Granitsilber Coupe: x-country warrior kicking it in SoCal

[thatphysicsguy]

So I picked this up along with a few other little goodies over the break


Finally got rid of my old putter grip shifter, but still rocking the golf theme lol.


Then I got to work.


I changed the oil filter (blunttech had shipped me a fuel filter by mistake before, but Steve hooked it up with a new oil filter for free), replaced the driver's side strut mount (when I installed the H&R/billies, I didn't put the dust cover back on the bearing surface and it was binding on sharp turns), and replaced an old fuel line that was starting to crack.

Before I put it into storage, someone hit the rear driver's corner of my car, shattering part of the taillight. So I scooped up a set of smoked taillights
Here's a comparison:


in bright light I like the look, but otherwise I think they might be a bit dark(as you can see in the photo below), I might replace them with reds at a later date, or I might go back to stock: not sure yet.



But for now, she's back on the road and running well!


The next things I'm going to tackle when I get back home to SoCal:

-New exhaust: I need to get this thing smogged and it passed by the skin of its teeth last time, so I'm going to pony up some cash for new cats and a new muffler.

-Motor mounts: They're starting to pancake and it's making me a bit nervous.

-Either a fender roll or 195 tires: I don't like rubbing.

Also I'm still trying to sell the M52 that I was considering swapping in. I'm trying to save up for a WRX so I don't need to worry about the E30 in the winter time.

[thatphysicsguy]

Huge essay ahead: need lots of input

So This spring has been very nice!



After the crazy winter we had, it was nice to have the 30 back on the road.

Had some fun with F34R over memorial day



And set to work preparing the car for it's final odyssey across the country



Very convenient mileage number to start from


Visited a friend in Wisconsin. Most of trip it was raining. The roads in cleveland in particular were very sketchy. A lot of pooling water and poor drainage mixed with low visibility at night and poorly marked lanes made for a very sketchy pass. But I made it in one piece.



Stops in nebraska:


And a scenic stop in Utah:


And this is where my problems began. As I was pulling out of that very same rest stop, my clutch pedal got stuck halfway down as I shifted into 5th. I couldn't tell at the time and likely ran with my clutch only partially engaged for about 200 miles. I pulled into a gas station and found the problem. I pulled the pedal towards me with my foot and it popped back into place. But the clutch has a very noticeable amount of meat missing from it now.

I'm going to investigate further, but likely the retracting spring attached to the clutch pedal broke. I'm not sure and I'll probably have a shop inspect it anyways if I cant find anything.

I luckily made it home without any further issue.
Taking a look under the hood once I got back I spotted two problems.

1.)

A coolant leak around the front freeze plug. It looks like it's seeping down from on top of the plug and I can't figure out what would be causing it since the t-stat housing and associated hoses are pretty new.

2.)


The AC pulley is interfering with my lower rad hose. I can feel a fairly large groove of where the pulley ground away the hose and all I have to say is thank god it didn't give out on me on the road. I have a spare handy fortunately but that still doesn't fix the interference problem. Does anyone know what could be the issue there? BMW obviously didn't design it to interfere and it's not like I have made any major mods to cause such an interference. My only idea is worn out motor mounts(mine are starting to pancake), but the way I see it, new mounts would lift the motor further and make the interference worse.

In addition:
As I was pulling into my neighborhood last night, The car started hesitating under accel. I would be travelling along, press the gas and nothing would happen for a while...then it would start to rev up. I pulled into the driveway and it had a terrible idle (nearly dying then revving up to 1800 then nearly dying) while flashing CEL as it nearly died each time (I assume indicating misfire?).

All the resources online focus mostly on vacuum leaks, but after a cursory inspection I can't find any that would cause such a dramatically terrible idle.

Any ideas?

My plan of action for the coming days:

Oil change and coolant flush while replacing lower rad hose and disconnecting AC. Also potentially address idle/hesitation issue if I can.

Drive car to shop to have them look at clutch, do oilpan gasket, put new motor mounts and look at interference problem. Also want them to install m3 front CABs, new diff and rear subframe bushings (I'm hearing a lot of driveline clunk from the back and the my driveshaft and CSB/giubo are fairly new). And maybe I'm looking to put in a rebuilt 3.73S if I can find one for the right price.

Later this summer I'm also planning on upgrading my swaybars to potentially correct the understeer problem I've been getting in auto-x. Any suggestions? I'm running h&r race with billy sports and I believe some stiffer bars will really help.

[E30stan]

looks like the lower hose needs to be trimmed right before the 90 degree turn, to clear the ac pulley properly

[thatphysicsguy]

looks like the lower hose needs to be trimmed right before the 90 degree turn, to clear the ac pulley properly

The interference is new, as that hose is factory or at least quite old.

I think the issue is the motor mounts after all. I was going to get those done this summer anyway, so I hope that will sort it out.

[2mAn]

Its always something with these old cars ...

[thatphysicsguy]

OKay so it has been a long time since I updated so here's the lowdown.
The rough idle/run rich condition was caused by a failed FPR. The little membrane failed and was sending gas into the intake manifold via the vacuum line.

Took the car in to get oil pan gasket, motor mounts, diff mount, and diff fluid taken care of.

Also got a set of hella euro smileys put in





I installed an Italvolanti wheel (supposedly) from an E24 racecar. I still need to re-stitch the cushion as all the old stitching is gone.



Right around when I did the motor mounts, the steering rack started to leak (maybe it started before). The leak has gotten to the point that it gushes fluid out in a solid stream if I really crank the power steering.

To that end, I'm going to get a Z3 rack and swap it in (might as well).

Also future plans include getting a miller MAF kit with possibly upgraded injectors. It would just be nice to have a bit more throttle response for easier rev matching and fun.

But all-in-all, I'm super happy with the car and have been driving it a lot this summer enjoying every mile.

[2mAn]

All red tails & euro trim NOW!.... then down the road some IS skirts and lip perhaps?

[thatphysicsguy]

The trim is just the black plastic on the bumpers right?

[2mAn]

The trim is just the black plastic on the bumpers right?

yup, no US market sidemarkers. Much cleaner look.

[thatphysicsguy]

Did an oil change, car is still a bit leaky from the rack, but it should make it to my next stop in Austin. Car is now around 141500 mark.

Back on the road again to go halfway across the country (rather than all the way)

[thatphysicsguy]

Made it to Austin and the car is now at an even 142900.

No issues on the road, even did a couple 100+ pulls when no one was around (INB4 "lol only 100" I have a 4.10 so...)

I bought tickets to the F1 race on sunday (super stoked!).

[2mAn]

Nice Alex! Sorry we didnt get to hang before you left. How long are you out there for?

[thatphysicsguy]

Well I owe you all an update because there has been a lot of intrigue and drama surrounding my car recently.




While in Austin, car developed a misfire. It was very minor at first, manifesting as a slight hiccup at highway speeds. As the weeks went on, it started to misfire heavily on cold startup then settle in and run okay as the engine warmed. One morning it would fail to start or run properly (would crank and turn but run like shit and sputter out).

After some research, I ordered ignition system parts:

-Dist Cap
-dist rotor
-plugs
-wires
-coil
-new ground cable
-new battery (was needed anyway because my old one was dying)

I put them all on and the misfire seemed to get better, but was still present after cold start and sometimes at highway speed.

I figured things were manageable, after the motor was warm, there was hardly any problem. So I figured I could make the drive home from Austin to SoCal. I wouldn't be putting many cold starts on the car and the misfires on the highway becoming very rare so I thought I could make it.

Day one of driving:
-First 5 hours, nothing to report: car running perfect

-hour 5: some misfiring but nothing too bad

-Take a stop for food when misfire starting to get a little worse

-Get back in the car it seems fine for all of 30 mins

-Misfire comes back and starts to get worse and worse

-Pulling over gas every 30 mins at this point to "rest" the car and help with the misfire which just gets worse as I drive for extended periods.

-Pull over for dinner and to give the car a long break, misfire is so bad, motor stalls out as I pull off the highway and have to limp it into the parking lot.

-After dinner car restarts fine and I get going, but the misfire gets so bad going up an incline 20 mins down the road, I have to limp it along the shoulder and restart it to get going again.

-Car is struggling to run properly and is barely driveable so I pull over at a rest stop and look at my (brand new) plugs. They're fine.

-limp my car into El Paso, TX having to rest it every 5 mins before it stalls out from terrible misfire again.

-Next morning it struggles to start and idle, but eventually calms down

-Drive it to dealership

-They put on a dist cap b/c/ the new one I put on had uneven wear on it or something. I take the car for a (very hard) drive around the block and not a single hiccup.

-Leave El Paso $600 poorer (I was desperate to get home for xmas)

-Engine starts misfiring again 1 hour outside of el paso.

-Put up with the same bullshit again until I get to Tuscon

-realize car won't make it to CA and phone up a friend in Phoenix

-He'll let me keep my car there for the holidays until I come back to fix it

-limp it until it won't even go a mile after resting. Looks like car won't make it to PHX either.

-limp into a gas station 70 miles outside of phoenix

-pay $420 (lol) for a tow to my friend's place

-fly home



And that's where we are today. All the symptoms point to bad fuel injectors (stuck open) considering all the other parts replaced and the fact that my cats were glowing after a couple more rough stints (god I hope my cats aren't completely fucked).

I've ordered a set of M50 green tops and we'll see if those help matters. I fly back to PHX tomorrow.

A question to R3v, could my 02 sensor be fucked at this point too? Any way I can test or verify it?

[2mAn]

Ugh, Alex, I was a little worried when you said your car was wounded. This stuff can get fixed, but its also why you should have AAA plus membership. It really should be the first thing you buy when you have a E30 to daily.

Good luck getting it fixed. If the ignition side is good, then the other things to check is fuel and finally air. sounds like you're on the right track... though I would think the plugs would smell like gas

[kronus]

I've had cats do that with switched-around plug wires, but your initial symptoms sound like CPS, not injectors