New owner, BMW 325iX Touring

[D.Martijn]

Haven't done much on the E30 in a while.
I've changed the oil and oil filter after having done about 5600km/3500miles. When I worked on my central locking previously, I got the blinking SRS light after start up..
I searched quite a bit online but couldn't find a how to on resetting that pesky blinking light. That's until a member posted a thread here on how to reset it. After trying it the first time it was still on/blinking, luckily on the second try I was able to reset it.

The aftermarket sunroof handle started to sag too, turns out the metal is so cheap/weak that it bends open and the handle won't snap into the little holes so it just hangs down after operating the sunroof. By removing it and putting it in the bench vise I got it to snap back.

Still need to find some time to mount the ZKW foglights I got, the new sunroof seals and wiring harness for my driver side door.

At last I also got myself this 'thing'
370mm M tech 2 steering wheel with it's original box

[D.Martijn]

Been a while since I updated this thread.
Since those cheap Chinese fogs won't properly fit the opening, I decided to buy some nice used one for 95€ incl shipping from Germany. Currently waiting for them to arrive.

A week ago I noticed my central locking acting up, previously a little wiggle at the door connector would solve it. But this time it would not. I removed the rubber boot and noticed a cable was torn off. I soldered it back onto the connector but the central locking was still not working. I later found out that the torn wire was for the little tweaters so of course it didn't solve the central locking..

After driving the E30 for a week without being able to fully lock it up, I decided to look into it today. I found the wiring diagrams online and printed them off.
I started with measuring the power at the fuse, I got 12,5V so it was getting power.
I removed both door connectors and measured 12V at the wire going to the door, connected both door connectors and got 12V at the wire that comes from the door back to the car. (This is the well know loop that goes through the door, most people delete this loop and wire the wires together before the door connector)
I then measured at the central locking unit itself and also got 12V so it was definitely getting power.

I then removed the doorcard and started looking inside the door for defective wires.
Further I measured if the micro switch was still working, I disconnected it and connected my multimeter on the 2 connection pins, while also operating the door lock.
When closing the lock the multimeter beeped so the switch is still working as it should.

While removing the doorcard, I noticed that the previous owner spliced / reconnected almost every single wire from the door harness. Not sure why though..?


This is the door loop that supplies power to the central locking unit. I couldn't see where the other wire was going too..


This is the connector for the micro switch, by simply disconnecting it you can check if it still works.


While measuring all the wires, I removed the old tape, cleaned the glue up and reapplied new taped.



After going through the trouble shooting tables from BMW I still can't seem too figure out what is work. I might replace the wiring harness that the previous owner spliced with an used one that's still intact. Just to have a clean start when I try to figure it out next time.

However, I was able to lock and unlock my car a few times while trouble shooting, so I guess there is a bad connection somewhere in the system at the driver sides door.. Meanwhile I'm able to lock and unlock my car via the trunk lock. It's something at least :p

I printed this diagram on paper so I could write on it when figuring out what was what, what still works and where I got power.

[D.Martijn]

I noticed my idle being a bit rough when cold, sometimes even causing the engine to turn off. Today I cleaned the ICV valve with some carb cleaner and so far it improved a lot.

While being in the engine compartment, I re adjusted the valves. I ordered the little spring tool a while ago so it was the perfect time to test it out. It's pretty handy little tool, although pretty expensive for what it is.

[D.Martijn]

Also inspect the connections inside the fogs. There is very poor to non-existent isolation between the positive and negative inputs.

I ended up putting heatshrink around the internal leads.

I tried fitting them today but they were just way to big.
I even tried using the original seal is it's a bit thinner but they still wouldn't fit..

Guess I'll look for original ZKWs and return the cheap fogs.

[earthwormjim]

I've had a quick look and you are right, however I think by cutting one of the square corners of from the connector on the fogs I should be able to connect them together.

Also inspect the connections inside the fogs. There is very poor to non-existent isolation between the positive and negative inputs.

I ended up putting heatshrink around the internal leads.

[D.Martijn]

Watch out on those Chinese fogs, the connector was mirror imaged on one side There is no mirror imaged mating connector in existence. Looks like to make their tooling they just mirrored everything...

I've had a quick look and you are right, however I think by cutting one of the square corners of from the connector on the fogs I should be able to connect them together.

[earthwormjim]

Watch out on those Chinese fogs, the connector was mirror imaged on one side There is no mirror imaged mating connector in existence. Looks like to make their tooling they just mirrored everything...

[D.Martijn]

Since one of my fog lights had a broken lens I started looking for some other ones.
I first wanted to get some OEM ones but after seeing the price of them, I decided I might get some used ones. I found some very nice lights for 150€ but decided it was still a bit too much as I plan on swapping the airbag steering wheel for a M tech 2. So the money I save on those fog lights can go towards the M tech wheel.

Thus, I decided to go for the Chinese Ebay ones for 35€ incl shipping.
Yesterday they arrived after a few weeks. They look alright although the seal is a bit small? I'll probably reuse the original ones.
Still need to fit them but haven't had time yet.


I also met up with a good friend and his 320i Touring. We had a great litte drive although it was raining. Typical Belgian weather..


Today I worked a bit on my uncles 325ix Touring. It was sitting a bit low in the rear so we decided to change out the springs with new ones. It's much better now.
While being there we removed the aftermarket trailer hook/hitch since it was not suiting the car, it was pretty bulky.
He was also missing one rear exhaust clamp because the hook on the chassis rail had broken off. I ground it fully down and welded on a new one while he cleaned up the exhaust and painted it. We then mounted the exhaust back with some new hardware. (Seems like the OEM brackets are getting expensive, we went with a HJS kit, it came with every bolt/nut, rubber needed. The brackets themselves were also nicely plated. would recommend if you are planning on replacing these.)
I also replaced the sparkplug wires with some new Bosch set because a few of the old ones were getting cracked.

[D.Martijn]

Yesterday I decided to spray paint my wiper arms black again as they got quite faded and had a lot of stone chips on them.
I don't know why but I had a hard time painting these things. The paint wasn't drying that good. I stripped them back to metal and painted them at home instead of the workshop and it seemed to be a bit better.





While fitting the front wiper arms, I gave the engine a look over and noticed something laying on the left chassis rail. turns out it was my little flashlight I lost a few months ago when I was doing all of the rust repairs. I'm glad I got it back though
Can you spot it? :)


This morning I gave the E30 a wash and gave the black trim pieces a much deserved coat of revival. We then went of to Brussels where there was a meet at the Cinquantenaire park. There were quite a bit of BMWs, E30s, 6 series, 02 touring and even a turbo!
Cars lined up, my brother went with our Golf mk1 and a friend of ours with his Golf mk2 syncro




When we were heading home my brother took this picture.


Before we went to the meet, I filled the E30 all the way up as I wanted to calculate the consumption again as it has been a while I monitored it. Turns out I used 13.6l of petrol for 160kms (highway, city and some spirited driving). So that's 8,6l/100km or 27,3mpgs. Not bad if you ask me.

[D.Martijn]

As of lately I've had trouble with my brakes squealing again..
I took them all apart, cleaned all surfaces. coated the guide pins with a fresh coat of silicon grease (I had put copper grease on the guide pins, maybe that's why?) and put fresh copper grease on the back and sides of the brake pads.

While I was working on my brakes, I left the ignition switch on, turns out when I was ready to head back home my car wouldn't start.. Luckily my dad was home and came to the workshop with some starter cables.. :p

While waiting on him I also changed the drivers side speaker panel for another one I bought from a scrapyard. The previous owner had cut a section of the panel where the hood release cable it.

[D.Martijn]

i love this thread. just read it from start to finish and you have done such a good job, always wanted a 325ix

ps thanks for fixing the photos

Thanks, appreciate your comment.

Yeah, it took quite some time to get them all fixed :)

[blinkx]

i love this thread. just read it from start to finish and you have done such a good job, always wanted a 325ix

ps thanks for fixing the photos

[D.Martijn]

I've noticed that whenever it's hot and I do a ton of braking my front brakes tend to squeal when lightly braking or driving very slowly. The brake pads and rotor are still in good condition so I decided to check the condition of the guide pins.
The drivers side still looked good after cleaning the old grease off. The passenger side, not so much. One of the rubber boots was torn and caused the pin to be rusted.


Luckily, when I replaced my uncles front brakes I kept his old hardware. So I swapped one guide pin and rubber boot and was all set. :)

[D.Martijn]

Not really an update but since the Photobucket fiasco all of my pictures were not loading anymore. I since then downloaded them all an transferred them to a Flickr account and changed every single link. Glad this build thread is done. Still have a few more to go on some other forums.

[D.Martijn]

Today there was an BMW oldtimer event though is was mostly E30s :p
As far as I can tell I was the only ix, there were a few tourings though.



Parked next to this Z1, had never seen one before. Definitely a cool car.