Diamantschwarz Forever: An E30 Love Story. Re-shell & Restomod

[freeride53]

fuuuhhhhhhhh

cuhhh

Yeah, I'm pretty bummed. But I have 5 Euroweaves up at my grandma's house in Alameda. 2 of them need new tires, as they were just *slightly* damaged by the accident, with a little ring carved out on both. Sucks. But oh well. The tricky part now will be getting them down to LA from the Bay, somehow. In the meantime...looking for a set of Bottlecaps with good tires

:(

P.s.: got those fancy Bosch Icon wiper blades tonight while ordering my new new CV assemblies. OMG.

SP

[jpod999]

damage report:

- destroyed one of my 17" kopi alpinas (rest are balanced out fine)

fuuuhhhhhhhh

[freeride53]

Negro, I brought up the clunk issue in the right rear while riding in the backseat the other day. Sounds like shock mount or possibly FUBAR swaybar end links. Could also be your axles or bad wheel bearing? Though a wheel bearing would typically make more of a whirring noise at speed. But hey, if you believe, we can achieve.

LOL - well that was all before I drove through the apocalypse yesterday.

But in the aftermath, I guess you can say you told me so :(

Damage report:

- Destroyed one of my 17" Kopi Alpinas (rest are balanced out fine)
- Need a CV axle. Gonna replace the other side as well.
- Probably right RSM. I wanna replace them both as well.

Now I need some spare wheels. :-(

[phreshkid]

More updatez (not so positive):



(2) I'm hearing a weird clunking noise coming from my right rear wheel. Going to get the car up in the air later this afternoon and check the right shock mount/tower, lug bolts, shock bottom bolt, and see WTF is up.

Anyone wanna make some initial beta on calling out the issues?

Negro, I brought up the clunk issue in the right rear while riding in the backseat the other day. Sounds like shock mount or possibly FUBAR swaybar end links. Could also be your axles or bad wheel bearing? Though a wheel bearing would typically make more of a whirring noise at speed. But hey, if you believe, we can achieve.

[freeride53]

More updatez (not so positive):

For those who aren't local, we had an apocalyptic rainstorm in Southern California yesterday.
Probably the worst driving/visibility that I've ever experienced whilst driving an E30...
this is probably b/c the road infrastructure here isn't designed to handle HEAVY percipitaiton as it was in Northern California, or in Chicago, or the East Coast while I was there.

Anyways, long story short, drove with a little-to-no visibility, ran over a couple of nasty potholes/cracks in the road on HWY 57 and now experiencing issues.

(1) I am getting some vibrations on my front end while cruising. Hoping my wheels aren't bent, and hoping that re-balancing them will do the trick.
Might the lug bolts have been knocked loose too? I only noticed this while driving 5 mins to the train station this morning.

(2) I'm hearing a weird clunking noise coming from my right rear wheel. Going to get the car up in the air later this afternoon and check the right shock mount/tower, lug bolts, shock bottom bolt, and see WTF is up.

Anyone wanna make some initial beta on calling out the issues?

[freeride53]

Lots of good progress! I always look forward to updates on your car.

The idling issues could be caused by a number of things, but based on the work just completed I bet it might be one of the following:

- Throttle open/close switch might need some adjustment. With the car off, you'll hear it *click* when it makes contact.

- Tear in the intake boot. If you don't use the "coolant spacer thingy" (throttle body -> coolant spacer thingy -> upper intake manifold) it puts a little extra stretch on the intake boot. If it's an old boot it might have torn causing an intake leak.

Happy hunting!

Thanks Mike, and thanks for the tips! We did notice a *slight* tear/crack in the intake boot, however we did keep the plate space thing in place.

This morning I must admit the car started just fine, and is idling just under 1k again, and I'm a happy camper. Hope it stays this way.

I was literally sleeping four minutes before you took that photo. I was in my
Pajamas and haven't even peed for the morning.

Glad it worked out yesterday, but I'm curious about your cold start issues. It's worth looking into the TPS and maybe dick around with the stock chip to see if the cold starts get better.

No worries baby, you looked wonderful from all that beauty sleep.

As mentioned, this morning it started up fine and didn't act up for some rzn.

Wow Sina! Crazy this is the first thread I've read on the forums in a long time. Really happy to see you ended up alright after that crash...And you recovered and built something from it with your close friends. That's awesome! Would also look sweet with some Kooglewerks bits ;) looking forward to catching up one of these days

Hey agha Pierre, long time no talk, hope all is well! Funny, I only got back on R3V this past year when I had my E30 shipped out to Chicago, before I embarked on my road-trip around the continent.

I've been following your creations on Instagram. Let's catch up sometime and grab coffee or something when I'm back up in the Yay.

BTW - your sister still have your old 318is? Hope an E30's still in the fam.

Aah OK, I knew you had a solid reason, was just curious as to what it was!
Good to know you were able to use lots of the other parts from the previous car. Great work so far.

Continue with updates!

Yeah, it was a shame, but I'm happy that I could save the LF Fender.

Planning on putting it up on the wall of my bedroom when I move into my own apartment, hopefully soon.

Resetting the DME by disconnecting either the battery or disconnecting the DME can cause the DME to have to relearn the fuel maps. Last time I sold my old e30 and swapped back the stock DME and it idled funny (the idle would rev up and down while sitting still) for the first few minutes the first couple times I drove it. Same thing happened when I replaced the battery. If it is this it should clear up pretty quickly.

Interesting. As mentioned above, this morning for some reason, it was idling just fine. Crossing my fingers that it stays fine haha.

[Zeemz]

- Car idles funny upon first start for a few minutes, then idles high when warm.

Question: how long is the usual "break in period" for a chip? Are the above symptoms normal?

Cheers,
SP

Resetting the DME by disconnecting either the battery or disconnecting the DME can cause the DME to have to relearn the fuel maps. Last time I sold my old e30 and swapped back the stock DME and it idled funny (the idle would rev up and down while sitting still) for the first few minutes the first couple times I drove it. Same thing happened when I replaced the battery. If it is this it should clear up pretty quickly.

[IceWhite]

Didn't save any of the doors because they all had been kinked by the rear and front impacts. They were all a little jammed and difficult to open, so I didn't want to risk selling doors that were slightly bent.

I did however save all door cards, front glass, and regulators. The mirrors, door cards, armrests, switches are already on the new shell.

The car's interior was TOTALLY and completely stripped, save for the dash (plastic itself) that was damaged badly in the wreck.

Aah OK, I knew you had a solid reason, was just curious as to what it was!
Good to know you were able to use lots of the other parts from the previous car. Great work so far.

Continue with updates!

[e30nub]

Wow Sina! Crazy this is the first thread I've read on the forums in a long time. Really happy to see you ended up alright after that crash...And you recovered and built something from it with your close friends. That's awesome! Would also look sweet with some Kooglewerks bits ;) looking forward to catching up one of these days

[phreshkid]

I was literally sleeping four minutes before you took that photo. I was in my
Pajamas and haven't even peed for the morning.

If you can't handle me at my worst, you don't deserve me at my best.


Glad it worked out yesterday, but I'm curious about your cold start issues. It's worth looking into the TPS and maybe dick around with the stock chip to see if the cold starts get better.


Xoxo,
Ryan Phreshkid Danco

[mike.bmw]

- Car idles funny upon first start for a few minutes, then idles high when warm.

Question: how long is the usual "break in period" for a chip? Are the above symptoms normal?

Cheers,
SP

Lots of good progress! I always look forward to updates on your car.

The idling issues could be caused by a number of things, but based on the work just completed I bet it might be one of the following:

- Throttle open/close switch might need some adjustment. With the car off, you'll hear it *click* when it makes contact.

- Tear in the intake boot. If you don't use the "coolant spacer thingy" (throttle body -> coolant spacer thingy -> upper intake manifold) it puts a little extra stretch on the intake boot. If it's an old boot it might have torn causing an intake leak.

Happy hunting!

[freeride53]

Had a fairly eventful play date with two of my favorite local cats.

Started off the day strong with some posing. Not pictured: the lovely open-faced breakfast bagels that Ryan whipped us up. Nothing like breakfast on your trunk lid.



A lot of unnecessary hosiery came off...



A lot of disgusting grime was cleaned off from inside and along the edge of the engine bay





Upper and lower intake manifolds received some cleansing..



Brain surgery was performed...



M42 Performance Chips were embarrassingly installed backwards at first...



Twins "Backed that Azz Up" like the song by Juvenile



And the night was ended with a waaay cleaner engine bay that's not as gross.



Some of the day's highlights: me losing the plastic nipple that goes at the end of the throttle cable, followed by Abby rigging a zip-tie solution, then me gassing it too hard on the 405, snapping it, and having to coast us to the side and then having Alex come to the rescue with a spare piece and spare bulb for my burned out tail light.

Observations:

- Car's power band is noticeably different in character with the Turner Chip.

- Red line has been extended and I like that

- Car idles funny upon first start for a few minutes, then idles high when warm.

Question: how long is the usual "break in period" for a chip? Are the above symptoms normal?

Cheers,
SP

[freeride53]

congrats on getting the old shell recycled. Less weight on the shoulders and a happy family are two great things

It feels great. This weekend while it's raining, hoping to do some more tidying up with interior and under the hood. Mainly sifting through all of the parts I have in boxes, etc.

Ideally, would like to do the "Mess Under the Intake Mod" but I, like Danco did, need to do some thorough cleaning down there. Going to also take apart the ECU and swap in the Mark D'Sylva-Turner Chipped ECU in.

I also need to have an exhaust shop replace all of the piping from the cat back with new piping at the same diameter, and replace the stock muffler. I have a BNIB stainless Magnaflow that are pretty commonly used on these M42 cars, similar to the one I had before. However, the tip is rather large, and afraid of it looking a little ricey. I guess I'll have it installed then decide. I also want the shop to angle the new muffler placement so that the exit is slanted like OEM.

[2mAn]

congrats on getting the old shell recycled. Less weight on the shoulders and a happy family are two great things

[freeride53]

I can imagine the thought of letting the old shell go, bittersweet somes it up, but I am just wondering why didn't you keep that right rear door and glass?

Didn't save any of the doors because they all had been kinked by the rear and front impacts. They were all a little jammed and difficult to open, so I didn't want to risk selling doors that were slightly bent.

I did however save all door cards, front glass, and regulators. The mirrors, door cards, armrests, switches are already on the new shell.

The car's interior was TOTALLY and completely stripped, save for the dash (plastic itself) that was damaged badly in the wreck.