jhaurimn's 1989 325i - progress thread (now 24v)

[jhaurimn]

Car got a well needed suspension refresh awhile back.






Turns out if you flip the mount for the ps reservoir upside down it mounts conveniently to the intake bracket.


So one day I had my friend over and we were drinking beers and tinkering on the car. I was showing him the janky fuse holder situation I had going on in my fuse box. When we looked up and saw it was for the heater, he advised that I should have a thicker wire for it. Turns out when you had the heater on max, the wires would get red hot. Thankfully I didnt do that too often. I got everything fixed now, glad it didnt become a bigger issue.


Switched to an obd1 cover because I was losing oil due to a cracked odb2 vc.


New plugs for the m52. Here are the old ones. It was time.


Got a chip for the car as well. Car is running much better with it.


Not much has changed look wise. In winter mode now though with bottlecaps.

[jhaurimn]

So I changed up the interior again. :) Managed to score a set of e30 recaros. Still trying to track down cloth door cards.

[jhaurimn]

The seats were tearing apart from the top of the center section.



Well, thankfully there was a local upholstery place who replaced the j-hook plastic pieces and restitched it. Now I dont need to worry about these sections ripping entirely.

[stonea]

Pretty sweet thread! Car is absolutely beautiful.

[jhaurimn]

I ended up finding a set of nice euroweaves, and paired them with 205/55/15 yokohama s drives. It got up to almost 60 the other day, and the grip compared to some crappy falkens on 14's isnt even comparable.



Got a set of e82 floor mats for the car, ignore the cheap seat heater :p


Also got a garagistic strut bar. fit perfectly.

[jhaurimn]

Just some misc. maintenance.

New belt...other had done its job.


Replaced the ofhg and oil dipstick gaskets. No more oil leaks :)

[bmwextremeguy]

Wow Jon, you car looks amazing, I wish I had the ability to make my BMWs I get nice like yours, I am glad my parts you got are going to a awesome build.
Shawn

[jhaurimn]

Trying to keep this thread updated with most things I do.

So some updates as of 4/3/17:
-Blower motor stopped working one Friday morning when it was about 5 degrees out. Replaced blower motor to no avail, so I think its time to move the pin to a different fuse location as the blower motor fuse (I think fuse 20) had been melted away during previous owners ownership. Im hoping to move it to an un-used fuse spot this spring/summer
-Was just checking over things one day and noticed my ps fluid was grey. So either the pump or the rack is taking a shit. I have a e36 rack sitting around that I will likely install soon, and I am leaning towards deleting the power steering at the same time.
-Car is back on summer tires, hallelujah.
-Around a month ago, I installed ST sway bars. Car has felt very nice through turns ever since.



Rear sway bar links suck


So, plans for car this season:

-Fix blower motor/move blower motor fuse to unmelted location
-Replace subframe/trailing arm bushings +new axles + install the 3.73 lsd ive had sitting around
-Upgrade to e36 rack

[jhaurimn]

Hi r3v. Been awhile.

Tiny update that was a pita. My proportioning valve for the rear brakes has been leaking for awhile, and it got to the point where i would need to top off my brake fluid every 2 weeks. I figured I would take care of it before the winter.

...A lot had to come out.


All to get to this spot.






Thats all i got to report. Chassis is rusting away sadly, but the drivetrain is still very solid. It really is just the rear driver quarter panel that is the source of 95% of the rust on the car. If I were to replace the quarter panel, would the subframe need to come out? Thats what would stop me from saving this car.

[KIRIEIW]

My old 325e leaked from that same valve a few years back, I'd never heard of another e30 leaking from that valve till now. Good job on the build man, I don't have any answer's for you though regarding rust repair..

PS: I want one of those Mtech 2 wheels assuming you still have one all these years later :D

[jhaurimn]

My old 325e leaked from that same valve a few years back, I'd never heard of another e30 leaking from that valve till now. Good job on the build man, I don't have any answer's for you though regarding rust repair..

PS: I want one of those Mtech 2 wheels assuming you still have one all these years later :D

Yup, same mtech 2 is in there :) I have one in both of my e30s, and i dont think I would settle for any other wheel. I went from e30 bus steering wheel > 385m mtech 1 > 370 mtech 2 and I feel like they still go for reasonable $, when you consider other e30 part price increases in the last couple years. (none for sale atm btw :P I stopped my hoarding practices as of late )

Its not a common leak as far as what i could tell as well, but it seems like more and more cars will eventually have to tackle it. Its a good time to pull the manifold and assess everything and make sure nothing needs attention.

edit: btw for anyone replacing this part. i ended up taking a turkey baster, taking out as much brake fluid as i could, then pulled the reservoir from the mc.

not sure what the differences between my swap setup and stock m20/m42 setups. but if you end up having to pull the booster, i reccomend a baster to empty the reservoir as much as you can, then pull it and flip it over as soon as it comes out. was minimal leakage, which is a bigger deal with brake fluid.

if you gotta remove the manifold and booster and you arent familiar with everything, id give yourself a safe 6 hours to get everything done. i got held up on some stupid stuff, and it took a bit over 5 hours start to finish.

[jhaurimn]

End of an era. Pulled the Drivetrain and most the interior out and sold it as a roller. Rust just got too bad after so many Minnesota winters. My first e30.

M52 is now in my vert, progress thread here: https://www.r3vlimited.com/board/for...rogress-thread