Cosmoblau basic stroker build

[bradnic]

This is a placeholder for a new build thread.
Just bought this beautiful thing, my first BaT purchase..







It's a Cosmoblau 5 speed 325 ETA, "104k indicated miles"

Build info:

VIN WBAAB5400G9692270
Type Code 1254 E Series E30 ()
Series 3
Type LIM
Model 325E (USA)
Steering LL
Doors 2
Engine M20
Displacement 2.70
Power 125KW
Drive HECK
Transmission MECH
Colour COSMOSBLAU METALLIC (185)
Upholstery (0212) **Pacific Blue Houndstooth Cloth**
Prod Date 1986-06-23

S210A Dynamic stability control
S286A BMW LA wheel BMW Styling
S300A Emergency spare wheel
S410A Window lifts, electric, front
S530A Air conditioning
S556A Outdoor temperature indicator

Will be picking it up next week. Tentative plans (already have most of the parts):
-- install included H&R+Sachs suspension
-- any urgent mechanicals
-- rust repair asap (front fender lower rears, trunk battery area)
-- replace vent line trim panel in pass rear wheel well (if I can find one)
-- 885 head
-- 3.73 LSD
-- repair the AC
-- repair / replace factory radio if needed (I have a spare CM5908 with Jay's CantaloupeRadio BT board)
-- euro-bumper conversion (use my Callie's chrome bumper set)

Very excited about this purchase! Just need to let my wife know before it shows up ha.

[ForcedFirebird]

Looks nice!

[Court M3]

Damn I'd fix mechanical and cosmetic and leave as is! She's a beauty

[Stvstr]

It looks great, I was watching that BAT auction and thought you got a good deal.

[e30m3s54turbo]

Sweet project........

[Melon]

Nice find!

Going to be a great looking car with only a few mods, some soap and water, and a little elbow grease.

[bradnic]

Looks nice!

Thanks John!

Nice find!

Going to be a great looking car with only a few mods, some soap and water, and a little elbow grease.

I think so too. Found dude from Ohio was the seller, works in an independent BMW shop. He took good care of her.

Damn I'd fix mechanical and cosmetic and leave as is! She's a beauty

Yeah there's no rush on the cosmetics, and to be honest the ETA motor has plenty of torque - she's quite nice to drive.

It looks great, I was watching that BAT auction and thought you got a good deal.

Thanks! I've been bidding on a few auctions the last couple of months. I know what I'm willing to pay and don't waste time under bidding if I'm sure we're gonna hit that price. I kept losing the auctions I bid on though. Not this time, I think due in part to the auction photos and time of year.

Sweet project........

Thanks Raul!

I got to see her in person today and believe it or not the only serious rust is in the pass side lower fender! couldn't believe my eyes as I jacked the car up to inspect the tail panel battery tray area, license plate light area, wheel wells, trunk... A bit of surface rust in the battery tray area but no perforation. A rusty fuel vent line cover (that now crazy expensive part that covers the fuel vapor lines running from the fuel filler).

Even the jack points are intact, along with the floor pan.

Car came with refinished 16" ACT/Ronals, rear houndstooth headrests, new H&R springs and rear shock mounts.. Car is all intact, unmodified, clearly adult drive. Just crazy.

104k miles on the ODO, consistent with the last Carfax. Seller also confirmed they put 6 miles on the car when they replaced the ODO gears. So I've got a winner here.

I'm picking the car up next weekend after Christmas. 1st order of business is cutting off the pass fender lower rear section and grinding+POR on any undercarriage rust. I have a spare fender in my attic so I'll drop that off at my favorite shop for paint.

Rest has to wait til I finally start taking my parts car IX apart.. need to get rid of it soon. Also Godfrey my restoration IX is going into @mposer's garage for a while so we have more room.

[agent]

Looks like a nice pick up!

[2mAn]

Have you broken the news to your wife yet? haha

[bradnic]

Have you broken the news to your wife yet? haha

Lol I did yesterday - had to explain why I loaded my floor jack in the allroad yesterday :D Showed her the pics afterwards and let her know the rust was under control.. Appreciative facial expression ensued lol.

I've got this.

[bradnic]

Well cosmo has been sidelined for the last 2-3 weeks due to what is probably an ETA cold start valve issue - super rough idle, running very rich, no power. plug wires are brand new Bremi, spark seems ok on all cylinders. I will hopefully have her fixed Memorial Day weekend. We will see.

I have also been upgrading the audio to a refurbished 5908 and a retrofitted BMW Sound System setup. A trunk amp and subwoofer are in the works as well

[mike.bmw]

Very nice! Those ACTs look great on the car.

[audiquattrot]

I have also been upgrading the audio to a refurbished 5908 and a retrofitted BMW Sound System setup. A trunk amp and subwoofer are in the works as well

here's a link to the ports I got, since I know you were asking about them.

https://www.amazon.com/Precision-Port-Flared-Speaker-Cabinet/dp/B0002ZPR6A/ref=sr_1_22?keywords=speaker+port&qid=1558714477&s=gateway&sr=8-22

[bradnic]

OMG that's awesome. lolol

[bradnic]

Still not running properly - at least I'm keeping the miles off.
Couldn't help but learn about ETAs and 1st gen Motronic, cold start valves, themotime switches, reference sensors.. Also learned how outrageously expensive they are - $300+ for a cold start valve, $200+ for a Thermo-time switch. insane.

The thermotime switch turns on for eight seconds when the engine is cold, enabling the cold start valve to spray fuel into the intake. it's basically a 7th fuel injector in an M20. If either of those components are defective your car is unlikely to start.


There are other components that could be a problem too.


So with help from @jeffnhiscars, I've determined that both the cold start valve and the thermotime switch are working fine. I also had a spare ECU I swapped in - no effect at all.

I also connected with the PO and verified he was having similar issues a while back that he was unable to resolve. So at this point I'm suspecting the high pressure fuel pump, but it could also be the position sensor. I'll be checking fuel pressure this weekend.

Many thanks to Jeff for shipping me spare parts for testing.