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

[MaksV]

So another 3 hours later update.

Fact - my brake reserviour is leaking. I am fairly certain its the seal at the bottom of the reserviour. But I need to examine more closely. Also the head gasket kit includes all the gaskets I need to rebuild the head. Unfortunatly I dont have the stuff to fix the brakes at the moment but since the car isnt really driven right now it will be ok.

So here is what I did today.

DISCLAIMER: I totally stole kpengs idea. I admit it, but i work faster. so ha.

Stuff I bought today.


yup thats a gallon of brakleen - 18 bucks at Orielly. the wood is what I was going to use but it cracked like the pine it was, got some particle board instead.


stock ashtray. this shit was nasty.


$5 phone charger being adapted for car mode.


fits great and works well too.


originl design, I wanted 1 cupholder and a slot to use my phone as GPS and to charge it.


a 3" hole bit costs like $25 - this is strickly a $10 and under prject so I refused it.


smoothing it out nicely./


cut out the slot for the phone. pay attention to the angle of the slit - that was done with a file afterwards. I used a chisel to cut out the hole - so old school


the extra piece to hold everything flat and give it depth


test fitting - it not actually screwed down in this image....


basically when it is screwed down it fits in there pretty snuggly. I still need to get some black vinyl to wrap it, as well as making a bottom piece to give the cupholder a base so you cant see the edge through the hole.

I also am going to find some time to hardwire the radar detector in the next few days. Basically tackle all the small nonsense before jumping into the big stuff.


I need to figure out this brake situation, and place my orders for parts on monday so there will be more updates, more rapidly as we move forward.

[MaksV]

Well its time for a small update.

so I finally have some time to devote to the car so I went to my parents to try to get the radio wired to the speakers using the stock wires. no dice.

somewhere between the speakers and the headunit the wires were cut so I had nothing to connect to. having spent too long figuring this out it was dark so I decided to go to harbor freight to take advantage of their November coupons.

about 2 minutes from my house the brake pedal fall through the floor. great. I turn around and go home. fill up with brake fluid and get back on the road. came home and checked it again and thankfully it was still as full as I left it. good thing I didn't goto an autocross last weekend

I got some stuff from hf that's gonna help big time with the work the car sis going to get soon. I need to take this weekend to finalize my shopping list and place orders Monday.

I decided I am going to rebuild one of the heads so I can have a new clean head to go on the car along with the rest of he parts. also in the next few days I am going to take the time to hardware the radar detector. also I am going to steal kpengs idea and make a cupholder/phone mount for the e30 so look for that DIY in the next few days.

[MaksV]

So another small update. Next week I have 3 EE tests in a 24 hour period. this sucks, so my attention is going to be on that. However after next week (think next thursday) I am gonna start ordering parts. I have also come to a dilema I need some help with.

the engine realistically has 200K on it. original head. I have a newer head (about 80K) but that one needs to be cleaned and needs a new cam. My current head is just fine (as far as I know). It it worth getting a new cam and rebuilding the extra head? One of the cam lobes is worn (best guess is oil starvation due to clogged channel) I am planning on upping the injectors and some other engine components. Also the current head gasket leaks a bit of oil out the back so it is getting replaced anyway. This means I will be pulling the head anyway. Is it worth the cash to rebuild the other one and swap or should I just bolt this one back on? All this said I plan on getting boost somewhere in the next year so I was gonna run a stock cam anyway. I cant really store the car anywhere for days at a time w/o a working engine, so if I swap I am going to build the newer head and just swap.

All that said, the plan for the short term is MAF, tuning(chip) , exhaust, electric fan conversion, 24# injectors as the base engine mods.

[MaksV]

I'm not sure that you have a Stromung Exhaust since your tips are diagonal, but I could be wrong. Nice to see a local project goin on.

thats what the PO told me. Its all gonna get swapped out anyway.

[Philipangoo]

I'm not sure that you have a Stromung Exhaust since your tips are diagonal, but I could be wrong. Nice to see a local project goin on.

[MaksV]

Doughnut thing attaches the bracket to the car. Bracket goes around muffler. Hopefully that clearcoat doesn't wear out in the weather. Car looks good so far!

Thanks, thats what I was thinking. I guess they were replaced, cause the rear section of the exhaust is Stromong (spellcheck) stage 1 according to previous owner.

[DREWHALL]

Doughnut thing attaches the bracket to the car. Bracket goes around muffler. Hopefully that clearcoat doesn't wear out in the weather. Car looks good so far!

[MaksV]

That helps thanks. Where does it go? at the muffler? or further forward? is the silver bracket thing to hold the muffler by any chance?

[Bimmerista]

Thats an exhaust hanger. Keeps your exhaust from hanging too low and moving around.

[MaksV]

ok the last update for the weekend.

First a couple of questions (e30 guys chime in plz):

1. The drain tube from the battery - it is supposed to run to the outside world, mine ends at a connector which means that if for some reason if it starts to overflow its gonna put a bunch of acid inside my fender - which will destroy my fender. How is it supposed to be properly routed?
2. How to get to the rear speakers? I still cant get the grill covers off. is there some screws somewhere?

Ok update time....

Pictures of Red tails mounted:



Installed a newer headunit. Very happy :)

new headunit



the new headunit went in great. Now I have Aux in and a much cleaner looking and working display. That means the old one goes for sale.


I also finished sorting through the box of stuff I got with it, a lot of it is going for sale if you like e30 stuff look here.

But I have a few questions:

What is this?


how about this(the silver curved metal bracket thing- the black is a plate holder)?



The previous owner installed new Bremi wires but not the distributor cap..... this will go on when I get ready to take engine apart

[MaksV]

a little bitty update. Basically i think I am just gonna donate a few hours a day to the car so there should be some more updates soon.

Anyway for today
-begin painting tailights all red
-explore audio options
-explore pile of junk I got with the car

Tails:
materials:

stock


forcast predicts rain tnght/tmrw


Step 1: wash


Step 2: Prep
step 3:Candy Apple Red :thumbsup:

Step 4: clear gloss


Audio:
Current ok headunit - nothing wrong just kinda old

Professional head unit removal tools :rofl: but seriously these work better than any professional tool. Just cut up a coat hanger

Instead of using stock speaker wiring they ran their own. the question is why? guess the only way to find out is to hook up the stock wires to the new speaker and new headunit


So couple of audio questions:
Do my stock wires work?
How do I get to the rear speakers - the speaker protector things dont seem to wanna come off?
Does this newer headunit that was included with the car work?

I am probably gonna use crimps to put the new harness in and test the headunit first - if all is well I will return to stock wires.....

Exploration time:

Newish steering wheel - mine bends and flexes - this one does not....


Extra head I got with purchase - upon inspection it needs a new cam - there is wear on a single lobe so that means one of the oil tunnels is probably jammed. Probably going to get a new cam and rebuild this head and swap it over. If i let it sit in brake cleaner bath + compressed air I should be able to clean the head out right?



My box of misc junk - need to sort through that as well:

[MaksV]

WOW!
Kudos on the spreadsheet :)
Really shows how much goes into a car, when it looks seemingly stock :)

haha
the car IS stock. The list is gonna mostly happen over winterbreak. :)

[worangejuice]

WOW!
Kudos on the spreadsheet :)
Really shows how much goes into a car, when it looks seemingly stock :)

[MaksV]

well I got the seat fixed. Just disassembled it and reassembled it and now it works. ohh well problem solved.

[MaksV]

hhaha thanks. I love the color. just gotta get around to blackingout some of that chrome.