New owner, BMW 325iX Touring

[D.Martijn]

At the start of this week I replaced the coolant hose that had a leak. It was quite a challenge to get it out and fit the new one but I managed to get it in there eventually.

It still has the weird starting issue where it runs rough for a minute on start up, giving it some gas clears it up and it idles great. I got a compression tester form a friend but since the spark plug hole is quite deep on the M20s, I couldn't tighten it enough.
I went to the local parts store and ordered one for myself that has an extension. It should arrive tomorrow at their shop so I'll pick it up and test the compression once I got it.

Since I couldn't do a whole lot on the E30, I decided to finally replace the drivers side door actuator. I figured this one went bad because I could only open the drivers side door. Also when sitting in the car and trying to get it locked by pushing on the little locking pin, nothing happened. As far as I understand the actuator send a signal to the central locking module when to open or close the doors/trunk.

Anyway, I swapped the old one out with one I bought used on Ebay. Closing the door and turning the lock, it finally works again!

I also ordered some SEM black trim paint and an IS lip as I can find a decent used IS lip here locally or in Germany. So I ordered a new genuine one from BMW. I finally ordered a new valve cover gasket. I noticed the Elring doesn't seem to seal as great like the Victor Reinz gasket. The VR has a red silicon bead on top of the gasket, the Elring is just flat. While ordering I also got a new oil filter, blue temp sensor and 6 new sparkplugs

And at last, I found a used transfer case, owner says it has 200k kms, VC still works and splines are good. Listed for 50€. Only problem with is is that one of the reinforcement ribs located at the front output shaft is broken off.
I still have a spare housing so that's not a problem for me. I might pick it up. One can't have enough IX parts lol

[D.Martijn]

Great update. I am always very impressed by your welding ability and thoroughness/completeness to each job you finish.

Thanks for the kind words, Mike! Congrats again on COTM!

You're the boss. Love your posts. Keep on it :)

Thank man! Will do. Thinking about doing the front shaft guibo mod soon. The front shaft and output shaft are pretty worn. I do have a spare one laying around but I'll fit that one once I replace the transfer case with one that has better splines.

I have a replacement for that heater core coolant hose. It doesn't look fun to replace and i don't think it will be fun to bleed either. I like the progress a lot.

I ordered one straight from the BMW classic shop itself since my local dealer is closed till the 20th of August..
It'll be a bitch to remove and fit the new one. But bleeding shouldn't be a big problem. Just fully open the valve to coolant stream to the heater core and let it all warm up..

[jeenyus]

I have a replacement for that heater core coolant hose. It doesn't look fun to replace and i don't think it will be fun to bleed either. I like the progress a lot.

[notanawdix80]

You're the boss. Love your posts. Keep on it :)

[mike.bmw]

Great update. I am always very impressed by your welding ability and thoroughness/completeness to each job you finish.

[D.Martijn]

Although I did receive the new coolant inlet hose to replace the broken one, I haven't had time to install it yet as I was on holiday in the UK, to a VW Golf mk1 meeting.

However, since being home now 2 day, I did finish my uncles iX touring front end refresh.
So this post will be about his iX.

After jacking it up and removing the wheels I got started right away with removing the struts and cv axles. At first I was only going to replace the shocks but after discovering this.. things got a bit more involved.
Jup, that's fucked.


Underside of the strut bearing/support


Spring perch


I was able to remove the old nut, whatever you could have called it by then..


The metal at the threads was getting pretty thin. This housing is in a tad bit better shape than the other one.


I'm guessing it's the first time that these shocks have been replaced as they still got the BMW logo stamped in them.


After searching for better used ones and not really finding anything useful. We decided to fix what we had. I managed to find cut off housings from a rwd E30 and used the top section of those.


I first sandblasted to majority of the rust and then cut the housings. I welded the new section in place by using the old shock and new nut to get it all in center.
I left a small gap between the two pieces so I could stitch weld them on and still get good penetration.


After a coat of satin 2k black paint, the first one was already assembled. Oh man is it hard to mount the struts. I couldn't compress the spring enough with the spring compressor I had so I had to push on it with my own weight and tighten the nut while doing so.


On the next one I asked some help from my brother. This one went a lot smoother


I still needed to remove the inner race on the hub. After trying to cut it in pieces and break it with a chisel, I decided to weld two little stubs on either side and using a puller with some sockets.


I also fully disassembled the front cv axles and repacked and re booted them.


New parts awaiting assembly. I was able to use a press to push the new bearings and hubs into the housings;


I also installed new M3 lollipop CABs & new swaybar bushings. I checked the ball joints on the control arm for play but they were still good. + I coudln't find new inner ones


And mounted!


Still sitting a bit high but it'll settle. After 'bench' testing the shocks, I noticed a clunk. Somehow I forgot to fully tighten one of the swaybar end links :)

[D.Martijn]

Just as I haven't had any real big / important costs/problem on the E30, (except fuel of course ;D) it started again..

It started when I let it idle to open the garage door after a spirited drive, when I came back to the E30, it overflowed coolant on to the ground. The temp gauge was at the 3/4 mark. Now, when I start it, it's running a bit rough. Giving it some throttle (1500-2000rpm) a few times clears the problem and the car idles and drives like normal again.

When I don't give it some throttle and drive right away, it bogs down a bit. This last a few meters and everything is back to normal.

I'm not sure it this might be a blown head gasket. Since before the overflowing coolant it never did this. Although there is no white smoke coming form the exhaust or mayo on the filler cap / dipstick.


Color of the oil also looks normal


Or I was thinking that it runs too rich on start up and giving it some more throttle burns the excess fuel away?

I pulled the sparkplugs on request of a R3Vmember but as far as I can tell they all look good. (this is the 4th one)


Yesterday I had to got to a friend to prepare our trip to the UK with my Golf mk1. When headed home, I decided to make a small drive, I noticed the temp gauge jumping around. I was guessing it's probably an air pocket because of the overflowing so today I refilled and bled the cooling circuit. Everything seemed to be fine after that. I had to go run some errands and it stayed in between the 1/4 and 1/2 mark.

When coming back home, I let it idle for a few seconds and shut it off only to notice some smoke coming from under my hood. Opening up the hood, I noticed a small stream of coolant shooting out of the coolant hose at the back of the cylinder head.


It'll be fun getting it out of there...

[D.Martijn]

Got some more pictures from last weeks tour/meet.

Both the iX Tourings when we were headed out for the first part of the trip


Me and a friend, followed by my brother & his girlfriend.




And my uncle and aunt followed by an other friend of me and a friend of him.






And some other pictures someone took




And finally all 3 Tourings lined up when we were back from the second part of the trip

[D.Martijn]

Last Sunday there was a BMW sharknose tour organized by a friend of a friend.
My brother, uncle and me decided to enter together with the E30s.

My brother drove with my unle his iX Touring, my uncles himeself with his 316i Baur and I drove with my iX Touring.
On Saturday we cleaned both Tourings, I decided to clay bar and wax the paint mine as it was pretty rough, it's been a while since I gave it a bath..

I also revived the black trim with some Gyeon trim, should last quite a bit longer than other regular products. (Gyeon says it should last up to 12 months)


Both the Tourings on the driveway :)


And a picture we took while driving, the green 320i Touring is my friends' E30

[D.Martijn]

My god they look stunning. What is the tyre size?


I wish i could find a set of style 5's in my country.


Looking forward to see more pics of your touring. I'm in love

Same tire size as the ix wheels, 205/55R15.
The regular E30 wheels are pretty easy to find though.
The ix weaves are not that easy :p

Thanks!

[notanawdix80]

The wheels are the regular ET24 E30 wheels, this makes the car sit a bit wider :)
I do have the original 15" ix basket weaves though.

And thank you!

My god they look stunning. What is the tyre size?


I wish i could find a set of style 5's in my country.


Looking forward to see more pics of your touring. I'm in love

[D.Martijn]

Omg my ix is on 249700 km right now! hahaha


Hey, those wheels are 15" ix wheels or just normal et24 ones?


Love your wagon.

The wheels are the regular ET24 E30 wheels, this makes the car sit a bit wider :)
I do have the original 15" ix basket weaves though.

And thank you!

[notanawdix80]

When driving to work today, I noticed that the iX was getting close to the 250 000km mark.
I got a picture just before and one after :)

Omg my ix is on 249700 km right now! hahaha


Hey, those wheels are 15" ix wheels or just normal et24 ones?


Love your wagon.

[D.Martijn]

A little while back, I had a small fender bender. luckily it was only the fender that got most of the damage, my lights, grills and bumper were still good.

Here's a picture I took when mounting my uncle's IS lip, where you can see the small dent. (still in search of a clean black one)


I got some Motip 54568 paint. Turns out they have 3 different numbers for lazurblau..
I started with tapping the dent out and metal finish the fender to get the remaining smaller dents out. I got it pretty close but still had to a little bit of filler.
After that some primer and some spray putty as there were some still small uneven spots.
After going over it with wet 600grit paper, I started spraying color. I tried to bend it in some more by spraying it a bit lighter on the edges of the repair section.
I then wet sanded it some more and went over it with some clear coat. I give it a couple of coats and again sprayed some beyond the repair section so I can wet sand it again and finally give it a polish.

I already mounted everything back on the car while the paint was dry to the touch but it still needs to harden some more

It's definitely not perfect but it'll do for now. I still might try and get a clean used fender


There is a bit of color variation but it's not too bad.

[jeenyus]

I've wanted to replace the seal around my sunroof for a while now. Not a priority... yet, so i guess I will just wait a little.