Andrew's Sterlingsilber 90 325iS -> 318iS

[Andrew325is]

From what I can tell, 1990+ cars did not come with floor vents. Not sure why. Perhaps another way for BMW to cut costs.

Maybe that was one of the 90+ changes. I'm not sure if it could be considered a cost cutting measure though since I think it would cost more to fill the rear ducts with foam and the block-off cover doesn't really cost less than the duct piece that connects them.

[Andrew325is]

Replacing the heater core wasn't that difficult actually. The center console needs to come out as well as the lower driver's side panel(s) and on the airbag car the knee protector and bracket for it that goes inside the center console. I took the hoses off the ends of the pipes in the engine bay and it is a little tricky pulling the air channel duct off the heater core housing since it's old fragile plastic. Make sure you put a towel down under the pipes to soak up coolant and then unfasten the torx screws holding the heater core in and the clamp on the water valve pipes (up near the firewall). Then pull the heater core out a little so you can unfasten the bolts holding the pipes to it and then slide it out trying not to spill too much coolant. Make sure you don't lose the little rectangle nuts on the pipes because you have to re-use them. The o-rings don't come with the new heater core so you need to order them separate from the BMW dealer. The new heater core comes with a foam strip you cut to fit. I used the old heater core for reference. The foam pads on the near end aren't exactly the same, so I pulled those off the old one and attached them to the new one with some silicone adhesive.

[Staszek]

Does the whole dash need to come out to replace that? I swapped dashes about a year and a half ago. What a pain.

If would be easier to do if you did it when it was out, but it is not necessary.

[mike.bmw]

Does the whole dash need to come out to replace that? I swapped dashes about a year and a half ago. What a pain.

[Staszek]

Well I was going to install the injectors, but 2 of them on the car are missing the clamps that hold them to the fuel rail. Weird huh. So I ordered those.

I installed the new heater core. It still had the original (had a date sticker of Jan 90) and it was leaking a little bit from the lower pipe, so it was good I replaced it. I replaced all 3 of the o-rings on the water valve pipes. The old ones were hard as a rock.

Also, another weird thing I noticed is that there are no ducts to the rear heater ducts and they are filled with foam. Is that a model specific configuration or did later E30s just come equipped like this? Seems odd when there are heated front seats, but no heat for the rear.

Wasnt that a pain to replace, I almost gave up on it a few times, glad I went through with the change though.

My 90 2 door doesnt have floor vents.

[e30austin]

From what I can tell, 1990+ cars did not come with floor vents. Not sure why. Perhaps another way for BMW to cut costs.

[Jokester]

Hmm, I can't recall if my other 2 door E30s were missing heat to the rear or not. According to the ETK/Realoem the cover that blocks the duct is part number 64111372670. It doesn't give any info besides that Canada spec cars have that (mine's USA).

I’ve seen coupes come with them before, I think it might have been a factory option but I’m not sure.

[Andrew325is]

Hmm, I can't recall if my other 2 door E30s were missing heat to the rear or not. According to the ETK/Realoem the cover that blocks the duct is part number 64111372670. It doesn't give any info besides that Canada spec cars have that (mine's USA).

[muppetman342]

Two doors have the foam, four doors have the ducts, as I understand.

[Stanley Rockafella]

IIRC all e30's should have the rears piped into the system.
At least that's how it was on my 86 es and 88 is
:???:

[Andrew325is]

Well I was going to install the injectors, but 2 of them on the car are missing the clamps that hold them to the fuel rail. Weird huh. So I ordered those.

I installed the new heater core. It still had the original (had a date sticker of Jan 90) and it was leaking a little bit from the lower pipe, so it was good I replaced it. I replaced all 3 of the o-rings on the water valve pipes. The old ones were hard as a rock.

Also, another weird thing I noticed is that there are no ducts to the rear heater ducts and they are filled with foam. Is that a model specific configuration or did later E30s just come equipped like this? Seems odd when there are heated front seats, but no heat for the rear.

[Andrew325is]

Great thread!

I saw the injectors you used and decided to order them. Holy cow!!! What a difference.

Car idles way better and feels torquier. I wish I would have done this years ago. Sending the factory ones to get cleaned just in case.

Awesome! That’s good to hear! I’m going to install mine right now actually. Haven’t started the car again yet. Just need to do that and install the new heater core.

[Andrew325is]

Thanks. Yeah it was very time consuming. There are 34 holes between the spokes and towards the end of scuffing them my fingers were numb haha. First time I painted something 2 colors too. I wasn’t sure how to do that at first. I thought about painting them the one color and then clearing it and wait for it to cure before masking it, but then I would have had to scuff the centers again, so I waited a couple hours (paint guy told me I had 4 hours to apply the clear) and put some tape on the side to test it and the paint didn’t lift up so I went ahead and masked them and shot the other color. It made me nervous peeling the tape off. It worked out well.

[slippery]

Great thread!

I saw the injectors you used and decided to order them. Holy cow!!! What a difference.

Car idles way better and feels torquier. I wish I would have done this years ago. Sending the factory ones to get cleaned just in case.

[mike.bmw]

Nice recovery on the wheels. They turned out excellent. Over the years I've refinished a few sets of 5 spoke wheels and found that time consuming and challenging. I can only imagine how it is to refinish a set of weaves.