6/83 grey market 323i.. mtech I S50 5-lug

[kronus]

there i fixed it

[SC750IL]

looks very good

[litu]

Looks awesome

[canakami]

Errmaahgeerrd.

Freakin' sex, dude.

[Pantless Spency]

no idea how i havent seen this thread, but that last pic.
damn.
i love this car!

[kronus]

thanks guys!

today I razor-bladed the 10 years of sap off the windows and wired up a head unit. sadly, the car got back to the garage with a very nasty-sounding intermittent metallic grinding from somewhere in the front section of the engine...

if it's anything I have to dig into the engine for, screw it, I'll just put in the m106.

[kronus]

welp, found the problem. the cam gear retaining nut backed off and clobbered the threads on the nose of the cam. GG L-Jet.

I guess I'll see if I can fix the threads tonight.. don't have a die big enough to recut them.

[kronus]

fixed it this morning in about 25 minutes on the street in front of my house.

Turns out it's not a retaining nut, it's a plate held on with a retaining bolt (which had backed out), and there's another plate bolted to this plate with a 1/2" socket recess that pokes out the front of the timing cover. Weird design, but whatever.

Current known problems (mostly for my own reference):
- clanking noise from both front struts when going over bumps. Unclear whether the struts or the girling calipers are loose, but pretty easy to check next time I have it up
- excessive shaking at idle RPM - might be a misfire once again
- trans noise at idle, probably bad trans input shaft bearing, sadly
- all 4 corners rub a bit on compression. The rears are already rolled flat, I might need to actually pull them. The fronts need to be rolled and pulled...
- terrible, embarrassing, ear-drum shattering squealing from the HP+ pads. I might need something less aggressive for street driving.

[LJ851]

- excessive shaking at idle RPM - might be a misfire once again
- trans noise at idle, probably bad trans input shaft bearing, sadly

These may be related. 323 uses the lightest M20 flywheel and the trans can rattle some at idle even if the trans is good. Input bearing will make a more constant rumbling sound, the trans noise is more random and rattle-y especially with an unstable idle.

[kronus]

Interesting, that could be it. I've actually got an aftermarket 14.5# S50 flywheel on it, so it's even lighter than the stock one.

[LJ851]

323 fly is lighter, i think mine was 12.5 - 13 when i installed it.

[animal]

o man those wheels are amazing!

[ScHpAnKy]

everything about this car is proper. Good job.

[kronus]

thanks guys!

323 fly is lighter, i think mine was 12.5 - 13 when i installed it.

oh, well, dang. I guess I downgraded, then.

[kronus]

Hello, some updates.

- messed with the timing, TPS and AFM adjustments until I was sick of it. Runs better!
- went outside and took some photos.
- In preparation for an upcoming track day, took off the Weds.. and three of the four adapters. Two of the small hex bolts in the last one I went to take off were completely seized up and stripped out easily. I'm not sure if I overtorqued them on installation, or overdid it with loctite, but I'll be contacting 8380 Labs about what actual, reasonable torque specs are for the smaller bolts.
- One of the camber plates' spherical bearings shat itself. This is a first for me after running several different camber plates on several different cars. Taking it apart tonight to find out WTF.
- Played mix and match with three different MotoMeter clusters, and I still cannot come up with one I trust. RPM varies wildly between them (and I don't have an external tach I can verify against), speedo is inconsistent, gas gauge fluctuates, and one temp gauge reads 3/4 while another reads 1/2. It's kinda concerning..

so, mix of good and bad, mostly bad.