What did you do to your E30 today?

[pac1982]

Got rid of the bodge job behind the headunit, looks and sounds a lot better now..........

[Brianmoooore]

Got rid of the bodge job behind the headunit, looks and sounds a lot better now..........

Looking very professional! Why can't everyone do it like that from the start.

[darkchild]

Hey mate, you can pick up a decent second hand engine on here quite cheap, you should think about changing it

That's if you really need to

Must be a way of keeping her going?

I definitely haven't ruled it out. Tomorrow should reveal the full extent of the damage which will make things a bit clearer regarding what my options are. I've got a garage I can keep it stored away in so there will be no need for a rushed decision.

Its just new engine + other bits it will need over the next 6 months (tax, tyres, exhaust) doesn't make much financial sense regardless of how much I like the old barge!

Well, looks like its going to live again. Its going to cost me £600-£700. A lot of money to spend on repairing an undesirable model but its been such a good car it deserves another chance. £700 doesn't buy much nowadays so I'll stick with what I know. I thought about breaking it but the old thing has too much of an emotional connection due to the trips I've had in it and the various bits I've added over the years. Bl00dy car! I was considering a £1500 E38 as its replacement (frying pan, fire? ) but wisely resisted the urge!

[Speedtouch]

Well, a 731 cylinder head for a 320i shouldn't cost much, if needed...

[darkchild]

Well, a 731 cylinder head for a 320i shouldn't cost much, if needed...

One of the few benefits of B20 ownership - cheap spares!

[Automaton]

Debating whether to go for BBS Rx 16" wheels.
Opinions?

[G-Bear]

Took it to get tested today... And it passed.

Have put a lot of hours in of late to get it back on the road legally.. Feels good, just in time for a little holiday down to Cornwall..

[Gavla]

Picked her up, finally! And fell in love all over again....couple of pics to follow.

[M6luvva]

Stopped by the paint shop to see how progress is going on my chromie's repaint....prep coming along nicely!

http://img594.imageshack.us/img594/8186/hf01.jpg

[Sykopaf]

Went round a lot of corners sideways. Got a tank slapper on trying to go in a straight line. Lots of fun was had.

[FinalD]

Fitted a new viscous unit on Monday, now the temp needle stays rock solid instead of creeping up....also seem to have a knock on the front end now though. Don't think it is suspension as I checked droplinks and other bits quickly last night and all was solid.

Never ending this fault finding and fixing on the e30.

[toby]

FinalD - damper collars tight? Yeah constant fault finding is part of the 'fun' init

[Brianmoooore]

Never ending this fault finding and fixing on the e30.

Disagree! Do it once. Do it right. Do it all.
Apart from consumables and servicing, it should then cost and need nothing for the next ten years.

[toby]

No Brian, and you know because you help everyone fix the problems. Things still go wrong in different places at different times.

[FinalD]

FinalD - damper collars tight? Yeah constant fault finding is part of the 'fun' init

I'll have a proper look tonight but I honestly don't know what has now broken, it was totally fine up until I changed the viscous unit. To replace that I removed the front undertray (as I couldn't get the fan out otherwise) and that was it. Quite odd really as I didn't bash anything else in the process. It could just have happened as I drove down my parent's lane full of potholes and I only noticed when I left after doing the fan.

Disagree! Do it once. Do it right. Do it all.
Apart from consumables and servicing, it should then cost and need nothing for the next ten years.

So you're saying I should strip the car down completely, undo every last nut and bolt, take the engine totally apart and rebuild it all with fresh nuts, bolts etc? That is the only way to 'Do it once. Do it right. Do it all.'. The car was fine until I changed the fan, so quite how you've come to the conclusion that I've not done something is amazing. It's an old car, parts fail, that's life.

[mikelat]

Just finished taking my oil pan off as it was drooling all over the transmission etc and found that many of the bolts could be removed by hand! Considered just tightening them to specs and see if the leak stopped but already had the gasket so decided to do a bunch of cleaning and press on. Used the Haynes removal method (loosen the rack and drop the oil pump in the pan) and it came off with a bit of fiddling. What gasket sealer is best as they recommend using one but fail to say which one?

Mike

[appletree]

Locktite stuff is good if you get the right grade, used it when joing my 6 speed box back togeather and it worked well. It was bright orange and came free from a "local supplier".

Also I ordered the valiters pride black dye to dye my carpet and new shagging blind parcel shelf black. The weekends job.

[dazleeds]

errrrrrrm sod all been at work
but I am gonna go and start it in a minute, make sure battery has stayed charged

[Brianmoooore]

It was bright orange and came free from a "local supplier".

Hmm, that sounds like the stuff that forms little rubber balls that break off inside. I've seen oil pump pick up strainers so clogged with the stuff that you wonder how the engine got any oil at all!
All that's needed is a little grease on one side of the gasket to keep it in place.

[appletree]

This was on the gearbox to bellhousing it doesn't have a gasket just metal on metal with a sealer, the stuff I have is used by SEW for sealing there big gearboxes and motors so is designed to work at high temps and with oil contact I think most of the problem is fitterz using gallons of the stuff when just smear do.

[zaust]

Well just smelt fuel on the way to my parents, split on the pipe from fpr to rail !!! Quick snip of some spare hose and home soon. Could have ended in a very warm night...

[StuBeeDoo]

What did I do to my E30 today????

I started taking the I.C.E out, and morsels off, in preperation for the remains of the car going to lands a long way east of here to be returned as Tesco Value toasters.

[Grrrmachine]

Just tightened up the last bolt on an aircon retrofit. Dash out, new heater box in, did all the plumbing, mounted the condensor, fan, drier and compressor, then overfilled it with oil and had to take half the hoses off again

All the wiring's in, but I just need a few little bits from the dealer before I can fire up the car and bleed the engine, to take the aircon to be vacuumed and charged. Well chuffed.

[appletree]

Well after going to Petes yard (sweep) and sthil sawing half the roof off a late touring shell he had there I spent a good bit of the day drilling out spot welds and very carfully heating up the shitty sealent to seperate the sun roof tray from the roof.

Why have I gone to this extreame? Mine has some rust on the sunroof tray just above the drivers head and is the only rust on a really sold shell so its worth replacing the tray to keep it mint but as these are now only available from Germany and are £504 I have decided to strip this one down and get it sand/beadblasted and powdercoated before it gets fitted to mine probably this winter.

Sorry no pics of me being a rough Kunt stood on the roof sthil sawing it off just the below.

When i got it back



Why they all go rusty. Split sealent that pus the paint of leaving bare metal


Stripped

[darkchild]

Bought it a new tax disc. And a new engine. Hopefully it'll be back on the road next week.

[joeyb]

My E30 failed MOT on a few silly things this week. When I fitted the B8s I put the offside brake caliper back on with the brake hose twisted 360degrees so they failed it for being twisted, not enough room to move and the tyre fouls on it at full lock. Also failed on a brake imbalance, hopefully that bit was also linked?

Other failure was the front tyre fouling on near side ARB. I'm a bit annoyed about this because the same garage did my tracking a few months back so they could have correctly centred the steering when they did that. I've now manually recentred the steering but now have to pay another £25 for wheel alignment!

Booked in for a retest on Friday so hopefully all will be well. Can't believe it didn't need tyres lol

[joeyb]

Oh and I got my horn working the day before the MOT. Was a loose wire.

[oomz1975]

Refurbished a spare throttle body to replace the one on the car that has developed a coolant leak.

[clipper]

At the weekend I gave the E30 its last run out and a good clean....



...before parking it up and tucking it in for a few years sleep while I'm away.

[G-Bear]

Just got back from a trip to Cornwall with my good lady.

Racked up some 1140 miles. All the hard work on the car in the last month paid off and made for a very pleasurable drive. I think with my calculations and trying to remember how much fuel I put in over the trip, I got around 31mpg (M20B25). Which I was pleased with considering it was mainly A and B roads.

[AndyZippy]

Tax Disc - Yesterday, technically!

[joeyb]

Replaced the infamous heater control resistor pack earlier. I now have four fan speeds! Just hoping it gets through the MOT retest tomorrow, will get it taxed then!

[Gavla]

With London being on lock down I gave the old girl a spit and polish

[jas025]

Over the last 2 weekends gave it the full meguires 3 stage bufty treatment, installed the new drivers side underdash panel, got rid of the rattle in the centre console.

Took it to work this morning to go to the ace cafe tonight and now it's p*ssing down.

[driftwood]

I made this. It doesn't look like much in the photo but It's a section to repair a rear inner arch. It's not quite finished. I have another couple of sections to make. The lines are tool marks that could be sanded off, but no one will see it so not much point.