A new start: 1990 325i

[Codym42]

These pics are from a few months back...


Decided to clean up the battery and battery tray. The vent tube wasn't hooked up and was worrying me a bit so I washed everything with baking soda, even the battery box in the car. I painted the hold down bracket and ordered a new vent tube off Amazon. It looks like a previous owner already sealed up some rust (perhaps POR-15?). Nice to see that was already done.










I thought this was an interesting picture: My Dad's friend's '89 Maserati 430, My Dad's '87 Alfa Romeo Milano, along with my e30. 80's cars just feel right!!








Decided to continue polishing up the car. Also polished up a spare set of tail lights as the ones I had were cracking.

Before and after pics:












Gotta love single stage red. I didn’t bother with the bumper, it needs to be replaced and the paint is beyond saving.

Now just need to do the roof to finish...








I've also been trying to track down water leaks. The carpet inside sometimes gets wet depending on the angle its parked.

So far I've:
Replaced Antenna grommet
Blown out sunroof drains
Cleaned and broken the elephant drunk drain... need to replace
Replaced tail light gaskets
Re-sealed the spoiler

And lastly, I ordered these replacement door and trunk seals off eBay from Turkey. I only needed the trunk and passenger door.

I haven't noticed any water since doing all of this, so I'm hoping its fixed.

[Codym42]

My latest project has been a clutch job in my e46. The car has 142k miles and the original clutch was starting to go bad, but I think most of the issues were related to the dual mass flywheel. I decided to do everything while I was in there:

OE replacement Dual mass flywheel and Self-Adjusting-Clutch
CDV (Clutch delay valve) delete
New rear main seal and input shaft seal
New TOB, pivot pin, fork, etc.
New clutch line and slave cylinder
New CSB and Guibo
Replaced all shifter bushings
New transmission mounts
New Downstream O2 Sensors

Pulled it out of the garage today for the first time in over a month. Everything feels good and its a little more aggressive to drive with the CDV deleted. The clutch is actually predictable now. I'm trying to drive it conservatively to break-in the clutch but I miss ringing out the M54.

Its hard to focus on the e30 when my other 2 vehicles are getting up there in age. The E46 is going to need an oil pan gasket soon. Not a terrible job, but it is time consuming. Also saw that the steering rack boots are torn, easy replacement on those.

[Panici]

I thought this was an interesting picture: My Dad's friend's '89 Maserati 430, My Dad's '87 Alfa Romeo Milano, along with my e30. 80's cars just feel right!!

That is a GREAT picture! Looks like a period-correct shot with the old pickup in the background.

Its hard to focus on the e30 when my other 2 vehicles are getting up there in age.

I hear you there.
Don't get me wrong, multiple project vehicles are great. But it divides your time and money and things take much longer to progress.

[Codym42]

That is a GREAT picture! Looks like a period-correct shot with the old pickup in the background.

Thanks!! If only the houses looked a little older haha


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[Codym42]

Updates!

About a month ago, I cleaned up and installed my 3.73 LSD that I've had sitting around. I installed a new rear cover gasket and put in some fresh fluid. Unfortunately the new diff is making all kinds of awful noise and gear whine. I pulled it from a junkyard car about 5 years ago which was in really good shape and the fluid looked really good when I drained it. Oh well... win some, lose some.

I'm currently trying to source a replacement but may end up having this one rebuilt. People seem to be asking $600-$700 for questionable used ones these days while the rebuild service is around $1200.

If anyone knows of a good shop in the Atlanta area that does this, please let me know! I've been eyeing the Syncro Design Works website. Their price seems reasonable and they have a good reputation based on what I've seen.






New diff cleaned up vs old open diff... so much oil and grime built up on it.



Realized I never posted interior pics on this thread. Still needs some work but she's coming along! I have a replacement rear seat that will be going in at some point. The armrest on this one is broken and the seat bottom is out of a sedan.

[Codym42]

What could this be??




I scored a used rear bumper on eBay and it arrived undamaged! Super stoked on this. Only problem is that it is Zinno... I'll probably end up repainting it before I install.




Very happy with how this car is turning out.




Finally polished the roof! Single stage paint is absolutely amazing. I'm really hoping it doesn't fade back too quickly.




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[Codym42]

Painted and installed my euro filler plate. New license plate lenses and bulbs as well.





Looking much better! Don't mind the missing bumper trim






I was finally able to fix my cruise control too. I replaced the clutch and brake pedal switches but that didn't make a difference. It turned out to be the cruise control computer that was causing the issues. Luckily I had a spare that worked.

Also, does anyone happen to know the part number for the connectors to these switches? I cannot seem to find them online at all. I searched high and low in RealOEM and all I can find is the bigger plugs for the headlights.






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[Codym42]

Saw a really nice ZHP when I was leaving the house the other day.





Last weekend I stopped by the junkyard. They had a fresh e30 which is rare to see nowadays. I scored a really nice visor/header panel and some other bits and pieces. It's really a shame this was at the yard. The body wasn't too bad











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