Let Me Tell You About My e30

[alkkamai]

Welcome to my first thread! It's about slowly treating my girl right. Traditionally I've been a fix-it-when-I-have-to wrencher but have been inspired to treat her proper by many of the project threads here.

I adore guidance, please do not hesitate to point out if I've done something the hard way or, especially, horribly wrong. I might still insist on doing it the hard way.

Before the History, here's an ongoing list of things I'm looking to do to/for the car (no particular order):

• Euro bumpers
• iS front spoiler - bought one, need to repaint and get/make brackets
• Paint at some point, same color
• Wheels (anyone selling 15x7 weaves?)
• Refurbish AFM (from BavRest) COMPLETED
• Suspension
• Timing belt COMPLETED
• Headgasket
• Replace stamped intermediate gear
• New driver's seat (or covers)
• Chip of some sort
• Injectors - know mine could use cleaned... or upgraded?
• Clean up the diff case (rustball)
• Adjust lock actuators (two doors unlock fully only intermittently - no pattern as to when they work vs not. not sure if adjustment is fix)

I HEARTILY welcome any and all advice on the above. Thanks in advance.

And a list of things I'd like to buy.

History: (tl;dr)

I bought my first, and only, e30 in January 2016 with 190k. I was looking for a new daily to replace my rotting MKII Golf and fell in love at first sight. The price was right too.





She ran, but quit at idle once warmed up. S'far as I know, she was bone stock with some character. I named her Beatrix 'cause I like alliteration.

She needed some immediate updates:

• pads and rotors all around
• front calipers
• control arms
• driver's sideview
• driver's inside door handle
• catback exhaust
• intake boot
• new CPS
• new trans and diff fluids

The steering wheel felt like sweaty, sticky skin, sloughing black schmutz off on my hands, so I treated myself to a freshly wrapped wheel from Czechia. It came with a shifter knob fo' free :pimp:



Having completed what felt like a massive overhaul , I took to the road. The ride was smooth and a lot tighter than my worn-out MKII, but she didn't feel significantly more powerful with her almost double HP and 50% more cylinders.

A few weeks later I changed the oil and must've forgot to put the cap back on, turned out to be a lucky mistake. Looking into the fill hole, in hopes of plugging it up to avoid a tow, I noticed broken rocker arms up front. The condition of the breaks indicated they had been broken for some time. I'd been driving around on five cylinders for more than a couple hundred miles



After scrapping the idea of replacing the spark plug with a tiny muffler, I (with help from my mechanic father, mini-muffler dissenter) replaced the rocker arms, associated gaskets/seals, bitch tube, breather hose, and adjusted the valves. I was slated to visit my sister in Buffalo the next weekend, so I hastily put a few hundred miles on to make sure everything was alright. Beatrix made the trip without a hitch and I finally saw fuel economy in the 20's ;D

Since then she's gotten new ignition parts (all save the coil), rear wheel bearings, battery, tie rod ends, clutch slave cylinder, coolant bottle, fuel filter, and 17k+ miles.

That pretty much brings things up to speed, until this past week...

[ttrousdell]

Looks like a good start. Welcome to the e30 community.
Pretty amazing it ran on 5 cylinders like that for so long. M20 are pretty tough.

[06UZ]

you need Steel Gray Metallic ''BMW 400, Stahlgrau Metallic''
and Ronal Turbo Wheels 8-)

[alkkamai]

Looks like a good start. Welcome to the e30 community.
Pretty amazing it ran on 5 cylinders like that for so long. M20 are pretty tough.

Thanks! Yeah, I was pretty shocked it went for 200 miles like that. I had been driving the MKII Golf for 8 years straight and had no idea what a more powerful engine should feel like

you need Steel Gray Metallic ''BMW 400, Stahlgrau Metallic''
and Ronal Turbo Wheels 8-)

Why?, it's already the beste blau, cirrusblau ;D

[Eric Giles]

That pretty much brings things up to speed, until this past week...

So...what happened this past week?

[alkkamai]

So...what happened this past week?

I'm glad you asked! Although I would have explained either way :p

My father was out of town for a few weeks, allowing me use of his garage and car, so I had a rare chance to do stuff on my daily that didn't need to be done in a day or weekend.

With summer temps creeping up, it was time to finally install the fan clutch that's been living in my trunk for months. To compliment that I bought a timing belt, tensioner, spring, pin, lower-temp thermostat, and a set of silicone hoses for the coolant system. I've only put 17k miles on it in the last two years but couldn't recall if the PO said he did a Tbelt or not.

Per the instructions on some coolant flush I got, I jacked the front of the car up two feet and drained the coolant from the radiator and block. Then I noticed a dinner-plate-size pool of oil forming under the bell housing

I lowered the car and it leaked faster. Not knowing whether my apparent rear main failure had fouled the clutch disc, I decided to tackle it while I (mostly) had the time. This required repositioning the car to gain access:



(tl;dr - I jerry-rigged my exhaust) When I installed the cat-back exhaust two years ago, one of the captive flanges on the cat side was broken on one end next to the bolt hole. Short of cutting the flare off, getting a new flange (if that's even possible without finding one in a yard), re-flaring the pipe (probably both pipes, so they line up), and all that, I put a hose clamp around the flange and tightened it down. Seems solid to this day ;) Not wanting to disturb a delicate, precise connection, I removed the exhaust in one piece from the manifold. Anyone interested in a similar procedure will want to take the nut off the passenger side motor mount and jack that puppy up a few inches, to get the pipe off the manifold studs.

Driveshaft removal was a hassle due to my car having the little vibration dampener on the front. I've been planning to reassemble without it, unless someone has a reallllly good reason not to.

Edit: removed broken pic. Also put it back together without it, so it's not a part of the car anymore --> doesn't need to be pictured here.

The guibo will be getting an update:



At this point I discovered exactly why my shifter was looser than a... well, it was loose. The shifter arm bracket (rusty bit in top of pic) had no rubber left in it, leaving the console pin floating like a dick in a shirt sleeve.



On to transmission removal! Bentley doesn't say much about bell housing bolts apart from them being a variety of types/sizes. After getting all the easy ones out I discovered the starter needed removing. I suppose that revelation is so mundane that's why the manual didn't mention it at all - not in the slightest - s'far as I can tell.

Anyhow, I'm not a tremendous contortionist so I removed the air box, intake boot, and throttle body to facilitate removal of "the worst bolt on the e30" according to several sources, the top starter bolt. I was actually halfway through unbolting the intake manifold when I happened upon the bolt I was looking for

Home free! Not. Even with the starter off, I couldn't remove the trans. Understanding there should be no prying involved, I did more research and found a helpful pic of a removed trans with colored arrows indicating each bolt. There were two torx bolts still in the top. As stated, not a contortionist, so I dropped the front subframe, with the engine, about two inches to gain easy access. Easier said than done, but it worked out and the trans was free!

And filthy:



Good news is the infamous bitch clip is a lot easier after spending an exorbitant amount of time removing the transmission ;D



The other good news in all of this is the excuse to order a clutch kit which included all the seals for the trans, rear main, carrier gasket, throwout bearing, pilot bearing, clutch and pressure plates. I also ordered all new shifter bushings and one of those fancy selector rods with forks on either end to grab the linkage from both sides.

Y'all probably already know this trick, but if you wanna get a bearing (say, a pilot bearing) out of a blind hole but don't have a puller, just cram that hole with wet paper towels/TP/old homework, pound in the hole with an appropriate sized punch/dowel/wizard's staff, and repeat!



Some people use grease, which may work faster, but cleaning watery pulp out of your beard is easier than grease.

Got the ol' tranny and back of engine cleaned up, got the seals in, and started putting new shift bushings in. Replaced the rear main but neglected the carrier gasket 'cause it seemed fine and I was getting a little antsy to have my car back on the road after a bullshit week. Clutch set, flywheel torqued, transmission back in, and the subframe bolted back, I called it a day. My father was back and worked the jack while I handled the tranny. Finally some help! That was this past Sunday.

Monday I returned to a dinner-plate-size oil leak under the bell housing Really, it's what I get for attempting some lazy-ass shenanigans.

Dropped the subframe and pulled the trans in record time. Took the carrier off to discover its gasket and the oil pan gasket are both the original paper and NFG. Got a new oil pan gasket on the way. Also discovered there was a small piece of the old rear main rubber sandwiched between the new seal and the carrier, so I rectified what may have been another leak shortly down the line.

Had surgery Tuesday so I haven't been back except to put away some tools. Hoping to pull the oil pan one day this weekend. New gasket and some other odds and ends should arrive Monday.

[TimKninja]

I was going to say ive seen more oil pan gasket failures on these old m20s then rear mains, but you found that out the hard way.

i like this thread so far, carry on!

[alkkamai]

I was going to say ive seen more oil pan gasket failures on these old m20s then rear mains, but you found that out the hard way.

i like this thread so far, carry on!

Yeah, I'll bet considering the paper they were put together with. Rear main lost its spring, so I'm glad I did both at this point. Catch-up post to come later.

Thank you!

[TFJR]

Great thread so far. Sometimes you need to take a couple steps backward to move a few forward. Looking forward to hearing more updates!

[jeenyus]

One of the first things I did to my IX was replace the clutch. I think I blocked off the memory from my mind, but when you mentioned the starter bolt I remember it being awful. like 3 feet of extension and a wobble seems to be our solution.

Glad you got it wrapped up. Should have shred some weight on that flywheel, i regret not having done just a little bit.

[alkkamai]

Great thread so far. Sometimes you need to take a couple steps backward to move a few forward. Looking forward to hearing more updates!

Sage wisdom! Stay tuned, there's updates, just need to, well, update.

One of the first things I did to my IX was replace the clutch. I think I blocked off the memory from my mind, but when you mentioned the starter bolt I remember it being awful. like 3 feet of extension and a wobble seems to be our solution.

Glad you got it wrapped up. Should have shred some weight on that flywheel, i regret not having done just a little bit.

Trans is wrapped up, job is not quite complete. Somehow y'all know when I'm working on her 'cause you posted that right after I pulled my first set of gloves on last night. *sniffs the air* "An e30 'bout to get some TLC"

[alkkamai]

The Saga Continues

Finally got back to the ol' girl last weekend, Sunday:

First thing was taking the seal carrier and oil pan off. I didn't feel like messing with dropping the oil pump along with it so I pulled the engine up with a chainfall and weaseled it out over the subframe. The original gasket was broken in at least four places, one of which was sucked into the pan

Repacement gasket was slated to arrive the next day, Monday.

Pops - "What kind of gasket did you order?"
Me - "Genuine BMW"
P - "What's it made of?"
M - "..."
P - "'Cause it might be cork or some shit, you never know with OEM."

Anyway, we put it together with RTV since we had the time that day but no gasket. I guess I'm glad I did as the BMW gasket is in fact cork.

Started putting the trans back in. Got frustrated and ran out of time so I left it snugged up with two of the larger Torx bolts.

Monday:

Finished attaching the trans and bolting the starter on after the requisite hassle.

Before reassembling the TB, intake boot, and filter box, I switched out the heater core coolant hoses with silicone ones. I had the later model valve which sits between the core and head and is connected to a T fitting between the thermostat and core. This was deleted by replacing the two core hoses with early model type. I understand this is common practice but must admit I don't understand the function or exact purpose of the valve. *nervous chuckling*

I also installed the new fan clutch I've had for months. For anyone still in need of a thin 32mm wrench, BavAuto sells one for $10.

I can't remember exactly what order I did these things in (I'm assuming safest I could figure) but somewhere along the line I reconnected the engine/subframe and the subframe/frame.

Tuesday:

Got the shifter put back together. Had to take the carrier support off once as I didn't remember you have to put the plastic cup on the ball before placing that in the carrier. Should be nice and tight with a Turner carrier bracket, IE selector rod, rubber boot, and all the bushings:



Driveshaft went in pretty easily with new guibo and bolts. I previously cleaned up the heat shields and support bar. Also painted the bar in undercoating:



As usual my dumb ass had to take the forward shield off to tighten the driveshaft coupling

The several self-inflicted setbacks ensured I would not drive the car home that night, so I left in the bus defeated. Guess I didn't mention I've been driving my uncle's '84 VW bus since my father got home and took back his MKIII golf. I am so ready not to be driving that friggin' boat! even though it is fun sometimes to be the bus driver.

Wednesday:

Took the day off to spend with the lady since things were looking up with the project ().

Thursday:

First off was adding coolant back. Remember this started with me trying to do a coolant flush? Well, I forgot I only ever emptied the radiator, not the block, so when I attempted to put 10+ quarts of liquid in it, everything filled up including the handy vacuum attachment I was using. Solution was draining some out of the rad again.

After freshening up the exhaust manifold attachments, I slowly installed the aforementioned complete exhaust:



Used a creeper, two small jackstands, and a bit of wire and patience.

Once that was fixed up, I reinstalled the plastic shit at the front that covers the front of the wheel wells and goes across the bottom between the oil pan and valence. I don't know what it's called but it's been in two pieces since I got the car.

Lowered her to the ground, pushed her out, and fired her up.

She ran but choked up when throttled up too quickly. She'll go up to 4k rpm (it was late and I didn't want to go louder) when throttled up slowly but if I grab the throttle and twist it up quick it makes a quiet "tchoo" sound and barely continues to run until I bring it back to idle.

I tried to stomp test but had the procedure wrong (thought it was ten times as fast as humanly possible) so I gave up and left.

Tonight:

I'll stomp it when I get there and post any codes she spits out. Really hoping to diagnose and fix that issue and reinstall the hood tonight.

[alkkamai]

Whoops

So I whored my father into stomping it and reporting back while I'm eagerly waiting to leave work.

Threw a 1215 code, air mass/volume meter.

He found the ONE connector I failed to reconnect. It was hiding behind the PS reservoir, for safe keeping, I guess.

I'm told the light is out and she's running well. Feels kinda wrong to outsource work on my baby, but I'm glad she's sorted. ASAP I'll have the hood back on and enjoying my reward for the project: a new front badge :D

Feels good to not verify all my posts anymore too.

[alkkamai]

Success!

Been a minute since I updated.

Same day as last post I drove up, got the hood on with a new ground strap, and did a little test drive - everything good to go.

Got my new emblem on too (disregard filthy everything else):



New versus old:



I also found a lambskin leather jacket in Goodwill for $25 so I made a new shifter boot. The clamps:



Glued up:



Topside:



And, finally, installed (after reworking 2" off the top to keep it from jamming up the rubber boot underneath):



Since then I replaced the return fuel hose from the rail 'cause it was old, cracking, and leaking a little when I accelerated too hard. Also deleted the bent antenna since the radio doesn't work and I don't have plans to install one anytime soon.

Next up is refurbishing/replacing the sunroof since it got a little bubbly and now has a ~1/4" hole in it.

Aaaand at some point I'm doing a head gasket 'cause it seems the bitch is still leaking from there. Double

[TFJR]

Nice thread and great progress.