The Ugly E30

[Northern]

Actually, stock weight is 5w30. Everyone just runs the thicker stuff to prevent leaks

No. 10w40 for cold weather or 20w50 for anything warmer.

[seatown88]

Great work!

Bled the brakes tonight. Notable things:
- There was some fluid in it, albeit not much, and it looked AWFUL
- It took several hard kicks on each wheel to get it loose from the hub
- None of my bleeder screws were stuck or broken
- There's some kind of blockage between the MC and the right rear caliper, because no fluid came out there no matter how hard I pushed the pedal
- The other 3 bled out OK, but the front two calipers still seem to be sticking

Regardless, I now have a nice, firm, high brake pedal, so I'm ready for an actual test drive to get a better handle on the health of my engine. I would have done it tonight, but it was dark by the time I was done and I wanted to be able to see if it's smoking under load.

I would recommend jumping in and rebuilding the calipers. As I found out, even if they bleed pretty well they can be filled with nasty sludge. Your right rear caliper could be completely blocked with junk. The rebuild itself is actually not difficult at all, there are some great write-ups to follow out there.

Keep up the great work! Looking forward to your progress!!

[TimKninja]

Your rear main may not be leaking it may just be the oil pan gasket.

I just did the rear main in a 525i (m20) that was sitting for a year. In the year of sitting the oil pan gasket got hard and blew out into the bell housing. BMW rear mains are usually very durable. If you replace the rear main, get it from the dealer. Not something that should be messed with.

[tspangle88]

Guess it's time for an update. I did take it for a test drive, and it did fine, other than being loud. Ran fine, pulled pretty good with a little hesitation, but that could be the years-old gas that's in it.

But, I'm feeling pretty frustrated. Wishing I'd never started the dash swap. What a huge PITA. I still don't have it sorted out, and it's just such piddly, finicky work, with wire bundles constantly in the way, parts not fitting like they should, mystery fasteners (despite my attempts to keep them organized), etc, etc. I'd be so far ahead with the drivetrain and suspension if I'd just decided to live with the cracked dash for a year. Now my marginal glovebox latch is stuck and I can't open the thing to save my life. And I still don't have the screws in the hinge!

[JinormusJ]

The stock m20 oil weight is 20w50. So next change go with that!

Actually, stock weight is 5w30. Everyone just runs the thicker stuff to prevent leaks

In your case, the thicker stuff could've helped, butsince you completely de-gunked the engine, I would just fix the seal and worry about it too much. As long as you front main and oil pan don't leak after the fact, using the thinner stuff is completely okay

[el bimmer]

Wow!

[tspangle88]

Loving the build so far!

Just a little advice as u move forward:

Change the timing belt!! It's been sitting and could snap at any time!

Also stock m20 oil weight is 20w50. So next change go with that!

Keep up with the good work!

Yep, the timing belt is in the plans. Just haven't messed with it yet because I still don't know if I'm pulling the motor this winter or not. Trying to decide. Once I take it for an actual test drive and see how bad the smoke is, I'll have a better idea.

Good tip on the oil, I went by the manual. But either way, this oil probably won't be in it that long. Either I'll drain it or it'll just leak out the rear main! :)

[Balleristic31]

Loving the build so far!

Just a little advice as u move forward:

Change the timing belt!! It's been sitting and could snap at any time!

Also stock m20 oil weight is 20w50. So next change go with that!

Keep up with the good work!

[chadthestampede]

Cool thread, I love seeing these back from the dead builds.

[tspangle88]

Bled the brakes tonight. Notable things:
- There was some fluid in it, albeit not much, and it looked AWFUL
- It took several hard kicks on each wheel to get it loose from the hub
- None of my bleeder screws were stuck or broken
- There's some kind of blockage between the MC and the right rear caliper, because no fluid came out there no matter how hard I pushed the pedal
- The other 3 bled out OK, but the front two calipers still seem to be sticking

Regardless, I now have a nice, firm, high brake pedal, so I'm ready for an actual test drive to get a better handle on the health of my engine. I would have done it tonight, but it was dark by the time I was done and I wanted to be able to see if it's smoking under load.

[tspangle88]

Mini-update. I swapped out the alternator last night. "New" one (from the parts car) is much quieter. To the point where I can actually hear the engien running, and it sounds pretty good, other than the exhaust leak. Still, I'm considering pulling it. This is the oil that leaked out of the rear main in the two weeks since I did the ATF treatment:


Still a pretty good leak, especially considering the car wasn't started that whole time, so the oil was cold.

I still need to put some fluid in and bleed the brakes, as I mentioned, the system seems to be nearly bone-dry:


Which of course leads to the question of where the fluid went in the first place. It doesn't just evaporate, after all. Also, I think I might want to hit that brake booster with some POR-15 or similar.

Other random thought, my car is the only E30 I've seen with this intake box:


Must be an early eta thing, I guess. Not only is it rusty and ugly, I bet it weighs 20 pounds, it's all steel. I plan on replacing it with the plastic one from my parts car.

[Nsquared97]

I will certainly read your thread!

I usually run with the Detroit Council of Sports Car Clubs: http://dcscc.blogspot.com/

Haha most of it is boring fluff, first couple pages are pretty decent.

I have a good friend over in Clarkston, he runs a lot of the DCSCC events, I'm sure I will be doing a couple next summer.

[tspangle88]

Good progress! Your build sounds remarkebly similar to mine:

MI based
Started with 2 cars, stripped on and scrapped it
Brake pedal went to floor on first test drive
Swapped dash
Removed nasty tan carpet and dyed black (this was last weekend, carpet hasn't gone back in yet)
Build thread here if your interested:

http://www.e30performance.info/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=1481

Anyway, what group do you normally autoX with? I run with Furrin Group over here on the west side, but I do venture over to Detroit region/Saginaw valley every once in a while, hopefully moreso next summer. We seem to have a growing number of E30's out racing around here, we had 5 at the last autoX I was at, and I know of 2 others that weren't there, along with a new project car that should be going in the spring. Hope to see you at an event sometime next year!

I will certainly read your thread!

I usually run with the Detroit Council of Sports Car Clubs: http://dcscc.blogspot.com/

[Nsquared97]

Good progress! Your build sounds remarkebly similar to mine:

MI based
Started with 2 cars, stripped on and scrapped it
Brake pedal went to floor on first test drive
Swapped dash
Removed nasty tan carpet and dyed black (this was last weekend, carpet hasn't gone back in yet)
Build thread here if your interested:

http://www.e30performance.info/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=1481

Anyway, what group do you normally autoX with? I run with Furrin Group over here on the west side, but I do venture over to Detroit region/Saginaw valley every once in a while, hopefully moreso next summer. We seem to have a growing number of E30's out racing around here, we had 5 at the last autoX I was at, and I know of 2 others that weren't there, along with a new project car that should be going in the spring. Hope to see you at an event sometime next year!

[MattAvino]

Nice work so far.