1991 BMW 325i Coupe - Build Thread - The end is in sight!

[MaksV]

So I went to a time trial today with the PCA. Great bunch of guys.

Anyway I again have to say that I have the worst luck ever. You guys wont even believe what happened today.

the nut that holds the round terminal onto the intake manifold backed itself off and dropped the harness intothe engine bay - killed the engine on my last run. Turns out it shredded the shit out of the cable that runs to the crank sensor.

took me an hour to figure out how to replace it.

What I learned from today:

- it really is more driver than car.
-while I did ok, my results were not great
- the new wheels and tires are great - super sticky and really let me push the car
- i need more power and/or less weight.
- I need to learn to tune so I can buy myself turbo parts and get that project going


Anyway the pictures:

the people/companies that made this car possible



staging


broken shit

[MaksV]

A few more updates for you guys.

Got an AFM in today so I converted the car back to stock. Not admitting defeat but I want to go to a Time Trial tomorrow to really get a feel for the car.

Also took the time to pull a few unecessary things out of the car and get it ready for tomorrow.

-trunk lining gone
-random junk gone
-motor that control gas door gone (didnt work anyway)


put in my old e46 autoX camera mount.


and I put in my US ellipsoidals.

pretty simple mod.looks great.





and while i was cleaning the car I found a stud - doubt its a real diamond but made me laugh.

[MaksV]

So another full day of e30 work has come and gone, and I have a car that runs like shit.
While the fallowing DIY is maybe a 4/10 in difficulty, it become sa 10/10 when you consider you have to tune it yourself, I am currently working on establishing a tune that actually works well with this system, but I am a total noob at tunerPro and tuning in general so this may take some time. UNLESS YOU ALREADY HAVE A TUNE, KNOW SOMEONE WHO CAN TUNE, OR KNOW HOW TO TUNE YOURSELF DONT EVEN START THIS.

DISCLAIMER: IF YOU FUCK UP YOUR CAR ITS ON YOU!


DIY: Volvo MAF Conversion

PARTS LIST:
-Volvo MAF (PN 0 280 217 107(1 275 749))
-5 Minute epoxy
-MAF harness
-e30 AFM (any model or size)



Original source

1. Pull the AFM and filter assembly out of the car


2. remove the filter

3. Time to open the AFM
-we need the plug and the temp sensor
-take out the 4 screws (phillips) in the plug
-the top cover is glued on - use a knife/screwdriver to get it loose



-disconnect the plug and set it aside

3. Get temp sensor
- we have to remove the slide plate from inside the AFM (top plate)


-drill out these studs and pull it out



4. Now that we have the parts from teh AFM we can wire the harness

Volvo MAF
1=ground
2=ground
3=12v source from modded ecu
4=0-5v sensor output to ECU

BMW AFM
1=temp sensor signal
2=signal 0-5v to ecu
3=12v source from modded ecu
4=ground temp sensor and ground for MAF

The plugs have numbers on them.

a pictoral representation we are doing


MAF wires


Brown/green and brown/white go to ground
white goes to pin 2 on AFM (this is our signal wire)
solid green goes to +12V switch (i used the underwood connection separably- ignition wire)




ignition wire


connection to BMW AFM plug


5. putting in the air temp sensor
-drill a hole and epoxy it in.





6. Plug it up and put it in/

and your done.

DIY: AEM UEGO Wideband install

PARTS:
-AEM Wideband
-wire taps

1. push the wire through the grommet into the cabin - it will come in right at the top of the glovebox from inside



2. use the radio wires to tap switched +12v and ground




3. Put guage where ever you want.


DIY: Moates.net Ostrich 2.0 install


PARTS:
-Ostrich 2.0 Emulator
-Laptop

1. Remove the ECU
-undo the straps on the glove box
-remove the black panel at the top
--2 phillips head screwsin front
--two black twisty things one on each side in the back




2. Open the back cover
-use pliers or a screwdriver





3. Remove the chip
-pull it out




4. Put in the new chip
-press it in



5. modify case
-I used tin snips and pliers to bend the box around the cable.
-use some double sided tape to hold it in place.





6.reinstall and use.

[MaksV]

Looks solid. Great progress and nice selection of mods/repairs

thanks
Ok time to start the DIY's I promised you guys DIY, so its time to get started.

Stuff I got accomplished today:
-Reinforce Sway bar Mounts
-Electric Fan Conversion
-Bend the seat back

DISCLAIMER: I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANYTHING IF YOU FUCK IT UP.

otherwise feel free to ask me questions.

Sway Bar Reinforcement - HomeMade Style

So I managed to snap one of the tabs that hold my sway bars in. the thin piece of metal really cant deal well with modified suspensions, so this is a good idea, especially if you plan on ever dropping the front subframe.

Another important thing is that while I dont have a welder, I highly suggest welding it in rather than doing what I did, but I beat on it for an hour and it was just fine so far.

DIY:

Getting Ready:

1. get the car in the air


2. unbolt the sway bar end links from the sway bar (i chose to remove them to make it easier but its your call)
3. unbolt the sway bar from the mounts


broken piece

Fabbing the Mounts
1. get some sheet steel mine was 2.8mm thick - from the pile of stuff in my garage


2.cut pieces flat in the fallowing dimensions




3. remove the rear most subrame bolts from each side




4. use the holes to line up the holes you need to make in the piece
5. drill holes with the fallowing bits (big hole 25/64" small hole 21/64")


Reassembly
1.Put the plates int and bolt the sway bar mounts into the plates
2. reattach the end links
3. be happy with yourself

finished pics:





DIY: Electric Fan Conversion

Parts:
1.Spal 16" fan
2. Spal fan mount kit
3. BimmerWorld Spal Fan Harness

NOTE1: This project involved messing with your cars electrical system. If you don't understand the terms, or whats going on in this post I strongly recommend you do not attempt this on your own as it requires some electrical knowhow.

NOTE2: Due to the thermo switch being voltage activated whereas the kit is ground activated we are going to make modifications to the original design, they will be clearly and explicitly explained in this post.

NOTE3: The way we are wiring it we have to have the blue AC button on for the fans to go on, but it is totally worth it.


DIY:
1. Pull out the original fan
-32mm wrench
-reverse threaded


2. Bolt it in


3. The Harness you get has 4 wires and a relay.
-Red : Fan positive
-Yellow: 12V battery
-orange: ignition
-grey: sending unit

here is the original schematic:


here is the modified one:



***The reason we are doing this is because the thermo switch is 12V activated, meaning it turns stuff on with applying a 12V signal to the device.The fan system is designed to be ground activated - meaning there is a continuous 12V signal and we open a ground connection to activate.

This makes us have a slight dilemma. We solve it by switching our system and making it 12V activated. Since the relay basically has two chanels we are now going to make the "ignition" wire (orange) always go to ground, and the grey wire will now get a 12V signal at activation.

Now that we understand whats going on lets start wiring

4. Get access to 12V battery ( this is a good time to get access to the 12V switched (ignition as well) but we wont need ignition for this.

*This thing is the best place to tap in as it doesnt really do anything anyway.


RED: 12V
Green: Switched

5.(OPTIONAL) Since I will need 12V for other projects I made a Y connectors

Dont forget to put the 20A fuse inline



and in the car


6. Make a ground
-I used one of the existing holes for a ground - just make sure you clean off the paint and you have a good contact
-we will run the fan ground and the orange "ignition" wire there as well


7. Mount the relay here next to air filter


8. Red wire run from the 12V to the yellow wire to the relay


9. connect the red wire from the fan to the red wire on the relay


10.our wire bundle


at this point you should have:

RED(relay) to RED(fan +12)
BLACK(fan) to ground
ORANGE(relay) to ground
YELLOW(relay) to +12V on car


that only leaves the grey wire to hook up.

11. Run the grey wire across teh front of the car


-I put holes in the metal and used zip ties to run it along the inside between radiator and frame.

12. Time to wire it into the Thermo Sensor

*There are multiple versions of this plug. use a voltmeter to figure out what lines you need to tap into. Basically one of the three plugs will have a 12V signal when you hook it to ground (middle one (green/black) on mine)

the other two wires are the slow and fast ones this is what we will tap into.

NOTE: when you reach 119C it switches to fast - BUT IT TURNS OFF SLOW! - so we have to tap into both.




13. at this point just clean up the wires and get everthing put back together.

AGAIN REMEMBER YOU NEED TO HIT THE BLUE AC BUTTON FOR IT TO TURN ON!!.






and here is a teaser for what happens tomorrow:

[GDA]

Looks solid. Great progress and nice selection of mods/repairs

[MaksV]

nice wheels, Maks! :D

finally got the wheels on. I swear for every step forward i take two steps back. Officially the unluckiest guy in the world.

as i was swapping wheels I discovered that my sway bar bracket ripped itself the fuck out. Really? fucking REALLY? so i guess i am gonna have to have someone cut me a piece of steel and weld it in or something, good thing spring break is next week.

here is the picture of destruction


and here are some pics of freshly mounted wheels, need to make some suspension height adjustments still as well as getting it realligned to new specs but how it sits now.

[MaksV]

shit!! nice progress man! looking good

Spring break... FTW. Your list seems great, looking forward to seeing the progress.

A+ build :up:

thanks guys

I am gonna tease you a bit.

[Turd]

A+ build :up:

[801coppertop]

Spring break... FTW. Your list seems great, looking forward to seeing the progress.

[matias88e30]

shit!! nice progress man! looking good

[MaksV]

So lately school has been sucking up all my time and it ill continue to do so for the next week. and then its SPRING BREAK TIME!!!! I am sad cause I had to miss the first BMWCCA AutoX of the year today, since I had to work and study I decided to rebel and go figure out what I had and what I need to buy for my spring break to be productive.

Also my dad has been bitching at me to clean out the shed/garage/patio of e30 parts, or at least repack everything so I took care of that. We are gonna have a large sale when this stuff is over.

in true BMW community fashion I gotta help my buddy Alex (dakkon) reassemble his M42 first, then help Anthony (trippinBimmer) get his car driving and THEN i can get to my car.

so the list

Spring Break e30 Project List
-Electric Fan Conversion
-replace steering wheel with a newer unit
-motor mounts
-Ostrich 2.0 and tuning
-MAF conversion
-Replace brake fluid and do a better bleed
-brake sensors
-bend seat back
-US ellipsoidals (run halogen for a while )
-OBC temp sensor
-Paint Plastics
-Wash Car
-ReAlign Hood
-Mount new wheels
-Photoshoot :4ngie:

Some of these things have been done lots of times, and many great DIY exist, for others (e-fan, MAF, chip) there is only partial knowledge so I will do my best to keep documenting everything so that others can have an easier time pushing through this stuff.


some part pictures:

E fan conversion kit
-16" spal fan
-BimmerWorld Wiring kit
-Spal Mounting kit


steering wheel


motor mounts


Moates.net Ostrich 2.0 Kit


brake fluid


MAF and pigtails


Things I have to put in e30


things I have taken out of e30 before


things I have taken out of e30 after

[MaksV]

More updates

Stuff I want to accomplish today:
-Temp sensor
-brake sensors
-tranny mount
-tranny fluid
-redo the shifter
-fuel filter

So I got everthing done except the temp sensor. I could not find the wires. and even though I hooked the brake sensors up the light is still on. hmmm

stuff for today


rear brake sensor wires - red goes to pin on the plug



and tied up as I am not sure where it is supposed to plug in


here is the temp sensor I bought

where the wires are supposed to be but arnt


old tranny mounts and hardware - super dirty and the old mounts were a bit squishy but not that bad

new mounts and clean hardware

and put in their place


fluid time

bolts are h17 - THIS STUFF WAS SOO NASTY - I dont think it was ever changed.



after cleaning



fuel filter


A side not on the 3.0LZ4 shifter. I took it back out, and bent it about 10degrees under the ball with a massive pipe wrench and a pipe extender. Didnt get pics but now it doesnt rub on the guibo anymore and feels super stiff and awesome

[MaksV]

So I was driving to my house today and about 30 seconds out I hear a pop and the front suspension goes all wonky.

This was not good. Turns out the nut that holds the strut in place had worked itself loose and popped off. I spent a good hour getting everything back together and correct, and torqued it down again. The issue is that it was originally shot on with air tools and then torqued with a wrench until I couldnt move it anymore. Both sides had worked loose, the left had popped.

not good.



everything all better


So I am really pretty bad about keeping my cars clean and with the recent bout of snow and salt and sand I had let it all go to sh!t. time to clean (the inside at least)


My seat :) time to put the base on


Here is the base I took off. looks like an ebay piece - The guy I bought it from never used it, said previous owner had it in a "cool old school supra". If that sounds like your ride and you want it shoot me a pm.


got two good working buckles of e30tech a while back for 20 bucks. Time to swap out the driver side one that was falling apart.


ready to go int the car



my old seat mounting "hardware" :facepalm:


lets vacuum first shall we?


new hardware


Now since they had drilld out the front studs and the holes are pretty ragged I decided to do this as right as I could. So the order was

small washer - seat mount - large washer - floorboard - large washer - small washer - locking washer - nut

front bolt


underneath


so issues with the mount - the mount doest quite fit right in my opinion - of course its official for the e30 M3 but the front holes fit pretty right and you could get one of the rears to fit but the mount is too narrow to get both bolts in there.

also the seats most upright position is really far back. Will call corbeau on monday and ask if I cant get the seat more upright.



having a bit of idle surge on startup and I think I found the culprit


I want some of those nice silicon intake boots.

courtesy of some asshole who cant drive in teh snow and didnt even stop - didnt get a plate :(


a couple of screws will go a long way for now.



she needs a bath.


thats it for now. but there will be more soon.

[MaksV]

Look what else came in today:



My dad is going out of town this weekend so the garage is mine. Mornings will be dedicated to the car and the afternoons to studying. School really has a way of getting in the way of car work.

you guys can look forward to a few more things this weekend too.

-hopefully I can take my short throw out and put it in right this time
-fuel filter
-take a look at what I have laying around waiting to go into the car and make plans.
-car wash and vacuum.

[MaksV]

So a baby update for now. Finally fixed the leaky oil cooler hose - no more leaks at this point (I think)

also ordered the mount for my seat a few days ago - hopefully sometime this week I will have a reason to clean the interior out. :facepalm:


we also blew out the oil cooler as the oil in there seemed to be older/nastier than the rest but it was clean so no worries.