Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

I don't like white cars, yet I bought one. Story with pictures of my AW 325e

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

    #31
    Well, sorry to report, but the series of unfortunate events is not over.
    Yesterday we got in the car, plugged in the laptop and started driving around. It does r3v to the current limiter of 7k rpm, but there is a slight misfire every now and then when I spin it above 5k. So, suspected are the ignition modules and the need of a smaller spark plug gap. Getting tired of this megasquirt shit and contemplating on buying an EcuMaster.
    '85 Alpine Weiß 2-door with m20b30 ground up build

    Comment


      #32
      damn impressive all the way though !
      well done , u deserve it,:coolphoto:

      Comment


        #33
        Yeah look squirt has its advantages such as being cheap and it does work once it's dialled in, but for example with my R32 GTST we wired the Haltech in, turned the car on and it worked straight away and tuned itself for everything other than power runs. At the end of the day you get what you pay for
        sigpic

        (clicky on piccy to get to thread)

        Comment


          #34
          Thanks!
          @econti - you are correct, you get what you pay for! The point of the MS install was the DIY vibe.
          However, now that it proved itself too fiddly (trying to run this crap since October damnit!), a decision was made to go with an EMU classic. Figured there is no point in buying the Black series, because the advantages there are the CAN option and drive by wire throttle control.
          Here comes the voice in the back of my head though - "what if you go in other directions engine-wise in the future and those extras prove helpful?"

          Anyway, it will take a while till we rework the harness to accept the Ecumaster unit and I need to swap the wideband oxygen sensor for a 4.2 if I go with the classic. It doesn't support the 4.9, which I currently have.
          '85 Alpine Weiß 2-door with m20b30 ground up build

          Comment


            #35
            Oh boy, where do I start with the rollercoaster updates.

            So, as stated - a decision was made in favor of the EMU Classic unit from ECUmaster. One evening, while waiting for it to ship in, I removed the wiring harness from the engine bay and the MS2 unit as well. While the intake boot and air filter box were out, I took the opportunity to do a little upgrade, or so I thought. Someone may or may have not noticed in my previous pictures that the brake fluid reservoir was rubbing the intake boot. Nothing too bad, but I wasn't confident it would not cause any trouble once the car is taken to the track. So, given the fact the e32 MC and booster have an identical design with the e30 325ix late model ones, it was only logical a brake fluid reservoir from a late model 325ix should fix my issue. Sourcing one in my part of the world took exactly 3 months believe it or not, but I finally got a hold of one. Onto pics

            Before:


            After:


            Anyone spot the new issue I created for myself with this fix? yes, the hose for the clutch master is now too short and under pressure. Never saw that one coming... nevermind, a new hose is in the trunk and waiting the right time to install. Why is not the right time right now, you ask?

            Let's go back to the newly purchased EMU. Once I got delivery of it, work on modifying the wiring harness commenced immediately. Here are a couple of shots how we used my daily driver e30 as a workbench in front of my garage unit.




            That was done fairly quickly, as the guide provided with the EMU is pretty straight forward. Only thing I didn't see coming was that the connectors would not pass through the hole for the harness to go into the glovebox. What we ended up doing is take all the pins out from the connectors not removing the insulating rubber part so they stay arranged and assemble the connectors again in the glovebox. Major PITA but eventually we got it done at 1 am in the morning about a week ago. Here's where the ghost of bad luck comes back on stage. Next evening the tuner comes over so we can start the car or at least attempt to start it. Bear in mind, I never plugged in the EMU, just put the ignition key in the ON position and verified everything worked like relays and such. Before installing the harness I took it to the same tuner to inspect and check if all the connections go to where they supposed to go. All checked out, and there we no issues. So he comes over, we plugged in the EMU and he puts the ignition to ON. Suddenly everything the EMU can control turns ON, fuel pump, fan and whatnot. We stare at it puzzled for a few seconds, the EMU doesn't connect to the laptop and we know something is WRONG. I smell gas and hear fluid dripping. Quickly turn the key to OFF and go to check what's going on. Sure enough - fuel is dripping down from the air filter box.
            Yes, that's right - the injectors were also turned on constantly, combine that with а constantly working fuel pump and you get a flooded engine.
            I tried as quickly as possible to get the air box, intake boot, coils and spark plugs out. We "tapped" the starter motor 3 times to spew out the fuel in the cylinders (what a mess that made on the wall despite my blanket over the spark plug holes) and then spun it for a few seconds without spark plugs to get the fuel out, but apparently I was too slow. There was too much fuel in the oil and it was significantly thinner, over the max mark on the dip stick and reeked of fuel.

            I was devastated. Sure, after that fiasco I unplugged all the sensors and modules and relays and the EMU connected to the laptop, so it was clear the EMU was not total garbage. But I was heartbroken, all that work and money for nothing. Even worse - oil was now compromised. One step forward and five steps back, that's what it looked like to me.
            This mishap made me feel so bad, made me doubt my whole hobby related decisions and for a brief time, I seriously considered getting rid of all my toy cars and parts. I was so full of it.

            Then, a friend and a member on here (zoomer) gave me a solid push in the right direction. He said, let's at least diagnose what went wrong and find out if the EMU is toast or not and if it needs repairs send it asap over to get repaired. So we sketched out a plan, got some tools and spend a whole day in the garage, checking out every pin, every module, relay and fuse, continuity and whatnot. You get the idea. Troubleshooting wiring problems is not a great experience, but in this case was a great necessity.

            What we eventually found was 4 swapped injector wires, 4 swapped coil pack wires and some other small issues. Reason was the difference in the way MS and EMU are wired. MS requires you to "hardwire" the firing order, as opposed to EMU - it wants you to wire in the injectors and coils in numeric order. None of those would have caused the EMU to freak out and switch everything on though .... Finally, after almost 7 hours of troubleshooting we found the culprit. It was the pin of the ECU ground, when crimping it we must have squeezed the pliers too hard and it punctured the wire itself, dangling on just the insulation. Huge cursing session later, it was fixed.
            After that we were able to verify the EMU was NOT fried at all and engaged all the exits correctly. All was fine.

            Yesterday evening, the tuner came over once again to try and start the car. After some fiddling, it fired up. He battled the idle for a good one hour, but couldn't get it to smooth out. It was late and the car is loud, so we left that for another time and went for a ride. He tuned it a bit while rolling so it can be drivable, despite a bad/wavy MAP signal and we called it a night.

            So, in summary:

            The car now runs on Ecumaster's EMU Classic. Sadly, it's somehow louder than with the MS unit, but I'll wait to have it properly tuned before complaining. I need to install a small filter in the vacuum line to the MAP sensor, so it doesn't pulse. I had installed a brand new clutch fan, as the SPAL wasn't enough to keep the temps down. That new clutch fan is total garbage, so that needs replaced as well. Need to find some time to get down to the tuner's shop so he can play around with the idle.

            That's it. Frustrating as it was, I'm just relieved the car sort of runs now. Maybe after Easter we might be able to do some more work on it.

            Until then.
            '85 Alpine Weiß 2-door with m20b30 ground up build

            Comment


              #36
              Small update content wise, but huge for me.
              Yesterday the tuner was kind enough to let me drive down to his shop, so he can play around with the settings for the icv.
              Half an hour later, we went for a ride and he set it up for safe driving under load.
              Now, the dyno we like to use is being moved to another location, so dyno tuning will have to wait for maybe a month or so.

              Anyway, the important part is - car idles solid at 1k rpm with all accessories on or off, cold or warm. It revs up strong and promising all the way up to 7k and I must say, it's a blast to drive, very smooth probably due to the tall rear end gearing and comes alive after about 5k rpm. Very happy about it. Now time to sort the little stuff out like glovebox and dash panels, radio ...
              '85 Alpine Weiß 2-door with m20b30 ground up build

              Comment


                #37
                Holy hell, great work my man. I really feel the frustrations for you and i truly hope you get some smiles soon. I have to say, not the greatest testimonial for alternative fuel injection/management. Brave work though and mad respect.
                My son has the 1987 325e, 2 door, 5speed
                I daily the 1989 325i, 4 door, 5speed

                Comment


                  #38
                  Thanks dude, smiles are already present, despite lack of dyno tune.
                  Let me make a clear point: my megasquirt failures were all my fault. Wiring mistakes, bad choice of components and such flawed that to a point where we couldn't make any more modifications to the circuit board (which was made by my dad for me exclusively, not purchased from a reputable source). Producing another one would take more resources AND time, that's why I opted for the EcuMaster EMU Classic unit. The problems with that one were again my fault only, again wiring mistakes and one of those turned out to be almost fatal. However, the EMU turned out to be a very quality unit and the built in safety features in it protected it from my dumb mistakes.
                  Couldn't be happier with it now!
                  The MS will be eventually reworked and go into my other 325e, which is used as a daily driver as well as camping trip rig.




                  Needs work done to it, but it'll get its own thread when the time comes.
                  '85 Alpine Weiß 2-door with m20b30 ground up build

                  Comment


                    #39
                    Just went through this thread again. So good.

                    What happened to the GTA wheels? Do you still plan on running them?

                    Originally posted by 2mAn
                    The BMW V6 is the best

                    Comment


                      #40
                      Thanks!
                      Oh yes, I plan on running them. What I am waiting for is

                      1. Dyno tune (it's in an area with bad roads)
                      2. Money for new tires

                      Number one is the bigger stopper. I have a set of decent Falkens I could use if money is tight.

                      In other news, what I did yesterday was swap the hose from the brake fluid reservoir to the clutch master cylinder. What a PITA, but managed not to soak everything in brake fluid. Just a few drops on the floor mat, which is what it's there for. Now I don't have to worry about it being under stress due to the different location of the nipple on the IX brake fluid reservoir. Feeling like I fucked something up when reinstalling the clutch assistance spring or whatever it's called. There is a slight clunk when you engage the clutch. It wasn't broken or anything, so maybe something was done wrong on my end. Will check it out later.
                      Another thing I did was reseal the blower motor covering panel, bad smells were coming in from there. Naturally they still come in, but more importantly, I found a little spot on the engine wiring harness that was rubbing on the intake slightly. So glad I caught that on time. Rerouted a bit and all is good.


                      I went for a drive and fell in love with this thing again. Sooo smooth under acceleration and brakes sooo good.
                      Can't wait to get it dynoed and then alignment, lowering and good tires.
                      '85 Alpine Weiß 2-door with m20b30 ground up build

                      Comment


                        #41
                        Let's brush off the dust!

                        I have some news
                        Last weekend the gf was kind enough to let me steal some car time. Fixed the pedals issues - adjustment eccentric was way off for the clutch, and the fork thingy connecting the servo with the pedal was never swapped for an e30 unit, it was still the e34 one. So, got that fixed and started playing with suspension.

                        First order was to throw a 215/45/16 on one of the ET16 GTA wheels and test how it would fit in the front. First, I lowered the front with 25mm. A 15mm spacer was installed to clear the calipers:




                        Obviously, the fender lip would be destroyed. Some camber was added and this was the result:




                        Not the best pictures, but you get the idea. Still, a little roll would be good for peace of mind. At this point, my phone died, so no pictures of the whole car - sorry.

                        In other news!
                        Yesterday was dyno day FINALLY
                        This time, only the temp gauge went inop, but the temp switch was still sending correct info to the EMU.
                        The tuner spent a good hour and some change on it, started at about 155 whp with 220Nm and ended up with this (red is final tune)




                        Not a rocket, but couldn't be happier with it for what it is.
                        Saturday is race day!
                        Till then
                        '85 Alpine Weiß 2-door with m20b30 ground up build

                        Comment


                          #42
                          Time for some crappy phone pics of a filthy car.

                          Last Saturday there was a track day and naturally I wanted to take this e30 to the track now that it's tuned.
                          At the shop, about to load the car with the semi slicks and additional gear required for a day at the track.





                          Then, on Saurday a buddy and I headed down to the track. Here's my car next to his track prepped e36.



                          Then some photos a photographer at the track took. Please note my professional racing livery, which doubles as rock chip protection.





                          The car did good on the track, I didn't.
                          Issues boil down to:
                          - MAP sensor vacuum line keeps popping off
                          - ABS non-op, need to look into that
                          - Feels like there is still air in the brake system, need to bleed again and see if that improves the mushy pedal
                          - Needs alignment badly

                          Good stuff to report:
                          - No temperature issues at all, which makes me very happy (it was a very, very hot day)
                          - Car is quick
                          - Nothing broke and made the round trip like a champ

                          This is the fastest car I've owned and my driving skills need serious improvement. The car shows great potential for decent lap times, now I need to learn how to drive it.
                          Didn't get enough seat time to get the coilover settings right, and the fight with the steering wheel without alignment was ridiculous, but next time it will be better.

                          Need to sort out all the little nags before the next day at the track.
                          '85 Alpine Weiß 2-door with m20b30 ground up build

                          Comment


                            #43
                            awesome work man! what happened to that lower lip you had? what lip was it again?

                            Comment


                              #44
                              Thanks man, it was tough at times, but happy I can finally enjoy this car.
                              The lip it had on is an OEM option for the early prefacelift model. Pretty sure it was not available in the States though.



                              Numero 9 is the PN for the whole install kit, can't find a separate PN for the spoiler alone.
                              I still have it, it sits on a shelf in my garage. IMO a very good OEM option for brake cooling, it does have ducts for all 4 openings.

                              Will try to get someone to take pictures of this car, as it's a shame to post those potato ones.
                              '85 Alpine Weiß 2-door with m20b30 ground up build

                              Comment


                                #45
                                Some pictures from last weekend. Went for a drive with some friends.





                                As evident, car is on some temp 15 inch wheels. Hoping to change that soon.
                                '85 Alpine Weiß 2-door with m20b30 ground up build

                                Comment

                                Working...
                                X