nick496

Just double check you've removed the 2 bolts that hold the fuel rail to the intake manifold. After that, it just a lot of pulling. Mine was in there pretty snugly.

Awesome, cheers Ross. Have been in touch.

After a getrag 240 (m40) to bolt up straight to an m52. Currently have a getrag 240 for an m20, so can offer that as a part swap. I'm aware my box will bolt up, but mostly just trying to save some hassle when I go in for a cert.

Also would be keen for a spare one. But for a 15"

Newer, stronger materials perhaps? From what I read, the spring rates are only slightly higher than stock.

Then today meet up with the guys in Auckland for their monthly coffee meet. Top bunch you lot. So will be up again once the swap is done. And had a good chat with Graham, and then went to see the Brit and Euro classic show at Elsmore Park with Scott. And ran into some of the other guys on the way there. Saw a few dream cars. But more importantly, prior to the meet, managed to pinch a Renault Clio brake booster out of a car at Pick-A-Part. Was surprised that they: A: Had a Renault there B: Someone else hadn't already pinched it for their engine swap. So was pretty stocked with that. I also learned that I should google how to remove the booster before wasting 20 minutes trying to pull it out through the engine bay (which you basically need to removal the intake manifold for) Turns out those clever people decided the whole pedal box should be completely removable from inside the car, so once that was unbolted, just pull the pedal box and the brake booster into the car. Easy as. What was not clever however, was the idea that the air intake be held on by male torx bolts at the front, and standard 10mm at the back. (Mostly because I didn't bring my female torx socket set with me). But hey, it's pick a part, so I just ripped it off.

So it's been a while since I've updated this. E30 sat like this for about a month while I got this all sorted Ended up sending back the Koni's and the mounts, and getting a set of Bilstein B12s (Bilstein B8's with Eibach springs) Opened the box and was already more impressed with the Bilstein's coming with all the requires bits -Top nut -Dust boot -Something to hold the dust boot -Strut locking collar Old springs were stock 325i springs. So some height differences Fronts: Rears: Finally the fronts all ready to go in. Looking a bit odd with black and blue. And checked out my rear spring pads from the PO. Will be keeping them like this for now. Then some before and afters: Before (stock 325i sedan springs) After (Bilstein B12 sedan) So definitely not the most noticeable of height differences, but the handling has substantially improved. (Probably due to 3 of the 4 shocks needed replaced) Then managed to get the WOF (a month later) Also started cleaning the M52 a bit more. Mmmm under the oil filter housing And then the rocker cover (those bubbles are actually just build up) Mmm delicious

Changed the transmission filter on the E46. Went reasonably smoothly. Now shifts with no issues. Need to check the fluid levels tomorrow after it's all settled down.

Just my experience having recently purchased both of what you are looking for... Got the sump for $250, then one popped up for about $70 (which sold within an hour) ECU came with engine etc, which was out of a wreck that I paid $800 for. Obviously you will probably find them at your target price point, but if you really do need them, expect to pay more.

Giving me some motivation for mine. Just waiting on parts now...

Process appears to be quite similar to E30's. http://www.bmwe34.net/E34main/Maintenance/Suspension/Front_shocks.htm Just use a BF Pipe wrench. The best method I found was to attach the strut back to the wheel, put the wheel flat on the ground, and then use the pipe wrench to twist on the collar. This allows for more force to be used since the strut isn't rolling away from you.

Yeah, once you create an account, they'll email through freight costs. Should be around UK$120.

I ordered some Koni's through GeorgeStock in Auckland recently, the price on those seemed reasonable. I ended up returning them for other reasons, so I'm currently looking at ordering from dcperformance in the UK, as their prices work out to be rather reasonable. http://www.dcperformance.co.uk/uprated/koni-sport-front-dampers/BMW/5-series-e34.html

Interesting, I have the same issue. What are the side affects to not fixing this? I presume just you don't know when your oil is low?

I did rotate them, though the new ones I got are symmetrical, so it doesn't matter which way you rotate them. Obviously the e30s strut holes aren't symmetrical, so somethings not right with the mount? Will draw a picture later on tonight.

So had the struts fully assembled ready to pop in, but the mounts wouldn't line up. The distances between the 3 studs on the new mounts were all 100mm apart I measured the stud distance between my old mounts, 100mm, 100mm, 90mm. This is the same on the chassis for both the 320i touring, and also a 325i sedan (also facelift) Part number for the new mounts is 31331139452, which comes back as the correct part number... so not sure what is going on here. Any ideas? Not keen to go around drilling my strut towers. At this stage ready to return all the parts I've purchased so far, and get some Bilstein inserts.

I think it's a design f**k up. I suspect they looked at the new strut mounts you can get, and decided they can get away with leaving the thread like that (cost savings on Koni's end I would guess). As I just purchased new strut mounts and it all fit fine. Looking on realoem, it's not showing any difference in part numbers for a 4 vs 6 cyclinder, and I didn't think there was a difference aside from just the strut. I aside from the new mounts, just used everything that the touring already had, which should just be the normal 51mm stuff. Realoem says that part number 31331139452 for the strut mounts superseded 31331124508 which ran until '95, so maybe that was when the design in width occurred? Who knows...

Can take the brake booster off your hands if you're willing to split that.

So just a heads up for anyone looking to purchase Koni shocks for their E30, I would advise checking your front mounts can take a 22mm socket. I ordered a set of 8641 1021SPORT shocks for the front, and had issues installing them, due to them using a M14 nut, as opposed to an M12, like my set in a previous car. Old vs New I suspect the old shock was a red Koni, but there were no markings on it to confirm. Anywho, so I got the M14 nut on with no issues, using the existing shock mount. But when I went to tighten it, I couldn't get a 22mm socket in there I did try with a filed down socket, but that didn't work either. Ended up contacting Gavin at Euro Italian, and we got out our rulers over the phone, and order a set of new front mounts. Here are the new mounts, 22mm socket fits in fine. So in conclusion, check to see if you can get a 22mm socket in your shock mounts before ordering Konis, otherwise you're probably better off going the Bilstein route.

Cheers Olaf, will check there next time I pull the carpet out and test for leaks. Managed to get my front shocks apart, but when I went to install the spring and top mounts, found that the top nut that I had (19mm), doesn't fit my Koni's. No worries I thought, I'll use a bigger nut... then realised I'd then have to fit a bigger socked in the top. Which did not fit at all. A quick google says that this can happen, and the recommendation is to get shock mounts that support a 22mm nut/socket? http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=335535 Can anyone else confirm?

Just an update on what I've been up to over the past couple of weeks. Ordered replacement ODO gears from garagistic and replaced those. While I had the cluster out, I noticed that the break wear sensor light was removed. So I put that back in, and what do you know, it was permanently on. Had a quick look around the car, and someone had obviously had a go trying to sort this previously, as both front and rears had been cut, and re-joined. Checked the resistances and was still reading a little bit of resistance, even when bypassing the sensors. Out of curiosity, I swapped a spare cluster in. Break wear sensor worked perfectly fine. I know that the resistor for break wear sensor comes loose causing it flicker on and off, but it was firmly attached to the main board. So I just swapped the boards around. Super happy that all my dash lights now work, and all my check panel lights work too. (Brake wear only lights up when starting the car) Swapped the sports seats in, and also put in some black leather door cards that I had floating around. Looks a bit mismatched, with blue fronts, grey rears, and black doorcards, but plan to re-upholster the front seats in black leather much later on. Found a few things when doing all this work Bit of rust in passenger's B column And also the factory running in instructions. Then since she was all back together, took her in for a wof. She failed on fog lights not working (bulbs both gone), split windscreen wipers, and one of the front shocks was leaking. So ordered a pair of Koni sports for the front from George Stock, and they showed up the next day. Date on the box is 07-07-2014, so they've been sitting around for a while, but should be fine. So that's a job for Sunday.

Just noticed that in your engine bay shot, your valve cover vent hose isn't hooked up, and your radiator cap is missing. Very tidy car though, GLWS.

Have flicked you a PM

Just nicer to press, as they use a rocker.

Excellent, cheers guys. The plastic engine cover wasn't on when I got the car, so that will probably be the cause.