325ix Maintenance/Build Thread

[stonea]

Hello R3V, my name is Stone and I recently bought a 325ix and thought I would try doing a build thread about it. So to start off I own a 2001 2.5i Z3 and a 1999 2.3 Z3 that is a parts car and was looking for a project car and I decided on a E30. My uncle sent me an email saying that he knew a guy selling a 1988 325ix. I talked to the guy and my friend bought the car for me until I could get back from college and drop off the cash and pick it up. So after 3 months I finally got to pick her up.

Pics of that he sent me:







It had seen better days but for $1,250 I couldn't pass it up. The PO said it had around 220,000 miles and needed rear brake rotors and pads, timing belt, and a new intake hose. Here is a pic of when I first saw here.



After the hour drive home from West Virginia I discovered that the car's cluster was broken/off and the rear brakes where non existant and needed A LOT of cosmetic love. Now for some pictures of when I got here home.



















Next on the list of things do do was to clean out the interior and give her a bath.







Her she is next to her younger sister.



Then I adressed the rear brakes and e-brakes. Dont have pics of the new rotors installed :( but nothing special about them just oem rotors with some good street pads. I did snap a pic when I was fixing the e-brakes.







And finally I got my New License Plate!!!



My ideas for this car is:
Redo the Interior
Paint and Body Work
New Wheels
Bumper swap
Lowering springs
Bilstein Shocks
Megasquirt
3.0 Stroker
Individual Throttle Boddies

Also here is some pics of my Family's garage.

Dad's 1987 325is 63,000 miles


Dad's 2006 Z4 M Roadster 45,000 miles


Mom's 2001 M3 75,000 miles


My 2001 2.5i Z3 38,000 miles


My old 1999 2.3 Z3/Parts car 28,000 miles
(BTW Dad crashed it not me)
Before

After

[audiquattrot]

nice those interior carpets cleaned up well. If i were to ever get another E30, it would be a diving boards (early model) & swap to euro bumpers.

[dogsbark26]

Great start. Looks like a loving family.

[stonea]

I haven't updated this thread at all, but I figured I would give an update since the semester is over.

Before I left for school I put all new fluid in her. I used Redline products for the Transmission, front/rear diff, and transfer case.



I did a full brake bleed and an oil change. On top of that I finally got around to installing a new timing belt and and water pump, along with new V-belts and some much needed cleaning.







I noticed uneven wear on my front rotors I opted to replace the front calipers and with them being $50 with a core charge I went ahead and did all 4 corners.







Then I finally fixed my gauge cluster, but the speedo was still bad. I checked the speedo sensor in the back and the insulation rubbed off and the wire was exposed. I spliced the wire and crimped it back together then used shrink wrap to finish all up. I also discovered a tear in my CV boot. I used some super tape to fix it temporarily, and ordered some new half-shafts that are currently waiting to be put on.





Then my dad brought home some stuff that you paint on the rust thats stops it from getting any worse. Since my power steering pipes were looking a little bad I lathered those up.





Since I had the grilles off I dyed them black with forever black.



My passenger side door handle was broken so I replaced that.



Then I tried my hand at repairing my "is" lip and it turned out pretty good, but the someone stole it off my car while at school :-x



Then I discovered plasti-dip and painted the bumpers black, along with the trim.



Here is a pic of the "i" lip I got to replace the stolen "is" lip. It was $10 on craigslist and only 10 minutes away so I thought why not.



I also eventually plasti-dipped the roof to cover up the clear coat peeling.



After my 2nd ticket I removed the window tint, and finally decided to get it inspected. It failed inspection because of "Leaky break line" but after closer inspection it was the bleeder screw on the caliper. I still don't know how it happened, because it was leaking BAD, and I would have ran out of brake fluid a long time ago if it was always like that. But I fixed it and got on with my life.



(I'm really proud of the busch can funnel)


Also my alternator has taken a crap and won't recharge the battery so the cars been sitting in the drive for the past week while I've been driving the Z3 around.

So during the past 4 months I've racked up 8,000 miles from trips from Norfolk to Baltimore, Danville, and Atlanta and a couple of trips back home. I couldn't be happier with the way the ix has turned out.

Here are some pics I've taken over the past several months.

[lambo]

Nice! That car that initially got me into e30's was a friend's '88 325iX

[DER E30]

Kool!

What's on the windshield of the gray one in the last pic???

[stonea]

Kool!

What's on the windshield of the gray one in the last pic???

It was some kind of sun visor the guy made out of some leftover plastic he had.

[EyExR]

Nice. Keep it coming. What are you plans for the engine? You said 3.0 but how? good luck

[stonea]

Nice. Keep it coming. What are you plans for the engine? You said 3.0 but how? good luck

At first I was going to do a 3.0 stroker, but that's because I heard engine swaps were difficult on the ix, but since then I've figured out how to over come those hurdles. So now I'm going to do a M52tu swap. I know those are difficult swaps, but I'm thinking since I have a salvaged z3 parts car I might just run the engine off of the Z3's electronics and ECU. I don't know if that's just a pipe dream, but it sounds possible in my head. I've tried to find threads about people doing that but have had much luck.

Anyways, the engine is a M52tuB25 out of my old 1999 z3 that got totaled. The engine has 28,000 miles on it and it's just taking up space in my garage. I'm planing to put a M54b30 manifold on it and possibly some ZHP cams but probably not. I'll put a intake on, new headers, and chip it and call it a day.

As for the m20 that's in there, it's gonna need a new head gasket before long, but I'm hoping I can prolong it until I can get the engine swap ready.

-Stone

[fresh_TD]

Nice

Sent from my GS4 Active

[litu]

Nice 2d IX

[stonea]

I had to replace a fuse and address a coolant leak today so I figured I might as well do it at the beach.

[DER E30]

Sounds legit! :up:

[nando]

At first I was going to do a 3.0 stroker, but that's because I heard engine swaps were difficult on the ix, but since then I've figured out how to over come those hurdles. So now I'm going to do a M52tu swap. I know those are difficult swaps, but I'm thinking since I have a salvaged z3 parts car I might just run the engine off of the Z3's electronics and ECU. I don't know if that's just a pipe dream, but it sounds possible in my head. I've tried to find threads about people doing that but have had much luck.

Anyways, the engine is a M52tuB25 out of my old 1999 z3 that got totaled. The engine has 28,000 miles on it and it's just taking up space in my garage. I'm planing to put a M54b30 manifold on it and possibly some ZHP cams but probably not. I'll put a intake on, new headers, and chip it and call it a day.

As for the m20 that's in there, it's gonna need a new head gasket before long, but I'm hoping I can prolong it until I can get the engine swap ready.

-Stone

24v swap on an ix is a hell of a lot of work to bother with an M52. it's not cheap either. For the same price you could build an M20 that makes more power for less headaches.. just saying.

[stonea]

24v swap on an ix is a hell of a lot of work to bother with an M52. it's not cheap either. For the same price you could build an M20 that makes more power for less headaches.. just saying.

I know its going to be hell, but I've been following yours and flyboyx threads and I think I've gotten an understanding what the problems are with the ix and 24 valve swaps. I have a note book of sorts of useful facts from you guys and I have a list of questions in there too. I'm just no where ready to even start on the swap. I still need to address tons of other problems on the car. I'm thinking I'll probably get serious about the swap after I'm out of college. By then I should have all of my questions answered and have saved enough money for the build.

As regarding the engine its self, the engine has a lot of sentimental value to me and I wanted to put in something instead of letting it collect dust. I got another low milage Z3 this time with a M54b25 so I wasn't going to swap a M52 for a M54.

As for why I have an ix, my dad and I know a BMW mechanic and he happened to have 2 e30s for sale, both were a 325ix. We went to go check them out (Not knowing what a 325ix was) and by the time we got there he sold one, but he still had a silver 1991 325ix sedan, but it was an auto...so we passed. A couple of months later I found a white 1987 325is with 56,000 original miles (Can be seen is my first post) which me and my dad picked up as a father son project. He decided he liked the car, so he kept it to himself (He paid for 80% of the car so I couldn't be mad about it). Then my favorite BMW mechanic emailed my dad last year saying that his friend was selling the black 1988 BMW 325ix that we originally went to go see a few years ago and he was selling it for $1,250. I told him I would take it, but I was at college and I wouldn't be back for 3 months. Kerry (the BMW mechanic) said it would still be there by then. It turns out Kerry bought the car from his buddy and kept a hold of it until I could buy it off him. Then after 3 months I drove up to West Virginia and picked it up, and paid Kerry for the car (plus a little bit extra for buy the car for me).

That story isn't really relevant to anything, but I like the story and wanted to share it. It's also how I ended up with an ix.