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Ksjdan's 1990 325is Thread - S52 Swap Complete

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    #31
    Originally posted by BamaE30 View Post
    Howdy Alabama enjoyed your thread.
    Nice to see a fellow Alabamian on r3v!

    Originally posted by MattAvino View Post
    Dat leather...you can make so many awesome things
    Yeah I went to buy a small piece of leather, but the hide was on sale, so I just had to buy it. :D
    My 1990 325is Build Thread

    Comment


      #32
      December 20 2012

      Ever since I purchased the car, the shifter has been leaning towards left side. So when I put it on reverse, the leather boot rubs. I decided to buy a set of transmission bushings because the old ones were soaked in oil. It looked like the powersteering fluid was leaking and got all over the bottom of the car.





      I cleaned up the entire transmission area and put in new bushings. But the shifter is still leaning towards reverse and rubs when engaged. Not sure what the problem is. Maybe I should bend the shifter.


      Also started working on the euroweave center caps. Purchased this set from ebay in crap condition. Maybe I should've just paid $260 for a new set.



      I applied Jasco paint/epoxy remover to strip the paint off. Its some nasty stuff. Apparently it contains carcinogen, which is known to cause cancer. So Im using two layers of latex gloves and doing all work outside. I should probably wear a filtered mask, but eh..
      So one of the caps started bubbling and pealing right away, but other three will need to wait til tomorrow.





      Once the outer rings are taken care of, I still need to paint the center hex, replace all bmw stickers, and replace one of the inner sticker "platform".

      I was trying to scrub the darn thing, but it was bit chilly outside (which is not ideal for stripping paint) so it be done later this week.
      Last edited by ksjdan; 12-21-2012, 12:18 AM.
      My 1990 325is Build Thread

      Comment


        #33
        i cant wait for some updates! i cant wait to find an e30. ive been looking for a year now but one day i will find the right one.


        E30 M30 B35 Swap Mounts!
        http://store.garagistic.com/ocart/e3...=5475809a87e04

        Comment


          #34
          Nice progress. You car is going to look very much like my coupe 5 years ago. You just cant go wrong with euroweaves...until the time you need to clean them.

          COTM

          Comment


            #35
            This is amazing, very god job sir. The best thing so far is the rear trim and the re wrapped steering wheel, little details but make it just that much better! keep up the good work, any plans for mods yet? or just getting it back in good shape for now?
            sigpic


            1989 BMW 325is (SOLD)
            1990 BMW 325i Brilliantrot (SOLD)
            1992 BMW 325IC (SOLD)
            1991 BMW 318IS (STOLEN!)

            2017 BMW M2 (WEEKEND WARRIOR)
            (GRIGIO TELESTO RESPRAY, FULL BOLT ONS, TUNE-HPFP AND TURBO UPGRADE COMING AFTER WARRANTY IS DONE)
            1989 BMW 325IC (PROJECT(
            2002 FORD ESCAPE (DAILY)
            2001 BMW 330CI (FOR SALE SOON)



            "R3v, being a bunch of cheap bastards that would try to negotiate a discount on a free engine,"

            Comment


              #36
              Thanks for all the complements guys.
              I've been busy lately, so the E30 work is a little delayed. Euroweaves were one of the first things I wanted to get when I had my own E30. The second hand centercaps hasn't been treating me too well, but it's getting there. N2MyE30, I actually read through your project page few weeks ago. Great build you have going on!

              I am planning on mostly just restoring the car to its original shape, but Ill most likely source a set of lowering springs and add some more euro spec components. Next major work will rather be front suspension or rebuilding the engine. I need to find a hoist somewhere, and I wont be starting until March.


              January 18 2013

              (Januray 7th)
              After about a month of fiddling around, I decided to take the Euroweave center caps to a sandblaster. According to google maps, there are 4 shops in my area. But when I drove around, I found 1 and a half. Can't quite say two because one of the shop looks like this...



              And they weren't open at 2pm on Monday.

              After about 2 hours of driving around, I found myself at a small yet tidy little shop about 40 min from home. Unfortunately, they were already closed when I got there around 4:15. Next day I drove back to the shop, but this time there was a car parked up front. The shop owner is a elderly man, who was watching news on a stone age 10" television when I got there. I spoke with him for a while, and he seemed like a kind and honest man. The pricing was great, so I dropped them off and left with a smile on my face.

              So this is the finished results. Apparently 3 of the 4 center caps were powdercoated by the previous owner, and that was the reason why I couldn't strip it with chemical. The finished results left the surface very rough and abrasive. The guy tried mediablasting it, but the powdercoating was adhered so strongly that it didn't work.







              So I decided to dump a whole bunch of primer to smooth out the surface.





              After many layers of primer and hours of wet sand later:











              I haven't completed yet, but its been raining every day for the past week so Im going to wait til the dark clouds are all gone.

              Final result for now



              (Januray 17 2013) - Long read warning! You can skip it to the end for cliff

              Today we had our first snow! How exciting...for everyone but E30 owners (well lets exclude the ix owners ;)) As I was headed downtown in the early morning, the car started having some serious stutters. I took the next exit and as I was pulling into a random restaurant, the car stalled. (BTW this was 1 hour before snow started) I popped the hood up and checked for any vacuum leaks or misfires. All cylinders were firing and no vacuum leaks as far as I can tell. I unplugged the ICV and blow on it a few times. Same with the AFM. I started the car up and after a few rough coughs, it stalls. So the cliff is that the car runs rough when I accelerate, and stalls at idle.

              I drove it to where I was headed and checked again for any leaks or faults. Checked the temp senor (which I rigged after snapping a wire while working on passenger headlights. doh!). But everything checked out fine. I went inside the building, and about 40 minutes later, white balls of fur were falling from the sky. I see everyone getting excited, and here I am wondering if I can make it home alive. :|

              Soon after I went outside and snow is not quite settled on the roads yet but getting there. I rushed in the car and cranked it up, hoping it would be ok. Nope! Still idling rough and rpm falling dangerous low to stalling. I just revved it up and started driving. When I am at a higher speed, the roughness is minimal and somewhat ok to drive. The entire way back, I am both worried the road might become slippery from the snow, and the car running very weird. I drop by O'Reilly on my way and got a quart of oil. Dipstick was showing little less than lower limit. Put in the quart and tried restarting....still no good. Asked the employee if he had any advice, but I completely lost respect when he recommend that I take it to a shop and pulls out his Express Oil Change business card. Seriously? I thought the employees at these local parts stores are suppose to give you not so useful, yet friendly tips on fixing the issues. Anyways I asked no further and just left the store.

              As I was about to reach home, snow is just about starting to settle on the roads and steering feels more and more slippery. I get the car parked, washed off all the snow and roll into the garage. Literally rolled on its momentum because it stalled again. At least thank God I made it home on this snowy day. (Today is probably the only day of the year it'll snow here) Anyways first thing I checked is the intake components. Boot looks fine, clamps are tight, no obvious exhaust leak, air filter looks ok, etc. Because the car still feels like crap regardless of speed, I crossed out ICV. Next thing I suspected was the possibility of bad fuel. I gas at my usual Shell station almost 90% of the times and Ive been pumping there for about a year w/o any problems so its not likely their fuel was contaminated. Next thing I suspected was the mass air flow sensor. Cars run into problems when the senors go, so I called a used BMW shop in my area. Luckily they have some in stock, but for a whopping $75. Damn. I get ready to leave when I noticed the roads are filling up in snow. I leave anyways, and the road is feeling really slippery. I still had the all season tires on. After a little bit of sliding and unintentional drift action, I make it to a local chevron 3 minutes from home. In an attempt to dilute the possibly contaminated fuel, I filled to the top. So here it goes...crank, but no bueno. By the time I was leaving the station, snow has covered up the road completely, and I decide to drive back and slap on a set of snow tires.

              The drive back home is 3 minutes in normal circumstances. But its been snowing and I have used all seasons on. Lol I slowly make my way home in 2nd gear the entire way. When I got to the last turn, there is a slight dip on the road, and left to turn onto my street. Well I tried to go downhill as slow as possible (with on coming traffic btw) almost just sliding down, rear end decides to have some fun. About 40 ft into it, I am now sliding down the hill sideways! More and more, the rear end kept pushing out until I stomp on the breaks to stop, facing the other way. ...Holy crap that was scary. I pull up onto the side of the road and walk the walk of shame. I thought about hauling the winter tires and changing it there, but it seemed pointless since snow was clearing up next day. After few minutes, I noticed I left the phone in the car, so I went back. By now, several cars has drove by it, and "slushy-ed up" the road a little. I start my little e30, slowly getting piled in snow, and just glide down the slushy road. I slid left and right til I barely pulled up onto the driveway. It wasn't any better having kids everywhere. When I got home, I realized the unprepared drivers are probably sliding all over the state causing traffic everywhere. I check google map traffic and sure enough, entire city is clogged.

              From local news station




              CLIFF:
              - First snow of the yr!
              -E30 mysteriously runs very rough and stalls on idle
              - Spin the E30 on snow and almost wreck it
              - Narrowed possible problems to: bad fuel, vacuum leak, AFM and maybe ICV
              - Car stuck on the curb in front of neighbors house


              (Januray 18 2012)
              Heres the frozen e30 at 8 in the morning
              Its not covered in snow because I had it parked in the garage until late at night. I tried test driving it again, but couldn't get it running, half way down the driveway. Had it parked on the side of the road, and barely got it up on the driveway.




              First thing I did was drop by autozone and picked up a bottle of octane booster. Just in case I had bad gas. Then I drove down to the used BMW parts shop and picked up a used AFM.

              Got home, tried the booster and unsurprisingly, it didn't work. Darn...
              Next I pulled my AFM out. I didn't notice this last night, but the flap controlling the air flow was stuck on the completely opened position. So that was it. The bad AFM was causing a uneven mixture of o2 and fuel, making it run like a diesel tractor.

              Here's the working and "should be fine once unstuck" AFMs
              One on the right with continental sticker is the original. One from the shop came with a aftermarket CAI fitting.



              I unstuck the AFM flap, sprayed the sensor with some CRC MAF cleaner, dab some white lithium on the flap and put everything back in. Idling smooth as butter, but little idle surge and low idling RPM. But runs like a champ!


              In the midst of all this, I received my second replacement antenna...Im sure it wont be the last replacement either. With all the debris on the road, never know when this one will bite the dust.

              [/IMG]

              After some patients...



              Got everything in working state, clean antenna installed and the E30 is ready to drive again!
              Last edited by ksjdan; 01-18-2013, 07:56 PM.
              My 1990 325is Build Thread

              Comment


                #37
                I love your build, very similar to mine, except you have a much nicer canvas to start with.
                View my build thread. http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=287724

                Comment


                  #38
                  January 24 2013

                  So today, I'm working on the Euroweave caps yet again. I picked up this used set about a month ago, and its been a torture working on them. :(
                  The coating on 3 of the 4 caps were powdercoat, and Ive been through so much getting the darn paint off the caps. I am already $175 into this project, and its not too pleasing to see the price raking up...

                  I was starting to get a little sick of working on these caps, as the process has been very slow. Now I understand why the guy was selling them. It is pain in the butt working on powdercoated bbs caps! Fortunately, the hard part is finally coming to an end. After three rattle cans of primer, and 3 or 4 separate spray sessions, I am finally done with the primer stage. I gave it the last coat of primer on the 24th, and it is now at a satisfying level.

                  Here are some photos of the progress:









                  There is minimal to no wrinkles on the corners anymore. The surface was very abrasive, but it is now very smooth to touch.
                  Just need to get them roughened up and spray some paint/clearcoat now.

                  January 26 2013

                  Ever since I brought the E30 home, its been running quite rough. First thing I did was replacing the spark plugs, which helped a little. Next I changed the exhaust gaskets, new o2 sensor etc. Even with all these things, the car was still not running 100% smooth. Next on the list was fuel injector cleaning. After few weeks of searching, I found Dano Performance online. The price was good, and I like the fact that he was located in Atlanta. I tend to stick to shops located in the East Coast to shorten the shipping time. The owner Daniel seems like a good guy, and he response to his messages really fast. He sent me a cleaned and flow matched set of injectors at a additional deposit price, so I can have both the old and the new set to work with at my convenience. Its really neat since I daily my E30, and Im busy on weekdays.

                  So I read that replacing fuel injectors is a quick and simple job that shouldn't take more than 30 minutes. Without much worries, I started disassembling the bits and pieces. First remove the bracket connecting the manifold to the head cover, undo the breather hose, unclip the injector harness etc. Breather hose is completely in the way of everyting, but not bad at all..





                  Here is the tool i used to undo the little pins. Took no more than 5 minutes to get them all loose.



                  Everything was going to plan until I unplugged the harness. There is a little wire that runs through the middle of the harness, that is connected to a metal ring and plugged under the intake boot. At the time, I didn't know the plug can be unscrewed and removed from the metal ring. After 20 minutes of fiddling around, I finally find the little plastic screw and get the harness plug removed.

                  With the harness unplugged from the driverside, it just slid right off. Next I tried pulling the injectors out of hole, but there wasn't enought room. Had to do it the long way by removing the valve cover. With it out of the way, it barely wiggled out with the breather hose being all over the place again!

                  Finally it came loose, and got the whole fuel rail out.



                  Did I mention that the injectors are a bit dirty? :shock:
                  I think a lot of the gunk was picked up while I was trying to get it removed.







                  The fuel rail was in relatively good condition, but had bits of rust spots here and there. I got the BBQ grill paint out and gave it a little touch here and there. I sprayed on several thick layers. Should slowdown or stop the corrosion altogether.





                  After letting the paint dry, I opened up the new set of injectors. Came with data sheet showing the test results of each injectors.



                  All individually packaged


                  Compared with the dirty old set. (Dano also included a small pack of lube for the o-rings and few extra o-rings in case it rips)






                  Lubed fuel rail side of the o-ring



                  Installed on fuel rail





                  Lubed on other side
                  Got lube all over the base of the injector while trying to avoid the tip. Oops.




                  Before installing the injectors, I took some cotton swabs and cleaned out each of the insert areas and the hole. There was a thick layer of dirt and grime all over the area.



                  Next the injectors were pushed into place.



                  Putting the wiring harness back on was quite a challenge. It should've been a quick and easy job, the breather hose got in the way again. After pulling and pushing the breather hose in several different places, the harness finally snapped into place. By this time, back is starting to kill me. Ive been leaning over the intake manifold for about total of 1 hour today.

                  Everything put back into its place.



                  After cranking the car a few times, it started up fairly roughly than smooth itself out. I instantly felt the difference in vibration. Took it out for a quick spin, and the car feels much smoother, and even a bit more lively.


                  As I was wrapping up, I noticed a loose wire near the a/c dryer canister. When I looked at it closely, it turned out to be a a disconnected line for windshield defroster. The line needs to be soldered back on, but it was getting late and I was ready getting hungry so Im going to work on this later.

                  My 1990 325is Build Thread

                  Comment


                    #39
                    Yikes! Thoughs injectors were pretty bad. In to see how it runs now.

                    COTM

                    Comment


                      #40
                      Cool build, I really like the DIY leather upholstery. Have you had any experience with doing upholstery before, I ask as I have been contemplating getting a hide to redo my Pole positions in leather.

                      Comment


                        #41
                        Originally posted by N2MYE30 View Post
                        Yikes! Thoughs injectors were pretty bad. In to see how it runs now.
                        Originally posted by 10Toes View Post
                        Cool build, I really like the DIY leather upholstery. Have you had any experience with doing upholstery before, I ask as I have been contemplating getting a hide to redo my Pole positions in leather.
                        Thanks! It was the first time I've tried upholstery, and everything went better than expected. Its going to be quite a bit of work redoing a entire seat. Its going to take a lot of attention in small details to make it looks clean.

                        January 28 2013 (Small Update)

                        So the car is running much smoother with the new fuel injectors. It's really a night and day difference when it comes to change in the amount of shakiness.

                        One thing that I had to address was the idle fluctuation every time I put it on neutral. Last night I fixed the problem by spraying the idle control valve with some WD-40. Recently when the AFM was having issues, I sprayed the IDC with some carb cleaner and it must have "de-lubricated" it.

                        I started it up today morning and the fluctuation completely went away! Took it out for a drive and wow. Replacing injectors and cleaning the ICV took away about 80-90% of the shaky vibration. Next up is ignition wires, rotors/distributor cap and cleaning the head down the road.
                        My 1990 325is Build Thread

                        Comment


                          #42
                          February 6 2013

                          Did some work on the E30 today afternoon. I bought a re-man alternator from autozone. I usually don't like buying parts from local parts stores, but since it's got a lifetime warranty, Im giving it a try. Worst case scenario, Ill just have to install another one. Only downside is the new alternator is durlast and original was bosch.

                          Work was pretty simple and straight forward. Just had to remove the airbox and undo several bolts.

                          Here are some photos!

                          Old vs New










                          Got the pulley transferred over.


                          And all done!
                          My 1990 325is Build Thread

                          Comment


                            #43
                            I like how thorough your documentation is.. It's fun to read :up:

                            Comment


                              #44
                              Originally posted by evandael View Post
                              I like how thorough your documentation is.. It's fun to read :up:
                              Thanks bud! :up:
                              My 1990 325is Build Thread

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                                #45
                                March 9 2013

                                I finally finished up with the wheels. One of the wheel was leaking air, so i had to take it back to walmart. They found the leak, took the tire off, and scraped off the crap that was causing the air to leak. They were very nice about it, an didn't charge me anything. I got the caps painted, clear coated and reassembled everything. The fitting isn't great, but Its not bad. Also PO gave me "matching paint" for the caps, which were suppose to be what the Euroweaves are paint with. Its off by few shades but again, its not bad.

                                Here's how the car sits now.
                                I seriously need to drop the car, but first need to get the A/C fixed. Alabama summer is coming soon. :(

                                My 1990 325is Build Thread

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