still making a suitable daily driver, and B, I have too much e30 knowledge in my head and spare parts in my garage to have room for another project car. I frequently search the local area Craigslist's for e30's, just to see whats out there, and share interesting finds with my brother. He recently sent me a link to an ad for a black 4 door 87 325i local to him. It looked complete, and relatively clean. It was certainly all original, with red leather comfort interior, 13 button obc, power sunroof, and factory tape deck (including the head cleaning kit). It ran, but according to the ad, needed brakes to pass inspection. I showed the ad to my girlfriend to see what she though. I figured she would scoff, as usual. It was automatic, it was a 4 door, and it was an e30. Instead, she lit up, and asked gleefully "for me!?!"

We took the drive out to check it out right then. I spent a few minutes looking it over, and took it for a spin around the block. We made a deal, and drove the hour and a half back home with plans to go back in the morning with a trailer. I got a buddy with a truck to drive out with me in the morning, and we stopped at u-haul to rent a trailer. When we arrived to pick up the car, the guy came out nervously.

He lost the title.

I was furious. Who loses a title? Why didn't he call me to let me know? Why did he wait until THEN to check and make sure he had it!?! I angrily told the gentleman to call me if he finds the title, or gets a new one, and I would come back out to get the car, but was going to pay him less. He was apologetic, and agreed to knock money off the agreed on price.

Two weeks later, my friend in I ventured back out, another rented trailer in tow, with the assurance that the title was signed and ready to go. Fortunately, this time, it was, and minutes later, I had the car strapped down to the trailer, happy as could be.



Before I drove off, the gentleman asked if I wanted any of the spare parts he had. I said sure, figuring it would be the usual stuff, like used plug wires, and some random coolant hoses or sensors I wasn't really worried about, but figured I would take anyway. And I was mostly right. A spare afm, a used distributor cap, and wires from an eta engine (no impulse sensor). Then the guy says 'oh yeah, I have a rear body panel from a parts car I had', and pulled a Zender rear apron down from a pile of boxes. Needless to say, I was thrilled.

The car has some issues. It is long overdue for a date with paintless dent repair, and badly needs a full tune up, as well as various interior and exterior trim pieces that are broken or missing. The tires and brakes are trash, and the alignment is comically off. It is definitely getting a 5 speed swap this summer. But considering I got a running e30 in western NY for $1400, I am thrilled with the car.

Funny sounds just like my last one I picked up.

[Andy.B]

I found a new problem. When I ran the wiper for more than 3 revolutions, the cup on the shaft between the motor and transmission popped off. I put it back on, and 3 or 4 revolutions later it popped off again. I guess I get to change the wiper transmission.

I did the brakes and pads/sensors yesterday, and the light is still on, so apparently there is a short somewhere I have to track down.

Also ordered m3 offset CAB's and a chip for the dme.

Just little things to sort out for now until my e30 comes back from paint, and I swap the suspension over.

[Andy.B]

Busy week for the car. I installed fcab's, sway bar links, a new thermostat, o2 sensor, pads and rotors, wiper transmission, distributor cap, and a chip.

My girlfriend has been driving the car and loving it, but is anxious to get going on the trans swap to ditch the autotragic. I just can't believe how bad it is. Modern automatics are tolerable, if not boring. This thing is terrible. Geared too tall, slow off the line, slow to shift when you want it to, but shifts FAR too early when trying to accelerate. It just mutes the entire experience of driving the car. As a result, I started ordering new parts for all the wear items, and am working on tracking down the other parts from fellow r3vrs (if you have any, let me know).

I have a transmission, and ordered a clutch kit, slave, master, hose, shift bushings, transmission mounts, hardware, etc. I still need a flywheel, pedal box, transmission bracket, shifter, shift linkage, and driveshaft (and probably other things I'm forgetting). I'd like to get the trans swap done before my e30 comes back from paint (which should be in the next week or two), so I can swap the springs/shocks over, and have her car be done, so I can focus on putting mine back together).

The car badly needs to be buffed and waxed, but in the mean time the GF replaced the faded and chipped emblems for these ones, to match the black/red color scheme of the car:

IMG_20140411_161526.jpg by andy.byrne85, on Flickr

And of course, some support for Garagistic. So far betty is carrying their odo gears and m3 sway link tabs. Derlin shift bushings are on the way. I love the look of their stickers, and it really matches the car well.
IMG_20140412_144558.jpg by andy.byrne85, on Flickr

[RondoAcapriccio]

For an experienced(and determined) individual with all the tools a 5 speed swap should take maybe 3-4 days, for an experienced person with all the tools and a second set of hands there is no reason why it should take more than 3 days. Forgetting to order parts though can really set you back.

Just swapped the 3 speed automatic in my 528e to 5 speed definitely changed the entire driving experience!

[Andy.B]

For an experienced(and determined) individual with all the tools a 5 speed swap should take maybe 3-4 days, for an experienced person with all the tools and a second set of hands there is no reason why it should take more than 3 days. Forgetting to order parts though can really set you back.

Just swapped the 3 speed automatic in my 528e to 5 speed definitely changed the entire driving experience!

I used to work as a mechanic for Land Rover. In their (infamous) popular period, I would occasionally manage to do two freelander motor swaps (transverse awd) in a shift (7 am to 9 pm), but granted that job was muscle memory by that point.

I am going to see if I can get the manual swap done in one saturday.

I've tracked down a lot of the parts already, but am still trying to make a deal on the pedal and shifter assemblies.

So far I have:
- used single mass flywheel to get resurfaced
- clutch kit
- transmission
- clutch master and slave cylinders and hydraulic line/hose assembly
- shifter rebuild bushings
- transmission mounts

and I still need:
- pedal assembly
- transmission bracket
- driveshaft

I'm not sure if I am going to try my luck with a used driveshaft, or pony up for a reman unit. I guess it depends on whether I can find one local or not.

[Andy.B]

I have some free time today before work. The auto-ectomy well begin as soon add my mug is empty...

[jd_e30]

Good lucky buddy! Keep us updated! And congrats to your GF

[Steele77]

This is awesome. Keep up the good work!