318is. Problems bringing it back to life.. some help please.

[Pistoltpete]

Hi all
As said in the welcome post i have an e30 318is on a h plate on my drive i am trying to get road worth again.. few issues we currently have
I always work on my own cars so these questions are a bit e30 specific

We have got it running nice and all brakes are working and running seems to be okay, except needing to get rid of the stupid welded diff

First problem..
Interior fan catching fire
Pretty much.. turn it on couple mins later.. lots of smoke horrible electrical burning smell..
How do you go about changing it?

Rev counter doesn't work..
Do these have batteries behind the clocks like my dads e28 m5?
If so how does clocks come out, if not where else should i look.

It has 14 inch alloys on which rub the tie rod. So guessing the is came with 15s or bigger? I havent driven it don't worry

Can't get in book or petrol cap.
They seem to be seized shut, is there an easy way in or just lots of spray with wd to try get it to free off.. i haven't tried going from inside the car yet as low down on my list. Butnis that possible..

Rear dounut is knackered.. easy/how to change


Many thanks for any help you can give in bringing this back to life

Thanks
Pete

[Stubabalu]

With your interior fan you should first investigate the heater blower motor, accessed through the engine bay. There's plenty of videos on YouTube such as this one :



With the Rev counter the first thing to check is its not a loose nut at the back of the gauge, quite common I hear. There is a battery for si board but not sure it would cause this. Possibly worn gears, might just be worth buying a working rev counter second hand it's a fairly easy swap.

The Is came with 14 Inch wheels so I don't think the wheels are the problem, you might want to check you have the right tie rods fitted!

Not sure with Boot & Petrol cap could be a central locking issue, the petrol cap has a small plastic pin keeping it closed. It operates with the central locking, if you work the pin back into its housing it will release the petrol flap. Boot should open if you turn key to horizontal position and press catch fully in?

When you say rear doughnut, I take it your referring to the exhaust rubber mounts? If so there are special tools for changing these they cost about a tenner. It's called a exhaust hanger removal tool or its a lot of fiddling round and a fair bit of swearing. Good luck bud, hope you get it all sorted.

[Stubabalu]

P.S. To get at the gauges you have to remove the drivers side cowling (kick panel/under dash trim) using the 3 plastic retaining screws. Careful these panels are difficult to replace so be delicate, you will need to unscrew head light adjustment control to remove it completely. Then you can access the two metal nuts found either side of steering wheel that hold the plastic cover that's found just above steering column and directly below the gauge. This gives you access to the 3 lower screws holding in the bezel that surrounds the clocks, lastly remove the two upper screws you can see these. Remove bezel, remove the clocks carefully, unplug cables and your there.

[Pistoltpete]

Ibrilliant thank you.. great help ill let you know how i get on..

Thats really going to help me massively