Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Restoring my E30 318is

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    #16
    Originally posted by kenshin86 View Post
    And I need to sort out why the RPM gauge is still not working after replacing the SI board batteries.
    I had an E30 once where the RPM gauge didn't work. What i found was some bad wiring in the area of the passenger speaker. There's a connection of wires (if i remember correct - red/green wires). My interior lighting wasn't working either and it was related to the same wires.

    Comment


      #17
      Originally posted by Glaede View Post

      I had an E30 once where the RPM gauge didn't work. What i found was some bad wiring in the area of the passenger speaker. There's a connection of wires (if i remember correct - red/green wires). My interior lighting wasn't working either and it was related to the same wires.
      Thanks for your feedback, I will look into it !

      Comment


        #18
        Originally posted by kenshin86 View Post
        Thanks for your feedback, I will look into it !
        Sorry, i meant drivers side. Left side of the car Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

        Comment


          #19
          Originally posted by kenshin86 View Post
          Thank you all for your replies !

          Also when I installed the derlin bushing in the rear shifter assembly arm carrier, after doing hard acceleration or cornering, it becomes difficult or not possible to change gears because there is no play or buffer to absorb the relative motion between engine/transmission and chassis.
          I will either remove the derlin bushing completely or drill it to make it wider or go back to old rubber.
          Greetings from NZ. I too am using the Garagistic delrin rear shifter bushing (and Z3 1.9 shifter), although with no issues with this setup (M40B16). Suggest your issue may be caused by movement elsewhere; I'd already replaced engine, gearbox mounts by the time I'd gotten to replacing all of the shifter bushings. Perhaps wait until you replace your engine and gearbox mounts?

          Hope that helps.
          Join the BMW Car Club of NZ
          http://www.bmwclub.co.nz/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/bmwcarclubnz/

          Comment


            #20
            Update for some fixes I have done in December 2020 during my visit to my home country:

            Rear license plate lights replaced and new connectors crimped, previously it was just a wire warped around:





            New fuse box cover:




            New plastic cover for the coil packs:




            The tool box screw was broken inside its housing, new one instead:




            Tool box cleaned with scotchbrite wheel on a dremel:




            The hood was not closing properly due to a bent bracket, I tried to bend it back into place but no success, so got a used one instead (in black):




            Trying to fix my dead rpm, pulled back the SI board and found it has the infamous cluster screw damage, so it was repaired by soldering a wire to bypass the damaged path. Also the batteries were replaced, and found out that the coding plug is not for an M42, so I bought the correct one instead.




            Cluster also had a path that was burnt, so I soldered a wire to bypass it:




            During my voltage diagnosis for the plugs on the back of the cluster as per the Bentley manual, I have found out that I have no power and no continuity at pin no. 2 in the C1 blue connector.
            As per the wiring diagrams, power at this pin is required for the rpm and SI board operation.
            The power for it comes from fuse no. 21 (RED/GREEN wire) passing by splice #S319 near the driver's side speaker on the floor.
            Doing some research online, I have found that this splice usually corrode and needs re-soldering.
            This will a project for another time.



            I have also proven that I have a signal from the ECU for the RPM by setting the multimeter to AC and probing the black wire (pin #7) in the blue connector as you can see in the below video:


            Thanks for reading.
            Last edited by kenshin86; 09-03-2022, 08:31 AM.

            Comment


              #21
              Originally posted by Glaede View Post

              I had an E30 once where the RPM gauge didn't work. What i found was some bad wiring in the area of the driver speaker. There's a connection of wires (if i remember correct - red/green wires). My interior lighting wasn't working either and it was related to the same wires.
              Well it appears to be exactly that, splice 319 !

              Comment


                #22
                Originally posted by kenshin86 View Post
                Well it appears to be exactly that, splice 319 !
                Glad I could help 😊

                Comment


                  #23
                  Update during summer holidays July 2021

                  1 - The mess under the dashboard:
                  An after market Alarm was previously installed on the car, and every time I look the knee panel off and looked at the below site I cringed:



                  It was a huge mess of unprofessional work where all wires were spliced by hand and held together using electrical tape.
                  I decided to remove the alarm and to install a kill switch later on.
                  First I start by releasing the stress on the wires and cut the zip ties, then for every single pig tail connected to the alarm box, followed its wires and remove it from where it was spliced into (door solenoids, ignition, ect ...) while crimping, applying heat shrinking all liquid electrical tape where required.



                  And below was the result:



                  2- Engine mounts replacement
                  One of the mounts was completely destroyed and all fluid was out as you can see in the below picture



                  During installation I faced the well known problem of the locating tabs on the M42 mounts not being in the proper location although they were original BMW ones.
                  I ended up grinding them off to be able to install the mounts properly.

                  3- Rear shift arm carrier replacement

                  Previously I have installed a derlin bushing in place of the stock rubber one in the rear shit arm carrier.
                  This did not allow for any play in the engine/transmission assembly back and forth when considering the stock rubber mounts, so during steep uphill/downhill inclines, I was sometimes unable to move the shift lever out of its place.
                  So I re-installed a stock one from a used car and I discovered when comparing the 2 pieces that the existing one is also bent.



                  3- Lock barrels

                  Turning the key in the door locks is so hard I was afraid to brake the key inside, so they were removed, cleaned and lubricated with graphite powder.





                  4- Antenna delete plug.



                  5- Fiberglass reinforcement of some broken plastic parts:




                  6- Door cards

                  The door cards were held in place by drilling screws through them and into the metal body.
                  All plastic clips were broken so I replaced them with new ones and applied Pattex where required.




                  7- new parts for future installation: Z3 steering rack from AAE and front strut bar from UUC



                  Until next spring !
                  Last edited by kenshin86; 10-05-2023, 03:03 AM.

                  Comment


                    #24
                    Update Spring 2022

                    It's been almost 2 years since the last time I drove the car.
                    I have my own garage now finally.
                    The car is sitting on 4 jack stands, and I only get to work on it when I come to my country for a vacation.
                    This summer I will drain the old fuel and spray some fogging oil in the cylinder walls before starting it again.



                    1- Since the A/C and heater were not working, and the power steering hoses were leaking, I decided to do some weight redution.
                    This will be a weekend car only, that will be ok. Our summers/winters are moderate anyway.
                    Below are is the A/C bracket, A/C hoses, heater core, heater valve, blower motor and power steering pump, hoses, reservoir removed.
                    The compressor was also removed previously.



                    2- The rear spoiler was rotted from the inside cause it was fixed in place using silicone sealant which blocked the water draining channels and led to the corrosion in one spot in the trunk:



                    drain channel filled with silicone and trunk corrosion:



                    corrosion repair:



                    new and old spoiler:



                    3- before and after paint:



                    4- old wipers, of course they are the wrong size:



                    5- All windows weather strips replaced with new:



                    6- plastic repair with epoxy:



                    7- without a catalyser or middle resonator, the exhaust is loud, so I got a new Walker resonator and Quite-Flow SS muffler, 2.25" size:



                    Last edited by kenshin86; 09-03-2022, 08:47 AM.

                    Comment


                      #25
                      Nice updates, looks like a fun project to tinker with when you're back home. Would you consider shipping it to where you live?
                      '90 318is

                      Comment


                        #26
                        Looking good. Nice to breathe life back into an old machine.

                        How often are you back home?

                        Comment


                          #27
                          Originally posted by AusScare View Post
                          Nice updates, looks like a fun project to tinker with when you're back home. Would you consider shipping it to where you live?
                          Unfortunately that will not be possible cause I don't have the space or tools to do so, and shipping it back home might not be possible due to regulations.

                          Comment


                            #28
                            Originally posted by Panici View Post
                            Looking good. Nice to breathe life back into an old machine.

                            How often are you back home?
                            Thanks for your feedback.
                            I am usually there for the summer and spring holidays, around 35 days per year, and I spend most of them working on the car.

                            Comment


                              #29
                              July 2022 update during summer vacation visit

                              The car completed now 3 years on jack stands, and I am planning to take it out to test it after this repair round at the end of my visit.

                              The E36 seats were installed with 6mm bolts (instead of 10mm) drilled directly into the floor.
                              In case of an accident, I guess the seats would have been pulled from the floor.
                              I fabricated adapter steel plates and used proper M10 bolts.
                              The seats themselves are pretty heavy and I will be looking for a chance to buy original sport seats.
                              The floor carpet was also cleaned during the process:





                              I decided the car should be as simple as possible, so I replaced the radio with a delete panel, removed the speakers and installed fog lights covers:




                              The tires were dry rotted and starting to show some serious cracks, so I decided to replace them.
                              To my surprise, and after all this time owning the car, I discovered that the 4 tires were not all of the same size !
                              Two of them were 255/50/15, and the other two were 255/55/15:

                              The thinner profile tire can be seen above.
                              That’s why the car was sagging on one side and showing different fender gaps in the rear.
                              I bought four new 255/55/15 Marshal tires (Korean, part of Kumho brand) after searching all over my town, it was difficult to find.


                              Screws were used to prevent the center caps from being stolen, not an elegant solution:


                              Moving on to the next surprise, I pressed the throttle pedal all the way down to test the throttle body position, and found that there was 1 cm of travel left to reach the stopper ! So I lowered the bolt under the pedal until it was ok:





                              Finally the time came to replace the slave/master clutch cylinders.
                              Brake fluid can be seen leaking and drying out around each one.
                              When I took them out, I found out why I wasn’t able to shift when the car was on a slope:



                              Clutch pedal eccentric bolt adjusted so the clutch pedal distance from firewall is between 253mm and 264mm:


                              Spark plugs wires are replaced:


                              Current engine bay pics compared to when I first got the car:




                              And finally enjoyed driving the car, until the next visit











                              Comment


                                #30
                                Great updates! Looks like some exciting drives ahead! :)

                                I was up above it, Now I'm down in it ~ Entropy - A Build thread.
                                @Zakspeed_US

                                Comment

                                Working...
                                X