1990 325is restomod project aka "Klaus"

[Staszek]

wow, this has come a long way since i've seen it last. straight money-pit; which is so enjoyable to see put together. Good work on the rear subframe.

Money Pit is an understatement!! lol :)

Partially my own fault, I keep getting in deeper and Im like, I should fix that too!

[Staszek]

Thanks to Brandnic we got a lot done today. Not out of the woods but feel pretty good about progress. Tomorrow I will work on the replacing the subframe, steering rack, control arms and the front suspension.

We had a beautiful day today to work outside. Here is the car before I dropped it down and rolled it out.


After a lot of reconfiguring and moving around, disconnecting the mounting arms, adjusting the jack a bit and the engine finally came out. If it wasnt for Brad (Bradnic) and his skills it would have taken me all day!







The bay was pretty disgusting, years of neglect and no real cleaning. I started removing parts, engine harness, A/C lines and a bunch of other random things I wont need with the S54. I wrapped up the electrical and went to town with degreaser and a power washer. Still have some more detailing in the bay to do, but its 100 times better than it was.

I also was able to take out the master cylinder and brake booster, need to get the fork switched over to the 2002 booster.


Tomorrow is another day but I feel good about today.

[2mAn]

Tomorrow is another day but I feel good about today.

Right on! Congrats!! Always nice to have some extra hands helping out with the big stuff.

Its all downhill from here :rofl:

[Staszek]

Right on! Congrats!! Always nice to have some extra hands helping out with the big stuff.

Its all downhill from here :rofl:

Getting there, got a few more things done today.

Old subframe and steering rack is out.


Had a few slight issues during the way. I have a feeling that the PO never touched the suspension during the entire 200k miles on the original car. First problem, as I started to remove the drivers side swaybar link from the control arm, it had so much play it actually twisted almost all the way, then the bolt actually just snapped off. Doesnt matter its all getting replaced anyway.


Next was the driver's side control arm bolt on the strut housing. I have never seen anything like this before. I have changed several control arms, some have been a pain but nothing like this. My fork which is actually thick as hell bend trying to break this thing free. There was no more rubber left the metal fused to the strut housing. I had to cut it off with my sawzall. I hope I can press this thing out.




I need a few more parts, I forgot to order new strut mount bushings, that and a bunch of new bolts for the subframe and lollipops. I could reuse the old ones but figured why since everything else is new. Also forgot to get the new sway bar mounts to top mount the bar.

I did use the old ones to check fit of the new subframe and the new E46 ZHP steering rack (really excited about that one, I loved driving the ZHP), and a new 21mm convertible swaybar, just laying there for effect.




Tomorrow I will continue to work on the S54 while the parts come in.

[bradnic]

Nice to see that engine bay cleaned up. Easy peasy engine pull thanks to all the prep work you did!! You've got my number if you need any more help

ok back to my top conversion project lol

[Staszek]

Nice to see that engine bay cleaned up. Easy peasy engine pull thanks to all the prep work you did!! You've got my number if you need any more help

ok back to my top conversion project lol

Good luck with that!

[parkerbink]

Nice progress!

[Staszek]

Since i am waiting on parts, I started working on the S54. It had been sitting for quite some time, and was pretty dirty. For a bit it was in my inlaws shed, some fun mouse droppings and grease.

I took off the intake manifold to get some clearance, removed all the old hoses and the starter that I will be replacing. Also removed the alternator and the old wiring harness. You can see where they cut some of the wires on the old harness, good thing I have the new one.





Got this neat little cap for the clutch fan delete.


I have a little surface paint flaking on the block, not horrible but figured after I clean the engine I am going to hit the block with a bit of paint.

Dont mind the garage, I cleaned it up after I put the engine away lol.



Once I clean it all up, the new water pump, alternator, starter, PS pump, and AC compressor will go on. Then the gasket and vanos work starts.

[Cha Ching]

Nice to see that engine bay cleaned up. Easy peasy engine pull thanks to all the prep work you did!! You've got my number if you need any more help

I might have to hire you to help me with my engine swap down here in Springfield, MO soon!

[Staszek]

I might have to hire you to help me with my engine swap down here in Springfield, MO soon!

He knows his stuff! It took us like maybe an hour to pull that engine. I will say it is easier if you take a little time each night before and disconnect parts. I had all the oils drained, all the lines disconnected (except I missed part of the engine harness) and radiator etc out before we pulled it. That helps a lot.

[Staszek]

The block had some rust on it, so before I put all the new accessories, engine harness, starter etc back on I thought I would take care of that.

The goal was not to make the engine showroom, I would have had to completely strip the engine down and I wasn't planning on doing that.

I used some of this


Its pretty cool stuff, it actually seals the rust and turns it into an iron phosphate. Its pretty watery, you paint it on, let it sit overnight and it turns black. After that you just paint it with any top coat paint you want.

I just picked a low gloss black to keep it closer to the OEM paint. Again not show room but all the surface rust is sealed and it looks better to me.



Traveling again, but when I get back work some more on the engine and get the rest of the front of the car tied up with the new suspension and steering.

[Staszek]

M20 is SOLD!! No going back now :)

[2mAn]

M20 is SOLD!! No going back now :)

haha perfect! and less dead weight in the house!!

[Staszek]

haha perfect! and less dead weight in the house!!

Yea the garage is getting quite full.

[Staszek]

Had to go to a dinner tonight so the wife told me not to get too crazy dirty today lol.

So I did small projects that need to be done, probably not now but its something.

First cleaned off the set of Euro Grills I bought off the board a while ago. They were dirty and faded. The dishwasher did wonders!


Hit them with a bit of SEM trim paint, they look like new now!


Next I worked on the headlights. Bought Depo's a long time ago also since I knew I was converting them to HID I didnt want to buy Hella's. They are actually pretty decent quality, and its just nice to get new glass.



Installed the Morimoto Mini Bi Xenon Projectors with 4500K bulbs using the Squared Adapters, good thing I bought them before he disappeared.



Cant wait to see these things light up. I still need a pigtail for the highbeams, H1 pigtail right?