What a fun day tearing apart the E38

[rs4pro3]

Well my mom's 95 740i developed a heater core leak, so i get the fun job of tearing the car apart and fixing the leak. I got the car mostly torn down today, and found traces of antifreeze on the d-side under seat vents, and around the gasket where the pipes join the pipes running directly into the core. I believe it's just the o-rings leaking, but this job is major. So I'm going ahead and replacing the core and lines while the car is torn down. Tommorow I have to remove the steering column, drain the coolant system, blow the remaining coolant out of the core, and then R&R the core. The steering column is what is going to be a pain, There is a large metal brace in the way and you have to drop the column to get the brace out, which involves drilling out the shear bolts used to hold the column to the chassis :drink: Here are some pictures of the torn down interior

All the crap that has been removed

And the culprit area


If you ever have to do a heater core on a E38 Don't, it's a lot of work. :-x

[MikesJo]

What year is that car? Do you have a guide to follow anything? Looks like a helluvalot of work to do, props to you!

[James Crivellone]

What year is that car? Do you have a guide to follow anything? Looks like a helluvalot of work to do, props to you!

Well my mom's 95 740i developed

[rs4pro3]

No real guide, just the basic, remove this, remove this etc... I've completly stripped multiple e30's done engine swaps etc.... So no guide is realy needed for me.

[M3 Ryan]

Yup, that is a shitty job. We do the heater fans pretty regularly at work which involves removing the whole dash, but it can be done in around 4-5hrs. The Heater core is buried more though, what a bitch. Good luck Ely! I hope your mom is paying you to do the work...

[kylebes1]

I had to replace the rear carpet in my aunt's '97 740il. I was pissed to find out it was just as involved as what you are doing... maybe more so at this point because all the seats had to come out...

Someone, spilled shrimp in the back floorboard. I made a little for replacing it, and off the carpet...

Good luck... it is not as hard as it looks, just tedious.

[Mike325]

Ouch, that looks like it took a lot of time. I had to take the interior out of two brand new e53's the other day, so I know your pain.

[grapedrink]

pull the dash.

[AdamF 88iS]

E30s are the easiest ones to do. Every other model is a pain in the ass. I did an E23 a little while back that was a headache as well, the entire dash has to come out if you want to have any sort of easy time with it.

[e30sd]

lol @ bubba gump

[rs4pro3]

Pulling the dash wouldn't help one bit in this case. No if I was doing the heater fan then yes.

[Digitalwave]

I wouldn't have guessed your family had any cars newer than 1990 :)

[rs4pro3]

ah come on TJ, there is my mom's 95 740i, my dad's 95 525i, We purchased that 7 for around 5k 190k on the clock but had the engine recalled in 99 and replaced so it only has just over 100k on it, car runs like a champ, had it just over a year so far, been pretty dang reliable, I've had to do a full brake job, replace the water pump, fix a leaking fuel line, and now this. Not to bad considering my mom has put almost 40k miles on it in one year(she has to drive a lot for her job).

[Digitalwave]

I'm just pulling your leg Ely. I know you love the classics.

[rs4pro3]

ya I know, any ways I got the shear bolt out, just drilled an 1/8 hole down the center, hammered in a bolt extractor and it came right out. Didn't have any white out to mark the column so I had to run to the store and get some. Will post some more pics once I get the comlumn dropped, and the heater box cover off.