'88 325i Touring #001 resto - 03/2012 rimz porn

[capri_rob]

Major bufty action today in readiness for tomorrows meet - 6 hours in total

Am really pleased with how well its cleaned up - just gave it a very thorough wash, hosed out under the arches and got a huge amount of mud out and then a coat of Meguirs gold class wax













See you at the meet people

[B7]

Blimey. that scrubbed up well!

[magpie]

she scrubs up well

[capri_rob]

Cheers fellas - I now have a much better idea of what I'm dealing with.

The paintwork generally is pretty good - there are a few little bits where the lacquer is missing and the usual age related chips and scratches but most of it is original.

The rear valance does need sorting though - the last owner had a repair plate about 8" x 3" welded in near the towing eye - its not a bad job but it was obviously only done to be functional - not to look good as its quite obvious where the plate is. Also whoever did it didn't bother to mask up the bumper when they sprayed it with stonechip afterwards so there is overspray on the colour coded under-section of the bumper which is a mess close up.

It made a refreshing change yesterday when I hosed out the arches that when I was pulling the mud out there wasnt bits of inner arch coming out with it !

Gonna get a load of service items on order this week and give the engine a good going over - although I'm sure the bufty action has given it an extra 10bhp

[darkchild]

Starting to look like a really nice car Rob.

[csl]

It is the first ever RHD Touring - no doubts.

320i Touring production didn't begin until June 1988 in RHD and the 318i arrived in 1989.

Only just read this thread....well done,sounds like a very nice car and a worthy project.

[capri_rob]

Now definately on the look for an OEM 2 Piece exhaust

After mucho feckin about I finally did what I should have done at the start and stuck the stainless system under the car to see if the tailpipes will fit.

Which they won't


Crappy picture but when the stainless box is lined up exactly straight & square with the one on the car, the tailpipes definately wouldn't clear the cutout in the valance.

Looking at some pics of other systems it appears that the later OEM rear boxes either have the pipes coming from the centre of the box but angled so they go into the valance cutout ( as per whats currently fitted ), or in an "S" shape so the pipes come out in the right place ( as per my old Dolphin Grey F reg 325i ), and the aftermarket stuff just has straight pipes that are offset to the left rather than being located in the middle - as per Scorpion type stuff..

Not happy but now I know for sure.

Apologies to Si13 for saying I'd take your exhaust Manifold and then backing out - I don't like it when people back out of deals and feel bad about it.

Friggin manifold will still have to come off anyways to fit these :



Thanks sean ( fingerman )
Got to order some new studs, nuts and copper washers first though

If anyone has a good used OEM or Bosal 2 piece system please let me know - ok to collect within 50 mile radius of Birmingham/Cannock otherwise couriered pls

[DanThe]

You wont know until you offer it up mate, what make is it? Scorpion box's are the same layout and fit fine

[capri_rob]

You wont know until you offer it up mate, what make is it? Scorpion box's are the same layout and fit fine

Thats cos the pipes on a Scorpion box for a facelift car don't come out of the backbox in the middle - they're offset to the left so they come out straight into the valance cutout - check this pic and you'll see what I mean

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Bmw-E30-325i-320i ... 1c1a60b092

[DanThe]

Ahhhhhaaaa, get you now.
I have stainless steel welding wire if you want me to make it fit? My M3 tailpipes were the same and are now at an angle

[capri_rob]

Gonna keep it OEM Dan - found a rear section in the FS section and waiting on a PM back - just need to track down a good front section now

[DanThe]

Probably the best way for this car

[capri_rob]

Couple of morsels that arrived today :


As-new rear Billy B4's
Already got genuine E46 M3 Cab top mounts from the chrome turd to go on - done less than 1200 miles.


Hopefully picking up a front section on Monday

Starting to amass a few bits - should be in a position to start tackling some of the jobs in the next couple of weeks

[magpie]

who sent that well wrapped rear section

[capri_rob]

who sent that well wrapped rear section

A zoner It got here undamaged, in one piece and quickly at the right price

[capri_rob]

Bollox. Just had a closer look at the exhaust manifold where the stud nearest the bulkhead is "missing" - poked a screwdriver into the hole and looking at how far it goes in it would appear that the stuf has snapped pretty much level with the head - so nowt to grip onto.

Looks like I'll end up taking the new 'zaust and manifold gaskets to a garage and get them to sort it. Ouch

[capri_rob]

Some good progress made on the turd today fixing niggly faults buts discovering just as many new ones in the process.

Started by having a proper look at my "new" exhaust system - slightly confused by the centre connections - - the pipe closest to the camera is obviously a female:female connector which I expect will need a metal crush ring between to get a gas tight seal, however the other pipe has a male connector on the front section and female on the rear - yet I can't see how they can possibly be joined to be gas-tight ?




Then moved on to a job which had been bugging me since I bought the car - the missing glovebox ! Now sorted thanks to Sweep


For future ref if/when I get it chipped

Check out the chassis number


Anyone know what this is ?
Can't see anything obvious it should connect into - only thing I can think of it might be the loom for the headlamp adjustment which was a factory "delete" option on this car - unless anyone else has any other ideas ?

Whilst I was at it managed to fiddle a new bulb into the headlamp switch illumination - another annoying fault fixed

Now have 2 x working interior lights off the door pin switches and independently working. Unfortunately can't get the tailgate light to work off the pin switch but managed to get it working off the switch off the lamp itself. Better than nothing.

Fitted the gearstick gaiter off the chrome turd - whilst i was at it I "shorted" the reversing lights - which worked so the problem lies either with the wiring to the switch or the switch itself - just peachy

Then fitted the rear wiper motor I've had sitting in the shed for weeks - I now have a working rear wiper/washer

Only issue is that the washer pipe is bust where the tailgate hinge is



Gonna need to have the trim off and put in a new piece of pipe - its already been shortened once by the look of it hence it breaking

Finally fooked off the old alarm out of the engine bay ;


Dealer fit I reckon - there are the remains of BMW fobs in the old glovebox and the feckers put the sensors in the dash
Seem to remember these being expensive back in the day. Scrap now.

Got underneath and soaked the rear beam plate bolts in WD40 - they'll be off soon preferably in one piece.

Then checked out the exhaust manifold - I appear to have 4 missing studs not just one so its almost certainly going to be a head-off job. Might have to wait until winter methinks.


Interrupted halfway through the afternoon by Ollie who removed the stainless exhaust from my shed and left me with almost enough wonga for an Eibach Pro Kit - ended up spending a couple of hours standing in the sun talking E30's - and he brought me my new old stereo

Final very satisfying job was managing to get my electric sunroof open, lubed up and now working on the motor - however its now "out of sync" - needs sorting but I'd had enough for one day.

[B7]

On that exhaust rob you are missing one flange and the two Olives.

The olive on the closest sits between the bells, The olive on the far one clamps between the flanges and seals to the straight piece of pipe (a bit like a compression fitting in plumbing?

[capri_rob]

Will get them on order with new rubber hangers / gaskets etc

[capri_rob]

Too hot to be working on Black cars in full sunshine today

Just changed the throttle cable - the one that was on it was very stiff and just felt crap TBH - plus it had too much slack in it. Soaked the one off the bronze turd in 3in1 oil overnight which made it super smooth - drives so much better now - encouraging how every little job I do makes it drive a bit more like a 325i should

Looking forward to getting my box of morsels off ECP hopefully this week.

Got to get the Eibachs on order and a parts order for clips and stuff in to the dealers this week too

[bss325i]

Good progress being made Rob!

That loose connector is for if a car is fitted with A/C. Its an input from the A/C switch to the ECU so the ECU can increase the idle speed when the A/C is switched on. Its part of the engine loom and the bracket for it bolts up with the ECU 10mm self tappers on the side nearest the steering column.

[capri_rob]

Cheers Baz - I'll fix it up next time the trim is off - won't be long I'm sure

[Duke137]

Nice progress Rob, It should scrub up nice mate and it couldn't have been bought by a nicer bloke.

[capri_rob]

ABS fixed today thanks to DanThe who did a pro-job of splicing in a new plug to replace the section of wiring which appears to have been eaten by something at some point ABS light now goes off and stays off as soon as the engine fires up so another box ticked for the MOT.

Only got the pad wear sensor light on the dash to extinguish now which should be cured by a new pair of sensors when the suspension refurb is done.

Also removed all traces of the previous alarm loom apart from the sensors in the dash - did have a bit of an "oh shit" moment when it wouldn't start however after removing everything and then joining a "loop" which had previously gone into the alarm loom all was well again.

Looking forward to recieving a load of shiny bits from ECP hopefully this week

[capri_rob]

Small progress made today thanks to town325i - new handbrake shoes fitted, mechanisms cleaned up and copper greased and new handbrake cables fitted - this is to the trailing arms for the bronze turd which are now ready to go on together with the beam which was re-bushed last year.

ECP delivery arrived :


Carlube 15/40 semi synth is good enough for me, Lemforder top mounts, Contitech Cambelt kit, KWP water pump seems very good quality


Front Billie B4 Inserts together with new bump-stops & Plastic covers

Pro-Kit



Lemforder front wishbones


These I like a lot - Stainless FTW


Eccentric - like the owner


Can only get the left hand ( Passenger side ? ) backplate at present - none in the UK or Germany - does anyone have a usable secondhand RH one which won't disintegrate when shotblasted and powder coated ?


Been a long time since this turd saw a genuine oil filter


Those little bags don't half add up

More progress next week all being well

[The_Diddler]

Eccentric - like the owner [

Rob where from and how much for these mate?/\

[DanThe]

Eccentric - like the owner [

Rob where from and how much for these mate?/\

You should be able to smell those BMW boxes by now Paul

[Simon13]

/\ BMW £38, 3.0 e36 M3 is the same so you don't need to bother with e30 M3 chassis no.

[fixedwheelnut]

Nice find Rob
I remember fitting those Scorpion Alarms back in the day

Might have been me who had the last backplates, I'm fitting mine on Wednesday so I'll see how salvageable the old ones are, mine have gone at the hanbrake shoe mounting for the spring, they have washers in there at the moment so something could possible be welded in as a permanent fix.

Re the chassis number the pre production cars used for training often had low chassis numbers below 100 but were usually sent back to Germany once finished with, for the last few years they are sold back on now.
Have you contacted BMW UK at Bracknell and asked them about it?

[capri_rob]

Nice find Rob
I remember fitting those Scorpion Alarms back in the day

Might have been me who had the last backplates, I'm fitting mine on Wednesday so I'll see how salvageable the old ones are, mine have gone at the hanbrake shoe mounting for the spring, they have washers in there at the moment so something could possible be welded in as a permanent fix.

Re the chassis number the pre production cars used for training often had low chassis numbers below 100 but were usually sent back to Germany once finished with, for the last few years they are sold back on now.
Have you contacted BMW UK at Bracknell and asked them about it?

Andy Everett ( andyboy from here ) who writes for Total BMW amongst othe mags did some research with his contacts at BMW and confirmed it is what it is not long after I first bought it

/\ BMW £38, 3.0 e36 M3 is the same so you don't need to bother with e30 M3 chassis no.

Eccentrics were £37 from Knights at Stafford - I gave them the part number and they got em in next day - no requirements to give an M3 chassis number

[James90]

what are all those goodies in the bags?

[capri_rob]

Various exhaust seals, gaskets, Wheel bearing dust shields & covers, various nuts, windscreen washer t-pieces and various other bits.

I still have a few bits left to order thiis week

[town325i]

what are all those goodies in the bags?

You wouldnt belive how much that bag of goodies cost i early dropped on the floor

[capri_rob]

Another £60 worth ordered today from the dealers plus about £35 worth to get from ECP - thats the lot for a while now.

Decided against getting the struts and stuff powdercoated for now - I want to use it not put mirrors underneath so I can see how shiny the underside is

Should be good to get started this weekend

[capri_rob]

What a day.

Picked up another load of new bits yesterday to refurb the gear linkage as well as a few other things :



Pulled the turd out of the garage this morning and down onto the road and started stripping the back end out - can't friggin believe how much trim has to come out of a touring to get at the rear top mounts

Original Build data on reverse of rear seat squabs - Jan '88


Top mounts completely fooked and appear to be the originals


One side had completely split, the other was well on its way

Both rear ARB droplinks completely fooked - one side had actually broken the alloy casting



Possibly the worst exhaust I've ever seen



Thought I'd made quite a good job of bodging it until I saw the holes that were left

Propshaft off and the centre bearing shat itself - literally fell apart Thanks to DanThe for the replacement

Then Mark and me dropped the rear beam off leaving a sizeable chunk of the old alloy centre of the bush in the body that had to be drilled out

The Mo'Fo's off


note the broken spring on the drivers side - yet another thing the last MOT tester obviously ignored

Someone has been there before us and relocated the T Piece for the rear brakes and replaced the pipes - not the best of jobs but they're in good nick so just smothered em in Waxoyl along with various other bits thats the jetwash won't get at after its all back together.

New Goodridge braided hoses fitted

N/S Arm back on - just got to fit the caliper and strut then on to the other side tomorrow



Really loving the fact that its really solid underneath. The jacking points will need sorting as will a bit of work to the rear valance but the arches are excellent - and although we haven't got as far as we'd hoped today we have made good progress.

Unfortunately when I got my rear bilstein struts ( Secondhand but nearly new ) they didn't come with Nyloc nuts for the main shaft and the thread is different to the original ones - managed to find a correct nyloc nut in my spares but only one so will have to go and fetch one in the morning before we start.


Until tomorrow old turd