My 1988 e30 325ix - Garage'd

[anokES]

Try and make it out to a meet sometime. I'd love to see your car in the flesh

[slc325ix]

Just the rear bumper strip from my cousins parts car. I still have the rest of it if you want to meet up sometime. I give it to you

[bradnic]

SUB'D. I have an 88ix coupe and an 89ix coupe as well. The 89 was supposed to replace the 88 but that's another story.

You've already attracted a bunch of IX guys which is cool. Nando knows all (really). audiquattrot has the best looking IX coupe out there imho.

Your 88 has all the late model sheet metal. Plastic bumpers will bolt right up if you're so inclined.. you already have the late model valance and IS lip.

Have you checked the car thoroughly for rust? my build thread is a tale of woe lol. haven't really started the rust repair yet but my wife and I are (completely irrationally) committed to restoring our IX.

Welcome to r3v.

[bradnic]

And yeah that bfc post with the 56 units sold in 88 is pure nonsense. But they **ARE** rare. The 88 coupes were fully loaded and crazy expensive. I believe that all the 88 IXes in the US were coupes, and all the 88 IXes sold in Canada were sedans.

A couple of good background articles for you

http://home.earthlink.net/~hainesinutah/iX/general/iXfaq.html

http://www.petrolicious.com/the-bmw-325ix-is-the-coolest-e30-of-them-all

[jeenyus]

SUB'D. I have an 88ix coupe and an 89ix coupe as well. The 89 was supposed to replace the 88 but that's another story.

You've already attracted a bunch of IX guys which is cool. Nando knows all (really). audiquattrot has the best looking IX coupe out there imho.

Your 88 has all the late model sheet metal. Plastic bumpers will bolt right up if you're so inclined.. you already have the late model valance and IS lip.

Have you checked the car thoroughly for rust? my build thread is a tale of woe lol. haven't really started the rust repair yet but my wife and I are (completely irrationally) committed to restoring our IX.

Welcome to r3v.

Thanks for the kind words. I have looked all over this car and there are some obvious rust spots for sure, but the battery carrier seems to be OK. The rear bumper has a pretty good rust spot right by the tow hook and then surface rust throughout the car. I am pretty good with a spray can and I know I can spot repair most of the superficial rust spots. I hope to get most of that done before snow starts to fly, but i just saw it on top of the mountains so i gotta get my ass in gear.

This weekend I installed Dynamat Xtreme and Dynaliner to just the doors and it made a huge difference. I still have the back panels and the trunk to line with the stuff as well, but I have to order more now. I highly recommend anyone doing this if they are looking for comfort.

For the longest time I have wanted to install Dynamat and Dynaliner (even to the Audi) and I just never prioritized it. With the BMW the exhaust is SO LOUD that I couldn't wait to put it in. Good news is that the exhaust no longer makes my ears bleed.

[jeenyus]

And yeah that bfc post with the 56 units sold in 88 is pure nonsense. But they **ARE** rare. The 88 coupes were fully loaded and crazy expensive. I believe that all the 88 IXes in the US were coupes, and all the 88 IXes sold in Canada were sedans.

A couple of good background articles for you

http://home.earthlink.net/~hainesinutah/iX/general/iXfaq.html

http://www.petrolicious.com/the-bmw-...30-of-them-all

Thank you for the links. They were fun reads. :-D

[jeenyus]

I did the valve cover gasket this weekend as well and I was surprised at how clean my internals looked. The PO did state they rebuilt the head, I guess this is proof. Looks brand new in there!

[bradnic]

Def rebuilt.. Keep her clean with regular oil changes.

[jeenyus]

So I'm attempting to change the tie rods right now and I cannot get them out. The outer tie rod has a 17mm bolt that connects to the hub. When I ratchet the 17mm the thread spins along with it. I tried to us some vice-grips to hold the thread in place but that only stripped the thread. I feel kind of stuck at this point.

[bradnic]

Hold the bottom of the tierod up with a jack. Also DON'T use a pickle fork - hit harbor freight and grab one of the ball joint separators

http://www.harborfreight.com/3-4-quarter-inch-forged-ball-joint-separator-99849.html

[aintnothang]

autozone also rents those.

[audiquattrot]

goddamn that engine is immaculate! and thanks for the kind words bradnic =)

[jeenyus]

I'm having the hardest time with this it's embarrassing. I managed to get the outer taken off the hub, but seem to be stuck on the inner. The securing plate almost seems to be welded in there. I've taken a chisel to it. I've hit it with a screwdriver. It looks separated and shouldn't be holding the inner in there, but there must be some sort of seizing.
I cannot get it to budge. All I am getting is play in the rack (yea I gotta replace it...)

[jeenyus]

Hold the bottom of the tierod up with a jack. Also DON'T use a pickle fork - hit harbor freight and grab one of the ball joint separators

http://www.harborfreight.com/3-4-qua...tor-99849.html

Thanks this was super useful information for the drivers side. took me about 10 min to finish that side.

goddamn that engine is immaculate! and thanks for the kind words bradnic =)

Yea the engine was a pleasant surprise when i took the valve cover off. I didn't know what to expect.

[jeenyus]

I have a handful of pictures, but lets just say that the tie rods were one thousand times more difficult then they ever should have been. I have done plenty of tie rods and never had this much of a problem with it. Needless to say, I am embarrassed at how hard the passenger side was.

I ended not being able to get the ball joint bolt out since the thread just kept spinning. My first reaction on this was to use the vice-grips (before bradnic gave his great advice with the jack) and I ended up stripping the threads. At that point i figured I would just saw off the thread which worked with the outer tie rod. Then the inner was a huge pain in the ass. I eventually got the plate bent back with a chisel set and an inner tie rod tool. After that it was smooth sailing, but seriously the biggest PITA i've had working on a car next to the steering rack in my Audi.

I love cars though. I'm excited to keep working on the BMW. I took it in for an alignment today. From my initial observations with the new tie rods, they really did tighten up the steering feel a lot. I had A LOT of play in the steering wheel because both the inner and outer joints were completely ruined.

Steering coupler and rear strut mounts are next.

Thanks for all the help and listening to me bitching about it.