here's the original thread:
http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... c&t=226180
Just to recap last week I bought this baby:
to use as a back up to my other daily a 1974 Triumph 2000. Got pelters from the 'finance director' for having 2 straight 6 cars with the associated fuel greed but she changed her tune when I let her use the Baur over the weekend.
70 miles in the Triumph yesterday and some of that at speed has highlighted some issues that I had hoped would be later in manifesting. mainly I have some concerns about the steering UJ joint bushes and the subframe bushes which are now beginning to effect the car on the road. This combined with the huge number of holes underneath the car means that I really should take he off the road in the next couple of weeks before doing a major weldathon...
Of course - all this costs 'money' so this morning I decided to relegate the Triumph from 'tool' to 'toy' and reclass the BMW as a 'tool' from a 'toy'.
(Logic here is that a tool is a car which is first and foremost reliable and that you maintain as such, a toy is exactly that - a car that can be fooled about with a bit and it doesn't realy matter if you compromise reliability because you have a tool for daily use. A tool can be a toy as well but a toy can never be a tool (if you get my drift). When you have more than 3 or 4 cars you need to classify this way or what happens is you end up blowing your resources fixing an issue with a toy and not maintaining the tool...why - because it is better fun tuning a 1974 straight 6 than it is - say - doing the brakes on the family Volvo Estate)
Anyway here's a pic of the Triumph taken in the highlands last month:
Moving swiftly on to the Baur.
As per my other thread, there is a bit of a todo list and I am slowly working my way through it.
I think we are all pretty much agreed that there is little point in having an E30 unless the handling is razor sharp and perhaps just a wee bit tail happy
Suspension needs sorting and I have decided to replace all the bushes including the subframe with polyurethane ones -
question 1 - has anyone tried these ones:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-E30-M3-Fu ... 4131wt_952
I ask because they are significantly cheaper to buy than some other ones. I have bought parts like this from Poland before and have been inpressed with the quality and price but before I go and spend 170 odd quid I thought I would check to see if anyone has any experience of these.
I think the running issues are down to a faulty coolant temperature sender, it's only rough on a cold start and for the first 2-3 minutes. So I will replace that but as suggested I will also strip down the inlet manifold and throttle body, get in there with carb cleaner and a toothbrush and change the gaskets.
Question 2 - I also want to change the HT leads and plugs and a new dizzy cap and rotor - any suggestions as to a good mid range option - I don't need race spec.
Electrics
like most 20 year old cars these are a bit eccentric. Last week you could have thought that this BMW had been built by the same guys that built the Mk1 Citroen XM the leccy was so odd - but the 'Italian' tune up of 500 motorway and trunk road miles in the last week seems to have helped. The brake wear warning light has now gone out as has the brake light warning light. However, the bulb holder in the nearside front indicator just wont hold the connection with the base of the bulb. I think some folded tinfoil or a big dollop of solder at the bottom of the bulb might have to be applied.
Question 3 - does anyone know if the clear indicator units you can get on ebay come with bulb holders in place - I think the easiest and cheapest way to solve this will be just to replace the coloured units with clear ones. However, I would like to keep the car original so would rather not go to clear lenses.
Service Interval Light -
I'm debating whether or not to disable this system rather than replacing the batteries - budget doesn't stretch to a lithium SIS board. I'll have a look at it later today and make a call on what to do.
Headlights -
I had the lower dash panel off this weekend to fit a stereo speaker left over from some work I did on the BX last year - and then put my finger through the 20 year old foam ring installing the b^gger! grrr! I did notice that the system for raising and lowering the headlight beam was disconnected and also looked rather complex.
further investigation sees that the dipped beam headlights are later 'angel halo' halogens which have been wedged into position using insulation tape.
This isn't ideal because the potholes in Edinburgh mean that the tape falls out and the headlights wobble and vibrate around. Having looked at the mechanism it seems that the adjustable system won't work with the headlight units installed so I am going to install a manual system using butterfly screws, a tap and soldering captive bolts to the headlight bowls. Hopefully I won't melt the chrome coating inside the headlight.
question 4 -
is there a better solution to this headlight issue?
Interior
as the bard said "the great plans of mice and men etc..."
On Sunday I gave the black leather interior a clean and condition with Gliptone. For those of you who haven't used it before Gliptone comes in 2 bottles - a cleaner that deep cleans the leather and treats it and a conditioner that feeds the leather. It's superb stuff EXCEPT when the seats you are treating have actually been dyed from their original grey to black.
I discovered this to the cost of a white shirt, one of the 'finance Director's' dresses and the wee one's cardigan. The dye job had been ok and the only places where there was any indication the seats had been a different colour was on the bolsters and side cusions and you can put that down to wear. It's really important to colour test with these products - I didn't and then had to spend the next 5 hours - yes 5 hours - removing the unstable dye from the grey leather and that was only for the front passenger seat!
I have been able to stabilise the dye in the driver's seat and the bench seat but it's not ideal. At some point I will have to go over the whole with cellulose thinner to remove the black dye and then redye the whole to either the grey or black - a time consuming and expensive job.
BEWARE! nothing more annoying than causing an expensive issue because of not following the steps - it's that sinking feeling you get as a screw bounces around the rocker cover before plopping down one of the plug holes!
Other than that not a lot more to sort just now.
I am going to take out the thermostat and bung it in a saucepan to test it as I suspect that it is not functioning properly - the car seems to be running slightly cold but the fuel consumption seems OK although the heater is a bit weak. I had put this down to a sticking heater valve but now suspect the thermostat. I hope so cos it's an easier job!
future mods include:
1/lowering about an inch - is this a good idea? does it make a difference and what springs would you recommend? I don't want to take it any lower as I need the clearance for town driving.
2/ rear drums to discs
3/ a decent but modest ICE
I'll be bunging winter tyres on in November and using it as my daily car so I'll also
4/ be giving it the dinatrol treatment - however, there is one of these professional waxoly rustproofing places in Glasgow and they charge about £300 and give a 3 year warranty. Given that the dinatrol kit will cost about £150 to do it properly I might just bite the bullet and take it over to Weege.
thanks for all help and advice so far!
