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New owner, BMW 325iX Touring

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    At the start of this week I replaced the coolant hose that had a leak. It was quite a challenge to get it out and fit the new one but I managed to get it in there eventually.

    It still has the weird starting issue where it runs rough for a minute on start up, giving it some gas clears it up and it idles great. I got a compression tester form a friend but since the spark plug hole is quite deep on the M20s, I couldn't tighten it enough.
    I went to the local parts store and ordered one for myself that has an extension. It should arrive tomorrow at their shop so I'll pick it up and test the compression once I got it.

    Since I couldn't do a whole lot on the E30, I decided to finally replace the drivers side door actuator. I figured this one went bad because I could only open the drivers side door. Also when sitting in the car and trying to get it locked by pushing on the little locking pin, nothing happened. As far as I understand the actuator send a signal to the central locking module when to open or close the doors/trunk.

    Anyway, I swapped the old one out with one I bought used on Ebay. Closing the door and turning the lock, it finally works again!

    I also ordered some SEM black trim paint and an IS lip as I can find a decent used IS lip here locally or in Germany. So I ordered a new genuine one from BMW. I finally ordered a new valve cover gasket. I noticed the Elring doesn't seem to seal as great like the Victor Reinz gasket. The VR has a red silicon bead on top of the gasket, the Elring is just flat. While ordering I also got a new oil filter, blue temp sensor and 6 new sparkplugs

    And at last, I found a used transfer case, owner says it has 200k kms, VC still works and splines are good. Listed for 50€. Only problem with is is that one of the reinforcement ribs located at the front output shaft is broken off.
    I still have a spare housing so that's not a problem for me. I might pick it up. One can't have enough IX parts lol
    Last edited by D.Martijn; 08-09-2018, 08:20 AM.
    1990 325iX Touring - November 2018 R3V Car Of The Month

    1980 Volkswagen Golf mk1 1.1
    1974 BMW 2002 Touring

    Instagram

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      Double post.
      1990 325iX Touring - November 2018 R3V Car Of The Month

      1980 Volkswagen Golf mk1 1.1
      1974 BMW 2002 Touring

      Instagram

      Comment


        Originally posted by D.Martijn View Post
        At the start of this week I replaced the coolant hose that had a leak. It was quite a challenge to get it out and fit the new one but I managed to get it in there eventually.

        It still has the weird starting issue where it runs rough for a minute on start up, giving it some gas clears it up and it idles great. I got a compression tester form a friend but since the spark plug hole is quite deep on the M20s, I couldn't tighten it enough.
        I went to the local parts store and ordered one for myself that has an extension. It should arrive tomorrow at their shop so I'll pick it up and test the compression once I got it.

        Since I couldn't do a whole lot on the E30, I decided to finally replace the drivers side door actuator. I figured this one went bad because I could only open the drivers side door. Also when sitting in the car and trying to get it locked by pushing on the little locking pin, nothing happened. As far as I understand the actuator send a signal to the central locking module when to open or close the doors/trunk.

        Anyway, I swapped the old one out with one I bought used on Ebay. Closing the door and turning the lock, it finally works again!

        I also ordered some SEM black trim paint and an IS lip as I can find a decent used IS lip here locally or in Germany. So I ordered a new genuine one from BMW. I finally ordered a new valve cover gasket. I noticed the Elring doesn't seem to seal as great like the Victor Reinz gasket. The VR has a red silicon bead on top of the gasket, the Elring is just flat. While ordering I also got a new oil filter, blue temp sensor and 6 new sparkplugs

        And at last, I found a used transfer case, owner says it has 200k kms, VC still works and splines are good. Listed for 50€. Only problem with is is that one of the reinforcement ribs located at the front output shaft is broken off.
        I still have a spare housing so that's not a problem for me. I might pick it up. One can't have enough IX parts lol
        50€ that's so cheap. You couldn't let it go away

        Comment


          This morning I went to the local parts store to get my compression tester. It's looks and feels good. Plus there is also a extension piece, just what I needed for the E30. I was able to install the tester nice and tight which I couldn't do with the one I lend from my friend.


          These are the results I got, looks healthy to me.
          1. 12.25bar - 175psi
          2. 12.25/12.5bar - 175-180psi
          3. 12.5bar - 180psi
          4. 12.75bar - 182.5psi
          5. 13bar - 185psi
          6. 12.5bar - 180psi

          When removing the sparkplugs I did notice that the 5 & 6th cylinder are running a bit more rich? This was after starting the engine and letting it run a minute or 5. Could it be that the injectors are leaking on the 5th and 6th cylinder? Causing it to run lumpy on startup, clearing the excessive petrol by revving it slightly?

          Previously when I removed plug they were all roughly the same but the engine reached operating temperature. Thus burning off the deposits that were present on start up? Or am I overthinking this?

          Left to right (4 - 5 - 6)


          I also measured the blue temp sensor as a member on this forum pointed out it might be this one. I tested the one that's fitted now and an old one I had laying around. Both were around 20°C and got 2.3kohm. I found a datasheet on the Bosch website which stated 2.5komh at 20°C I don't think that's going to be to problem.

          Datasheet here:
          1990 325iX Touring - November 2018 R3V Car Of The Month

          1980 Volkswagen Golf mk1 1.1
          1974 BMW 2002 Touring

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            sounds like a vacuum leak. have you checked your brake booster area? All those hoses, the grommet, the check valve, etc. all contribute to vacuum. I had a similar issue.

            Comment


              Originally posted by jeenyus View Post
              sounds like a vacuum leak. have you checked your brake booster area? All those hoses, the grommet, the check valve, etc. all contribute to vacuum. I had a similar issue.
              What's weird is that it idles/runs rough for the first few 1-2minutes. After that it idles and revs perfectly smooth..?
              If it were a vacuum leak, it wouldn't run right the whole time
              1990 325iX Touring - November 2018 R3V Car Of The Month

              1980 Volkswagen Golf mk1 1.1
              1974 BMW 2002 Touring

              Instagram

              Comment


                Originally posted by D.Martijn View Post
                What's weird is that it idles/runs rough for the first few 1-2minutes. After that it idles and revs perfectly smooth..?
                If it were a vacuum leak, it wouldn't run right the whole time
                Maybe, but sometimes the ICV can adapt to smaller leaks after it's given a min. It's the purpose of the idle control valve.

                Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

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                  Yesterday I received my IS lip from BMW, As it already had a primer, I scuffed it up, cleaned it with some thinner and sprayed on the SEM black trim paint.It coverages pretty good and lays done very easy.
                  After letting is dry for a few hours, I removed my old lip and fitted the IS.



                  close up


                  and frontal view
                  1990 325iX Touring - November 2018 R3V Car Of The Month

                  1980 Volkswagen Golf mk1 1.1
                  1974 BMW 2002 Touring

                  Instagram

                  Comment


                    That lip looks sooooo good on a touring.


                    This thread makes me want three things: welding skills, an equipped workshop, and a touring. ;D

                    Comment


                      didn't you have an IS lip already? or did I miss something? It was paint matched, right?

                      Comment


                        Originally posted by mike.bmw View Post
                        That lip looks sooooo good on a touring.


                        This thread makes me want three things: welding skills, an equipped workshop, and a touring. ;D
                        Thanks Mike!
                        Just start of by getting a welder, the rest will follow ;)

                        Originally posted by jeenyus View Post
                        didn't you have an IS lip already? or did I miss something? It was paint matched, right?
                        That one was my uncles IS lip from his 316i which I set fitted, that car is also lazur blau. I was thinking of paint matching my new one but it would be too shiny as the paint on my front valance is pretty dull.
                        1990 325iX Touring - November 2018 R3V Car Of The Month

                        1980 Volkswagen Golf mk1 1.1
                        1974 BMW 2002 Touring

                        Instagram

                        Comment


                          When I tried to bleed the E30 after replacing the coolant hose at the back of the cylinder head, the coolant temp needle would jump occasionally and go just past the 1/2mark when driving to work/home.

                          I got some more coolant this Friday so I could get it bled this weekend.
                          I started with removing the upper hose that connect the radiator to the thermostat housing. I noticed there was quite a bit of coolant 'missing' in the housing. So I started with adding some more. I also filled the hose and reconnected it.


                          I then filled the overflow tank fully, by squeezing that same hose, I got most of the air out via the little tube to the rad. I opened the bleed screw and let coolant flow out until the overflow tank had the correct level. I started the car and let it warm up.

                          When it was getting warmer, coolant was overflowing. I decided to catch most of it like so;


                          I think it was somewhere around 2liter? Quite a lot... With the heater on full blast, it was still blowing cold air too.. What I did noticed is when I keep the revs up, the air was getting hotter, let it idle and it blows cold again. Which made me think the interior heater core probably still had some air in it.

                          I also noticed coolant coming from under the fill plug of the coolant overflow tank. I decided to get 2 new o-rings since they were pretty brittle.




                          So I shut it off and let it cool down. Poured the coolant back in since the coolant level sensor turned on.
                          I decided to drive the E30 on some wooden ramps so it's sitting with it's nose higher of the ground.
                          Started it up again and let it get hot, cracking open the bleeder screw once in a while with the blower on full heat. I finally managed to get constant hot air coming from the blower.

                          I let it idle some more and it stayed just under the 1/2mark, giving it some revs, the coolant dropped just above the 1/4 mark so everything it back to normal.

                          Also the rough running at start up seems to be mostly solved, I decided to clean the ICV again and resealed the little aluminium elbow tube that goes to the throttle body.
                          1990 325iX Touring - November 2018 R3V Car Of The Month

                          1980 Volkswagen Golf mk1 1.1
                          1974 BMW 2002 Touring

                          Instagram

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                            Glad you got it resolved.

                            Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

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                              So I didn't drive with the E30 this weekend but my dad noticed some fuild on the driveway, I looked under the car but couldn't see any drips, also in the engine bay everything was nice and dry.

                              I decided to check the oil level for no reason and noticed some a vage white line of coolant/oil. Checked the oil fill cap and it also had a faint line of coolant/oil mixture.
                              I found it weird since I had just compression tested the cylinders and they all checked out..

                              Today when I headed to work, it had rained so the air was pretty humid. I noticed more white smoke than usual.. When I arrived ad work my colleague also noticed quite a bit of smoke coming from my exhaust.. made me get worried a bit.

                              Fast forward to 5pm, I checked the oil fill cap again and it had the same vage oil/coolant mix. But still mostly looked like oil. I headed home but there was quite a bit of traffic, the engine got at operating temperature and still smokes a bit form the exhaust.

                              Got on the driveway, checked the oil cap. And lo and behold.. :(


                              1, it could be a crack in the head or 2, just the head gasket.
                              But the thing is the previous owner installed an AMC head + my camshaft has seen some wear.

                              I'm now thinking of getting an original 885 head. + while removing everything also replacing all of the rubber hoses anyway (fuel, coolant & vacuum).

                              I already found two guys selling a head. One guy lists a complete head (650€), pressure tested but not skimmed as he said it doesn't need it..?
                              (I can still see the little dimples so it still has some meat left for it to get skimmed)

                              The other guy sells a head (300€), only the valves and valve springs are present, not pressure tested. But I asked him if it's possible.
                              Also has the dimples so I can get it skimmed locally.
                              I found a new Kolbenschmidt camshaft for 225€, I could transfer my rocker shafts and rockers from my AMC head since those are still the BMW ones.
                              Of I might even get new ones..

                              What do you guys suggest? Got with the complete head or the cheaper and build that one?
                              1990 325iX Touring - November 2018 R3V Car Of The Month

                              1980 Volkswagen Golf mk1 1.1
                              1974 BMW 2002 Touring

                              Instagram

                              Comment


                                Yesterday evening after work my borther and I started the disassembly of the engine/cylinder head.

                                I first tested the compression again and I got good results so there is no gap/crack between the pistons or pistons and cooling passages. Although that doesn't explain the white smoke coming from the exhaust?
                                1: 12 bar
                                2: 12.25 bar
                                3: 12.25 bar
                                4: 12.25 bar
                                5: 13 bar
                                6: 12.75 bar

                                When removing the sparkplugs I did notice that the fifth and sixth sparkplug looks a bit loaded.


                                I also got the fuel rail loose and pressurized the fuel system by jumping the relay.
                                There were no leaks but they look pretty nasty. I might get them refurbished or even replaced while I have the chance.

                                Then is was time to drain the coolant, remove the belts, air filter housing, AFM, some more cables and hoses.

                                Only thing left is the exhaust, the big coolant hose under the intake, fuel lines to the fuel rail/FPR, and finally the head bolts.






                                Parts collection is getting bigger.
                                1990 325iX Touring - November 2018 R3V Car Of The Month

                                1980 Volkswagen Golf mk1 1.1
                                1974 BMW 2002 Touring

                                Instagram

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