E30 Zone

Yes, pins are available, not necessarily from BMW, but often in bags of 100 or so. Identifying which ones you want is the art. They are easily removed with the correct tool, but again, the art is to identify that correct tool. That looks like a fairly common plug on later BMWs and probably other mak...

I've seen this problem several times, and it's exactly the problem described above.

The lack of the sensor will have a minor effect on economy and emissions. If the new lead can be dismantled enough and is thin enough to go through the old sensor, then it can be fitted. Nice collection of BMWs you list there! I'm just putting together an E39 530i M Sport in black. Somebody else's p...

The ECU takes the signal from the crank position sensor and processes it into a signal for both the rev counter and the ICV.

The AA SI board batteries are rechargeable and have a 'life' of about 10 years. They're not exactly stressed in their E30 application, so even though they've deteriorated, they might continue to do their job for another ten. A sure way to finish elderly ones off is to disconnect them from the main c...

Assuming this is a manual gearbox, are you sure it's engine or gearbox oil, and not brake/clutch fluid?

Wiring will be fitted, but not connected at both ends. There won't be a crossover filter either (although it's just a single capacitor each side.)

Wiring will be present near the front footwell speakers, but won't be connected. IIRC, the footwell speakers for use with tweeters have a filter built into them, which the tweeter wiring plugs into.

My window and sunroof switches are illuminated/working all the time when the car is switched off and doors locked is this normal and would it drain the battery? First question: Is this something new that's just started happening, is this a new car to you, or has it always been like this? Second que...

20 is referred to as a hose because the part shown (an accumulator?) is no longer available or needed. I expect that if you buy 20, you'll get a hose to replace the original that has its end pointing the right way to connect to the pump. Don't think the damper is required any more, either.

Stevieabz wrote: ↑
Fri Mar 08, 2024 8:40 pm
Would you mind changing the title of this post to;

"BMW E30 325i Touring Restoration | Part 2 - Digging Deeper"

Done!

When is the Scottish car show? If it's late summer / autumn, then maybe! That's my target. You didn't quite make that , then! No matter, there's always another one. I know from experience that these things always take many times longer than expected, especially if doing it properly, so congratulati...

As above.

Looking good!

"Brian" used to say using supermarket oil was fine as it was better now than most oils in the day :D Mart. It's true that E30 engines were designed for oils that are inferior to the cheapest stuff available today, but that doesn't mean that I wouldn't recommend a good full synthetic today. Not too ...

It was a few years ago now. Everything went into slow motion during the crash, and I clearly remember the Porsche spinning slowly across the road towards me, with its already shattered rear end high in the air, and then crashing down onto the front left of my car, pushing the road wheel back in the ...

Still have one or two, but that 325 was my favourite, and my first real E30, after the M10 carb saloon I started with. Travelled 1000s of miles all over Europe with that car and it never let me down in such a way that it couldn't be driven. Even drove it home after the accident, after two days work ...

Brianmoooore wrote: ↑
Mon Oct 23, 2023 7:45 pm
My late E30 touring

The one that died at the hands of a flying porker on the autobahn near Munich.

Late to the party, but I'll post anyway. My late E30 touring ran on LPG, and the wheel well was occupied by the fuel tank, so I had need of a spacesaver. While walking around my favourite scrapyard, about twenty years ago, I spotted a spacesaver lying on the ground which looked a likely candidate. I...

Well done!

Anyone been to their local cinema lately to see "Grand Turismo", the totally inaccurate story of British racing driver Jann Mardenborough? Did you realise that he's one of our own? This is his E30 part way down this page: https://www.e30zone.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=188377&p=2065840#p2065840 . ...

I thought it was cleverer than that? At about the mid setting it is supposed to put cooler air through the face level vents and warmer at foot level. Ben That's done by positioning the outlets in the heater box for the face vents closer to the bypass side of the flap than the outlets for the floor .

When the temperature knob is at fully cold, an electrical switch is closed, supplying power to an electric water valve, which shuts off all flow through the heater matrix. When the knob is turned just a few degrees from fully cold, the switch opens,, the water valve opens, and full flow passes throu...

Just read this from start to finish, and am extremely jealous. Haven't left the UK for European roads for well over three years now and am missing driving on those fantastic roads more than a little. Never been stranded in an E30 either, although with a combination of a faulty LPG tank and a rapidly...

Brianmoooore wrote: ↑
Fri Mar 08, 2019 8:01 pm
Unscrew and pull out the driver's door pin switch, disconnect the brown/purple and connect it to a good body earth or battery negative with a piece of wire. Do the interior lights come on?

Brianmoooore wrote: ↑
Wed Mar 13, 2019 6:39 pm
A small sliver of black plastic can build up where the contact surfaces meet however, but can easily be removed with a craft knife.

If t's idling at 2k, then the engine must be getting getting sufficient air to do so. It can get this excess air by the throttle butterfly not closing properly, the ICV not closing enough, or by a considerable air leak. First thing to check is that the throttle butterfly closes tight against its sto...

Quite possibly the result of the ethanol contaminated fuel foisted on us for the last few years.

Check all battery connections, including main leads at both ends and body to engine earth strap, PROPERLY. Note that a bad body to engine strap on a facelift 6 pot can cause terminal damage to the engine wiring loom. Blowers on E30s don't go "on the way out" - they just suffer from lack of maintenan...

If you have 1.73 volts between the alternator casing and the main earth point on the RH suspension turret, either the alternator isn't earthing to the engine, or the engine to body earth strap needs attention.

Pull the DME relay and turn the ignition on. This will just power up a part of the ECU.

Looks extremely tidy, BUT I'd want at least £1000 off because of the 15A fuse in the fuel pump position! Originally supplied by North Oxford, I see, the garage that my first E30 was supplied by when new, and who I bought it from as a trade sale. That's an E30 that is probably late enough to have a c...

Why settle for 12 valves, when you can have 24?

My tester actually drives an E30 as his personal (as opposed to family) transport, so we spent a good deal of the test time talking about that. It's only a 1.6i, and he wants to keep it as that, but he wants to rebuild the engine as a world beating 1.6i. I got away with a minor bit of play on a fron...

Search found 46535 matches

Re: Plug / pin removal and replacement

Re: Strange light issue

Re: Cylinder Identification Sensor (CID)

Re: SI battery query.

Re: SI battery query.

Re: Gearbox oil leaking through the vent

Re: OEM Tweeter

Re: OEM Tweeter

Re: Power window wiring

Re: External Fuel Pump Parts

Re: BMW E30 325i Touring Restoration | Part 2 - Digger Deeper

Re: BMW E30 325i Touring Restoration | Part 2 - Digger Deeper

Re: 1991 316 auto to 328

Re: Everything Wrong With My BMW E30 Touring | BMW E30 325i Touring Restoration - Part 1

Re: 1990 320i Touring

Re: Engine oil

Re: Space saver

Re: Space saver

Re: Space saver

Re: Space saver

Re: SI battery query.

Gran Turismo

Re: Heater matrix

Re: Heater matrix

Re: 1991 325i SE

Re: Interior light problem

Re: Interior light problem

Re: High idle when warm - TPS check?

Re: Fuel pump rust - Cause for concern?

Re: Heater/Blower problems causing ignition problems.

Re: Alternator not charging battery

Re: E30 M42 Stalls after 30 minutes and will not restart until cools down

Re: Opinions and advice for newbie

Re: Opinions and advice for newbie

Re: Brake warning light and MOT