Injector Replacement or Restoration?

[TheWolfman]

I'm finally getting stuck into getting my injectors on my 320i 84' BAUR sorted, something I've been putting off for a while now.

Today pulled the fuel rail and Injectors and then realised the O-Rings and Pintal caps were stuck in the manifold opening, attempting to get them out would have been almost impossible so I decided to go down the road of taking the intake manifold off as I was intending to replace the gaskets and give it all a once over anyway...

Well f' me and a big bag of chips that wasn't as easy as I anticipated! Really awkward getting to those nuts especially with the 320i's L-Jet Water slide valve and other nonsense in the way all whilst losing a 13mm ratchet bit deep in the top of the gearbox housing which took most of the day to fish out.An arduos day but happy I got the fecker off in the end.

I am now at the stage on needing to decide whether to get the injectors cleaned and restored or just buy some new ones.

The Injectors I currently have are probably the original ones from the vehicle and have the following part number

BOSCH: 0 280 150 208

OEM BMW Part Number: 13641284408

OEM LINK


To replace these I'd belooking at about £110 a piece!Absolutely bonkers in my opinion and not really something I'm prepared to do.

I then noticed that these were superseded on later models by a different injector:

BOSCH: 0 280 150 716

OEM BMW Part Number : 13641706414

OEM LINK


These I can seem to pick up new for around £18 a piece which is certainly a lot more within budget!

After doing a bit of research I found this technical data for the two injectors.

Looking at this data it would seem that they are fairly closely matched, with the the only difference seeming to be .5 BAR of pressure in the spec.

As far as I can tell both have EV1 type connectors.

Myself being from from an expert on injectors was just wondering if any peeps could chime in with some advice on whether the newer cheaper version would be suitable or recommend a possible alternative, or maybe just steer me in the direction of getting the ones I already have restored...

Any help as ever would be greatly appreciated

[twenty]

Try these guys: https://bavarianwerke.com/

[TheWolfman]

I'll have a peep, thanks twenty

[Grepot]

I've seen injectortune get mentioned a few times on this forum. Haven't used them myself but they seem to be fairly priced. Think they also do a discount for e30zone members.

https://www.injectortune.co.uk/

[TheWolfman]

Thanks Grepot, Injectortune was actually going to be my destination of choice should I go down the refurb route.I'm waiting on Schmeidmann in Denmark to get back to me about replacement suitability

[reggid]

you are right to consider replacing them, they dont last forever despite what many believe so a simple clean is not comprehensive maintenance regime

[TheWolfman]

Thats what I'm thinking.Reason I'm, replacing/restoring is I'm pretty certain I've got a leaky one and they ain't really looking in great shape...which is not really suprsing as I'm sure their the 36 old originals!

I really don't want to fork out for the only OEM's I can find for £120 per injector though...CRAZY money.

[twenty]

Thats what I'm thinking.Reason I'm, replacing/restoring is I'm pretty certain I've got a leaky one and they ain't really looking in great shape...which is not really suprsing as I'm sure their the 36 old originals!

I really don't want to fork out for the only OEM's I can find for £120 per injector though...CRAZY money.

Since the 325i injectors are £230 new I expected 320 to be cheaper.

[paultv]

I had my 325i injectors cleaned but one or two would leak causing hot start issues...I fitted a set of cheap 35 euro Bosch plastic injectors from Autodoc...problem solved and car is more lively...not sure if they are suitable for a 320 though.

Paul

[TheWolfman]

That's exactly the same issue I currently have, troubles hot starting and ever so slightly bumpy idle which having gone through everything else I'm sure is leaky injector(s).I'm hoping I have as much success as yourself with replacing them.I'm pretty certain that theres many cheap Bosch variants that would be close in spec but not quite OEM spec.

I'm looking at getting some info back from Schmiedmann about these:

https://www.schmiedmann.com/en/bmw-e30/ ... 3641706414

These are fitted on later 320's, but typically not my earlier model it seems.

[Brianmoooore]

Leaking injectors are easily diagnosed. Connect a fuel pressure gauge, Start the engine and switch it off. Clamp the fuel feed and return lines. See how long pressure is maintained.
Repeat with just the supply line clamped and just the return line clamped to check for other leakage.

[twenty]

I had my 325i injectors cleaned but one or two would leak causing hot start issues...I fitted a set of cheap 35 euro Bosch plastic injectors from Autodoc...problem solved and car is more lively...not sure if they are suitable for a 320 though.

Paul

So that’s €210 for the lot or €35 altogether? If the former then the ones from Bavarianwerke probably makes more sense.

[Blanca]

Lots of "Brosch" injector set of 6 for about 45 quid on eBay.

[TheWolfman]

Leaking injectors are easily diagnosed. Connect a fuel pressure gauge, Start the engine and switch it off. Clamp the fuel feed and return lines. See how long pressure is maintained.
Repeat with just the supply line clamped and just the return line clamped to check for other leakage.

Good shout Brian,bringing the knowledge as ever! I'm pretty certain it's leaky though, no trouble cold starting, only when warmed up and run for a bit.Looking at two of the injectors themselves they looked pretty cruddy too which would suggest a lot of burn from excess fuel.As I say also, after 36 years I think it's definitely overdue for a refresh...

[TheWolfman]

Yeah Blanca there's lots of cheap Bosch Injectors about, but you must remember that all injectors have very different specs specific to the vehicle, you can't just throw any injector in there,sure it'll work but you'll probably be burning way more fuel than you need or underfueling, either scenario is not good for the health of your engine or performance and effiency.

[twenty]

Found this in Bently manual, in case it helps.
For my 325i, I'm thinking of using the M50 injectors, e.g. 0280 150 415.

[Brianmoooore]

Found this in Bently manual, in case it helps.
For my 325i, I'm thinking of using the M50 injectors, e.g. 0280 150 415.

e30-injectors.png

The body of your 325i cab. may be pre facelift, but if it's 1990, the mechanicals are definitely post facelift, and the management will be 1.3.
Nothing in that list relates to your car.

[twenty]

Found this in Bently manual, in case it helps.
For my 325i, I'm thinking of using the M50 injectors, e.g. 0280 150 415.

e30-injectors.png

The body of your 325i cab. may be pre facelift, but if it's 1990, the mechanicals are definitely post facelift, and the management will be 1.3.
Nothing in that list relates to your car.

Correct, it's 1.3 and February 1990. 0280 150 415 isn't listed in the Bently manual but having looked at the flow rate and resistence is a pretty good match for the 1.3. At least within 5% tolerance level.

[JungleGus]

I've had good experiences with Injectortune - it's around 80 quid, so probably worth as a first port of call in any case - they give you a flow test so should be a good start to diagnose if there are any issues

[TheWolfman]

Thanks for the info,I actually have a Bentley manual but haven't checked it as it being American it has no info on the 320 as it basically didn't exist stateside.

I heard back from Schmeidmann today and unfortunately they actually only have one injector in stock.

Restoration definitely seems the way to go now, although as I'm sure a couple are leaky I don't want to go through all the trouble of refitting them for them still to leak etc so will also try to hunt down a possible substitute.

The spec for them basically needs to be 15.9 OHMS and 116 Flow Rate

I didn't expect this to turn into such a saga I must admit....

[TheWolfman]

Here's the data for all Bosch injectors incase it's useful:

https://www.gomog.com/allmorgan/InjectorRatesBosch.html