Zen and the Art of e30 Maintenance

[MR E30 325is]

Happy to hear all of this Simon!

Continue to enjoy it as much as you can!

[Simon S]

Thanks for the kind words.

Processing specialist for an employee benefits TPA (Third Party Administrator).
I run reports, play with Excel files, resolve issues, and serve as team lead to 5-6 assistant processors.
Specializing in Flex Spending Accounts.
I’m a pig in mud.

All I can say is hang in there I guess – I feel like I’ve emerged from 5-8 years of career hell..

[grt]

Great news to hear you are still running around!

I know what you mean when you say 'I should be put in jail for how I drive in the rain'. Liquid horsepower!

What did you land a job doing if you don't mind me asking? Work over there is tough to find.

[bradnic]

your thread totally rocks man. what a great way to get to know E30s!

some quick comments on your last post:

A coolant leak per poor fit of an aftermarket “coolant pipe” – Fixed by replacing with an OE part.

sometimes on lower priced parts it's just not worth the potential risk. if it might leave you stranded think twice right?

I can tell the driver’s-side door lock is starting to fail – so I’ve been locking/unlocking via passenger-side door. Don’t mind so much – it’s like an e30 owners right of passage. Will someday get around to rebuilding the lock.

Yeah it's really not so critical to rebuild the locks anymore, especially if you've installed remote lock/unlock.. that said the driver, ignition and glove box lock rebuilds are definitely not hard to do. accessing the cylinder in the doors is the biggest pain.

Cam sensor developed a very slow oil leak. Replaced crispy O-ring with a new one. Not 100% - but I think that marks the replacement of EVERY gasket/seal/O-ring on the engine. (they all leaked)

Given the age and mileage of these cars.... it's inevitable.

Rear window defogger “kind of” worked – Applied dabs of repair goop at grid intersections and regained functionality.

VERY good to know.. the alternative really sucks doesn't it...

Oh – and I even landed a good job! Been there less than a year – and already earned a raise and a bonus. :)

Always a Good Thing. congrats!!

[TrentW]

I alternate between the trunk lock and pass side lock :)

Same here.

[markseven]

Thank you for the continued love and support.

I can tell the driver’s-side door lock is starting to fail – so I’ve been locking/unlocking via passenger-side door. Don’t mind so much – it’s like an e30 owners right of passage. Will someday get around to rebuilding the lock.

I alternate between the trunk lock and pass side lock :)

[eduTechnic]

All great news. Happy car. Happy life. Thanks for the update. I found it hard to find an M42 with an aftermarket exhaust that didn't have some kind of rattle or rasp at some rpm. GL on that hunt.

[Simon S]

Thank you for the continued love and support.

Update:
Wow – so I’ve been driving the car sans winters for two years now. What a trip. What a joy. She’s been just great.

OK with deleted power steering and only miss lack of AC about 4 days a year.

I should be put in jail for how I drive in the rain.


Issues to report –

A coolant leak per poor fit of an aftermarket “coolant pipe” – Fixed by replacing with an OE part.

I can tell the driver’s-side door lock is starting to fail – so I’ve been locking/unlocking via passenger-side door. Don’t mind so much – it’s like an e30 owners right of passage. Will someday get around to rebuilding the lock.

The exhaust resonator resonates (I know right?) somewhat loudly at exactly 2.5K rpm – which totally sucks because it’s one of those SuperSprint systems. A local shop said they could swap in an aftermarket resonator for ~$100. Part of me wants to hear what it would be like to swap in a glasspack instead. Probably a bad idea on a four cylinder car. In any event, it’s a drag around town because it would appear 2.5K rpm is a popular engine speed as I tool around.

Cam sensor developed a very slow oil leak. Replaced crispy O-ring with a new one. Not 100% - but I think that marks the replacement of EVERY gasket/seal/O-ring on the engine. (they all leaked)

Rear brake pads rattle over bumpy streets. Had initially installed with that orange goop – but then didn’t bother after an early inspection. Now I regret it.

Driver’s side speaker pod periodically pops out.. and I continue to periodically pop it back on.

Love/hate the skid plate. Love that it protects the oil pan. Hate when changing the oil.

Rear window defogger “kind of” worked – Applied dabs of repair goop at grid intersections and regained functionality.

The starter developed that intermittent behavior where it works fine – except for random times when it takes 15+ attempts at turning the key before the solenoid engages. This really pisses me off since I totally, completely replaced the working starter with a rebuilt Bosh unit in order to prevent this very thing from happening. I guess next Spring I’ll gut the fucker out again and attempt to take it to a local shop that can really, actually, fully rebuild it for me.


.. aside from those things – she’s been an amazing car to own and drive. Everything I could ever want. Super simple. Super fun.

Oh – and I even landed a good job! Been there less than a year – and already earned a raise and a bonus. :)

[phillye30fanboy]

[eur04lif3]

Bored on this Saturday evening, and decided to read this thread all over again.

Bump, for a very inspirational thread.

[shaferbm]

Seriously inspiring

[lolcantturn]

Bump for one of the best threads on this forum.

[peytonracer4]

Hey Simon, I've been following your thread for quite a while now and you do some amazing work. I wanted to say hi and meet up with you when you mentioned your work situation and admire your work up close, but I actually fell into a similarly shitty situation and kind of fell off the map for a while as well. Such is life I guess.

Anyways, I think I have a winter car for you if you like driving E30s in the winter. I stopped driving it a while back because my Megasquirt ECU blew up and because I had my nice and clean E30 and a diesel VW rabbit as my daily. It used to be pretty rust free, but I've owned it for over 11 years now and it has had little use the last 5 years and almost no use the last 3. The subframes are pretty rusty now, but it has subframe bushings, wheel bearings, control arms, and the normal replacement stuff with low miles on them. It's technically a stroker engine since the previous owner put an i cam in the ETA head and had a custom chip made (guess that's what they did back in the late 80s). Well, whoever did the work forgot to put the rocker shaft locator in and when I was down in FL for school in 2003, the extra heat made it slide and one of the rockers was slipping off a valve and I had to have it rebuilt. So basically, the mechanicals are solid and if you want a beater, it's yours. You can come take a look or I can send pics and things through PM, just make me an offer in your budget and I'd likely take it. I could help you fix it up and make it roadworthy again as well. (It has been in my dads driveway for over 2 years and I just don't want it spending another winter there)

Here's the car from when I was caught in a massive snowstorm in Indiana without an LSD(it was in my trunk, just had to be installed lol) on the way back from Florida one year:

Horrible ice storm trapped me here by andrewgood, on Flickr

this location looks really really familiar to me. hmm...

[Eurospec]

Looks amazing without the gawd awful cosmoline. How difficult was it to remove that stuff.

Bravo dude! Absolutely love the attention to detail with everything you've tackled on the car which seems to be just about everything.

[Simon S]

Thought I would bump one of the greatest threads of all the internet..
What did the prebent brakelines cost you?
And, did you order them from the dealer?

Aw thanks..
Don't remember.. $35-ish? [from dealer]. The main front-to-rear brake line doesn't come pre-bent. (the fuel lines do). I removed the perished/original line as gingerly as I could, then spent ~2 hours with a line bender matching the non-bent replacement.

And thanks to others for kind words..

Link to bay shot where it was a little more together than the 'candy' shot..(raw photo/size)