Starting off under the bonnet

The place to pick up tips on bringing that showroom shine back to your E30.

Moderator: martauto

Morat
E30 Zone Team Member
E30 Zone Team Member
Posts: 8943
Joined: Thu Feb 09, 2006 11:00 pm
Location: The Peoples Republic of Yorkshire

Post Tue May 20, 2008 9:32 pm

Does anyone have any advice on how I should start cleaning up under the bonnet? The obvious thing seems to be to get in there with a pressure hose and some sort of degreaser but I'm worried about causing damage.
Is it really going to be a toothbrush job?

Cheers
Morat
E30 Touring 0.35 cD - more slippery than prison soap :)

Image
Praise the Lard... and pass the dripping!
mattyb240
E30 Zone Regular
E30 Zone Regular
Posts: 685
Joined: Mon Jun 18, 2007 11:00 pm
Location: Birmingham, UK

Post Tue May 20, 2008 9:34 pm

Presure hose usually means damage, if it can strip paint work at a fair distance imagine close up on mechanical parts,.

Steam clean washer bottles, degrease everything, and if you do pressure wash be sure to bag up any electronics!!
fuzzy
He who sleeps with "Gingers"
Posts: 14351
Joined: Sat Jun 04, 2005 11:00 pm
Location: melbourne Australia

Post Tue May 20, 2008 9:34 pm

plastic bag over the electrics ,brush on some degreaser and jet wash away. unless your going all bufty then its a toothbrush job.
Morat
E30 Zone Team Member
E30 Zone Team Member
Posts: 8943
Joined: Thu Feb 09, 2006 11:00 pm
Location: The Peoples Republic of Yorkshire

Post Tue May 20, 2008 9:36 pm

RightO. Is traffic film remover the stuff I need? and would I be better off with a normal garden hose sort of pressure to minimise problems?
E30 Touring 0.35 cD - more slippery than prison soap :)

Image
Praise the Lard... and pass the dripping!
fuzzy
He who sleeps with "Gingers"
Posts: 14351
Joined: Sat Jun 04, 2005 11:00 pm
Location: melbourne Australia

Post Tue May 20, 2008 9:44 pm

i use the orange tin called Gunk, available from halfords, b+q etc . a garden hose with a spray end does fine for me.
Morat
E30 Zone Team Member
E30 Zone Team Member
Posts: 8943
Joined: Thu Feb 09, 2006 11:00 pm
Location: The Peoples Republic of Yorkshire

Post Tue May 20, 2008 9:51 pm

Thanks Fuzzy!
E30 Touring 0.35 cD - more slippery than prison soap :)

Image
Praise the Lard... and pass the dripping!
Alex
Married to the E30 Zone
Married to the E30 Zone
Posts: 22665
Joined: Fri Feb 11, 2005 11:00 pm
Location: Johannesburg, South Africa

Post Tue May 20, 2008 9:58 pm

use gunk thats pretty good stuff for shifting crap, steam cleaning is also suppose to be good but some people say not to bother as it can wreck the electrics etc.
mattyb240
E30 Zone Regular
E30 Zone Regular
Posts: 685
Joined: Mon Jun 18, 2007 11:00 pm
Location: Birmingham, UK

Post Tue May 20, 2008 10:02 pm

Alex wrote:use gunk thats pretty good stuff for shifting crap, steam cleaning is also suppose to be good but some people say not to bother as it can wreck the electrics etc.
Which is what Fuzzy an myself already said above? Steam cleaning is good for the washer bottles to get them like new. :roll:
User avatar
siddiqi1
BFG Zone Contributor
Posts: 1383
Joined: Sat Nov 04, 2006 11:00 pm
Location: Epsom & Middlesex

Post Thu May 22, 2008 4:46 pm

guys, when you mean cover the electrics

as in the diagnotisc plug; injector loom plug....afm, icv and the likes???????

ive never done it becasue im shite scared of the mishaps!!!!
cliffybabe
Powered by Nelly
Powered by Nelly
Posts: 10020
Joined: Sun Dec 18, 2005 11:00 pm
Location: Croydon

Post Thu May 22, 2008 5:29 pm

make it look like this :twisted:

Image
Image
Considering Selling the Cabby, looks like its gonna go
DaveD
E30Zone Wiki Specialist
Posts: 5129
Joined: Tue Jan 11, 2005 11:00 pm
Location: Sheffield

Post Thu May 22, 2008 6:27 pm

I'll just put my sunglasses on!
Image
Image
cliffybabe
Powered by Nelly
Powered by Nelly
Posts: 10020
Joined: Sun Dec 18, 2005 11:00 pm
Location: Croydon

Post Thu May 22, 2008 9:14 pm

DaveD wrote:I'll just put my sunglasses on!
Image
:lol:
Image
Considering Selling the Cabby, looks like its gonna go
User avatar
Vikingmatt
E30 Zone Newbie
E30 Zone Newbie
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Mar 23, 2008 11:00 pm

Post Mon May 26, 2008 7:01 pm

cliffybabe wrote:make it look like this :twisted:

Image
Quality job, matey!
Where did you get all your blue pipes from?
I've been after getting a nice set of blue hoses for ages.
DaveD
E30Zone Wiki Specialist
Posts: 5129
Joined: Tue Jan 11, 2005 11:00 pm
Location: Sheffield

Post Mon May 26, 2008 7:52 pm

Image
cliffybabe
Powered by Nelly
Powered by Nelly
Posts: 10020
Joined: Sun Dec 18, 2005 11:00 pm
Location: Croydon

Post Mon May 26, 2008 8:29 pm

Vikingmatt wrote:
cliffybabe wrote:make it look like this :twisted:

Image
Quality job, matey!
Where did you get all your blue pipes from?
I've been after getting a nice set of blue hoses for ages.
cheers buddy check out the link dave put up :cool:
Image
Considering Selling the Cabby, looks like its gonna go
User avatar
Vikingmatt
E30 Zone Newbie
E30 Zone Newbie
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Mar 23, 2008 11:00 pm

Post Tue May 27, 2008 11:39 am

Cheers Chaps :D