'88 Henna M3 project

[IronJoe]

I had a great time at the E30 Picnic and Tech Day last weekend!

In preparation I fixed my A pillar covers, on which the vinyl had separated on both driver and passenger sides. These are M3 specific and NLA so I was lucky I didn't break anything in the process. I used Goo Gone and brake cleaner to remove the 24 year old adhesive and used heat lamps to recurve the vinyl. Once they were back in shaped I used new 3M spray adhesive and put them back together. They turned out great!

I also fixed a few issues... I had a random high idle that stemmed from the cruise control cable binding slightly at the linkage. This was due to a worn plastic clip that holds the cable in the linkage bracket. I replaced both the cruise and throttle cable clips just to be sure. For anyone else with this problem, the part number is 13541747519 and they are around 50 cents each. A plus is that the new ones are black instead of the yellowed plastic it replaced.




I also added a new trunk roundel to replace my cracked original. Lastly, I have a set of Moroso S14 ignition wires on the way and a new o2 sensor to install, as well as 16 new exhaust manifold lock nuts.


Here's a great picture of my car at the Picnic taken by Sepp:



I also updated the first post with the major tasks complete and before/after pictures!

[IronJoe]

Thanks all! The urge to mod is strong but I am resisting... it's a slippery slope that is tough to come back from.

I'll continue to update this thread with Leavenworth pics as they filter in (picwhore).

[Jparkr]

Hey man, It was nice meeting you during the Leavenworth drive. Once again nice M3

[kingston]

You are a credit to that car. Done right, and then some!

[leegf]

holy clean. wow.

[CorvallisBMW]

I loved seeing this car on the drive. Very nice!

[archie]

Very very nice!

[Mike The Bavarian]

one of my favorite m3s. mainly cause you're not molesting it and it just looks how an m3 should.

[IronJoe]

The M3 made it to Leavenworth and back without any problems. I was very happy that I did the rod bearings before this drive. The biggest challenge was keeping the RPMs under 4000 especially over the mountain pass... because the S14 doesn't have anything under 4000!


Got some nice pictures of the car when it was parked down on the main drag... we fought like hell to get a decent parking spot so we had to enjoy it a little bit.






And a cool shot someone took of the engine bay (I had time to refinish the valve cover just before the drive)

[ahriley91]

I can't wait to see this again on Saturday. I don't know if you knew this, but I love you car. We gotta park close together. Haha. Stevo-ix might have his car done late Friday night for this.

[IronJoe]

Back on the road! Got everything put back together last night. Runs great, no strange noises or problems. I plan on keeping it under 4000rpm for the first 1000 miles or so, which is already proving itself difficult!

I'm taking the car in today for a valve adjustment, base idle set and throttle body sync. From there the only thing left to do for the Leavenworth drive is cleaning/polishing/waxing.


DD status once again:

[IronJoe]

Getting the car ready for the Leavenworth drive this week. Finished the rod bearing install which was a good move because they look pretty worn. I also added the Turner Motorsport oil pan baffle. Crank journals looked great which I was happy about.




Pressure washed the pans for reinstallation:



Got a few more maintenance items to take care of before the drive, other than that it just needs a wash/polish/wax and we're good to go!

[IronJoe]

Got my euro grilles installed and painted, finally. Some pics with Karlorado's 325is





Also installed new fog light lenses (as you can see above, the old ones were so cracked, pitted and dirty they looked smoked!)

[IronJoe]

A pic from a few weeks ago at last month's Griots Caffeine & Gasoline:

[IronJoe]

Good day at the junkyard.


Swapped out my horrible-looking pitted headlight trim rings for a set of stainless ones from an e28. A bit of Mother's metal polish brought them right back to life!

Old on left, new on right:





Also scored a rear ash tray in perfect condition. It has taken me quite a while to find one that wasn't broken just like mine!