325ix Maintenance/Build Thread

[stonea]

Went to go get the car inspected today, but it failed..... It needs a new passenger front tire (Just gonna get 4 new ones), there seems to be a leak on the passenger front caliper again. They claim it's the caliper, but since the caliper is less than 6,000 miles old I'm thinking other wise. It looks like it's coming from the hose, but I'll fix that this weekend. It also needs a new exhaust because the current one has developed some holes in it. Not really sure what I'm going to do about this. Maybe find one in a junkyard or just go ahead and bite the bullet and get an after market one. I'm thinking scorpion. I like the sound and the fact that it's stainless steel. Also the price doesn't hurt either. I might do that plus the rear half shafts in the next month. Until then my buddy says he knows a shop that will help me out with inspection if I get the break fluid leak sorted out.

On a brighter not I had a little fun in the snow tonight.

[nando]

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.

I understand, I'm just trying to tell you what I know from collecting parts over the last several years. Any engine swap into a car like this isn't very logical, but you're going to spend $5000 or more to swap in a motor that is worth $500, and makes maybe 25hp than a stock M20. $5500+ could build a hell of an M20. And possibly a swap could cost $10,000 just for drivetrain parts alone depending on how far you take it. you're not just swapping out motors, you're swapping everything from the radiator to the tailpipe.

To me it seems like you would either want to swap in a motor that's a significant change, or not bother with a swap at all. But don't let me stop you - one thing that would certainly make it easier is if more people were researching it. :)

[stonea]

Hmm, 5k is a lot more than what I was thinking. I was thinking it was going to cost 3k or something. I still have the wrecked Z3 so hopefully I can use some parts from that or sell some of the parts to help subsidies the cost. I've also had the idea of buying a e46 or a e36 that's in need of an engine and swap the m52 in there and give it to my sister. But as stupid as it sound the M52 means more to me than my current Z3 so I would rather keep the engine and use it for my self.

[nando]

yeah, I don't think so. just the E34 CV shafts could set you back $1500 if you buy them new. They are less used but super rare - I waited over a year before mine popped up for sale. You need a transmission that you can only buy in Germany (luckily they are common and cheap), and a lot of parts that can only be bought in Europe or need to be fabricated from scratch. I'm having the transmission built by drivegear, should cost me $1200-$1500 plus the $150 I paid for the donor.

I definitely don't want to discourage you from doing it but you should know what's really involved. :)

[stonea]

Well luckily my dad has contacts through Germany and I can even get good deals on shipping through his work so hopefully that eases some of the costs and pain, but still that's at least 3-4 years out, or at least you or flyboyx finish your swaps lol. In the mean time I got my head unit installed today. It appears the PO cut the front speaker wires and I need to fix that. But at least after 6 months I finally have audio.

[stonea]

I visited home this weekend to try and get some of this inspection stuff sorted out. I got all new tires, kumho tires all seasons (They were the cheapest I could find). I was going to buy a new exhaust, but I found this exhaust putty and tape that supposedly fixes exhaust holes and leaks so I decided to give it a shot. It seems to be holding up pretty well, but its only been a day so who knows...





I also decided to try and work on the brake fluid leak. I cleaned everything up and pumped the pedal a couple of times and found that the leak is coming from the bleeder screw. I took it out and put a couple of new ones in that my dad had laying around. None worked and they all leaked just the same as the first, so I'm thinking the threads inside the caliper are screwed. So I think I'll just buy a new passenger front caliper (The calipers are only 6,000 miles old so it kind of pisses me off I'm already replacing one.)



In lighter news I got my german flag shift boot and my ZHP knob in the other day. The zhp knob has seen better days, but it was only $20 on ebay.

[DER E30]

Nice shift boot!

Quality tunes as well!!! Love Rise Against! :up:

[stonea]

No real updates, but I finally got the caliper situation sorted out with Turner and they're sending me another one. Also ordered a ABS sensor for the front so hopefully I can get that fixed next weekend. I've been looking at doing other stuff, I'm thinking about doing shocks and struts next. Any suggestions? I don't think I'm going to lower it, but I'm not sure yet.

-Stone

[stonea]

So not any updates, but hopefully I'll have some by next week. But I've been thinking about the engine swap and although I still think it would be cool, I don't feel comfortable doing it without more information being present on the project so I've been thinking about rebuilding the M20. So my next question is, should I just rebuild the head, rebuild the whole engine, or do a stroker? I'm not necessarily power hungry, but I would like something a little better than stock. The engine has 225,000 miles on it if that helps. Thank in advance.

-Stone

[stonea]

So I finally got around to getting some work done to the car, about 3 weeks ago I ordered an Scorpion exhaust from Bavauto, but they sent me the wrong one.Then they gave me a 30% discount so I upgrade and get a Remus exhaust. Anyways on to some pictures.













Also got her inspected!!!!

[The Dark Side of Will]

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.

New knowledge is constantly being added:

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=308093

[stonea]

New knowledge is constantly being added:

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=308093

Yeah, I keep up with that thread daily and at least once every two weeks I read it from front to back again. Idk I might do a engine swap not sure. I'm now looking for a e46 with a bad engine so I can swap my M52tu in there and get a sweet ride.

Also I took some pics of the ix the other day, also got a bike rack and ski rack, oh idk if you can see it, but I also did all red tails.