E30 Questions: HELP!!

[320iAN]

my car needs a new front cross member, the mount for the antiroll bar has broke away ..... is this quite a straight forward job ie: remove suspension arms and roll bar then drop the cross member off .. is it only bolted in place, also will one from a e30: 316/318 fit my 320?

also do the bumpers from a 1990 fit a 1986, i'm thinking of de-chromeing some of my car and i can get a set of newer plastic one's?

and finaly ... for now ive changed the switch and checked the fuse but still i can't get my electric mirrors to work ... (they heat up fine with the rear de-mister)

any answers to any of my questions will be greatfully received

[SGP]

The engine is sitting on the cross member,this adds a certain amount of weight which should be taken into consideration while unfastening bolts,but you already knew that right?

[Brianmoooore]

Mirrors have no connection at all with the rear demister. If you have heated mirrors, then they should work all the time that the ignition is on.
Are the mirrors totaly dead, or do they click when you operate the switch?

[orangecurry]

also do the bumpers from a 1990 fit a 1986, i'm thinking of de-chromeing some of my car and i can get a set of newer plastic one's?

Not easily - fixing points are all different I believe.

[320iAN]

i had a quick look today and noticed the engine sat on the cross member!! i might see if it can be welded first, if not then i'll be hire'n an engine lift to give me a hand

as for my mirror's no they are both dead, no clicking i even held my hand on the caseings but nothing, no feeling of anything trying to work

thanks for the answer to the bumper swap .... saves me some time

thanks folk's

[muleskinner]

320iAN

mate , i did this last year for the mot on my e30...exactly the same problem you have got ( rotted anti roll bar bracket on the subframe ).

to be honest it wasnt as bad a job as i thought it would be. me and my uncle did it and neither of us are mechanics....we know enough dont get me wrong.

Ok the only thing i did wrong was that i put my front end on ramps. I should have raised the front of the car, then placed wheel jacks under neath for the front wheels to be free wheeling. trust me if you do not do this , when you release the bottom ball joints and free them from the wheel housing , the suspension and front wheels will shoot forwards whilst on the ramp... i should know this happened to me.

Going off memory......

make sure you place a trolley jack up on the underneath of the engine to support it...important.

1.un bolt all of the anti roll bar and get it out of the way.
2.Undo the bottom ball joints on the wheels and tap the metal wheel housing with a hammer to free the ball joint.
3. unbolt the bushes attached to the body work ( these are attached to the end of each wishbone ).
4.undo the top wishbone joint bolts from inside the engine bay. ( although this can be done after the subframe is free from the car because these bolts just attach each wishbone to the subframe ).
5.unbolt the power steering wrack from the subframe and prise out...

Your subframe should just now drop from the car.

easy.

hope this helps mate.


mule

[320iAN]

cheers mule, i'll keep a note of the info you have posted .... it'll defo be of help


thank's

[Brianmoooore]

First step for the mirrors: Lever out the switch on the door, and, with the ignition on, check, with a 12V bulb, for power on the green/white wire.

[320iAN]

i'm gonna check all the wires for the mirrors on monday .... i can get another set of mirrors if needed from one a mate is breaking

[ivesy]

Anyone know anything about lights? Need some new bulbs/lights, toying with the idea of angels?

[Brianmoooore]

i'm gonna check all the wires for the mirrors on monday .... i can get another set of mirrors if needed from one a mate is breaking

Whatever the problem is with you're mirrors, I doubt very much if it's the mirror assemblies themselves.

[Brianmoooore]

Anyone know anything about lights? Need some new bulbs/lights, toying with the idea of angels?

Start a new thread!

[320iAN]

i'm gonna check all the wires for the mirrors on monday .... i can get another set of mirrors if needed from one a mate is breaking

Whatever the problem is with you're mirrors, I doubt very much if it's the mirror assemblies themselves.

that was my last option .. then again 5 min's to swap over the mirrors might be worth a go?? before i start tracing wire's

[Brianmoooore]

There's only one way to solve electrical problems - and that's logical and methodical testing.
Start random swapping of things, and you may well "cure" the problem by disturbing something without knowing what, and the problem, or fresh different ptoblems will appear shortly afterwards.

[320iAN]

just tried the switch plug and nothing not one live, i'm off work tomorrow so i'll have some time to check the wires as they go through the door post and start working my way back to the fuse box?

[Brianmoooore]

Leave the door connectors well alone until you've proved there's something wrong with them, otherwise you'll be doing unnecessary work and introducing faults you didn't have!
Does the heater fan work?
Swap fuse 19 for another 7.5A one.

[320iAN]

ive tried the fuse, 1st thing i tried ... is there a relay for the mirrors or is there another fitment that shares the power supply and yes the heater fan work's fine

thanks

[Brianmoooore]

There is a relay for the mirrors, but it's for the heater fan as well - hence the question.
If you are sure the fuse and its holder are good, and there's no power at the green/white on the mirror switch, then that just leaves the wire in between and the pin in the driver's door socket it passes through. This pin doesn't normally give trouble though.

[320iAN]

i'm tempted to run a live wire straight to the green and white pin just to see if the mirrors power up .... last resort?
ive checked the green and white wire as it goes through the door post and nothing!! no power
i also found the relay and it's defo fine i pulled it out while i had the heater fan on and it went off.

[Brianmoooore]

i'm tempted to run a live wire straight to the green and white pin just to see if the mirrors power up .

Good idea.
If you have the type of fuse that allows you to do so, check for 12V+ (with a lamp, not meter) on the outer pin of fuse 19.

[tomson]

There is a relay for the mirrors, but it's for the heater fan as well - hence the question.
If you are sure the fuse and its holder are good, and there's no power at the green/white on the mirror switch, then that just leaves the wire in between and the pin in the driver's door socket it passes through. This pin doesn't normally give trouble though.

Just to clarify, would both mirrors and the fan heater not be working if this relay had gone? My fan has packed up but i think the drivers mirror works but not the passenger one

[Brianmoooore]

[

Just to clarify, would both mirrors and the fan heater not be working if this relay had gone?:

None would work.

[tomson]

Thanks Brian.....

[320iAN]

i'm tempted to run a live wire straight to the green and white pin just to see if the mirrors power up .

tried this today and "they work!!" so instead of finding the broken wire (for now) i'm going to add an in-line fuse and wire them to something that powers from the ignition .... this is just as a quick fix for moving the car about while i'm doing other work on it, i'll try find the broken wire later, though i don't think it's broke and rubbing against anything (metal) as it doesn't blow out the fuse??

[SGP]

I know this sounds too obvious but all those electrical connections need a good cleaning before writing off the wiring,use Bardahl Electrical Contacts Cleaner on all the connections 5 minute job.

[320iAN]

cheers Stephen, ive tried most route's inc cleaning the conections re-wire is my best route