cameras ready prepare to flash

[s14brent]

------------E39 update
After replacing the 50a fuse on for the SAP, I went to do the drive cycle on the car.



Installed 18mm spark plug/o2 foulers



The foulers had to be drilled out to 12mm (31/64) to fit the o2 element.
I sent out my abs module to BBA-Reman for a rebuild. They were highly recommended on here, so I didn’t shop around, it cost about $175+shipping.



Time for drive cycle test # 4? Fml….

------------E30 update
I started to try to trace why my AC compressor won't get power. I started with the switch, and turns out the switch wasn't powering k1/pin85.






I replaced the switch, turns out pelican parts sent me a dead switch. damn. Meanwhile I picked up a switch from a friend who went "full race car" and had his laying in a box!
The compressor plug is still not getting power, checked power at the aux fan, then checked the resistor, voltage is something like 12v/8v - one of the ends is supposed to be a lower voltage than the other, so this looks like it's operating normal. UPDATE: Turns out the pressure switch wiring was wrong, still got to figure out if I’ve got the wrong wire to the compressor, still no voltage there….
During all this testing I jumped the fan switch and found out my 14" fan sounds like it's dragging garbage bags on the high setting......I am planning to change to a higher cfm 16" SPAL (not slim, but mid for slightly higher cfm) while I'm in the process of removing the front end again, I decided to redo the oil cooler and ps cooler mounts while I'm in there.





I also plugged all the previous holes I made for mounting and grinded it down. I will leave this bare for now, I have a feeling I will revisit this when I move the oil cooler and make room for an intercooler. Most likely make it out of aluminum next time.


I picked up rallyroad’s e30 steering column gauge pod. I decided I wanted water temp up higher, and I’ll install the other pod when there’s a need for a boost gauge.



Filled the empty spot down below with a volt gauge. I didn’t really like the digital one (my own mistake) I accidently glued it in where a mounting bolt should go, so I got rid of that.



Also started version 3 (maybe?) of the exhaust. Wish I could use the chop saw right now, the weather is super nice out….hopefully more progress soon!!

[s14brent]

Sorry should have been more specific, you mentioned that you lowered the steering wheel angle in the first post with "I also lowered the steering wheel angle by using some square tubing as a spacer."

I added some info to my response up above....also the square tubing spacer will only work on non-airbag models as airbag models have a horseshoe design

[cspec]

I'm guessing you mean what i used on my e36 m3? Only issue was i had to use a momo to nardi adapter on top, so it was a bit thick, but it worked out well.

Jwest description:

"Offsets the steering wheel 12mm upward and 16mm rearward"

http://www.jwesteng.com/shop/home/15...c-adapter.html

Sorry should have been more specific, you mentioned that you lowered the steering wheel angle in the first post with "I also lowered the steering wheel angle by using some square tubing as a spacer."

[s14brent]

Could you tell us more about the spacer for the steering wheel angle? I'd like to fix mine too.

I'm guessing you mean what i used on my e36 m3? Only issue was i had to use a momo to nardi adapter on top, so it was a bit thick, but it worked out well.

Jwest description:

"Offsets the steering wheel 12mm upward and 16mm rearward"

http://www.jwesteng.com/shop/home/15-steering-eccentric-adapter.html

If you're talking about the actual spacer...that i put between the column/dash bar (a long time ago that i eventually removed after installing the recaros) that was just square tubing drilled out to fit with longer grade 8 hardware. I did not like mine as the square tubing i used was too soft and was deformed from over tightening so definitely don't go cheap if you go that route

[cspec]

Could you tell us more about the spacer for the steering wheel angle? I'd like to fix mine too.

[AwakenNoMore]

You are going to love the PMC shifter. My brother has it in his car and its insanely fun to bang the gears. Thinking about getting one for myself.

[CorvallisBMW]

Wow, never seen fuses in that location before! What a PITA.

[2mAn]

wasn't a huge pain because my car car never leaves its jackstands LOL!!

I also did a trans swap maybe a month ago, so my exhaust and drive shaft were already off. It is definitely easier if you have a second person to help out, but i used painters tape to hold the lower plate in place and going back in up top to put the screws in place - if that makes any sense

That makes complete sense, thank you

[s14brent]

How much of a pain was it to install the PMC shifter? Do you have to get under the car to install it since it sandwiches in

wasn't a huge pain because my car car never leaves its jackstands LOL!!

I also did a trans swap maybe a month ago, so my exhaust and drive shaft were already off. It is definitely easier if you have a second person to help out, but i used painters tape to hold the lower plate in place and going back in up top to put the screws in place - if that makes any sense

[2mAn]

How much of a pain was it to install the PMC shifter? Do you have to get under the car to install it since it sandwiches in

[s14brent]

been busy with life, e39 touring is still not registered/smogged. :ugh:

While the car was sitting for a while I tried to get rid of the gap in the front, but failed miserably. I ordered some H&R front springs (29791-4) from germany thinking it would at least level the car to match the rear. I'm not sure if it's actually settled in yet, but it looks the same to me....def not a 40mm drop as promised. I did put some KYB bump stops and new rubber boot kit from ECS, and new lemforder top hats and drilled out a pair of m3 reinforcement plates I had laying around from my e30's 5lug front setup.



I ended up switching back to stock dme since the chipped dme apparently has a EU2 tune which i guess disables all of my CEL/SES and basically all warnings. I had local shop southwest bimmers re-code the dme to a 530i manual, and pulled out the auto dme finally! Big thanks to blackknight530i here for selling me another gauge cluster that wasn't all tampered with, and more importantly matched my vin so it could communicate with my DME. This car is such a headache, it's getting back to its once former glory.

I do have the trifecta of lights going on though (brake/abs/tcs) not sure if its a coding thing or if my abs module needs to be replaced or rebuilt. I'll get to that eventually, I kept getting p0491/0492 codes and thought it was a bad pump, so I got a SAP simulator and did a sap delete.



removed the pump and kept the cage for now to hold the fog light HID ballast and simulator.



also deleted the valve with the oem block off plate. The codes went away but eventually came back while trying to clear my drive cycle (used to come back on instantly after clearing before).



Turns out the sap plug wasn't getting any power, so I checked the relay and the 30a side was getting power...which led me down to the fuse.
super convenient location for fuses.



got a replacement from napa....new one is clear so you can check if it's blown visually.



Now things are working again, I will start the drive cycle all over again tonight and try to smog early next week!
--------------------------------------------

as for the e30.....since the pmc shifter is a sandwich type mount I made another reverse light harness. I cut the pigtails off 2 cars at the junkyard (which has been terrible lately, no new cars for months!) ordered a roll of 4.5mm shrink wrap and used some 16 gauge wire I had laying around (same stuff i made my e39 reverse wiring from). This is the one from my e39 which got wired to a pin behind the gauge cluster.



I did not take any pictures as I was putting the harness together in the car, and ran it from the shifter to behind the glove box, through the dme grommet, and across the engine harness then down and back over the trans to the switch. reverse lights done. going to do a few modifications to the exhaust, then hopefully fire her back up and dial in ride height with my varrostens on shit tires. until the kamotor standard flares arrive.

[s14brent]

Does the PMC shifter just sandwich between the sheet metal?

yes. it's a pretty solid design. I was going to purchase AKG but I needed a shifter on somewhat of a smaller budget. I still can't get over the price and the quick shipping. I read somewhere the PMC shaft was hollow but it is not. I'm guessing they may have been talking about the older design.

[thedivision]

Does the PMC shifter just sandwich between the sheet metal?

[s14brent]

so the z4 shifter did not work, and I decided to order a pmc shifter. unreal shipping from those guys, got it in 4 days all the way from poland!



I kind of love that the shifter arm is not needed any more! so much cleaner of a setup!



stuck the condor shift knob sticker up on top



so another issue I ran into...I'm going to need fender flares for the car if I wanted to run the fiske fm5's. UGH




I'm pretty bummed about it....its about 1.25" - kamotors standard flares (fronts) are supposed to be exactly 1.25" (inner lip trimmed) so maybe with a little camber and trimming I can squeeze by. The rears aren't a problem and will probably require spacers to fit the flares. I'm not a huge fan of the ultra-wides on a bronzit sedan.

specs: e36 m3 LCA - 5lug, 17x8+12 235/40 dunlop star specs

3 week wait for the flares....it's too bad I don't like dtm's or ebay flares....I really wish I could get them ASAP. I have some fender welting for the older style kamotor flares. I hope I can use that.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I tore down the e39's original m54b25 because I was wondering about that 4th cylinder. I thought it was a bent valve, but I was wrong!!



I got the new gauge cluster that's coded to my car's dme. I have an appointment monday to get the transmission adaptations cleared. I should finally be smog ready by then!! FINALLY!!

[s14brent]

I luv this thread. It's honestly the one I look forward to the most these days. Great work man!

Amazing work man, respect!

Thanks guys'!!

----------------------



got my spare all mounted and balanced!



I tried to pass smog and unfortunately failed. Turns out the gauge cluster in the car was replaced and is not coded for the cars' VIN. So it does not flash the SES/CEL lights on startup. Visual inspection failed, but I passed emissions, however there is a DTC for auto trans solenoid or something. I decided to get the AC recharged and replace the rear hatch and window shocks since they were sagging. Two things that would probably irritate me when it gets into the 100+ weather here in vegas, but i must say the weather this year has been super unpredictable! I almost refuse to wash any of the cars due to these random storms every other day!
So after the cluster is coded to the car, the auto dme must be unhooked and have the transmission adaptation values reset
(basically all things that need to be done in multiple bmw programs that costs a ton of money, so I'm probably going to buy a rebuilt cluster and have that programmed to my LCM/EWS (blackknight530i on bimmerforums offers this service), and have a local shop reset transmission adaptations for me) this is the part you don't expect (esp on newer cars) and throws the project budget a little higher than expected.
------------------------------
E30!!

Since the "530i wagon" is on hold, I've started to throw the e30 back together!
I got the shift carrier bracket from ecs, and went to install it.....turns out the z3m shift knob no longer fits someho....I have no idea wtf is going on...this is why you shouldn't leave projects sitting around for months at at time!! Anyways, here's a picture that shows the shaft selector rod angle and how it hits the driveshaft when connected......I ordered a z4 shifter for now, I'm just not ready to spend $400+ on a shifter setup like AKG or bimmerworld. especially since I still need to do registration fees on the wagon whenever that's done!



5 minutes in, and i'm waiting for new parts again....Meanwhile I've been plugging everything back in on the motor side, spacing the motor mounts with just plain washers, 2 on top, 1 lower for the same 5 or 6mm clearance for the headers, rerouting o2 sensor wires, etc. I can't wait to bolt up the drive shaft/exhaust and actually mount the fiskes and play with ride height and drive the thing!

I was trying to go to speedventures at spring mtn motorsport park on the 22nd, but apparently they are all SOLD OUT

-------still waiting on shifter to ship out from fcp....mean while I bought new nyloc nuts for motor mounts and steering rack. I don't know why but the engine oil pan to skid plate clearance is what it should have been in the first place (about an inch using m20 hikfab).




already thinking of moving my oil cooler & ps cooler and making my own -an lines....because I'd need the current area for an intercooler....you know...making room for more mods basically!