1988 325is e30 - the "battle" scarred veteran

[crappycoco]

After months of lurking i've decided to show off my runt.

She's dented, scratched, chipped ...
has two different sets of tires, two different headlight styles,
she's loud, a salvaged title, wants to break your back,
has some rips in the seats, rattles everywhere, doesn't
like cold starts and is a bitch to drive slowly.
She's the best car I've ever had.

She was built to autocross, and that's what we do.
Autocross and long road trips.

She also has the UUC big brake kit, coilover suspension,
GC camber plates and springs, adjustable rear subframe,
Z3 steering rack and a momo steering wheel -
and some custom exhaust (no idea bout the brand).

I'm planning to change the stock shifter for the Z3
and change all the bushings and plasticky things
around the whole assembly, to make it wobble less =D
Repair the idle (somehow) and give her a new set of eyeballs.













This gif kind of summs er' up:


Take care!

[crappycoco]

This has to be the most cripplingly boring car this forum has seen in its lifetime to get 0 replies in a day =D

Maybe because of the gif lol? =D

[MPLFoster]

I can dig it. I appreciate a purpose built car. Any auto-x vids?

[crappycoco]

[MPLFoster]

Nice.

[crappycoco]

Soooo, there's been quite a lot going on, but mostly wasn't covered by pictures due to me being lazy or not having time to take pictures because I was working on the car =D

We had a heater valve failure which pissed coolant into the drivers footwell. Changed that up and the third actually didn't leak =)

Next thing was taking care of the loose shifter assembly. I was checking the z3 shifters, but after some deliberation and given the price on all of the components I wanted to replace - I said fck it and wend with the uuc dssr and short shifter kit.

While we were in there, we changed the selector rod seal and output shaft seal.

Right, we've changed the AFM, ICV, coolant temp sensor and fixed up all the vacuum leaks. Car runs better, but not as good as I want it.

Last weekend I got a low mileage stock exhaust assembly (with cat and muffler). Dropped the current droning pita and cut it up. Right now I have the stock one on, but I kind of miss the raspyness already. Dont miss the drone one bit. I'll go and check with a shop on some options I have considering this. Maybe some of you have any ideas?

We changed the voltage regulator too, preventively, but somehow it improved idle (??).

Next up is changing the injectors with rebuilt (stock) ones, removing the intake manifold , cleaning it, replacing gaskets and changing the orings on the oil return tube. While I'll have it down I think Ill change the gaskets on the TB too.

After that I'm thinking of tackling the differential (which is getting buzzy-er) and rebuilding that with mostly stock parts. I'd like to amp the lock up to 50% though.

I would really appreciate anyone who has some experience with refurbishing diffs to drop some knowledge on me. I have NO idea what needs to be changed and what to be careful with =) I never did this before ofc.

Thanks guys.

I will upload pictures of progress after this. I could even find some snaps of the work mentioned above if anyone's interested =)

And oh yeah - Im looking for an un-pitted/un-scraped windshield. If anyone can help with a new one (and proper installation) that would be more than welcome.

[crappycoco]

Fuck it, we went full retard on a salvage title:
Parts incoming:

Belts, brackets and nuts (alternator & power steering) ($102):

• Alternator bracket (12311274833)
• Power steering bracket (12311719992)
• Battery mounting screw (61217577620)
• Battery hold down (61211374934)
• 2x Adjusting bar nut (12311273639)
• Power steering belt (32421469239)
• Power steering pump pulley (32421730371)
• Power steering pump (32411141243)

Differential swap:

• Differential mount (33171135242) - send back, is shit. Buy oem.
• 12* M10X50mm CV axle bolts (07119919620)
• Center support bearing (26121226723) $180 - send back cheap one, buy oem.
• Flex disc (26111225624)
• Differential fluid (Redline 75W90) (2 bottles)
• 2x Inner CV joint boot (/)
• 2x Outer CV joint boot (/)

Front suspension:

• 2x Stabilizer link (31351091764)
• 1x Stabilizer rubber mounting (31351129139) - is in the middle
• 2x nr.2? http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...41&hg=31&fg=10

Rear suspension:

• 2x Sway bar link (33551126932)
• 2x Sway bar bushing (33551129677)

Misc:

• Spring loaded valve adjusting tool (bavauto) (113070)
• OEM Exhaust hangers (18211105638)
• OEM Exhaust rubbers

Latest events, we changed the diff, because the old one started to whine
and grind. Paid $380 for a "low mileage" replacement. Changed the sucker
in, and lo and behold! It still fucking whines. No grinding and clunking now
though. Next order of business is to take apart the old one and rebuild it.

I'm hoping the kits @ thayer motorsports are good. Will be doing
the 3rd clutch upgrade with all seals and all bearings. Hope that
will take care of the diff once and for all.

Then what's left and really picking on my nerves - somekind of
constant squealing from the front. I'll start with replacing the belts
and checking where it's coming from. It's just that when I tried to
do that, the damn nut decided to strip.

For the lulz I've compiled a list of all the stuff done to the
car (excluding my time and the price of tools and "lift time")

DIY service
2015 ($893) 189.000 mi

• AMP Bypass $0
• Stock ECU (used, never opened, 110k miles, 1990) $55
• Differential (used, 3.73 lsd,under 120k miles) $400
• Differential Mount Bushing (new, corteco) $26
• Rear Differential Gasket (new) $3
• Inner CV boot kit (new, OEM) $91
• 12* Fillister Head Screw M10x50 (new, OEM) $50
• Exhaust hiflow cat install (lifted) $200
• Muffler clamps & rubbers install (new, OEM) $60
• Copper nuts (downpipe) (new, OEM) $8

2014 ($1810) 187.000 mi

• AFM + cleaned (used, never opened, 120k miles) $70
• ICV + cleaned (used, around 100k miles) $80
• Air filter (new) $10
• O2 sensor, (new, Bosch) $80
• Coolant temp. sensor, (13621357414, new, bosch) $22
• Heater core valve (new, OEM) $170
• UUC DSSR + Shortshifter + selector joint (new, UUC) $454
• Transmission mounts (new, OEM) $40
• Output shaft seal (23121205340, new, OEM) $10
• Selector rod seal (23 12 1 228 333, new, OEM) $6.5
• Driver side ellipsoid headlamp (used, Hella) $50
• Motometer e30 odometer gears (new, garagistic) $30
• Exhaust assembly (used, stock) $120
• Fuel pump (new, OEM) $280
• Fuel filter (new, Mann) $10
• Refurbished injectors (used, OEM) $50
• Intake seals (new) $10
• Throttle body gasket (new) $3
• Throttle body coolant gasket (new) $4
• Coolant hoses (new, OEM, 11531722743, 13541719966 ) $80
• Crank case ventilation hose (new, OEM, 11151708801), $20
• Oil return o-rings & washers (new) $2
• Upgrade Power & Ground Kit (engine & starter to alternator) (new, bavrest) $40
• Changed gearbox oil Redline MTL 75W80 GL-4 (2 bottles) $40
• Changed differential oil Redline 75W90 (2 bottles) $32
• Coolant refresh (10.5L, Prestone) $40
• Seat repair $50

Initial service
2013 ($1800) 173.000 mi

• timing belt
• tensioner
• thermostat
• water pump
• fuel lines
• valve adjustment
• accessory belts
• fan clutch
• distributor (cap, rotor)
• spark plugs
• Oil & filter

Pre - purchase
2013 ($5000) 172.000 mi

• Ground control coilovers
• Ground control race camber plates
• Adjustable rear suspension with poly bushings
• UUC Big Brake Kit
• UUC brake lines
• Z3 steering rack
• Polyurethane control arm bushings
• Hiflow catalytic converter
• Magnaflow muffler
• ROTA slipstream 16" wheels
• Dinan performance chip
• Momo steering wheel

I'll post some images when flickr stops being a dick and lets me login.

[crappycoco]

Changing the supersloppy shifter. As you can see, the transmission thinks its funny to piss on the driveshaft.




Whoever designed these bolts needs to get his teeth checked with an axle grinder.




This took some convincing to get out.


Finished up and installed. Changed everything but the rear bushing (where the carrier hangs on the chassis and I'm starting to regret it, because you can feel the slight slop it's causing. Will probably change it when I do the flex disc.


Of course the damn DSSR rod didnt fit properly. The balancer was grinding on it. So I gave it a minor shave. Good thing its solid metal.


The exhaust triple layer cake =D


Manifold job.


While we were in there, we took a look at the coolant hoses and decided to change them. Also the valve cover breather hose.


Wife got the engine clean.


Rebuilt injectors, new seals.


Note the old injectors on the bottom right.


Cleaned the TB, changed the cork seal, changed the gasket and cleaned the whole thing.




Intake gaskets rdy to go.


Meanwhile - interior.


Fuel pressure check.


Compression test, all were +/-5% of 180. Next step is a boreoscope camera video =D


The goddamn differential. Still whines. :hitler:




Forgot to mention, its a DD, so we always have an "uber fail" stash. Get it? Yeah, I'm funny.

[ian e30 318is]

Awesome! Love the outcome so far! Nice work. What's the next auto x you are attending?

[crappycoco]

Thanks Ian!

The plan is to rebuild the old differential & swap it again.
After that take care of the ruined sway bar bushings and links,
some minor belt work and sort some oil seepage from the oil
level sensor area. Slap on some new tires and we're ready to go again.

Nice car btw =D

Btw, does anyone know how I check which parts I should be looking at for the diff?
I dont know if I have the 188mm or 168mm? Is this the small/medium case difference?

http://thayermotorsports.com/collections/188mm-standard-service-parts

[crappycoco]

Nevermind =)

- 168mm = small case
- 188mm = medium case
- 210mm = large case

http://www.metricmechanic.com/pdf/Differentials.pdf

[thatphysicsguy]

Very thorough work, good to see an E30 getting the right attention

[jllphan]

Well done, looks like a lot of fun!

[crappycoco]

Very thorough work, good to see an E30 getting the right attention

Well done, looks like a lot of fun!

Aw guys, thats nice to hear =D I have this love-hate relationship with it, one day it's fine and awesome, especially when you fix something, then the other some random thing decides to start rattling and I just want to drive it into a ditch

Shopping list for diff(188mm, lsd):

• 3-Clutch Performance Upgrade Kit
• Carrier Bearing Kit
• Crush collar clamp
• Carrier o-ring set
• Output seal
• Pinion bearing kit
• Pinion seal

I can't find these parts for less than $650, can anyone help? Also, is there anything I've forgotten, like "while you're in there" parts?

[crappycoco]

Does anyone in the bay area have these tools I could borrow?
I really don't want to spend $500 on tools to rebuild one diff =)






Even better would be someone I could talk about how to tackle said project correctly =)