The MR E30 Project Thread

[MR E30 325is]

November 9th, 2012

I havent adhered to my set schedule for crap, but I did manage to sneak a little bit of work in on the E30 between homework and work.

Safety nut for the oil pump came in the mail a few days ago, and thats what was keeping me from reattaching the oil pan and flipping the engine back up.

A quick search found that 17 ft/lbs is the necesary torque to properly install this nut on all M5x/S5x variants. This nut is reverse thread.

Remember kids, a torque wrench and red threadlocker are your friends!



All done. That nut is not going anywhere. I replaced the oil pump pickup tube gasket as well.



Tomorrow the pan gets its last coat of paint, the front main seal gets replaced and hopefully I flip the S52 back to its normal orientation. A few more things need painted and reinstalled before I can say the engine is done.

[ian e30 318is]

Dude look at you! I can't wait to see this thing when you cruise up!

[MR E30 325is]

November 7th, 2012

October was a good month, and some of my most anticipated parts arrived.



Oil pump safety nut also arrived yesterday, and I would go down into the garage and start putting things back together tonight, but homework from a couple of engineering classes is going to keep me at the table for the next 5-6 hours, so I can't have any fun with the E30 tonight.

Clutch kit and a ZF transmission are next on my list of things to purchase. Just have to make some more money.

[MR E30 325is]

November 3rd, 2012 Part 2

I got a good amount of work done this afternoon.

I was able to successfully clean all of these parts, though a few will need to be painted before being installed on the engine.



I decided to ditch the AC pulley on the front of the engine, due to the fact that the chassis has literally no AC components left (because racecar) and I knew I would have to shorten the bolts just a little bit. So I measured the thickness of the ac pulley and marked the 3/16th of an inch that I needed to grind away from each of the 6 bolts.

I used a grinder and held the bolt in a pair of vice grips and simply ground down the bolt to the desired length. I rounded each of the edges and tested each of them in the crank flange to make sure they went in and out smoothly, and to make sure they wouldnt be too long when I installed them. Needless to say, it was a success. I dont have any pics though, but I am sure you can envision them pretty easily.

Then I started on the modification to the spider hose. I am removing the tube that goes to the throttle body heater, as that entire loop has been removed from my coolant system.

After the first couple of cuts.



I wasnt too worried about removing the metal piece on the t hose, as it wont be visible when the car is assembled, and I didnt want to grind too far and damage the integrity of the tube that I wanted to keep. A fresh coat of black paint should hide it pretty well.



After I finished grinding it I handed it to my trusty garage buddy to clean all the grime and grease off of it.



He is the only one who never hesitates to join me in the garage, no matter what time of day it is. Haha

I didnt remove the tube completely, as I still don't know how I want to close it off. I might remove it flush and weld a piece of metal over the opening, or I might crush, bend and heat the exposed tube shut. Decisions, decisions.

After all of this, I started on the wiring harness. The thing was pretty dirty, but I dont think there is much work to be done to it, which should save a little bit of time and keep me on track with my scheduled deadlines.

More work tomorrow. Stay tuned.

[Zasz]

GJ brah, see you in SD later hopefully.

[MR E30 325is]

November 3rd, 2012

Lots of time being devoted to the E30 today. Alternator, power steering pump, oil filter housing, and a few miscellaneous pieces have been cleaned so far. It is hilarious how parts that wont be visible when the engine is installed are really easy to clean, but the very visible parts are a pain in the ass to get shiny.

I need to run to Home Depot to get some acetone to use before I paint the various pieces, and to pick up lumber to construct an appropriately heighted table to work on all of the parts. The trunk lid of the E30 is not going to work for much longer.

Pics tonight after I burn out on E30 work.

[Jalves619]

I'm not sure why, but I may be more excited about your e30 getting finished, than I am excited about finishing my own. This thing is going to be an absolute monster.

[MR E30 325is]

November 1st, 2012

I was able to find the torque specs for the valve cover to cylinder head bolts (89 in/lbs) but the Bentley does not specify a tightening sequence.

I am going to mimic the head to engine sequence as best as I can.

I might be overdoing it, but I do not want any leaks from the S52 after this winter is over.

On a related note, my Treehouse lollipops are finally going to arrive tomorrow.

I need a volvo 740 lip bad, if anyone has one for sale shoot me a price and I will buy it from you.

More cleaning tonight after I finish work.

[MR E30 325is]

Mike you are a beast! Dude I miss workin on the e30's with you man :( Keep up the good work bud

Thanks Ian. I miss your mothers delicious dinners. I can't wait to come back out to Cali to visit.

[ian e30 318is]

Mike you are a beast! Dude I miss workin on the e30's with you man :( Keep up the good work bud

[MR E30 325is]

October 29th, 2012

The oil pan is finally cleaned! It only took about 3 hours by hand. The pan isnt as 'clean' of metal as the block, but I still think it came out alright.



Its going to be painted an attractive color.

Hurricane Sandy is being a total bitch and delaying my oil pump safety nut from being shipped to my house. Pan obviously won't go back on until that arrives, so I am going to research and do the front main seal.

[MR E30 325is]

this is the first build thread that i read COMPLETELY, and it was awesome. your attitude towards your car is how everyones should be. you're not a snobby know it all, you just love doing shit to your car, so you just keep doing it and see how it goes. it was crazy to see this cars process. awesome job man, inspiration to a youngster.

Thanks man! I hope it didnt take too long to read.

If you ever have any questions feel free to PM me.

[J.Rizo]

this is the first build thread that i read COMPLETELY, and it was awesome. your attitude towards your car is how everyones should be. you're not a snobby know it all, you just love doing shit to your car, so you just keep doing it and see how it goes. it was crazy to see this cars process. awesome job man, inspiration to a youngster.

[FunfGan]

Thats exactly what I want to accomplish with mine. Somewhere in my brain I have this intense desire to daily drive a car that most everyone else would judge as far too extreme to ever drive.

I want to putt around town in something utterly obnoxious, while the whole time I have a giant stupid grin on my face.

You sir, think exactly like me. Why drive a car that makes you smile simply on backroads or the track? People call my car stupid all the time, and it's why I love it. Yeah, it has no traction through 3rd or 4th without warming up the tires, it has no heat, p/s, a/c or anything, really. The less livable, most obnoxious, fun car is all I'm after.

[MR E30 325is]

October 26th, 2012

I spent another long but enjoyable night in the garage. I started by finishing the cleansing of the block, on the passengers side. It looks just as delicious as the drivers side.



I then went for the valve cover. Cleaned it up really nicely and replaced the associated gaskets. The dried in gaskets were a pan in the ass to get free from the spark plug holes. I used a tiny bit of heat for about 2 seconds and it loosened them up enough to pull them out with a pair of pliers. Before the heat they would just crack and break away.

All 3 of the necessary gaskets replaced.



Dos Cams (I have the cam cover, it was simply off being cleaned at the time of the picture.)



When I was ready to reinstall the valve cover I realized that the hardware that holds it in place should be a little more attractive and discrete than factory.

So after a quick testing with some high temp black paint (on the right in the picture, for reference) I decided to coat all of the bolts and washers in black.



Looks much better this way. They dont stick out and it will lend a small portion of the cleanliness to the engine bay.

It was then time to flip the engine over and finish up with the final 'chunk' of the engine.

The oil pan is incredibly dirty, and there are a few more gaskets to replace than the valve cover, so it is taking a little longer.

Jalves recommended the bimmerworld predrilled safety nut, so I ordered it to solve the notorious oil pump nut problem that some people have with the M5x/S5x engines. I will be installing the safety nut as well as using red loctite to ensure I dont have any problems down the road.

Also, my oil pan definitely touched the road at one point since I installed it (which isnt bad, as the car is extremely low and I drove in some pretty crappy areas without a skidplate) so I am going to order the HIK hoop bar skidplate sometime this winter to remove the worry about shattering my pan into a hundred pieces.

That crank looks pretty good too. I was able to peer inside of some of the cylinders and the walls of the cylinder look perfect, just as I expected.



I was finally able to get in contact with Treehouse about my lollipop order and we got things straightened out. They will be shipped out on Monday and hopefully I will receive them shortly.

After work tonight I am going back into the garage for a few more hours of work. I hope to have the pan completely clean. Since I cant reassemble the engine until the nut arrives I will probably start on the wiring harness.

I am surprised that I have been devoting this much time to the car already. I dont want to have to rush anything though.