Cab virgin!

[Brianmoooore]

I've had/have plenty of E30 saloons and tourings, running well into double figures, but have never owned a cab - until last Saturday, so I shall be asking a few cab specific questions of those in the know in the next few weeks!
1) Car has had a front ender at some time, and has had a new front panel and wings.
My question concerns the oil cooler. Instead of being mounted up behind the hole in the front panel, it's mounted underneath its brackets, and is just about the lowest part on the car.
Is this some cab specific peculiarity, or just someone who's bolted it back together wrongly?
Cab is a 325, built in October 1990, BTW.

[pegibson]

Hi Brian,
I noticed too the oil cooler down low when i had the car, thought it was normal condsidering i have only had 316's but I did not realise it has had a front ender.

Paul

[Jon_Bmw]

Brianmooore asing a technical question?

Come on cab ladies, help him out!

[Chris-W]

Oil cooler mounts in the usual place.

[robbo86]

Brianmooore asing a technical question?

I know scary thought, give him half an hour though, he will have striopped the cab down then rebuilt it and know all about cabs inside out!

[daimlerman]

Wow Brian buying a cabbie! Be a posing pouch next.....

[Brianmoooore]

and know all about cabs inside out!

Partly the reason I've bought it. Nothing beats hands on learning!

[robbo86]

and know all about cabs inside out!

Partly the reason I've bought it. Nothing beats hands on learning!

I know. I read about stuff on here and it sounds so daunting, but then I get out there and take the bits apart and do it and its not nearly as bad!!!

[Brianmoooore]

Hi Brian,
I noticed too the oil cooler down low when i had the car, thought it was normal condsidering i have only had 316's but I did not realise it has had a front ender.

Paul

The front panel is finished in primer inside, the brake ducts are missing (OBC temp sensor is just jammed into a random hole in the framework around the radiator), and the RH air inlet for the brake ducts (next to the foglight) is bright red underneath the black. I haven't checked yet, but I'd bet what I paid for it that the front wings are also just primer inside!

[Brianmoooore]

Wow Brian buying a cabbie! Be a posing pouch next.....

I'll post up the photos when it's finished!

[robbo86]

I'll post up the photos when it's finished!

Mind has gone to a dark place

[Rav335uk]

I don't even have an oil cooler on my cab

[Brianmoooore]

2) Trying to remove the rear side panels.
I've removed the seat base, its back, and the surround around the horseshoe release handle, couldn't see anything else obvious that needs to be removed, other than part of the door seal, but then got distracted by something else, and then ran out of time.
Any more hidden fixings, or any tips?

3) Both gas struts for the horseshoe are U/S. Have I read somewhere that they're the same as front seat struts, or close enough?

[mrLEE30]

its been a while but i think there is one fixing behind the speaker, this could be the one i am pointing at - and as you see something just next to the end of the speaker wires and next to the horseshoe handle - but they may not be fixings.

As you have the manual roof then while you have this panel off inspect the condition of the horseshoe handle surround, mine seems to break where the plastic surround holds the metal pin every three months (and is broken in the pic), the handle itself is bespoke having two eyes one for each side of the HS, but the surround is same as normal door handle, drift the pin out and swap simply enough.

one more tip is inspect how the HS closes and openes at each lock, then learn which flat screwdriver you need to open the HS in the event of a future snapped cable - could come in handy!

yes i also beleive the struts are same as seat struts, but if i am honest i find them a hinderence, and i use the HS to rest the half opened roof on while i make the ''special'' fold - required in my roof to ensure it folds completely away and not catching the HS when you close it.


and if you want to remove the rear window then be prepared to loose all patience!!! took me hours of fiddling after some kind lady had a car park incident although to be fair she did own up and it pushed out by hand once i removed the window


mrlee

[mrLEE30]

as for front end cabs are same as the corresponding tintop - i.e facelift/pre facelift (allthough the changoever year was later around 1990ish) and all oil coller/AC/fog/etc etc moutings are the same, some pics of my car without front bumper on in the wiki for my tech 2 fitting guide which as you will see is the later front valance.

pre and post facelift valances are bolt on/off interchangable if your is the older type and you want to put a spare from something like a touring, but then you will need the later foglights etc

note the front wings are specific to the cab and tewice the price, so i hope they are not all filler.

mrlee

[Brianmoooore]

note the front wings are specific to the cab and tewice the price, so i hope they are not all filler.

Thanks, Lee. I'll have a dig around for that fixing behind the speaker later.
Does that mean the speaker panels come out first?
There's no filler in the front wings on this car - there's not enough steel to stick it to!!
Front panel and wings were replaced in 1999, and not painted inside. The front panel is only just developing surface rust inside, but the entire wheel arch area of both wings has just ceased to exist - you can poke a finger straight through just about anywhere!!
Fortunately the car came with two spare as new wings, though.
I see that the cab wings are in two parts, with the sill extension part spot welded on.
Does this mean that, as long as the extension pieces are good (and they are), I can make cab wings from ordinary E30 wings?

[gooner1]

note the front wings are specific to the cab and tewice the price, so i hope they are not all filler.

Thanks, Lee. I'll have a dig around for that fixing behind the speaker later.
Does that mean the speaker panels come out first?
There's no filler in the front wings on this car - there's not enough steel to stick it to!!
Front panel and wings were replaced in 1999, and not painted inside. The front panel is only just developing surface rust inside, but the entire wheel arch area of both wings has just ceased to exist - you can poke a finger straight through just about anywhere!!
Fortunately the car came with two spare as new wings, though.
I see that the cab wings are in two parts, with the sill extension part spot welded on.
Does this mean that, as long as the extension pieces are good (and they are), I can make cab wings from ordinary E30 wings?

Not sure about the front wheel arches Brian, but had a very interesting PM this week informing me that the rear arches can be replaced with non cab specific ones. Not a lot of use atm, but something for future reference, if you did,nt already know ,that is.

[paulmitchell1984]

oooo the front wings are in 2 parts?

the bottom part on my cabby has come away...well rusted away from the wing, can these sill parts be bought seperate to save spending £155 on a new wing that may possibly be missing part of it?

hope you can help as i too am a cabby newbee ...well bmw newbee aswell

[mrLEE30]

yes i think the speaker cover, and speaker need to come out, cover will break the clips as per normal!! it just pulls off.

the only real difference i can tell with the wings is the additional strengthening around the suspension turrets and the thicker sills, so for the external skin i dont see why a normal one would not work, or could be mated/welded with the section(s) specific to the cab. real oem does list them as different (and now i notice realoem has the E30 as an archive car )

and as for the rear only the tintop facelift wheel arch is of use, the prefacelift is a different shape (and this is irregardless of whether the cab is pre or post facelift - they all share the later tintop arch profile)

mrlee

[AndrewL]

I don’t know where the oil cooler on the saloon goes but the cabbie one is the lowest point. When my car was new I ripped the oil cooler off its brackets on a bump I hadn’t seen. If you’re still uncertain let me know and I’ll send a pic (assuming the dealer who fixed it in 1993 put it back in the right place!

Andrew

[Brianmoooore]

I don’t know where the oil cooler on the saloon goes but the cabbie one is the lowest point. When my car was new I ripped the oil cooler off its brackets on a bump I hadn’t seen. If you’re still uncertain let me know and I’ll send a pic (assuming the dealer who fixed it in 1993 put it back in the right place!

Andrew

Must have been the same bodyshop that did mine in 1999!! Now I have the front panel off, it's obvious that it's been put together wrongly.

[Brianmoooore]

Side panels are all off now - the speaker panels hide two screws each.
Gas struts for the horseshoe are not the same as seat ones. Although a similar length, the seat ones are thicker and have larger fixing holes. May be possible to use them though.

[e30topless]

I recently fitted a b25 complete with oil cooler removed from a cab into a saloon the brackets are different ?
cable ties at the ready!

cab wings are slightly longer due to strengthening in the sills and are hard to find, good job you got some with it !

[djk]

Regarding the Horshoe release handle, it is worth setting this up to be as taut as is reasonable - so that it's almost a 'hair trigger' - the handle surround is brittle and if you have to pull it more than about 50% of its travel to release the HS it won't take many uses before it's knackered. The handle should have a foam rubber 'gasket' between it and its locating aperture - it loooks unnecessary but it helps to prevent the handle moving in its slots and loosening the release cable, thereby causing the above problem. It's quite fiddly to replace a buggered one and very easy to lose screws/clips/nuts into the depths of the metalwork, never to be seen again and forever to cause an annoying rattle - I didn't drop any down mine, but I was paranoid about doing so! It's worth setting up reliably while you have the side panels off to avoid one of those irritating, time-consuming jobs at a later date. Do the locating nuts and bolts up as tight as you dare in order to avoid them requiring near constant fiddling. You also may need to 'adjust' the speaker cover/handle surround with a stanley knife in order to get a good fit when it all goes back together. It's one of those random afterthought designs that once every so often you find on an e30.

I have a vague recollection of reading somewhere that there is a different gas strut that can be used for the horseshoe that is stronger than oe - don't quote me on it, but it could be an e36 bootlid strut. I think B7 used something different again in a thread I read some while back too.

[Brianmoooore]

, but it could be an e36 bootlid strut.

We have a couple of those in stock - I'll check tomorrow.

[Chris-W]

, but it could be an e36 bootlid strut.

We have a couple of those in stock - I'll check tomorrow.

The seat strut is the often publicised replacement for horseshoe struts - often sold on eBay as such. They don't however fit as a straight swap although if re-drilled and machined down on the ends offer a cost-effective alternative to new replacements from BMW. You only need one.