Save My Dead E30

[Razza]

My E30 has been lying dead in my driveway since last November. It failed its MOT September and needed a good bit of welding and unfortunately as I did not have the money I couldn’t get her fixed.

I was turning her over fairly regularly until November when I got a bit sloppy and the battery went dead and she’s sat ever since (I know, its sacrilege!). After a recent windfall I want to see if she can be salvaged and first step is to try and get her running again, that way I can get her to the bodyshop and see exactly how much bodywork is needed.

As a compete amateur could you give me any advice on getting her going. Step 1 is obviously to charge the battery for 24 hrs ”“ what kind of charger should I get? - is there anything else I should do to prep her in the vain hope that she’ll start first time

Thanks

[bigdw]

battery will probably be completly useless now, may well need a brands new one

[Razza]

What battery should I get, bosch are probably the best are they not - its a 2-dr 1989 325iSE, G

Cheers

[siddiqi1]

you can get them for around 50pounds from euro car parts! the bosch silver ones are better but around 60 id thinbk!

[danman2k]

pour some oil in the rocker cover as it will take a bit of time for the engine to put some there on its own.

[2_stroke]

make sure u get fresh fuel into it (otherwise it wont go no matter how much u prime the rail)
run ur fuel pump over a couple of times to realy prime the rail,
just click the key over with out turning the engine

good luck bro

[elliott]

if you already have a charger try it first like you say for a good 24hrs,
mine were stood for 7 month took off the battery charged for 24 hrs and
it started first time, like danman2k says prob a good idea to pour a little oil
in the rocker cover which i didnt do needless to say way a little tappety for
a min or so!!

[murran]

dont worry about fresh fuel, itll be fine. its only been stood 10 months not 10 years chaps........
dont buy the great £60 "bosch" batteries just buy the cheapest one you can WITH a two year warranty and fill in the warranty card and send it off.
my "lion" battery was £22 as i remember. it still starts the car without bosch written on it.........

you cant loose anything by charging it up to check it first.

yeah bit of oil in the rocker cover would be good, tho it wont touch the rockers or the cam lobes on 3,4,5 or 6 before it runs straight into the sump over filling the oil level!
if you can be bothered (which i wouldnt be!) take the rocker cover off and put a squirt on each lobe of the cam with an oil can.

[danman2k]

so other than charge the battery thats it, car has sat there for ages and all the advice the guy gets is charge your batteries

[Sanchez]

check your brakes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

your handbrake cable maybe stretched as well.

[Brianmoooore]

Stick a battery on it and fire it up! The green touring in my sig. had been sitting around unloved for well over two years, and literally full of water. I stuck a battery on it, added a gallon of fuel, inflated a couple of tyres, freed off the clutch by pressing the brake and clutch pedals while turning the key, fired it up and drove it 100 miles home.
The waves around my feet were the biggest problem!

[siddiqi1]

The waves around my feet were the biggest problem!

that cant have been good for the electrics! but who am i to say! you prob fixed that anyway

[daimlerman]

No point in spending money on a battery if the bodyman wants your arse as well as your windfall,can you not borrow a battery from another car for an hour or two?

[Brianmoooore]

The waves around my feet were the biggest problem!

that cant have been good for the electrics! but who am i to say! you prob fixed that anyway

Electrics were, and still are perfect, the two years + water immersion hasn't caused any rust issues, and even the carpets survived.
The front seats were also apparently good, but have worn extremely rapidly since, so I think they must have fallen victim to the humid atmosphere.
The car had been left with the tailgate partly open for the whole time, as a minor rear impact had left the catch unable to engage with it.

[siddiqi1]

Electrics were, and still are perfect, the two years + water immersion hasn't caused any rust issues, and even the carpets survived.
The front seats were also apparently good, but have worn extremely rapidly since, so I think they must have fallen victim to the humid atmosphere.
The car had been left with the tailgate partly open for the whole time, as a minor rear impact had left the catch unable to engage with it.

the gremlins are in fact scared of you, us commoners are feasted on by such vulchers! thats suprising though, the mix of water and air has deadly consequences, especially when itsb een sat there forso long?!

did you not get any bad odours therafter, takes ages for water to dry out when its drenched that bad!

i think its because the hot air is unable to excape as all the windows are shut, allowing ventilation will help to!

[Brianmoooore]

Was stripped to a rolling shell as soon as I got it home.
Damage tom the rear has been repaired, and it's now in storage, awaiting the 220bhp 2.8 M52 I've got lined up for it!

[siddiqi1]

Was stripped to a rolling shell as soon as I got it home.
Damage tom the rear has been repaired, and it's now in storage, awaiting the 220bhp 2.8 M52 I've got lined up for it!

i like the sound of that! preety much straight swap arent they! now that will be a sleeper, smooth runner too! a little against the oem factor you keep with your curs isnt, whats wrong with the m20 in there, if thats what it has, if its a 4 pot then i dont blame, good on ya!

its very surprisingly that water hadnt eaten through the front floor near the pedals! shows how solid some of these cars actually are!

whens the engine transplant taking place

[Brianmoooore]

Original engine is a 1.6 M40, so no great loss there!

[siddiqi1]

Original engine is a 1.6 M40, so no great loss there!

spot on there! spot on!

[suzie650]

If you can be asked, good practice would dictate plugs out, ecu relay out and wind it over on the starter to build up oil pressure for a couple of seconds (a bit after the oil pressure warning light goes off)
Then refit plugs and ecu relay, prime your rail (short pin 30 and 87 of the fuel pump relay until you hear a change in tone at the pump- saves you the unpleasant shaking when it fires up on three to start with) and then start up.