Cyrix's '91 318i Project

[Cyrix2k]

I purchased this '91 318i from a fellow forum member, 1mz. In fact, this is the car that lead to me purchasing the '85. Unfortunately Steve was never able to get the car running and he sold it to me; it was delivered via tow truck this past friday where I started my work.

A quick history of the car, taken from below

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=139832

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=206117

May 2009 - The car was a running, driving 318i.
June 2009 - Steve pulled the car into a garage and we pulled the M42. I believe this was the last time the car ran :(

March 2010 - Steve swapped in an e36 steering rack and dropped in the M50

April 2011 - Steve dyed the carpet/armrests/package tray black. He also installed new brakes.


During each of those large time spans, the car was towed. It started in Annapolis, traveled to Harrisonburg, and then was brought to NOVA. On Friday, it made it's (hopefully) final journey on a tow truck to my parents' house in Westminster. I know Steve had some wiring challenges and was never able to get the M50 fired up. After some diagnostic on Saturday, I am pleased to say the motor runs, and idles well. In fact, I didn't even change any of the wiring... I just primed the fuel pump and it fired right up! So way to go Steve!!!

The car still needs to be reassembled; the interior needs a few new door clips so the door cards can go on and the dash needs to be reassembled. To have the car move, the brake hydraulic system needs to be filled and bled, and the clutch system needs a reservoir + fluid. After that, it should move, but it will need a new water pump, which Steve kindly included, and it will need exhaust that I'll handle at some point. Additionally, someone stole Steve's HID kit so I'm ordering a 55w DDM kit in either 5000k or 6000k.

Pics on arrival
Look what showed up:










Future plans:
I'll be driving the car as is once it's running, but eventually the turbo parts from my '85 will be swapped over. That means this car will be getting a Holset HX35, larger injectors, new fuel pump, Good'n'Tight manifold, full 3" exhaust, TiAL 44mm wastegate, WyntonM blow off valve, an intercooler, and some other goodies. Engine management is to be decided, but I'll probably stick with some version of Megasquirt. Also, since the Getrag 240 won't hold the power, it will be getting a new trans and the 4.10 open diff will be making way for a 2.79 LSD.

Hopefully this will be a nasty ride in the near future!

[Cyrix2k]

Updates

I bought a new slave cylinder and an order of parts from pelican came in. I installed the slave & new 2002 reservoir and the clutch worked fine :) I then drove the car into the garage for further repairs - the first time the car has move under its own power since 2009! In the garage, I tore down the intake for a gasket a refresh, ground it down some more to clear the e32 brake booster, and replaced all the ICV lines. Unfortunately, I did not grind down the intake enough and had a minor air leak - so I had to redo the job. I also broke some fuel injector pintle caps and I replaced the broken injectors with spares I already had. However, I will be placing an order for new caps if I can find them so I can replace the caps & o-rings.

Bare motor


completely shot ICV hoses


All fresh :D


Back together


At this point, I decided to attack the water pump, thermostat, and thermostat housing. The water pump on the car was *completely* shot and had massive amounts of play. I'm very glad I addressed this now because it would have come apart shortly.


Now the car starts up fine, idles smoothly when cold, then degrades into a bit of a rough idle as it warms up. It does throw a CEL but I can't get the stomp test to work and the diagnostic connector must not be wired correctly as my peake code reader does not work. I'll investigate that soon. However, I'm pretty sure the problem is only a bad o2 sensor. I also have some new throttle cable bushings to install and want to plumb the 2002 brake fluid reservoir with new hose.

[Cyrix2k]

moar updates

I temporarily fixed the diagnostic connector. I inherited a wiring adapter made by an unnamed member who did a shitty job. Not only did he not wire up the ABS, he also left out switched power so the peake tool wouldn't work. Now that's it's working, here are my codes

Table K10
43 - Crankshaft sensor (ugh)
C9 - Lambda control
24 - Evap purge valve (deleted)
46 - Oxygen Sensor
29 - Air mass sensor (I unplugged it during troubleshooting)


I'm going to fire the car up again with the codes cleared and see what comes back. The o2 sensor was disconnected for a while so that may not be bad (90% change it is due to how it was treated, but waste not). Obviously the crank sensor is an issue - I think I have a spare, if not, looks like I'm getting a new one.

[pr0craztinazn]

I'm glad you're still at it & rescued this car; looking forward to tracking your progress on it.

[Cyrix2k]

I'm glad you're still at it & rescued this car; looking forward to tracking your progress on it.

Thanks. I just finished installing the new aluminum throttle cable bushing. I don't know why people like the e32 735i brake booster, but I might be deleting it. It's in the way of everything - it won't clear the manifold without some serious shaving (more than the 944), it's right up against the throttle body, it needs a different master cylinder, and it needs a remote mount reservoir. What a PITA. The 944 needed the threads extended and the rod trimmed, then bolted on with the factory master cylinder. I'm bring this up because my throttle seems a bit sticky due to the awkward bend in the cable needed to clear the booster. I might need a different throttle cable now. Ugh.

[Cyrix2k]

Video showing start up & the rough idle once it warms up a bit. I unplugged the O2 sensor and it stayed the same. I'm going to buy a new crank position sensor & O2 sensor at some point but I might finish the exhaust work and brakes first.

http://youtu.be/MVFdRevHUys

[Cyrix2k]

Moving along this weekend:

-Purchased new crank sensor and installed, code gone
-Purchased new e30 temp sensor and installed, have temp gauge back :)
-Swapped the three M50TU coil packs with M50NV coil packs, all known working
-Found brake booster is leaking air :( Can't tell if it's just the hose or grommet, but I think it's the booster itself
-Installed DDM 55w 5000k HIDs
-Installed the driver's side door panel. I seriously underestimated the number of fasteners needed and used almost all the extras on just this panel. Crap.

All in all, it's coming along. The car is idling MUCH better and I think it will run great with a new O2 sensor and rebuilt fuel injectors!

Quick shot of the headlights, they are actually white in person. I think the blue is a combination of the camera and the lights warming up.


To do:
-Order exhaust components. I think I'm going to run aluminized mild steel header back exhaust since this won't be on the car long. My current plan is to buy a set of stainless 2.5" v-bands & 2" stainless tubing, modify the current headers to clear the LCABs, then weld the 2.5" vband up to the headers. I'll also order a 2.5" mild steel v-band and use that for the header back section, then order a muffler of some sort.
-Address the brake situation. I'm stuck between what I want to do - the car currently has an e32 brake booster & the appropriate master cylinder, but if it's bad I think I'd prefer to roll with the porsche setup. However, I don't have the original master cylinder so I'd need the master cylinder, booster, and reservoir. Buying this stuff new is not really an option if I'm going to stay on budget.
-Replace the O2 sensor. $47 for a genuine bosch sensor, coming soon.
-Acquire and install e34 525i dipstick, low priority.
-Alignment & tires
-13 button OBC swap
-Replace instrument cluster lights
-Reassemble the interior
-Acquire and install air filter

[Cyrix2k]

So I hit the junkyard today and instead of scoring parts needed to make the car run, I bought the interior from a wrecked e30 with a pristine black leather interior. I now have all the seats, 3 of 4 door cards, and the premium speakers.

New rear seats in (ignore the door card, it just needs to be cleaned)


I guess this is going to destroy the black & tan theme :(

And the old rear seats are for sale locally. $100 obo takes them... they're in good condition, they just need to be cleaned a bit (see the pic above).

[Cyrix2k]

I have a major update coming soon. This car is 99% ready to hit the road. This weekend I knocked out the exhaust (finally) and got tags. I have new tires ready to go on, I bought & installed a 944 booster w/ e30 master cylinder, and I rebuilt the fuel injectors. Unfortunately, the idle is STILL very rough and I pulled codes again. It turns out that both codes 24 & 29 are still being set. 24 is the evap valve which is a given, but 29 is the MAF sensor. I just purchased a good used MAF on ebay so hopefully that fixes everything - it damn well better because EVERYTHING on this engine is bloody new. Anyway, I'll post an update with pics soon!

[jaywood]

Bump for more pics :)