E30 Zone Wiki - User contributions [en]

E30 325 Register

2011-10-02T08:01:57Z

Daved:

{{stub}}
Welcome to the E30 [[325i]] Register! If you've spotted an E30, either on the street or up for sale, then look here to see if the owner is a Zoner! You can also use the register to get in touch with owners, check out the different options or just feel like one of the family of E30 lovers.

To add your details, click the "Edit" button at the bottom of the screen, and get ready to type in the details of your car.

In the new window, add your info at the bottom, where indicated. Start every new line with '''|''', called a vertical bar.

When you're finished, make one more line with a vertical bar and a hyphen, like this: '''|''' , and then click '''Save page'''.

You can add a picture of your car by [[Special:Upload|uploading it to the wiki]] and then linking it when needed.

To link to a wiki picture, type this: '''[[Image:myimage.jpg|140px]]'''

 
{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0"
!Build Date
!Reg prefix
!Colour
!Upholstery
!Colour
!Transmission
!Body Kit
!Owner
!Picture
|-
|1990
|G
|BronzitBeige Metallic
|Cloth
|Brown
|5 Speed Manual
|No
|blackcountrybimmerman
|
|-
|1990
|G
|Diamond Black
|Cloth
|Grey
|5 Speed Manual
|Tech 1 Rear Spoiler
|Kam-325i
|
|-
|1988
|N/A (Channel Islands)
|Diamond Black
|Sport Cloth
|Houndstooth
|5 Speed Manual
|None
|NayC
|
|-
|1987
|D
|BronzitBeige Metallic
|Cloth
|Houndstooth
|5 Speed Manual
|None
|Richy187
|
|-
|1990
|H
|Brilliant Red
|Sport Cloth
|Grey
|Sport 5 Speed Manual
|Full Tech II Kit
|Taylor325i
|[[Image:325i07043.jpg|140px]]
|-
|1989
|F
|Alpine Whire
|Recaro Leather
|Cream
|5 Speed Manual
|Full M-Tech II Bodykit
|BonesE4
|
|-
|1986
|N/A
|Lotus Elise Blue Pearl
|Sports Leather
|Blue / White Piping
|5 Speed Manual
|AV3 Bodykit
|beemerbird
|
|-
|1987
|D
|BronzitBeige Metallic
|Sports Leather
|Beige
|5 Speed Manual
|Chrome
|325ie30
|
|-
|1987
|E
|Schwarz
|Cloth
|Houndstooth
|5 Speed Manual
|Full M-Tech I
|e30Pats
|
|-
|1987
|F
|BLACK
|black recaro
|houndstooth
|5 speed manual
|full m-tech1
|
|[[Image:e30-325i-mtech1987.jpg|140px]]
|-
|1990
|H
|Silver
|check cloth
|
|5 speed manual
|convertible with bib spoiler
|ANDYE30NUT
|
|-
|1991
|J
|Sterling Silver
|Cloth
|Grey
|5 speed manual
|None
|J55URA
|[[Image:DSC02779Custom.jpg|140px]]
|-
|1989
|F523UEH
|metallic blue
|cloth
|grey
|5 speed manual
|Convertible
|DBexportgold
|none
|-
|April 1988
|E
|Alpine White II
|Leather
|Indigo
|Automatic
|Convertible
|diable
|[[Image:P1020778.jpg|140px]]


|}
[[Category: E30 Range]]
[[Category: Registers]]

E30 325 Register

2011-10-01T18:46:28Z

Daved:

{{stub}}
Welcome to the E30 [[325i]] Register! If you've spotted an E30, either on the street or up for sale, then look here to see if the owner is a Zoner! You can also use the register to get in touch with owners, check out the different options or just feel like one of the family of E30 lovers.

To add your details, click the "Edit" button at the bottom of the screen, and get ready to type in the details of your car.

In the new window, add your info at the bottom, where indicated. Start every new line with '''|''', called a vertical bar.

When you're finished, make one more line with a vertical bar and a hyphen, like this: '''|''' , and then click '''Save page'''.

You can add a picture of your car by [[Special:Upload|uploading it to the wiki]] and then linking it when needed.

To link to a wiki picture, type this: '''[[Image:myimage.jpg|140px]]'''

 
{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0"
!Build Date
!Reg prefix
!Colour
!Upholstery
!Colour
!Transmission
!Body Kit
!Owner
!Picture
|-
|1990
|G
|BronzitBeige Metallic
|Cloth
|Brown
|5 Speed Manual
|No
|blackcountrybimmerman
|
|-
|1990
|G
|Diamond Black
|Cloth
|Grey
|5 Speed Manual
|Tech 1 Rear Spoiler
|Kam-325i
|
|-
|1988
|N/A (Channel Islands)
|Diamond Black
|Sport Cloth
|Houndstooth
|5 Speed Manual
|None
|NayC
|
|-
|1987
|D
|BronzitBeige Metallic
|Cloth
|Houndstooth
|5 Speed Manual
|None
|Richy187
|
|-
|1990
|H
|Brilliant Red
|Sport Cloth
|Grey
|Sport 5 Speed Manual
|Full Tech II Kit
|Taylor325i
|[[Image:325i07043.jpg|140px]]
|-
|1989
|F
|Alpine Whire
|Recaro Leather
|Cream
|5 Speed Manual
|Full M-Tech II Bodykit
|BonesE4
|
|-
|1986
|N/A
|Lotus Elise Blue Pearl
|Sports Leather
|Blue / White Piping
|5 Speed Manual
|AV3 Bodykit
|beemerbird
|
|-
|1987
|D
|BronzitBeige Metallic
|Sports Leather
|Beige
|5 Speed Manual
|Chrome
|325ie30
|
|-
|1987
|E
|Schwarz
|Cloth
|Houndstooth
|5 Speed Manual
|Full M-Tech I
|e30Pats
|
|-
|1987
|F
|BLACK
|black recaro
|houndstooth
|5 speed manual
|full m-tech1
|
|[[Image:e30-325i-mtech1987.jpg|140px]]
|-
|1990
|H
|Silver
|check cloth
|
|5 speed manual
|convertible with bib spoiler
|ANDYE30NUT
|
|-
|1991
|J
|Sterling Silver
|Cloth
|Grey
|5 speed manual
|None
|J55URA
|[[Image:DSC02779Custom.jpg|140px]]
|-
|1989
|F523UEH
|metallic blue
|cloth
|grey
|5 speed manual
|Convertible
|DBexportgold
|none
|-
|April 1988
|E
|Alpine White II
|Leather
|Indigo
|Automatic
|Convertible
|diable
|[[Image:P1020778.jpg|140px]]
|-
|October 1992
|K
|Calypso
|E46 Alcantara
|Grey
|5 speed
|Convertible MTech
|daved


|}
[[Category: E30 Range]]
[[Category: Registers]]

Brakes

2011-07-23T10:40:25Z

Daved:

{{stub}}

== .Basic checks: ==

First off, ensure the callipers are in full working order (no sticking pistons, seals etc) and the brakes hoses are in good condition before embarking on any upgrade. Also check the servo is working properly if fitted (a duff servo normally gives you a hard pedal with a lack of braking force) and that the master cylinder seals are good (leaking seals give you a soft pedal, often slowly "sinking" if held under pressure).

== What can be improved? ==

There are a lot of closely interrelated aspects surrounding brake system operation, many areas can be improved but at the expense of another area. This makes everything a compromise, here are the aspects with their effects on performance etc:

'''Brake "power"'''

ie torque at the wheel for a given brake fluid pressure. This can be improved in several ways:

1 - Larger discs, this in effect increases the leverage that acts on the wheel. Downsides are increased unsprung mass (and rotational mass due to the larger diameter), a slight increase in cost if it's a re-drilled one-piece disc or a larger increase in cost if it's alloy bells and rotors.

2 - Higher coefficient of friction in the pad material. Downsides are that in most performance pads they work better when warm/hot, and full race pads hardly work at all when cold, plus increased cost.

3 - Larger pistons in the calliper (and/or smaller master cylinder piston/s). This increases the mechanical advantage that the system gives your foot over the force applied to the back of the pads, but like all forms of increased leverage the longer the "lever" the longer the travel needed at the input end. In the case of brakes, the added clamping force at the pad is offset by a longer travel / softer pedal.

'''Unsprung mass,'''

This is the effect of the mass of the brakes fitted to the strut, where they are not properly "sprung and damped" by the suspension like the chassis is. The lighter a brake system is, the faster and more controlled the suspension action can be, giving the car more grip. The downsides to lighter brake discs, is that they heat up faster due to the lower "thermal mass", but lighter callipers, pads, alloy bells and mounting brackets all give you "free grip".

'''Rotational mass'''

The lighter and smaller the brake disc (and wheel/tyre/hub etc) the less energy is needed to spin it faster or slow it down. So a lighter and smaller brake disc will give the car better acceleration, economy and braking (if the brakes magically still worked just the same!). The downsides are reduced brake power, reduced cooling from the smaller disc vents and reduced thermal mass.

'''Fade (pad) resistance'''

This is the amount of heat the brake pads can withstand before they overheat into "brake fade", this feels like you have a hard pedal but no brake power (similar to a failed servo). In the olden days pads used to "gas", where the glue in the material boiled and producing a thin layer of high pressure gas that lifted the pad off the disc using the same principles as a hovercraft uses! This lead to people drilling (and grooving) their discs to release this gas. Modern brake materials no longer gas in anything like the same way, so grilled discs are of FAR less use than they used to, and given that they can crack the main reason people buy them is for the "look". Grooved discs DO still have a place as they scrub at the face of the pads, and with many race pads they are needed to stop the pad surface "glazing".

'''Fade (fluid) resistance'''

This is the amount of heat the brakes can withstand without the fluid boiling, when the fluid boils the bubbles created are easily squashed by the pressure created when the pedal is pressed, making the pedal sink straight to the floor and allying almost no pressure to the pads at all! This is probably the most dangerous form of brake problem and for the few seconds it happens the effect is as ba as a burst brake line. Fluid boiling can be reduced by:

1 - Running a fluid with a higher boiling point.

2 - Changing the fluid regularly as water is absorbed by most brake fluids, and of course only needs 100 degrees C to boil. Also once brake fluid HAS boiled it's resistance to boiling is actually reduced, and next time it will boil at a LOWER temperature!

3 - Using cooling air from the brake duct to cool the caliper.

4 - Using cooling air from the brake duct to cool a brake fluid radiator.

5 - Running a brake fluid recirculating valve. This clever gadget cycles the fluid into the calliper then back out and up into the main fluid reservoir, this keeps the calliper cooler and stops a stagnant volume of fluid from sitting in the calliper and getting very hot.

'''Heat reduction'''

This is mainly about keeping the disc cool to stop it "warping" and keep the pads cooler so they can operate properly. You can reduce disc temperatures by:

1 - Having a larger disc with bigger, more efficient vents and larger area to be cooled, the downside is added unsprung/rotational mass (although mass helps in another way, next....).

2 - Having a heavier disc, this provides more "thermal mass". Thermal mass works because it takes twice as much energy to heat twice as much mass to a given temperature, so if you double the mass while keeping the energy input constant you HALVE the temperature (before cooling efficiency etc starts to come into play). The downside is added unsprung/rotational mass.

'''Disc "warping" resistance'''

It should be noted that brake discs juddering through the pedal are not "warped" in the way many people think, in most cases it's because road pads (which are abrasive) have been overheated and a high-spot has formed. This high spot gets VERY hot and into a changes into a different and much harder form of iron. Of course the new hard area is more resistant to the pad's abrasion and so as the material around it is worn away it becomes higher, which makes it hotter, and therefore even harder....and so on. The discs DO warp, but only when you press the pedal and this one high spot gets much hotter, rapidly expanding and warping the disc. The things people miss are that (1) the disc returns to a mostly non-warped state as soon as you back off the brakes or take the disc off the car for inspection, and (2) machining the disc won't fix it as there is still a hard spot in the iron waiting to start the whole process again once the abrasion or use continues! Upgrade pads often work by "smearing" their own pad material onto the disc rather than abrading the disc, thereby dodging the high-spot vicious cycle.

'''Resistance to high temperatures by all components in a performance/race application'''

If you assume that the brake system will be used and a hard and sustained way (track-days etc) then the components ARE going to get very hot no matter what cooling you use, but there are ways to allow them to survive the temperatures and work very effectively for a sustained period.

- External piston dust seals on performance callipers often burn off, but they can be omitted without causing any problems in most cases.

- Brake discs get very hot in the area that's in contact with the pads and expend with huge force. In a one-piece disc this makes the disc form cone-shape as the vented "rotor" part expands but the "bell" part stays cooler and unchanged, in (very rare) extreme cases the vented part can crack right off the bell! To reduce these forces there are two options, (1) fit an iron rotor to an aluminium bell (aluminium expends faster with temperature than iron, so the cooler bell partly "keeps up" with the hotter rotor as it expands) and (2) fitting a "radially floating rotor (there are radial slots in the rotor or the bell with sliding "bobbins" in them, this allows the rotor to expand totally freely, with no force applied to the bell)! Floating rotors are very expensive though and are almost exclusively for race-cars only - although BMW have recently used the principle on the M3, the discs have aluminium bells with radial spoke-like pegs, and the cast-iron rotor "floats" on these pegs! Also large light-weight rotors rely less on the effects of thermal mass, and more on effective cooling vents to cool the brakes on each straight section of track.

- Race pads will continue to work happily way after normal pads would have totally failed, and often get better the more abuse they get, and race brake fluid can withstand the continued high temperatures.

- Brake ducts are very handy as the high speeds on the straight pump much more cooling air into the brakes than on a road car.

== E30 brake upgrade options in stages (increasing in performance and price). ==

First would be upgrading the pads as you get some easy extra torque and fade resistance (EBC Red, Mintex M1144/1155, Ferodo DS2500 or similar pads for fast road/light trackdays or EBC Yellow/Blue or similar for more serious track use) - of course all the OEM components need to be checked over at the this stage, including the cooling ducts. Fit fresh standard brake fluid and new standard discs (worn discs have less thermal mass and won't bed in properly with new pads). There is NO NEED to get drilled and/or grooved or funny coloured discs, unless you like the look...

Next would be increasing the resistance to the extra heat and pressure the pads can create by fitting stainless braided lines (like Earls/Goodrich etc) and upgrading the existing brake fluid (like ATE Superblue, or Castrol SRF for a road/trackday oriented car).

Next we move up to larger diameter discs, here are the approximate sizes possible in each wheel size:

14" - Very little room, 255mm normally (275mm in some motorsport allys).

15" - 280mm (300mm in some motorsport alloys). There may be a new 290-300mm 4-pot kit available next year specifically for the 15" BBS...

16" - 300mm (320mm in some motorsport alloys)

17" - 325mm (345mm in some motorsport alloys)

Ready made upgrades includes lightweight 4-pot kits and cheaper but heavier sliding caliper kits where the buyer sources second-hand calipers:

- RX7 4-pot calliper brackets with 280mm Corrado rotors sold [https://sites.google.com/site/e30brakesolutions/ here]

- The 300mm.de kit, this uses a 312mm re-drilled disc and brackets to suit a BMW sliding calliper.

- The WMS 280mm (fits 15" BBS & 16" Alpina) and 298.5mm (fits 16" Hartge & AC Schnitzer) 4-pot kits which have custom 1.25" E30-specific pistons.[http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=113229&start=24]

- The Wilwood 280mm and 310mm 4-pot kits which have 1.38" pistons.

- Other kits from mfrs including AP Racing, Brembo, Alcon, and Hi Spec.

Another option is to scour eBay and breakers yards for crashed cars that already have 4 pots or compatible sliding calipers fitted and make your own brackets. If you are prepared to look around to find parts,and are happy to fabricate calliper brackets, then a budget big brake set-up can be achieved for around 40% less than the equivalent off the shelf items.DIY kits have included:

- 302mm disks with 4 pot callipers can be made to fit under 16" wheels - Baddave's current set-up which apparently works rather well.

- <<please update me>>

<<Please update me with M/C and Servo options for firming up the stock set-up>>
E30 M3 master cylinder with stock servo
E32 750i Master cylinder with stock servo (for those who have fitted calipers with a substantial increase in piston area)

'''Cars with E30 compatible discs'''

*Audi TT with some drilling ??
*Chrysler Voyager 302x28mm with redrilled holes(disk offset is near perfect)
*Volkswagen Corrado G60 280mm. Centrebore must be enlarged 1mm to fit E30 hub. Can be fitted with Mazda RX7 callipers

'''E30 compatible Master Cylinders '''

<<Please update me>>

*Bmw E30M3
*Bmw E32 750i

'''Cars with 4pot callipers'''

*Aston Martin(various)-DB7
*Alfa Romeo GTV/166
*Audi Possibly RS2,S8,RS8
*BMW E38 730i, 735i
*BMW E34 3.8L M5(very last ones)
*BMW E31 840i,850i,850csi
*Citroen C8 possibly (going by pad shape)
*Ferrari (all newer models)
*Fiat Coupe
*Fiat Ulysee possibly(going by pad shape)
*Ford Focus RS
*Ford Puma(racing) fitted with Alcon 4pots as standard
*Ford Sierra RS Cosworth 3dr
*Jaguar S type R
*Lamborghini(all newer models)
*Lancia Delta(integrale)
*Lancia Phedra
*Lotus Carlton (AP group C spec)
*Range Rover(newer ones have Brembo's)
*Mazda RX-7
*Mercedes ( most of the higher spec AMG variants)
*Mitsibishi 3000GT
*Mitsibishi Lancer ( from Evo 4 onwards iirc)
*Nissan 300ZX
*Nissan Skyline (R33GTR/R34GTR)
*Nissan 350Z
*Peugeot 607(possibly)
*Peugeot 807(possibly)
*Peugeot 406 Coupe
*Porsche 911/928/944/959/968/Boxster/Cayenne/Cayman
*Renault Clio Sport(mid engined version)
*MG MGF
*Seat Cupra R (Ibiza,Leon)
*Subaru Impeza STI
*Toyota Hilux
*Toyota Celica GT4
*Toyota Supra
*TVR ( certain newer models)

Brakes

2011-07-23T06:56:51Z

Daved:

{{stub}}

== .Basic checks: ==

First off, ensure the callipers are in full working order (no sticking pistons, seals etc) and the brakes hoses are in good condition before embarking on any upgrade. Also check the servo is working properly if fitted (a duff servo normally gives you a hard pedal with a lack of braking force) and that the master cylinder seals are good (leaking seals give you a soft pedal, often slowly "sinking" if held under pressure).

== What can be improved? ==

There are a lot of closely interrelated aspects surrounding brake system operation, many areas can be improved but at the expense of another area. This makes everything a compromise, here are the aspects with their effects on performance etc:

'''Brake "power"'''

ie torque at the wheel for a given brake fluid pressure. This can be improved in several ways:

1 - Larger discs, this in effect increases the leverage that acts on the wheel. Downsides are increased unsprung mass (and rotational mass due to the larger diameter), a slight increase in cost if it's a re-drilled one-piece disc or a larger increase in cost if it's alloy bells and rotors.

2 - Higher coefficient of friction in the pad material. Downsides are that in most performance pads they work better when warm/hot, and full race pads hardly work at all when cold, plus increased cost.

3 - Larger pistons in the calliper (and/or smaller master cylinder piston/s). This increases the mechanical advantage that the system gives your foot over the force applied to the back of the pads, but like all forms of increased leverage the longer the "lever" the longer the travel needed at the input end. In the case of brakes, the added clamping force at the pad is offset by a longer travel / softer pedal.

'''Unsprung mass,'''

This is the effect of the mass of the brakes fitted to the strut, where they are not properly "sprung and damped" by the suspension like the chassis is. The lighter a brake system is, the faster and more controlled the suspension action can be, giving the car more grip. The downsides to lighter brake discs, is that they heat up faster due to the lower "thermal mass", but lighter callipers, pads, alloy bells and mounting brackets all give you "free grip".

'''Rotational mass'''

The lighter and smaller the brake disc (and wheel/tyre/hub etc) the less energy is needed to spin it faster or slow it down. So a lighter and smaller brake disc will give the car better acceleration, economy and braking (if the brakes magically still worked just the same!). The downsides are reduced brake power, reduced cooling from the smaller disc vents and reduced thermal mass.

'''Fade (pad) resistance'''

This is the amount of heat the brake pads can withstand before they overheat into "brake fade", this feels like you have a hard pedal but no brake power (similar to a failed servo). In the olden days pads used to "gas", where the glue in the material boiled and producing a thin layer of high pressure gas that lifted the pad off the disc using the same principles as a hovercraft uses! This lead to people drilling (and grooving) their discs to release this gas. Modern brake materials no longer gas in anything like the same way, so grilled discs are of FAR less use than they used to, and given that they can crack the main reason people buy them is for the "look". Grooved discs DO still have a place as they scrub at the face of the pads, and with many race pads they are needed to stop the pad surface "glazing".

'''Fade (fluid) resistance'''

This is the amount of heat the brakes can withstand without the fluid boiling, when the fluid boils the bubbles created are easily squashed by the pressure created when the pedal is pressed, making the pedal sink straight to the floor and allying almost no pressure to the pads at all! This is probably the most dangerous form of brake problem and for the few seconds it happens the effect is as ba as a burst brake line. Fluid boiling can be reduced by:

1 - Running a fluid with a higher boiling point.

2 - Changing the fluid regularly as water is absorbed by most brake fluids, and of course only needs 100 degrees C to boil. Also once brake fluid HAS boiled it's resistance to boiling is actually reduced, and next time it will boil at a LOWER temperature!

3 - Using cooling air from the brake duct to cool the caliper.

4 - Using cooling air from the brake duct to cool a brake fluid radiator.

5 - Running a brake fluid recirculating valve. This clever gadget cycles the fluid into the caliper then back out and up into the main fluid reservoir, this keeps the caliper cooler and stops a stagnant volume of fluid from sitting in the caliper and getting very hot.

'''Heat reduction'''

This is mainly about keeping the disc cool to stop it "warping" and keep the pads cooler so they can operate properly. You can reduce disc temperatures by:

1 - Having a larger disc with bigger, more efficient vents and larger area to be cooled, the downside is added unsprung/rotational mass (although mass helps in another way, next....).

2 - Having a heavier disc, this provides more "thermal mass". Thermal mass works because it takes twice as much energy to heat twice as much mass to a given temperature, so if you double the mass while keeping the energy input constant you HALVE the temperature (before cooling efficiency etc starts to come into play). The downside is added unsprung/rotational mass.

'''Disc "warping" resistance'''

It should be noted that brake discs juddering through the pedal are not "warped" in the way many people think, in most cases it's because road pads (which are abrasive) have been overheated and a high-spot has formed. This high spot gets VERY hot and into a changes into a different and much harder form of iron. Of course the new hard area is more resistant to the pad's abrasion and so as the material around it is worn away it becomes higher, which makes it hotter, and therefore even harder....and so on. The discs DO warp, but only when you press the pedal and this one high spot gets much hotter, rapidly expanding and warping the disc. The things people miss are that (1) the disc returns to a mostly non-warped state as soon as you back off the brakes or take the disc off the car for inspection, and (2) machining the disc won't fix it as there is still a hard spot in the iron waiting to start the whole process again once the abrasion or use continues! Upgrade pads often work by "smearing" their own pad material onto the disc rather than abrading the disc, thereby dodging the high-spot vicious cycle.

'''Resistance to high temperatures by all components in a performance/race application'''

If you assume that the brake system will be used and a hard and sustained way (track-days etc) then the components ARE going to get very hot no matter what cooling you use, but there are ways to allow them to survive the temperatures and work very effectively for a sustained period.

- External piston dust seals on performance callipers often burn off, but they can be omitted without causing any problems in most cases.

- Brake discs get very hot in the area that's in contact with the pads and expend with huge force. In a one-piece disc this makes the disc form cone-shape as the vented "rotor" part expands but the "bell" part stays cooler and unchanged, in (very rare) extreme cases the vented part can crack right off the bell! To reduce these forces there are two options, (1) fit an iron rotor to an aluminium bell (aluminium expends faster with temperature than iron, so the cooler bell partly "keeps up" with the hotter rotor as it expands) and (2) fitting a "radially floating rotor (there are radial slots in the rotor or the bell with sliding "bobbins" in them, this allows the rotor to expand totally freely, with no force applied to the bell)! Floating rotors are very expensive though and are almost exclusively for race-cars only - although BMW have recently used the principle on the M3, the discs have aluminium bells with radial spoke-like pegs, and the cast-iron rotor "floats" on these pegs! Also large light-weight rotors rely less on the effects of thermal mass, and more on effective cooling vents to cool the brakes on each straight section of track.

- Race pads will continue to work happily way after normal pads would have totally failed, and often get better the more abuse they get, and race brake fluid can withstand the continued high temperatures.

- Brake ducts are very handy as the high speeds on the straight pump much more cooling air into the brakes than on a road car.

== E30 brake upgrade options in stages (increasing in performance and price). ==

First would be upgrading the pads as you get some easy extra torque and fade resistance (EBC Red, Mintex M1144/1155, Ferodo DS2500 or similar pads for fast road/light trackdays or EBC Yellow/Blue or similar for more serious track use) - of course all the OEM components need to be checked over at the this stage, including the cooling ducts. Fit fresh standard brake fluid and new standard discs (worn discs have less thermal mass and won't bed in properly with new pads). There is NO NEED to get drilled and/or grooved or funny coloured discs, unless you like the look...

Next would be increasing the resistance to the extra heat and pressure the pads can create by fitting stainless braided lines (like Earls/Goodrich etc) and upgrading the existing brake fluid (like ATE Superblue, or Castrol SRF for a road/trackday oriented car).

Next we move up to larger diameter discs, here are the approximate sizes possible in each wheel size:

14" - Very little room, 255mm normally (275mm in some motorsport allys).

15" - 280mm (300mm in some motorsport alloys). There may be a new 290-300mm 4-pot kit available next year specifically for the 15" BBS...

16" - 300mm (320mm in some motorsport alloys)

17" - 325mm (345mm in some motorsport alloys)

Ready made upgrades includes lightweight 4-pot kits and cheaper but heavier sliding caliper kits where the buyer sources second-hand calipers:

- RX7 4-pot calliper brackets with 280mm Corrado rotors sold [https://sites.google.com/site/e30brakesolutions/ here]

- The 300mm.de kit, this uses a 312mm re-drilled disc and brackets to suit a BMW sliding calliper.

- The WMS 280mm (fits 15" BBS & 16" Alpina) and 298.5mm (fits 16" Hartge & AC Schnitzer) 4-pot kits which have custom 1.25" E30-specific pistons.

- The Wilwood 280mm and 310mm 4-pot kits which have 1.38" pistons.

- Other kits from mfrs including AP Racing, Brembo, Alcon, and Hi Spec.

Another option is to scour eBay and breakers yards for crashed cars that already have 4 pots or compatible sliding calipers fitted and make your own brackets. If you are prepared to look around to find parts,and are happy to fabricate calliper brackets, then a budget big brake set-up can be achieved for around 40% less than the equivalent off the shelf items.DIY kits have included:

- 302mm disks with 4 pot callipers can be made to fit under 16" wheels - Baddave's current set-up which apparently works rather well.

- <<please update me>>

<<Please update me with M/C and Servo options for firming up the stock set-up>>
E30 M3 master cylinder with stock servo
E32 750i Master cylinder with stock servo (for those who have fitted calipers with a substantial increase in piston area)

'''Cars with E30 compatible discs'''

*Audi TT with some drilling ??
*Chrysler Voyager 302x28mm with redrilled holes(disk offset is near perfect)
*Volkswagen Corrado G60 280mm. Centrebore must be enlarged 1mm to fit E30 hub. Can be fitted with Mazda RX7 callipers

'''E30 compatible Master Cylinders '''

<<Please update me>>

*Bmw E30M3
*Bmw E32 750i

'''Cars with 4pot callipers'''

*Aston Martin(various)-DB7
*Alfa Romeo GTV/166
*Audi Possibly RS2,S8,RS8
*BMW E38 730i, 735i
*BMW E34 3.8L M5(very last ones)
*BMW E31 840i,850i,850csi
*Citroen C8 possibly (going by pad shape)
*Ferrari (all newer models)
*Fiat Coupe
*Fiat Ulysee possibly(going by pad shape)
*Ford Focus RS
*Ford Puma(racing) fitted with Alcon 4pots as standard
*Ford Sierra RS Cosworth 3dr
*Jaguar S type R
*Lamborghini(all newer models)
*Lancia Delta(integrale)
*Lancia Phedra
*Lotus Carlton (AP group C spec)
*Range Rover(newer ones have Brembo's)
*Mazda RX-7
*Mercedes ( most of the higher spec AMG variants)
*Mitsibishi 3000GT
*Mitsibishi Lancer ( from Evo 4 onwards iirc)
*Nissan 300ZX
*Nissan Skyline (R33GTR/R34GTR)
*Nissan 350Z
*Peugeot 607(possibly)
*Peugeot 807(possibly)
*Peugeot 406 Coupe
*Porsche 911/928/944/959/968/Boxster/Cayenne/Cayman
*Renault Clio Sport(mid engined version)
*MG MGF
*Seat Cupra R (Ibiza,Leon)
*Subaru Impeza STI
*Toyota Hilux
*Toyota Celica GT4
*Toyota Supra
*TVR ( certain newer models)

Trim removal

2011-04-27T08:21:06Z

Daved: New page: Window trim removal Author: Jordan Sarette » Tools: 1. Flathead screwdriver (6-8in or so) 2. Phillips head screwdriver (6-8in or so) 3. Needle nose pliers 4. Socket set, various » ...

Window trim removal Author: Jordan Sarette

» Tools:

1. Flathead screwdriver (6-8in or so)
2. Phillips head screwdriver (6-8in or so)
3. Needle nose pliers
4. Socket set, various

» Procedure:

This entire process is pretty simple overall. If you exercise care and restraint you will be able to remove the trim without damaging it. If you are forceful, and try to just tear it off you will bend it beyond repair. The trim is a very soft aluminum. It bends and cracks easily. This write-up is focused on 2 door e30's (both pop-out and fixed rear side windows) and offers no direct information on 4 door e30's although most of it can be applied with some common sense.

Trim diagram: (click to enlarge)

[[http://www.e30zone.net/e30zonewiki/images/0/04/Window_trim.jpg]],

1.) First thing you are going to want to do is make sure the car is clean and dry. Go ahead and take care of that before you start.

Removed both side mirrors from the car. Inside the car on the other side of the mirrors you will either have blank sill plates, or tweeter pods. Both pry off. Be careful not to damage the plastic tabs that hold them in.

Disconnect the mirror from the door harness. Its a small 4 pin black connector. Should be in plain sight once the sail panel/tweeter pod is removed.

Loosen and remove both 8mm bolts that hold the mirror to the vehicle. Hold the mirror while you do this so it doesn't fall to the ground and damage the paint. Feed the connector through the hole and set the mirror aside. Repeat for the other side of the vehicle.

2.) Now focus on the b-pillar area inside the car (the G area) At the top of the b-pillar is a small coat hook. This sucker is completely useless, and a bitch to remove. Loosen and remove the Phillips screw. Grab a hold of the hood and pull it out. Rest assured it does remove in this manner, its just stubborn.

Remove the cover on the seat belt pivot to reveal the 17mm bolt. Loosen and remove the 17mm bolt. Lay the seat belt down on the floor.

Remove the small quarter sized plug on the b-pillar. Look inside and you will see a 8mm nut. If you look inside the coat hanger hole you will see the same 8mm nut. Loosen and remove them both. Be careful not to drop them. At this point it is helpful to have an assistant outside the car to hold the window so it does not fall onto the ground. While nice, it is not entirely necessary if your car is parked on level ground. Gravity should work to keep it in place.

If you have pop-out rear side glass remove the black cover of the pivot latch on the c-pillar. Loosen and remove the 2 Phillips screws. The window is now free to remove.

if you have fixed rear side glass use a small flathead to slowly work the inner gasket free of the body. This is hard to describe, but you should understand if you look/poke at it.

3.) Now its time to start removing the actual trim.

Start by sliding B towards the front of the car, until it is all the way onto A.

Pry up A down by where the side mirror would be. Us a flathead and cloth if your fingers aren't working for you. Pry it all the way up the a-pillar and lift it off the rain gutter on the roof.

Trim C is actually attached to the painted vent cover on the c-pillar. They must be removed as one. Pull on the painted cover and rock it back and forth. You WILL destroy the clips that hold the cover to the body. Be prepared to replace them.

The part number for these clips is: 51 13 1 870 459 (you will need 6 total)
Estimated cost each is: $0.95 USD

Now separate C from the painted part it is attached to. It is held on by several black clips. Its VERY hard to remove them without destroying them. Remove the foam on the back side to reveal the clip base. Drill or cut out the base of each clip until they release. I *think* 5 will be required per side. Make your own observation on this and order accordingly.

The part number for these clips is: 51 13 1 884 467
Estimated cost each is: $0.55 USD

Trim E is one of the easiest to remove. Use a flathead and a cloth to pry it straight up off the door. Once it is off remove any clips that stayed on the door and place them back on part E. Remove the rubber window seal from trim E.

Trim D is a bit less intuitive. The clips are hidden. Roll the window down and remove the fuzzy inner window gasket (the channel the window slides in) Look inside the void created where the fuzzy inner gasket was. You will see many small clips. Each one with have a rectangular tab sticking out. Push the tab away from the trim with a flathead and it will release the trim. Repeat as many times as needed until the trim comes off.

You are bound to break several of these clips. I know I did. I stole some spares off a junkyard car, but if you want to order new ones...

The part number for these clips is: 51 32 1 874 017
Estimated cost each is: ?

Trim F is held on with the same clips as trim D. They are also located in the void where the fuzzy inner gasket was. Use the same technique to remove them.

Repeat all the above for the opposite side. One would assume you are taking it off to paint them. So go find a write-up for that ;)

author Jordan Sarette posted in R3Vlimited

File:Window trim.jpg

2011-04-27T08:13:55Z

Daved:

On-board Computer

2011-04-27T08:06:59Z

Daved:

== Introduction ==

After a great deal of interest in members needing to know about retro fitting an OBC, I have decided to write an article to try and save having to repeat myself.

The 13 button OBC was optional on 6 cylinder cars in the UK and SE models were always fitted with it from the factory. When I was searching for a car, I really wanted one with the OBC factory fitted as I’d been told that it was incredibly difficult to retro-fit one, however, I ended up getting a car without. I then did some investigation into how these are actually fitted and found out that it’s not as difficult to do as I’d previously thought.
For you guys who own 318’s where the OBC was not an option, a 325i OBC with an M10 318i instrument cluster has been tested and all the readings seemed accurate. If your car has an OBC relay and an ambient temperature sensor, then I believe this conversion will work for you.

== Functions of the OBC ==

The 13 button OBC has the following functions:

* Time.
* Date
* Average Speed
* Consumption
* User selectable speed limit
* Remaining range on fuel
* Stopwatch timer (for measuring those 0-60 times)
* Outside temperature
* Code function

== Parts you will need to fit the OBC ==

You will need the following parts in order to retro fit your OBC, I will start off with the essential parts, the bare minimum to get it working and then I will list the optional parts. I will also list their locations so that if you are removing the OBC from a scrap car, you will know where to look for the bits:

'''Essentials'''

* Main OBC unit (Mounted in the dash above the heater controls)
* Wiring loom (Runs from the rear of the instrument cluster to all ancillaries)
* Relay control module (Above ECU mounting plate)

'''Optional'''

* Outside temperature sensor (In nearside brake duct)
* OBC Horn (Just above the temp sensor)
* Temp sensor\horn wiring loom (Follow back from the temp sensor and joins to main loom shortly after entering the bulkhead)
* Audible gong (Mounted in trim panel above foot pedals)
* Remote indicator stalk (If you don’t know where this is, give up now)
* Tools required to do the job

== Fitting ==

Before you begin to think about fitting the OBC, you will need to remove certain things from the car in order for you to access certain areas.
First remove your stereo, you will need to use the relevant release keys depending on the make of the unit.

Next remove the lower trim panel above the foot pedals

Now you will need to undo the glove box, unclip the 2 pins that hold it up and allow it to rest in the foot well. Now undo the single cross-head screw that holds the upper trim in place, this is located next to the latch. There are also a couple of plastic screws which require a 1\4 turn to release. Now remove the panel.

Finally you will need to remove the instrument cluster. First put your hand up underneath the “bridge” shaped piece of trim directly beneath the cluster. You will find a round locking nut on each side that you undo by hand. Once you have undone these, remove the plastic trim.

You will see a couple of silver screws on the bottom and also a couple of black ones in the lower corners of the instrument surround panel, remove these and also another 2 screws holding the surround in at the top. Now remove the surround.

Finally you will see 2 gold screws holding the cluster in place these are approximately in the 10 and 2 o’clock positions, remove these screws and the instrument cluster will come free. Some people advise to remove the steering wheel to make it easier to remove but in my opinion, this is a waste of time as it’s not much harder to do with the wheel still in place.

Unclip the connections on the back of the cluster and remove. You do not need to worry about speedo cables as the readings are taken electronically.

Now you should have sufficient access to start fitting the OBC, start off by threading the wiring loom through the dash and guide each plug\connector to the approximate location (as shown previously) ready for fitting. You may wish to clip the loom in with the main wiring loom, this is entirely up to you and will make it look more factory should you or anyone else in the future, decide to remove parts of the dash again.

Now that your loom is in place, you can start connecting the parts to it. I would fit the actual OBC unit first, this can be quite fiddly and I must stress… do NOT drop the screws that hold it it, you will never find them again if you do!!!

You will need to release the heater panel in order to make life easier when fitting the unit. Pop out the rear heater switch and hazard light switch and whatever other switches or blanking plates you have there (should be 4 in total). Behind 2 of these you will see a screw, undo these 2 screws taking care not to drop them.

You now need to make use of the stubby cross-head screw driver, beneath the heater panel if you stick you fingers underneath you will feel another couple of screws, undo these and the heater panel should come loose.

There are 4 screws fixing the OBC in place, you will need to use the stubby screw driver again here to do up the 4 screws, I put my hand through the hole for the stereo and did them up this way. Ensure that you fix the green plug to the unit before securing it as it will be difficult to plug it in once the OBC is in place.

Refit the heater panel in reverse of removal.

I would now fit the relay control module. You will need to undo the 4 10mm bolts that hold the ECU in place and then remove the plate above the ECU. The relay control module is held in place on top of this plate by 2 large cross-head screws. Fix the relay control module and refit the plate and ECU, plug the loom into the module.

At this point I would test to make sure that the computer is working, plug the yellow connector into the back of the instrument panel and turn on the ignition to make sure that the computer lights up, it should light up orange and flash the letters UHR. If all is well at this point then continue.

Next I will explain how to fix the indicator stalk, this is fairly straight forward. Remove the lower steering column by removing the retaining screws and it should drop down. Next unplug the existing indicator stalk from the main loom and then undo the 2 retaining screws which hold the stalk in place.

You will now be able to swap the stalks over and re-assemble the trim.

Next you will need to fix the temperature sensor into the left hand brake cooling duct, there should already be a place that it plugs into, you will easily see this. You will also need to bolt the OBC horn and cover on, this goes up above where the fog light would be situated, it’s hard to explain exactly but you will know when you see it especially if you removed the computer from another car yourself.

Plug the temperature sensor\horn wiring loom into both the sensor and horn, feed it back along the side of the engine bay clipping it in with the rest of the wiring. You will see a rubber grommet beneath the brake servo, push the end of the loom through the grommet and into the car.

Now working from inside the car, attach the 2 looms together behind the glove box. You will see a main earthing point here which holds several brown wires onto the point with a nut, remove the nut and place the brown PBC earthing wire on the earthing point and secure the nut again.

You should now be left with 2 lose wires, a singe green one and a red with white tracer. These wires simply plug into the main control box, there is only one place that each will fit so you shouldn’t have any problems there.

Finally it’s just a case of reassembling the dash and glove box and re-fitting the stereo.

Article written by E30Adam and copyright to E30zone, must not be duplicated without written permission.

'''For a fitting guide for lhd cars
'''
http://www.r3vlimited.com/tech/obc/obc.htm

On-board Computer

2011-04-21T18:11:39Z

Daved:

Fuel Pump Replacement

2011-03-30T08:40:14Z

Daved:

{{stub}}

[[Category: Common Faults]]

Access on a touring is a little more time consuming,than a saloon in which you just remove the rear seat base .

Remove both rear seat bases.

Remove the carpet from the under-seat area(you may have to remove the seatbelt buckles and the sill trim to release it)

Remove the rail that supports the seat bases(several grub screws with tiny allan type heads)

Remove the access panel on the r/h side.

Remove the sender from the top of the pump(4 8mm nuts/washers)

Dis-connect pipework(you may require some small jubilee clips going back)

Remove pump by rotating anti-clockwise(it's a bayonet type fitting,assistance of a screwdriver and hitting stick may be needed,or two crossed screwdrivers may work)

Remove the filter sock from the bottom of the old pump, unsolder the wires from the top of the pump, then put some downward pressure on the frame around the bottom of the pump, enough to release the pump. The fuel connection is just push in.

Reassemble by the reverse of the above, making sure you solder the red wire to the + terminal on the pump.

credits;
a combination of Daimlerman and Bmoore

Fuel Pump Replacement

2011-03-30T08:38:44Z

Daved:

{{stub}}

[[Category: Common Faults]]

Access on a touring is a little more time consuming,than a saloon in which you just remove the rear seat base .

Remove both rear seat bases.
Remove the carpet from the under-seat area(you may have to remove the seatbelt buckles and the sill trim to release it)
Remove the rail that supports the seat bases(several grub screws with tiny allan type heads)
Remove the access panel on the r/h side.
Remove the sender from the top of the pump(4 8mm nuts/washers)
Dis-connect pipework(you may require some small jubilee clips going back)
Remove pump by rotating anti-clockwise(it's a bayonet type fitting,assistance of a screwdriver and hitting stick may be needed,or two crossed screwdrivers may work)
Remove the filter sock from the bottom of the old pump, unsolder the wires from the top of the pump, then put some downward pressure on the frame around the bottom of the pump, enough to release the pump. The fuel connection is just push in.
Reassemble by the reverse of the above, making sure you solder the red wire to the + terminal on the pump.

credits;
a combination of Daimlerman and Bmoore

Central Locking problems

2011-03-16T09:52:15Z

Daved:

== Introduction ==

The 325i Touring I bought some months ago had central locking that didn’t work. Worse than that, I couldn’t even lock the driver’s door with the key – I had to open the back door and lock it from the inside. I therefore took this as my first challenge on the E30 – fix the central locking! I took much advice from all those clever people on the forum (thanks guys!) and also my local, friendly dealer. As it seems to be a common fault on the E30, I thought I’d share my experience in the hope it can help someone else..

The central locking relay is probably the best place to start and the easiest to get too. I had tried getting my hand up inside the door to feel around the switch/solenoid but that’s a pain – literally!

Please note that the following procedure is correct for my 325I Touring – I cannot confirm that it’s the same across all E30 models.

== Procedure ==

The central locking relay is well hidden, but you’ll find it following these instructions.

- Remove the plastic trim that covers the driver’s side speaker in the foot well. This requires removal of the single screw at the bottom left of the speaker grill. This panel can then be pulled free of the door-seal that holds it in at the bottom.
 - Remove the speaker – should be only three screws left as the fourth also held the plastic trim that you’ve already removed. Store it well out of the way to avoid any damage to the cone.
 - Undo the two screws just below the speaker void – see photo below:

[[Image:cl_001.jpg]]

- Reach down inside the speaker void and you’ll feel the central locking relay, mounted on a triangular metal plate. Withdraw this carefully – don’t want to damage any wires! You should be left with this:

[[Image:cl_002.jpg]]

- At this stage, try operating the central locking from the driver’s side lock and listen for the relays clicking. If you hear nothing, then there is probably either a fault with the relay itself (circa £70 from your local dealer) or somewhere in the cabling. See point 15 below onwards.
 - You’ll find a single screw on the back of the metal plate which fixes the relay to it – remove this for ease of handling.
 - You then need to remove the white connector from the relay. This is done by easing a small flat-bladed screwdriver to release the catch, as shown below:

[[Image:cl_003.jpg]]

- You can then prize apart the two parts of the black housing, thus removing the end section covering the connector pins, as shown below:

[[Image:cl_004.jpg]]

- Pull out the circuit board from the black casing.
 - The photo below identifies the main components that I’m aware of:

[[Image:cl_005.jpg]]

- The component that was the cause of my faulty central locking was the vertically mounted resistor in the bottom right of the board, just below the connector pins. This is a thermal cut-out device which gets hot when there is a fault and hence melts the low-melting point solder at the top, which causes the strip of metal attached at this top joint to spring away, resulting in an open-circuit. Think of it as a thermal fuse.
 - If this has sprung open, try soldering it back as per the photo above – preferably with low-melting point solder to retain the intended purpose of the device.
Reconnect the relay to the wiring loom and re-check the operation of the central locking system. Mine worked after this and I jumped for joy! I have heard of one other instance on the forum where this has cured the problem too, so it’s not uncommon.
 - If this has cured the fault, put everything back where it came from by following the above procedure in reverse. Please remember to mount the central locking relay back as it was using the same fixings. Failure to do so may not allow the sensor that unlocks the doors in the event of a crash to operate as it relies on sensing the full impact. Leaving it hanging below the speaker will probably not allow it to work. Could be a life saver one day!
 - If the above procedure hasn’t cured the problem, have a good look around the relay for any evidence of burnt out components or dry-joints on the solder side.
 - Another typical cause of central locking failure is corrosion of the pins in the connector where the flexible trunking from the driver’s door plugs into the A-frame. This is caused by rain-water running down the inside of the door, some of which collates in this flexible trunking and eventually seeps up to the connector.
 Pull back the rubber cover from this connector as per the photo below:

[[Image:cl_006.jpg]]

Remove the connector by pushing the two side lugs towards each other and pulling the cable at the same time. You shouldn’t need to pull too hard, otherwise you might damage the cables.
 - Inspect inside both halves of this white connector, i.e. in the A-pillar (photo below) and at the end of the trunking. If there is any sign of water ingress and/or corrosion, repair/clean as necessary.

[[Image:cl_007.jpg]]

- I found it easier to replace the black rubber boot on the connector before reconnecting it into the A-pillar.

These are the main two faults that can cause central locking failure. If neither cures your problem, then you may have to start replacing the solenoid in the driver’s door, or perhaps one of the other door solenoids is shorting to ground. This is obviously a far more involved fault-finding process and not within my scope of experience gained to date.

'.............................................................................

from a post by Brianmoooore the zone electrical genius...

"The wiki article is only relevant to about one in ten central locking faults. The thermal fuse in the ECU only fails for a reason, so the underlying cause should be dealt with before re soldering it, and ordinary solder MUST NOT be added to the joint.
The modification to the red/black wires will cure 90% of locking faults, and it is not necessary, or desirable, to dismantle the door hinge pillar plugs and sockets to do so. All the work can be done through the speaker hole.
Note that cabs have a slightly different wiring arrangement, for some reason known only to the E30's original designers, and you will have three red/black wires to connect together."
'''

== THE RED /BLACK wire problem''' ==

Red/black wire mod to central locking.

Why do we do it?

BMW use a logical wiring system where all red wires are constantly live.

The red/black wire makes a loop into,and out of,the driver's door via the A pillar socket.This is known to cause corrosion and general mayhem both within
the socket and to other wiring in the area.

The fix is to eliminate the live loop through the door.

How?

Remove battery earth lead.

Remove the driver's side kick panel/speaker cover.(one screw)

Remove the speaker(three more screws)

Reach into the hole and pull the hank of harness going to the A pillar socket into view(try not to pull the socket out if possible)

Locate and cut the red/black wires,saloons have two,cabbies have three.

Solder and heat-shrink the harness ends together,insulate the ends going to the socket.

Replace speaker and cover.

Re-connect battery.

[[Category: Common Faults]]

Central Locking problems

2011-03-16T07:35:17Z

Daved:

== Introduction ==

The 325i Touring I bought some months ago had central locking that didn’t work. Worse than that, I couldn’t even lock the driver’s door with the key – I had to open the back door and lock it from the inside. I therefore took this as my first challenge on the E30 – fix the central locking! I took much advice from all those clever people on the forum (thanks guys!) and also my local, friendly dealer. As it seems to be a common fault on the E30, I thought I’d share my experience in the hope it can help someone else..

The central locking relay is probably the best place to start and the easiest to get too. I had tried getting my hand up inside the door to feel around the switch/solenoid but that’s a pain – literally!

Please note that the following procedure is correct for my 325I Touring – I cannot confirm that it’s the same across all E30 models.

== Procedure ==

The central locking relay is well hidden, but you’ll find it following these instructions.

- Remove the plastic trim that covers the driver’s side speaker in the foot well. This requires removal of the single screw at the bottom left of the speaker grill. This panel can then be pulled free of the door-seal that holds it in at the bottom.
 - Remove the speaker – should be only three screws left as the fourth also held the plastic trim that you’ve already removed. Store it well out of the way to avoid any damage to the cone.
 - Undo the two screws just below the speaker void – see photo below:

[[Image:cl_001.jpg]]

- Reach down inside the speaker void and you’ll feel the central locking relay, mounted on a triangular metal plate. Withdraw this carefully – don’t want to damage any wires! You should be left with this:

[[Image:cl_002.jpg]]

- At this stage, try operating the central locking from the driver’s side lock and listen for the relays clicking. If you hear nothing, then there is probably either a fault with the relay itself (circa £70 from your local dealer) or somewhere in the cabling. See point 15 below onwards.
 - You’ll find a single screw on the back of the metal plate which fixes the relay to it – remove this for ease of handling.
 - You then need to remove the white connector from the relay. This is done by easing a small flat-bladed screwdriver to release the catch, as shown below:

[[Image:cl_003.jpg]]

- You can then prize apart the two parts of the black housing, thus removing the end section covering the connector pins, as shown below:

[[Image:cl_004.jpg]]

- Pull out the circuit board from the black casing.
 - The photo below identifies the main components that I’m aware of:

[[Image:cl_005.jpg]]

- The component that was the cause of my faulty central locking was the vertically mounted resistor in the bottom right of the board, just below the connector pins. This is a thermal cut-out device which gets hot when there is a fault and hence melts the low-melting point solder at the top, which causes the strip of metal attached at this top joint to spring away, resulting in an open-circuit. Think of it as a thermal fuse.
 - If this has sprung open, try soldering it back as per the photo above – preferably with low-melting point solder to retain the intended purpose of the device.
Reconnect the relay to the wiring loom and re-check the operation of the central locking system. Mine worked after this and I jumped for joy! I have heard of one other instance on the forum where this has cured the problem too, so it’s not uncommon.
 - If this has cured the fault, put everything back where it came from by following the above procedure in reverse. Please remember to mount the central locking relay back as it was using the same fixings. Failure to do so may not allow the sensor that unlocks the doors in the event of a crash to operate as it relies on sensing the full impact. Leaving it hanging below the speaker will probably not allow it to work. Could be a life saver one day!
 - If the above procedure hasn’t cured the problem, have a good look around the relay for any evidence of burnt out components or dry-joints on the solder side.
 - Another typical cause of central locking failure is corrosion of the pins in the connector where the flexible trunking from the driver’s door plugs into the A-frame. This is caused by rain-water running down the inside of the door, some of which collates in this flexible trunking and eventually seeps up to the connector.
 Pull back the rubber cover from this connector as per the photo below:

[[Image:cl_006.jpg]]

Remove the connector by pushing the two side lugs towards each other and pulling the cable at the same time. You shouldn’t need to pull too hard, otherwise you might damage the cables.
 - Inspect inside both halves of this white connector, i.e. in the A-pillar (photo below) and at the end of the trunking. If there is any sign of water ingress and/or corrosion, repair/clean as necessary.

[[Image:cl_007.jpg]]

- I found it easier to replace the black rubber boot on the connector before reconnecting it into the A-pillar.

These are the main two faults that can cause central locking failure. If neither cures your problem, then you may have to start replacing the solenoid in the driver’s door, or perhaps one of the other door solenoids is shorting to ground. This is obviously a far more involved fault-finding process and not within my scope of experience gained to date.

'.............................................................................

from a post by Brianmoooore the zone electrical genius...

"The wiki article is only relevant to about one in ten central locking faults. The thermal fuse in the ECU only fails for a reason, so the underlying cause should be dealt with before re soldering it, and ordinary solder MUST NOT be added to the joint.
The modification to the red/black wires will cure 90% of locking faults, and it is not necessary, or desirable, to dismantle the door hinge pillar plugs and sockets to do so. All the work can be done through the speaker hole.
Note that cabs have a slightly different wiring arrangement, for some reason known only to the E30's original designers, and you will have three red/black wires to connect together."

THE RED /BLACK wire problem

Red/black wire mod to central locking.

Why do we do it?
BMW use a logical wiring system where all red wires are constantly live.
The red/black wire makes a loop into,and out of,the driver's door via the A pillar socket.This is known to cause corrosion and general mayhem both within the socket and to other wiring in the area.

The fix is to eliminate the live loop through the door.

How?

Remove battery earth lead.
Remove the driver's side kick panel/speaker cover.(one screw)
Remove the speaker(three more screws)
Reach into the hole and pull the hank of harness going to the A pillar socket into view(try not to pull the socket out if possible)
Locate and cut the red/black wires,saloons have two,cabbies have three.
Solder and heat-shrink the harness ends together,insulate the ends going to the socket.
Replace speaker and cover.
Re-connect battery.

[[Category: Common Faults]]

Door Lock Repairs

2011-02-12T20:11:41Z

Daved:

BMW e30 Driver's Lock Cylinder repair

pics to be added

When you turn the key in the driver's door, or push/pull the locking knob from inside the car, the latch mechanism is mechanically locked or unlocked. In addition, the electric lock motor will be mechanically pushed or pulled into action at which point it sends a signal triggering the central locking control module to power all the lock motors.

With the key in the driver's door and door closed, you should always be able to mechanically lock or unlock the driver's door, regardless of whether or not the central locking system is working properly on the other doors.

The arm on the lock cylinder should rotate up or down as you turn the key 45 degrees in either direction. That arm engages and lifts/lowers the same mechanism within the door latch mechanism as does the lock knob inside the door when it is pulled/pushed.

BMW E30 door lock

Note the roll pin is shown partially removed. The arm is meant to move only through 45 degrees each way. When turning the key to the 90 degree double locked position, the arm does not move down any further. Only the piece with the roll pin through it turns with the lock cylinder shaft all the way to 90 degrees. The little coiled spring then clicks over to securely hold the arm in position. When you withdraw the key in the 90 degree position, the cylinder barrel locks in that position, the spring mechanically holds the arm down, and nothing is going to unlock that door until you put the key back in. My central locking system is still screwed up, so for the moment I've simply pulled the fuse on it (Fuse #27).

When I got my 86 325, the driver's door would unlock fine with the key, but sometimes it would not lock. It felt like the key mechanism had gone soft. Sometimes it would catch and lock normally. Other times it would click all the way over to the 90 degree (double lock) position without locking the door at all. I could see the inside knob hadn't gone down, leaving the door unlocked. The only solution to that problem is to buy a replacement lock cylinder.

Now that I know how, I could probably do it again in half an hour. But the first time, following the instructions in Bentley, it took me most of an afternoon to get the old cylinder out.

To disassemble the lock cylinder, once you have it out of the car, you only need to drive out the roll pin that keeps the double lock mechanism attached to the lock cylinder shaft. I used a hammer and small nail to push the pin out. The piece with the spring still attached is the mechanical double lock gizmo. You can see that it has a squared hole that fits on the squared end of the lock shaft. It always turns with the key. The piece with the arm on it has a round hole fitting over the lock shaft. It looks like it rotates independently on the lock shaft.
BMW E30 door lock internal mechanism

Slowly lift the arm piece off the lock shaft, being careful not to lose sight of the tiny ball that will certainly fall out and roll into the darkest corner of your garage...
BMW E30 lock mechanism

That tiny ball was the cause of the problem with my door lock. The lock shaft has a small notch in it (yellow line) in which the ball is held. In that position the ball locks the arm mechanism securely to the lock shaft. The arm is then forced to rotate with the lock shaft. The ball normally rides around in a narrow track (red outline).

When the key is turned 45 degrees to unlock, or 45 degrees to lock, the locking arm is forced by the ball to move with the shaft. When the key is turned further to the 90 degree double lock position, the ball drops into a widened cut-out slot. When that happens the locking arm disengages from the lock shaft. The square end of the lock shaft continues to turn the double lock mechanism though, which clicks over so that the spring holds the locking arm in place. At least that's the theory.

The problem is that the hard ball bearing refuses to sit nicely in its intended slot. Over time it wears its own groove into the soft lock shaft and escapes.

Close up of BMW e30 door lock

Instead of properly locking the arm mechanism to the shaft, the ball slides out of its slot and allows the arm mechanism to rotate loose on the lock shaft.

Note how the groove is only worn off to one side. When I turn the key to unlock the door, it works perfectly. But when I turn the key to lock the door, sometimes the ball pops out of its seat and smears off to the left. The key turns the shaft, but the shaft does not move the locking arm far enough to activate the lock.
I bought a new replacement door lock cylinder from Bavarian Autosport http://www.bavauto.com/. The new improved lock cylinder has an cylindrical roller in place of the old style spherical ball. It works like a charm! (Be sure to ask for the correct lock cylinder. Apparently you can buy the cylinder with or without the double lock mechanism that comes with central locking.)
However the new replacement cylinder also comes with a new pair of keys, which of course won't work in your old ignition, passenger door, or trunk lock. You may actually like having a second set of keys. But if you prefer to continue using your old single key for everything, all you have to do is swap your old tumblers into the new lock cylinder.

CAUTION: Read everything before trying this!

When the key is fully inserted into the lock, the tumblers are drawn flush with the surface of the barrel. With the key in the lock, and after the roll pin is removed, you can pull the lock barrel clean out of the cylinder to expose the eleven tumblers.
BMW E30 door lock tumblers

CAUTION: With the barrel extracted, do not pull the key out all at once. The tumblers are spring loaded! My cylinder was gummed up with very old grease, so everything was pretty much glued together. But in theory, if you suddenly pull the key out, you could end up with eleven tiny tumblers, being fired into orbit by eleven tiny springs, to land after re-entry in eleven far away locations in the very darkest extremities of your garage (or maybe even in your lawn, if your garage door happens to be open at the time). Not that I would ever admit to having any personal experience with that sort of thing of course...
BMW E30 door lock with labelled tumblers

One other thing to watch out for. The tumblers come out on alternating sides, top and bottom, five on one side, six on the other.
Close up of BMW e30 door lock tumblers

Pull the key out very slowly, one notch at a time, pausing to catch or lift out each tumbler and spring as it comes free. Lay the tumblers out in order, label them, document each step with photos, whatever it takes, just be absolutely certain that you can put them all back in the same order or you'll be doing a lot of trial and error later on...

Put everything back together the way you found it, and Bob's your uncle.

I can lock and unlock my driver's door now. And someday soon I will also figure out why my power locks still don't work...

Ferdinand Trauttmansdorff
E30 Tech Articles

Door Lock Repairs

2011-02-12T20:10:27Z

Daved: New page: BMW e30 Driver's Lock Cylinder repair When you turn the key in the driver's door, or push/pull the locking knob from inside the car, the latch mechanism is mechanically locked or unlocked...

BMW e30 Driver's Lock Cylinder repair

When you turn the key in the driver's door, or push/pull the locking knob from inside the car, the latch mechanism is mechanically locked or unlocked. In addition, the electric lock motor will be mechanically pushed or pulled into action at which point it sends a signal triggering the central locking control module to power all the lock motors.

With the key in the driver's door and door closed, you should always be able to mechanically lock or unlock the driver's door, regardless of whether or not the central locking system is working properly on the other doors.

The arm on the lock cylinder should rotate up or down as you turn the key 45 degrees in either direction. That arm engages and lifts/lowers the same mechanism within the door latch mechanism as does the lock knob inside the door when it is pulled/pushed.

BMW E30 door lock

Note the roll pin is shown partially removed. The arm is meant to move only through 45 degrees each way. When turning the key to the 90 degree double locked position, the arm does not move down any further. Only the piece with the roll pin through it turns with the lock cylinder shaft all the way to 90 degrees. The little coiled spring then clicks over to securely hold the arm in position. When you withdraw the key in the 90 degree position, the cylinder barrel locks in that position, the spring mechanically holds the arm down, and nothing is going to unlock that door until you put the key back in. My central locking system is still screwed up, so for the moment I've simply pulled the fuse on it (Fuse #27).

When I got my 86 325, the driver's door would unlock fine with the key, but sometimes it would not lock. It felt like the key mechanism had gone soft. Sometimes it would catch and lock normally. Other times it would click all the way over to the 90 degree (double lock) position without locking the door at all. I could see the inside knob hadn't gone down, leaving the door unlocked. The only solution to that problem is to buy a replacement lock cylinder.

Now that I know how, I could probably do it again in half an hour. But the first time, following the instructions in Bentley, it took me most of an afternoon to get the old cylinder out.

To disassemble the lock cylinder, once you have it out of the car, you only need to drive out the roll pin that keeps the double lock mechanism attached to the lock cylinder shaft. I used a hammer and small nail to push the pin out. The piece with the spring still attached is the mechanical double lock gizmo. You can see that it has a squared hole that fits on the squared end of the lock shaft. It always turns with the key. The piece with the arm on it has a round hole fitting over the lock shaft. It looks like it rotates independently on the lock shaft.
BMW E30 door lock internal mechanism

Slowly lift the arm piece off the lock shaft, being careful not to lose sight of the tiny ball that will certainly fall out and roll into the darkest corner of your garage...
BMW E30 lock mechanism

That tiny ball was the cause of the problem with my door lock. The lock shaft has a small notch in it (yellow line) in which the ball is held. In that position the ball locks the arm mechanism securely to the lock shaft. The arm is then forced to rotate with the lock shaft. The ball normally rides around in a narrow track (red outline).

When the key is turned 45 degrees to unlock, or 45 degrees to lock, the locking arm is forced by the ball to move with the shaft. When the key is turned further to the 90 degree double lock position, the ball drops into a widened cut-out slot. When that happens the locking arm disengages from the lock shaft. The square end of the lock shaft continues to turn the double lock mechanism though, which clicks over so that the spring holds the locking arm in place. At least that's the theory.

The problem is that the hard ball bearing refuses to sit nicely in its intended slot. Over time it wears its own groove into the soft lock shaft and escapes.

Close up of BMW e30 door lock

Instead of properly locking the arm mechanism to the shaft, the ball slides out of its slot and allows the arm mechanism to rotate loose on the lock shaft.

Note how the groove is only worn off to one side. When I turn the key to unlock the door, it works perfectly. But when I turn the key to lock the door, sometimes the ball pops out of its seat and smears off to the left. The key turns the shaft, but the shaft does not move the locking arm far enough to activate the lock.
I bought a new replacement door lock cylinder from Bavarian Autosport http://www.bavauto.com/. The new improved lock cylinder has an cylindrical roller in place of the old style spherical ball. It works like a charm! (Be sure to ask for the correct lock cylinder. Apparently you can buy the cylinder with or without the double lock mechanism that comes with central locking.)
However the new replacement cylinder also comes with a new pair of keys, which of course won't work in your old ignition, passenger door, or trunk lock. You may actually like having a second set of keys. But if you prefer to continue using your old single key for everything, all you have to do is swap your old tumblers into the new lock cylinder.

CAUTION: Read everything before trying this!

When the key is fully inserted into the lock, the tumblers are drawn flush with the surface of the barrel. With the key in the lock, and after the roll pin is removed, you can pull the lock barrel clean out of the cylinder to expose the eleven tumblers.
BMW E30 door lock tumblers

CAUTION: With the barrel extracted, do not pull the key out all at once. The tumblers are spring loaded! My cylinder was gummed up with very old grease, so everything was pretty much glued together. But in theory, if you suddenly pull the key out, you could end up with eleven tiny tumblers, being fired into orbit by eleven tiny springs, to land after re-entry in eleven far away locations in the very darkest extremities of your garage (or maybe even in your lawn, if your garage door happens to be open at the time). Not that I would ever admit to having any personal experience with that sort of thing of course...
BMW E30 door lock with labelled tumblers

One other thing to watch out for. The tumblers come out on alternating sides, top and bottom, five on one side, six on the other.
Close up of BMW e30 door lock tumblers

Pull the key out very slowly, one notch at a time, pausing to catch or lift out each tumbler and spring as it comes free. Lay the tumblers out in order, label them, document each step with photos, whatever it takes, just be absolutely certain that you can put them all back in the same order or you'll be doing a lot of trial and error later on...

Put everything back together the way you found it, and Bob's your uncle.

I can lock and unlock my driver's door now. And someday soon I will also figure out why my power locks still don't work...

Ferdinand Trauttmansdorff
E30 Tech Articles

Steering Wheels

2011-02-08T10:41:31Z

Daved:

{{stub}}

The E30 was sold with a variety of steering wheels across the range, including Tech1 and Tech2 variants.

=== Three-Spoke ===
[[Image:Steering_wheel_three spoke_02.jpg‎|thumb|80px|right|Three Spoke]]
This wheel came Standard on SE models, Its three-spoke design was the basis for the Tech wheels, the Racing Dynamics wheel and the Nardi Blackline.

=== Four-Spoke ===
[[Image:Steering_wheel_four spoke_06.jpg‎|thumb|80px|right|Four Spoke]]
The "poverty-spec" four-spoke wheel. It housed four buttons, one on each spoke, to operate the horn. The design of it is very similar to that of the steering wheel found in the basic-spec BMW E12. This was the standard wheel for all basic spec e30s .

=== Tech 1 ===

Three spoke.
Originally in pre-facelift E30. Early Facelift E30 were equipped with it, too. Change to Tech 2 were mid 1988.

The Tech 1 came in 2 sizes: 385mm and 370mm. The smaller one usually came only with the M3. Both versions will fit all non-Air bag E30.

=== Tech 2 ===
[[Image:Steering_wheel_tech2_15.jpg‎|thumb|80px|right|Tech 2]]
Successor to the older Tech-1, the [[Tech_2|Tech-2]] wheel is also three-spoke. It came in two types, but only the smaller one was originally mounted at the E30. The large version came with E34 only, but it will fit E30 too.

Diameters are: 370mm and 385mm

=== Racing Dynamics ===
[[Image:Steering_wheel_racing dynamics_01.jpg‎|thumb|80px|right|Racing Dynamics]]
Wheel for the E30 made by the Italian tuning company [[Racing Dynamics]]

=== Alpina (Momo) ===

(please update with information about the Momo Alpina wheel)

=== Hartge ===
[[Image:Steering_wheel_hartge_04.jpg‎|thumb|80px|right|Hartge]]
Wheel used in the Hartge versions of the E30.

=== Nardi Blackline ===
[[Image:Steering_wheel_nardi blackline_01.jpg‎|thumb|80px|right|Blackline]]
(please update with information about the Nardi wheel)

=== Nardi Woodline ===
[[http://www.e30zone.net/e30zonewiki/index.php/Image:Steering_wheel_nardi_woodline01.jpg]]

Steering Wheels

2011-02-08T10:35:59Z

Daved:

{{stub}}

The E30 was sold with a variety of steering wheels across the range, including Tech1 and Tech2 variants.

=== Three-Spoke ===
[[Image:Steering_wheel_three spoke_02.jpg‎|thumb|80px|right|Three Spoke]]
This wheel came Standard on SE models, Its three-spoke design was the basis for the Tech wheels, the Racing Dynamics wheel and the Nardi Blackline.

=== Four-Spoke ===
[[Image:Steering_wheel_four spoke_06.jpg‎|thumb|80px|right|Four Spoke]]
The "poverty-spec" four-spoke wheel. It housed four buttons, one on each spoke, to operate the horn. The design of it is very similar to that of the steering wheel found in the basic-spec BMW E12. This was the standard wheel for all basic spec e30s .

=== Tech 1 ===

Three spoke.
Originally in pre-facelift E30. Early Facelift E30 were equipped with it, too. Change to Tech 2 were mid 1988.

The Tech 1 came in 2 sizes: 385mm and 370mm. The smaller one usually came only with the M3. Both versions will fit all non-Air bag E30.

=== Tech 2 ===
[[Image:Steering_wheel_tech2_15.jpg‎|thumb|80px|right|Tech 2]]
Successor to the older Tech-1, the [[Tech_2|Tech-2]] wheel is also three-spoke. It came in two types, but only the smaller one was originally mounted at the E30. The large version came with E34 only, but it will fit E30 too.

Diameters are: 370mm and 385mm

=== Racing Dynamics ===
[[Image:Steering_wheel_racing dynamics_01.jpg‎|thumb|80px|right|Racing Dynamics]]
Wheel for the E30 made by the Italian tuning company [[Racing Dynamics]]

=== Alpina (Momo) ===

(please update with information about the Momo Alpina wheel)

=== Hartge ===
[[Image:Steering_wheel_hartge_04.jpg‎|thumb|80px|right|Hartge]]
Wheel used in the Hartge versions of the E30.

=== Nardi Blackline ===
[[Image:Steering_wheel_nardi blackline_01.jpg‎|thumb|80px|right|Blackline]]
(please update with information about the Nardi wheel)

=== Nardi Woodline ===
[[Image:http://www.e30zone.net/e30zonewiki/images/6/62/Steering_wheel_nardi_woodline01.jpg]]

Resetting the Electric roof

2011-02-08T10:22:57Z

Daved: New page: The BMW manual version http://www.e30zone.net/e30zonewiki/images/7/73/EM_Convertible_top_E30_resetting.pdf

The BMW manual version
[[http://www.e30zone.net/e30zonewiki/images/7/73/EM_Convertible_top_E30_resetting.pdf]]

File:EM Convertible top E30 resetting.pdf

2011-02-08T10:20:30Z

Daved:

Changing the Dash

2011-02-08T10:11:52Z

Daved: New page: An excellent article on how to change the e30 dash [http://www.e30zone.net/e30zonewiki/images/7/7a/E30_Dashboard_Swap.pdf]

An excellent article on how to change the e30 dash
[http://www.e30zone.net/e30zonewiki/images/7/7a/E30_Dashboard_Swap.pdf]

File:E30 Dashboard Swap.pdf

2011-02-08T10:06:33Z

Daved:

File:Steering wheel nardi woodline01.jpg

2011-02-03T11:24:22Z

Daved:

Steering Wheels

2011-02-03T11:23:19Z

Daved:

Building a 2.8

2010-11-25T18:36:32Z

Daved:

'''BUILDING A 2.8 LITRE M20 ENGINE''' © Argos 2009

Really, this is pretty much the same as building a 2.7. I first built a 2.8 back in 2001 - 2.8 M52 engines had only been out for around 5-6 years then but there were a few ruined Nikasil short engines about.
The 2.7 525e is now becoming rare - they stopped making them at the end of 1987, most have done big miles and many are just knackered now and need a crank regrind.
The 2.8 M52 was fitted to the E36 328i and E39 528i, both of which are at the scrapyard stage now so an old 2.8 engine with suspected head gasket issues is literally £50 worth of scrap.

The M52 is a later alloy block version of the M50 which itself was only ever a 24v version of the M20. The block dimensions are the same and the 2.8 crank drops straight in. Later ones from the end of 1998 have Double Vanos and these cranks have a TDC trigger wheel screwed to the back as well as bigger counterweights meaning they are hard work to fit - it involved grinding out the block to provide clearance. But do check because some later cranks fit without a problem once the TDC trigger wheel has been removed and binned. But to keep things simple, just use the early single Vanos crank.

The beauty of the 2.8 crank is that it’s 84mm stroke - with standard 325i pistons and 130mm 2 litre, 2.3 litre and 525e M20 ‘short’ rods - allows the pistons to come to the top of the block. No machining of the block face is required although a 5 thou clean up skim is a very good idea.

Now, because the M52 had a timing chain and not a belt, the oil seal ran directly on the crank pulley hub and not the crank. This means you need to make up a spacer to slide onto the crank nose for the oil seal to run on. Fortunately, the M52 (and M50) crank pulley hub is perfect for the job - simply remove the damper (six bolts) and get a machine shop to mill it down to the dimensions shown. This will be the same tightish sliding fit on the crank, and once the crank bolt is tightened fully, it’s not going anywhere. Get the machine shop to mill a nice smooth chamfer on the front of the spacer so the crank oil seal slides over nicely. Use standard 325i crank bearings and rod bolts.

'''Other pistons?'''

Only the 325i pistons will work, NOTHING else!

Early 9.75:1 CR pistons from the pre 9/87 steel bumper 325i will need the bottom of the skirts taking off - I found that 14mm did the job but at the machine shop, assemble a piston and rod to the crank in the block and check.
Later 8.8:1 CR pistons SHOULD fit, but either Mahle or KS (Karl Schmidt) pistons will need a light shave. A very good machine shop with incredibly sensitive and accurate scales will be able to balance all six pistons for weight, but really, if they are all shortened exactly the same they will be okay.

'''Compression ratios?'''

Use the 8.8:1 pistons and the compression ratio will be a very acceptable 9.75:1
That’s a very decent compression and won’t cause any detonation.

Use the 9.75:1 pistons and the compression ratio will be a rather high 10.8:1. That’s going to require super unleaded, but it will go like a rocket on 99 octane. Using the BMW thicker head gasket will drop this to about 10.3:1. Either way the engine will be very responsive but it won’t like standard 95 octane fuel much.

'''Camshaft'''

The standard 325i cam will seriously limit power. You will need something in the region of a 270-276 degree camshaft so that the engine can fill its lungs. With the standard cam it will just lack top end power.

'''Other stuff'''

Like the 2.7, a 2.8 will need a good custom made ECU chip tailor made with the aid of a clever bloke with a dyno and an emulator. Standard 325i injectors are just about good enough. If you find they aren’t quite flowing enough, think about using the next injector up, the 0280 150 714 from the E34 530i and 535i. In most cases, the 325i injector does the job though.
The standard 325i radiator will be fine as long as it’s in perfect (i.e as new) condition. The standard air flow meter is also fine. Fitting a bigger one from a 535i doesn’t work.

'''Best exhaust'''

The standard BMW factory exhaust gives great power as long as it is a genuine BMW system made by either Boysen or Eberspacher. Some after-market systems give more power, many do not. The later cast iron manifold is much maligned - you might get 5 bhp from a tubular manifold but spend the money on a camshaft and a remap first.

'''How much power?'''

A good high compression 2.8 with a 270 degree cam, a proper ECU remap and 99 octane fuel will do around 220 bhp.
'''
Oil Seal Spacer Specs (for Fabrication)'''

[[Image:Crankringdw0.jpg]]

[[Category: E30 Engines]]

325e

2010-11-25T18:35:39Z

Daved:

[[Image:325es.jpg|thumb|280px|right|325eS]]

=== Introduction ===

Produced for the American market, the 325e was part of BMW's answer to the 1979 oil crisis; using a high-efficiency, low-power, high-torque version of the [[M20]] engine. Production of the 325e began in 1983 when BMW put the 2.7 litre engine from the E28 525e (known as the 528e in North America) into the E30 coupé. The first models were available to buy from early 1984. The following year, the four-door saloon version of the 325e was also released, alongside the 318i. In 1986 the 325eS was introduced. The last of the 325e editions was in 1988, in the form of the vastly updated (facelift) "super-eta" cars, before production ended in late 1988, after a production run totalling around 189,287 units.

=== 325e ===

The sports car for those who don't want a sports car. Built on the US-specification pre-facelift E30, it comes with all the options you'd expect to see on an E30. Except high revs. The difference represented by the 'e' is in the engine bay, an engine designed with efficiency and economy at the top of the manufacturer's agenda. The little car took to it well, and more four-door 325e units were sold worldwide than the equivalent four-door 325i.

=== 325eS ===

[[Image:325e_dashpanel_6.jpg|thumb|150px|right|Dashboard Display. 4750RPM Redline.]]

Only available in two-door coupé format, the eS was the sport model. It used exactly the same engine as the 325e, but had in addition a larger grille air inlet, sport suspension, firmer anti-roll bars, limited slip differential, sport seats, tech-1 steering wheel, rear spoiler, the 13-button [[OBC]], Blaupunkt premium sound system, electric sunroof, and cruise control.

nawDIy <a href="http://geqdgcylfjmy.com/">geqdgcylfjmy</a>, [url=http://pzrztxcxmwdj.com/]pzrztxcxmwdj[/url], [link=http://ptplsozdoavk.com/]ptplsozdoavk[/link], http://hqksufltyuzy.com/

=== M20B27 ===

[[Image:84_325e_ad.jpg|thumb|220px|right|325e Advert from 1984]]

This is the Eta engine; the 2.7 power-plant, built for economy and efficiency. The older B27 engines used the "200" head, as found in the E21 320/323i and also the E12 520. In the Eta engine, this head was modified, using only four cam bearings rather than seven, very soft valve springs, short duration cam, and small inlet manifold ports. This gave the characteristics of very low revving, and very low fuel consumption, but also very little power. The 200 Eta head was mounted on a long stroke, straight six block. This made an ideal pairing with the head, and despite the lack of power and engine speed, the long stroke produced a great deal of torque across a very wide power band.
Later cars, from 1987 onwards, were fitted with a different cylinder head. This was based on the "885" head used in the 325i, and is known as the Super Eta. To accommodate the new head, the engine management was updated to [[Motronic]] 1.3, new pistons were made, the intake manifold was made larger to match the larger ports, the rev limit/fuel shut-off was increased to 5300RPM, and the exhaust was fed through twin pipes. The compression ratio was also dropped, owing to some detonation problems when using 95RON fuel.

==== 327i Strokers ====

A common modification for the E30 is to mate the 2.7 engine block from the 325e, with the cylinder head from a 325i, thus creating a 327i. The torque of the long stroke block is combined with the high power of the uninhibited 885 head, increasing power substantially over the normal Eta engine; from 128bhp to around 185bhp, as well as some torque increase. There are a few methods for doing this modification. For details, see [[Building a 2.7]]. Another effective, and much simpler, way to achieve more power from the Eta engine is by fitting a chip. Fuel delivery is increased, and the rev limit is raised. For more details, see the [[Chip Fitting Guide]].

=== Commercial Success ===

[[Image:325watkinsglen.jpg|thumb|220px|right|325e wins Watkins Glen 24hr]]

Despite the power shortcomings, and the car only being offered in the North American car market, and being around $2000 more expensive than the counterpart 325i, the 325e range was a massive success for BMW. In four-door saloon format, the '''e''' actually outsold the '''i''' despite the '''i''' being in production for a year longer than the '''e'''.

One of the most significant race successes for the 325e came in 1986, when tuner and driver Ray Korman was shot to fame after seven wins in one series, winning the Driver and Manufacturers Championship, and then placing 1st in the Watkins Glen 24 hour Race, using a modified version of the 325e.

=== The 325e Today ===

Many 325e are still around nowadays, high build-quality as well as their fundamental purpose of being driven gently, mean that they have generally lasted very well, and are still a popular car in America today. Elsewhere, they're ofen seen as useful donors for their engine blocks, to create the stroker. With the current social trend for more ecologically friendly cars, and the rising cost of fuel, it seems that the near future of car and engine design may lie in the past, with the E30 325e.

E36

2010-11-25T18:34:50Z

Daved:

{{stub}}
[[Image:98_bmw_323is_E36.jpg‎|thumb|350px|right|E36]]
Successor to the E30. Bigger and heavier, it came with up to a 2.8l engine, more advanced rear suspension, but it's just not as cool.

Please update me.!

M3

2010-11-25T18:34:19Z

Daved:

{{stub}}

[[Image:M3_racer.jpg|thumb|320px|right|BMW M3 Power]]

'''Standard Specification'''

'''Options'''

'''Prices'''

*Original prices and market values

'''Common upgrades'''

'''Production Quantities'''

'''Common Problems'''

== Production Data ==

'''How many versions of the E30 M3 were developed?'''

BMW Motorsport developed seven versions of the E30 M3 coupe, each with slight mechanical variations and all in left-hand drive. Four were regular production models:
*European-spec (ECE, non-catalyst) - 5,187 produced from 03/86 through 08/89
*European-spec (ECE, catalyst) in 195 hp (early) form - 3,544 produced from 05/86 through 05/89
*European-spec (ECE, catalyst) in 215 hp (later) form - 1,914 produced from 09/89 through 12/90*
*North American-spec (NA, catalyst) - 5,300 produced from 03/87 through 12/90

The remaining three were limited editions built to homologate updates to the engine and aerodynamics for racing purposes:
* Evolution I (ECE, non-catalyst) - 505 produced 02/87 through 05/87**
*Evolution II (ECE, non-catalyst) - 501 produced from 03/88 through 06/88
*Sport Evolution (ECE, catalyst) - 600 produced from 12/89 through 03/90

There were also four further special editions with mainly cosmetic variations:
*Tour de Corse
*Europa Meister 88 (ECE, catalyst) - 148 produced from 10/88 through 11/88 (includes the French E30 M3 "Tour de Corse" edition)
*Johnny Cecotto (ECE, catalyst) - 480 produced from 04/89 through 07/89
*Roberto Ravaglia (ECE, catalyst) - 25 produced in 07/89 (includes the Swiss E30 M3)

In addition to the coupe, an E30 M3 convertible (see specific FAQ) was assembled by hand in limited numbers.

'''Do all examples of the E30 M3 utilize the "WBS" VIN prefix?'''

The E30 M3 was generally given a "WBS" VIN prefix (i.e. the first three letters in the VIN) to identify it as a product of BMW Motorsport GmbH. However, it is believed that the initial 164 ECE non-catalyst examples of the E30 M3 were given the regular WBA (non-M) prefix. The WBA prefix also appears in the VIN of the first 208 examples of the E30 M3 Sport Evolution.

'''What changed during the production of the European-spec E30 M3?'''

In addition to the development of several special edition models, there were many major and minor improvements made to the standard European-spec E30 M3 during the five and a half years it was produced. The most noteworthy of these occurred when both the 200-hp (non-catalyst) and 195-hp (catalyst) engines were replaced by the more powerful, catalyst-equipped 215-hp engine in September of 1989.Other changes include a switch to ellipsoid headlights with integrated "city" lights (from 9/87 production) and aluminum front control arms (6/89 production), the availability of Boge Electronic Damping Control and a myriad of minor colour, trim and option variations.

'''What changed during the production of the North American-spec M3?'''

The E30 M3 was introduced in North America as a 1988 model, though production began in March of 1987. Cars produced before September of 1987 were actually built to 1987 specification (despite being officially considered "1988" models). True 1988 production began in September of 1987, when ellipsoid headlights were introduced, Henna Red (052) was replaced by Cinnabar Red (138), Pearl Beige leather was replaced by Natur leather, and Silver leather was offered for the first time. An upgraded radio with CD-changer capability was introduced for the 1989 model year (from 7/88 production).

The next major round of changes were introduced with the 1990 model year (from 6/89 production). At this time, the ellipsoid headlights were once again replaced by halogen units, the rear quarter windows were fixed, the control arm bushings were modified, aluminum control arms replaced the steel versions and the air intake box was enlarged (as fitted to the Euro-spec Evolution II). In addition, the option list was expanded to inlcude a power glass moonroof and heated front seats (already standard in Canada). Further changes were implemented in September of 1989, when a driver-side airbag with knee bolster became standard on U.S.-spec cars and optional in Canada, plus Zinnaber Red (138) and Salmon Silver metallic (203) were replaced by Brilliant Red (308) and Sterling Silver metallic (244). The final 1991 models entered production in June of 1990 with no changes.

== Drivetrain ==

'''What makes the [[S14]] engine unique?'''

The E30 M3’s S14 engine was designed for racing applications and is therefore compact and high-revving. It combines the basic four-cylinder block from the M10 family with a four-valve head derived from the one used on the six-cylinder M88 and S38 motors. Special features of this engine include individual throttle plates for each cylinder, machined intake and exhaust ports, and a crankshaft with eight counterweights. Like the M88 and S38, the S14 does not have hydraulic lifters, and thus requires periodic valve adjustments.

'''How many versions of the S14 engine are there and how are they different?'''

BMW Motorpsort built five road-going versions of the S14 powerplant. The “standard” S14 engine has a bore of 93.4mm and a stroke of 84mm for a total capacity of 2,302cc. Without pollution controls, it is rated at 200 hp (DIN) at 6,750rpm and 176 lb/ft of torque at 4,750 rpm. A version of this engine equipped with twin in-line catalytic converters produces 195 hp (DIN) or 192 hp (SAE) and 170 lb/ft of torque at the same engine speeds. This was the only variation of the S14 sold in North America.

A second catalyst-equipped version of the S14 was introduced on the E30 M3 Cecotto/Ravaglia special editions in April, 1989. This engine produces 215 hp (DIN) at 6,750 rpm and 170 lb/ft of torque at 4,600 rpm. The increased power is largely due to a reprogramming of the Bosch Digital Motor Electronics (DME). This engine also became the standard European-spec E30 M3 engine as of September, 1989 production.

The most powerful evolution of the 2.3-liter S14 was introduced in the M3 Evolution II starting in March, 1988. Changes included new pistons that raised the compression to 11:1 (from 10.5:1), a more effecient air intake, lightened flywheel and reprogrammed engine management. This non-catalyst powerplant is rated at 220 hp (DIN) at 6,750 rpm and 181 lb/ft of torque at 4,750 rpm. These engines have white cam covers with the tri-color Motorpsort logo painted on them.

The final version of the S14 features increased cylinder bore (to 95mm) and a long-stroke crank for a new total displacement of 2,467cc. This engine was used exclusively in the 1990 E30 M3 Sport Evolution, built from 12/89 to 03/90. In addition to the increased displacement, the valves were enlarged and a more aggressive cam was fitted. Special nozzles sprayed oil under the pistons to keep them cool. All Sport Evolution motors were equipped with catalysts. Power increased to 238 hp (DIN) at 7,000 rpm, though peak torque decreased slightly (over the Evolution II) to 177 lb/ft at 4,750 rpm. These engines use the regular black cam cover but have red spark plug wires.

'''What kind of gearbox does the E30 M3 have?'''

Two different Getrag 260 five-speed manual gearboxes were used:
*European-spec: Close-ratio version with a direct top gear and a “dogleg” shift pattern
*North American-spec: Overdrive unit (shared with the E30 325i) with a standard “H” layout

The ratios are as follows:
*European-spec: 3.72 (1), 2.40 (2), 1.77 (3), 1.26 (4), 1.00 (5)
*North American-spec: 3.83 (1), 2.20 (2), 1.40 (3), 1.00 (4), 0.81 (5)

North American-spec cars have a shorter 4.10:1 final drive (versus 3.25:1) to offset the taller ratios. Both gearboxes are mated to limited slip rear differentials with a maximum locking of 25 percent.

'''What distinguishes a Euro-spec E30 M3 mechanically from a North American version?'''

Except for a different air intake arrangement, the North American-spec E30 M3 carries essentially the same powerplant as the early catalyst-equipped European-spec model. It is rated at 192 hp (SAE) at 6,750 rpm, which translates to a European rating of about 195 hp (DIN). Torque is an identical 170 lb/ft at 4,750 rpm. The only significant powertrain difference concerns the gearbox, which is a Getrag 260 with a standard shift pattern, as opposed to the European-spec model’s close-ratio Getrag box with its dogleg first gear location. The use of the conventional shift gate was determined to be more easily acceptable to Americans, and the wider ratios (shared with the E30 325i) are offset by a shorter 4.10:1 final drive.

== Chassis ==

'''How is the M3's suspension different from that of a standard E30 3 Series?'''

The E30 M3’s chassis consists of the MacPherson strut/semi-trailing arm design used on all E30 3 Series model, but has been revised with the following changes:
*Three times more steering castor
*Front antiroll bar linked to the struts
*Stronger wheel bearings (from E28 5 Series)
*Thicker 19mm rear antiroll bar
*Shorter (by .6mm), stiffer springs
*Wider track -Revalved shocks

Starting sometime in 1988, Euro-spec E30 M3s were available with Electronic Damper Control by Boge. This offered three shock stiffness settings, Komfort (K), Normal (N) and Sport (S) in order of increasing firmness, adjusted via a control knob in the center console.

'''How is the steering of the E30 M3 different from that of a standard 3 Series?'''

The E30 M3 has a power-assisted rack-and-pinion steering system with an overall ratio of 19.6:1, which is slightly quicker than the normal E30 ratio of 20.5:1.

'''What size brakes does the E30 M3 have?'''

All E30 M3s have vented front disc brakes measuring 11.1-inches (280mm) and solid rear discs measuring 11.1-inches (282mm). ABS is standard.

'''What are the factory wheel and tire sizes for the E30 M3?'''

There were two wheel and tire combinations available for the E30 M3. A 7x15-inch cross-spoke alloy wheel with 205/55VR15 tires was the standard wheel on European-spec models and was also fitted to all North American-spec examples. However, the Evolution II, Sport Evolution and Cecotto/Ravaglia special editions were equipped with 225/45ZR16 tires on 7.5x16-inch alloys of the same cross-spoke design. This larger wheel and tire package could also be ordered as a factory option on regular Euro-spec M3s.

== Cosmetics ==

How is the M3’s exterior different from that of a normal E30 3 Series?

Because the E30 M3's shape had to be homologated for racing, all exterior body panels except the hood are unique to this model. The fenders are flared. The front and rear fascias contain unique 2.5-mph bumpers. The rear window is re-angled and the glass, both front and rear, is bonded. The trunk lid sits over 1.5-inches higher than the normal E30 3 Series, has a wing-type rear spoiler and is met by an extended cap over the C-pillar, all of which lower the Cd to 0.33 from 0.38. There is a roof-mounted radio antenna at the front. All window trim is of the blacked-out "Shadowline" variety. “M3” badges appear on the grille and decklid. How does the exterior of the North American-spec E30 M3 differ from that of the Euro-spec model? Cosmetically, the North American E30 M3 is nearly identical to the European-spec model. However, it can be easily identified by the black intake grilles near each front fog light in place of the European-spec model's body-color tow hook covers.There are also bumper-mounted side marker lights, slightly different headlight configurations and a high-mounted third brake light, all required by Federal law. How is the interior of the E30 M3 different from that of a normal E30 3 Series? The E30 M3 interior shares its basic architecture with the standard E30 3 Series. However, all M3s are equipped with manual sport seats in cloth, leather or a combination of the two. The rear seat is individually contoured for two passengers. A black headliner and a unique instrument cluster with red needles, an M logo and an oil temperature gauge under the tachometer in place of the economy-meter are also included. Cars without a driver-side airbag have a leather-wrapped M three-spoke steering wheel in one of two designs: The M-Technic I with a slimmer hub and the M tri-color stripe on the center spoke was used on M3s built before September, 1989. After this date, the M-Technic II steering wheel with a thicker rim and the M logo on the central spoke was used. The shift knob is also leather and includes an M stripe with the "dogleg" shift pattern (euro-spec) or the standard "H" configuration (North American models). It is always of the earlier, non-ergonomic design and comes attached to an integrated leather boot. The parking brake handle boot is also leather and is unique to the M3. All M3s were equipped with the check control vehicle monitoring system above the interior rearview mirror. How does the interior of the North American-spec E30 M3 differ from that of the Euro-spec version? Except for unique instrumentation and a generally higher level of equipment, the interior of the North American-spec E30 M3 is essentially identical to the Euro-spec model. Standard equipment on all North American-spec M3s included Bison leather sport seats, cruise control, air conditioning, power windows and sunroof, on-board computer II and an eight-speaker am/fm stereo cassette sound system. U.S.-spec models built for the 1990 and 1991 model years (9/89 thru 12/90 production) have a driver-side airbag with knee bolster. How does the interior of the Canadian-spec M3 differ from that of the U.S. version? Aside from small items like metric instrumentation, Canadian E30 M3s are essentially identical to the U.S. versions, with a few minor exceptions: Heated seats are standard on all model years (these did not appear until the 1990 model year on U.S.-spec cars, and then only as an option) and cars built for the 1990 and 1991 model years do not have a driver’s side airbag or knee bolster. What features were optional on the E30 M3? The European-spec versions of the E30 M3 were far less lavishly equipped than the North American-spec version. Optional equipment, depending on the market and production date, included: metallic paint, headlight washer/wipers, leather upholstery, heated seats, power windows, power sunroof, rear headrests, on-board computer II, air conditioning, Electronic Damper Control (EDC) and various audio systems.

North American-spec cars were fitted with most of the above items as standard, and thus options were limited to metallic paint, heated seats (from 9/89 production on U.S. models, always standard in Canada) and a glass moonroof (1990-91 models only). A CD changer could be added as a factory option starting with 9/88 production. Special Versions Were there any special editions of the E30 M3? There were seven special editions of the E30 M3. Three were homologation specials known as the Evoultion I, Evolution II and Sport Evolution. The remaining four were based more closely on regular production models, but had special cosmetic features. These editions were called the Tour de Corse, Europa Meister 88, Johnny Cecotto and Roberto Ravaglia. What distinguishes an E30 M3 Evolution I? The initial E30 M3 Evolution was created to homologate refinements to the E30 M3 designed to make it more competitive in its competition guise. The main mechanical alteration was a revised cylinder head, distinguishable by an "E" cast into it, though peak power remained unchanged from the standard non-catalyst M3 at 200 hp (DIN). The model is otherwise identical to a standard European-spec E30 M3 and lacks a numbered dash plaque or any other identifying feature to denote this special series. It is thought that 505 examples were produced in the Spring of 1987. What distinguishes an E30 M3 Evolution II? The E30 M3 Evolution was followed by the E30 M3 Evolution II, all of which were built in the Spring of 1988. Unlike the first Evolution, the E30 M3 Evolution II has significant mechanical upgrades over the regular M3. New pistons raised the compression to 11:1 (from 10.5:1), the air intake was improved, the flywheel lightened and the engine management revised. Power increased to 220 hp, torque to 181 lb/ft, both at the same rpm as the standard E30 M3. These engines have cam covers painted in white with the tri-color Motorsport emblem.The close-ratio gearbox carried over unchanged, though the final drive was reduced slightly from 3.25:1 to 3.15:1.

There were no alterations to the chassis or brakes, though the larger 7.5x16-inch wheels with 225/45ZR16 tires (as fitted to the Evolution I) were standard, along with the deeper front airdam, additional rear spoiler and front brake cooling ducts in place of foglights from the Evolution I. In addition, thinner glass plus a lightened trunk lid and bumpers reduced weight by 22 pounds.

The E30 M3 Evolution II was available in only three exclusive exterior colors: Misano Red (236), Macao Blue metallic (250) and Nogaro Silver metallic (243). The sole interior choice was Silver cloth with matching leather bolsters. Both the front and rear seats were fitted with the tri-color M lapels (as used on the E28 M535i/M5), plus the the special M dead pedal and door sill plates with the "M3" insiginia from the first M3 Evolution model. Finally, a center console-mounted plaque denoting the specific number of each example out of 500 was fitted to every Evolution II. What distinguishes an E30 M3 Sport Evolution? The E30 M3 Sport Evolution, produced in late 1989 and early 1990, was the most extensively modified of the three E30 M3 Evolution editions. The cylinder bore was increased to 95mm (from 84mm) and a long-stroke crank was added to boost displacement to 2,467cc (from 2,305). In addition, the valves were enlarged and a more aggressive cam was fitted. Special nozzles sprayed oil under the pistons to keep them cool. All Sport Evolution motors were equipped with catalysts. The end result was a power increase to 238 hp at 7,000 rpm, though peak torque decreased slightly (over the Evolution II) to 177 lb/ft at 4,750 rpm. These engines use the regular black cam cover but have red spark plug wires. The gearbox remained unchanged but the 3.15:1 final drive was fitted.

Like the Evolution II, the Sport Evolution has thinner glass, a lighter trunk and bumpers, and brake cooling ducts in place of foglights. In addition, it also has a smaller fuel tank. For homologation purposes, the Sport Evolution has unique front and rear spoilers with adjustable extensions for greater downforce, even wider front fenders, and reprofiled grille slats with sealed gaps for better aerodynamics, all of which have negligible effect on the street. The M3 Sport Evolution also sits 10mm lower than the normal E30 M3.

The Sport Evolution was only offered only in Jet Black (668) with red bumper stripes or Brilliant Red (308) with black bumper stripes. The wheels are the same 7.5x16-inch cross-spoke items used on other Evolution models, but the spokes are painted a darker Nogaro Silver. Comfort items such as power windows, a sunroof, on-board computer and air conditioning were all deleted in order to keep weight down, though they could be ordered as options. Even the interior map lights and grab handles were deleted. Recaro sport seats with integrated headrests were standard in Anthracite M cloth. Black leather with the M tri-color logo was an option. A suede-covered M Technic II steering wheel, shift knob and parking brake handle were included along with red seatbelts. Door sill plates with color "M3" insignias were added and a special plaque denoting each car as a Sport Evolution appears on the center console (though it does not include the unique number of each example out of the 600). What distinguishes an E30 M3 Tour de Corse? Though not considered an "official" model by BMW AG, the E30 M3 Tour de Corse was a special edition of the M3 Evolution I created by BMW France exclusively for the French market to celebrate the win of French drivers Bernard Beguin and Jean-Jacques Lenne in the Tour de Corse rally. The Tour de Corse model shares the "E-stamped" cylinder head, 7.5x16-inch cross-spoke alloy wheels, M dead pedal and special door sill plates featuring the "M3" logo with the Evolution I. However, unlike the Evolution I, the Tour de Corse does not feature the extended front airdam, additional rear lip spoiler or brake cooling ducts in place of fog lights. Instead, it is cosmetically identical to the standard E30 M3 aside from two "Tour de Corse" badges, one in place of the standard M3 badge on the grille and another on the left side of the trunk lid.

Inside, the Tour de Corse includes tri-color M stripe lapels on the front and rear seats and a numbered plaque on the center console bearing the signatures of Bernard Beguin and Jean-Jacques Lenne. It is thought that 200 examples of the E30 M3 Tour de Corse were produced within the series of 505 cars that make up the entire Evolution I production. All were Diamond Black metallic (181) with a Black leather interior and equipped with the power sunroof, on-board computer II, interior headlight adjustment and headlight washer/wipers. What distinguishes an E30 M3 Europameister? BMW decided to celebrate the dominance of the E30 M3 in the 1988 Touring Car season with a limited run of 148 "Europameister" edition road cars built from October through December of that year. Based on the regular production M3 with the 195-hp catalyst-equipped engine, these were all painted in special Macao Blue metallic (250). Most received a Silver extended Nappa leather interior with hide covering the center console and special diagonally-pleated door panels, plus M-stripe lapels on all four seats. A complete Silver Nappa leather interior (including the entire dashboard, glovebox door and steering wheel) was offered as a rare (and expensive) option. In addition, the Europameister was given the larger 7.5x16-inch alloy wheels, door sill plates with the "M3" insignia and an "M" dead pdeal. A special plaque on the center console reads "Europameister 1988 auf BMW M3" and is signed by driver Roberto Ravaglia. What distinguishes an E30 M3 Cecotto? In order to celebrate the many competition victories of factory driver Johnny Cecotto, BMW produced a speical version of the E30 M3 during 1989 that was named in his honor. This model introduced the 215-hp version of the 2.3-liter S14, still rated at 170 lb/ft of torque, though now at a slightly lower 4,600rpm. This engine, which would become standardized on European-spec M3s beginiing in September of 1989, can be identified in the Cecotto by its body-color cam cover.

The M3 Cecotto was offered in the same three exterior color choices as the M3 Evolution II: Misano Red (236), Macao Blue metallic (250) or Nogaro Silver metallic (243). In addition to the Evolution II front and rear spoilers, it is further distinguished by its thinner rear window glass and 7.5x16-inch wheels with unique black centers. However, unlike the Evolution II, the Cecotto does not include the front brake ducts in place of foglights.

On the inside, the Cecotto has the standard M3 sport seats, though these are generally trimmed in a special Anthracite or Silver M-Technic cloth with Bison leather bolsters. As an alternative, Black extended Bison leather, Black extended Nappa leather or Silver extended Nappa leather could be specified at extra cost. All Cecotto editions were further equipeed with the power sunroof, on-board computer II and internal headlight adjustment as standard equipment. Additional special features included door sill plates with a color "M3" insignia, a green-tinted windshield band, an illuminated shift knob and a plaque on the center console that displays the signature of Johnny Cecotto, as well as the exclusive number of each car out of 505. (In fact, only 480 Cecottos were built, the other 25 being nearly identical Ravaglia editions see below).

In addition to the initial 505 Cecotto and Ravaglia editions, the Swiss market also received a special series of 50 additional E30 M3 Cecotto models in late 1989 and early 1990. These are identical in every way to the normal Cecotto edition model aside from being fitted with a special 211-hp (DIN) version of the S14 motor tailored for Swiss emissions regulations. Being 1990 models, they are also equipped with the later M-Technic II steering wheel. A unique center console plaque that bears the signature of Johnny Cecotto, but is not individually numbered. The Swiss Cecotto models do not contain a unique VIN sequence, but are instead included within the standard E30 M3 range. What distinguishes an E30 M3 Ravaglia? Instead of the E30 M3 Johnny Cecotto edition, the U.K. received only the E30 M3 Roberto Ravaglia edition, which was essentially an identical car except for the signature of another BMW factory race driver on the numbered plaque. Only 25 were built.

Color and Upholstery Selections

MODELS AK01 (INCLUDING EVO I), AK03, AK05

PAINT NAME PAINT CODE MODEL AVAILABILITY PRODUCTION PERIOD Alpine White 146 AK01, AK03, AK05 3/86 through 12/87 Alpine White II 218 AK01, AK03, AK05 1/88 through 12/90 Henna Red 052 AK01, AK03, AK05 3/86 through 8/87 Cinnabar Red 138 AK01, AK03, AK05 9/87 through 8/89 Brilliant Red 308 AK03, AK05 9/89 through 12/90 Salmon Silver metallic 203 AK01, AK03, AK05 3/86 through 08/89 Sterling Silver metallic 244 AK03, AK05 9/89 through 12/90 Diamond Black metallic 181 AK01, AK03, AK05 3/86 through 12/90

MODELS AK01 (INCLUDING EVO I), AK03, AK05

UPHOLSTERY NAME UPHOLSTERY CODE MODEL AVAILABILITY PRODUCTION PERIOD Anthracite County cloth 0211 AK01, AK03 3/86 through 8/87 Pearl Beige Country cloth 0214 AK01, AK03 3/86 through 8/87 Anthracite Uberkaro cloth 0304/ 0379 AK01, AK03 9/87 through 12/90 Silver Uberkaro cloth 0305 / 0380 AK01, AK03 9/87 through 12/90 Anthracite M-Technic cloth 0461 AK03 9/90 through 12/90 Black Bison leather 0203 AK01, AK03, AK05 3/86 through 12/90 Pearl Beige Bison leather 0206 AK01, AK03, AK05 3/86 through 8/87 Silver Bison leather 0292 AK01, AK03 ,AK05 9/87 through 12/90 Natur Bison leather 0295 AK01, AK03, AK05 9/87 through 12/90 Cardinal Red BIson leather 0256 AK01, AK03, AK05 3/86 through 8/89 Crimson Red Bison leather 0324 Ak03 9/89 through 12/90

SPECIAL EDITION MODELS (INCLUDING AK07)

EDITION NAME PAINT NAMES + CODES UPHOLSTERY NAMES + CODES Europa Meister Macao Blue metallic (250) Silver extended Nappa leather (0319) Tour de Corse Diamond Black metallic (181) Black Bison leather (0203) Evolution II Misano Red (236), Nogaro Silver metallic (243), Macao Blue metallic (250) Silver Uberkaro cloth with Silver Bison leather bolsters (0305) Cecotto/Ravaglia Misano Red (236), Nogaro Silver metallic (243), Macao Blue metallic (250) Anthracite M cloth with Black Bison leather bolsters (0344), Silver M cloth with Silver Bison leather bolsters (0345), Black Bison leather (0203), Black extended Nappa leather (0318), Silver extended Nappa leather (0319) Sport Evolution Brilliant Red (308), Jet Black (668) Anthracite M cloth (0316), Black Nappa leather (0393)

[[Category: E30 Range]]

Replacing Fuel Tank

2010-11-25T18:33:37Z

Daved:

==== A quick and easy guide which details how to replace your fuel tank. ====

First thing would be to get the car up on either:

Ramps
Axle Stands
Over an Inspection Pit

Drain fuel-the tank, it should have a drain plug on the drivers side (you need an Allen key,5 or 6 mm if I remember correctly. If the Allen key is going to get ruined, use a pair of vice or mole-grips, or self locking pliers to turn it.

Remove the exhaust (when its cool obviously)

Remove the heat shield that sits above the exhaust

Undo the four nuts that hold the prop shaft to the diff and then the 3 bolts that hold the front of the prop to the gearbox and finally the 2 bolts that hold the centre bearing housing. Pull down the centre bearing carrier and remove the rear of the prop from the diff and do the same with the front of the prop and place the prop out of your way

If you have 2 metal strips just in front of the tank (air deflector plates)-remove these also (held in place with plastic nuts and a screw) if the screw wont budge, just pull the strip down slightly.

Lift/remove the rear seat and lift the carpet to reveal either 1 or 2 access panels-unscrew these. Beneath these you will find fuel pipes and electrical connections, undo the wiring plugs (poss. 1 in each hole (if a 2 hole tank) these are for the fuel pump and the fuel senders (there are 1 either side on the 2 hole version) a small flat head screwdriver should split the clips that hold the fuel lines (best to replace with new jubilee clips-much easier to do up) separate the fuel lines (mark them if it makes you feel better)

You now have to undo the hoses beside the fuel filter (again, mark them if you feel it would be easier for you to identify which pipe goes where for when you come to put it back together). You have to remove the fuel filter from it’s jubilee clip to gain access to the bolt that holds the filter hanger bracket. Undo the bolt then undo the bolt/nut at the other side of the tank also. That’s 2 down 3 to go. I found it best to remove the 2 at the back of the tank (above the rear beam) first and support the tank and THEN remove the final nut (in the centre at the front). The tank should now be in a position to be removed (you need to fiddle it about a bit to get it out).

Once removed, give the top a clean/sweep down to remove crud etc. Remove the metal sleeved rubber grommets and fit them to your new/replacement tank. Remove the pass side fuel sender (screws out-might need a little leverage-use a screwdriver/small flat bar etc) and fit into new tank (if you have new seals, USE THEM).

To remove the fuel pump. first remove the 4 small nuts on the top and lift out the 2nd sender unit. then unscrew the fuel pump just as you did with the 1st fuel sender and fit into your new tank (again if you have new seals, FIT THEM) once the pumps in, refit the sender unit (Haynes-fitting is reverse of removal).

Transfer the plastic fuel lines to the new tank. (Do not damage the copper pipe), if the clips on the original tank are dodgy/in need of replacement, you can use plastic tie raps to hold the plastic lines Just don’t tighten them to too tight.

You should now be ready to refit the tank

Get the tank back up into position and support it.

Connect up the fuel lines on top of the tank to those still on the car (jubilee clips are much easier/faster than the originals) and refit the wiring plugs to the fuel pump and sender units

Everything else should be pretty straight forward when it comes to refitting.

[[Category: Common Faults]]

325i Sport

2010-11-25T18:32:44Z

Daved:

{{stub}}

'''Model variants'''

*Tech1 and Tech2

[[Image:325i sport tech1.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Tech 2 325i Sport, Brilliant Red]]

'''Standard Specification'''

Tech 2 standard specification

M Technic sport package comprising of,
* M technic 2 body kit and boot spoiler
* Anthracite interior head lining
* Limited slip differential
* M technic suspension (Comprising of 15mm lower springs and Boge M technic shock absorbers)
* 5 Speed close ratio gear box
Other standard equipment
* 15" BBS light alloy road wheels
* Sport front seats
* Rear seat fold down centre armrest
* Headlamp wash wipe
* Map reading light rear view mirror
* Electric sliding sunroof
* Electic front windows
* Opening rear windows
* Central locking
* Metallic paint
* M technic leather steering wheel (Tech 1 steering wheel on pre 89 cars)
* Leather one peice gear knob and gator
* Front fog lamps
* Shadowline trim (de-chrome)

'''Options'''

* Leather upholstery
* Rear headrests
* 6 Button On board computer
* 13 Button On board computer
* Air condtioning
* Cruise control
* Heated front seats (Not with Recaro seats)
* Switchable sports Automatic transmission
* Genuine recaro seats (Not with leather upholstery)
* Rear window retractable sun blind
* Premium HiFi upgrade

'''Colours'''

Tech 2 from 1988

* Diamond Black
* Dolphin Grey
* Lachs Silver

1989 additions

* Alpine White
* Sterling Silver
* Brilliant Red

Special order only in 1991

* Granite Silver

'''Interior colours'''

* Anthracite (Black/dark Grey)
* Silver (Light Grey)
* Natural (Beige/Tan)
* Indigo (Blue)

'''Leather upholstery colours'''

* Black
* Silver (Light grey)
* Natural (Beige/Tan)
* Indigo (Blue)
* Cardinal/Crimson (Red)

'''Prices'''

*Original prices and market values

'''Common upgrades'''

'''Production Quantities'''

'''Common Problems'''

Please also see the [[E30 325i Sport Register]]

'''Tech 1 Sport'''

'''Sept1986 - Nov1987'''

'''Standard Specification'''

Tech 1 standard specification

M Technic sport package comprising of,
* M technic 1 body kit and boot spoiler
* Anthracite interior head lining
* Limited slip differential
* M technic suspenion (Comprising of 15mm lower springs and Bilstien shock absorbers)
* 5 Speed close ratio gear box
Other standard equipment
* 15" BBS light alloy road wheels(14" BBS on the very first models)
* Sport front seats
* Rear seat fold down centre armrest
* Electric sliding sunroof
* Electric front windows
* Opening rear windows
* Central locking
* Metalic paint
* M technic 1 leather steering wheel
* Leather one peice gear knob and gator
* Front fog lamps
* Shadowline trim (de-chrome)

'''Options'''

* Leather upholstery
* Rear headrests
* Electric Windows
* Power steering
* Electric sunroof
* 6 Button On board computer
* 13 Button On board computer
* Air conditioning
* Cruise control
* Switchable sports Automatic transmission
* Genuine recaro seats (Not with leather upholstery)
* Rear window retractable sun blind
* Stereo preparation

'''Colours'''

Tech 1 from 1986

* Diamond Black
* Dolphin Grey
* Lachs Silver

This model was produced for a short time of 6-10 months and most were either grey, silver or black. They differ from the tech 2 by looks and cabin accessories but in the main they are not so different. This tech 1 is in lachs silver and showing the standard kit front apron and side skirts and rear apron and colour-coded boot spoiler. The trim is grey houndstooth but did also come in leather. This is becoming harder to find now so if you have any hang on to it, most drivers seats have the usual bolster wear. Inside you have tech 1 steering wheel and sports seats, black headlining and all usual refinements are not standard as with any bmw you could ask for electric bits to be added - such as windows and sun-roof the one above does not have electric windows but does have electric sun-roof.

As for the model in general this is now a very rare model, even more so than the tuning houses of hartge etc as they produced cars through out the models life this was made then stopped to be superseded by the later tech 2. This model does not appear in the parkers classic car buyers guide, this model was not present, the tech 2 was but from 1988 on so this model will only rise in price.

If you have any more info on the tech 1 please edit the thred cheers

[[Category: E30 Range]]
[[Category: E30 Sports Models]]

ABS Problems

2010-11-25T18:31:06Z

Daved:

== Introduction. ==

It is important whilst working on the ABS system (and any car electrical system in fact) to disconnect the battery before you touch or make any changes to the system to protect from electrocution. But don't forget to reconnect it when you want to test the changes!

The E30 ABS system is adequate for stopping the average driver in the event of an emergency and is rightly so a useful safety system, if it is fitted and not working then the car is also deemed an MOT failure it is important that if it is fitted it works.

== Diagnosing The Type Of Problem ==

If you suspect an ABS fault yet the ABS light is inoperable please skip to the next section briefly to test and repair the dash light warning system.

If the warning light is operating correctly you may use it to diagnose where in the system the fault is, put the key into the ignition and turn the key to position 1 (ATT position). The dash lights will illuminate, including the ABS light, if it doesn't its not working! Go to ABS Light Inoperable.

Keeping your eyes on the ABS light now turn the key to final position and start the vehicle normally.

If the light remains on and does not go out then the fault lies with the ABS system and is a ABS System Fault.

If the light initially goes out but returns once the vehicle moves off (or even whilst the vehicle is stationary in rare cases) '''but after the light has briefly switched itself off!''' Then it is a sensor fault (or related wiring from the sensors upto the ABS ECU). Procede to ABS Sensor Fault.

== ABS Light Inoperable ==

If you suspect an ABS fault yet the ABS light is inoperable you may test it by removing one of the relays, on early E30s the relay is silver and can be found in the glovebox housing next to the ABS ECU, on later cars the relays (as there are two) are mounted on top of the ABS pump in the engine bay (fig 1.1) choose either or both to remove it does not matter.

If either of the fuses are missing then theres your problem. Another common bodge by bodgers to pass MOT by one of the less observant testers.

Once you have removed the relay start your vehicle, the ABS light on the dash (fig 1.2) should now be illuminated. This is because withought the relays the ABS system should not operate, you have introduced a fault in the system and therefore you know withought doubt it is now not working, if the ABS light illuminates then it can be assumed there was no fault with the ABS to begin with and if a fault still manifests itself it is most likely to be another system.

However if the light does not illuminate it can be assumed that someone has played silly buggers with the bulb, it is possible the bulb has blown but given that the life of a bulb is quite long and the light should only illuminate before the car is started this is unlikey.

It is probable that someone has removed or disconnected the bulb from the instrument cluster to pass MOT or to sell the car on with no fault.

The next step therefore is to remove the instument cluster and investigate why the bulb does not work. Once the bulb is operating properly return the relays back to the correct positions and return to Diagnosing The Type Of Problem.

'''Note'''
 Due to the recent introduction of computerised MOT's it is becoming more common for the bodgers to wire the ABS bulb in series with the battery light or brake light or any other dash light that comes on when the key is in position 1, and goes off when the vehicle is started, this simply mimics the correct behaviour of the ABS light regardless of the operation of the ABS system.

== ABS System Fault ==

'''Have you recently jump started your vehicle?'''

99% of the time if you have then the resultant current spike will have fried the voltage protection circuit. Both early and late ABS systems fitted to the E30 had voltage protection circuits however on early systems it is found in the silver relay next to the ABS ECU in the glovebox.

On the later ABS systems there are two relays, I have always replaced them in pairs (since if one is beyond its best it stands to reason the other of the same vintage will be too) however only one of them contains the voltage protection circuit. They can be opened and repaired too, normally if you open the relay the fault is clear as its usually a blown resistor however the case is difficult to dismantle and fit back together and as they are so cheap I normally replace them as a matter of course.

The later ABS relays are found on top of the ABS pump under a black plastic cover screwed down with one star nut. If you need help identifying the ABS pump you need more help than I can give you!

'''You haven't recently jump started your vehicle?'''

'''Fuse/Relay/Wiring'''

It may still be a relay/fuse problem, but it could also be the ABS pump or ABS ECU or wiring between (i.e. everything bar the sensors and sensor ralated wiring). If you cannot find any problem with wiring then the relays are the cheapest item to replace typically £4 or less from a breaker on Ebayor friendly Zoner including postage. The early ABS system will only accept an early silver relay and the late system only accepts the later two relays.

'''ABS ECU'''

Should that not prove to be the problem the next most common problem is a faulty ABS ECU fortunately these are also relatively cheap typically £10-£20, they plug in and out on a fixed loom and are located above the glove box compartment, accessible by removing the plastic sheet which forms the roof of the glovebox from within the glovebox, swapping ECUs is a 5 minute job.

'''Note'''
 When ordering a ABS ECU they are coded with colour stickers on the top of the case, find out which colours yours is coded with first and order the exact same colour replacement.

'''ABS Pump'''

I have never ever been met with a faulty ABS pump but it is of course possible, and should the other procedures have not worked and you are 100% sure its not a wiring issue this would be the next place to check.

== ABS Sensor Fault ==

'''Please Complete'''

[[Category: Common Faults]]

Originally posted on www.gevans.info

--March109 21:03, 20 July 2008 (UTC)

Limited Slip Differential

2010-11-25T18:30:33Z

Daved:

the links are available in earlier editions of this ...

Limited Slip Differential
From E30 Zone Wiki
Revision as of 17:14, 26 July 2009 by 91.149.179.60 (Talk)
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For a general description of Limited Slip Differentials, and how they work please see the External Links below.

Generally Limited Slip Differentials are referred to as a Slipper or as an LSD. This contrasts to the normal differential fitted that is known as an Open Dif.

E30s with LSD as standard

* 325i Sport
* M3

All other E30s has an LSD as an option.

LSD was *not* standard fit on the 318iS

E30 LSDs are clutch plate type and require special oil - see below.

Case sizes

E30s had two differential case sizes, they are interchangeable and the same width but will require adjustment of the prop length. Please see Fitting an E30 Differential.

E30s used either a Small Case or Medium Case differential. Other models used a Large Case which is not directly interchangeable but the internals can be swapped.

E30 LSD Ratios

Below is a list of ratio and cars in which they can be found.

* 3.15 - M3
* 3.64 - prefacelft 325i
* 3.73 - facelift 325i
* 3.91 - facelift 325i touring, cabrio, 325i with getrag 260 sport
* 4.10 - found optionally on UK spec 318i/318iS 2/4dr in Small Case, and on all US M3 models in Medium Case.
* 4.27 -
* 4.44 -

Please update the list of ratios and what cars they are found on and common case sizings.

What these numbers mean

Higher number == shortened gearing (quicker acceleration, more gear changes). Lower number == longer gearing (slower acceleration, longer time spent in each gear)

How to identify and test an LSD

To identify and LSD one can first check for the presence of the tag on the rear casing. The ratio on this will be prefixed with an S for LSDs.

Alternatively one can jack up one rear wheel, ensure the car is out of gear and hand-brake is off then turn the raised wheel. Resistance on that wheel would usually indicate an LSD. An alternative method is to try to leave skid-marks pulling away on good tarmac, two tyre marks for more than a few inches would indicate a properly "locking" LSD. This won't work so well on grass or gravel as on loose surfaces both wheels can slip easier even for non-limited slip differential types.

What oil to use for your LSD

The BMW recommended oil is Castrol SAF-XJ

You can find supplies from <please update>

Durability, Rebuilds and Upgrades

<please update with details of rebuilders in various locations, recommended rebuild intervals etc>

External Links

* Wikipedia's Limited Slip Differential Entry
* How Stuff Works - Differentials
* Video of open and LSD rotation

Central Locking problems

2010-11-25T18:29:42Z

Daved:

== Introduction ==

The 325i Touring I bought some months ago had central locking that didn’t work. Worse than that, I couldn’t even lock the driver’s door with the key – I had to open the back door and lock it from the inside. I therefore took this as my first challenge on the E30 – fix the central locking! I took much advice from all those clever people on the forum (thanks guys!) and also my local, friendly dealer. As it seems to be a common fault on the E30, I thought I’d share my experience in the hope it can help someone else..

The central locking relay is probably the best place to start and the easiest to get too. I had tried getting my hand up inside the door to feel around the switch/solenoid but that’s a pain – literally!

Please note that the following procedure is correct for my 325I Touring – I cannot confirm that it’s the same across all E30 models.

== Procedure ==

The central locking relay is well hidden, but you’ll find it following these instructions.

- Remove the plastic trim that covers the driver’s side speaker in the foot well. This requires removal of the single screw at the bottom left of the speaker grill. This panel can then be pulled free of the door-seal that holds it in at the bottom.
 - Remove the speaker – should be only three screws left as the fourth also held the plastic trim that you’ve already removed. Store it well out of the way to avoid any damage to the cone.
 - Undo the two screws just below the speaker void – see photo below:

[[Image:cl_001.jpg]]

- Reach down inside the speaker void and you’ll feel the central locking relay, mounted on a triangular metal plate. Withdraw this carefully – don’t want to damage any wires! You should be left with this:

[[Image:cl_002.jpg]]

- At this stage, try operating the central locking from the driver’s side lock and listen for the relays clicking. If you hear nothing, then there is probably either a fault with the relay itself (circa £70 from your local dealer) or somewhere in the cabling. See point 15 below onwards.
 - You’ll find a single screw on the back of the metal plate which fixes the relay to it – remove this for ease of handling.
 - You then need to remove the white connector from the relay. This is done by easing a small flat-bladed screwdriver to release the catch, as shown below:

[[Image:cl_003.jpg]]

- You can then prize apart the two parts of the black housing, thus removing the end section covering the connector pins, as shown below:

[[Image:cl_004.jpg]]

- Pull out the circuit board from the black casing.
 - The photo below identifies the main components that I’m aware of:

[[Image:cl_005.jpg]]

- The component that was the cause of my faulty central locking was the vertically mounted resistor in the bottom right of the board, just below the connector pins. This is a thermal cut-out device which gets hot when there is a fault and hence melts the low-melting point solder at the top, which causes the strip of metal attached at this top joint to spring away, resulting in an open-circuit. Think of it as a thermal fuse.
 - If this has sprung open, try soldering it back as per the photo above – preferably with low-melting point solder to retain the intended purpose of the device.
Reconnect the relay to the wiring loom and re-check the operation of the central locking system. Mine worked after this and I jumped for joy! I have heard of one other instance on the forum where this has cured the problem too, so it’s not uncommon.
 - If this has cured the fault, put everything back where it came from by following the above procedure in reverse. Please remember to mount the central locking relay back as it was using the same fixings. Failure to do so may not allow the sensor that unlocks the doors in the event of a crash to operate as it relies on sensing the full impact. Leaving it hanging below the speaker will probably not allow it to work. Could be a life saver one day!
 - If the above procedure hasn’t cured the problem, have a good look around the relay for any evidence of burnt out components or dry-joints on the solder side.
 - Another typical cause of central locking failure is corrosion of the pins in the connector where the flexible trunking from the driver’s door plugs into the A-frame. This is caused by rain-water running down the inside of the door, some of which collates in this flexible trunking and eventually seeps up to the connector.
 Pull back the rubber cover from this connector as per the photo below:

[[Image:cl_006.jpg]]

Remove the connector by pushing the two side lugs towards each other and pulling the cable at the same time. You shouldn’t need to pull too hard, otherwise you might damage the cables.
 - Inspect inside both halves of this white connector, i.e. in the A-pillar (photo below) and at the end of the trunking. If there is any sign of water ingress and/or corrosion, repair/clean as necessary.

[[Image:cl_007.jpg]]

- I found it easier to replace the black rubber boot on the connector before reconnecting it into the A-pillar.

These are the main two faults that can cause central locking failure. If neither cures your problem, then you may have to start replacing the solenoid in the driver’s door, or perhaps one of the other door solenoids is shorting to ground. This is obviously a far more involved fault-finding process and not within my scope of experience gained to date.

'.............................................................................

from a post by Brianmoooore the zone electrical genius...

"The wiki article is only relevant to about one in ten central locking faults. The thermal fuse in the ECU only fails for a reason, so the underlying cause should be dealt with before re soldering it, and ordinary solder MUST NOT be added to the joint.
The modification to the red/black wires will cure 90% of locking faults, and it is not necessary, or desirable, to dismantle the door hinge pillar plugs and sockets to do so. All the work can be done through the speaker hole.
Note that cabs have a slightly different wiring arrangement, for some reason known only to the E30's original designers, and you will have three red/black wires to connect together."

I would do a search under his name and red/black wire !!!

[[Category: Common Faults]]

Racing Dynamics

2010-11-25T18:29:11Z

Daved:

'''Racing Dynamics'''

[[Image:RD_03s.jpg]]

'''Racing Dynamics''' is the trademark of Racing Dynamics S.p.A., an Italian tuning company specialising in BMW Group motorcars. The company was founded in 1980 in Milan, Italy by Federico Pavoncelli, who is the creative force behind the brand. The distinctive Racing Dynamics logo features a stylized version of the founder's family crest, surrounded by the RACING DYNAMICS wording on an emerald green background.

Racing Dynamics S.p.A. holds the unique distinction of being the sole non-German BMW tuner to have a worldwide market presence. In the early 1990s, Racing Dynamics backed some of the early BMW entries in the 2 liter BTCC, then went on to race its own cars in the Italian and Japanese Super touring Championships. However, since 1996, the company has focused mainly on passenger cars, as racing proved to be too much of a distraction from its core business.

Racing Dynamics' claims to fame are its engine performance modifications, which are all developed at its own facilities in Milan, Italy. The Company's Italian style is quite pervasive in all of its product designs, which results in cars that stand out for their subtle elegance.

Starting in 2003, following a trademark issue with the former U.S. importer, Racing Dynamics S.p.A. began selling its products in the U.S. and Canada (only) under the RDSport brand name. This meant that Racing Dynamics branded merchandise sold in the U.S. after this date was no longer manufactured by Racing Dynamics S.p.A.

Racing Dynamics S.p.A. manufactured engine, suspension, styling and body parts for the E30 as well as wheels in the 4x100 stud pattern (not to be confused with Racing Dynamics S.p.A. Fiat wheels in the 4x98 stud pattern) in very limited numbers. As such most of it is now rarer than rocking horse poo.

Most of their genuine parts bare the Racing Dynamics name/logo or crest and the official Racing Dynamics part number which can be referenced in their catalogue. Some parts including but not limited to suspension springs and anti roll bars were painted in their distinctive green colour from the crest too. There are however some notable exceptions the 6 branch manifold only bears the RD name and the rocker cover too also only has the name embossed on the top as its decoration, most likely the part numbers have worn off in the 20 years since manufacture.

Racing Dynamics produced probably the worst body kit man has seen for the E30 but we shall forgive them on the basis that their 6 branch M20 manifold is an absolute work of art and also rarer than a rare thing being found during a blue moon.

==Links==
[http://www.racingdynamics.com/ Racing Dynamics S.p.A]

[http://www.racingdynamics.com/Localized/International/RD_Int_Intro_OOP.htm Racing Dynamics S.p.A E30 catalogue]

[http://www.racingdy.com/ Racing Dynamics USA]

325i

2010-11-25T18:28:32Z

Daved:

{{stub}}

'''Model variants'''

'''Standard Specification'''

'''Options'''

'''Prices'''

*Original prices and market values

'''Common upgrades'''

'''Production Quantities'''

'''Common Problems'''

[[Category: E30 Range]]

(This is my addition the the 325i Wiki, to be analysed and fixed where possible, then amended into the sections above! Not sure how to add pictures...NayC)

The E30 BMW 325i is one of the models available within the E30 range, which was considered as their entry-level luxury cars falling under the "3 Series" range, which is a counterpart to their more luxurious models, the "5 Series". There were other ranges available at the time as well. The E30 was a replacement for the E21.

The E30 model, originally released in 1984, was continued right through to 1991. Being a "standard" E30 model base, the E30 325i was available as a coupe (2 door, sometimes referred to as saloon), saloon (4 door, sometimes referred to as sedan), cabriolet (2 door with a retractable roof) and in later years was available as part of their touring range (5 door estate model). Like all models (apart from the "Touring" model), the 325i was available during the "Pre-Facelift" era (known for its chrome bumpers and other touches) and the "Facelift" era (Plastic bumpers).

The 325i was powered by the M20B25 which is a 2495cc (2.5L), 6 cylinder engine. This is similar to the 2.0L variant, the [[M20B20]] found in the [[320i]] models (There was also the *M20B23 found in the 323i). The M20 engine was found in the larger engined E30s, whilst smaller engined models used four cylinder engines such as the M10(316/(early)318i), M40(316i/318i) and M42(318iS). During the two eras of E30s (the 'pre' and 'post' facelift eras) the M20 came in two variants, the older is commonly known as the "High Compression" and newer as the "lower compression". There wasn't too much difference in the engines other than compression ratios, radiators and different fittings for various components in the engine bay (this will surely be covered more in a comprehensive wiki on the M20B25). The 325i is commonly fitted with a 5-speed manual gearbox or an automatic gearbox. These engines are known to produce 165BHP-175BHP from the factory.

The 325i had a different suspension setup to the other models (other than the cabriolet and later touring models). The 325i was fitted with 51mm struts rather than the other coupes/saloons which where fitted with 45mm struts. The 325i's were also fitted with rear disk brakes (as opposed to drum brakes).

The 325i has had many differentials available to it over the years. These include: 2.79, 2.93, 3.23, 3.46, 3.64, 3.73, 3.91, 4.10. These where available in different models and no model had the option of all of the ratios. For example, the low ratios (2.79, 2.93) where commonly found in the [[325e]] ("ETA", the American economy model) and the higher ratios (3.91, 4.10) where found in the common 325i's and sports. Most of the differentials where available as 'Open', 'Mechanical', or 'Limited Slip'. The 325iX used four differentials. Each differential was used to power a wheel, but the front two where open differentials.

=== 325iSport ===

[[Image:325iS_tech2_86.jpg|thumb|240px|right|325i]]

The 325i was the range that BMW worked with the Motorsport department to produce a "325i Sport". There where two models of this car commonly referred to as a "Tech-1" and a "Tech-2". The 'Tech-1' refers to the pre-facelift model and 'Tech-2' refers to the facelift model. These cars came with a bodykit (*was this actually an option??*, a black headlining (not an option and visually the only way to tell a genuine sport model from a 325i/se) and had certain options open to them. Classic options were the sport gearbox (or automatic sportbox). Most of these cars (if not all) had Limited Slip Differentials (LSD). Also they had the sports interior, which could be fitted with optional materials, including the 'Houndstooth' cotton or a range of leather interiors. Other optional extras were available to the buyers of Sports that weren't available to buyers interested in the "standard" 325i.

The 325i has also been used as the base for the [[Alpina]] [[B3/C2_2.7|C2.7]] and other tuner company models.

The 325i is considered as the most sought after E30 due to having the more desired engine and availability over other models. There are "rarer" models (M3s and tuner model cars) but these can go for a serious "enthusiast's premium" and therefore are only sort after by serious enthusiasts. Commonly, people choose the 325i as the E30 of choice.

Models of 325i available.

*1984-1991 - 325i Coupe/Saloon
*1984-1993 - 325i Cabriolet
*1988-1994 - 325i [[Touring]]
*1984-1987 - 325i Sport "Tech-1"
*1988-1991 - 325i Sport [[Tech 2|"Tech-2"]]
*1285-1987 - [[325e]] ETA engine
*1988-1991 - 325iX Coupe/Saloon [http://www.grammy.com/user/buyaugmentin augmentin express delivery]

Alpina Alloy Wheels

2010-11-25T18:27:40Z

Daved:

{{stub}}

[[Image:Alpina_8j_filter_01.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Arty shot of an Alpina Alloy Wheel (Minus centre cap)]]

Alpina wheels, or "Alpina's" are 20-spoke alloys. They came in a small variety of sizes, the most common being the 16" 7j. They were available in 16" 7J for the front and 16" 8J for the rear axle and 16" 8J font and rear M3 only. Offset for the 7J is 28. Tire-Size is 205/50/16 for the 7J and 225/45/16 for the 8J. Spare parts are still available from Alpina.
The most common Alpina replicas are the 19-spoke BK Racing reps.

[[Image:Alpina_original_45.jpg|thumb|420px|center|'''The Alpina Alloy''']]

Steering Wheels

2010-11-25T18:27:01Z

Daved:

HID Headlight Conversion

2010-11-25T18:26:13Z

Daved:

''(Originally Submitted on the E30 Zone by'' [[Morat]])

Fitting is very simple. The kit only touches the existing wiring where you connect up the red/black terminals on the back of the HID bulb to the yellow/black wires inside the headlight.
First of all I used a Dremel to make a hole in the back of each headlight rear cover. The holes in the picture aren't finished. They ended up about the size of a 50p (and about as round!) so that the new bulb and wires could be threaded through.

[[Image:Hidmorat1CAPS.JPG]]

To hook up the bulbs, first you thread the new bulb into the place where the old one was. It fits, but only just. You need to be careful to approach the headlight straight or you could damage your new bulb. I shifted the water bottles out of the way to get a bit more space on the right hand side, and moved the coolant hose/cables to get some space on the left side (which is even tighter because of the ABS pump).

Then you just use the red/black spade connectors in the picture below to connect to the brown/yellow ones in the existing wiring (you can see them in the picture above). Its obvious which goes where, due to the different sizes. I spent some time cleaning up the old connectors which were pretty filthy and corroded - probably the reason that the original headlights were so dim in the first place. The connector in the black wire fits inside the circular connector on the yellow wire which normally connects to the headlight reflector. It looks a bit dodgy but works fine. I taped up the bare copper so that they won't short out inside the headlight and laid them round the inside of the rear cap so that they wouldn't get in the way of the new bulb.

[[Image:Hidmorat2BULB.JPG]]

After that you can just pop the grommet into place to make a seal. I'll probably put some silicon sealant on it to make it really waterproof but it looks OK as it is. Here's the right hand light fitted, easier than the left hand side to see what’s going on...

[[Image:Hidmorat3RHS.JPG]]

Fitting the ballasts should be easy but it found it more tricky since I couldn't actually get under the car. In the end I just zip tied them in place for a temporary measure (which may well end up permanent depending on how well it works). Connecting the ballasts to the lights is simple. 3 connectors which can't go on the wrong way round - the kind of wiring I like!

Here's where I put the left hand one. If anyone comes up with a better place - please tell me. I'm not really happy with it there.

[[Image:Hidmorat4LEFT.JPG]]

The good news is that they work! Awesome light and no radio interference or noise that you can hear in the cabin. If you turn the lights on with the bonnet open you can hear a whine from the ballasts but it doesn't matter in use.

[[Image:43HID6K.jpg]]

This is a shot taken at Squires Cafe just after dusk. The car on the left has 4300k HID's fitted and the car on the right has 6000k burners. Its a very hard thing to capture on camera but the light from the car on the right is slightly but noticeably bluer on the 6000k HIDS. It is impossible to see here but the car on the left has standard sidelight bulbs which look very yellow in comparison to the HIDs. The best LED replacements look much better, but you'll probably have to see it "in the flesh" unless a pro photographer can capture it.
Photo by Stonesie.

[[Category: Modifying]]

Brakes

2010-11-25T18:25:24Z

Daved:

{{stub}}

== .Basic checks: ==

First off, ensure the callipers are in full working order (no sticking pistons, seals etc) and the brakes hoses are in good condition before embarking on any upgrade. Also check the servo is working properly if fitted (a duff servo normally gives you a hard pedal with a lack of braking force) and that the master cylinder seals are good (leaking seals give you a soft pedal, often slowly "sinking" if held under pressure).

== What can be improved? ==

There are a lot of closely interrelated aspects surrounding brake system operation, many areas can be improved but at the expense of another area. This makes everything a compromise, here are the aspects with their effects on performance etc:

'''Brake "power"'''

ie torque at the wheel for a given brake fluid pressure. This can be improved in several ways:

1 - Larger discs, this in effect increases the leverage that acts on the wheel. Downsides are increased unsprung mass (and rotational mass due to the larger diameter), a slight increase in cost if it's a re-drilled one-piece disc or a larger increase in cost if it's alloy bells and rotors.

2 - Higher coefficient of friction in the pad material. Downsides are that in most performance pads they work better when warm/hot, and full race pads hardly work at all when cold, plus increased cost.

3 - Larger pistons in the caliper (and/or smaller master cylinder piston/s). This increases the mechanical advantage that the system gives your foot over the force applied to the back of the pads, but like all forms of increased leverage the longer the "lever" the longer the travel needed at the input end. In the case of brakes, the added clamping force at the pad is offset by a longer travel / softer pedal.

'''Unsprung mass,'''

This is the effect of the mass of the brakes fitted to the strut, where they are not properly "sprung and damped" by the suspension like the chassis is. The lighter a brake system is, the faster and more controlled the suspension action can be, giving the car more grip. The downsides to lighter brake discs, is that they heat up faster due to the lower "thermal mass", but lighter calipers, pads, alloy bells and mounting brackets all give you "free grip".

'''Rotational mass'''

The lighter and smaller the brake disc (and wheel/tyre/hub etc) the less energy is needed to spin it faster or slow it down. So a lighter and smaller brake disc will give the car better acceleration, economy and braking (if the brakes magically still worked just the same!). The downsides are reduced brake power, reduced cooling from the smaller disc vents and reduced thermal mass.

'''Fade (pad) resistance'''

This is the amount of heat the brake pads can withstand before they overheat into "brake fade", this feels like you have a hard pedal but no brake power (similar to a failed servo). In the olden days pads used to "gas", where the glue in the material boiled and producing a thin layer of high pressure gas that lifted the pad off the disc using the same principles as a hovercraft uses! This lead to people drilling (and grooving) their discs to release this gas. Modern brake materials no longer gas in anything like the same way, so grilled discs are of FAR less use than they used to, and given that they can crack the main reason people buy them is for the "look". Grooved discs DO still have a place as they scrub at the face of the pads, and with many race pads they are needed to stop the pad surface "glazing".

'''Fade (fluid) resistance'''

This is the amount of heat the brakes can withstand without the fluid boiling, when the fluid boils the bubbles created are easily squashed by the pressure created when the pedal is pressed, making the pedal sink straight to the floor and allying almost no pressure to the pads at all! This is probably the most dangerous form of brake problem and for the few seconds it happens the effect is as ba as a burst brake line. Fluid boiling can be reduced by:

1 - Running a fluid with a higher boiling point.

2 - Changing the fluid regularly as water is absorbed by most brake fluids, and of course only needs 100 degrees C to boil. Also once brake fluid HAS boiled it's resistance to boiling is actually reduced, and next time it will boil at a LOWER temperature!

3 - Using cooling air from the brake duct to cool the caliper.

4 - Using cooling air from the brake duct to cool a brake fluid radiator.

5 - Running a brake fluid recirculating valve. This clever gadget cycles the fluid into the caliper then back out and up into the main fluid reservoir, this keeps the caliper cooler and stops a stagnant volume of fluid from sitting in the caliper and getting very hot.

'''Heat reduction'''

This is mainly about keeping the disc cool to stop it "warping" and keep the pads cooler so they can operate properly. You can reduce disc temperatures by:

1 - Having a larger disc with bigger, more efficient vents and larger area to be cooled, the downside is added unsprung/rotational mass (although mass helps in another way, next....).

2 - Having a heavier disc, this provides more "thermal mass". Thermal mass works because it takes twice as much energy to heat twice as much mass to a given temperature, so if you double the mass while keeping the energy input constant you HALVE the temperature (before cooling efficiency etc starts to come into play). The downside is added unsprung/rotational mass.

'''Disc "warping" resistance'''

It should be noted that brake discs juddering through the pedal are not "warped" in the way many people think, in most cases it's because road pads (which are abrasive) have been overheated and a high-spot has formed. This high spot gets VERY hot and into a changes into a different and much harder form of iron. Of course the new hard area is more resistant to the pad's abrasion and so as the material around it is worn away it becomes higher, which makes it hotter, and therefore even harder....and so on. The discs DO warp, but only when you press the pedal and this one high spot gets much hotter, rapidly expanding and warping the disc. The things people miss are that (1) the disc returns to a mostly non-warped state as soon as you back off the brakes or take the disc off the car for inspection, and (2) machining the disc won't fix it as there is still a hard spot in the iron waiting to start the whole process again once the abrasion or use continues! Upgrade pads often work by "smearing" their own pad material onto the disc rather than abrading the disc, thereby dodging the high-spot vicious cycle.

'''Resistance to high temperatures by all components in a performance/race application'''

If you assume that the brake system will be used and a hard and sustained way (trackdays etc) then the components ARE going to get very hot no matter what cooling you use, but there are ways to allow them to survive the temperatures and work very effectively for a sustained period.

- External piston dust seals on performance calipers often burn off, but they can be omitted without causing any problems in most cases.

- Brake discs get very hot in the area that's in contact with the pads and expend with huge force. In a one-piece disc this makes the disc form cone-shape as the vented "rotor" part expands but the "bell" part stays cooler and unchanged, in (very rare) extreme cases the vented part can crack right off the bell! To reduce these forces there are two options, (1) fit an iron rotor to an aluminium bell (aluminium expends faster with temperature than iron, so the cooler bell partly "keeps up" with the hotter rotor as it expands) and (2) fitting a "radially floating rotor (there are radial slots in the rotor or the bell with sliding "bobbins" in them, this allows the rotor to expand totally freely, with no force applied to the bell)! Floating rotors are very expensive though and are almost exclusively for race-cars only - although BMW have recently used the principle on the M3, the discs have aluminium bells with radial spoke-like pegs, and the cast-iron rotor "floats" on these pegs! Also large light-weight rotors rely less on the effects of thermal mass, and more on effective cooling vents to cool the brakes on each straight section of track.

- Race pads will continue to work happily way after normal pads would have totally failed, and often get better the more abuse they get, and race brake fluid can withstand the continued high temperatures.

- Brake ducts are very handy as the high speeds on the straight pump much more cooling air into the brakes than on a road car.

== E30 brake upgrade options in stages (increasing in performance and price). ==

First would be upgrading the pads as you get some easy extra torque and fade resistance (EBC Red, Mintex M1144/1155, Ferodo DS2500 or similar pads for fast road/light trackdays or EBC Yellow/Blue or similar for more serious track use) - of course all the OEM components need to be checked over at the this stage, including the cooling ducts. Fit fresh standard brake fluid and new standard discs (worn discs have less thermal mass and won't bed in properly with new pads). There is NO NEED to get drilled and/or grooved or funny coloured discs, unless you like the look...

Next would be increasing the resistance to the extra heat and pressure the pads can create by fitting stainless braided lines (like Earls/Goodrich etc) and upgrading the existing brake fluid (like ATE Superblue, or Castrol SRF for a road/trackday oriented car).

Next we move up to larger diameter discs, here are the approximate sizes possible in each wheel size:

14" - Very little room, 255mm normally (275mm in some motorsport allys).

15" - 280mm (300mm in some motorsport alloys). There may be a new 290-300mm 4-pot kit available next year specifically for the 15" BBS...

16" - 300mm (320mm in some motorsport alloys)

17" - 325mm (345mm in some motorsport alloys)

Ready made upgrades includes lightweight 4-pot kits and cheaper but heavier sliding caliper kits where the buyer sources second-hand calipers:

- The 300mm.de kit, this uses a 312mm re-drilled disc and brackets to suit a BMW sliding caliper.

- The WMS 280mm 4-pot kit, which is confirmed as fitting the 15" BBS and has custom 1.25" E30-specific pistons.

- The Wilwood 280mm and 310mm 4-pot kits which have 1.38" pistons.

- Other kits from mfrs including AP Racing, Brembo, Alcon, and Hi Spec.

Another option is to scour eBay and breakers yards for crashed cars that already have 4 pots or compatible sliding calipers fitted and make your own brackets. If you are prepared to look around to find parts,and are happy to fabricate calliper brackets, then a budget big brake set-up can be achieved for around 40% less than the equivalent off the shelf items.DIY kits have included:

- 302mm disks with 4 pot callipers can be made to fit under 16" wheels - Baddave's current setup which apparently works rather well.

- <<please update me>>

<<Please update me with M/C and Servo options for firming up the stock set-up>>
E30 M3 master cylinder with stock servo
E32 750i Master cylinder with stock servo (for those who have fitted calipers with a substantial increase in piston area)

'''Cars with E30 compatible discs'''

*Audi TT with some drilling ??
*Chrysler Voyager 302x28mm with redrilled holes(disk offset is near perfect)

'''E30 compatible Master Cylinders '''

<<Please update me>>

*Bmw E30M3
*Bmw E32 750i

'''Cars with 4pot calipers'''

*Aston Martin(various)-DB7
*Alfa Romeo GTV/166
*Audi Possibly RS2,S8,RS8
*BMW E38 730i, 735i
*BMW E34 3.8L M5(very last ones)
*BMW E31 840i,850i,850csi
*Citroen C8 possibly (going by pad shape)
*Ferrari (all newer models)
*Fiat Coupe
*Fiat Ulysee possibly(going by pad shape)
*Ford Focus RS
*Ford Puma(racing) fitted with Alcon 4pots as standard
*Ford Sierra RS Cosworth 3dr
*Jaguar S type R
*Lamborghini(all newer models)
*Lancia Delta(integrale)
*Lancia Phedra
*Lotus Carlton (AP group C spec)
*Range Rover(newer ones have Brembo's)
*Mazda RX-7
*Mercedes ( most of the higher spec AMG variants)
*Mitsibishi 3000GT
*Mitsibishi Lancer ( from Evo 4 onwards iirc)
*Nissan 300ZX
*Nissan Skyline (R33GTR/R34GTR)
*Nissan 350Z
*Peugeot 607(possibly)
*Peugeot 807(possibly)
*Peugeot 406 Coupe
*Porsche 911/928/944/959/968/Boxster/Cayenne/Cayman
*Renault Clio Sport(mid engined version)
*MG MGF
*Seat Cupra R (Ibiza,Leon)
*Subaru Impeza STI
*Toyota Hilux
*Toyota Celica GT4
*Toyota Supra
*TVR ( certain newer models)

DIY Smoked Hellas

2010-11-25T18:24:27Z

Daved:

== Introduction ==

This is a basic idea of how to get yourself smoked Hella/Bosch lights for a very little amount of money (around a fiver), and around a weekend of messing about. My lights are Bosch units with a projector type main beam from a ‘92 cab, I think that some, if not all, older BMW’s (i.e. pre facelift) have slightly different driving lights that are not the projector type. I cannot tell you if this will work on them. My ’87 325 Sport is an American version that has fully sealed beams, alas American sealed beam type cannot be converted. The picture below shows the rear of my lights.

[[Image:smoke_001.jpg]]

The first thing I must stress is if you want the finished results to look good you will have to take your time over it. If you start it on a Sunday afternoon you will balls it up if you need the car for work first thing Monday. Your first attempt (and hopefully your last) will take you around 6-8 hours and a night for paint drying. I am usually not the most patient of people and my handicraft skills are pretty poor although mechanically I am good, so if I can do it, so can you..

== Tools and equipment ==

You will need a basic tool set, mainly consisting of screwdrivers. You will need a hot air gun of around 5kW, I used a Makita you can see the type in the pictures. You will need a hot glue gun. You will need some tin snips or if you can find one, a Dremel (or any very high speed drill with a cutting disk). You will need some 1 or 2 mm Aluminium, steel or tin sheet. You will need some Epoxy glue and some high temp silicone (I used gasket silicone happy to 600°). And finally a tin or two of heatproof black spray paint.

== Smoking the driving light ==

If you get to this stage the rest is real easy. The driving light has a slivered piece of plastic (yours may have a smiley cut out but mine doesn’t) this is held in with the same glue, use the gun carefully to warm it up and pull it off. Them simply spray ‘em black! I personally painted the whole reflector, but as I was also fitting angel eyes at the time I was removing the side lights. You may want to keep the side lights and in this case you may want to tape off the side light reflector area. Best bet if you are unsure is to tape it off first, spray it and test it, you can always spray it black later if unsatisfied. Personally I would spray it all black and sod the side lights but check for MOT requirements. Heat proof paint will stop it cracking and I used a glossy finish, but think a matt finish may have looked better, can’t help you, so up to you, again comments welcome. The picture below shows my reflectors painted black! Remember follow spray can instructions, clean and dry the reflector, hold can 12-13inches away, sweeping motions, and lots of thin coats leave to dry between coats. Practice on a coke bottle or bit of wood first if you cannot spray paint, get it right and it will look good. Get it wrong and you will be disappointed.

[[Image:smoke_004.jpg]]

== Smoking the main (high) beam ==

[[Image:smoke_005.jpg]]

This bit is a little more tricky and even involves cutting and sticking! The idea is to make the interior of the light appear black but still allowing the mirror to direct 100% of the light foreword toward the road and rabbits. The driving light uses a projector system thus the reflector you have painted black has little effect, but the high beam uses a bulb, concentrated and directed by a mirrored reflector, thus it’s reflector cannot be sprayed black. Those of you who have already done so (as you are confused which is high beam and driving lights) can also go down to the scrappies as you have f*@%ed your main beam and now need a new one! The trick is to fool happy passers by (and non-E30zoners) into seeing a black reflector, this clever trick accomplished by inserting what I call a thingy. The thingy is a black piece of plastic or metal shaped in a 3D cross that sits in your main beam reflector, perpendicular to the angle of the mirror, and splitting the reflector into four quarters (What???). The thingy (well the mirror really) reflects its black colour around the reflector bowl and hey presto it appears black from certain angles! Its extremely hard to explain this shape so look at the pictures to the right.

[[Image:smoke_006.jpg]]

I could not buy one of these thingies so I made one myself. Sorry no pattern as I stuck it together before I had chance (mine also modified to accept angel eyes). I experimented with cardboard and scissors until I found the shape of the reflector bowl, I then used a piece of 2mm galvanised steel sheet and cut the shapes out with the tin snips and finished with a high speed cutting drill (a Dremel). It will take a bit of messing around but what to do! Once you are happy with the shape of your thingy glue it together with epoxy glue and leave to set. Then spray it black. Again take your time spraying and the results will pay off. I sprayed my thingies, let them dry, then popped ‘em in the oven for an hour at 70-80° and baked them to fully harden the paint.

For those with pre-face lift, non-projector, lights you could probably repeat this process for the driving lights as I think they use a similar bulb and mirrored reflector system. Let me (or others really) know.

== The Final Assembly Bit ==

I really hope you have got this far with your eyes, house in tact, and a lovely black pair of hot thingies. Now stick the driving light reflector back into the holder and secure it with a drop of hot glue. Next take some heat proof silicone (or silicone ‘gasket in a tube’ good to 600°) and stick your thingy into its final position inside the high beam reflector. I stuck mine at 45° to the road because of my angel eyes, but note that the real things are parallel to the road, try a mock up and play around before sticking it in its final position. A tip is to glue the underneath so it will not be visible from the top where, unless you run people over frequently, no one should see the glue.

Now clean the reflectors (and glass lenses too) and stick the glass lenses back onto their backings using a hot glue gun. Make sure they are the right way up and that the driving light lens is not on the main beam backing. I would suggest several mock ups before final assembly, I couldn’t resist mocking it up at each stage to see how wicked they looked! Do the same. I would also clean the halogen bulbs with a tissue and cleaning alcohol as your greasy mitts would have probably touched them, which will cause hot spots and burnt out bulbs.

It is possible to re-use the old glue by simply heating it back up with the heat gun and pushing the lenses back on. Personally I don’t like this idea as I am sure it will compromise the weather proofing of the lens, as I live in sunny Bahrain and drive a cab they never get wet, but for the majority of you who are in U.K. this will be an issue. It seems a waste of time to do a good job then skimp on the little things. Most garages will have one so go and ask if you can borrow, if you don’t, then expect water inside your lights and blown bulbs in winter.

== The Final Touch ==

These ideas are optional but I think they make a difference. The metal rings that were around the lights you took off in step one are now probably lost somewhere deep in your dark garage, those rings on mine were scratched and had lost their finish, so I sprayed them black too. These rings will be exposed to the elements so the spray job will have to be better then what you did on your thingies, you will have to prep the ring with something like emery paper so the paint can bond to the metal, prime it in red, then spray them black with at least 5 coats, sanding down imperfections with wet 800-1000 grade sand paper, once dried I baked them in the oven with the thingies, and finally a clear lacquer top coat or two and back in the oven for an hour. Failure to paint these properly will result in stone chips etc, as those who painted their kidneys black with one coat will vouch for!

For those who want to be extra picky I then sprayed the rims of my high beam light black too as it seemed to help a little. This was an alternative to cros’ idea of using black glue to re-stick the lens.

[[Image:smoke_007.jpg]]

Then I coloured the shield inside the driving light projector unit black too, I painted a piece of galvanised steel and glued it to the shield facing out toward the magnifying glass, rather then try to spray it. It shows a little as you can see from the picture below left is coloured right is not.

[[Image:smoke_008.jpg]]

And the final assembly:

[[Image:smoke_009.jpg]]

That’s it!

Now stick the light units all back together in reverse order as Haines would say, and back into your shiny Lachs Silver BMW 335ti, or rusty brown 316, test they work, and get out on the street. Girls will gasp as you drive by, as will most guys, children will point and grannies will turn their backs in disgust at the black gaping holes you have created on the front of your BMW. Enjoy it for the week until you realise that just because you have modified your car it does not necessarily mean compete strangers will notice that it wasn’t like that last Friday! You can however be smug to know that you did it yourself, it didn’t cost the earth and, if you as an E30 nut like them, chances are so will the others. (Don’t like to mention it but those with those funny E34 barges can also do the above as their lights are the same design, but I reckon it is exclusively an E30 fashion.)

[[Image:smoke_010.jpg]]

Trust me when I say the pictures do them very little justice, real life looks much better, now check them with my angel eyes turned on, they look amazing at night!!

[[Category: Modifying]]

Z3 short shifter conversion

2010-11-25T18:23:38Z

Daved:

== .Parts Required. ==

{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0"
|-
! style="background:#efefef;" |
! style="background:#efefef;" align="left" | Description
! style="background:#efefef;" align="left" | Part Number
! style="background:#efefef;" | Price (£)
! style="background:#efefef;" | Quantity
! style="background:#efefef;" | Total Price (£)

|-
! bgcolor="#FAF0BE" rowspan="5" scope="row" | Recondition Parts
| bgcolor="#FAF0BE" | Gear selector rod joint
| bgcolor="#FAF0BE" | 25 11 7 501 309
| bgcolor="#FAF0BE" align="right" | 14.39
| bgcolor="#FAF0BE" align="right" | 1
| bgcolor="#FAF0BE" align="right" | 14.39
|-

| bgcolor="#FAF0BE" | Dowel pin
| bgcolor="#FAF0BE" | 23 41 1 466 134
| bgcolor="#FAF0BE" align="right" | 0.29
| bgcolor="#FAF0BE" align="right" | 1
| bgcolor="#FAF0BE" align="right" | 0.29
|-

| bgcolor="#FAF0BE" align="left" | O ring
| bgcolor="#FAF0BE" | 25 11 1 221 243
| bgcolor="#FAF0BE" align="right" | 0.31
| bgcolor="#FAF0BE" align="right" | 2
| bgcolor="#FAF0BE" align="right" | 0.62
|-

| bgcolor="#FAF0BE" align="left" | Spacer ring
| bgcolor="#FAF0BE" | 25 11 1 220 199
| bgcolor="#FAF0BE" align="right" | 0.12
| bgcolor="#FAF0BE" align="right" | 1
| bgcolor="#FAF0BE" align="right" | 0.12
|-

| bgcolor="#FAF0BE" align="left" | Circlip
| bgcolor="#FAF0BE" | 07 11 9 932 863
| bgcolor="#FAF0BE" align="right" | 0.12
| bgcolor="#FAF0BE" align="right" | 1
| bgcolor="#FAF0BE" align="right" | 0.12
|-

|-
! bgcolor="#ADD8E6" rowspan="4" scope="row" | Short Shift Parts
| bgcolor="#ADD8E6" | Gear lever
| bgcolor="#ADD8E6" | 25 11 7 527 252
| bgcolor="#ADD8E6" align="right" | 36.46
| bgcolor="#ADD8E6" align="right" | 1
| bgcolor="#ADD8E6" align="right" | 36.46
|-

| bgcolor="#ADD8E6" | Spacer ring
| bgcolor="#ADD8E6" | 24 11 1 220 439
| bgcolor="#ADD8E6" align="right" | 0.30
| bgcolor="#ADD8E6" align="right" | 2
| bgcolor="#ADD8E6" align="right" | 0.60
|-

| bgcolor="#ADD8E6" align="left" | Circlip
| bgcolor="#ADD8E6" | 25 11 7 571 899
| bgcolor="#ADD8E6" align="right" | 0.37
| bgcolor="#ADD8E6" align="right" | 2
| bgcolor="#ADD8E6" align="right" | 0.74
|-

| bgcolor="#ADD8E6" align="left" | Shift lever bearing
| bgcolor="#ADD8E6" | 25 11 1 220 600
| bgcolor="#ADD8E6" align="right" | 6.08
| bgcolor="#ADD8E6" align="right" | 1
| bgcolor="#ADD8E6" align="right" | 6.08
|-

! bgcolor="#FFB347" scope="row" | New gasket
| bgcolor="#FFB347" | Exhaust gasket
| bgcolor="#FFB347" | 18 30 1 711 969
| bgcolor="#FFB347" align="right" | 7.96
| bgcolor="#FFB347" align="right" | 1
| bgcolor="#FFB347" align="right" | 7.96
|-

! colspan="5" scope="row" align="right" | Total
| align="right" | 67.38
|-
|}

'''PLEASE NOTE: Check all part numbers and prices prior to ordering'''

The only parts that you actually need for the conversion are the ones highlighted in blue. The remainder of the parts are required if you plan to change the selector rod bush which will not be covered in this write-up as it's a good 8 hours work and much more involved than simply swapping the shifter.
Here is a picture of the parts required... you can see the difference in the E30 and Z3 levers. The Z3 lever is the one on the right. The shorter throw is gained by the much greater distance between the ball joint and the selector rod joint.

[[Image:shifter_002.jpg]]

== Procedure ==

Make a start by jacking the car up and securely supporting it on axle stands at the front.
First up, get in the vehicle and remove your gear shift knob. If you have an original BMW knob, it should pull straight off with a bit of force. If you have an aftermarket knob, then check with the manufacturer for removal instructions. Now remove the gear shift gaiter, this should unclip at the base and lift off. Beneath the gaiter you will see a large round rubber grommet unclip the reverse light switch and remove the grommet, it will just pull free. You should now be able to see the floor beneath your car through the hole and it should look something like the picture below.

[[Image:shiter_003.jpg]]

Next you need to remove the old shifter. Get underneath the car and you will be able to see the selector rod attached to the bottom of the gear shift. The selector rod is held on by a circlip on each end. Use a screw driver to pry the old circlips off and then slide the selector rod out. Make sure you remember which way it comes out as it will only go back in one way!!!

[[Image:shifter_004.jpg]]

Once the selector rod has been removed, get back inside the car to remove the old shifter. Use two screw drivers against each other to force the locking ring round to release it. You will see in the metal housing that it sits into, a couple of locating recesses, rotate the locking ring until the fat tabs of the locking ring line up with the recesses and then pull the shift lever straight up. It should come free but be careful not to hit yourself in the face with it. You can see from the picture below the double screw driver method used to unlock the locking ring.

[[Image:shifter_005.jpg]]

Now we are halfway there. Take the new Z3 shifter and lubricate the ball joint with a dab of silicone grease. Also lubricate the new locking ring and then slide the locking ring over the bottom of the Z3 shifter and clip it into place over the ball joint. You should now be able to clip the new lever back into place and lock the plastic locking ring the opposite to how you removed it.

[[Image:shifter_006.jpg]]

Next the selector rod needs some careful modification. We need to place a slight bend in the selector rod so that it clears the vibration damper on the prop shaft. This is caused by the extra length of the new Z3 shift lever below the ball joint. The best way to do this is to place it in a vice. As we didn't have a vice to hand, we made good use of a hammer. Place the selector rod between two supports and give it a few sharp hits with a hammer. It should look something like this.

[[Image:shifter_007.jpg]]

[[Image:shifter_008.jpg]]

Refit the selector rod beneath the car and replace the yellow spacer rings and circlips. Get someone to change the gears inside the car while you check underneath for clearance of the vibration damper. If the selector rod touches the vibration damper then remove it and bend slightly further.

Once everything is checked and the selector rod has been replaced, you can refit the rubber grommet, gaiter and shift knob.

Now take your car for a spin to test out your fantastic new short-shift!

Written by E30Adam and copyright to www.e30zone.co.uk

[[Category: Modifying]]

Basic M40 Servicing

2010-11-25T18:22:58Z

Daved:

M40 Engine - Basic Servicing...

Just got your first 4 pot e30?!

Don’t know when it was last serviced?

Scared of the Spanner?!

This guide was made for you!

The m40 engine is actually a really pleasant engine to work on, provided you follow these basic rules…

Respect it (bolts are more likely to shear if you hit the spanner with a sledge hammer!)
Stay calm and take your time.
Don’t get distracted. Keep Children, pets and nagging wives/husbands well away.

To make your m40 purr like a kitty at idle, roar like a lion through the rev range, and scream like Steve Tyler at the limiter you'll need…

* Coolant Change
5L of Coolant (mix it 60/40 water/antifreeze)

* Flat blade screw driver (for releasing coolant pipes)

* 10mm socket (for thermostat housing)

* Large Flat Blade screw driver for releasing bleed screw

* Oil Change

* 5L of engine oil (5w-40, 10w-40 or 10w-50 as recommended by Simon aka oilman)

* GENUINE Fram oil filter (has all the non return valves etc, and worth the money)

* 17mm socket + wrench (for sump plug)

* Spark Plug Change

* 4x Spark Plugs, preferably NGK brand (NGK BPR6ES)

* Masking tape + pen

* 19mm Spark plug tool

Overview of an m40

Do the coolant first…

RHS=Right Hand Side
LHS=Left Hand Side (sitting in driver’s seat)

IMPORTANT!!!! MAKE SURE THE CAR AND COOLANT ARE COLD BEFORE OPENING THE CAP ON THE EXPANSION TANK OR DRAINING COOLANT!!!!!!!

****Disconnect Battery****

1.Loosen off and remove the cap on the header tank (at LHS of radiator)

Check the tank and cap for ‘mayo’ which is a sign that oil is mixing with the coolant (not good). Move the heater temp control to fully cold to prevent air locks in the heater matrix

Also check that the bottom is yellow and rated at 140.If not go to the dealer and get one. (they were subject to a recall years ago as the originals weren’t up to the job)

2.Undo bottom hose from radiator at RHS of the car, let coolant drain (catch it in a bucket and dispose of properly)

3.Undo the 3x 10mm bolts on the thermostat housing (at the front of the engine, in front of the distributor cap) (may need to remove small fuel hose to access one of the top bolts)

4.Remove thermostat, and check its ok (should be closed if cold) If in doubt an new one is £9.99 from GSF/ECP. Bolt housing back together.

5.Insert hose into header tank (at LHS of Radiator) and flush system until water is running clear.

6.Remove top hose (LHS) from radiator and flush through with hose until clear

7.Replace the thermostat, and reattach all hoses

8.Pour the coolant into the header tank (at LHS of radiator) SLOWLY and give it time to settle. (should take about 4.5l to get to cold level marker)

9.Set the heaters to full (HOT and no. 4 fan setting, open all vents) and start car.

10.Let car idle for 5-10mins keeping an eye on the temp gauge

11.Open the bleed screw (next to the expansion tank cap) WATCH OUT FOR THE COOLANT SPRAYING!!!! (use a cloth to cover it!)

12.Repeat bleeding until all air is out and only water comes out when bleed screw is opened. Top up if required.

13.Get a cup of coffee and relax for 20 mins

Oil change is easy...

****Wear latex gloves to save your skin****

1.Switch car off (oil should be warm so as much comes out as possible)

2.Go underneath car with 17mm socket and loosen the sump plug (make sure you have something to catch the oil!!!)

3.Remove oil filler cap and let car drain for 10mins.(can check how much is left using the dipstick)

4.Replace sump plug and tighten (but not too much)

5.Remove oil filter, (on RHS of block beneath exhaust)

6.Fit new oil filter (smear rubber seal on top with fresh oil to ensure good seal)

7.Remove oil filler cap (on top of engine) and fill SLOWLY with about 4.5l of oil (use dipstick to check level regularly)

8.Replace oil filler cap and start engine, allow to idle for 10 mins.

9. Check oil level again after leaving to stand for 10 minutes, check for leaks at the sump plug and filter, correct as required.

Spark plugs...

IMPORTANT!!!!! DISCONNECT BATTERY BEFORE WORKING ON ELECTRONICS!!!!

1.Remove the Spark plug leads ONE AT A TIME and (using masking tape + pen) number them 1-4.

2. Remove the Distributor cap and check the condition of the Rotor arm and Cap (replace as required).

3. Inspect the leads for any sign of breakages/cracking.

4. remove the spark plugs ONE AT A TIME using the 19mm spark plug puller (may need an extension for plug 4 (nearest the windscreen)

Inspect the plug for signs of the car running rich (black soot), flooding (plug is immaculate as petrol washes it). Car running lean (Light brown/sand colour

5. Put in new spark plugs (put them in by hand until tight then ‘nip’ them a bit tighter with the puller) and refit leads

6. start the car and go for a well earned cruise

This article is copy write to E30zone and must not be replicated without prior permission. Written and photographed by Neil Purdom

[[Category:Servicing ]]

Stripping and Rebuilding an M20 Cylinder Head

2010-11-25T18:22:10Z

Daved:

In this guide, we will show you the correct procedure for stripping and rebuilding an M20 Cylinder Head. This includes 2.0, 2.3, 2.5 litre engines. For the benefit of the guide, we will be using an M20 2.5 head.

*Required Tools
*Female Torx Socket
*Old Timing Belt.
*Lockable Grips
*8mm Spanner
*10mm Spanner
*3mm Allen Key
*11mm Deep 1/4" Drive Socket
*Short 1/4" Drive Extension Bar
*Feeler Gauges
*Valve Spring Compressor
*Valve Grinding Stick & Paste
*Suitable drift (1/2" Drive Extension)
*Hammer
*Magnetic Ended Screw Driver
*Spark Plug Wrench

==Stripping==

Before doing anything else, it's preferable to place the head on a workmate or similar work bench with a gap in the middle because as you turn the valve train over, the valves will hit if you have it on a flat surface. Now remove the spark plugs with a suitable plug wrench.

The first thing to do is slacken off all the valve eccentrics. Use a 10mm spanner and loosen the nut on each rocker pictured below.

[[Image:m20head-1.jpg]]

Once you've slackened off the eccentrics, we need to remove the top pulley so that we can remove the rocker shafts. This is done by securing the pulley with an old timing belt and a pair of lockable pliers, you will now be able to remove the torx bolt holding the pulley in place.

[[Image:m20head-2.JPG]]

Once the front pulley has been removed, unclip all 12 rocker retaining clips. These can be eased off with a screw driver of pulled off by hand. Also remove the rocker shaft end seals (4) and the oil spray bar which is attached with 2 x 8mm nuts. All parts to be removed are arrowed on the image below.

[[Image:m20head-3.jpg]]

The next part of the procedure is to remove the rockers and shafts. I usually work with the pulley end of the head to my right. Concentrate on removing one rocker shaft at a time. We will be removing the exhaust side rocker shaft to begin with. Place the pulley bolt back into the end of the camshaft so that you turn the camshaft. Keep turning the bolt until it fully tightens.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Remember that you will only be able to turn the camshaft in a clockwise direction from now on. Attempts to turn in a counter clockwise direction will just remove the torx bolt.

Rotate the camshaft until exhaust rocker number 6 is under full load. You can tell this because the camshaft lobe will be pointing upwards and you will be able to feel the other rockers will not be under tension because they will move back and forth slightly. Please see the diagram which shows a cross section view of how exhaust rocker number 6 should look at this time. For reference, cylinder number 1 is the cylinder nearest the top pulley end of the head and number 6 is the opposite end.

Next remove the rocker shaft retaining plate, this should come free with some gentle persuasion using a flat bladed screw driver.

[[Image:m20head-4.jpg]]

Take a suitable drift, I found that a 1/2" drive extension bar was the perfect size. Use a hammer to knock the exhaust rocker shaft out from the right hand side of the cylinder head. You only need to knock it a short distance, just enough so that you can slide the number 1 exhaust rocker from it's shaft.

[[Image:m20head-5.JPG]]

Once the first rocker is removed, you will need to turn the camshaft so that the exhaust lobe for rocker number 1 is in the same position as before. It will not be pushing on a rocker as before because you have removed this rocker. Before turning the camshaft, ensure that the rockers are all centred over their respective camshaft lobes because they can easily be moved when you drift the rocker shaft out. When the camshaft for exhaust rocker number 1 is at full lift, you will find that the remaining rockers on the exhaust side will be under no tension. You should now be able to pull the rocker shaft out using your hands. Remember to keep the rockers in the correct order in which they were removed. It's a good idea to mark them with a permanent pen.

Repeat the above procedure for the inlet rocker shaft and remove this also, you should now be left with the camshaft and valves left in place for removal.

NOTE: You can now place the cylinder head on a flat surface if you wish because all valves will now be closed.

Now that the rockers and shafts have been removed, we can take the camshaft out. Remove the 2 x 10mm bolts holding the end plate in place then carefully prise the plate free with a flat bladed screw driver. Once the plate has been removed, the camshaft will slide out.

[[Image:m20head-6.JPG]]

The final thing to do is to remove the valves. These are held in place with a spring assembly which needs to be compressed using a Valve Spring Compressor in order for them to be removed. Turn the cylinder head on it's side and then compress the valve spring with the compressor. When you have compressed the valve spring you will be able to use a magnetic screw driver to remove the valve retaining collets from the end of the valve stem.

[[Image:m20head-7.JPG]]

[[Image:m20head-8.JPG]]

You can see from the below picture how the collets clasp around the end of the valve stem.

[[Image:m20head-9.JPG]]

Once you have removed the collets, slacken off the valve spring compressor and remove the springs. The valve should now slide out from the underside of the head.

[[Image:m20head-10.JPG]]

Once again, it's important to mark the valves and keep the springs in order so that they can be replaced in the same order in which they were removed. Repeat this procedure for each valve in turn and then keep all springs and components in a box or a safe place.

[[Image:m20head-11.JPG]]

The final part of stripping the cylinder head is to remove the old valve stem oil seals. These are the red coloured seals in the picture below and can be easily removed with a pair of long-nosed pliers. Once these are removed you will be left with a bare cylinder head casting.

[[Image:m20head-12.JPG]]

[[Image:m20head-13.JPG]]

==Rebuilding==

'''Preparing the Cylinder Head for Re-Assembly'''

Before you actually rebuild the head, it's a good idea to carry out a few routine checks and maintenance to check that the head is in good order.

Firstly take the cylinder head to a machine shop and request that they check the tolerances of the valve guides (take your valves with you), check the face of the head for warps, have it pressure tested for cracks. If all is okay then request for it to be "chemically dipped" and "refaced". A chemical dip removes all carbon deposits an generally cleans the head up to a new finish again. You'll probably notice that your current cylinder head is stained brown. A reface is where a very thin surface is removed from the face of the cylinder head giving you a nice smooth finish ready for you to mount your gasket against.

When you get the head back from the machine shop you should re-grind the valve seats. If you look around the rim of the valve where it contacts the head when it opens and closes, you will notice that it's most probably very shiny which is bad for a good seal. Anyone can regrind valve faces but you will need a grinding kit which consists of grinding paste and a grinding stick. These can be bought very cheaply from any motor factors.

[[Image:m20head-14.JPG]]

You can see from the below picture the difference between a valve which has been freshly re-ground and an untouched valve. Even new valves need grinding in to obtain the correct seal against the cylinder head. If you look at the below picture, you will see that the left hand side of this valve has a smooth dull grey finish, this is what the entire rim of the valve should look like after a re-grind. There should be no spots or shiny places.

[[Image:m20head-15.JPG]]

To regrind a valve, the procedure is actually very simple. Take a small dab of the fine grinding paste and cover the rim of the valve with it. Next place the valve in the correct port on the upturned cylinder head and stick the grinding stick to the valve. Now simply rub the stick back and forth between your hands to grind the two surfaces together. Keep checking and add more paste if necessary. Stop once you see both surfaces (the valve and the head) have a smooth dull grey finish. Repeat for all 12 valves.

'''NOTE: Ensure that all grinding paste is thoroughly cleaned away before re-assembly of the head.'''

[[Image:m20head-16.JPG]]

It's important to install new Valve Stem Oil Seals before replacing the valves. There is a special tool available for installing these seals but a deep 1/4" Drive 11mm socket fits perfectly. Begin by wetting the inside of the valve stem oil seal with some new oil to allow easier fitting. Place the seal on the end of the 11mm socket and then use a firm force to push the seal into place making sure that you keep the seal straight.

[[Image:m20head-17.JPG]]

[[Image:m20head-18.JPG]]

'''Reassembling the Cylinder Head'''

Reassembly of the cylinder head is very much the reverse procedure for stripping it. Begin by reinstalling all valves and springs in the correct order. The worst part is refitting the valve collets and getting them to stay in place and I've found that dipping them in some clean oil helps them stick to the valve stem. You can also re-install the camshaft at this point, smother all moving surfaces with Engine Assembly Lube and slide the camshaft back in place. It's a good idea to replace the camshaft end seal and o-ring as these are a common source of leaks and are easy to change while the head is off and in this state. At this stage, the head should look like this.

[[Image:m20head-19.JPG]]

Now is a good time to check that the re-ground valves are sealing properly. Place the head on a bench and then tip a spoonful of fuel down each port in turn and check for any leaks underneath. If you've done it correctly the fuel will not leak through. If you have any which are leaking then it's advisable to remove and regrind again until you reach a satisfactory seal.

The next job is to replace the rockers and rocker shafts. We will start with the exhaust shaft first. Turn the cam until the lobe for exhaust rocker 6 is at full lift, you should now be able to slide the shaft back through (from the right hand side) slipping on the first five rockers as you go. Stop before you get to number six. Now make sure that all rockers are sitting over their respective cam lobes and turn the camshaft so that number one rocker is at full lift. Once again use a suitable drift to knock the shaft all the way in and slide on rocker number 6 at the same time.

[[Image:m20head-20.JPG]]

Repeat this procedure with the inlet side rocker shaft and rockers. Make sure that when you install the rocker shafts, the notches for the retaining plate are lined up. Re-install the retaining plate, rocker retaining clips and rocker shaft end seals. Also replace the oil spray bar and refit the top pulley.

[[Image:m20head-21.JPG]]

Now is an ideal time to adjust your valve clearances, please see the tech article for the procedure for doing this. It makes life much easier to do this while the head is off the car.
[[Category:Servicing ]]

How to adjust the valves on a M20 engine

2010-11-25T18:18:33Z

Daved:

(''Originally posted on the E30 Zone by'' [[e30adam]])

In this article we will discuss adjusting the valves for the E30 6 cylinder BMW. In this case we will be using my 325i. This method applies to all M20 engine variants including 5 series BMW's. Keep in mind that this article does not apply to the E30 318i or the M3.

Why adjust the valves? You want to keep your valves adjusted as a regular part of your vehicle’s maintenance. Often times, a poorly running engine can purr like new simply by adjusting the valves. When valves do go out of adjustment, they can cause a variety of problems, such as poor fuel economy, loss of power, and even overheating. Many times, failure to adjust valves can result in the valve actually breaking off and causing major damage to the engine.

I would always adjust the valves when the engine is stone cold. If you've run the engine recently, allow at least 6 hours for it to cool before attempting adjustment.

You’ll want to begin by disconnecting the battery. This is just common sense, as you will be working around fuel lines and electrical components, and you can cause serious damage to both you and your car by failing to do this. The battery is located in the rear trunk, on the passenger side under a small access cover on the coupe's or under the bonnet on all other models.

*1. Begin by undoing the 8 rocker cover bolts and the 4 bolts for the bracket which attaches to the inlet manifold. Also slacken the jubilee clip for the breather hose and separate the hose from the rocker cover as shown in the picture below.

[[Image:step01.jpg|thumb|centre|400px|Step 1]]

*2. Next remove the plug leads and plugs. If your leads are not already labelled then label them up, cylinders 1 to 6. The *cylinder nearest the front of the car is cylinder 1.

[[Image:step02.jpg|thumb|centre|400px|Step 2]]

*3. Ensure that you keep the plugs in the order in which they were removed, clean or replace the plugs if necessary.

[[Image:step03.jpg|thumb|centre|400px|Step 3]]

*4. Once you've removed the valve\rocker cover, you should be faced with a similar view to the below picture. This is the valve train and contains the camshaft, valves and rockers.

[[Image:step04.jpg|thumb|centre|400px|Step 4]]

*5. The valve clearances are adjusted by an eccentric attached to the end of the rocker shaft as highlighted in the below picture. The small bolt on the side loosens it and inserting a small implement such as a 3mm allen key into the hole, you can adjust the clearance.

[[Image:step05.jpg|thumb|centre|400px|Step 5]]

*6. Before you start to adjust the valve, you need to ensure that the camshaft is in the correct position for each valve in turn. The camshaft has 12 lobes on it. You need to turn the crankshaft until the cam lobe for the rocker that you are adjusting points straight down. as shown in the following diagram

[[Image:diagram.jpg|thumb|centre|400px|Camshaft position]]

Having the camshaft in this position ensures that both intake and exhaust valves are closed and there is no tension on the valves. If you get beneath the front of the car, you can put a 22mm socket and ratchet on the crankshaft to turn it until the cam is in the desired position.

[[Image:step06.jpg|thumb|centre|400px|Step 6]]

*7. The gap that is being adjusted is shown in the following picture

[[Image:step07.jpg|thumb|centre|400px|Step 7]]

*8. Begin by releasing this 10mm bolt on the side of the rocker

[[Image:step08.jpg|thumb|centre|400px|Step 8]]

*9. You will need a set of feeler gauges to set the gap correctly to 0.25mm. Feeler gauges can be purchased from any motor factors

[[Image:step09.jpg|thumb|centre|400px|Step 9]]

*10. Once you've released the 10mm bolt, put a 3mm allen key into the small adjuster hole and then slide the feeler gauge underneath. You now need to tighten the eccentric by moving it towards you for the exhaust valves or away from you for the inlet valves until you feel a slight resistance when you try and slide the feeler gauge in and out.

[[Image:step10.jpg|thumb|centre|400px|Step 10]]

*11. Once you've achieved the desired adjustment, retighten the 10mm bolt and then recheck by sliding the feeler gauge again. This may take several attempts to get right for each valve.

[[Image:step11.jpg|thumb|centre|400px|Step 11]]

*12. Repeat this procedure for each valve in turn ensuring that you turn the crankshaft so that the cam is in the correct position before adjusting each valve.

*13. When complete, reinstall the spark plugs and rocker cover and take for a test drive. If your valves were badly out of adjustment, the car should feel a lot better to drive.

*14. Daft as it sounds - make sure you remember to remove the wrench / spanner from the crank!!
[[Category:Servicing ]]

E30 AC Schnitzer Register

2010-11-25T18:18:03Z

Daved:

{{stub}}
 
{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0"
!Build Date 11/89
!Registration Prefix
!Body Colour Delphin Gray
!Interior Material Leather
!Interior Colour Navy Blue
!Transmission auto
!Body kit Fitted? AC SchnitzerS3
!Owner 1rotty
!Photo(new Zone option)
|-
|
|[IMG]http://i593.photobucket.com/albums/tt12/1rotty/march09027.jpg[/IMG]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-

Servicing your electric roof

2010-11-25T18:17:22Z

Daved:

After all the troubles that we e30 cabriolet owners with electric roofs have I thought I would write an article on how to keep your electric roof working well.

It is easy enough and can transform a slow working jerky roof operation into a smooth quick one. First of all, from the hoods closed position, operate the roof as normal but stop when the box flap is vertical to reveal the above mechanism, switch off the electrics.

The first job is to remove the protective plate that covers the motor which is held on with 2 screws.

[[Image:Roof_pic.jpg]]

Then undo the 2 screws(16) that hold the rods in place and lift off the bars2 & 3.

The next stage is to lubricate with spray oil (not wd40 as it’s too light and just evaporates) all the hood frame at all the places it is hinged..

Now the boring bit. Manually work the back hood frame up and down at least 50 -75 times and also work the whole hood in and out of its compartment as many times as you can before you get too bored…The more the better! It lets the lubricant penetrate through the joints.

Now reassemble ……the motors cannot get out of sync as they are locked in the right position as you HAVEN’T touched the electrics. Pack with grease round where the rods connect and put the protective plate back on..

Using a good grease pack under an around no’s 18 and 4 and check that nut 17 is as tight as you can get it as it can work loose allowing the pressure to act on the casing, you will need something with a point for this as all it has are 2 little holes in the top. Make sure you have the washer (19) as this helps keep the bar a the correct angle and stops it flexing
But remember to use Loctite when replacing the screws.

Your roof SHOULD work smoothly now and be a lot quicker

[[Category: Servicing]]

E30 Hartge Register

2010-11-25T18:16:50Z

Daved:

{{stub}}
 
{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0"
!Build Date
!Registration Prefix
!Body Colour
!Interior Material
!Interior Colour
!Transmission
!Body kit Fitted?
!Owner
!Photo(new Zone option)
|-
|1989
|566
|Royal Metallic Blue
|Black sports leather
|Black
|Manual
|Some Hartge kit
|Iain Hamilton
|
|-

Touring Rear Headrests

2010-11-25T18:16:12Z

Daved:

== Introduction ==

Similar procedure for all E30s with head rests not fitted as standard.

I don’t know about you, but I reckon the E30 Touring looks a lot better with a pair of rear head-rests, but sadly few had them fitted from new. However, for less than £20 and no more than an hour’s graft, you too can sport a set of rear head rests in your Touring.

The following procedure may apply to other E30’s, i.e. 2-door and 4-door, but I haven’t proven this, so proceed at your own risk if you wish to do this on your car.

== Parts Required ==

* Cover (x 4) BMW part no. B52.10.8.191.245 £0.73 each
* Washer (x4) BMW part no. B52.10.8.838.969 £0.19 each
* Guide (x4) BMW part no. B52.20.8.132.020 £0.77 each
 (My local dealer had to order these parts from Germany, which took about a week.)
* One pair of matching rear headrests (I got mine from the local scrappy for £10)

== Tools Required ==

* Sharp knife
* Scissors
* Flat blade screw-driver
* Pen

== Procedure ==

So, you start off with your rear seat looking like this – dull and boring:

[[Image:tourhead_001.jpg]]

First step is to unclip those seat-belt buckles from the elastic retainer cord. This is done by sliding up the little black plastic “plug” that is attached to the elastic retainer cord, so it comes free of the buckle. See below.

[[Image:tourhead_002.jpg]]

Now you have to remove the seat cover from it’s frame. First, lift the seat base up out of the way.

[[Image:tourhead_003.jpg]]

This is a good time to get the hoover out if your car is anything like mine!!

Now get your fingers under that bottom edge of the seat back cover, feel where it joins the seat frame and pull it forward at one corner first – it’s just held on with a number of clips. Prize it off along the bottom edge and up both sides about half way up. There are 6 white plastic clips in all – 2 along the bottom and 2 up either side, as shown below in the photo below. You can then pull the seat back cover towards you slightly and lift it up off the top of the frame to remove it totally, leaving you with something looking like this.

[[Image:tourhead_004.jpg]]

Now identify the two tubes that are already mounted at the top of the frame, looking like this:

[[Image:tourhead_005.jpg]]

Slide one of the black plastic guides into each of these tubes, noting that there is a key in the guide that has to line up with the slot in the tube as shown below.

[[Image:tourhead_006.jpg]]

Push the guide down fully home so that it clips in at the bottom. Do this in both tubes.

[[Image:tourhead_007.jpg]]

Now put the seat back cover back on, noting that there are channels in the foam that the above tubes sit in, as shown below. Don’t bother trying to get the clips in at this stage as it will be coming off again in a moment.

[[Image:tourhead_008.jpg]]

With the seat back cover sitting fully home again, feel where the top of the black plastic guides are and mark with a pen where the centre is of both.

[[Image:tourhead_009.jpg]]

Now you have to remove the seat back cover again and carefully cut open a circle in the cloth and foam underneath to take the black plastic trim (cover). The part of this cover that goes through the hole is only about 15mm in diameter, so don’t make the hole too big. I found the best way to do this is to cut along the lines of the cross you made, always cutting from the outside in towards the centre of the cross, otherwise you may end up slipping with the knife and cutting more than you planned. Now you can lift up the bits you’ve cut and cut round with scissors to remove some of the material. It doesn’t need to be perfect either as long as the cover can push through. Mine looked like this before I put in the cover.

[[Image:tourhead_010.jpg]]

This is the cover and washer that you need to fit in the hole you’ve just cut.

[[Image:tourhead_011.jpg]]

The idea is that the white washer pushes down over the ridges on the barrel of the cover and locks in place as shown below (I didn’t push it right down as it’s not designed to come off again!) So, the black plastic cover goes through the hole you’ve just cut from the outside and the white washer goes on the inside to keep it in place. This is probably the most tricky part of the whole job!

[[Image:tourhead_012.jpg]]

The difficulty is pushing the washer down in the limited space of the channel down the back of the seat back cover. I found it best to push down on one side of the washer with a finger and the other side with a flat blade screw driver. You need to ensure the white washer grips all round the barrel of the cover. The photo below shows it all in place.

[[Image:tourhead_013.jpg]]

Turn the seat back cover over and you should see this!! Nice and neat!

[[Image:tourhead_014.jpg]]

Now you can fit the seat back cover back on the frame, ensuring all six clips hold it in place. Put the seat base back down and clip the seat-belt buckle retainers back in place. Now the exciting bit – fitting the head-rest! If you’ve got it all right, it should slot in easy enough..

[[Image:tourhead_015.jpg]]

Now stand back and admire your handywork!

[[Image:tourhead_016.jpg]]

Now stand back and admire your handywork!

[[Image:tourhead_017.jpg]]

This article is copyright to E30zone and must not be replicated without prior permission. Written and photographed by Pete

Illuminated Rear Heated Window Switch

2010-11-25T18:15:06Z

Daved:

E30 Illuminated Demist Switch.
Smithy318i

For some reason BMW didn't fit all E30s with an illuminated demist switch.

This is a simple to follow guide, to covert your demist switch into an illuminated one.

The guide comes in two parts. The in-car procedure, and modifying the demist switch.

YOU WILL NEED:

* A spare hazard warning switch.
* Two lengths of wire with connectors attached (one 20cm and the other 5cm). Connector PN. 61 13 1 358 924
* Stanley knife blade.
* Wire cutters.
* Electrical tape.
* Small flat screwdriver.
* Soldering iron.

IN-CAR PROCEDURE:

1.) Remove the blanking plate next to the demist switch with a combination of the Stanley knife blade and the screwdriver.
Don't try and use only the screwdriver on the switches, as this can result in damage to the dash.
[[Image:Img1.jpg]]

2.) you will then be able to extract the demist and hazard switches by inserting your index finger and pulling them towards you.
Once you have extracted the switches from the dash, you can unplug them.
[[Image:Img2.JPG]]

3.) Use the screwdriver to unclip the plastic cover from the front of the demist switch plug.
Some plugs have a white plastic peg in the top left pin hole. You will need to extract the white peg (if fitted)
[[Image:Img3.jpg]]

4.) Take the 20cm piece of wire and plug the connector end into the hole marked number 7.
[[Image:Img4.jpg]]

5.) loop the wire through the two switch holes in the dash.
[[Image:Img5.JPG]]

6.) Take the hazard warning plug and strip away a small piece of insulation from the grey/red wire (pin 7) then solder the
20cm piece of wire to it. Wrap the joint with electrical tape.
You can now plug in the hazard switch and insert it back into the dash.
[[Image:Img6.jpg]]

7.) Now going back to the demist plug, strip away a small piece of insulation from the brown wire (pin 6) then solder
the 5cm piece of wire to it. Insulate the joint using some electrical tape.
[[Image:Img7.jpg]]

8.) Then plug the connector end into the hole marked number 8.
[[Image:Img8.jpg]]

9.) You can now re-fit the plastic cover to the front of the plug.
[[Image:Img9.jpg]]

This concludes the in-car part of the procedure.

DEFROST SWITCH MODIFICATION PROCEDURE:

YOU WILL NEED:

* A spare hazard warning switch.
* A 75 ohm carbon resistor.
* Two small flat screwdrivers.
* Soldering iron.

1.) There are two different types of hazard warning switch fitted to the E30.
One can be used as a sacrificial switch, while the other can't.
You will need the first of the two types (with the diode/resistor visible on the bottom).
[[Image:image1.jpg]]

2.) Remove the cover of the hazard switch by inserting the screwdrivers into each of the plastic tabs on the side if the switch.
[[Image:image2.jpg]]

3.) The switch may well fall to pieces but it is simple to put it back together.
[[Image:image3.JPG]]

4.) Remove the cover from the top of the switch.
[[Image:image7.jpg]]

5.) Use exactly the same procedure on your demist switch and you will be left with the demist cover.
Discard the rest of the old demist switch as it is now useless.
Attach the demist cover to the front of the hazard switch.
[[Image:image8.JPG]]

6.) Now to get the correct illumination on the switch, you will need to replace the 150 ohm resistor with a 75 ohm one.
[[Image:47-150ohms.jpg]]

7.) You do this by unsoldering the resistor from the centre of the inside of the switch.
[[Image:image4.JPG]]

8.) and the diode from the pin on the rear.
[[Image:image5.jpg]]

9.) Then solder in the new resistor and diode.
[[Image:image6.jpg]]

Then re-assemble the switch and fit it into the dashboard.

LEGAL DISCLAIMER: I am not responsible for any problems that may arise following this procedure.
Any work you do is at your own risk.

Removing Ignition Lock

2010-11-25T18:13:15Z

Daved:

[[Category: Common Faults]]

Many people seem to have trouble with removing the ignition lock from the steering column.

Here we have a useful guide which shows us exactly how it's done in 5 easy steps.

==== Equipment Required ====

*25mm picture hanging nail, approximately 1mm diameter
*Ignition Key

===== Procedure =====

'''1.''' Insert key into ignition

[[Image:Lock1.jpg]]

Note the half moon shaped hole underneath the key at the bottom of the silver disc

'''2.''' Turn the key until it clicks at ‘position 1’ this is the point at which the steering lock is released

[[Image:Lock2.jpg]]

If you look carefully down the hole you’ll see that the casting under the half-moon disappears from view when ‘position 1’ is selected.

'''3.''' Insert the nail into the hole and carefully push it in as far as it will go, you will feel the lock pop out of its socket

[[Image:Lock3.jpg]]

The nail must have a ‘taper’ on the end to drive the release pin in, a flat ended implement will not work. See pic. below:

[[Image:Lock4.jpg]]

'''4.''' Remove the lock from the casting

[[Image:Lock5.jpg]]

'''5.''' To fit the lock insert the key into the lock and turn to ‘position 1’ and push it into the casting. There is no need to use the nail for this, the inside of the casting is tapered and will push the pin in for you as you push the lock in.

M20 Stroker Info

2010-11-25T18:10:21Z

Daved:

== M20 Stroker Permutations ==

'''Note:''' Many more possibilities exist, these are just the ''easiest'', please note some also require a bore increase.

{| border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"
|-
!Engine
!Bore (mm)
!Stroke (mm)
!Cylinders
!P Area (mm^2)
!C Vol (mm^3)
!M Vol (mm^3)
!Volume in L
!Crank Type
!Pistons
|-
|2.0L M20
|80
|66
|6
|5026.5
|331752.2
|1990513.1
|1.991
|M20 2.0i
|M20 2.0i
|-
|2.4L M21
|80
|81
|6
|5026.5
|407150.4
|2442902.4
|2.443
|M21 D/TD
|M21 D/TD
|-
|2.5L M20
|84
|75
|6
|5541.8
|415632.7
|2493796.2
|2.494
|M20 2.5i
|M20 2.5i
|-
|2.7L
|84
|81
|6
|5541.8
|448883.3
|2693299.9
|2.693
|ETA/M21
|2.5i / ETA
|-
|2.8L
|86
|81
|6
|5808.8
|470513.2
|2823079.1
|2.823
|ETA/M21
|Custom
|-
|2.8L
|84
|84
|6
|5541.8
|465508.6
|2793051.8
|2.793
|M52
|2.5i
|-
|2.9L
|85
|84
|6
|5674.5
|476658.1
|2859948.9
|2.860
|M52
|Custom
|-
|2.9L
|86
|84
|6
|5808.8
|487939.6
|2927637.6
|2.928
|M52
|Custom
|-
|3.0L
|84
|89.6
|6
|5541.8
|496542.5
|2979255.3
|2.979
|S52 / M54
|2.5i
|-
|3.1L
|85
|89.6
|6
|5674.5
|508435.4
|3050612.1
|3.051
|S52 / M54
|Custom
|-
|3.1L
|86
|89.6
|6
|5808.8
|520468.9
|3122813.5
|3.123
|S52 / M54
|Custom

|}

 

[[Category: E30 Engines]]

Originally posted on www.gevans.info

--March109 09:07, 21 July 2008 (UTC)

Convertible top adjustment

2010-11-25T18:09:45Z

Daved:

This article is to help fit a new top to your E30 convertible, or get you existing one to close/seal better. You will need to adjust the three mounting points on each side of the frame so that it closes properly against the windscreen frame and seals across the rear of the lid.

Firstly you need to loosen off all the securing nuts/bolts, then adjust the height using the pic below.. you will need to place a straight-edge across the body frame and measure down from the underside of the straight-edge. Once done leave the bottom 4 nuts loose so the roof can still move forward/back.

[[Image:top_adjust.jpg]]

then close the top onto the windscreen (leave the lid open) and latch it with both latches. Now you can shim the top mounting into the correct place. Once you have done this, you can then secure all the nuts/bolts.

I will add some more actual car pics later to help explain the whole procedure.

[[Image:Convtop-p1.jpg‎ ]]
[[Image:Convtop window.jpg‎]]