Project finished - 'MY22' 318is - bare metal, nut and bolt restoration

[vintage_appeal]

My goodness! This is what you call a build. I can only wish to do this to my e30. I am definitely locked into this thread. Please keep it going man!

[burkey001]

Short update. So I was starting to plug off this wiring loom, by putting all the bits in place (lights, washer bottle etc) and I see the washer sensor. And I cant find the washer sensor wiring…

Where is the washer sensor wiring I ask myself. Go back to documentation. No wire. Go back to pics. No wire. Go to ETM for 325is – yes wire. 0.5mm purple/blue. Go look at my other E30. 325is. Yes, purple / blue wire.

Get upset I have missed a wire. HOW I ask myself.

Go back and pull apart fuse box, again. No purple blue. Confused. Trace wiring back to instrument cluster. No purple/blue. more confuse. Long story short, I don’t believe that the 318is HAD a washer level alarm, as no check panel. Duh. Been so long since I drove the car I forgot. Now need to re-apply all the Kapton tape I cut off, reshrink the main harness… gah. Least it proved my documentation was correct.


Other things, new belly pan arrives. Finish is a little off. Kind of whitey/black because too much glass fibre close to surface. When I see this, I hit it with the heat gun / blow torch to very gently ‘melt’ the surface to get to a uniform colour.





See, doesn’t look too great. I could just ‘back to black’ it, but it’s a brand new product. I think we can fix.
After some heat gun therapy





Also, new vents arrived for dash. Debatable whether this was needed, but they sure are nice and stiff in their action

[TeXJ]

I just took my splash guard off to install a skid plate.

Man this build is looking hot!

[burkey001]

So, with the mystery of the washer fluid sensor revealed – no overhead check panel = no low washer fluid warning light (validated against 3x different years and models of ETM) I can finish off the wiring harness in the engine bay.

So, the idea for this wiring harness is like the rest of the car “just a bit better and a bit more modern than the factory”. So, I have no interest in tucking the engine bay which is why I didn’t shave and smooth the engine bay. Sure, all the OEM sealer was slowly and painstakingly pull out and replaced with much tidier approach, but no holes were filled, no spot welds hidden, no filler in the engine bay. As it was, just neater. So too with the wiring harness. I want the wiring harness in full view, but I want it neater.

So, no Christmas tree clips. Instead, I use a 4mm rivnut in the factory clip hole and use a tyton hellerman cable standoff for mounting the harness. Harness stands clear of paint, no rub. Tidy cos no Christmas tree clips

Also no loom tape. Loom tape… how can I say… I don’t like it. I would rather use heatshrink, and not any shrink by DR25 because I want it to be durable.

Shrink looks cool but it needs LOTS of planning because you cant just wrap your way around stuff like you can with tape. You cant slide shrink over a connector either, so no connectors. etc

I was paying reasonable attention when I paid someone to make a harness for me a few years ago, so got a reasonable look at how they did it. Few years later, memory loss etc, heres how I did it. Which, whilst it could be done better (i.e. pay a professional) I’m pretty happy with how its turning out.

Sometimes got to take a flying lead off the main loom. So I pull the wires out, tape them off with some Kapton tape. Shrink the main loom on both sides, shrink the flying lead and then Kapton tape the join up

Then slide over some stiff glue lined shrink and do that and then stick a T&B zip tie to secure. Yes, I could use molded boots and epoxy, but I’m just not there ��


More splits of the main loom, between left and right side headlights / lights etc. same approach


Checking the placement of the brake wear sensor



Checking the placement of it all, including the earths I have to terminate.
The other criss-cross loom you see beneath is the HVAC loom and I’m going to redo that the same way (it was my test case)



With that side done, onto the other side… really starting to like how its looking.




The whole idea… factory but better…


And here is the RHS full done

My one gripe is you cant buy the bare connectors from BMW, you have to buy a flying lead (plug, lead and an injection moulded cover) so you HAVE to put a join the lead, which kind of shits me given the effort I’ve gone to.. But that’s just the way it is so I can roll with it


So, this is my contribution to pushing the E30 wiring game forward ��



Still playing with the flying lead placement into the headlights, but it’s not too bad right now. About 1000x better than OEM.





That’s all, enjoy ��

[econti]

So what engine is going in? 2.1 stroker M42?

[burkey001]

Just a standard spec m42 ��

[Jokester]

No power upgrades to the m42? Not to be a buzzkill but that seems crazy to me with the amount of work you’re putting into this car.

Just LS swap it and call it a day. :)

[burkey001]

No power upgrades to the m42? Not to be a buzzkill but that seems crazy to me with the amount of work you’re putting into this car.

Just LS swap it and call it a day. :)

Well, not really if you go read the first post re the intent of the car.

I got fast cars, I want a nice, comfortable and simple one we can take trips in. Dog in the back, bikes on the roof, away we go :)

Plus it's kind of fun to have an underpowered car. Means you can keep your foot in the pedal for more than 5 seconds before having your license suspended and car crushed for speeding :)

[Jokester]

Gotcha gotcha. It has Been 6 months since the thread started I forgot you wanted a more chill car.

It’s super fun to have a light car without a ton of power. Keeping it high in the revs on turns. Makes it feel like your going way faster than you actually are.

[mach schnell]

Plus it's kind of fun to have an underpowered car. Means you can keep your foot in the pedal for more than 5 seconds before having your license suspended and car crushed for speeding :)

So right. That’s the beauty of M42 cars.

Awesome work!

[econti]

I will say, driving the new 318is has been so much fun. Like 30rwhp over stock would be about right for skinny tyres.

[wazzu70]

I will say, driving the new 318is has been so much fun. Like 30rwhp over stock would be about right for skinny tyres.

Surprised hes not thinking about a RHD ITB kit from Rama. Improves the torque curve and power.....and that sound!!!!

You have to support your Australian businesses!!

http://racehead.com.au/products-page/throttle-body-kits/bmw-m44m42-complete-itb-kit/

[lukeADE335i]

Burkey's other e30 has a dry sumped S54 that's modified to within an inch of its life (with a similar level of detail to this build) :) You just need to look carefully at the images in the first post (note the satin black car):



It's a pity the old Australian forum that a few of our Aussie members here used to be on died, as there was an amazing build thread for that car there.

No need to mod this one in that way, it will be a concourse winner for sure.

[burkey001]

Burkey's other e30...

Nic one Luke
[emoji846] so looking forward to this one being quiet and slow and comfortable with working air con and heat [emoji846][emoji846]

Black one is a little bit hostile [emoji2955]



Speaking of orange car, had plans to do some wiring but I got sidetracked because I am going to make a timber bed for a 1948 Chev pickup. So spent the time thinking how that’s gonna work. Bed will be on linear actuators to allow access to the pumps, air tank etc... not my car, starting to pick up work from others. Which is kind of flattering but also makes one have even less time [emoji846]


So all I got done was tail lights install. Mmm shiny and OEM and new


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[burkey001]

Starting this off with fabric. I found another fabric I like to match this Spinneybeck Copenhagen leather. Nice chunky weave, I think I want to get a bigger sample of this.

Fabric…. Sounds so simple, so hard to bring to reality



Day wiring today. Finished all the engine bay wiring, minus terminating the earth lugs and pinning three plugs.


Got some new cable shears, flush cut Knipex. Man, are these great.

This is the horns sub-assembly. Chose to keep this separate as it is from the factory. Upon reflection, not really sure why but there you go






Also got the underside pinned out and plugged. Foglights, horns and indicators




Now, I’ll grant you wiring pictures aren’t the most exciting thing in the world. It’s not an engine bay with an LT4 in it, but it’s small stuff that’s – for me at least – makes the difference. Stuff no-one sees, no-one cares about but I know I have some reliable wiring that’s going to see the car out the next little while.

Pardon the cavity wax overspray on the back side of some of these panels, they actually are flat, clean and glossy.

One of the things I’ve done with this harness is to slightly increase the wire size on all the lights. OE is 1.5mm2 and I have bumped it all up to 2.0mm2. Which, doesn’t sound like much but it’s a fair percentage bump in size. I figure any lessening of voltage drop helps make those lights just a little brighter.. Plus, a lot of the wiring that was pulled had severely oxidised and resistance was significant.

Both lighting and AC/Fans looms are shrunk now, just need to terminate the earth lugs and a do a little detailing of the looms… close up any gaps between them etc.. but out of the box, doesn look too bad.



I know it looks kind of bulky, and I had have just Tesa taped it it may have been a little smaller. The difference is Tesa tape looks ordinary almost immediately because dirt and crap sticks to it. DR-25 going to looks the same for 20 years.

Probably going to take the markings off the glue-line to make it a little more subtle


Then again, this lives behind a headlight cover and you will never, ever see it.



And, across the front of the car to the other side. This is where the approach shows gains. So much tidier.



And that is pretty much the engine bay wiring. I will be doing the same thing to the engine harness when I get around to looking at the motor.

I could have hidden it all and tucked the harness through the frame and whatever. But, that’s not me and that’s not this car.

Few little bits left to do, but time to start on the next bits.


Until next!