Took me a over a year, but I finally got my first e30

[z28]

A while back with the help of some forum members I figured out why the wrong light was blinking instead of the CEL. Since I have to remove the cluster to correct the blinking light I might spice it up when I remove it but thats gonna have to wait for another day.

What could not wait for another day though was the keyless entry that the mailman delivered today. For the keyless I am using a viper 211hv unit that comes with a lot of features but I only cared for the lock and unlock.... anyways, It was super easy to install the keyless using the harness in the trunk and it works great.

Trunk Wire used
Green/Violet (unlock - harness)
Green/Black (lock - harness)
Brown (ground -harness)
Red (12v constant - antenna harness)

Viper 211hv wires used
Blue/Black (unlock #30 common output)
Green/Black (lock #30 common output)
Violet (ground - unlock #87 normally open input)
Violet/Black (ground - lock #87 normally open input)
Black (ground)
Red (12v constant)

Picture of me starting to get the wires hooked up but I did not get a picture of everything all buttoned up because it started to rain so I rushed to finish it up.

[z28]

Today I replaced both front sway bar end links without a hassle, it took like 20 minutes total, but unfortunately the end links were not the only thing that needed to be replaced. When I was replacing the end links I noticed that the noise I was hearing was not just the links but also the outer ball joint of the driver side control arm now I have to spend money that I wanted to use for the IS side skirts on a pair of new control arms. Also ECS Tuning raised the price on the side skirts :rippedoff: does anyone else know of a less expensive source for IS side skirts?

On another note, I also replaced the reverse, dome, and trunk light bulbs with some nice LEDs.

Bulbs
Reverse 2 x 7506
Dome 2 x 6411 (festoon 41x11)
Trunk 1 x 6418 (festoon 37x11)

[JeLani]

Pic of LEDs? Those sound nice


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[animal]

very nice first e30! take care of it!

[z28]

Pic of LEDs? Those sound nice

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Unfortunately I did not get any pictures of the LEDs that I got, but here are some pictures of the same ones I got from superbrightleds.

The trunk and dome lights look like this.



and the reverse light bulbs look like this. The reverse LEDs have a mini projector looking thing on them and they are really bright, really helps at night when backing up.

very nice first e30! take care of it!

Thanks, will do for sure.

[z28]

Since I had to get new control arms, I ended up ordering a bunch of stuff online since I found a way better deal then ECS for the side skirts and hardware by using individual part numbers. Here is the list of parts that I ordered, I am including all the part numbers just incase I need to reorder something in the future or if someone needs it.

BMW Brake Air Duct Right - 51711979140
BMW Brake Air Duct Left - 51711979139
Lemforder Control Arm Front Left - 31121127725
Lemforder Control Arm Front Right - 31121127726

Side skirts

BMW Covering (skirt) Right - 51711947064 --- x1
BMW Covering Left (skirt) - 51711947063 --- x1
BMW Covering Right - 51711947060 --- x1
BMW Covering Left - 51711947059 --- x1
Fillister Head Screw - 07119907954 --- x2
BMW Clamping Bolt - 51711933719 --- x2
BMW Plastic Nut - 16131176747 --- x2
BMW Clamp - 51711922599 --- x2
BMW Plug - 51711927439 --- x2
BMW Clamping - 51711938940 --- x12
BMW Door Trim Fastener - 51711932996 --- x12
BMW Clamp - 51711959929 --- x12

[z28]

I went to harbor freight to get a pickle fork and ball joint separator tool to make the control arm replacement easier and also ordered a mis bmw fcab tool. I did not stop with the tools, the other day I also ordered a 8k rpm tach overlay from bavarian restoration, more LEDs, and silver gauge cluster rings. I still have to find an M3 coding plug (part number 62111381699) so the 8k rpm tach is accurate. Ill get some pictures of the overlay when I receive it, but unfortunately I will not be able to get everything installed in a timely manner because school is starting again next week :(



Gauge Cluster LEDs
Illumination 2x --- 2821(194)
Wedge for CEL and anti lock 2x --- 2721(74)
Plastic Wedge for other lights 8x --- 2721MF(B8.5D) (I only got 8 for the lights that I'm keeping)


picture of the lollipop removal tool (not my picture)




picture the LEDs I received.

[z28]

I took out the gauge cluster today to install the LEDs, paint the top of the needles red, and get it ready for when I get my 8k rpm overlay and silver rings. When I took the cluster apart I was surprised to see that the illumination bulb covers are still in good condition because the light output was garbage. After getting the LEDs installed I hooked up the cluster to the harness to see the difference. The light out put with the LEDs is much better now.

[z28]

I got the tachometer overlay today but by the time I finished putting it back together it was already dark and I only got one shit picture that shows the new LEDs (color looks a little different in real life). Adjusting the tachometer needle after taking it off was a pain and it took forever to get it close to accurate, I believe it is off by 100-200rpm, but for the time being I am gonna leave it like that. The tach overlay that I got is the "Ferrari" style one that Bavrest offers, I will get a better picture tomorrow morning because it is hard to see the 7 and 8 in the current picture. I also got a chance to install new factory brake ducts that were missing from the car when I bought it.

[z28]

Here is a daylight picture of the cluster.

[JeLani]

So nice! I'd love to have mine with the flipped tach. But this is really cool i like the colors


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I like water

[z28]

The CAB tool that i ordered was shipped to the wrong address so now I have to wait another week. I need to replace this dang control arms, the noise is getting worst.

So nice! I'd love to have mine with the flipped tach. But this is really cool i like the colors


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I like water

Thanks, I have been wanting the yellow tach ever since I first saw it.

[z28]

I have some morming classes in the weekdays, so i decided to wake up early to install the side skirts. Sorry for the shit pic, but the car is super dirty haha.

[z28]

Finally I got the chance to replace the old control arms with some fresh ones. It was not that hard to do the job because I had the right tools for the job, but it was still time consuming, it took me 3-4 hours for both control arms. On the picture it is hard to see, but the boots on the ball-joints were torn and the ball joints felt crunchy and loose. After taking the car for its first spin the difference in the steering was obvious, the car felt more responsive and tight. Some of the squeaking noises from the front went away, but unfortunately the car is still making a squeaking noise when turning left at low speeds. This noise is weird because it is not consistent, but it mostly happens at parking lot speeds and when turning left. I think what is causing the noise is the sway bar bushing on the driver side or the upper strut mount on the driver side.

Im gonna try to get some grease for the sway bar bushing to see if the noise goes away, or I might just replace them (already got new end-links). If the noise is coming from the upper strut mount then its gonna have to wait until I get bags or coilovers.

[z28]

Picked up a uuc strut bar that I thought was going to be an easy install, but with my luck, it ended up taking a long time. There was no problem with the bars length, the problem was that the bars ends were a little crooked and over sized. At first I tried to force it on, but in the process I ended up nocking one of the top hat studs out. It took me a while to put the stud back where it belongs because it was trapped under the top hat. After messing with the dang thing and finally having it back together, I realized that the strut bar was not going to go on without a fight.

To make the bar fit I used a dremel to shave the problem areas, now the bar fits like a glove.