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Small update. Pin hole in the radiator is temporarily fixed.
I talked to a lot of welding shops around me, and one of two things was true. Either they either didn't have the ability to do aluminum this small/thin, Or their aluminum guy was young, and was worried about blowing a hole though it. So needless to say, No love there.
Talking to a friend, he said, "Remember what got the car on the road in the first place. "Don't get it right, Get it running" (David Freiburger), then suggested just JB Welding it. As shameful as it is, That's what I ended up doing. I had some steel stick JB weld putty sitting around, so I made a little ball, like half the size of a pea, and smeared it over the pin hole, 100% expecting it to not work. Well, 2 weeks on, it's working. So for now, that is the fix. I probably screwed myself for having it fixed right in the future, but Oh well, I can rip and tear a little more, until the weather turns to complete shit. Even with 212's on it, Still not a shit weather car. Although, I do like a challenge.
In other news, My Eldest Step-Daughter, well, actually girlfriend's oldest, But I claim them. I am the only dad they have ever known. anyways, She learned a hard lesson about torque specs. She had her sister do an oil change on her car, Sister told her to have me check the filter, to make sure it was tight enough, She didn't. Over the course of about 2 weeks, it puked out the oil, and locked up tight. I worked a deal with her, and swapped in a JDM Crate motor for her. Here is some pics.
This is Rod 4 carnage. Rod 1 was identical.
Oil Pan Looks like the stage at a bad strip club.
Motor out.
New Motor in
Not a BMW, I know, but always feels good to get shit done.
Meanwhile, She still needed something to drive while I was doing the work, and my girlfriend wanted a truck for herself to do dump runs and such with. She use to use my truck but worries about banging it up. she found this:
And man, did she get a screaming deal. 1992, Short Box, 2WD, Like 160K on the clock. And it's a 5.0, with a E4OD, and a 8.8, with a 3.5 Limited slip. Out the door, she paid like $1200. I've had to do some small things, Like Tranny dip stick tube O-Ring, Alternator, and some other small maintenance things, but Overall, solid truck. No rust, and only one little dent on the right wheel well. She's tired of me praising this purchase, but Man, she found the deal. I keep telling her that when she's tired of it, we should sell it for like $3k to someone who wants to build a little hot rod truck. Or, we slam it on it's nuts, Throw a proCharger at it, and go have some fun. She keeps saying that she has no intentions on selling it, or letting me do stupid things with it.
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Trip went well overall, Dumpster fire made it from the Olympia area to Wenatchee with no issues, like I said before. Trip back was a different story.
Started smelling coolant around the top of Blewett pass. I had planned to stop for a photo op anyways. Popped the hood, and found a pin hole leak, and the top radiator hose seeping around the connection.
Luckily, I had 2 gallons of water in the car still from when I had the major leak. Dumped like 1/2 gallon in to top off the reservoir, and started heading down hill. Got to Cle Elum with no issues, added another 1/2 gallon, and picked up some more water, just to be safe.
stopped at the top of Snoqualme pass to check coolant, and get another picture.
added another 1/3 gallon of water, and kept moving. Got to Renton, and made a stop at a model train shop I like there (another hobby of mine) and let it cool down. Didn't need any coolant that time. Made the last leg from Renton to Home with no other issues. I didn't look at the coolant when I got home, figure I will look in the morning. Even with loosing coolant again, it still ran and drove great, and the Temp really never got hot, it was the smell that tipped me off.
Now to find someone local that can repair aluminum radiators. Mishamoto radiators ain't cheap!!Leave a comment:
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Small Update, Oly Wa. Area To Wenatchee drive today. Flawless. Filled before leaving, 1/4 left now.... I'm here all week, Heading home fridayLeave a comment:
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Well, another short road trip coming up next week. I have a conference in Wenatchee I have to go to, and my work is allowing me to take my own vehicle, rather than one of ours.
so needless to say, the dumpster fire is getting the nod stay tuned for another trip reportLeave a comment:
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Well, it took me longer than I anticipated to get the time to do it, but I got it done.
Grounded the wire in the wiring box on the engine its self. Found that Blue/ white, White, and brown go from that box to the sensor. Grounded white to brown, light shut off.
So, this will do the job, until I can find a 94mm sensor that isnt $250+. Im sorry, I dont want to spend that much on a sensor that basically just turns off a light. Add to that I check my oil frequently, its seems like a waste of money.Leave a comment:
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I think the oil level sensor stuff is through the Check panel module in the left side of the trunk, and is basically entirely e30 chassis side besides the sensor/wiring - no interface with the DME at all.
I think you can deal with it at the C101 connector.
I have a few notes on this but you should double check against the ETM because of the colour conflicts below...
"Oil static switch wire is Blue/Violet for Early E30, Green/Yellow for Late E30. Verify with ETM and connect to Ground."
"Connect Static to Ground per (dead e30tech link)"
Early Model C101:
Pin 2: Blu/Yel - Oil Level Sensor (I assume Static)
Pin 10: Violet/Green - Oil Level sensor (I assume Dynamic)
Late Model C101 (verified on my old '88 Eta):
Pin 2: GRN/WHT(Engine Harness) or BLU/BLK(Body Harness) - Oil Level Static (Full)
Pin 10: BLU(Engine Harness) - VIOLET/GRN(Chassis side) Oil Level Dynamic (Low)
I'd doublecheck vs the ETM and if it doesn't seem glaringly wrong, ground pin 2 on the engine harness side and see if that resolves it.Leave a comment:
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Okay for those of you that know more about BMW sensors and wiring, I've got a question. Recently the oil level sensor in my M60 took a shit. I was having a hard time finding a sensor that was not hundreds of dollars. I had read somewhere that the m62 oil level sensor was a acceptable replacement. So I went back to the 540i that I scavenged parts from earlier at my local Pick-n-Pull, and snagged the sensor from that motor. While I was at it I also snagged the wiring all the way up to the junction boxes on top of the motor. I grabbed the wiring for two reasons. One being that the m62 sensor uses a different plug than the M60 sensor, the other reason is, when I first did the swap that was one of the connections that have been cut in several places by somebody else, and just spliced the wires back together, to make it work. And it worked fine for years. I did Keep the old sensor, and the old hacked up wiring and plug. That way if I needed to go back to a original style sensor I could.
I installed the new sensor when I did the oil change recently on it, and ran the new wires and plug. Unfortunately I got some bad information because that did not fix the issue. I still have my engine oil level light on. So I guess I have two questions overall.
The motor came out of a '94 540i originally, does anybody know where I can get an oil level sensor that's not going to cost me $200+, or does anyone know what the 404 dmu is looking for in the way of signal to shut that light off. If it's something simple like installing a resistor or grounding a wire I think I will do that and just not worry about having an oil level sensor. I mean I manually check the oil on this thing every time I drive it, and currently I do not have any oil leaks at all from the motor, so the oil level sensor is kind of moot.
Last edited by delamaize; 08-02-2026, 09:08 AM.Leave a comment:
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Well, Today is the day I decided to do my short-ish road trip with the Dumpster Fire, and the thing was absoulty flawless the entire time. 500 miles round trip all together. It was in the 90s in eastern Washington, and the Temp stayed rock solid the entire time. The thing did so awesome Im so happy with this thing overall. Oh, Yeah, Milage? I had to fill the tank 2 times altogether, started with half a tank, and refilled it at the beginning the trip, filled in Pasco, Wa, then again in Centralia, Wa. Home is about 30 Min from Centralia. Aaaaanyways. 23 MPG. Yes, you heard that right, 23 MPG, with a M60 swap. This car....
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