What is the stupidist thing you have done working on E30's?

[e301988325i]

Scratching my head after I developed a serious misfire, an HT lead left unplugged.
Replaced the engine mounts and power steering fluid in a German hotel's car park with limited tools. . .

[spook]

Try jacking your car up by the sump, or removing the strut brace with the front end in the air


Its the way to learn

[gooner1]

Took my old engine out to fit a new one, got the old one out the bay put the new one in place only to find that the new engine had convertible engine mounts fitted so had to take the engine out again swop the mounts and do it all over again

O/T i know, but i did,nt realise the mounts were/are different.

[psychochild187]

pulling the king lead off to see if the spark is strong enoughm left me feeling stupid and scared of touching them again

not been hit by the bonnet yet , but i know i will one day

[pac1982]

Took my old engine out to fit a new one, got the old one out the bay put the new one in place only to find that the new engine had convertible engine mounts fitted so had to take the engine out again swop the mounts and do it all over again

O/T i know, but i did,nt realise the mounts were/are different.

Neither did i but there were quite a bit different

[Daf318is]

I put a gearbox on, torqued it all up and fitted everything ready to go. Then when I was tidying some tools away I noticed that I hadn't put the release bearing in

[pac1982]

I put a gearbox on, torqued it all up and fitted everything ready to go. Then when I was tidying some tools away I noticed that I hadn't put the release bearing in

lol

[armanib]

other day before i sent it spray garage i was cleaning my dads e36 IS and had some soapy water in the bucket so i threew it over mine went to get more so i could clean mine well somehow cleaned the car without noticing the window fully open jet washed her down dried her went o get in her and thought wtf its soaking looking at all window seals and sunroof really babbling my mind i was thinking dam i cleaned passenger window well then it clicked shit i soaked it without knowing and fucked my headunit aswell it was my kenwood mask cd one tho now im gonna put kenwood mask tape one in which is better

[DRIFTBOY]

other day before i sent it spray garage i was cleaning my dads e36 IS and had some soapy water in the bucket so i threew it over mine went to get more so i could clean mine well somehow cleaned the car without noticing the window fully open jet washed her down dried her went o get in her and thought wtf its soaking looking at all window seals and sunroof really babbling my mind i was thinking dam i cleaned passenger window well then it clicked shit i soaked it without knowing and ****** my headunit aswell it was my kenwood mask cd one tho now im gonna put kenwood mask tape one in which is better

.... Aaaaaannnd breathe!

[armanib]

i must learn how to use a full stop

[mrLEE30]

you must learn a few other things too, but i will let the less diplomatic zoners jump in here.

cue abuse and locked thread

[harry_p]

my bonnet blew shut thanks to a strong gust of wind.

unfortunately my head was in the way, unfortunately the blow to the back of my skull knocked my head down which smashed the windscreen!

a lump in the back of my head, a lump and cut on the front, and £75 insurance excess for a new screen

[Alex]

My 1986 316 bonnet never stayed open and the wind was strong..... it hit me on the head

cutting my rear valance for an aftermarket exhaust and deciding i dont want it

my breaker fell off axel stands

the worst probably when i was doing the breaks on my 316, i decided to pump the pedal when there were no rear drums on and the cylinder poped open taking in so much air the brakes never did much, dont ask why i did that, i was 15-16

managed to get the car across town at night to a garage to fix it the next day, handbreak never worked either

[Blitz]

Put the spark plugs the wrong way round.

[Daf318is]

Put the spark plugs the wrong way round.

The plugs the wrong way round or muddled the leads up!?

[stonesie]

The bonnet roller has had its way with the back of my head too


When i fitted the lpg i was not getting any gas through, after about an hour of chaseing every bit of wire and stripping all 3 solenoids i finally thought to open the manual valve on the tank

[craigieeb]

I know this bloke, lets call him erm my mate "dave"

totally over the moon when he recieved his LSD, jacked the car up pulled the old open diff out,
put in the lsd, slid in the bolt that attached it to the body,
done up the bolts to the drive shafts, and the prop shaft,
dropped the jack,
and in my erm his frenzy took the car for a spin,
got so far down the road, heard a massive clunk and a strange scraping noise from the rear,
got out the car to investigate, only to find the diff hanging off
only forgot to put the 19mm nut on the bolt that attaches it to the car body
what a tit

[minicooper172]

I was taking my bonnet off and asked my girlfriend to hold it while I took out the bottom bolts. She didn't hold it.

The most stupid thing I've done with my E30 was to stop driving it and replace it with an Edirty6.

[psychochild187]

o i remember what i did now

i was fault finding and the engine was missfireing but it was warm ish as it had not run long
but i took the temp sensor out and got a full face full of warm coolant.. in the eyes and everything

the second was on my mums golf diesel . in the dark on morning i shoved some jump leads on it thinking i knew which way round they were and connected them up to the second battery the wrong way round......BAM! i was deff for about half an hour,covered in battery acid and the car was covered in acid too . and i wrecked the £60 battery aswell.

[clarko74]

When I put my m20b25 in it was all going very well (it even started first time) until I took it for a test drive. There was a nasty grinding noise coming from the rear, I thought it must be the prop as it was the only thing that far back that I had changed. So I jacked the car up again took off the exhaust/heat shields and undid prop centre bearing, pre loaded it, did it up and put all the bits back on again. Went for a drive and the noise was still there!

I took it a local garage in the end who informed me that I'd forgotten to do the rear wheel bolts up! I felt more than a little foolish.

[SkyRocketeer]

Refit sump plug *before* filling with oil.

Spend £££££ and hours/days on an engine swap when in all reality if i'd have lifted the carpets and looked at the bulkhead first it'd be a scrapper - oh well, all for the love of 6pot rightness.

[Daf318is]

Refit sump plug *before* filling with oil.

+1 - man that makes a mess!

[Hyperion]

Messing around changing wheels over when I first got the RD wheels, Couldn't find the handle for my trolley jack so used the BMW jack. just about to fit the old wheel again and had that horrible feeling of "ths car is moving" as the car fell off the jack onto the upright wheel.

At least I know that arch isn't rotten. Not a bit of damage apart from a slightly squished hand. I felt such a numpty

Similar thing happened to me, i have since invested in jack stands when i am fiddling about in/around/under the car.

[psychochild187]

Refit sump plug *before* filling with oil.

+1 - man that makes a mess!

+2 - and i had all 4 litres go through it before i noticed

[Mayze]

normally for me its opneing the doors while using the BMW supplied kack, sorry jack. dented many a door this way

Ditto

+2

[psychochild187]

whos spent 20 mins trying to get that fan off before you relised it was a left hand thread?

[robbo86]

normally for me its opening the doors while using the BMW supplied kack, sorry jack. dented many a door this way

+1 also put engine flush into the power steering reservior while talking to my old man. Incredible whats in the back of an ambulance to drain the system.