Lee Parkes' E30 Alpina B10.

[DanThe]

Its beginning to look like an intermittent bad connection somewhere. A known working crank sensor would be a good place to start

[leeparkes]

The car/engine is a keeper so new CPS it is, £86 is steep though for a bit of wire and a sensor.

[Speedtouch]

I take it the toothed timing wheel is secured properly and not waggling about or rotating?

[Bristol_Jer]

It's a fair bit of money like you said Lee, but at least you know it can be crossed off the list of possible faults!

[leeparkes]

Ive tried two toothed wheels Maurice as i had the same thought but its in good order with no wobbles or teeth missing.

Thinking about it Jer ill gladly pay 80 sheets to get it running right, its done my head in for the last couple of months.

[leeparkes]

Raasclartfookinbarstid

New genuine CPS @ nearly 90 sheets.




It hasnt fixed it Tested the resistance on it and its at 526 ohm which is normal and shows its not a duff.

This was the face of the old one, few knocks on the edges but nothing to worry about.




Im gonna have a bloody stroke over this car


One thing at least the CPS is eliminated from enquiries now...

[staley_turbo]

I cant believe you still haven't cured this! Have you tried pump / fuel pick up?

[Rav335uk]

Have you changed the fuel filter??
Only a few quid new lee.

[staley_turbo]

I did have the gayest problem with the fuel pick up, never heard of it before or after. It had tiny holes in and would bring a small amount of air up with the fuel causing running probs.

[leeparkes]

A new fuel filter was fitted about a month ago, fuel pump was donated from a breaker i had, it was only 12 months old and from BMW.


Talking of BMW i nipped in there yesterday to grab the spec sheet this lump came out of.



Looked like it was a well spec up chariot 8

Wonder what 459* 458+Memory means? Whats the two sets of seats all about

[Speedtouch]

Electric front seats, according to this list:

http://www.bimmerforums.co.uk/forum/f74 ... me-t20824/

[DanThe]

Have you tried running it with the coil direct to battery as Mr Speedtouch suggested?

Has the sparky pattern changed again?

[zaust]

first try the above and then if no go have a very close look at the dis cap. May have a small crack inside and arcing out internally.

[leeparkes]

I havent really touched the car since last week apart from swapping the diffs over on Monday.

Dan, im going to try this next but let me get this straight first do i just connect the coil + terminal direct to the Battery? what about the other terminal on the coil?

Marc, i went through the dizzy checking/swapping a few weeks ago.

[Speedtouch]

Yes, +12V straight to ignition coil +. The other (-) terminal 'earths' via the ECU switching it.

[leeparkes]

Thanks, ill try that tomorrow.

[leeparkes]

Ive tried it with the coil connected direct to the battery and it hasnt made any difference

[Speedtouch]

Then I suggest you follow zaust's advice, and check the dizzy cap and rotor arm again.

It may be worth running the engine in the dark to look for any stray arcing, and whilst it is running, use a garden sprayer to spray a fine mist of water over the dizzy cap to highlight any hairline cracks, etc.

[crissymck]

Alright lee still not got round to fitting the mounts i got of you thanks again by the way.Anyway av had a read though and a know you have checked the cps,timing etc.etc.etc. but with the spark going down like you said have you checked the teeth on the ring gear at the cps pick up and that the air gap between the sensor and ring gear is the same for each tooth. i dont think i seen that in any posts i may be wrong.

[DanThe]

Then I suggest you follow zaust's advice, and check the dizzy cap and rotor arm again.

It may be worth running the engine in the dark to look for any stray arcing, and whilst it is running, use a garden sprayer to spray a fine mist of water over the dizzy cap to highlight any hairline cracks, etc.

His video shows the spark test rig connected directly to the coil, so the dizzy is obviously not the problem here.
Its between the crank sensor, the ECU and the wiring to the coil/plugs. Unless of course there is input from any other sensor to effect the plug firing

[Rav335uk]

Have you tested the outputs on the ecu Lee?

[Speedtouch]

Then I suggest you follow zaust's advice, and check the dizzy cap and rotor arm again.

It may be worth running the engine in the dark to look for any stray arcing, and whilst it is running, use a garden sprayer to spray a fine mist of water over the dizzy cap to highlight any hairline cracks, etc.

His video shows the spark test rig connected directly to the coil, so the dizzy is obviously not the problem here.
Its between the crank sensor, the ECU and the wiring to the coil/plugs. Unless of course there is input from any other sensor to effect the plug firing

Nevertheless, with this sort of problem, running it in the dark may show up any stray arcing from a faulty ignition part.

[leeparkes]

I think im on my third dizzy Maurice double and triple checked the new one thats on there now, changing a dizzy on an E30/M30 is no easy task as the rad is so close to it. I ended up lifting the engine off its mounts to get the first one off.

Have you tested the outputs on the ecu Lee?

Not sure what you mean Rav.

Crissy, ive tried two front pulleys and the cps is gapped perfect to the wheel,no teeth missing etc, cps is a new genuine one at a bum splitting £90.

Ive hopefully got another ECU coming to try so i will see what happens. Problem is ive already tried 3. the Alpina one my old M30 one and one from a local breaker who told me it was good. He could have been lieing though.

Fingers crossed!

[Speedtouch]

When the engine first went in it didnt really feel 100%. slight missfire, fluffy idle and didnt feel like a 260hp engine.

The engine feels like its missfiring and when reved from idle it hesitates first but if its at say 2k and i blip the trottle there's no hesitation, it runs rich and the exhaust note doesnt sound right either.
Sounds daft but it feels/sounds out of time.

Dont know where to turn next

Have you tried swapping in a different fuel pressure regulator (FPR)?

I had a similar issue on an E34 535i that had an adjustable FPR fitted. Oddly enough, when I fitted a proper BMW M30B35 FPR, it ran very rich, so I had to revert back to the adjustable one!

[leeparkes]

FPR has been swapped over for another M30 one then swapped back a while ago.

[Speedtouch]

Have you tried a good old 'Italian tune-up', i.e. a damned good thrashing?

[Bristol_Jer]

Have you tried a good old 'Italian tune-up', i.e. a damned good thrashing?

That's what I'm doing to mine once its back together

[Nemiers]

I was thinkin obout the some swap to 3.5 in my e30 325

[Rav335uk]

I was thinkin obout the some swap to 3.5 in my e30 325

Do It!!!!

[leeparkes]

Have you tried a good old 'Italian tune-up', i.e. a damned good thrashing?

Yes, on a regular basis

[Tom_Maverick]

It's a great Sunday read, a brew and a good build on the zone perfect. ... nice work fella! now I'm off to go find me a 535! hopefully I'lll be able to complete mine to a similar standard! the 2.5 just feels lazy and sluggish (much like myself) and I deffo need a bit extra.. but i didn't want to go too mental as it's still my daily driver (15 miles to work and back every day)
so thanks for the inspirational thread!

[leeparkes]

Cheers, you already have the perfect E30 for an M30 swap (325i) mine was used as a daily and i loved it, loads of low down torque to play with. Im using an M52 at the minute (in a compact) there a decent engine but dont seem to get going till your high up in the rev range and tbh there's not a lot of difference between the two regarding mpg, i get low 20's from both round town.

M30's are more fun, there's something unsettling about a car that can be doing 1500rpm and still set off like a stabbed cat lighting the rears up

[Rav335uk]

Did you get this sorted.

[leeparkes]

It did run better with another ECU, no spluttering and the stench of petrol wasnt there, felt like it lacking a bit of power though but then again it was on the standard chip, got a known good 173 coming so fingers crossed its the cure.
Went out in it last night and forgot how much of a handfull this car is, cant wait to get it on the road properly and do some scalping.

Btw Rav i opened the 150 ECU and it is a twin board affair.

[Bristol_Jer]

Getting there then Lee! Hope the ECU cures it finally