cameras ready prepare to flash

[s14brent]

Awesome work. Interested in how you make the fan shroud once it's in. I'm currently trying to decide how I'd like to make mine. I was probably going to just cut a circle out of a sheet of aluminum and mount it, but i didn't know if i could do it that way effectively.

oh no, spal makes a rubber seal that they call a "shroud"....i want to eventually make some sheetmetal ducting basically a modified copy of the factory plastic stuff by the aux fan.
I'm afraid I don't think I'll be able to fit a shroud on the back of my radiator.....there's just no room....maybe if i didn't have the ac compressor there but because I do, there is little to no clearance on that side of the radiator.

I got 3/4 brackets for the spal fan in earlier today and couldn't help cutting them up to fit.



and I checked the clearance with the 1/4" rubber spal shroud. The 14" fan previously mounted was a bit too close to the condenser. so overall this was worth revisiting. I just have to make sure the fan is wired up the correct way (another day).



I found a friend who has the e30 evap valve in a box, I'll try to get that sometime this week or next and get back to trying to figure out why my ac compressor isn't getting power.

[jeenyus]

Awesome work. Interested in how you make the fan shroud once it's in. I'm currently trying to decide how I'd like to make mine. I was probably going to just cut a circle out of a sheet of aluminum and mount it, but i didn't know if i could do it that way effectively.

[s14brent]

finally finished the exhaust up this week...it's ugly - but fitment is spot on now. before it ran a bit too close to the axle flange for my liking.



it still looks close, but theres enough clearance not to worry like before. also note axles will give a ton more clearance once off of jackstands and on the vehicles own weight.



I ran it, it sounds great, but I threw two codes. one was an evap code since it's not hooked up, and the other is a speed sensor code. My plug was broken when i got the car, I've always meant to change it, even pulled a plug off an e36 that fit it.



i cut the original connectors off because the wires were super dull. basically stripped back until the copper was like new and then soldered on the new plug. Unfortunately after all that i broke one of the squeeze tabs installing it...but the whole plug is in tact which is nice.



as for the evap code, what are most of you guys doing? I don't have a charcoal canister, i believe mine was failing/falling apart anyways. Am I supposed to use an e36 or e30 "fuel tank breather/vacuum control valve"

e36: which usually routes from charcoal canister to throttle body



e30: which i'm not sure where it goes from the charcoal canister... but it'd definitely be easier to fit due to hose size



The thing is, I have a spare e36 valve, I think my e30 one is long gone and there's no way I'm spending $140+ on that, i'd rather wait til i find a part-out or grab one from a junkyard car. I guess my question is, can I get away with using an e36 one?

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

I finally got my spal fan in. (30101517). I screwed up thinking the old 14" ebay fan mounting tabs would fit. So now I'm waiting on 4 mounting brackets.



I also ordered the spal "fan shroud" gasket...not sure if i will be running it, it makes the "medium profile" fan thicker than I wanted (not sure if it will clear the brace/oil cooler/ps cooler setup).

[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.