Bringing my dad's car back to its former glory and beyond

[dadsbmw]

Definitely do not do the x3.

Mine was black because I painted it, twas silver when it first arrived. This thing had issues all over the place... the only thing that was actually correct about it was the location of the brake line ports on the master cylinder. The mounting bolts were too narrow and required slotting, the shaft for the clevis wasn't long enough (true for the e90/e92 as well) and required a bolt to be welded on, the diameter was too big (not everywhere, just towards the firewall, but still interfered) for the IM to fit at all. The e90 just fit and worked so much better. Bending and flaring the custom lines really wasn't that difficult, only cost about $125 extra, and will put an extra tool in your belt.

Obviously I don't have the car running yet, but I'm very hopeful it will improve brake feel/power as compared to the 944.

*Edit: Looked at the other starter I had laying around and realized the kick-out and spin of the starter gear are separate inputs. Pulled the manifold off to the side to take a look and sure enough, I didn't have the lower (kick-out) input connected. Got 'er on and she turns over now! Still doesn't even attempt to start though. I've done absolutely no diagnosis as of this point. I'm going out of town tomorrow morning but will be back on Friday and trying to get this beast running next weekend!

[2mAn]

I dont understand why more people dont use the IX Booster. It was perfect for me and my swap.

Use E30 parts on an E30. ..... when you're installing an E36 motor haha

[dadsbmw]

Ha!

This swap came with a 944 booster, which is what I was planning on using until I read the thread on the e90 booster. I absolutely hated my pedal feel in this car recently, and maybe it was just a bad stock booster or MC, but it sounded like this would fix it no matter what, which is why I went in this direction.

[dadsbmw]

Was able to get some no start diagnosing in today. Checked all the relays and fuses in the engine bay fuse box and they checked out. Then realized I had +12v constants for the engine wiring harness connected to the wrong post, so moved those and got power to them. Hoped that would be the fix, alas it was not. So I figured I'd better get serious and check for the obvious... fuel and spark.

Removed the fuel rail and turned the engine over to find that no fuel was spraying. Disconnected a fuel line at the IM and sure enough it was bone dry. Disconnected the other and fuel sprayed everywhere! Must be a bad FPR I thought! Went to pull the FPR out to get a replacement, but as I explained the story to my GF I realized that I was an idiot and that in reality the feed and return lines were switched! D'oh!

Ended up having to get a new FPR anyways because I'd somewhat crunched the old one when removing it (double d'oh). Picked up the new one, put everything back together and gave it a test start. Sure enough it stumbled and attempted to start! But a couple seconds into cranking I started hearing a screech and my mind went straight to dry cams! It was dark out by then and I surely wasn't going to turn it over if the cams were dry so I ended for the night.

Plan tomorrow is to remove the VC and pull the cam caps one by one to check for any wear and apply some more assembly lube just in case. Also want to find a way to hook up an oil pressure gauge, as now I'm freaking out that there's no oil pressure! How is everyone else hooking up a sensor for an oil pressure gauge? Would I be getting a warning light or something, if the pressure was too low?

[mjweimer]

Plan tomorrow is to remove the VC and pull the cam caps one by one to check for any wear and apply some more assembly lube just in case. Also want to find a way to hook up an oil pressure gauge, as now I'm freaking out that there's no oil pressure! How is everyone else hooking up a sensor for an oil pressure gauge? Would I be getting a warning light or something, if the pressure was too low?

Fuel lines backwards is an easy mistake! Is your oil pressure sender wired to the cluster light? If I'm remembering correctly, the factory oil switch closes above 7psi so the light should go out fairly quickly when cranking the car. I also assume you filled the engine with oil (had to ask....I assume you would have done this).

The only place I know of to hook up an oil pressure gauge is the port on the oil filter housing where the pressure switch for the dash light lives - circled in green on the pic below. The threads are M12x1.5 FYI if you need an adapter to your gauge.




I think it is a good idea to pull the valve cover to see if you are getting oil up there from your attempted start. You could also pour some lube over the cams while you're in there.

Another way to check for oil pressure or build oil pressure prior to start-up is to pull the fuel pump relay/fuse, pull the spark plugs and crank over the engine with the starter. This method ensures it won't start and helps the starter spin the engine faster (and help build oil pressure faster). If you've wired the oil pressure sender to the cluster it should go out quickly using this method or your gauge should show pressure build quickly.

Making awesome progress - hope you get it all sorted!


Edit - picture is not showing up in the post so I attached the file...maybe this will work.....


MJ

[dadsbmw]

So I pulled the VC and pulled each cam cap to give them some more assembly lube. Lubed up each individual cap. Then I poured oil over all the caps and lobes, pulled the spark plugs ignition coils and disconnected the engine harness from power to disable the injectors. Reconnected the battery and turned the motor over... screeching. It sounds very metal on metal. First try I only cranked for about a second. Next try I paid close attention to the oil light and turned it over for a bit longer to see if it would turn off, and it did not. Also pulled the cap off the oil filter housing and sure enough it was full of oil. Now I'm kind of afraid to do anything!

I'm making my girlfriend come outside with me to turn the engine over for a second to see maybe its the alternator or AC compressor bearings squealing, as those are both used while all the idler pulleys are brand new.

Any thoughts?? What besides bare metal cam to bearing surface action, would make a high pitched metallic squeal from the rear of the head?

I am wondering if disconnecting the engine harness from power could potentially affect the oil light and cause it not to go out? Maybe I'll actually find the injector fuse and reconnect the harness to power and see if that changes anything.

edit: gf turned the motor over while I listened and DEFINITELY coming from the rear of the head. WTF!

[dadsbmw]

Posted on FB e30 group and figured out it's likely that I installed the clutch disc backwards. On a positive note, at least I've got the engine running! On a negative note, now I have to drop the trans to turn the disc around...

[mike.bmw]

It's good to stay positive! Glad to hear there weren't any bad metal-on-metal issues inside the engine.

[dadsbmw]

It's good to stay positive! Glad to hear there weren't any bad metal-on-metal issues inside the engine.

Thanks man! VERY happy it wasnt an engine issue. On another positive note, trans has been dropped and clutch removed today. One of the good things about the issues I've run into is that I've got disassembly and reassembly down pat for pretty much ever system! Ha!

[dadsbmw]

And the motor is OFFICIALLY running. Finished reinstalling the clutch trans and everything else just in time to watch the superbowl yesterday. Before I sped off to my friend's house I gave her a quick start to find the noise gone! phew!

I left work a little early today so I would have some light to do her first warm up and check for leaks, etc. Turned over and started almost immediately and dropped right down to 750rpm. Probably not the best considering it should still be in warm up enrichment, but hey, I'll take a strong idle! Checked that the oil light on the dash went out and grabbed some water and coolant to fill the cooling system. Let her fully warm up and topped up the PS reservoir with fluid. As the temp needle approached the middle of the gauge the SPAL fan kicked on! Sweet! Always nice when at least something goes exactly to plan!

No leaks and everything was looking good (except for super loud lifters), so I wanted to go for a quick drive around the block... just to see how it felt. Put it in reverse, let out the clutch, and GRIND. Tried again, GRIND. Pushed the shifter hard and held it forward and finally it engaged reverse. Pulled into the street and started off in first. Accelerated up to about 4k rpm and it popped out of gear. wtf? Dropped it into 2nd and finished going around the block to pull back in the driveway. The car does not want to go or stay in the forward positioned gears (R,1,3,5). I'm now beginning to wonder if maybe I received the wrong DSSR (too long) and there's not enough room to fully engage the gears. Going to pull off the center console tomorrow and see if I cant get it to stay in gear and work correctly.

Anyways, still have a few things to do to get her driveable:

• bleed the clutch again
• get an appropriate hose to connect the brake booster to the IM- potentially a new check valve as well
• connect the exhaust midpipes to the rear muffler
• put the drivers and passengers footwells back together

Will try to have some vids up later!

[mjweimer]

Congrats! That's a big step and I'm sure you are relieved. Sounds like you are on the right track with diagnosing the shifting issue. I'll be curious to hear what you find out.


MJ

[Sh3rpak!ng]

Nice progress. Stick with it... you're almost there. And don't feel bad about all the preplanning you did only to have to make constant spot orders for different/more parts... I went through the same process with mine nearly nickel and dimed me to death

on the shifter/grinding issues, your shifter should sit centered in neutral. IDK if the angle of the photo was weird (also not sure what gear the trans was in), but it does looks like a pretty severe angle the way it's sitting there, and I imagine the angle would increase when you push the carrier to line up with the trans as if it were installed. Which shift carrier did you use? E30 or E36?

[dadsbmw]

Nice progress. Stick with it... you're almost there. And don't feel bad about all the preplanning you did only to have to make constant spot orders for different/more parts... I went through the same process with mine nearly nickel and dimed me to death

on the shifter/grinding issues, your shifter should sit centered in neutral. IDK if the angle of the photo was weird (also not sure what gear the trans was in), but it does looks like a pretty severe angle the way it's sitting there, and I imagine the angle would increase when you push the carrier to line up with the trans as if it were installed. Which shift carrier did you use? E30 or E36?

To be fair I had the shift lever was installed incorrectly in that picture, but it has since been turned 180* and is still wrong. It's never been centered, which I didnt think was right, but now after driving it's pretty obviously wrong. I used e36 m3 DSSR and shift arm, z3 shift lever, and e30 shift carrier. As you suggested, my understanding is that this should sit centered and somewhat off to the right.

edit: Picture from directly above with trans in neutral


edit x2: After doing a bit of research I think I may have an e30 shift selector joint, which in pictures appears to be longer than the e36 version. Time to order more parts!

[dadsbmw]

First things first... proof that she runs!

It definitely needs a tune, as at the very least the warm up enrichment is incorrect, but she runs pretty strong! Breaks tires loose at the top of second gear, which is pretty sweet! I mean its got all weather 205 width tires, but still!

So I purchased a new selector rod joint which I was able to install this morning to see if it would fix the issue of the shifter sitting too far forward. Turns out yes, there is a significant difference


Sits perfectly centered now, which makes me very happy! Also realized a few weeks ago that spring mount of the shortened struts sits almost exactly parallel with the lip of the front wheels. Ended up throwing the 8mm spacers which were sitting on the rear, on the front. And put 15mm spacers on the rear. Honestly it looks pretty great, but I need to figure out some areas that are rubbing a bit. Now at 16x8 +10 rear and 16x8 +17 front.

I also purchased a 3.5" HFM to match the 3.5" 540i TB, which arrived today. Had to custom make a throttle body elbow, so aluminum brazed a 1" pipe for the ICV, and got it all put together. Super want to go get it all dyno'd and tuned now!


Still have a few things left to do. Have a small coolant leak under the IM somewhere, which will likely be annoying to find. Exhaust midsection needs to be attached to the rear muffler, AC needs to be charged, and interior pieces need to be put back together.

[dadsbmw]

Drove her around some more today to keep breaking in the motor. Going by the "drive it hard" method, so took it to a nearby deserted-ish highway. It's crazy fun to drive, just an absolute riot! 1st gear just spins. I havent even gotten a good 1-2 shift because of this, but 2nd gear definitely begins to spin as you hit 5k rpm. On the few chances I've had to hold 2nd past 5k, a hard shift into 3rd also spins the tires hard enough to bring the back end out.

Unfortunately I didn run into a couple issues today. Figured out the reason it's not going into a high idle during warm us is that the brand new coolant temp sensor is throwing a code. Also discovered that it goes into a limp mode intermittently, and pulled codes to find that the brand new crankshaft position sensor also seem to be not working appropriately. Annoying.

Gonna pull the IM to take care of those guys and look for other leaks under there, and prepare to get it dyno tuned in the near future. I'm hoping there's at least another 20whp to be found!