Joey's iS

[JinormusJ]

Compression test today after a buddy let me borrow one of his testers. Starting from front of the engine to firewall side:
156, 154, 153, 150, 147, 150

Not bad number for a previously neglected e30 honestly. Not as good as my last one, but definitely good


Finally took my valve cover off today, only to find...




Exhaust rocker #6 isn't even on the valve....


The oil pickup tube is bent and rubbing again intake rocker #5


After fixing it all up

Took the rocker clip off, moved it over and adjusted it as best I could (hey, its better now than being completely off!)


However, my car still suffers from incredibly sad low torque, even sadder top end power, a massive knocking/valve tick sound (misfire..?) that seems to be coming from Exhaust rocker #6 area, and of course, horrible exhaust leaks.
Video

Don't mind my inherent struggle to inhale life-giving air; I'm sick and my nose is plugged. Mouth breathing at its finest.


Anyone know what these problems could be potential signs of?

[JinormusJ]

Looks like a nice start though. I'm jealous of you west coast guys and your rust free, sub $1k e30's. I paid $1k for my eta coupe that's got holes in both floor panels.

Definitely happy with this, especially since its a running, driving IS. Very very very pleased with the purchase


On a more related note. Took the seats out today and did a total wash of the interior. Carpet took a good 4 hours to clean and disinfect mold from, and it still didn't come out as clean as I wanted to, but as it sits now, it's a world of difference. took time to clean the center consoles as well, as those were pretty discussing and had crusted liquid/food stains as well

[leaf...]

Your missing Pedal

This.

Looks like a nice start though. I'm jealous of you west coast guys and your rust free, sub $1k e30's. I paid $1k for my eta coupe that's got holes in both floor panels.

[TimKninja]

What should I fix next guys???

Your missing Pedal

[JinormusJ]

So it was about a week in the making, starting, then stopping to order new parts, then starting, then stopping again, but eventually I finished the heater and blower problem in the e30!


First, EVERYTHING must come out!



Exposed heater core



Valve and piping (This was before new o-rings; as you can see by the drops of water from the pipes and on the carpet)



After giving up on the heater core for the meantime while my o-rings arrived, I worked on the hood latch as that was completely broken. Threw away the old one without taking a pic :(


Once the O-rings arrived a la BMA Auto, I installed those and my heater core was leak free. Replaced the fuse for my valve and everything was operating smoothly (no pictures of that progress as that would essentially be more of the same lol)



Decided to finally tackle this baby. As you can see the small metal elbow pipe next to the booster; AKA ghetto-fabulous heater FA-RAZE bypass





Decided to take things slow and take the whole connection out including the spider hose, just to kinda get a better idea of how the coolant lines operate
As you can see, and what I will explain to you in just a moment, I ordered the wrong hoses. I, at first, thought the whole ensemble pictures earlier was the complete bypass (because in my defense, it looks really ghetto, and RealOEM confused me with the schematic). Honestly, the thought that the coolant does need some sort of a bypass line (the midget looking hose connected the the bigger hoses by means of fork bypasses) for when the heater isn't on and the valve is closed didn't even cross my mind. I am a silly man.
On top of that, I even ordered the wrong spider hose. Luckily, the old hoses were still pretty new, and I only ordered new ones because I thought I had the wrong ones. $25 down, but whatevs



Luckily, my buddy John with his 88 325is and another e30 guy guy named Abel with his 4-door Bronzit showed up and helped me out a bit; we shot the breeze, and afterward I helped change their oil and give them some e30 pointers while i checked at John's heater hose setup and they watched me work. Swag swag swag


Headbutting the intake manifold trying to take the coolant drain plug off
#excellentidea



FINISHED!!!



Enjoying the heat after a nice long day of getting yelled at by dealerships, thermostats, coolant, hoses, oil, and SF drive til 5AM last night



What should I fix next guys???

[JinormusJ]

New hoses arrived the other day; after messing around and playing them like a didgeridoo, I put them away in wait for the weather to clear up

Looking over some past discussion here on the boards, I think I'm ready to tackle the bypass mess the PO left for me.
As a side note, and for future reference by me and anyone else that may be looking on this thread: the spider hose goes to the top, where the valve is connected, the head flow hose goes to the bottom, which is the pipe without a valve. Switching these will give you permanent heat, even with the temp gauge on cool. Spider hose (#2) connects to the thermostat housing, the flow hose (#1) connects to the head near the firewall

So, final notes
SPIDER TOP
HEAD BOTTOM

[JinormusJ]

Finally got to sit down and finish work on this little guy.
Friday I officially started to fix my heater problems; everything went swell expect for the fact I didn't buy new o-rings, so my pipes started to leak

For ANYONE buying parts in California, Patrick at BMA Auto never fails to come through.

Got my O-rings in today; fixed those leaks, even got my new resistor in on my blower motor; tried to tackle my heater bypass; those tubes are destroyed; gonna order new OEM ones after the holidays.

Anyone know where 1 and 2 go on the engine?

[bernzpeed]

i think i peed a little bit from laughing hard at that bypass. anyways, looking at your photos, i can imagine every part i have to fix everything that car needs.

anyways, just rent a rug doctor at safeway and some oxyclean to clean the stains on that carpet.

good luck. looks like a lot of work

[JinormusJ]

Mini-Update!


Had a few minutes this morning and I decided to swap out the washer bottles. Cleaned up my valve cover while I was at it. Found out my washer fluid motor is toast, so it doesn't shoot fluid at my windshield. Finding more things to put on the list daily..!


While I was messing around on the inside, my glovebox magically popped open. I was hoping for a million dollars, but I guess I'll have to make due with all the BMW goodies inside. Extra parts, service manuals, radio books, radio code, BMW brand paint touch up pen in my color, Cassette deck cleaner. Its a good day :nice:


Does anyone know what chip this is? I put in the part number and it only spat out the ECU code, but no information about the chip itself

[JinormusJ]

I see nothing that cannot be fixed over a few weeks. Body looks straight and clean. Must have over looked it, are you getting it repainted?

Exactly, I learned my lesson from the last e30: The body damage in the back always distracted me from how good of a car it really was. Straight body > Everything else
And yes, a decent respray is definitely on the to do list once I work out the little kinks with the engine and cooling systems

Count me as #8!

Alrite you parasites! I get it! haha
Zipties + Shroud = Acceptable.

[MoreMayhem]

I actually bought new clips when I replaced the radiator and broken fan shroud in my car. OEM clips kept popping out, so guess what: count me as #8!

[eur04lif3]

Let's make it 6 then.

It might be easier to count the number of us who doesn't have it zip tied.

Couldn't help myself, #7 here. and i would def agree LOL

OP. Great project, one of my fav e30 color.

[bmoores]

Good luck. Sub'd

[F34R]

I see nothing that cannot be fixed over a few weeks. Body looks straight and clean. Must have over looked it, are you getting it repainted?

[JinormusJ]

New parts!

Getting the whole interior air functioning right
Heater core
Blower resistor coil pack
New Heater valve with piping

Gonna fix that hacked washer bottle, and Vivek threw in a few parts on my visit over the weekend. New fluids are priority number one! Work will inhibit me from any work until Wednesday however